Today I am giving you a first..my actual current weekly meal plan…Up until now, I’ve been using meal ideas from my meal database and saved meal plans (yes, I’m that dorky.) =) I’ve been wanting to give you a wide variety of ideas, and haven’t wanted to repeat meals. However, now that it is week 12 of the weekly meal planner, and since some of you are new to the blog, I thought it was time to let you have a peek at what the Lindner’s are actually eating this week! Here we go!

Monday: Ham and Cheese Casserole – Think macaroni and cheese with big chunks of ham, a creamier sauce with extra cheese, some peas, and a nice breadcrumb topping. It’s also the holy trifecta of supermom cooking…Cheap, easy, and the kids will eat it! I am serving this up with some awesome whole wheat rolls I got from Winco’s bakery.

Tuesday: Soup Can Spaghetti – Definitely not the most glamorous way to make spaghetti, but it is a childhood favorite of mine that I still love. To make this UBER easy dinner, simply brown a pound of ground beef, mix in an envelope of spaghetti seasoning, some starchy cooking water, and one can each of tomato soup and golden mushroom soup. We will have this with some of my home-canned beans.

Wednesday: Home-made Taquitos! I LOVE taquitos, but hate forking over six bucks for a pack of 20 or so..So, I figured out how to make them myself! Mix up your favorite meat filling (we use shredded chicken) and fry. I don’t have a deep fryer, and just use my little electric skillet. It works just fine. I’ll serve these with some refried beans and rice.

Thursday: Ham and Scalloped Potatoes (or Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Ham…I can’t quite decide…) Either way, we are having cheesy potato and ham goodness!

Friday: Lasagna – I don’t usually like to do two Italian dishes (especially with the same sauce) in one week, but I am having company over for New Year’s Eve, and lasagna is a great dish to serve a crowd. We’ll serve this up with some garlic bread and salad. Watch for New Year’s Eve munchie ideas later in the week!

Saturday: Pancakes and Bacon – I usually make something easy on Saturdays, as my husband is at work until late in the evening. And, who doesn’t love pancakes?! I like to do chocolate chip pancakes too and serve them up with home-made whipped cream. Yum!

Sunday: Vegetable-Herb Crockpot Chicken – SUPER easy and very good! Place frozen chicken breasts in your crockpot. Mix an envelope of vegetable soup/dip mix (I use Mrs. Grass) with a can of cream of mushroom soup and/or some sour cream and dump on top of your chicken. Cook on high for 4 hours. You can serve up this moist chicken over rice, noodles, mashed potatoes, or biscuits!

Happy meal planning everyone, and have a happy new year!!