The "Dad's home and Marine's here" menu!

Can I just say for a moment that it is extremely easy to follow the menu when hubby's not here? :) His whims tend to cause changes, and since he wasn't home last week, we did exactly what Mom had planned. Woo hoo!!
So this week, hubby is home from his trip, and Marine son is here for a visit as well. This means that all plans are subject to change every day, but I *need* a plan, because if I don't, default = out to eat = $$$$$$ !!!!!! I've not yet figured out my husband's love of eating out, but we do it more than usual when our big boys are in town. That said, I'm listing the plan this week for lunch & dinner, but not assigning any days, except Sunday.

Sunday~ lunch: leftover roast, mushrooms, and gravy over mashed potatoes
dinner: Breakfast - eggs, bacon, waffles, toast, blueberries.

The rest of the week:
~~~LUNCHES~~~
Tacos, nachos & quesadillas
BLTs & chips
Sliders (from the freezer), salad
Chicken tenders, twice baked potatoes, salad or broccoli
4th of July cookout at the parents' house
I know there will be at least 2 days of lunches out.

~~~DINNERS~~~
Grilled steak, sliced tomatoes from our garden, corn on the cob, fried okra (fresh from the garden!), onion rings
Grilled chicken, fruit salad, baked potatoes
Spaghetti, bread with Italian dipping sauce, tossed salad
Appetizer night
Leftovers
And the out to eat for dinner option. Which hubby loves when Marine son is in town.

So there ya have it. Have a happy 4th of July, and get some menu inspiration at Laura's!

The "Dad's out of town" Menu

A review of last week tells me that we did a decent job of following the plan. As for dinners, we swapped chicken for leftover burgers on Wednesday, and on Thursday we had breakfast instead of tacos. Friday, my father decided to take my sister & me out to dinner for a Father's Day date at a local restaurant, so hubby & son fended for themselves (quite nicely, I think!). Saturday, Hubs decided he wanted to celebrate Father's Day before his trip instead of after, so he chose the meals all day and we ended up with BLT's for dinner, with tomatoes fresh from our garden, and another round of the now infamous oatmeal cookie peach cobbler.

This week, dear hubby is out of town at a workshop. So it's ds#3 and me... and a great time for a Lunch Challenge! (I did make breakfast every day last week, but did not always follow the plan for my Breakfast Challenge. I have decided to give myself permission to wing breakfast, because I always make it and have a variety of quick meals to choose from.) We have swimming lessons every day except Friday, and it is tempting to hit the drive thru on the way home because there are a BAZILLION fast food joints that we pass. And since Daddy's away, the temptation is even greater!!! So this challenge will help me immensely.

Sunday~ lunch @ my parents' house. Gorgeous grilled steak, twice baked potatoes, cheese and cracker salad, peas, crescent rolls, and watermelon for dessert. Who needs dinner????
Monday~ lunch: quesadillas,
dinner: chicken tenders, steamed broccoli, leftover twice baked potatoes
Tuesday~ lunch: ravioli, tossed salad,
dinner: out after going to see Up!
Wednesday~ lunch: cheese pizza,
dinner: sandwiches & chips
Thursday~ lunch: tortilla crusted tilapia (frozen - don't be too impressed!!), cucumbers & tomatoes from the garden,
dinner: nachos!
Friday~ Marine son comes home, so all plans are subject to change.
Saturday~ Marine son will take ds#3 to go see Airman son, so I'll be home alone to get ready for hubby's arrival on Sunday. I will definitely have some kind of CHICK FOOD!!

For many more marvelous menus, visit Laura's Menu Plan Monday!

June Menu, week two

What an eventful week we've had. We learned this week that Marine Son will be deploying to Afghanistan in a couple of months, and son #3 broke his toe. So you know what that meant... extra movies and video games for him. He's supposed to keep his foot up as much as possible (how much is possible for an eight-year-old??!) but he seems to be getting along pretty well.

As for the food? Well, again, we didn't get to the roast chicken meal. So that will carry over again to this week. And when I was planning my menu, I totally forgot to schedule in time for hubby & me to celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary! He took me to a local Italian restaurant where I thoroughly enjoyed some scrumptious eggplant parmesan. YUMMMMM! I've been doing pretty well keeping the fruits & veggies in every meal, so I intend to continue that. Lastly, the oatmeal cookie peach cobbler was FANTASTIC. I highly recommend it.
Now this week:
Sunday~ Spaghetti (hubby's request) with sauteed mushrooms, Italian bread with dipping sauce, and fresh cherry cobbler (used the same recipe as the peach, just subbed cherries, because that's what we have!)
Monday~ the bug man is coming to spray. So if the smell is overpowering, we'll go out. If not, we'll have chef salads.
Tuesday~ Beef in the crock pot, rice & gravy, fresh corn, tossed salad
Wednesday~ Leftover burgers from Saturday OR the roast chicken dinner
Thursday~ Tacos & Quesadillas, refried beans
Friday~ BBQ Pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, onion rings
Saturday~ Breakfast for Dinner

I'm also giving myself a Breakfast Challenge this week, with inspiration from Joy and Amanda. (They are also doing a Lunch Challenge, but we'll be out for lunch this week due to workshops and VBS, so we'll give that a go next week.) Hubby usually cooks his own breakfast, but I make ds#3's and mine. So here goes:
Sunday~ big breakfast for everyone. That's the usual - no biggie here.
Monday~ Homemade waffle for ds, cereal w/strawberries for me
Tuesday~ Toast & bacon for ds, fruit & yogurt for me
Wednesday~ Eggs & grits, waffle w/fruit for me
Thursday~ mini-bagel & bacon, fruit & yogurt for me
Friday~ Homemade waffle, oatmeal w/fruit for me
Saturday~ Pancakes & sausage for everyone (except I'll have turkey bacon)

Drop by Laura's and share your menus!

School's out Menu!

School is officially out for the summer. I still have some odds & ends to tie up, but it will be at my leisure. I am beginning to relax a little, although still thinking about work quite a bit. Ds#3 will be going to VBS this week, so I'll be enjoying a little freedom in the mornings... I'm going to try to get back into an exercise routine... although I have a nasty scrape on my knee, so that might make it challenging. We'll see.
Last week's menu? Actually, it went fairly well, with just a couple of adjustments. The Spinach & mushroom smothered chicken was tasty, but just a tad bland. I will probably make it again for myself (I left out the spinach for hubby & son) and add something with a little kick to it. Rachael Ray's Texas chili-cheese fries were a fun change of pace, and we enjoyed them a LOT, on Saturday, instead of Thursday. I had some leftover beef from our black'n'bleu salad and the chicken, so I made foil packets with individual portions and added ingredients that each of us liked, so everyone had their own packet. Kind of fun and different.
Now for this week!
I have made it a goal to include fruits or vegetables with every single meal. So here's the attempt with dinnertime.
Sunday~ Pasta toss with fresh grape tomatoes and basil from our garden, tossed with some sauteed mushrooms and feta cheese. Add in your favorite pasta ... fresh and yummy.
Monday~ Baseball team party at a local restaurant. No cooking for mom.
Tuesday~ Roast chicken, roasted potatoes (baby new potatoes from our garden) , broccoli, corn on the cob (this is actually from last week's menu, but we never got to it)
Wednesday~ Spaghetti, tossed salad
Thursday~ BLTs & chips or chef salads ... essentially the same ingredients, just depends on what we're in the mood for
Friday~ Tacos and trimmings
Saturday~ Steak on the grill, baked potatoes, and something green which has yet to be determined.

I also made this delicious oatmeal cookie peach cobbler with fresh peaches that are coming in season now, so we'll be satisfying our sweet tooth with fruit. :)

Share your menus at Laura's!