Meal Plan Sunday

Monday: Enchilada Casserole (from the freezer) - will post the recipe later
Tuesday: Hoppin' John (from the freezer)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs (from the freezer...are you seeing a pattern here?)
Friday: Chicken and Wild Rice Bake (from this blog...http://www.goodcheapeats.com/2010/02/chicken-and-wild-rice-bake.html) - I'm trying this one out for the first time. I actually will just be using brown rice. Running low on household/grocery cash this month (diapers are expensive...will he ever be potty trained?!) and wild rice is expensive so I pitched it. If I like it, I will add the recipe and make this in the future as a freezer recipe.
Saturday: Hmm...not sure yet. May be a date night at the new Zona Rosa movie theatre, for which I've scored not 2, but 4 free tickets to use in the next couple months.
Sunday: Easter - not sure what's happening yet!

Speaking of the freezer, once we eat this stuff, the only remaining cooked meal will be some chili. I haven't decided if I'll just try to make a few things here and there or if I'll just take a day off and cook my butt off.

Beef and Broccoli

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's website, which is fabulous and always filled with beautiful photography. We (I) tried it last night and thought it was easy and fabulous. Ben was too impatient and ate PB&J. Alex had stopped home on his way from work and ate Minsky's. (Uh, I like Minsky's...) I go to all this trouble of creating a plan and this is what happens?! Ah well, we have leftovers.

Jaden’s Chinese Beef Broccoli (from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook)

SERVES 4 AS PART OF MULTICOURSE MEAL

1 lb (500 g) top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8-in (3-mm)-thick strips
1 1/2 lbs (750 g) broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

BEEF MARINADE1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef

STIR-FRY SAUCE
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1 In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the Beef Marinade. Add the beef and let mari- nate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2 In a small bowl, mix together the ingre- dients for the Stir-fry Sauce.

3 In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.

4 Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side.

5 Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.

Meal Plan Sunday

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday: Ham and cheese quiche (make an extra one for the freezer)
Monday: Lasagna (from freezer)
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Beef Burgandy with egg noodles (from freezer)
Thursday: Leftovers or grilled sandwiches
Friday: Baked Mahi Mahi with rice and veggies
Saturday: Girls' dinner (the second time we've rescheduled!!) - boys fend for themselves
Sunday: Some kind of slow cooker meal - haven't decided yet - having a play date at 3 PM!

On the hunt for healthy muffins!

I've been on the hunt for a relatively healthy muffin I could make to have on hand in the freezer. I wanted something easy Ben could eat for breakfast or a snack. I had all the ingredients for this Whole Wheat Banana muffin (http://www.onefrugalfoodie.com/2009/03/22/virtuous-whole-grain-banana-muffins/) and decided to whip some up this morning. They are smelling delicious in the oven right now. If we like them, I'll post the recipe. I did omit the raisins because even though Ben loves raisins, he seems to have an aversion to them in stuff. He's a purist, I guess. :)

Meal Plan Saturday

Sunday: Roast, potatoes, veggies, German chocolate cake
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday: Soup (from freezer) and grilled sandwiches
Thursday: Fish sticks, tater tots, veggies
Friday: Beef Burgandy (from freezer) with egg noodles, veggies
Saturday: Boys fend for selves (Girls’ dinner - had to reschedule!)
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs, bacon)

Meal Plan Monday!

Yes, I've been slacking from my food blog. I was playing around with another website to use as a recipe database. I'm thinking I will stick with my blog instead. Me? Stick with something? Yes, it's novel, but I think I just might. :)

Meal plan for this week:

• Monday: Zarda ribs (on sale at HyVee yesterday for $10!), baked potatoes, green beans (yum dinner)
• Tuesday: Red Beans (from freezer) and Rice, fruit
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Mahi mahi, rice, veggies
• Friday: Boys fend for themselves while I enjoy delicioso Mexican food and margaritas at La Fonda El Taquito with the girls!
• Saturday: Date night (Ben is staying with Nana and Opa...the planning is up to Alex this month...we may end up at Old Country Buffet...I'm scared!)
• Sunday: Roast, potatoes, veggies, German chocolate heart-shaped cake for Valentine's Day with my boys. :)

On a related note, I have been doing great slashing our grocery bill lately! Matching coupons with sales is basically an addictive game for me now. I traveled every aisle in HyVee the other day with my coupon organizer trolling for deals. I look a little nuts, but I don't really care. I snagged some fabulous deals including the ribs ($10...normally 15), a healthy pasta (.84 with coupon/sale), apples (.77/lb), cake mix and frosting (2.68), pork shoulder (5.58 with sale/coupon), and the best one of all...16 Dannon yogurts for .09 each with coupon/sale (1.44 total!). I bought quite a bit of stuff for $57. My budget is $75 weekly for all groceries.

Meal Plan Monday Plus Freezer Cooking

It's a holiday for Alex and I and we are in the middle of a giant closet reorganization project. We're going to take Ben to school soon where he will have more fun than here at home in piles of junk! Alex is going to plug away. I'm going to do a weights class at the gym and then I'm heading back to do some freezer cooking. Here's the plan for today:

Beef Burgandy (I'll post the recipe later) (divided into 2)
Lasagne (divided into 3)
Meatballs (divided into 3)
Chicken fajita meat in marinade

It's not much, but it will fortify our freezer. The plan is to avoid the grocery store next week, if possible to save some dough.

Now for our meal plan:

Monday: Hot Wing Soup
Tuesday: Chicken Masala
Wednesday: Baked Ziti
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chili or soup from the freezer (boys are on their own again...it's my monthly girls' dinner...we're going to the Melting Pot's happy hour!)
Saturday: Breakfast for dinner (eggs, pancakes, bacon, fruit)
Sunday: Roasted chicken with garlic, mashed potatoes, veggies