Menu Plan Monday

After 10 days of vacation, I'm ready to get back to our routine, and of course that includes menu planning. I'm also trying to tighten up my grocery budget, so we'll see how that goes this week. Here's what's for dinner:

• Creamy potato soup using this base, cornbread (*Reminder: bake some potatoes the day before)
• Brazilian Fish Stew, rolls
• Pizza (take out for Mia's birthday celebration)
• Chicken Tandoori (my sister-in-law's recipe) (*Reminder: prepare spices and marinate chicken the night before)
• Ground beef (actually turkey) enchiladas
• Breaded chicken and mashed potatoes
• Slow cooker black beans, rice patties (*Reminder: start beans the night before)
  

Non-dinner recipes on the menu:

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

Southern Peach Cobbler

The peach cobbler was a success! Here is the recipe I used (taken from here):

Ingredients

For peaches:

• 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

For topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water

To sprinkle on top:

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Notes:

The only things I did differently were: only including 6 peaches (that's all I had - it would have been even better with 8); and not sprinkling ALL of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top - it seemed like a bit much so I will make less of it next time.

Menu Plan Monday ... on Tuesday

As you can see, this week I'm trying keep it simple, and to use stuff from my freezer.

- Southwestern BBQ Chicken Salad
- Chicken Milano (already pre-cooked a bunch of chicken in the crock pot so I'm going to use that)
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs over rice (meatballs already made in freezer)
- Taco Soup (leftover in freezer), cheese crisps
- Potatoes and/or cornbread with chili, salad
- Crock pot pork (The pork is in the freezer--this has been on my list for several weeks and I still haven't made it), mashed potatoes, veggie
- leftovers/out to eat/Papa Murphy's

Other non-dinner items on the menu:

Peach cobbler (peaches were on sale so I bought a bunch plus vanilla ice cream ... anyone have a favorite peach cobbler recipe to share?)

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Chicken Korma (with pre-made, jarred simmer sauce) over jasmine rice
Crispy Southwest Wraps (vegetarian)
Meatball subs, spinach salad
Roast pork (carry-over from last week)
Asian turkey lettuce wraps and fried rice and/or (if I'm ambitious) easy egg rolls
leftovers/freezer meal

And now since Dee is at preschool and Mouse just got up from his nap, I'm going grocery shopping with only ONE kid in tow (woo hoo!).

Beautiful burger buns

Yes, homemade burger buns. You read that right. How come no one ever told me that making buns was super easy (easier than rolls and breadsticks) and that they taste SO much better than store bought? I don't know if I'll ever go back. Oh yes I will, but maybe only in a pinch.

So here are the buns that have been gracing our table the last few months whenever we have had a need for buns. Original recipe here.

Beautiful Burger Buns

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
2 T butter, softened
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups flour (I use 2 1/4 cups white, and 1 cup white whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar
1 t salt
1 T quick-rising yeast
1 t onion powder
1/2 t dried onion flakes

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix and knead them together, by hand or by mixer, until you have a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour. (I just throw the ingredients in my bread maker and run the "dough" cycle.)
2. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a flattened ball; place the buns on greased baking sheets, cover and let rise 30-40 minutes, until they're puffy.
3. Preheat oven to 375°.
4. Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes, until they're golden brown; remove from oven and baking sheet and cool them on a rack.
5. Slice in half with a serrated knife and use for burgers or sandwiches.
6. (Optional) For burgers, butter the split sides and fry them, buttered side down, until they're golden brown and warmed through.

(Talk about poor presentation. Yes, I know my pan looks awful! Someday I will replace it.)

Menu Plan Monday

It's that time again ... already! Here's what's on the menu this week:

Chinese Chicken Salad - this is a carry-over from last week - and fried cream cheese won tons

Crab Salad on buns/rolls

Chicken Parmesan (I'm using leftover frozen sauce from this recipe), pasta, veggie

Easy Roasted Pork, mashed potatoes

Pizza (Margherita on half, Pepperoni/cheese for the picky eaters)

Grilled Grande bowls (this is my take on one of my favorite menu items at Rubios)


Other items I'm making this week:

Peanut butter cookies
hummus for dipping veggies
salsa
banana honey muffins

What's in the Lunch Box?

{These are my girls' lunch boxes, packed and ready to go}

This year is my first year packing school lunches. Last year Mia was in half-day Kindergarten and there was no need. And since Dee's new preschool is three mornings a week and dismisses right after lunch, I now have two lunches to pack. I admit the novelty hasn't worn off yet and I still think it's kind of fun. I like to pack healthy foods that I know they will like and that will remind them of home.

My take on the school cafeteria lunch (an option for Mia) is this: I'm okay with it now and then, when there's something she really likes on the menu. But I feel that the nutritional value of the food I'm sending with her is higher than the cafeteria food. Luckily she's usually only interested in what they are serving in the cafeteria about once a week, so it works out fine.

On thing that complicates lunch packing is that my girls could hardly be more opposite when it comes to their taste in foods. There are lots of things on my list that Dee will eat and Mia won't, and vice versa. And at Dee's preschool they will heat up food, but Mia doesn't have that option.

To help prevent lunch-packing burn-out, I have compiled this list of yummy, healthy, lunch-box friendly foods that I can refer back to:

Grains:

• Sandwiches of course - PB & J or PB & H usually - on whole grain bread
• granola (with yogurt)
• mini bagels with cream cheese
• tortilla wrap (with meat/cheese or pb&j)
  
• 'healthy' crackers like whole grain Ritz or goldfish, triscuits
• leftover dinner rolls or breadsticks
• homemade baked goods - muffins, banana bread, etc.
• granola bars
• pretzel chips
• whole grain dry cereal
  

Diary:

• Yogurt (I like this kind) and granola
• string cheese or cheese cubes
• cheese rolled up with meat and and secured with toothpicks
• hard boiled egg, peeled and sliced
• milk
• cream cheese (on bagels - I'm also going to try on cucumber slices)
  

Protien:

• Nuts: pistachios are a big favorite, peanuts, cashews, trail mix, etc.
• hummus (for dipping veggies or pretzel chips)
• turkey dogs
• chicken nuggets
• lunch meat (turkey usually) rolled up with cheese and secured with toothpicks
• peanut butter (on a sandwich or as a dip for carrots/apples)
  

Fruit/Veggies (sometimes I'll include ranch dressing for dipping the veggies):

• carrot sticks
• cucumber slices
• radish slices (weird but true)
• lettuce
• cherry tomatoes
  
• apple sauce
• blueberries, strawberries
  
• grapes
• slices of cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, apple
• clementines or orange circles
  
• raisins/Craisins
• bananas

Treats:

• fruit leather or "simply fruit" fruit roll-ups
• granola bars - homemade or store bought
• muffins
• trail mix
• pretzel chips
• tortilla chips
• 'healthy' crackers like whole grain Ritz or goldfish, Triscuits
• peanut butter crackers
• graham crackers
• pop corn/kettle corn
  

Once in a while I will stick in a couple of cookies, a handful or M&Ms or a couple of Starburst for a treat. But not every time.

As a side note, I try to use a lot of tupperware as opposed to baggies that have to be thrown away.

And for fun, here are a few other moms' takes on what to pack in the lunch box:

Trainer Momma

Salt and Chocolate (lots of great comments)

Wendolonia

Weekly pictures of lunches from Wendolonia