Menu Plan Monday Garden Edition 9/5/11

Happy Monday rockers! I had a nice menu planned out for you last night and then woke up and picked all of this (Except the bananas). I'll stick that other menu in my back pocket for another week. This menu is pretty typical for most weeks in the summer as the garden really starts to take off. Here we go, in no particular order:

Pasta night-this week spaghetti (uses tomatoes, zucchini and bell peppers)
Pizza night-uses tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers and also the onions and spinach that are in the fridge.
Mexican night-Chicken tacos. I'll throw chicken in the slow cooker with onions and bell peppers. Then make a batch of salsa.
Stir Fry night-Clean the fridge style. I'll use some of every vegetable in the house along with the leftover slow cooker chicken and then serve it over the spaghetti squash.
Sandwich-ish night-this week cheeseburgers with corn and fried zucchini
Slow cooker night-Undecided although I'm fairly sure that it will be chicken veggie soup. Three out of five people in the Headbangin' Household are fighting summer colds, so we could use the extra nutritional boost.
And finally leftover night.

Lunches-leftovers, sandwiches, corndog muffins

Breakfasts-banana pancakes, zucchini bread, baked oatmeal, cream of wheat

Snacks-chips and salsa, peanut butter or jam toast, banana smoothies, fruit, yogurt

Desserts-Zucchini pie, zucchini cookies, smoothies

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 8/29/11

Happy Monday rockers! Have you ever had one of those weekends where things got so crazy that by Sunday night, you feel like you didn't get anything done? While I did get quite a bit of groceries prepped and frozen over the weekend, the only thing I managed to get into the oven was a big pan of chicken to use through the week. Now, I feel like I need to play catch up over the next couple of days. I also have a ton of produce to use from the garden out back. As a result, here's what the Headbangin' Household will be eating:

Monday: Breakfast: cream of wheat and toast

Lunch-Hot lunch at school for the kids (gross I know, but I've had a seriously proper Monday morning) Mom and Dad get leftovers.

Dinner- Stuffed bell pepper burritos with homemade salsa (this makes alot so I'll make extra burritos to freeze for lunches). I use the recipe as a guide, but I chop the peppers and mix them with everything else instead of fill them. The kids prefer it this way.

Tuesday: Breakfast-breakfast sandwiches (I'm going to make a few extra and try to freeze these. I've read it works well, I've just always been afraid to try. I hope it works!)

Lunch- leftover burritos

Dinner-Zucchini casserole with chicken and spinach added in and mashed potatoes on the side (Can't wait for this...total comfort food!). I saute the zucchini instead of boil it. We also prefer it with spinach (or broccoli) instead of the carrots.

Wednesday: Breakfast-Peanut Butter baked oatmeal

Lunch- Homemade chicken veggie soup with croutons that I'll make from leftover french bread from the weekend.

Dinner- leftovers from Tuesday dinner

Thursday: Breakfast-cream of wheat and toast

Lunch- corn dog muffins (just cut up some hotdog pieces in your favorite cornbread recipe)

Dinner- Breakfast! Biscuits and gravy, bacon (making extra), fruit salad

Friday: Breakfast- leftover biscuits and gravy

Lunch- BLT's from leftovers

Dinner- Pizza night! Going to use bell peppers, green onions, zucchini and tomatoes from the garden. I'll also use some spinach I picked up on mark down. I'll also freeze a few slices for a lunch next week.

Saturday: Breakfast-danishes with zucchini jam, fruit

Lunch- leftover pizza

Dinner-Zucchini patties and pasta salad

Sunday: Breakfast: Cereal

Lunch-leftover pizza

Dinner- Chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, cucumber tomato salad

Desserts: Zucchini pie, zucchini cookies or warm delights with blueberries

Snacks: fruit, yogurt, peanut butter toast, chips and salsa

What's cookin' at your place this week?

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Baking Day 9/18/10

Happy Saturday rockers! I must admit that it feels a bit odd that today's baking load was so small. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a light work day just as much as the next gal, so I really shouldn't complain. I also know that this week and next weekend are going to be super busy. On Wednesday we're taking off after school to have a Headbangin' Household concert adventure. Wednesday is also my older son's birthday, so we'll have a mini parking lot celebration before the show. Then Friday is my younger son's birthday. There won't be a concert that night, but I think we'll go out for something fun. Saturday is the big birthday party bash for the boys with lots of friends and family.

I planned out today's baking on the light side because I know that the week is going to be filled with all sorts of chaos and odds and ends that really just can't be done too far ahead of time. Plus, because I knew this week was quickly approaching, I over did it during the last two Saturdays and filled the freezer, so there really wasn't a need to go too crazy today. Here's today's list of goodies:

1 batch oatmeal raisin cookies (for snacks and lunches)

2 tubes of refrigerator croissants (not my favorite, but the kids love them and they were stupid cheap at the discount store. If the kids don't finish them by tomorrow, they'll have them with ham and cheese for lunches this week.)

1 bowl cake bomb filling (I'm purposely not dipping these until Monday when the kids are at school. They'll be for Wednesday's birthday celebration at the concert.)

1 batch sugar skulls (when I saw these, I knew they were going to make it on top of the boy's birthday cake this year. I'll be decorating these while the kids are at school, too. I have made it pretty clear that we are a heavy metal family, right? 'Nuff said.)

2 white chocolate bones (Also for the birthday cake.)

And that, my friends, was all she wrote. Since I finished up so early, I may go hit a couple yard sales and enjoy the rest of this awesome Saturday. Have a great rest if your weekend!

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Baking Day 8/28/10 Crazy Insane Edition!

Hey rockers! It's great to be back to my blog! As much as I hate to see summer leaving, it feels great to get back into the "normal" routine of life. I won't lie, though, it's been rough getting started. Today I felt like I was making up for several weeks worth of baking and prep work, even though I'd still accomplished smaller baking days throughout the summer.

With the garden still giving like crazy, we had to plug back in our big old standing freezer. It's an awesome feeling to know that it will be full soon with the summer's garden goodness that will last us the coming months.

Here's today's goodies:

3 (yes 3) Zucchini Pies ( to be frozen)

2 batches of blueberry muffins (snacks and breakfasts)

1 big pan of chicken breasts ( for dinners this week)

1 batch Latte Bars (I haven't made these all summer, I swear!)

1 pan of apple snack cake (snacks and lunches)

1 batch of bread pudding (breakfasts)

1 big BBQ pizza (lunches, not pictured because it was still in the oven)

Still on the list:

a big batch of salsa (for the freezer)

a batch of corn bread (for tonight's dinner)

and a batch of Apple Butter. I can't wait to try this! I'm going to toss everything in the slow cooker tonight before bed. Keep your fingers crossed. I'll post the results tomorrow.

I hope you're all having a great weekend! I'm going to finish up in the kitchen and then get back to enjoying this Saturday outside.

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 6/14/10 Oops Edition

Happy Monday rockers! Amazing isn't a big enough word to describe the weekend we had. I can't think of many things better than a weekend road trip with best friends. The whole adventure was historical, and while I feel like I could sleep for a week to recover, I can't wait to do it again. Korn absolutely rocked. The venue was so small that there wasn't a bad seat in the place. The pit was insane and the energy all around it was contagious and addictive. Saturday night was one of the best heavy metal roller coasters I've ever been on! I wanna go again!

So here I am, on Monday morning, trying to figure out the menu for the week. Somewhere over the last couple of weeks, with everything going on, we forgot to make time for grocery shopping. Oops!

Somewhere over the weekend, we also managed to completely blow the budget for the week. Oops!

I feel alright about it, though. I've already paid the bills for the month and I have a freezer full of food. The garden is also finally starting to give more. I know we'll need to go pick up some milk and eggs, but we can make do with what we have for the rest of the week. Irresponsibility is totally acceptable in our house as long as we are responsible first. This week is a perfect example of responsible irresponsibility.

So what the heck are we eating this week?

Breakfasts: Baked Oatmeal, eggs and toast, cereal, and bagels.

Lunches: Sandwiches, cheese quesadillas, corn dog muffins and leftovers.

Dinners: Tamales (from the freezer) with beans, rice and salad.

Rotisserie chicken, baked potatoes and steamed veggies from the garden. I'll baked a bunch of extra potatoes so we can also have Bacon Cheddar Baked Potatoes the following day and then we'll also have hot dogs and potato salad later in the week. I'll also steam extra veggies so we can have Clean the Fridge Stir Fry. I'm hoping to try Vegan Fajitas this week, too. I may end up adding some leftover chicken to the recipe just because it sounds good. Finally, we'll have breakfast for dinner which will be pancakes, sausage, eggs and apple salad.

Desserts: (Man, my brain and back are screaming REALLY!!!????!!!) Smoothies, ice cream and any cookies that are left in the freezer.

There you have it! Not a bad menu for the week, considering I'm running on auto pilot :)

Don't forget to check out Menu Plan Monday this week!

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 5/31/10 Caaampin'!

It's the first Monday of summer vacation for us! It was absolutely amazing to wake up without the alarm clock screaming at me.

It's going to be yet another crazy week here at the Headbangin' Household. Wednesday I have a dentist appointment and then Thursday we leave for our annual camping trip. I've got a ginormous list of last minute packing and cleaning, blog posts to schedule and baking to finish. I really planned on finishing up yesterday, but discovered (the hard way) that I need to make a run to the store. Since we do our grocery shopping in the next town over, and aren't headed that way until tonight, baking will be postponed until tomorrow.

The menu I'm sharing today is half normal and half camping. Everything is simple, as usual.

Monday we're having Peanut Butter Baked oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch, we'll have pizza cups from baking day and then ham and potato chowder with corn bread for dinner. I finally managed to bake the giant ham from the freezer on Saturday. It was a good thing, too, because we finally had our first 90 degree day in my part of the world yesterday. Hello Summer!

Tuesday's breakfast is scrambled eggs and toast. Then, for lunch we'll have corn dog muffins from the freezer. Dinner will be either homemade macaroni and cheese or fettuccine Alfredo. I need to check and see what cheeses I have in the fridge.

Wednesday for breakfast we'll have either cereal or peanut butter toast. Since my appointment is first thing in the morning, we need super quick and easy. Lunch is going to be more pizza cups and then dinner will be leftovers. I'll be too busy to want to cook and I don't want to leave a bunch of leftovers in the fridge for a week, because, well, ewww!

Thursday morning we will have breakfast sandwiches. For lunch on the first day of camping I always make everyone a "lunch bag of goodness". They usually have a PB&J, fruit, cookies, water and a juice box, crackers, trail mix and a couple Jolly Ranchers. I load them down pretty heavy because, with all the campsite set up during the first few hours, no one has time to stop and make lunch. I also make sure there's plenty of variety so the kids don't tear everything apart looking for the snack bin. Dinner that night will be pre made Dog Food Salad. Don't freak out on me, I didn't name it! It's just taco salad, but the girl I got the recipe from back in high school, called it Dog Food Salad and who am I to change it?

Friday morning is going to be breakfast burritos with eggs, ham and cheese. Lunch is going to be hot dogs and chips. Dinner that night is Chili Baked Potatoes.

Saturday breakfast will be pancakes and Spam. We use the "just add water" kind of pancake mix for camping. Actually, this is the only time during the year that we use pancake mix at all. Lunch is going to be macaroni and cheese with any leftover hot dogs that need to be finished. If you use Pasta Roni, you don't have to drain the pasta. It's the simple things that make your day while camping! Dinner that night is going to be nachos. Just heat your cans of beans and cheese (yes, we use canned nacho cheese sauce for camping) over the fire and dump over your chips. Add salsa, sliced olives and sour cream if you have it. I don't know why, but these nachos are the most amazing concoction after a hard day of raft races down the river!

Sunday's breakfast will be cream of wheat. If we still have any bread that needs using, we'll have toast too. Lunch will be Chili Baked potatoes again and then dinner will be Backpacker's Thanksgiving Dinner otherwise known as Hobo dinner around here. I usually add a can of corn to the stuffing mixture. This dinner has become a camping tradition. The recipe can be made in any amount, nothing needs refrigeration and it is so filling. Everyone loves it.

For desserts, of course there is s'mores, s'mores and s'more s'mores. Although one night near the beginning of the trip we'll also have Banana Boats.

There you have it folks! Have a great week! And don't forget to chek out Menu Plan Monday for more menu ideas. Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 5/24/10

Happy Monday rockers! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had an awesome time at the aquarium in San Francisco and an amazing lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. If only I'd have brought a thermos. I'd have bottled up that clam chowdery goodness for lunch today. Maybe next time!

This week is going to be absolutely insane with end of the school year activities and camping prep work. Let the fun begin!

Dinners this week are going to be Clean the Fridge Stir Fry. This is a lot like my Clean the Fridge Soup. Slice up whatever veggies are in the fridge and fry up in a little olive oil. You can make the sauce two ways. You can mix a gravy packet or two up with the water and about a tablespoon of soy sauce and pour over the cooked veggies in the pan; simmer till thickened. Or you can mix a can of broth with 2 tablespoons cornstarch and a tablespoon of soy sauce; pour over cooked veggies and simmer until thickened. Add sliced up leftover meat if you want. Serve over any cooked pasta or rice. You can also use two bags of frozen stir fry veggies if you have them. I'll make a double batch so we can have this for lunches too.

Tuesday we are going out for dinner to celebrate our daughter's eighth grade graduation. I swear last week I was walking her to her first day of kindergarten!

Wednesday I'm going to be at the school most of the day volunteering so I'm going to try this recipe for slow cooker baked potatoes. That way when I get home I'll just heat up a couple cans of chili for chili baked potatoes. Again, I'll be making a few extra potatoes for lunches.

Thursday we'll have breakfast for dinner. We'll have Breakfast Sausage Casserole and I'll throw together a Bread Pudding. I can mix all this together in the morning before we leave for our giant before camping errands and shopping trip. Then, I just have to toss them both in the oven that evening. I'll probably make apple salad to go with this too.

Friday we'll barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs to celebrate the end of the school year. I'll make some homemade JoJo Potatoes on the side.

Saturday will be a giant baking day. It's going to be my last full Saturday to bake for at least a couple weeks, so I've got a huge list to accomplish. To make it easy on myself, I'll make a double batch of pizza dough so we can have pizza and salad for dinner.

I'm hoping that by Sunday I won't be too burned out to cook. Note to self: find a casserole to throw together on baking day for Sunday. Otherwise we'll throw together some sandwiches.

As far as breakfasts go, I've called for an anything week. There's some baked oatmeal in the freezer and some muffins from past baking days that I want gone because I need the room. We also have a bunch of strawberries and yogurt for smoothies.

Have a great week rockers and go here to check out more menu plans!

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Baking Day Done Early 5/21/10

Hey rockers, happy Friday! I finished up the baking for this week a day early since we won't be home much this weekend. I have to admit that even though there is a lot of work that goes into baking every week, I do look forward to it. I enjoy baking anyway, but getting this much done once a week really helps to keep the rest of the week's menu in order. If the menu is in order we eat better, save money and have more fun! Here's this week's goodies:

A batch of Whole Wheat Cinnamon Cookies. I picked these as the cookie of the week because they're simple, freeze well, and hold up awesome on road trips. Exactly what we'll need this weekend! I'm also going to freeze a bag of these for our next road trip in a couple weeks.

I threw a batch of Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats together. I make Krispy treats all the time, but haven't had the peanut butter kind in years. Again, I picked these for the travel factor. I also have half a dozen bags of random holiday marshmallows that I need to finish using.

A batch of Latte Bars. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know. Half of these WILL make it into the freezer too. I swear they will!

A couple rolls of croissants. Alright, so these bad boys aren't from scratch, but they'll rock in the bag of munchie goodness while on the road this weekend!

Finally, I made a huge batch of macaroni salad. This isn't for the road so much as it is for quick meals this weekend while we are actually at home. I have a feeling that if we do it right, no one will feel like cooking by the time we get home. With this in the fridge we can just throw some sandwiches together and call it dinner.

That's all for today folks! What have you guys and gals been baking?

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 5/17/10

Happy Monday rockers! Since my weekend was a little more busy than I had originally planned, I never got the last ham baked. I'll be bumping that up later in the week. I may pay for that since the weather is getting warmer, but I'm hoping it'll work out fine. I also remembered that we have a day trip planned for Saturday in San Francisco, so I'll have to get the baking done this week on Friday or Sunday. I love the busyness that comes with the warmer weather. There's always an adventure to be had. With that in mind, I'm going to allow for flexibility in the menu for this week (maybe from here on out). So, I'm not going to assign a specific meal for a specific day, just list the choices available. That way, depending on what is going on throughout the week in addition to whatever may pop up unexpectedly, we won't have to rely on the drive through. I'll just fix whatever fits with the day.

Here we go:

Dinners are going to be Clean The Fridge Soup. I talked about it here. We're supposed to get rain a day or two this week, so I'll try to make it on one of those days, then, we can have the leftovers the following night.

We'll also have Broccoli Chicken Rice Casserole again at some point due to popular demand.

I hope to bake the ham Thursday or Friday. We'll have it with mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed veggies.

During the weekend we'll have hot dogs and macaroni salad and then Ham and Pea Thing. I've searched and searched for a recipe similar to mine, but can't find one. I got the recipe from one of my mom's old cookbooks ages ago, although I don't remember which one. I can't remember what it's real name was, either. I usually double the recipe.

Ham and Pea Thing

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1 small red onion, chopped

1/2 c. frozen peas

6 Tbsp. chicken stock

5 oz. thickly cut cooked ham, cut into strips

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound macaroni, or whatever pasta you have in the house

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

Cook macaroni, drain, set aside. Saute onions, ham and peas in butter or margarine. Add stock. Simmer till onions and peas are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked pasta to ham and pea mixture, stir well. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Breakfasts will be cereal, bread pudding and Banana Banana Bread from Baking Day and we still have some muffins and Baked Oatmeal in the freezer.

For lunches, we'll have ham and cheese tortilla wraps, sandwiches, Pizza Cups from Baking Day and corn dog muffins from the freezer.

Have a great week everyone! Don't forget to check out Menu Plan Monday for hundreds of great menu ideas!

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Baking Day 5/16/10

Happy Sunday rockers! I know I'm a little late getting this up, but it's been a bit hectic this weekend so I needed bump the baking up to today. Some of the things were do overs from last week which made it easy. I also shortened the initial "To bake" list for today because about half way through, it was getting way too warm in the house. Yes my friends, summer is coming. Note to self: plan better next week!!

I baked up a batch of peperoni olive pizza cups using this crust recipe. Super easy! I mix up the dough at the beginning of the baking day, while the oven pre heats. Then, it has a chance to rise while I get everything else done. Press chunks of the dough into your muffin cups and fill with whatever is in the fridge. Even though I used the pepperoni and olives today, I've also made them with barbecue sauce, cheese and chicken. Ham and cheese with bell peppers is another good combo. I cooked up a double batch of rice. I mixed a cup of brown rice in with the white rice today. The kids aren't diggin' the texture of the brown rice by itself, so I thought I'd try the mix. I'll use this for this casserole later in the week. I know we just had it last week, but everyone liked it so much, they requested it again. I got two loaves of banana bread done. I was out of oil, so I tried this recipe instead. I made another batch of bread pudding. I experimented with this last weekend and my youngest has decided it's his new favorite breakfast food. Eggs, bread, milk and dried fruit sounds like breakfast around here and I know it's got to be more nutritious than Captain Crunch. Finally, I made up yet another batch of Latte Bars. I can't believe these things haven't run their course. What is this? Four weeks straight I've made them? Not pictured are the two whole chickens that got baked up last night. We ate half of one for dinner last night, and then I'll be using the rest throughout the week. I'll post the menu tomorrow. Hubby got home early today and we got most of the garden work done yesterday, so for the rest of this afternoon we're going to be doing some prep work for our upcoming camping trip. We have a big hole in our tent that needs to be repaired. Good times! I'd rather be on a road trip to go see Korn. Oh wait! I get to do that too in about 26 days! Yay for the Headbangin' Housewife! Have a great rest of your weekend everyone! Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 5/10/10

Happy Monday rockers! I hope you had an awesome weekend and a rockin' Momma's Day! My baking day on Saturday went great and should make the menu run nice and smooth this week. Plus, one of the kids will be gone to science camp for the week so while I'll be missing him like crazy, I'll have one less to feed. Here's the plan: Breakfasts will be strawberry muffins, baked oatmeal, cereal and toast with homemade strawberry jam. Lunches will be PB&J, egg salad sandwiches, leftovers and corn dog muffins Monday Dinner: Biscuits and Gravy, scrambled eggs and apple salad Tuesday Dinner: Slow cooker Tamale Pie Wednesday Dinner: Broccoli, Rice, Cheese and Chicken Casserole. I used leftover chicken from the freezer and the rice from baking day. We actually tried this recipe Sunday, it turned out so good and it made enough for two nights. I love when that happens! Thursday Dinner: Leftover night Friday Dinner: Chili baked potatoes Saturday Dinner: Chicken tacos Sunday Dinner: Baked ham, mashed potatoes and steamed carrots. This is the last ham from the freezer. I want to get it baked before summer arrives and it's too hot to bake anything. Finally, desserts will be bread pudding, Latte bars and ice cream.

Have a great week everyone! For more menu ideas, go visit Menu Plan Monday.

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Baking Day 5/8/10...I'm Baaack :)

Hey there everyone, happy Saturday! It's been a great morning and I feel like I'm ready to get back into my bloggy chair and drive this thang! I'm so sorry that it's taken this long, but I'm back and more motivated than ever. So, without further ado, here's this mornings creations.

My first ever batch of bread pudding. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.

A batch of corn dog muffins for the kids lunches

A batch of chocolate chip bar cookies

A batch of those Latte Bars. I think this whole house is addicted, seriously. You have got to try them!

I boiled some eggs for egg salad sandwiches for Monday and Tuesday

I cooked up a batch of rice so it'll be ready for dinners this week.

A batch of strawberry muffins for breakfasts this week

Not pictured are also a dozen smoothie Popsicles that are in the freezer. I also made a second batch of smoothies for the kids this morning, but those are long gone already.

The only thing I have to finish is a batch of strawberry jam. I'll probably get that done tonight so that it will have a chance to cool over night so we can have it on our toast in the morning.

For now, I have some planting to finish up in the garden before this day gets away from me. The weather is absolutely gorgeous today, so I'm looking forward to getting some sun on these shoulders. I'll post some pictures of the garden this week to show you how well its all coming along.

Have a great rest of your weekend rockers and as always,

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday 4/19/10

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had awesome weather in my part of the world all weekend, and got to visit a bit with friends and family. We have a busy week here in the Headbangin' Household so I'm planning quick and easiness so I can keep my sanity and stay on budget. I can't blow it now....we are way too close to concert season!

Monday is baked chicken, baked potatoes and steamed carrots. I love when I can throw and go!

Tuesday is "Clean the fridge soup" and Honey Oat bread from baking day. Basically, I'll throw the leftover chicken and veggies from Monday into the crock pot with whatever other veggies are in the fridge and freezer that need using along with some broth. I'll add a couple handfuls of pasta in about a half an hour before dinner and call it done.

Wednesday will be breakfast burritos and Apple Salad. This is seriously one of my favorite salads. I honestly cannot remember where I got the recipe from and I don't measure any more, but it's just a few chopped apples, a handful of chopped walnuts, a handful of raisins or dried cranberries, and a cup of your favorite flavor yogurt. Raspberry is a favorite around here.

Thursday We will be trying out Taco Pasta because it looked and sounded delicious over at Org Junkie the other week, and I just can't wait any more.

Friday looks like it'll be a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with Baked JoJo Potatoes kind of night.

Saturday I'll make a big pot of spaghetti with a salad, so that

Sunday can be leftovers aka anything night.

Breakfasts this week are cream of wheat, Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal, Banana Carrot muffins, cereal and peanut butter toast.

Lunches are sandwiches, baked sweet potatoes, and pizza cups from baking day

Desserts are Fruit Cocktail cake, ice cream and strawberry shortcake. We would have had Latte Bars, too, except that batch from baking day are totally gone. I can't wait to make more!

Are you having trouble planning your menu for the week? Check out Organizing Junkie for hundreds of menu plan ideas!

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm excited to be participating in my very first Menu Plan Monday! We had a great time with our friends this weekend, and even though there were eight people here instead of the usual five, I managed to make way too much food. The good news is, dinners will be super simple this week as a result.

Monday: Homemade Macaroni & Cheese with steamed broccoli and carrots, french bread

Tuesday: Wendy's Chili burrito supremes (I mix the chili with cooked brown rice and add cheese, veggies and sour cream)

Wednesday: Slow Cooker bean soup with ham, corn bread muffins

Thursday: Chicken stir fry

Friday: B.L.A.T.'s (Bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato sandwiches) with Jojo potatoes

Saturday: Pizza using this crust recipe

Sunday: leftovers aka anything night

Breakfasts: Breakfast Casserole, cream of wheat, cereal, and Baked Oatmeal

Lunches: Grilled Cheese sandwiches, PB&J, leftovers and baked sweet potatoes...all with fruit, yogurt and Carrot Cookies

Desserts: Peach Cobbler, Chex Muddy Buddies, ice cream and Banana Boats

For plenty more great menu plans, visit Orgjunkie. Have a great week everybody!

Until next time, rock on my friends!

What's Cookin'?

Now that I've given you the grocery list for the week, I'll show you the menu. Breakfasts will be cream of wheat x2 (on hand because it's stupid cheap at Winco) cereal x2 (on hand because I have about 37 boxes) Baked oatmeal x2 (I'll bake and freeze this on Saturday) Scrambled eggs, toast, sausage links x2 all will have fruit on the side Lunches will be mostly sandwiches since the kids go back to school. We'll have egg salad (Hello Easter), tuna, and good old PB&J. We also have burritos and corn dog muffins leftover in the freezer from last baking day. All lunches will be rounded out with fruit, yogurt, homemade cookies and a drink. Dinners are Baked chicken with homemade gravy, rice and mixed veggies. I'm going to use the leftover chicken to make chicken stroganoff Hamburgers and homemade jojo potatoes Easter Dinner: Baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, shrimp salad, deviled eggs and homemade rolls Leftovers on Monday (Woo hoo!) Ham and potato chowder with homemade corn bread Tuna salad and baked yams The added bonus this week is that I'll freeze the ham bone and chicken carcass for later and we'll have enough burger patties left for another dinner in the next couple of weeks. Desserts are going to be homemade cookies, cake bombs, strawberry shortcake and chocolate pudding pie.

There you have it. Easter week menu on a budget.

Until next time, rock on my friends!