Menu Plan 9/3

What do you do when you get disorganized?  You take a breath and start again, where you can, and expand as you can.  If you've been trying to read this blog lately, you'll notice that many posts start with excuses of I'm coming back.  Well, I am.  And I'm starting where I can - with a dinner meal plan for this week.  Why, oh why, did I let that slip in the hectic months that July and August turned out to be?  Having a meal plan would have really helped.  So now that I think my feet are back underneath me, I worked on a meal plan for this week (and already thinking about next week too).

My girls have been begging for lasagna so we'll be having that on Friday to help my husband carb up in preparation for participating in the MS150 ride on Saturday.  He will be riding his bike for 100 miles on Saturday to raise money for the MS Society.

Tonight (Tuesday) we're going to try a new macaroni and cheese recipe from my friend Joycelyn.  I have tried several baked macaroni and cheese recipes and no one in my family likes them.  I'm hoping to have success with Joycelyn's recipe because it can easily be a THRIVE recipe.  I'll share later this week.  The Cheesy Chicken Tator Tot Casserole can also be made as a THRIVE recipe.


Monday - Traveling for Labor Day

Tuesday - Smokies in a Blanket, Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (non-baked), Green Beans, Strawberries

Wednesday - Italian Beef, Corn on the Cob, Grapes

Thursday - Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole, Salad, Pears

Friday - Lasagna, Tomato Basil Bread, Mandarin Oranges

Saturday -Leftovers

Sunday - Rotisserie Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Applesauce, Broccoli with Cheese Sauce


What's on your menu?  This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Dinner Menu Plan 7/9

I don't know what I did wrong with the Crockpot Fried Rice on last week's menu but it turned out crunchy so we spoiled ourselves and went out to eat.  This week is super busy with three nights taken by T-Ball practice and games.  Sunday is our anniversary.  We haven't talked about how we want to celebrate but I'm sure my husband will be happy if we do Steaks on Saturday on the grill.  Church is from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm on Sundays and we're all hungry as soon as we make it home so trying to grill on Sunday isn't the best option.  The temperatures are cooler this week but I'm still avoiding the oven (and the clothes dryer) in hopes of keeping my house comfortable without running the air conditioner 24/7.


Monday - Spaghetti, Salad

Tuesday - leftover Italian Beef Sandwiches, baked potatoes (cooked in crockpot)

Wednesday - Homemade Multi-grain Waffles

Thursday - Asian BBQ Chicken (in Crockpot or on Grill)

Friday - Crockpot Pork Chops, Rice, Salad, Fruit

Saturday -Steak, Corn on the Cob - both on grill


Sunday - Beef Noodle Bowl




What's on your menu?  This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Dinner Menu - 7/2

Monday - Hawaiian Haystacks (using leftover chicken)

Tuesday - Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwiches, chips, sliced cucumbers and sugar snap peas

Wednesday - 4th of July Gathering - we're bringing the Corn on the cob (done on the grill) and probably a green salad with THRIVE FD Green Bell Peppers

Thursday -  Crockpot Fried Rice (thanks for the idea Crystal!)

Friday - Italian Beef Sandwiches, salad, fruit

Saturday - Smoked Sausage, Rice, Salad


Sunday - leftover Italian Beef Sandwiches, baked potatoes (cooked in crockpot)


What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? 

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Dinner Plan - 6/25

Summer is officially here - in more ways than one!  This is what I saw this morning...

There are triple digit temperatures this week!  Yuck!  No guessing about it - we're going to be eating light and cool this week.  I'm going to be avoiding use of the oven.  It's a good thing I have a crockpot!  It's going to be hot enough, I'm not even sure I would want to grill because that would mean standing outside in these temperatures.

Monday - BLTs, Sauteed Yellow Squash, Apple Turnovers

Tuesday - Anniversary Chicken (in crockpot)

Wednesday - French Toast

Thursday - Tacos

Friday - Traveling

Saturday - Traveling

Sunday - Rotisserie Chicken in Crockpot


What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? My THRIVE in use this week is apple slices for the apple turnovers.  And of course, I could use the THRIVE FD Ground Beef for my tacos.  I don't have any of the THRIVE FD Seasoned Chicken Slices but I bet I could use those for the Anniversary Chicken recipe if I was living off our food storage.

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Dinner Menu Plan - 6/18

What a busy and fun week last week!  Thursday was a lot of family time as we celebrated my brother's graduation.  Then Saturday afternoon, we attended the local Parade of Homes.  It is amazing how I can walk through an $890,000 house and honestly say I would NOT buy it (assuming I had that kind of money) - in reality it had 3 bedrooms.  Really?!  Now the $1.3M house - LOVED it!  It had tons of unique areas AND 7 bedrooms, plus a bonus room that my daughters declared would be their room.  And the view from the Master Bedroom!  If you added water and rotated it just a little West so I could see the storms coming in, I would declare it perfect!  So if anyone would like to donate to a fund to buy that home, we'll let you :)

We are doing better and better about sticking to the menu plan, and it's making a difference.  My husband and I are both talking about wanting smaller dinners and bigger breakfasts.  I seem to feel better overall when I do that.  Fortunately, I eat almost the same thing everyday for breakfast - 2 eggs overeasy, 2 pieces of toast (or an english muffin) and a glass of lactose-free milk.  So no menu planning involved there.

So what are we going to eat this week for dinner?  With lots of leftovers last week that we needed to eat, rather than waste, I have two meals to carry over to this week.  I also have not had a chance to try the Quinoa Pancakes so we're going to try that again this week.



Monday - Honey Ginger Glazed Tilapia (I'll be using Flounder), Rice, Roasted Green Beans, Pears (postponed from last week)

Tuesday - Sloppy Matts, Chips, Cole Slaw (postponed from last week)

Wednesday - Shredded Chicken sandwiches (using leftover BBQ Chicken from Sunday), Salad, Secretly Healthy Chocolate Cake

Thursday - Quinoa Pancakes, sausage, fruit

Friday - Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake (recipe coming), salad

Saturday - Hot Dogs, Corn on the Cob, fruit

Sunday - Brisket, Baked Potatoes, apple turnovers


What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? 

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Dinner Menu Plan 6-11

Getting into a groove with the girls in summer school.  It is amazing how fast those morning hours can fly by with everything I'm trying to accomplish in those few hours, and then spending the afternoon doing fun activities.  Today, we're spending the afternoon at home while storms are in the area.  And having glanced at their rooms this morning, that's a good thing.  Looking at our calendar for this week, we are busy every evening until Friday night so I'm keeping the menu simple and quick as we eat on the go Tuesday and Thursday, and my husband needs to eat and run on Wednesday as well (that's assuming he's here more than 5 minutes after work before heading out for the rest of the night).

Monday - Swiss Steak, Rice, Sweet Corn, Salad, Chocolate-Covered Apple Slices

Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas (using THRIVE Green Bell Peppers FD)

Wednesday - Homemade Pizza with Mushrooms, Green Peppers and Onions

Thursday - Chicken Taquitos, Sliced apples (PICNIC before my brother's graduation)

Friday - Honey Ginger Glazed Tilapia (I'll be using Flounder), Rice, Roasted Green Beans, Pears

Saturday - Sloppy Matts, Chips, Cole Slaw (could use my FD Chopped Onion since it doesn't call for a full onion - yeah, no waste!), Canteloupe

Sunday -Crockpot BBQ Chicken, Pasta salad, fresh fruit



What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? 

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Menu Plan - 6/4

This past week, everyone was home for the week.  Today I am excited to say that Summer School started for Princess Smiles a Lot and Princess Naked Toes (they're done at Noon) and my husband returned to work after a week off.  My house got a little attention today that had been lacking and because of the extra attention that required plus a playdate with friends, my Menu Plan did not get done until now, as I'm preparing dinner.

Monday - Homemade Pizza with Mushrooms, Green Peppers and Onions

Tuesday - Beef Noodle Bowl

Wednesday - Pan fried Pork Chops, Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes, Applesauce

Thursday - Baked Chicken Penne, Salad

Friday - Quinoa Pancakes

Saturday - Ham, Baked Potatoes, Salad (postponed from last week)

Sunday -Crockpot BBQ Chicken, Pears, Pasta salad


What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? 

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Menu Plan Monday - 5/21

It's the last week of school at our house and it's filled with Career Day, Field Day and an early out the last day.  So we'll be keeping it simple for the first half.  And with hotter temperatures at the end of the week, we'll be finding ways to not heat up the kitchen.

If you noticed on last week's menu, we were camping over the weekend.  So this week I'll be sharing with you some of the foods that we made.  Because we were camping, I didn't get my whole chicken defrosted for the rotisserie chicken so it's rescheduled for this week.

Monday - Pizza - I'm going to try out my THRIVE FD Green Bell Peppers, FD Mushrooms and FD Onions that arrived this month, plus Pizza Sauce from THRIVE Tomato Powder

Tuesday - Chicken, Bacon and Cream Cheese Taquitos, Spanish Rice, THRIVE FD Corn

Wednesday - Hamburgers,   Mango Salsa using THRIVE FD Mango, Tator Tots

Thursday -  Rotisserie Chicken in Crock pot (carry over from last week), Salad, Honey Quinoa Bread (in bread machine)

Friday - Waffles (recipe coming)

Saturday - Haystacks  <<< I'll be changing this up to not use canned Cream of Chicken Soup

Sunday - Pot Roast in Crockpot


What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? 

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Don't forget to sign up for my Dreaming Big Giveaway today, this is the last week to enter!

Menu Plan Monday - 5/7 to 5/13/2012

With a last minute trip to the pediatrician on Thursday, we once again had changes to our menu plan from last week.  BUT the menu plan is saving us from impulse runs through the drive thru and so did having sandwich fixings in the refrigerator.  We discovered that my 9 y/o, aka Princess Smiles-a-Lot, and I really like having sliced cucumber on our sandwiches.  Makes them yummy!  So this week has the carry over of Bulkokee and gamja jorin.

I did experience Quinoa - both making it and eating some.  That post will be coming up tomorrow or Wednesday.  I'll just say that we'll be making some changes.

I have tons of lettuce and spinach in my garden that we need to be eating so we'll have salads multiple times this week.  You may notice there's not any fruit listed in the menu - I'm hoping to find strawberries on sale and we'll be eating lots of those this week.  If not, I'll grab some fresh fruit and add it to the table as we go.

Monday - Pizza and salad.  Once again, it's soccer practice night and there are storms forecasted.  We really need to practice so we'll see what Coach Tim says this afternoon.  Pizza, though, will work whether we're eating at home or at the field.  I'm going to try this new Pizza Sauce recipe using my THRIVE Tomato Powder.


Tuesday - Lasagna Casserole and Salad.  Wondering if I can slip in some veggies into the Lasagna.  Read a post last week that disagreed with hiding vegetables, and I agree that that should not be your only way of eating veggies.  But if I can slip in some extra nutrients from hidden vegetables from my THRIVE stash without my family complaining about a change in taste, I'm all for it.  We'll also have veggies on the side in our salad.

Wednesday - Korean night:  Bul-ko-kee, gamja jorin  Postponed from last week.  I've made Bul-ko-kee a lot but the gamja jorin (Korean potatoes) will be an experiment and surprise for my husband who served his LDS Mission to Korea.

Thursday - Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Roast, Hashbrown Casserole

Friday - Tacos.  Our family LOVES tacos.  Click here to get the taco seasoning recipe I use (about mid-post).

Saturday - Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.  With our Mother's Day celebration being at noon, I'm going to ask for my mother's day breakfast to be dinner on Saturday so that I have room for lunch on Sunday.  My husband is getting pretty good with his homemade biscuits and my mom's sausage gravy recipe.


Sunday - Mother's Day:  Asian BBQ Chicken,  Coleslaw, Pie, Green Bean Casserole.  We're hosting for Mother's Day with my Mom, my Nana, my brother with his wife and boys, my SIL's mother and maybe my SIL's grandmother.  My husband and brother are the only men (not counting those 12 and under).  But since it's mother's day, I don't want to be the primary chef for the day.  So I'm going to ask for Asian BBQ Chicken because my husband can grill it for me.  We're doing lunch because of our church schedule (from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm).

What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week? 

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Don't forget to sign up for my Dreaming Big Giveaway today!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/23 - 4/29

What a crazy week we just finished!  Lots of meals on the go (but we behaved and only ate out once, unless you count eating at my sister's).  Thankfully I had planned ahead and that I had planned simple meals throughout the week. I did make one adjustment to last week's plan.  I decided that for this week's picnic (our weekly picnic at the soccer field just before practice) I wanted to have Pioneer Woman's Beef Noodle Bowl (I'll be sharing about our experience with that recipe tomorrow).  But I had to have a cooked steak for that.  So Sunday night instead of hamburgers on the grill, we grilled some steaks after Church.  I put some potatoes in the crockpot before Church so it was simple to put together.

This week is looking to be a bit calmer.  Here's what my husband and I came up with for our dinner plans.

Monday - Beef Noodle Bowl with zucchini chips

     The zucchini chips is a new recipe to see if my kids will eat zucchini

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken with Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
     We grilled the chicken right after the steaks on Sunday night - cooking ahead saves time later!  I ordered Quinoa with my latest Shelf Reliance Q shipment.  It is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday and I can't wait to try this new grain!

Wednesday - Fettucini Alfredo with Sauteed Yellow Squash


Thursday - Italian Pork Chops with Oven Roasted Potatoes


Friday - Tacos

Saturday - French Toast (Morgan's request)

Sunday - Tator Tot Casserole

What's on your menu?  Are you using any THRIVE this week?

This post is being shared on Menu Plan Monday.  Go check out all the fun menus for this week!

Menu Plan 4/16 - 4/22

We have a crazy week planned this week.  I was pending the blog's approval to share our meal plan for the crazy week and then the crazy week got crazier when a friend called last night.  Her son fell off the trampoline and hit his head.  When she called, they were prepping him for surgery.  I am very grateful that I spent time yesterday morning planning out our meals for this week because that is going to save me today so I can spend time with her at the hospital.

Meal Plan for 4/16 - 4/22

Monday - Wrapped Little Smokies, Strawberries, Chips, Carrots with Ranch
Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas
        (if only I had the FD Green Peppers and FD Red Peppers to make this an even easier meal today)
Wednesday - Beef Roast in Crock Pot, Baked Potatoes, Roasted Green Beans, Applesauce
        (I'm going to try using my THRIVE FD Green Beans for the Roasted Green Beans recipe)
Thursday - BLTs at Park with Zucchini Chips
        (Soccer pictures are at 4:45 with a game at 5:30 so we'll be eating on the go.  The Zucchini Chips are
         a new recipe we'll be trying.)
Friday - at my sister's
         (since we'll be traveling throughout, I'll be packing some FD fruits and veggies as well as some
         Strawberry Yogurt Bites to nibble on)
Saturday - Dinner at Church for my hubby and me; girls will be eating basic Mac & Cheese
Sunday - Hamburgers on the grill, tator tots

As you can tell, I am using a few of my THRIVE products but will be incorporating more during breakfast and lunches.  Maybe next week's Meal Plan will also include plans for breakfasts and lunches.

This menu plan has been shared with Menu Plan Monday. I love reading her menu each week and getting new ideas for my family!