January... menu for the month

In January, I'm always pretty careful about our menu plan to help us get back on track from Christmas. :)

Here's our plan for this month's meals:

• Tacos
• Spaghetti, french bread with Italian spices for dipping
• Chili
• Potato Bacon torte, tossed salad
• Roast (in the crockpot), mashed potatoes, green beans
• Open-faced roast beef sandwiches (using leftover roast)
• French onion soup, grilled cheese
• Broccoli, Mushroom & Cheese Breakfast Strata (we love to have breakfast for dinner)
• Pasta toss (similar to this one)
• Loaded baked potatoes (cooked in the crock pot!), salad
• Orange chicken, rice, broccoli, mandarin oranges
• Tomato soup, grilled cheese
• Quesadillas
• Sticky chicken, pasta salad, green beans, cornbread
• Beef tips & gravy, egg noodles, broccoli, biscuits
• BBQ pork sandwiches (pork tenderloin cooked in the crockpot), baked beans, slaw
• Stouffer's lasagna, salad
• BLTs & baked chips
• Bourbon chicken, rice, peas, biscuits
• Beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, broccoli

The other days will be filled in with leftovers or breakfast for dinner, which we dearly love.

I love to bake, especially when it's cold outside, so I'm sure some homemade goodies will appear as well. I made Banana Nut Bread today (we had some EXTREMELY ripe bananas!).

New Year, New Menu!

Last week's menu did not go exactly according to plan... but that is why we call it a 'plan'!

We ended up going out on Wednesday night, and hubby wanted tacos for our New Year's Eve dinner. On Friday, we had spaghetti, and Saturday was a FREEZING cold day so chili was on the menu. (Yes, we like our beef here.)

So, things are shuffled around a little. Which is okay. I have planned out the menu for the month, so here's the plan for this week:

Sunday~ French onion soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, salad

Monday~ Roast in the crockpot with onions, mushrooms & carrots, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday~ Open-faced roast beef sandwiches

Wednesday~Potato Bacon torte, salad

Thursday~ Breakfast for dinner. May try this recipe for Broccoli, Mushroom and Cheese Strata from Ellie Krieger

Friday~ Leftovers (there should be plenty!)

Saturday~ Pasta toss, french bread with Italian dipping spices

You can see my plan for the entire month right here.

Can you tell I'm trying to incorporate lots of veggies??

Share your new year's menus at Laura's!

Frugal Friday

Happy New Year!

Naturally, on the first day of the New Year, my thoughts turn to all the things I want to accomplish this year.

*Plan my menus better and shop more frugally

(I've just discovered a Save-a-Lot grocery store in my city and can't wait to try it. Does anyone have any experiences to share?)

*Reduce or eliminate credit card purchases

(This is not as much an issue for me as it is for hubby. But it's a household goal, so I'll list it.)

*Pay off two credit cards.

I've spent today grading papers for school and taking care of household tasks, along with cooking some really great meals for my guys. I've got French Onion Soup simmering on the stove for another day...and I just pulled a Potato-Bacon Torte out of the oven for later as well. Cooking these time-intensive dishes for another day makes a cold-weather meal even better!

Share your frugal goals at Frugal Friday!

Menu Monday!

Sunday~ Leftovers: burgers, dogs, baked beans, turkey sandwiches... whatever else suits our fancy

Monday~ FFYS... Mom's going to dinner & a movie with the girls!

Tuesday~ Breakfast for Dinner

Wednesday~ Chili mac

Thursday~ New Year's Eve... TBA

Friday~ Happy New Year! Lasagna, tossed salad, french bread (We did this last year, and it was a nice change)

Saturday~ BBQ pork sandwiches

I have a question about New Years celebrations: how do you ring in the New Year?

Our evening is always very low-key, and we toast with sparkling cider, but it's not a fancy going-out kind of night for us... and honestly, I always feel a little bad that I don't 'do it up' better because Christmas is such a big deal at our house. I'm on the lookout for new traditions, so if you've got some to share, I'd love to hear them!

Join in the menu madness at Laura's.

Another Monday... another menu

Only this isn't just ANY Monday!
This is the Monday of the week of Christmas... and we are super excited.
BOTH of our military sons will be home for the holiday, for the first time in two years.
The very best present I could request.

So our menu this week is a little special too.

Sunday~ this yummy pasta tossed with tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, feta cheese (and shrimp for hubby), homemade bread
Monday~ tacos & my layered bean dip
Tuesday~ simply breakfast for dinner
Wednesday~ (the fun begins...) Out to dinner with extended family, then back to their house for dessert and presents
Thursday~ OUR BOYS ARRIVE!!!! We are taking them out to the Melting Pot - something we've wanted to do for a while, and decided Christmas Eve would be a great time to do it.
Friday~ Christmas dinner: turkey, beef tenderloin, stuffing, mashed potatoes, fried okra, swiss beans, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and whatever else the boys request.
Saturday~ Cookout with the fam: hamburgers, hotdogs, sausages, baked beans, chips, deviled eggs, and cake

About last week...
the Chinese Orange Chicken was yummmm. I took a shortcut and just used chicken nuggets that I had in the freezer, and doctored it up with the sauce from the recipe. Very good, and better than the big frozen bags you can buy at the grocery store.
I never made the roast or lasagna (trying to use up leftovers in the fridge), but overall, a very good week.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Monday Menu...

Oh my goodness... I haven't posted in over a month and so many things have happened.
My grandfather passed away... and we are all still profoundly feeling the loss.
We celebrated Thanksgiving - without him - but we made it through.
We learned that our oldest son would be home in time for Christmas.
We learned that BOTH our military boys would be home for Christmas.
I took 60+ middle schoolers on a trip to Disney.
And school is out on Friday.
So I figured this would be a good week to get my hiney back on the wagon.

Monday~ Chicken w/ mushroom gravy (crockpot), egg noodles, Caesar salad, homemade bread
Tuesday~ Pasta fagioli
Wednesday~ Roast in the crockpot, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Thursday~ Lasagna from the freezer
Friday~ WHEW! Breakfast for dinner. True comfort.
Saturday~ Chinese Orange Chicken, rice, broccoli, mandarin oranges

See more menus at Laura's!

November Menu

Well here we are.
This week's menu is sort of bare bones - life is busy and I've got a VERY rough plan.

Sunday~ Burgers & dogs on the grill, with chips & dip. Fam over to celebrate ds#3's 9th b-day.
Monday~ Spaghetti (never got to it last week).
Tuesday~ Some kind of chicken. Any inspirations to share?
Wednesday~ Hubby has class, so ds & I do something simple.
Thursday~ Late rehearsal for me, which means out for ds & dh.
Friday~ Roast in the crock pot. A homey meal for the end of the week.
Saturday~ WHO KNOWS by then. :)

Share your menu at Laura's!