Meal Plan Monday is back!!! This used to be a regular feature on the blog, and after some encouragement, I’m so happy to bring it back. Make a plan to check out the website every Monday for a new weekly meal plan, complete with as many pictures and links as I can manage. You can always check out my past weekly menus on the website. Head for the “Resources” tab, and then click “Weekly Menu.” There are 30 weeks of menus – and I hope to add MANY more!
I am a HUGE fan of menu planning. It has helped me and my family in so many ways, saving money and stress and giving me more time with the kids and less time with my pots and pans. You can check out my top Ten Reasons I Love Menu Planning if you need any more convincing why you should give it a try.
Are you ready for a few new ideas? Here’s to hoping one of my meals this week sparks an idea for you or gives you something new to try. Have a great week and happy planning!
Sunday:
English Muffins and Fruit
Chili Dogs and Jell-O
*I couldn’t remember ever having made chili dogs. Three of the kids opted for a plain hot dog, while my husband, myself, and our oldest child went for it. The result? Chili dogs were a fun indulgence. And you may as well learn now that I have a slight addiction to Jell-O.
Monday:
Silver Dollar Pancakes
Alice Springs Chicken and Sweet Potato Fries
*It has been decided that none of us (and I mean NONE of us!) like sweet potato fries. We’ve given them a handful of tries – and we are done trying. However, Alice Springs Chicken is amazing!! We gobbled it up before I got a picture, but it will definitely be a repeat.
Tuesday:
Cereal and Hard-boiled Eggs
Slow Cooker Mac n’ Cheese, Homemade Chicken Nuggets, Carrots
* I am still in search of the world’s most perfect homemade mac and cheese. I have not found it yet. The chicken nuggets were delicious! I hope you’ll check out the recipe (linked above!!)
Wednesday:
Almond Poppy-seed Muffins
Sausage & Potato Hash, Campbelled Eggs, Butterscotch Apples
*Krusteaz makes the BEST line of muffin mixes. We love them, and this is one of our favorite flavors.
This dinner was super easy and a fun variation of breakfast for dinner. I used a bag of frozen hashbrowns and our favorite smoked turkey sausage to make a quick hash. If my family ate either peppers or onions, I’d say those would have been a fabulous addition. Campbelled Eggs are my FAVORITE way to prepare eggs!!! I also put up the recipe for Butterscotch Apples, which is a fun little side dish your kids will love!
Thursday:
Oatmeal
Crock-Pot Chicken and Dumplings
Red Velvet Cupfakes (And no, that’s not a typo!! Check out my Cupfake recipe to find out how to make these low-calorie treats!!)
*Chicken and Dumplings is something I’ve never made, but always wanted to try. The recipe was tasty, but came out more like “Chicken and Dumpling Soup.” (I should mention my husband does NOT like eating soup for dinner, so he was less than thrilled.) It was pretty tasty, and easy to prepare. I used a roll of regular tube biscuits and allowed them to cook for 2 hours instead of 1.
Friday:
Waffles
Turkey Meatball Subs and Oven Fries
*This was a winner all the way around. We all love meatball subs, and homemade meatballs with homemade marinara made them extra-special. (We can our own sauce in the summer, and one of these days I’ll get around to doing a post on it!) I love making oven fries, especially using my fry cutter! We all enjoyed the cookie pie as well.
Friday nights at our house are “Family Fun Night!” We listen to music, do an activity, watch a movie, and enjoy a crowd-pleaser of a dinner and a treat. It’s something we all look forward to. This week we enjoyed 60’s hits and watched The Gnome Mobile.
Saturday:
Coffee Cake
Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican Rice
*I made the above enchiladas minus the avocado (because I detest avocados), and they were great. This was a fun variation of the chicken enchiladas I typically make. Truth be told, I ended up making Rice a Roni, Mexican Rice flavor instead of the homemade rice I intended. Nobody is perfect. I keep a few shortcut items on hand for just-so occasions. (The just-so occasion in this case just so happened to be that I got caught up in a book…..and then another book…and lost track of time!) I forgot to snap a picture – but see these enchiladas going back on the menu sometime.
That’s it folks. Hope you found an idea or two, and I REALLY hope you’ll be back week after week for more menu ideas. Have a great week and happy meal planning.
