Mom, What's For Dinner? - Week of May 5

This week is going to be a crazy week.  It's my birthday, anniversary, and getting paperwork done for work type of week.  

My birthday is going to be a laid back affair.  I'm going to be able to wear jeans to work because I contributed to a food pantry drive we had at work.  I got a "golden ticket" that will allow me to wear jeans on any day as long as I turn in the ticket.  I'm using it on my birthday.

The boys have dance class with their grandma in the evening.  Hubby is going to be working.  So I will be by myself.  I'm going to have dinner at Piada Italian Street Food.  Yum!  Then I'm going to go see The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz.  

Hubby is going to my favorite cupcake shop and getting me a cupcake.  Yeah!  

Now to the menu:

Monday - Waffles, bacon, and strawberries

Tuesday - Taco Soup, Chips and Salsa

Wednesday - Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

Thursday - Hamburgers, Chips, and Raw Veggies (For Hubby and boys) - Piada Italian Street Food for me

Friday - Skillet chicken with tangy sauce, green beans, and roasted potatoes

Here is a printable version of the menu:  Mom, What's For Dinner - Week of May 5  (We had bacon not sausage links on Monday.)

For more menu ides, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Mom, What's For Dinner? - Week of April 28

This week we are administering the Ohio Achievement Assessment to the students in my room.  This is very stressful for both the students and especially the teachers.  

I need a few comfort meals to make up for the stress I'm going to be feeling.

Monday - Baked French toast, bacon, and strawberries

Prep:  Soak Pinto Beans, Prepare Overnight Oats

Tuesday - Pinto Beans and Kielbasa, corn, and cornbread

Prep:  None

Wednesday - Sausage Penne, Zaxby Texas Toast, salad

Prep:  None

Thursday - Pizza Quesadillas, Carrots

Prep:  Prepare Overnight Oats

Friday - Barbecue Pork Sandwiches, Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans

This week I found a menu planner template that I love.  It's from Simplified Pantry.  Mystie creates meals from a basic pantry list.  She also has a great resource that she has created with recipes using her master basic pantry list.

Here's a link to my menu plan for the week:  April 28th menu.  

There is one change to the menu.  We are not going to have rice with the quesadilla.  

Also I don't plan for Saturdays and Sundays.  I may cook on Saturdays but nothing is set in stone because we may or may not be at the house.  Also Sundays are spent at my mother-in-law's house.  Sometimes I cook dinner like last night or she cooks dinners.  Or we both cook portions of dinners.

For more great menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Mom, What's For Dinner? - Week of April 21

This is what I woke up to last Tuesday morning.  We got an inch of snow overnight.  It had started as rain the day before.  During the night, the temperatures dropped to the lower 30's so the rain changed over to snow.  The crazy thing about the snow was that it was on cars, trees, and grass.  Since it had been in the 70's two days prior, there was no snow on the road.  It was a beautiful drive to work.  

Just so you know, where we live in Ohio, we don't normally get snow in mid-April.

That afternoon it was still spitting snow.  Yuck!

The weather has become springlike since that rare snow.  Today the temperature is in the high 70's.

Onto the menu this week:

I've got to go get my license renewed on Tuesday and need to stay late on Wednesday and Thursday to work on some paperwork.  So my menu needs to be easy and something my husband can cook up with little instructions.

Monday - Out to eat

Tuesday - Chicken fingers with homemade Zax sauce, crinkle fries, homemade Zaxby's Texas toast, fresh veggies

Wednesday - Orange Chicken over rice with veggies

Thursday - Ravioli with spaghetti sauce, garlic bread, salad

Friday - Breakfast for Dinner

Saturday  - ???

This post is linked to I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Planning Monday.

For a printable version of this menu, click this link.

Happy eating, Traci

Mom, What's for Dinner? - week of April 14

After a couple weeks off from menu planning, I'm back to menu planning.  We did have a menu plan last week but we didn't always follow the plan.  

We got back from Walt Disney World on Sunday night at 8:30ish in the evening and then I was back at work at 7:15 am the next day.  So last week, we ate mostly out of the freezer or ate out.  Finally on Saturday night, I felt like making a complete meal - meatloaf muffins, mashed potatoes, and fresh corn on the cob.  The family was happy for a home cooked meal.

I'm now back on track for cooking dinner for the family.

Here's our meal plan for this week:

Monday - oven baked French toast (recipe to posted later), sausage patties

Tuesday - navy bean soup, ciabatta bread (from Second Street market), and fruit salad

Wednesday - breaded pork chops, roasted broccoli, and rice pilaf

Thursday - tacos, apple enchiladas

Friday - eat out - We are going to the zoo.

Saturday - pizza with family

For more meal plans visit I'm an Organizing Junkie's menu planning Monday.

For a printable version, click here.

Happy eating, Trac

Mom, What's For Dinner? - Week of March 17

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Yesterday was a crazy day. I decided to do some cleaning in my room.  I have a small trunk with memorabilia from when I was a teen and when I was 20 years old.

I've dug through the top layer recently but hadn't gone through the rest of the trunk in a long time. Yesterday I went through the whole trunk. Boy am I glad I did.

I found a picture of one of my friends that I spent a lot of time with while in working in Walt Disney World as part of the college program. I've thought a lot about Molly over the years but hadn't gotten in contact with her. I looked her up on the Internet. Then I took a leap of faith and called her. It's as though 18 years had never passed. We spoke for an hour yesterday about memories and we've been up to for the past 18 years. She and I both relate to how much we miss that place. We'll always say "I worked at Walt Disney World."

I also found a photo book of old International Order of Rainbow pics. I was in Rainbow from 1988 until 1995. Almost 7 years of my life. Actually 6 years 11 months. I posted a picture of a few of the girls now women who are friends of mine on Facebook. I found out one of my coworkers was in the picture. We never realized it and we worked for the same district for 10 years but never made the connection. Both of us are married. Last night we finally made the connection. Sweet!

My advice is to reach out to people from your past as long as they were not toxic. See if you can make a connection.

Spring cleaning has never been so great. Now onto my menu:

Monday soda biscuit waffles and sausage

Tuesday potato soup, grilled cheese, raw veggies

Wednesday homemade hamburger helper, veggies


Thursday Hamburgers, French Fries, Raw Veggies

Friday Chicken Stir Fry, Rice

Here's a printable version of my menu for this week: Mom, What's For Dinner - March 17

For other great menus, please visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Happy eating, Traci

Mom, What's For Dinner - Week of March 10

Why do I menu plan?  For situations like what happened last Tuesday.  I had a bunch of work that needed to be done at work so I decided to stay late.  I already had Spanish style chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker.  All I needed to do was text Hubby letting him know I was staying late and he needed to put the orzo in the slow cooker about half an hour before serving the food.  We did not have the biscuits since I wasn’t home.  Instead he had crackers with his soup.

When I don’t menu plan, I never know what to cook and will often stop at a fast food restaurant on the way home.  Getting fast food is expensive and not healthy.  

Plus the Wee One thinks I’m the best cook in the U.S.  

Here’s this week’s menu:

Monday - Brinner - Pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit

Tuesday - Chili, Northern Cornbread, Salad

Wednesday - Spaghetti and meatballs, Garlic bread, Salad

Thursday - Philly Cheeseburger sandwiches (Freezer and Slow Cooker), Raw Veggies, Chips

Friday - Baked Tilapia, Roasted Potato, Veggie

Saturday - Leftovers

For a PDF file of this menu, click on this link.

For other great menu plans, please visit I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Until next week,

Traci

Mom, What's for Dinner?- Week of March 3

I can't believe it's already March.  That means at the end of the month, I'll be in the Happiest Place on Earth, a.k.a. Walt Disney World.  Between now and when we leave, it's going to be stressful at work.  I've got meetings and have to administer a test to three of my students.  The test is going time consuming more than anything else.

Recently I've started to have themes for our dinner to make easier to plan.  

Mondays are brinner or breakfast for dinner unless there is a conflict and then I'll change brinner to a different day.  That is a family favorite meal.

Tuesdays are soup or casserole days.  Sometimes the boys are not too keen on soup.  If I get rid of the broth and just give them the goodies, they are more willing to eat the soup.

Wednesdays are some sort of pasta night.  We love spaghetti and ravioli so this is also a family favorite. 

Thursdays are our easy meal night.  The boys have dance (tap) practice and scouts and need to be out the door quickly.  We eat sandwiches, tacos, or pizza on those nights.

Fridays are reserved for some sort of meat dish - chicken, pork, ham, or fish might appear on our kitchen table during that night.

Saturdays is our left over night.  Sometimes I make a different type of meal.

We usually eat over my mother-in-laws' house.  Sometimes I'll make the dinner, sometimes my mother-in-law makes the dinner.

Here's my menu for next week:

Monday - French toast, sausage links, fresh fruit

Tuesday - Spanish style chicken noodle soup (done in slow cooker), biscuit

Wednesday - chicken spaghetti (freezer), veggies, garlic bread

Thursday - tacos (freezer), lime rice

Friday - Shimmy and shake chicken tenders, roasted potatoes, veggie, ciabatta bread (freezer)

Saturday - left overs


Here's a link to the google doc of this menu so you can print a pdf of the menu if you decide to use it.

Mom, What's for Dinner - Week of March 3

This post has been linked up to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Happy eating, 

Traci

Mom, What's for Dinner? - Week of Feb. 24

I have parent teacher conferences this week.  My principal provides my dinners but the boys and Hubby need to still be fed.  I have slow cooker kits in the week.  I'll put one of those meals in the slow cooker on Monday and another on Wednesday so they have supper.

The rest of the meals are recipes from my blog.  We'll have fun revisiting these recipes.

Links to the recipes on my blog:

Waffle House Waffles

Fried potatoes

Root beer BBQ sauce

Mac and Cheese 

Mom, What's For Dinner? - Week of Feb. 17

The boys and I have had cabin fever lately.  We've been either sick or the weather has not been nice.  So far we've had between 42 and 45 inches when we normally get about a foot of snow during the whole winter.  Our first snowfall was a week before Halloween.  That is also unusual.  Anyway on Saturday, we went to Home Depot for a free DIY session for the boys.  They had fun hammering and creating their own race car.  Afterwards we went to Starbucks and Meijers to grocery shop.  The Imaginative One hates to grocery shop but because of his cabin fever he didn't mind.

They got some foods they enjoy but I don't normally buy for them.  They also got to get a Valentine's treat because all the Valentine's Day merchandise was half off.  Of course the Imaginative One got chocolate and the Wee One found a stuffed animal.  After grocery shopping, we ate lunch at Frisch's Big Boy.  The server was great because she gave us coupons for free kids' meals.  I made sure I left her a tip for that.

Our last stop was to Tropical Smoothie.  I get text message deals from there.  They sent me a Valentine's Day deal for buy one smoothie get one free.  The Imaginative One loves the Jetty Punch Smoothie so this was a nice treat for him.  After we got home, we took our dog over to my mother-in-laws' house to be groomed.  He was glad to be out of the house but wasn't too happy to be groomed.

Onto the menu:  We are going to be trying new recipes and eating a recipe that has one of the highest amounts of views.  Hopefully the family will love these recipes.

Links to the recipes on my blog:

Baked French Fries

Baked Spaghetti (One of the most viewed recipes on my blog.)

Homemade Pizza

Easy Rolls or Buttermilk Biscuits

Mom, What's For Dinner ~ Week of Feb. 10

So this week I decided to do something different with my menu planning.  Instead of typing it out on the blog, I used PicMonkey and used designer to type up my menu on.  Isn't it cute?  

On Tuesday, we are having the soy sauce pork chops.  My father-in-law used to make them all the time so this is a tribute to him.  It's been almost 2 months since he passed so I thought this would be a great way to remember him.

Wednesday is on your own night because the Imaginative One's parent teacher conference.  I'll be going there on the way home from work so I won't be able to fix dinner before Hubby goes to work.

Links to recipes:

Pancakes

Homemade Pizza

Mom, What's for Dinner? Week of January 27

I know's it's Tuesday and I'm finally typing out my menu for this week.  This Arctic blast of cold air has really been playing with my sinuses.  Last Thursday, I started out with a sinus headache.  It didn't go away on Friday so I called off of work.  Saturday and Sunday were full of me stuffed up.  Yesterday I went to work for half of the day and then went to a training (professional development) in the afternoon.  Every time I would come in from the cold air, I would be stuffed up once again.  So frustrating.  Today we are at home because Ohio is getting wind chill values down into the negative 30's.  I'm doing okay today but that is because I'm not going out into the cold air.

So what are we having for dinner?  This week consists of eating foods that we have in the house.

Monday - Copycat I-Hop pancakes from the freezer, smoothies, and bacon

Tuesday - Ravioli, garlic bread, veggie, applesauce

Wednesday - Sausage, baked French fries, veggie

Thursday - Taco

Friday and Saturday - Crockpot meals out of the freezer

Mom, What's For Dinner? Week of January 20

I can't believe it's almost the end of January.  2014 is already flying by.  Two more months until we are going to Disney.  That gives me something to look forward to.

We are going to use the crock pot all week again.  It was so helpful getting supper on the table all week.  It's also going to be soup week.  Three of our meals are going to be soups.  Yum!!!

 

Monday - Chili and Northern Cornbread

Tuesday - Shredded Taco Beef

Wednesday - Chicken Divan Broccoli in the Slow Cooker, Veggie, Rolls

Thursday - Potato Soup, Rolls

Friday - Teriyaki Chicken with rice

Saturday - All Day Beef Stew, Rolls

 

Mom, what's for dinner? Week of January 13

Last week I did not prep any meals. I also went back to work on Wednesday. Needless to say I need to have some prep done.

I prepped 3 of my dinners for this week today. I also prepped smoothie packets for next week. Easy peasy breakfasts.






Monday. King ranch chicken, left over potatoes, carrots, and onions

Tuesday. Pinto beans and ham, cornbread

Wednesday. Fire roasted tomato sauce over whole wheat pasta, salad, bread

Thursday. Chicken tacos, chips and salsa

Friday. Italian crusted pork roast, Parmesan fettuccine, veggie

Saturday Chili, hoe cakes

All of the meals are done in the slow cooker.

Mom, What's for dinner? - Week of December 30

It's the last week of December/first week of January.  Crazy 2013 is almost done.  This year has been full of highs and lows.  The high being our vacation to Virginia, South Carolina, Atlanta, and Alabama.  The low being the loss of my father-in-law.  We knew that my father-in-law was not in the best of health but we didn't know we would lose him so suddenly.  The vacation is full of memories with him that the whole family will cherish.  I'm so glad we went on the vacation.

I'm now looking towards 2014.  We are planning our trip to Disney.  Todd and my fourth time as a couple and the second time as a whole family.  It'll be the sixth time I've visited Disney.  However, I don't think you would count one of the times because I was down there for four months as a college intern.

I don't have any resolutions for the next year.  Actually I do have one resolution.  My father-in-law played Santa for 45 years and was kind towards family, friends, and even strangers.  He would talk and really listen to others.  So I am going to be a Santa to my friends, family, and even strangers.  Do you have any resolutions?

Onto the menu for this week:

Monday - Chicken veggie packets, rice, pretzel rolls, homemade strawberry jelly

Tuesday  - Mexican fish, warm bean salsa, left-over rice

Wednesday - Pork or sausage, sauerkraut, roasted potatoes

Thursday - sausage and sweet potato bake

Friday - Chicken broccoli soft noodles

Saturday - veggie chili

Mom, What's for Dinner? - December 16

Monday -
Breakfast - granola and yogurt, OJ with protein powder (snack at work)
Lunch - left overs, kiwi, mini peppers
Dinner - salmon cakes, salad

Tuesday -
Breakfast - smoothie, OJ with protein powder (snack at work)
Lunch - left overs, kiwi, mini peppers
Dinner -braised chicken with cauliflower and pinto bean mash

Wednesday -
Breakfast - granola and yogurt, OJ with protein powder (snack at work)
Lunch - left overs, kiwi, mini peppers
Dinner - left overs

Thursday -
Breakfast - smoothie, OJ with protein powder (snack at work)
Lunch - left overs, kiwi, mini peppers
Dinner -turkey tacos with pintos

Friday -
Breakfast - Carry in at work
Lunch - left overs, kiwi, mini peppers
Dinner - chicken and dumplings

Mom, What's For Dinner? - Week of November 11

It's been another week so it's time to menu plan once again.  This week is not as crazy as last week.  I've still got dance lessons, Cub Scouts, chiropractor appointments, and parent teacher conferences.  Even with those events, it's not as busy.

Monday - beef stroganoff over egg noodles and veggies

Tuesday - pot roast, veggies, and rolls

Wednesday - chicken and rice casserole

Thursday - pumpkin pancakes, bacon, hash browns

Friday - baked potato soup and rolls

Saturday - left overs

Mom, What's For Dinner? ~ Week of November 4

Can you believe it's November already?  I sure can't.  Soon it will be Thanksgiving and then it will be the Christmas season.  We decided that this year we are going to go light with Christmas gifts for the boys.  Their big gift is coming in late March/early April when we go to Disney.  I or do you mean Santa will get them something small so they have something to open on Christmas morning.  

This week is my semi-annual parent teacher conferences (late October/early November and then February).  My principal makes sure we are all fed so I don't have to pack two meals.  However, the boys at home still need to be fed.  

Monday - pork chops and gravy sandwiches, chips, and hopefully veggie or fruit (Parent teacher conferences for myself)

Tuesday - Chicken soup and either pretzel rolls or biscuits

Wednesday - bramble beans with either pretzel rolls or biscuits

Thursday - Teriyaki bbq chicken legs and baked rice

Friday - slow cooker meatballs and spaghetti sauce over spaghetti, salad

Saturday - ?????  Maybe breakfast for dinner or pizza

Mom, What's for dinner? - Week of October 28

Happy Halloween!  This week is another crazy week!  I'm going to be cooking dinner this week though.  

Monday - ham, French fries, corn

Tuesday - barbecue chicken sandwiches, chips, veggies

Wednesday - chiropractor and then parent teacher conference for the Imaginative One so I need a quick meal - Pizza

Thursday - ghoulash over noodles

Friday - breakfast for dinner

Saturday - soup and biscuits

Mom, What's for dinner? - Week of October 14

Here's my plans for dinner:

Monday - pot roast, butter noodles, and veggies

Tuesday - lemon chicken (if the recipe works, I'll post it here) with rice

Wednesday - homemade taco hamburger helper (if the recipe is good, I'll post it here)

Thursday - pot roast hash

Friday - pretzel chicken tenders, mac and cheese, veggies

Saturday  - Harvest bean soup

 

Menu plan for week of Sept. 2

It's a few days late but better late than never.

Monday - eat at in laws

Tuesday - chicken, noodles, corn on cob

Wednesday - pizza sandwiches, roasted potato, veggies, corn on the cob

Thursday - ham, potato casserole, veggie

Friday - Philly cheese steak, corn on the cob, veggies

Saturday - cook out