Menu Planning Week 5

I am really doing well this year on the menu planning. 

This week we only had one change, since I had a Doctor's appointment on one side of town and we had a coupon I brought home take out. Also we had one day that the boys and the husband were home all day while I was at work and they chose to order subs.

Sunday- Pulled Pork - I cooked up a large pork butt we had and then we had some for dinner and I have three more bags put away in the freezer for quick meals.

Monday - Chicken Patty Sandwich

Tuesday- Pizza

Wednesday- Taco's

Thursday- Beef Pot Pie - from the freezer. This was the meal that was switched out for take out .

Friday- Hot dogs and beans and this was the day that the Boys ordered subs.

Saturday-  Chicken Noodle Soup

Hope that everyone has had a great week menu planning. 

 

Menu Plan 2022 Week 4

 Surprisingly this keeping to the menu, is working out. In fact this week we had only one day when someone got take out for dinner. That was because that child doesn't like any part of stuffed peppers so he bought himself panda express.

The plan for Week 4 was: 

                                                    Sunday- Pizza and Wings

Monday- Chicken Cranberry w/ egg rolls

                                                 

                                        Tuesday- Hamburgers- Made by Aidan

                                                

                                                  Wednesday- Chicken Wraps

                                               

                                               Thursday- Waffles w/ sausage

                                               

                                                    Friday- Stuffed Peppers

                                               

                                                    Saturday- Soup ( potato)

                                               

It was another of week of delicious on budget meals.

Menu Plan 2022 Week 3

 The menu plan for the past week was :

Sunday- Meatloaf- From Freezer

Monday- Easy Mostly Homemade Chicken Soup

Tuesday- Ham and Cheesy Potato

Wednesday- Waffles w/ sausage - this was the only change to the menu we ended up serving leftovers instead of the the waffles.

Thursday- Instapot Beef w/ noodles

Friday- Teriyaki chicken w/ rice

Saturday- Steak and cheese quiche

And with being home all week, and not feeling all the great we ate scrambled eggs pretty much every day for breakfast/ lunch.

Menu Plan 2022- Week 2

 Menu Plan - Week Two

Sunday- Chicken Enchiladas

Monday- Alfredo pasta with Chicken

Tuesday- Pizza- made by Conner

Wednesday- Sausage and potatoes

Thursday- Beef Pot Pie ( from the freezer)

Friday- Meatloaf ( from the freezer) 

Saturday- Chicken Noodle soup

What we ended up eating

Sunday- We did the Chicken Enchiladas and I also made one for the freezer. Plus I made pizza dough for the next few weeks.

Monday to Wednesday we followed the menu

Thursday- I had forgotten to pull  the beef pie out the freezer, so we had salisbury steak instead

Friday- I was very sick, so I had ramen and toast and the rest of the family ordered subs.

Saturday- The husband had pizza overnighted from Buffalo,NY to enjoy because of the Bills wildcard game on Saturday. 

Menu Planning 2022 Week !

 So the plan for the first week of the year was :

Saturday- Chicken Soup

Sunday- Hamburgers-  Aidan cooks

Monday- Turkey Club sandwiches w/ leftover soup

Tuesday- Pizza- Conner cooks

Wednesday- Taco- Nolan Cooks

Thursday- Chicken w/ Chicken Rice

Friday- Snack Dinner

Saturday- Potato Soup

What we ended up having:

Saturday- Chicken Soup w/ bread from Wheatfields bakery

Sunday- The best Aidan made hamburgers, with fresh veggies

Monday- BLT sandwiches w/leftover soup. What happened was when I went to use the turkey it was moldy which was a disappointment as I had bought it only 2 days before and it was with in dates. I had gotten it at Sam's, never have had an issue before with lunch meat from there, but since it's on the other side of town I was not going out of my way to return it. I did take pictures and the next time I am there I will stop by the customer service desk.

Tuesday- Conner and Shadow came to make dinner like they do every Tuesday but instead of the usal pizza. Shadow made her chicken and rice fajitas which the boys who live here had been asking for, many happy people that day at dinner. This is also the day that my phone met a unfortunate incident with water, and while the phone still works my camera  not so much. 

Wednesday- We did have tacos, but I made them and I have been told that only Nolan should be making Taco dinner nights. I guess I might have seasoned the meat a bit to much. 

Thursday- Chicken w/ Chicken Rice - Well this meal turned into Chicken and Biscuits w/ mashed potatoes and corn/ broccoli and there was a bit of a incident with my pressure cooker and the stove top.

 Yes I melted the bottom and the house smelled like melted plastic on the coldest day of the winter so far.I had moved the pressure cooker to the back of the stove, so that I could use the front burner to make the gravy and I must have bumped the dials and turned on the unit at the back. Good news is the pressure cooker is usable, and I was able to scrape all the melted plastic off the stove top.

Friday- Snack Dinner- Well we went to see Wicked the play and decided that we would get dinner in downtown KC. We ended up eating at brgrkitchen , I had the mac and cheese and the Cobb salad both delicious. The guys had the Juicy Lucy,  Portabellas Mushroom Burger and the New Burger all with fries. Aidan actually ordered something other than chicken strips for dinner out but then they didn't have chicken stips on the menu 😃

Saturday- We wrapped up the week  with Potato soup, and cheesy bread along with ice cream sundaes for desert as it was family game night. 

Time to go plan the menus for the coming week.

How did your dinners go this week ? 

Making Chicken Broth

  I started with one normal size pressure cooker a few years ago and when my crockpot met an unfortunate incident with the floor the husband bought me a even larger second one. Having two has made chicken broth day so much easier. 

 When it comes time to make chicken broth which happens every three or four months it is a whole day affair. But it doesn't take up much of my actual time, but it is a day that I need to be home to keep an eye on the pressure cookers as they do the work.

I like to use the cheapest chicken that has bones in it for making broth, this time around it was drumsticks.

I use carrots, garlic, onion, and mushrooms along with the chicken to make the broth. I do not season the broth when I am making it as I like to that when I use it. 

When it comes to the carrots if I am using whole ones I just give them a good scrub and don't peel. Often I use whatever sad looking carrots are in the fridge, which sometimes could be baby carrots.

The onions just get a quick peel and cut in half 

The garlic just gets the ends chopped off, I don't even peel it as I strain the broth.

As a family we don't eat mushrooms, they just don't appeal to us but when it comes to making broth I toss in a container, I think it adds something to the broth. 

All of this in then placed in the pressure cookers, I use enough of the mixture to fill the cookers almost to the top and then add water and a splash of apple cider vinegar  to break down the chicken bones. Set the pressure cookers on the chicken setting for one hour, and I let them naturally cool for about 30 min after the cycle finishes. Then strain and place the broth on the stove in my extra large pot that holds 17 quarts.  Then place the now mushy mix of  veg and meat back into the pressure cookers add more fresh veggies and chicken if you have them left from the beginning add water and repeat the process. I do this about 3 times just keep reusing the veg and chicken and I will have about 17 quarts of broth. This takes about 8 hours, during this time I leave the broth that is finished simmering on the stove and that reduces it some more. 

If I am doing this in the winter and it's a nice cold day, I will portion it out into the containers and then place out in the snow until the broth cools and then I freeze it. If it's summer time I will try my best to have a open freezer and place the broth in there, also a sink of ice helps to cool it quickly. 

Lots of wonderful chicken broth to use in soups, and other recipes. 

Menu Plan Monday 2/3

This is more of a menu re-cap of the last week, as I have found lately that we eat off the menu list but never on the days I plan to. I also am trying to keep track of the cost per meal in order to help cut the food budget yet still serve favorites.

Sunday - Star pasta aka Pastina cooked with carrots, chicken, diced onion and chicken broth served with green salad

Price for dinner - 6.25 or 1.04 per serving ( 6 people)

Monday- 3- Cheese Lasagna made with homemade noodles ( way easier than I ever thought and so yummy)

Price for dinner - 30.25 to make 3 Lasagnas one to eat two to freeze. Each Lasagna was 10.08 to make or 1.26 per serving ( 8 people)

Tuesday- Hot turkey sandwich w/ rice and peas, fresh veggies

Price for Dinner- 8.50 or 1.41 per serving  ( 6 people)

Wednesday- Hot dogs, fresh veggies, mac and cheese

Price for Dinner- 8.00 or 1.33 per person ( 6 people)

Thursday - A little bit of this a little bit of that otherwise known as Leftover Day

Price for Dinner - zero as it was leftovers from other nights.

Friday- Pizza Night w/ fresh veggies, the one night I don't cook as my 17 year old son is the master pizza chef around here

Price for Dinner- 12.50 for 3 large pizza's or 1.38 per person ( 9 people)

Saturday- Sub sandwiches for lunch and since the older kids were gone for dinner, leftover pizza for the rest of us.

Price for Dinner- 15.00 or 2.14 per person

So the average cost of dinner for the week per person was 1.38 ( including milk)


Also to add per meal per person 16 cents for milk.



* The reason the number for meals flexes is sometimes adult children come home to eat and some things my pans serve 8 so we plan on having leftovers.*

This post is linked at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday

This weeks Dinner Plan :

Sunday- Meatloaf, corn, baked sweet potatoes, baked potatoes.

Monday- spinach and ham quiche made with eggs from these lovey girls , fruit salad

                              

Tuesday- baked chicken and rice with green beans

Wednesday-  chicken soup with dumplings

Thursday- spaghetti with meatballs, bread, fruit

Friday- Pizza night w/ salad

Saturday- Leftovers

This post is linked up at Menu Plan Monday

Menu planning for March Part 2

I could not only plan dinners I also had to plan breakfasts and lunches. For breakfasts I looked at my mornings and based a plan off of them.


Breakfast:


Sunday- Muffins for many reasons a few being they can be eaten in the van on the way to church for the sleepy heads in the house, if I make enough I can stash some away for lunches, and Sunday mornings I am usually the only one up for about 2 hours before the rest of the house rises so plenty of time to bake.


Monday- Bagels and cream cheese , it's a Monday morning and there is more then one kid eating on the way to the bus.


Tuesday- Pancakes, by time of the week mornings are usually going better for both the kids and myself.


Wednesday - Cereal mostly because this is the morning that I try to schedule Doctor and Denis it appts for.


Thursday- Eggs and toast or cereal


Friday- french toast sticks,  I buy them from Sam's club and they do take up a lot of room in the freezer but they make a easy breakfast.


Saturday- is waffles I make them when I get up and under cook them a bit, so when the kids wake they can place them in the toaster. I try to make enough to also freeze for a quick weekday breakfast. But for some reason no matter how many I make they all get eaten.




 Lunches-


School day lunches are pb and Jelly, fruit, snack ( homemade or pretzels),and go-yurt. I do offer options on Monday they can also have salad, Tuesday tuna is a choice, and almost any day they can also choose ham, turkey, or salami.


Weekend lunches and or non- school days- 


Saturday- is leftover pizza from Friday and any other leftover in the fridge


Sunday- is leftover soup from Saturday dinner


If for some reason there are no leftovers then we do grilled tuna or ham, or ramen soup.

Menu Planning for March- part 1

I would like to say that I have found the perfect plan for feeding this family of mine, but that would be a lie. Each season is different in what works for me and for them.


I was able to plan the next five weeks of meals out and bought all the food needed to prepare them as one of the issues right now is finding time to shop. Since it is winter, trying to find a day that the weather is nice enough for the drive to the store, the kids don't need me after-school and that I have time to get home before dark is hard if not next to impossible.

I figure 5 weeks was good as that is about how much food my freezer can hold and spring is just around the cornor, and before you ask I will be sending the husband to get milk at the store as needed. I really don't like to ask him pick up more then that as he already works a 10 hour day.

I have looked at our week as it stands and made the menu based activies and who's home for dinner on a certain night.

Sunday- A nice meal that takes time to cook as this is day that after church in the morning we normally do not have much to do.

Monday- is food with a Mexican flavor

Tuesday- is a crock pot meal as this is a day that I do a lot of dropping off and picking up right around dinner time.

Wednesday- for this month is soup at church and leftovers at home if anyone is still hungry.

Thursday- is pasta, this day my husband  who is not a fan of pasta is not home for dinner, so we have pasta.

Friday- is Pizza, we buy the pre-baked crust from Sam's ( 14 to a case for about 15ish dollars) and Conner is the pizza maker around here.

Saturday- is soup/ stew day what recipe I'll make that day I don't know until Friday. I base it on what is happening on Saturday does it need to be in a crock pot, pressure cooker, or is there time to make it on the stove-top and what is leftover in the fridge that can make it's way into a soup.

Winter Menu Plan

What I have done is make a menu list for winter and fall, and then will make another for spring and summer. Alot of these dishes the first time they are made I will make 2-3 for the frezzer at the same time saving time in Feburary and March.

Winter Dinner Options

Sunday

Meatloaf

Roast Beef

Shepard’s Pie

Beef Pot Pie

Ham

Monday

Pasta w/ sauce and meatball

Pasta w/ white sauce and chicken

Baked Ziti

Ravioli

Lasagna

Tortilla w/ Alfredo sauce

Tuesday

Cheesy Rice and Beans

Chili w/ meat and Beans

Cowboy Beans (with biscuits and corn)

Wednesday

Chicken and Biscuits

Honey Chicken and Rice

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken and Stuffing

Thursday

Tacos

Chicken Enchilada

Chicken and Fajitas

Beef Enchilada

Friday

Potato corn chowder

Chicken and dumplings

Beef barley

Beef stew

Saturday

Leftovers

Quiche

Tuna Casserole

Pizza