What's Your Meal Plan This Week? Week of 3/3/13

[queenofthehivemomof5]

This meal planning bit is something I really struggle with. I am just not much of a planner but I know I should be because I am often finding myself scrambling to thaw some meat and figure out something for dinner.

So I thought it might be fun for us to share what our meal plans are and maybe get some ideas for future meals from other's in the community!

So what is your meal plan for this week? I am just going to plan out dinners for the week. But if you plan out lunches and breakfast by all means share away!

Monday: Glazed Mini Meatloafs
Tuesday: Chicken Alfredo Rollups
Wednesday: Chicken Stir Fry served with rice
Thursday: Tilapia Picata Breaded Lemon Infused Olive Oil (will leave off the olives)
Friday: Taco Pizza
Saturday: Crock-Pot Somthing - I this will be my day to create a recipe for our blog Crock-Pot Ladies, but I am feeling like maybe a nice soup or something along those lines this week sounds good.
Sunday: Italian Pulled Chicken and Kale Sliders served with steamed veggies

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Got my shopping list made...mostly veggies and some seasonings and cheese (I am out of cheese! So sad). I already have all the meat in the freezer (going to double check to make sure though. But pretty sure I have chicken, hamburger and some Tilapia in the freezer)

[to1drland]

In no particular order-
Crockpot Beef Stew & rolls
Mexican Goulash
Smoked Pork Chops w/ Cheesy Potatoes & some kind of Veggie
Chicken Parm w/ Pasta
Cheeseburgers & Sweet Potato Fries
Shrimp Alfredo
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Soup

[queenofthehivemomof5]

In no particular order-
Crockpot Beef Stew & rolls
Mexican Goulash
Smoked Pork Chops w/ Cheesy Potatoes & some kind of Veggie
Chicken Parm w/ Pasta
Cheeseburgers & Sweet Potato Fries
Shrimp Alfredo
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Soup

Sounds yummy! Can you tell me more about what Mexican Goulash is or how you prepare that?

[to1drland]

Mexican Goulash-

1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 cup Diced Onion
2 cups Elbow Macaroni
4-6 oz. cubed Velveeta Cheese (I use 6 oz, we like it cheesy!)
2 cups Frozen Corn
1 cup Salsa...we use "hot"
2 cups Water
1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend or Cheddar Cheese
Diced Green Onions for garnish

brown meat & onions in a large skillet. Drain, the add the water, salsa & macaroni. bring to boil & reduce to a simmer for 10 min (or until pasta is tender). add corn & cubed Velveeta cheese. stir thoroughly. cook for a few more minutes. top w/ shredded cheese & green onions.
makes about 4-5 servings

[XUfan]

I plan ahead for three days out of the week...Mon, Tues and Fri. Those are the days that my 17 month old granddaughter is here from 8:30 am until 9pm. If I don't plan ahead on those days, we might not eat!!!

Mon: Creamed Chicken over Biscuits (creamed tuna for me)
Tues: Pork Chops, baked tiliapia, baked potatoes, green bean casserole
Fri: Chili two ways...with meat and without

These are all things that I can prep during her nap, so I'm not scrambling to cook when everyone gets home.

[saving-n-va]

Oh this is right up my alley. If I don't have a menu plan I am all out of sorts during the week.

That Mexican Goulash looks delish!! Gonna add that as a "alternate" for this week. (Or make it ahead if we get the snow they are predicting).

Menu for the week:
Tonight we had salmon, rice pilaf (homemade, not from a mix), and green beans

Rest of week (no particular order):
Ham Potato Chowder with homemade bread
Chicken alfredo casserole (no recipe, just tossing stuff in to see how it is) spinach for a veggie
Beans and rice (beans in crockpot)
Beefy Noodle Skillet meal (from Meal in a Jar cookbook)
We eat at the bowling alley on Thursday nights
Chili and rice, Mexican Goulash or Ham and scalloped potatoes. (can't decide)

Now if the forecast holds out, I might cook up a couple of these meals on Tuesday after work just in case we do get 8-10 inches of snow, incase of power outage. We have a campstove we can use to cook on, but I'd rather just have to warm up something so as not to waste propane cooking a whole meal.

[JulieDB]

I did not make a plan this week but I sometimes do. I did make a big pot of Spanish rice which came out a tad too spicy. It's not daughter's favorite but I made her eat it last night and tonight. I'll eat the rest. Will be at least enough for tomorrow and maybe another day. I did buy 4 whole wheat buns and I bought some Lloyds for daughter. The pork and the chicken. Blech, but she likes it. I don't get it for her often. Maybe once a year if that. She can have that with salad on the other days and it's possible that we'll dine out on Wed. Normally we go pick up my mom, go see my dad, kill some time in a store somewhere then go eat. They feed my dad pretty early and it's too early for us to go straight to eat from there. I have plenty of other things to eat. Vegan pizza, White Castles, canned soup, beans. And we have raw veggies. If my daughter needs another meal in there it will most likely be mac and cheese. Next week she should probably eat the tuna casserole that is in the freezer.

I have a pretty easy time of it when it is just daughter and I here. Neither of us are big meat eaters. I buy a couple of pounds of ground beef, perhaps more if it's a good sale and cook it up. I then portion it out for the freezer. This is easy to use in recipes. She likes chicken. Just not my chicken. No matter how I fix it, she does not like it. I keep trying. Sometimes I buy precooked from PCC, Whole Foods or Central Market. Will usually buy extra and put it in the freezer. She does not like the precooked prepackaged stuff that you can buy in any store. She will eat canned so I do keep that.

I always keep beans, rice, pasta, canned soups, perhaps a few frozen meals (but there are few of those that we will eat) and canned veggies. A little canned fruit and unsweetened applesauce because daughter loves that. So most weeks, all I need to buy is bread, bagels, apple slices, baby carrots, salads and whatever else I am running low on. Lately this has been cheese and black olives. I really do keep a large stock of the other non-perishables. We mainly eat pan popped popcorn for snacks and I do keep some chips.

All bets are off when husband is home. I never know what he will eat but often it is something we don't have. He used to love ice cream but the last time he was home, I bought a huge box at Winco and he didn't eat it. He loves frozen fruit pops. Sometimes yogurt or Poptarts, chips that we don't eat, yogurt.

He eats a lot of sandwiches. Like 2-4 per day. So when he is home I make sure to stock up on cheap bread or buns. And I try to get less expensive meats and cheeses. He doesn't seem to care what he eats! He also eats a lot of pizza and doesn't seem to care where it comes from or if it is frozen. So I look for deals there.

Used to be when he was home I would cook up something large like two pot roasts with veggies. All of that meat would be gone in 2-3 days. And I am talking 6-7 pounds of meat! He would never eat all of the veggies. I would just take those and whatever little bits of meat I could find, perhaps add some more veggies and beef broth or tomato juice and make soup. That would be a meal. When he is home I have to plan to make lots of food and have lots of leftovers. He eats many times during the day and night and the fridge needs to be stuffed full. No matter how much food I buy or make, it is never enough. I am always amazed at the difference when he leaves. We get rid of whatever food that only he eats and we won't. Then the fridge looks pretty bare and yet there is always enough for daughter and I to eat. We do seem to eat very little compared to him.

My big problem now is that he has gout. So he should not be eating much meat. Or fish. Or beans. These things are the worst for gout. So I did try to make extra pizza this last time. He is Italian so he does love pizza but not pasta so much. Don't know why. I tried to make a lot of egg dishes. I had a lot of flops. He did not like the cheese strata or the fried rice. I need to do research on this and try to find things that he will eat that are not really meaty. But the problem is, he is a real meat lover.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Need to switch up the day's dinner today as hubby cooks on the weekends and he made asian meatballs and so the meatloafs are pretty similar. So I think I am going to to do the chicken lasagna roll ups tonight. Those look good! I have some frozen garlic breadsticks to serve on the side and some salad.

[XUfan]

Changing here too. Hubby called from work and said that I shouldn't have to cook on my birthday, so we'll get take out. Honestly, I'd rather cook. We really can't afford take out.