Menu Plan Monday

Join me and HUNDREDS of others who post and share great menu's for the week!  Check it out at Organized Junkie!

You can go back a few menu's and see why Menu Planning is so important! 

Here are just a few thoughts to get you started.

SAVES TIME!!

SAVES $$ MONEY!

IMPROVES NUTRITION!

Start Simple-Write down 5 meals your family likes-or-

5 meals you can start to plan with the ingredients you have in your icebox/pantry

-use your sale ads from the paper or online to create your menu/shopping list (this is the part that saves you $$)-be flexible {plan 5-7 meals and pick from those-instead of saying you will have ___ on Monday-that may throw people for a loop and then not continue}-continue once a week to set aside time to do this-take input from your kids and family members-if you don't blog and you need accountibility to do this EMAIL your menu's to me (cookwithbarb@aol.com)- I would be glad to praise you for your efforts-help you with recipe ideas or give your resources-and overall be your cheerleaderto help you stop asking yourself

at 5 PM "What's for Dinner?"

Here are my 5 menu ideas for the week!

• Southwestern Beef Soft Tacos with all the fixin's/Corn on the Cob/Deviled Eggs
• Grilled Mahi-Mahi over Salad Greens/Fresh Fruit
• Parmesan-Garlic Shrimp over Angel Hair Pasta/**Caesar Salad/Fresh Fruit
• 10 minute BBQ Roasted Pork Loin/Buttered Egg Noodles/Mixed Veggies
• Marinated Chicken Breasts-Grilled/Green Salad/Fresh Fruit

What's on your Menu?

Comment below and let me know!!

** Some of my readers have often asked -"why do you eat so much Caesar Salad?"  Well-that is the hubster's only salad dressing choice-so I have searched HIGH and low for a "healthy" alternative to the original and I found it!! Thank you Publix Market!  Found in the Produce section of refrigerated dressings Bolthouse Yougurt dressings are DE-LICIOUS!  I linked to their site above so you can see!

Did someone say S-L-A-C-K--E-R?

Yes, Yes!!! I am the ultimate slacker in the last few weeks-at least for my upkeep of my blog!
We have had event after event, birthday after birthday and yes...NONE of these have really been documented! UGH!!

We go back as far as...MARCH-Griffin celebrated his 1st Birthday-truly a MIRACLE!  I did write a little about it a few posts ago.  Check it out~  Then a day later was my mom's 70th Birthday which Pop and I threw a HUGE party for the event-it took up a whole lot of extra time for planning and making sure she was surprised with some out of town visitors, and getting everything together for that day.  It was about a week of recovery time and time spent with out of town family-Oh yes, I still have my job with the government school program and Pampered Chef-both busy as ever-church activities-MOPS ministry, and then there is the housework-and all the things that need attention from the Stay at Home Mom-WHAT? I mean WORK AT HOME mamna!!  Enough-complaining!

Asides all that...[I am sure your exhausted just reading about it]-I am excited about my new Cricut and learning Digital Scrapbooking and trying to keep up with crop time for both-what is cropping? Well that is time spent "crafting" as I put it. 

I am going to try to keep up this week-little by little!  I promise!

Menu Plan Monday

I know, I know- I have been a slacker AGAIN!! the second week of the month is always a busy week for me amongst the regular to-do stuff.  I did get to enjoy though three "girls night out's" one on Monday and one on Thursday nights and then most of the day on Saturday at a great craft crop.  Much needed for the busy schedule during the day/evening!!

Here is my 5 meals we have available! This week we have a few evening events so I will have to pick and choose!

• Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Melot sauce (Tastefully Simple), corn on the cob
• Breakfast for Dinner - scrambled eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, biscuits
• Chicken Cutlets, pasta with a lemon-butter sauce, green beans
• Steak Fajitas with tortillas and the fixins
• Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad, fresh fruit

Visit ORG JUNKIE to see lot's of menu's and get ideas for your meal time routine!  If you blog-link up, keeps you accountable!

Menu Plan Monday

It's Monday morning and I am hoping this week won't be quite as busy as the last!

Here is what is on my menu this week-what's on yours?

Just a little about menu planning if you don't do it already-start!

It saves TIME!

It saves MONEY!

It saves CONFUSION!

to just name a few-

I link up with http://www.orgjunkie.com/ along with hundreds of other's to post menu's, recipes, and meal planning ideas!  Check it out-you won't be sorry-who knows-maybe you will be linking up too!

Monday:  Grilled Chicken/Mahi-Mahi over field greens, fresh stawberries, and herbed cornbread (thanks mom!)

Tuesday:  Spinach Salad with the works (me) - parmesan penna pasta/fruit (kids) (dad's night out!)

Wednesday:  Caribbean Grilled Boneless Pork Chops, corn on the cob, fresh fruit

Thursday: Swedish Meatballs (thanks IKEA), mashed potatoes, green beans, fresh fruit

Friday:  Grilled Flank Steak with Ceasar Salad

Yes- it's been a while...

I know... I know... the chores had to be done, the paperwork filled out, the shopping and cooking and cleaning....it never ends does it?

Yes-thank you to many emails of...What's for Dinner? this week!  I have not flown by the seat of my pants, but definately had to put my blogging on hold so I could get my first priorities done or at least caught up since 3 family birthdays, two sets of out of town guests, soccer spring season opener and a few events at the club!

My menu this week has consisted of the following:

Monday: family night we went to Brett's softball championship-they lost :(, then out to Hooters for some wings!
Tuesday: formal at the club - as well as a date night with hubster
Wednesday: Crustless Spinach & Feta Pie (recipe to follow), Roasted Asparagus with Garlic
Thursday:  Grilled Chicken Asian Salad
Friday: family is on their own - I have a Pampered Chef trunk show in Boca
Saturday: charity event at the club for Breast Cancer - "Playing in Pink"
Sunday: Old Fashioned Sunday Dinner - Roasted Chicken, Potatoes, Greens, and fresh fruit

Recipe: Crustless Spinach & Feta Pies (a quick take on Spanakopita)
courtesy of Food Network Kitchens Cookbook

1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed
4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 eggs
1 T bread crumbs
2 t dried mint
1 1/4 t kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
pinch of cayenne
1/2 cup Feta cheese

Preheat oven 400 degrees.  Heat oil in skillet, and add drained spinach and scallions and cook, stirring until dry, about 4 minutes.  Transfer to colander and squeeze out any additional mositure.  Brush 4-6oz ramekins with olive oil and place on baking sheet.

Transfer spinach ingredients and rest of ingredients except Feta to a food processor-pulse until finely chopped.  Remove blade and stir in Feta.  Bake until edges are set, but slightly soft in center-about 20 minutes.  Turn oven off and leave for 5 additional minutes.  Invert onto plate and serve with a veggie salad or Tazatiki Sauce-Yum!

My variation:  I added a bit more Feta on the top, and a few cloves of garlic.  I also made mine in a 9x9 and doubled the recipe to have leftovers to share with my neighbor and have for breakfast!  I cut it into 12 pieces and served two per person.  :)

Happy Birtday to my Miracle!

It is so hard to believe that the first year of Griffin's life has passed so quickly.  I know the age-old "unsolicited" advice from EVERYONE- say's... "They are only small for a short while"... is so sadly true!  Being a mom second time around I cherished the time a little more intimate since I think my factory is closing for more children. :(  I always wanted three.  But on a happier note-I can't thank everyone near and dear, close and miles between, friends, family, church leadership, and those I don't even know by name for ALL the prayer and support that came to our family during this year from hot meals to hospital visits to just sitting with me.  I thought I would never see an end to the year or for that matter and end to the endless journey Griffin has endured.  We recently finished our taxes last month and 117 medical appointments for this little fella! WOW!  But I am estatic to report he is doing fantastic, growing by leaps and bounds, and eating us out of the house!  A real change from a year back! 

GOD is so faithful, so good, and such the perfect healer!  If Griffin's testimony from the very beginning of life in the womb with news of a possible brain injury to his prematurty to now a thriving baby isn't a song in GOD's book I don't know what it is that folks don't understand about GOD! 

One of Carter's favorite songs to sing while in the house, in the car, wherever he is to himself is "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me!"  And yes He is!!!

I love you my son! We love you Griffin Cooper Maynard!!