Meal Plan September 30

So Paul is done with his 21 day challenge but he's going to continue eating mostly the prepared meals for dinner.  Although, I like when we can eat the same foods altogether, October is a busy month for him so he probably won't be home for dinner anyway.  I do think we've worked out a good system with my sister.  She's in charge of dinner 2 days a week and I do at least 2.  Sometimes, I might also do anther night with just the kids (just depends on the schedule).

chicken alfredo pot pie

I have also decided to stop trying to make new and different dinners.  The kids really don't care and neither do I.  So we have staples each week and then I'll try one new recipe.  Here's the staples: pizza & salad, tacos (chicken or beef), spaghetti.  I also save one night for leftovers (aka Clean Out Refrigerator Night CORN and You're Own Your Own YOYO).  I'm also letting the kids help more.  Logan George fixed the entire lunch for him and Sophie Rose one Saturday.

SR cutting her own snack banana

Here's the plan for the next week:
Monday: Pizza night (Paul and the boys have a school function that include pizza too)
Tuesday: Aunt Kelly's Café
Wednesday:  Slow Cooker Parmesan Chicken
Thursday: Chicken Tacos (although I may switch to beef depending on what we have at Kelly's)
Friday: Hot Dogs and Crepes
Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Sunday:  CORN/YOYO

Japanese-style fried chicken for movie night

This week we are having a sleepover movie night with the cousins.  I try to work the menu around the movie.  The school lunch menu is kind of funny, some weeks LG will buy 4 times, other's it's just pizza on Friday.  Sophie Rose has actually started eating breakfast some mornings so I've tried to accommodate her in the mornings.

Happy Eating!

Menu Plan Monday September 16

We've done pretty good about sticking with the plan.  With Paul on his special meal plan, I have decided there's not much point in trying new recipes.  The kids don't care and without him enjoying why put out all that effort.  My sister and I are still working out the schedule but I think we've got it mostly down.  She's going to cook dinner for all of us at least once a week and I will do the same.  There may be some other days where we are together for breakfast too.  On those mornings, I schedule toaster strudel (because my nephew likes them) or cereal (because that's easy with 4 kids to feed).  I only have to pack lunch for Sophie Rose twice a week so those days are set with turkey tortilla roll-ups or tuna fishy sandwiches.  If Logan George isn't buying those days that's what he gets (plus he buys pizza every Friday for lunch).

I'm working on my menus for movie nights (which will probably happen every week now that the media room is all done).  So here's the basic breakdown of meals...I just plug them in depending on the specific week's activities:
Pizza (frozen, homemade, out, or delivery)
Movie Night Menu
Aunt Kelly's Café
Something Fishy
Spaghetti & Meat Sauce OR Beef Tacos
Cluck, Cluck Chicken
Extra Special (which could be eating out, or just a regular dinner)
The Extra Special main ingredient (beef, chicken, pork, fish) will be determined based on the other meals.

The specifics for this week include: frozen pizza, fish tacos, enchilada casserole, spaghetti, honey mustard baked chicken, chicken katsu, and something chicken at Kelly's.

Meal Plan September 9

Paul is on his 21 Day Challenge so I only have to cook for me and the kids.    Here's the plan for this week:

• Pulled Pork Sandwiches at Aunt Kelly's
• Chicken Alfredo Pot Pies
• Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
• Ekrich Sausage and Sauerkraut
• Fish Tacos
• Chinese Chicken and Rice
• Frozen Pizza

I'm rotating through the same breakfast options with cereal as the back-up if time is tight.  And LG is buying his lunch some so we can determine which meals he likes.

Here's a few pics from last week:

Tuscan Chicken

Fruit Kabobs for our Sleepover

Hawaiian Chicken

WIWW September 4

It is still very hot here.  If I forget to take a picture in the morning, by the time I remember (after I've walked to the school to pick up the boys, I'm all sweaty and gross.  Here are a few pics:

New watch my mother-in-law gave me.

I'm ready for the weather to cool off some, although we are still enjoying the pool.

Meal Plan Monday Labor Day Edition

I did pretty well sticking with my plan last week.  I ended up not having to cook a couple of nights because we went to the mother-in-laws and she sent food home for us.  Here's a few pics from the week:

DIY Yogurt Parfaits

Apple Cider Glazed Stuffed Chicken 

I got a few recipes from here.

My Smothered Chicken

Their Smothered Chicken

The kids actually liked the cider chicken but I don't really understand why it needs to be stuffed.  It just comes apart when you cut it to eat, so why not just make it into a regular casserole?  The smothered chicken was A LOT of work for a slow cooker meal.  I had to cook before and after the slow cooking part and it was even that great, kind of bland.  If it had been a true slow cooker meal, i.e. throw these thing in the pot and go, it might be worth it.

So on to this week:
Monday:  hot dogs (we were going to grill, but the igniter was broken)
Tuesday:  pot roast and mac & cheese (Sophie Rose's request for the first day of school)
Wednesday: Tuscan garlic chicken skillet (from the Kraft magazine)
Thursday: panko crusted tilapia (one of the meals we didn't do last week)
Friday: Hawaiian chicken for Lilo & Stitch movie night
Saturday:  wedding
Sunday:  Aunt Doris enchilada casserole (I'll double this and freeze for later)

Logan George is only buying one day this week, so I've planned his lunches (of course, he didn't have school Monday) and now Sophie Rose has preschool so I've added her lunches to the plan.  I chose a slow-cooker meal for Tuesday because it's the first day of preschool and there is a meeting that night, so I wanted it to be easy for me.  Sunday may get changed since we will be spending the night at the mother-in-laws (after the wedding) and she will probably send home food again.  I also have one other meal from last week that I could make but I checked to be sure the ingredients will keep and it will be one of the first one's next time.