weekly meal plan

Happy Monday!  This is the first meal weekly meal plan of 2017.  If you enjoy my meal plan posts, you have 59 previous weeks of meal plans you can search to help inspire you in your meal planning!  Here is a look at what was on our meal plan last week:

Sunday:  My husband made fish tacos with spicy coleslaw which he served with cilantro rice and homemade guacamole!  I love guacamole….and homemade?  Yum!!

Monday:  I normally do the weekly grocery shopping Monday.  Since it was a holiday, I didn’t want to battle the crowds.  So, we made some fried rice and dumplings (that I had in the freezer from HMart).

Tuesday: I made Cheesy Turkey Tortilla Soup from How Sweet It Is.  I had been sick the week of Christmas and hadn’t cooked in forever.  I jumped back into the cooking game by making this soup.  It was a perfect meal for the chilly night we had it and a great way to use up some of the leftover turkey from Christmas.  I had never made tortilla soup prior to this and I can’t believe what I’ve been missing!  This was so good and even the kids loved it!

Wednesday: I made an Asian Meatloaf (recipe to come soon!) with Asian Potatoes and string beans.  The meatloaf was really tasty!  I realize that in addition to the prep, meatloaf takes forever to cook (like an hour!).  So, not a quick and easy weeknight meal.  However, I think making mini meatloaves in muffin tins or burgers would be great too.

Thursday: I made The Pioneer Woman’s Turkey Tetrazzini.  This dish used up the rest of the leftover turkey!  Woo-hoo!  It took awhile to prep and cook but I did it all in the afternoon.  Since Thursday is our busy night we were able to reheat it and eat in between piano lessons and basketball practice.  This makes a lot and provided dinner and several lunches for the rest of the week.  I’ve made tetrazzini before, but this one was different with the addition of olives and bacon.  The kids weren’t big fans of this dish though, so I likely won’t be making it again.

Friday:  We had our usual homemade pizza.  However, this week we had bacon and olive pizzas to use up leftover ingredients we had from other meals this week.

What is on your menu this week?

It’s Monday and I’m back again with another weekly meal plan.  We survived Saturday’s snow and ice and were out and about Sunday.  This week is a busy one and the last week of school for the kids before their holiday vacation.   You’ve probably noticed that the colder weather has brought more comfort food to my weekly meal plan.  You will be seeing lots more soups, stews and casseroles in the upcoming weeks!   Here’s a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Saturday:  We had our annual supper club cookie exchange.  Instead of going out to eat, we decided to have all the kids come and do our annual pizza them night.  It was a carb-alicious good time!  I made Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Well Plated and my husband made a Deep Dish Spinach and Artichoke Dip pizza.  There was also regular cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza as well as a Tuna Nicoise pizza, Chicken Piccata pizza and Chicken Potpie pizza.  I was stuffed!!!

Sunday:  I had some leftover buffalo chicken ingredients so my husband made calzones for us.  A tasty way to use leftovers!

Monday: I made Philly Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese from Nutmeg Nanny.  This recipe called for deli roast beef and sliced Italian blend cheese.  I used the deli roast beef and provolone cheese.  This was a tasty sandwich that was easy enough to make and the kids really liked!  I served it with fries.  #kidapproved

Tuesday: I made Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup from Taste of Home.  Although I’m not a huge “soup is the meal” type of person, this soup is actually filling with the sausage and tortellini.  I did serve it with some garlic bread….because I’m a carb-a-holic and all!  This was quick and easy to make and there’s a freeze option as well.

Wednesday: I made a Chicken and Vegetable Potpie.  It was adapted so much from a Cooking Light recipe that it’s basically not the recipe at all!  I substituted ground chicken for the ground beef.  I went to two grocery stores looking for refrigerated bread sticks and could not find them.  So, I used croissants on the top instead.   This pot pie has carrots, mushrooms and zucchini in it.  This lacked a little flavor for me and was a little liquid-y.  I served this with Caesar salad.  This was fairly quick and easy but wasn’t a favorite.

Thursday:  Thursday’s after-school schedule includes jazz band, piano lessons, and basketball practice.  I adapted Cooking Light’s Mom’s Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole for dinner.  Instead of using rotisserie chicken breast, I slow cooked some boneless chicken thighs earlier in the day.  And because I need carbs, I cooked some rice as well.  When I got home and had to cook it was quick since everything was already cooked.  This dish was alright but not one that I’d make again.

Friday: Tonight was plain pizza and salad night.  It was a busy night with my husband and son at his Tae Kwon Do belt test and my daughter and I at her holiday Girl Scout meeting.

I’m hoping that this morning we didn’t wake up to a lot of snow!  The weather predictions kept changing so we were unsure what we’d be waking up to!  I’m not ready for winter!  But the cold weather does mean lots more comfort food on our menu.  Think soups, stews, casseroles, etc.!  Here’s a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Saturday –   On the weekends my husband is responsible for the cooking.  Saturday he roasted several squash that we had gotten in our CSA and then blended them with broth, half-and-half and some other ingredients to create a Mixed Squash Soup.  My son helped him cook dinner and since they know I can’t just eat soup for dinner they also had salad and french bread.

Sunday –  My husband made ham steaks, homemade mac and cheese and roasted broccoli.  Simple but tasty and definitely kid-approved!

Monday – I made Stuffed Acorn Squash from Everyday with Rachael Ray, December 2011.  This was another recipe that I made years ago and loved at the time.  However, I made it again and thought it was “eh.”  It lacked flavor and needed something else.  I only used one acorn squash and we each had a quarter of it.  The kids liked the couscous, ground turkey and dried cranberry filling but not the squash!  Needless to say, this recipe is being recycled.

Tuesday – I made Chorizo and Sweet Potato Tacos with Apple Pomegranate Salsa from Closet Cooking.  These tacos were super tasty!  Even my daughter enjoyed them and she does not like sweet potatoes.  With the chorizo, salsa, avocado and cheese, you do not really taste the sweet potatoes.  The potatoes need to roast for a bit, but otherwise this recipe was easy to make.  While the potatoes were roasting I cooked the chorizo and made the fruit salsa.  I served these with roasted asparagus.

Wednesday –  I made an adapted version of Apple Pie French Toast from Closet Cooking.   Yes, another recipe this week from Closet Cooking!  Kevin makes good stuff! My son helped me cook dinner, which I loved! diced the apples instead of keeping them sliced and used five, because his recipe only serves two people and there are four of us.  I also omitted the candied walnuts because this recipe is sweet enough.  I didn’t feel the need to add more sugar, although I’m sure the walnuts are delicious!  I served this with bacon.  This was definitely a kid-approved dinner!

Thursday – I went to HMart, a large Korean (and Asian) grocery store near us.  I picked up some Marinated Beef Bulgogi and Pork Belly which I cooked and served with rice and sides, including kimchi, fish cakes and marinate radish.  We don’t eat Korean food very much, but we love it!  I’m trying to get my kids used to eating kimchi, but it’s still too spicy for them!  I realize that I was too hungry to take a pic!

Friday –  By Friday, I was not feeling in the mood to cook so  I picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner.  I had a package of Simply Potatoes Mashed potatoes and roasted some broccoli.  Dinner served….and a quick, easy and delicious one at that!  Sorry, another night of dinner, with no picture!

What is on your dinner menu this week?

Mondays mean it’s time for meal plans.  Meal plans are a must for our family ensuring that we have a (mostly!) healthy dinner planned every night.  It helps keep us on budget as well, since less trips to the grocery store equal less impulse buys!  If you are new to meal planning you can learn more about how I create our weekly meal plan in this post.  This past week it was rainy and cold for a couple of days.  This type of weather means comfort food around here.   Here’s a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Sunday – homemade pizza and salad.  Normally, we eat pizza on Fridays.  But we had come home from visiting my sister and her family for Thanksgiving late Friday evening.  I ran to the grocery store Saturday to just pick up a few necessities and pizza is so easy.  So, pizza it was!

Monday – I made Chicken Sausage Provolone Pasta Bake from Cooking Light, January 2005.  This is a recipe repeat and is a dish that I’ve made before.  I had apple chicken sausage in the fridge that I wanted to use and remembered this recipe.  This recipe takes a little prep in the beginning, cooking the pasta and getting the sausage and tomato mixture ready.  And then it has to bake for 25 minutes.  Not super quick but fairly easy to make.  Plus, it uses a pound of pasta, which means lots of leftovers for us.  The kids ate this and enjoyed it.  However, my tastes must have changed since this wasn’t as good as I remembered.

Tuesday – I made Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Closet Cooking.  To me soup is not a meal.  So to make it meal-worthy, I served it with some biscuits and Caesar Salad.  This was easy to make but takes some time in the cooking department, since the broccoli has to roast for 30 minutes and the soup has to simmer for 20 minutes.  This was tasty though and kid-approved. It was perfect for dinner on one of our cold, rainy evenings.

Wednesday  – I made Biscuit-Topped Chicken Potpie from Cooking Light, October 2006.  This was a very biscuit week for us!  The biscuits in this potpie are made with baking mix (like Bisquick).  Instead of chicken breasts, which the recipe called for, I used chicken thighs, which I cooked in the slow cooker.  I served this dish with roasted asparagus.  This dish wasn’t quick and required a bit of prep and then oven cooking.  I found the diced potatoes were a bit harder than I would have liked.  This was another kid-approved meal, but one that I probably won’t be making again.

Thursday – I made Better Than Takeout Ham Fried Rice from the The Recipe Critic.  This was hands down the winning dinner of the week!  Plus it was so quick and easy to make!  Thursdays are currently the craziest night of the week for us.  I precooked the rice in the rice cooker earlier in the day.  When we got home from piano lessons, I was able to whip this together  in probably 10-15 minutes.  The kids love fried rice.  To spice it up, we add sriracha sauce after to the adult portions!

Friday – Surprisingly we had enough food left over for leftovers tonight!  This happens so rarely, that I was super-excited for a night off from cooking!

What is on your menu this week?

Here is another weekly meal plan to help inspire you with some dinner ideas.  Meal Planning helps ensure that my family has a healthy dinner every night.  It also helps keep food expenses down.  If you are new to meal planning, you can read more about my meal planning process.  Here is a look at what was on our menu this past week.

Saturday:  My husband and I went out to dinner for Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (HVRW) with our supper club to Hudson House River Inn.  I enjoyed these Chianti Braised Short Ribs with Mushroom Risotto.

Sunday:  One of my daughter’s favorite meals is spaghetti and meatballs.  My husband made some turkey meatballs and spaghetti for dinner and she was super happy!

Monday: I made Quick Chicken Minestrone with French Bread with Cauliflower Cheese Sauce from Cooking Light, October 2016.  This recipe uses a rotisserie chicken which helps make it quick and easy.  However, my husband noted that this was basically chicken noodle soup.  There were no beans and minimal veggies.  I would not make the French Bread with Cauliflower Cheese Sauce again.  It was too much work with leftover bread and cauliflower and it didn’t taste that great.

Tuesday:  I made One-Skillet Buffalo Chicken Lasagna from i heart eating.   I didn’t read the directions carefully and cooked the noodles separately instead of in the skillet with the chicken and veggies.  I just omitted adding the chicken broth and I drained the diced tomatoes.  This dish wasn’t too spicy and the kids were able to eat it.  It made a ton and we were eating this for days!

Wednesday: We had shrimp fajitas and salad.  My daughter wanted to make dinner and pretty much made most of the dinner on her own, with me supervising.  We sauteed the peppers and onions and used Penzeys Fajita Seasoning.  Simple but tasty.

Thursday:  This is our busiest night of the week and this Thursday we had leftovers.  Since we often eat leftovers for lunches the next day, it’s rare that we have enough for dinner.  However, that One Skillet Buffalo Chicken Lasagna made enough that we were eating it for days!

Friday:  My mom was in town and took the family out to dinner.  We went to Savannah’s Southern House where the kids enjoyed fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  I had shrimp with Parmesan grits and my husband had a BBQ platter with pulled pork and brisket.  Yum!

What is on your menu this week?

Oh Monday how I detest you!  Another Monday means another start to a very busy week.  Luckily, having a weekly meal plan keeps me organized and ensures that I have dinner on the table every night.  Recently, I have been asking the kids to give me one meal that they’d like to see on our meal plan for the following week.  This past week’s meal plan, seen below, included a quiche at my daughter’s request and Velveeta Mac and Cheese, which my son wanted.  This helps me in coming up with meal ideas as well as ensures that there’s a dinner each week that I know that the kids will enjoy!  Here’s a look at what was on our weekly meal plan this past week:

Saturday:  It was just me and my daughter for dinner so we got Panera takeout.

Sunday: I made Slow Cooker Beanless Chili.  My mom was in town and came over for dinner.  I’m not a big bean fan but I do like a nice bowl of chili and this one fit the bill!  I served the chili over rice and with a side of biscuits.

Monday: I made Ham, Cheese and Broccoli Quiche (recipe coming soon!).  I served this with a Caesar Salad.  My daughter had requested that I make a quiche and I came up with this one since it had all the ingredients that she likes.  Plus, I had enough ingredients to make two quiches so my husband and I had breakfasts for the week.

Tuesday: I made Velveeta Mac and Cheese from a recipe from Food.com.  It’s allegedly the same recipe right off the box (my box of Velveeta didn’t have a recipe).  Yes, I bought and used the Velveeta block of cheese.  Yes, the mac and cheese came out pretty tasty.  However, cost-wise, my husband and I were trying to figure out if it was easier and cheaper to buy the boxed Velveeta shells and cheese.  It’s a toss-up.  We ended up with plenty of leftovers for lunches.  I served this with a garden salad using peppers, radishes, onion and tomatoes from our CSA.

Wednesday: I made Crab Cakes from a recipe on allrecipes that I adapted.  I served them with Simply Potatoes Mashed Potatoes and sautéed Swiss Chard from the CSA.  The kids were not a fan of the crab cakes, but my husband and I enjoyed them.  I rarely make homemade crab cakes and probably won’t again, since the kids didn’t like them.

Thursday:  I made Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon and Potato Soup from Cooking Light, October 2016.  Thursdays are crazy here with after school activities and piano lessons until 6 PM.  So, there’s not a lot of time for me to make dinner when we get home, unless we want to eat super late.  On Thursdays I either make a slow cooker recipe or premake dinner during the day and we reheat it when we get home.  This recipe wasn’t a quick throw it in the slow cooker and forget about it recipe.  It required cooking bacon, sautéing onion, carrots and celery and browning chicken all before being placed in the slow cooker.  Then half-way through potatoes had to be added and chicken had to be shredded and bones removed.  That being said, this was a tasty soup that we all enjoyed. It provided enough leftovers for lunch for the family on Saturday.  #KidApproved

Friday:  I made our usual homemade pizza.  However, this week I made Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza from Closet Cooking for my husband and I.  This pizza had all the flavors of spinach and artichoke dip, which I love, but it wasn’t my favorite in pizza form.   Overall preparation wise it was fairly easy to put together, which isn’t always the case with specialty pizzas.

What are you having for dinner this week?

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  The kids are starting off this week with today and tomorrow off from school for Rosh Hashanah.  As much as I’d like to say we’re going to be off having some fun, today’s schedule includes flu shots, grocery shopping and laundry!  We are going to enjoy two days of not waking up early, after school activities and homework though!  Here is a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Saturday:  We went out to dinner at a local Thai restaurant. We were so hungry that I took no pictures!

Sunday: My husband made a veggie stir-fry using some of our CSA veggies, which he served with over ramen noodles (just the noodles no flavor packets!).

Monday: I made an adapted version of Katie Lee’s Nectarine Cream Cheese French Toast Sandwiches, using peaches instead.  I omitted the sugar and vanilla and added some cinnamon instead.  The sandwiches didn’t end up overly sweet and we dipped them in syrup.  I served these with breakfast sausage.  Anytime we have breakfast for dinner it’s a hit and this dinner was no different.  The kids loved it!

Tuesday: I made 15 minute Bangkok Peanut Mango Pasta from Half Baked Harvest.  This was a quick and easy dish to make.  Of course I forgot to add the peanuts to the dish at the end!  But it tasted great without them.  I also didn’t add the Fresno chile peppers to keep it kid-friendly.  We all enjoyed this dinner.  This dish would taste great with some grilled chicken or even tofu, if you want to add some protein to it.

Wednesday: I made Chicken and Chile Hash from Cooking Light, September 2016.  I used a regular green pepper instead of a poblano pepper to keep the heat of the dish down.  And then I topped the dishes with fried eggs instead of poached eggs.  I found this recipe to be pretty bland.  We all added some hot sauce or tabasco sauce to give it some flavor.  I will not be making this recipe again.

Thursday: I made 20 Minute Thai Basil Beef from Closet Cooking.  I omitted the birds eye chilies and only used the red pepper that the recipe called for.  I used one tablespoon of fish sauce and one tablespoon of soy sauce in the recipe instead of 2 tablespoons of fish sauce or soy sauce.  I served this over rice.  This was quick and easy to prepare.  The flavor was interesting and we all ate it.  I don’t think that we enjoyed it enough for me to make again.

Friday:  We had our usual homemade pizza.  I fried up some of the eggplant that we’ve received in our CSA and my husband and I had eggplant pizza while the kids ate regular cheese.

What is on your menu this week?

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  My daughter had a two night girl scout sleepover this weekend and my husband went to his college homecoming Saturday.  So it was just me and my son for most of Saturday.  I took him to soccer and then we did a quick drive around town so he could collect Poke balls (for Pokémon Go!).  We had lunch and watched the Fantastic Four and then ran some errands.  My husband and brother-in-law got home shortly and then we went out to dinner at a local Thai restaurant.  Sunday I picked my daughter up from her girl scout camping trip and then the day was spent getting ready for the upcoming week, which included meal planning for this week. It’s really starting to feel like fall around here with the cooler temps.  As I meal plan now I’m looking for tasty-sounding but quick recipes!  If you’re new to meal planning you can read more about my meal planning process.  Otherwise, here’s a look at what was on our meal plan this past week:

Saturday:  We had a late lunch/early dinner (linner?!) at Raga Indian Cuisine.  We ate around 2:00 PM and I was good for the rest of the evening!  We went to our local town day and the kids each had a snow cone.

Sunday: We had supper club.  This month’s theme was to pick a favorite dish from a past dinner and make it.  I made Lasagna-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash from supper club member Ashley at Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen.  I had chosen this recipe because I thought it was one that I’d actually remake.  I like it because even me a carb lover, doesn’t feel like I’m missing pasta with this dish since it’s hearty and filling with the lasagna filling.

Monday: My husband recreated Rafiqi’s Chicken over Rice for our supper club dinner.  He purposely made extra chicken so we’d have some leftover for dinner this week.  We all had enjoyed it at supper club and the kids enjoyed this one for dinner.  I apologize that we failed to take a picture!

Tuesday:  We had leftover lasagna stuffed spaghetti squash that I had made for supper club.  It seemed kid-friendly with the lasagna filling and I thought I might be able to sneak squash past the kids.  My daughter enjoyed it but my son wasn’t a fan!

Wednesday:  I made Provolone Broccoli Rabe Beef Sliders from Cooking Light, September 2016.  I’m not sure if it was the size of the slider rolls that I bought, but there was not enough beef mixture to make eight sliders (two each).  Luckily, I had more ground beef in the freezer and defrosted it and made another batch of sliders.  This dish falls into the quick and easy category.  I cooked the broccoli rabe while the sliders were cooking.  These were tasty and we all enjoyed them.  I served them with fries.

Thursday: I made 15 Minute Garlic Butter Ramen Noodles from Half Baked Harvest.  Ramen noodles are so cheap and this recipe uses the noodles, but not the salty seasoning packets that come with it!  Last week I had my husband stop by the Asian grocery store near his office to pick up the white miso paste that this recipe called for.  But of course I didn’t remember to add the zucchini to the shopping list, so I did without.  This was pretty quick and easy to make. Instead of soft boiled eggs we had fried eggs on top.  I served it with garlic bread and chopped salad.  My kids are big ramen soup lovers and were a little disappointed that there was no broth!  But they ate these noodles up.  This will probably be one of those go-to recipes when I feel like we have nothing to eat in the house and have to come up with a quick lunch or dinner!

Friday:  My husband used the leftover sliders to make a Ricotta Meatball Pizza as well as a cheese pizza for dinner.

What is on your menu this week?

Another Monday means another meal plan!  This week school schedules are in full effect.  All the activities and clubs have started and the kids are busy.  This means quick and easy meals for us! If you are new to meal planning, you can read more about my meal planning process.   Here is what was on the menu this past week:

Saturday:  My daughter was at a friend’s house.  We ordered takeout sushi and watched The Jungle Book with our son.

Sunday: We spent the day at the Hudson Valley Wine and Food Festival.  We feasted on poutine, empanadas, pierogis and a kielbasa reuben.  By the time we got home we were tired and hungry again!  My husband made us a big pot of spaghetti.

Monday: I made kielbasa, onion and cheese sandwiches which I served with fries.  Super quick and easy.

Tuesday: I made Slow Cooker salsa chicken (a pound of chicken, some taco seasoning and a jar of salsa).  Then I used the chicken in a burrito wrap (cooked rice, black beans and shredded Mexican cheese).  I served the burritos with additional salsa and sour cream and a side of sautéed kale and Swiss chard.

Wednesday: I made One Skillet Sloppy Jo Corn Bread Casserole from I Wash You Dry.  I used the recipe provided for homemade sauce versus the can of sloppy jo sauce the recipe called for.  I made this in the cast iron skillet, which may have been a little big.  This was tasty though and a dish that the kids really enjoyed.

Thursday:  This is our late dinner night since the kids are at piano lessons from 5-6 PM.  Luckily this week my husband worked from home, so while I was with the kids at piano he made dinner.  Dinner was a marinated pork loin and mashed potatoes with sautéed bok choy.

Friday:  Happy birthday to me!  Last Friday was my birthday.  I had a 5:45 meeting but my husband was home and made a Korean BBQ feast.  We had beef bulgogi, marinated chicken, pork belly, rice, spicy fish cakes, kimchi and dumplings.  My parents were in town and  came over for dinner and brought a cannoli cake for dessert.  It was delicious!

What was on your menu this week?