Meal Planning Week 2

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Weekly Menu
September 27-October 3

I have leftover celery to use.

And spinach.

I’ve been eyeing the crockpot ladies brown sugar chicken recipe for over a month now… and I have brown sugar in the kitchen.

Pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing sounds really good. Found an awesome website of a mom who cooks at home every night and this was her featured new recipe. Will totally make this at some point this week!

Saturday I sat down and started planning my meals for the week and making my grocery list. (I have been working on this post since then… for those who ask, how do you do this Crystal…. it takes me days. I can not just throw this stuff together as there are kids always climbing on me and needing something… alwasy!) As I made my list I was very hungry and the best grocery shopping comes from a hungry belly. (I did not say cheapest– I said BEST.) Who in the world knows what to eat on a full belly? And if you do, please train me!

Like the Menu Planning icon at the top? Here is the story on it….

After last weeks meal planning success, I searched online (after I ate my container of bon bons and General Hospital was over of course j/k) and found there are lots of online resources to go around. Who would have guessed meal planning is a hot topic for moms who need and want to network? (Check out some of the new links I have added in the left-hand sidebar that you MUST follow! I am determined to find a solution for everyone. A few of this weeks meals come from some of these sites…and so will many more I am sure!)

So, there is a lady who has a website designed for sharing weekly meal plans. (Her site is where I got the icon at the top.) You plan your meal on your own site (like I am) and then share it (link it up) on her site as well. There are 400+ people every week doing this which equals lots of recipes and ideas to share! Her website is called Orgnaized Junkie (again look in the sidebar for the links I follow, or just click on the link above if you want to view her site).

Together, we can make meal planning as simple as possible! And fun, too!

Am I sick? Ok, don’t answer that.

Sunday- Honey Mustard Lime Chicken Legs– in the crockpot no less! Super simple and inexpensive meal. I threw it in the crockpot before leaving for my nephew’s birthday party.

(Shout out to Isaac! My kids had so much fun at your party! Hope you love the Tech Deck stuff and your parents do not step on unassembled mini skateboard pieces… it hurts!)

Back to this meal. Working ladies, busy moms, this meal is perfect. I double and a halved it…. I even tossed in some thighs as well to mix it up a little and there was enough left for me to debone and refrigerate to use on our Chicken Nachos for Monday night! Again, did I say I highly recommend this meal?

I made steamed white rice in the rice cooker and frozen buttered broccoli on the stove.

Monday- Chicken Nachos. I used the leftover chicken from the Honey Mustard Lime Chicken from Sunday night. (I heart cooking once and serving twice!)

These were yummy! I did a layer of chips on a cookie sheet (covered in foil to make clean up easier). Topped that with a layer of the deboned chicken. Then top that with some canned pinto beans (or you can do refried, that would just take a little more time). Finally top with cheese and bake at 350 until the cheese is melted nicely.

When they came out of the oven I topped with lettuce and tomatoes. Then garnish your own plate with jalapenos, guacamole, sour cream and hot sauce. They were really good!

My sweet friend Kim (who totally needed some girlfriend talk) and her kids came over and dinner plans changed a little. She and I and some of the kids ate nachos (she has three kids and then my five and then the adults…. so to make up the difference we ordered Chinese food for those who did not want nachos, but buddy I stuck to my meal plan!)

Tuesday- Brown Sugar Chicken with rice. Making it exactly like the crockpot lady makes it.

Wednesday- Chicken Primavera. For this I will use a combination of the online recipe I found but modify by using my packet of Homemade Gourmet’s White Sauce as the ‘primavera sauce’. I also plan to add the leftover spinach I have in the fridge as one of the veggies. Still need to go to the farmers market to get fresh veggies to go in this as well.

Thursday- Smothered Pork Chops cooked in the crockpot with baked sweet potatoes and a starch of some sort. (These pork chops are from my Homemade Gourmet assembly meal class. They are frozen and assemebled in a ziplock bag and ready to just toss in the crockpot.)

Friday- Whatever the heck is leftover! I think one lady calls this Leftover Buffet Night on her blog. I like that!

Saturday- Totally eating out!

******A few really important quick things.********

1) If you have any questions what so ever about any of the recipes or meal plans, please, please, please, leave a comment on here and I will answer it and give you any and all information I have about it. I totally do not mind if you email me, but if you will leave the comment here, others can see your question as well.

2) Most of these meals, if you click on the name of it, I have included the link to the recipe or preparation information if I obtained it online. Feel free to click! I will never take you somewhere unknown! Promise!

Besides, that is kind of the idea here…. to make meal planning as simple as possible for you as well.