[Menu Plan Monday] May 9, 2016

Last week, I somehow aggravated an old injury in my back. Usually when this happens, I am out of commission for a couple of days. I'm on day 10 and still hurting. Last week I didn't do much of anything. We ate out almost every single night. Not good on the checkbook. 

This week, still feeling not great, I'm going to attempt the following meal plan. I may need to make adjustments, but I think I kept things simple enough that it will be okay...

Turkey steak, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables
Waffles, sausage, eggs, fruit
Chicken Alfredo with broccoli
BBQ chicken, funeral potatoes, salad
Steak, baked potatoes, green beans
Cheeseburgers, fries, fruit
Ham, eggs, biscuits
Cordon bleu pasta, salad, foccacia bread

And if not, well, cold cereal it is. :)

"I could eat a stick dipped in that sauce" Alfredo...
Melt 3 TBSP butter with 2 TBSP olive oil.
Stir in 2 tsp minced garlic.
Cook and stir for a couple of minutes.
Whisk in 1 pint heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste.
Heat over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until it starts to simmer.
Simmer and stir until sauce thickens.
Remove from heat. 
Whisk in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (the real stuff).
When that's fully melted, whisk in 3/4 cup grated mozzarella.
Whisk until melted. 
Serve hot.

[menu plan Monday] OR [sketchy dinners Sunday]

Yesterday, I asked Luke and McKayslin to write down 3 things they would like to eat this week. I wrote down 3 things as well. And as I went to hang the list on the fridge, I had to laugh - there are now 4 menu plan type lists on my fridge. FOUR. Ha.

Going off the list from yesterday, our menu plan (which really should be called a sketch, because there's nothing "planny" about it!!) and weekly schedule look something like this...

Meal Sketches - alfredo, sloppy joes, steak and potatoes, all day steak and cheesy potatoes, pollo con queso (Luke is hereby banned from playing on my Pinterest account!), pancakes (Goosey already volunteered for dinner this night!), Grandma Rainsdon noodles in broth over potatoes, chimichangas, tacos, Grammy mac, chicken parmesan

Schedule -

M: 1 piano lesson (cancelled) so I'll have McKayslin do her lesson today instead. Tonight feels like a good cajun chicken alfredo pasta night.

T: 1 piano lesson, Goosey has rehearsal until 4, I have glee club from 7:30-9 and it's Kenton day. I think Grammy Mac or steak and potatoes.

W: 1 piano lesson. Reflections judging (10-12 or 5-7). Pancakes (we use the same recipe for pancakes and waffles) so McKayslin can cook if I'm gone. Or tacos if that sounds better.

TH: Goosey has rehearsal until 4. Bread day. All day steak and cheesy potatoes. Unless we opted for steak and potatoes on Tuesday, then pollo con queso.

F: Feed the Elders. Friday is always pizza night, so either homemade pizza or pizza sticks I think...

Sa: Clean out both freezers - we need to go pick up our half beef in Lewiston, and our chicken breasts will be here in a couple of weeks also. I'm hoping for Grandma Rainsdon noodles this day.

Su: I teach Sunday School. Grilled or toasted cheese sandwiches. It's tradition.

M: 2 piano lessons. Chicken parmesan or sloppy joes.

[menu plan Monday]

Here's our menu for this week...

Sunday - Grilled Cheese (McKayslin had grilled cheese and an apple.  I had grilled cheese and some smoked salmon.  Luke had grilled turkey and cheese).

Monday - Waffles, Bubba Syrup, Sausage, Eggs

Tuesday - Porcupines, Biscuits, Green Beans

Wednesday - Baked Salmon, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Scones

Thursday - Homemade Fish and "Chips"

Friday - Spaghetti and Meatballs, homemade French Bread, Corn

Saturday - Hamburger Gravy over Rice, Green Beans, Rolls

Waffles

Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 3/4 cups milk.
Add 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup oil, 1 TBSP brown sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.

Beat until smooth.

Cook on a hot waffle iron until steam stops.

Makes 6 large waffles.

Bubba Syrup

In a saucepan combine 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp white corn syrup.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Stop stirring and boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp baking soda.  Syrup will foam up and get bubbly.

Porcupines

Combine 1 pound ground beef with 1/3 cup uncooked rice, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup water, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.  Mix well and form into meatballs.  (This is super easy to double and then freeze the other half of the meatballs at this point).
In a deep skillet with a tight fitting lid, combine 1 can tomato soup, 1/2 tsp chili powder and 1 cup water.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat.  Add the meatballs.  Cover and simmer, stirring frequently for about an hour until the rice is tender and the meatballs are cooked through.

If you're using the frozen porcupines, mix the sauce ingredients and put the sauce and frozen meatballs into the crock pot.  Cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-6 hours, stirring when you get a chance.

Biscuits

Mix together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 TBSP sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar.  Use a pastry blender to cut in 6 TBSP cold butter.  Do NOT overmix.  The butter should be little globs throughout the flour mixture.
Add 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk.  Stir just until combined.

On a well floured surface, knead about 15 turns of the dough, kneading in enough flour for a very soft but non-sticky dough.

Pat dough about an inch to and inch and a half thick.  Cut with a glass or biscuit cutter to make only 8 biscuits.

Bake at 450* until golden brown and the middle is no longer doughy.

Cool about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before serving.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

For the sauce...

In a large pot, saute' 1/2 chopped onion and 2 tsp minced garlic in a little bit of oil until soft and fragrant.

Stir in 28 oz. crushed tomatoes and 16 oz. tomato sauce.

Add 2 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 - 1 tsp dried oregano (or Italian Seasoning), 2 tsp salt, and 2 TBSP sugar.

Bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat to a simmer and let simmer for an hour or more.

For the meatballs...

Combine 1 pound ground beef with 1 TBSP minced dried onion, 1 tsp season salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 cup oats, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup water.

Mix well.  Form into meatballs.

Bake at 350* until nearly done.

Add to the sauce and simmer together while you cook the noodles.

We like the leftover meatballs and sauce as meatball subs.  Or if there is only leftover sauce and no meatballs, I freeze the leftover sauce to use in tomato macaroni soup.

French Bread

Mix 1 tsp SAF instant yeast with 1 tsp sugar and 1 1/2 cups warm water.  Let proof until bubbly (about 5-10 minutes).

Add 1 1/2 tsp salt and 2 cups flour.  Mix well.

(I use my small Bosch for this - there's not enough dough for the big Bosch, but a Kitchen-Aide would work fine.  You could also do this by hand).

Mix in 2 more cups flour.  Knead about 8 minutes.  The dough will be fairly stiff.

Let rest until doubled (about an hour).

Divide into equal portions (1 big loaf, 2 skinnier baguette type loaves, or our favorite, 8 hoagie size buns).  Shape.  Place on a Silpat lined cookie sheet to rise about 30 minutes.

With a knife, slash each loaf 2 times - carefully and quickly.

Gently brush each loaf with water (use a pastry brush).  This will give the bread that chewy, crispy crust.

Bake at 400* until golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.  This will take anywhere from 15-25 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your loaves.

We also like to eat this bread hot from the oven dipped into a mixture of 1 stick melted butter, 1 tsp dried parsley, and 2 tsp minced garlic.

[mental shift] MENU PLANNING

We set this goal as a family to live on one income and save the other.  It can be done.  It will take patience. And a whole lot of planning.  (I so just had a song from Into the Woods running through my head - it takes patience, and fear, and despair to change - though you swear to change, who can tell if you do?). That's kind of where we are...patience, and fear and despair to change...

Yesterday I had this huge mental temper tantrum.  Wah, wah, wah - we can't go out to eat, it's not in the budget.  Wah, wah, wah - I have to cook again tonight, and I'VE COOKED EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT.THIS.WEEK.ALREADY.AND.IT'S.THE.FIRST.WEEK.BACK.TO.SCHOOL.AFTER.CHRISTMAS.BREAK.  Wah, wah, wah.  I don't have time to cook.  (Wait, what?! - If I have time to go to town, get something to eat, and then come home, I certainly have time to cook dinner).

I'm such a spoiled brat.

I didn't even make the menu plan for this week, McKayslin did!  Yes, I've had to cook.  But she planned it.  And Luke does the dishes.  And miracle of miracles (name that musical!), our kitchen counter has stayed cleared off for 9 entire days.  That has never happened before.

Luke only ate out one lunch this week.  And I didn't eat school lunch at all.  McKayslin ate school lunch twice this week.  Because she wanted to.

That realization brought a slight mental shift.  My stomach hasn't hurt all week.  We've eaten dinner at the table every night (except last night which is always the exception for Friday night pizza and a movie).  We've actually talked to each other instead of playing on our tablets or watching tv.  It's been quite nice.

I knew I needed a better way to menu plan - something that involved the menu plan and the grocery list all on one page.  Something that would leave my menu plan safely at home on my fridge. I'm certain there are at least 121 different things just.exactly.like.this floating around the internet.

My right brained reality would much rather make one than search for one.  

So I made one.

And I posted it on Instagram.

That's when I realized that I wasn't the only one looking for a better way to plan.  My friends were just as excited about this little thing as I am!

I made a few tweaks to the original document.  Things that I had forgotten, or that, when I filled out the form, annoyed me.

What I did love...
• There's a spot to write what I think we need when I'm planning.  And a spot to transfer it to the grocery list when I check if we really do need it or not.

• The grocery part can be cut off the bottom and taken to the store, while the menu plan stays intact, clean, and unwrinkled on my fridge.

• It's cute.  And it starts on Sunday.  We shop on Saturdays.

What I didn't love...
• I needed more space to write the actual menu.

• I was missing a whole lot of categories for the shopping list part.

• The font wasn't my favorite (I know, first world problem!)

So...this morning, I updated. Tweaked. Fixed.  And came up with this.

I haven't tried it out yet.  We'll see if it makes the cut when I menu plan next week.  ;)  This week, I'm sticking with the one I already filled out.  Because I'm lazy.  And it's already done.

Click on the image to download your own copy if you'd like.  Let me know if you find something that doesn't quite work.  I tried to lay out the grocery shopping boxes so they would follow the sections of the store.  But realized they don't follow our grocery store but our Wal-Mart.  I think it will be okay.  

We'll see.

I'll post our actual menu plan and recipes a little later.  I need to go cut the bread for french toast.   

Happy Planning!