Knitting Zeal

Menu planning in September

It's the busiest time of the year for myself and my family.  September means we are back in school, back into fall soccer, back into choir and bells and back into scouts.  This year it also means I'm back to work full time instead of occasionally.  We are busy 3-4 nights a week with activities and volunteer obligations.  It also means I need to get back into formal meal planning.  I'd let it fall to the wayside this past year because I was only working part time and not every day.  I had plenty of time to run to the grocery store and pick up last minute items.  Now, not so much.  After three weeks of school with no real menu plan I found that it's just not working.  By Wednesday at 6:20 when we still weren't home from the day of school and after school activities and the meal I had planned would take at least an hour to prepare we ended up at Corner Bakery for dinner because I just didn't have it in me.  Now I know that on Wednesdays I need to plan a meal that is either in the slow cooker or one that is pre-cooked or eaten cold.  Here are my ideas for next week:

 

Monday: Slow cooker Honey Garlic Chicken over rice.  I'm going to attempt to make this in the instant pot instead of slow cooking it.  Hoping it works!

Tuesday: Chicken fajitas with rice.  I use Penzey's fajita spice seasoning.  It's the best!  It's scouts night so this needs to be a quick meal. 

Wednesday:  Buffalo chicken chili in the slow cooker.  This is a great recipe and I like that I can control the spiciness.  My kid won't eat this though! 

Thursday: No school!  Will make homemade pizza dough for either pizza or Stromboli.  The kiddo likes cheesy bread sticks with this dough too.  This is an easy to make pizza dough that uses yeast and bread flour.  It turns out great every time and I can make 2 huge pizzas with it or 3 medium ones.  Served with salad.

Friday: who knows!!  

Weekend: Depending upon soccer games, volunteering and church activities, meals will be planned on the fly.  I do hope to get some meal prep done as well as some grocery shopping.  I'd like to make these no-bake energy bites to pack in school lunches.  

 

Menu plan Monday, October 12, 2015

Hello!  After a long hiatus I thought I post a menu plan for this week. Life has gotten in the way of blogging, but I'm starting to miss it, so maybe I'll post here and there again.  We'll see!

Fall is apparently here, in Southeastern PA.  We had a GREAT summer that we didn't want to end, so I'm still in a bit of denial that shorts and sandal weather is done for another six months.  Winter is coming!  Ugh.  Since moving closer to the equator isn't about to happen anytime soon, I'll just have to deal with the onslaught of pumpkin spiced everything (blech!) and the inevitable leaves falling.  Which means...it's soup weather!

On my plan for this week is:

Monday: spinach tortellini soup!  I'll alter the posted recipe by eliminating the tomatoes and adding some sliced carrots.  I'll be using fresh spinach too, since we got a ton of it in our CSA share last week.  Served with a salad.  

Tuesday:  A simple and quick meal tonight since we have an evening activity scheduled; pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, some form of potato (tots?) and salad. 

Wednesday: meatballs and spaghetti, salad, green veggies.

Thursday: Slow cooker honey garlic chicken with brown rice and broccoli

Friday: Fish tacos with Asian cole slaw. (If I don't have to work...then it might just be burgers!  I like to buy fish the same day I'm cooking it.)  

Weekend: who knows!

School lunches:

I'm struggling to find acceptable lunch options for my second grader.  Cold lunches haven't been a hit yet, so I thought I'd try some hot lunches in a thermos.  HA!  I'm so funny.  So far the lunch things I've sent in a thermos were so horrible they made him want to vomit (ravioli with butter once, chicken and cheese rolled up in a tortilla once.  The second item actually sent him to the nurse, but thankfully he went back to class just fine! He's not dramatic at all!)  He doesn't like sandwiches, won't eat a cheese stick, thinks sunbutter is terrible, no longer likes pb and j.  Pretty much we are down to nutella on crackers or a roll.  It's ridiculous.  

So, here are some ideas I may have to try:

no-bake energy bites, tortilla chips with shredded cheese (he will eat cheese if it's shredded, but not in any other form unless it's melted on grilled cheese or pizza,) smoothies, mac and cheese (although he is hit or miss with this one,) and bacon.  Yep, he actually asked me to just send him in with bacon.  He insists that kids bring it in regularly.  This kid kills me!   Have a favorite kid lunch idea?  Please share it!!  

Have a great week!

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Menu plan Monday returns! Week of March 9, 2015

Menu plan Monday returns! Week of March 9, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

It's been a long while since I typed up a menu plan.  I still plan, but it's not usually written out.  I have been sick with tonsillitis and stuck inside this weekend, so I have some time to type this up without too much distraction! (Enter the child who needs something....)

Monday: Spaghetti squash lasagna

Tuesday: Old Fashioned Chicken noodle soup

Wednesday: Slow cooker balsamic chicken with brown rice

Thursday: Fish tacos with cabbage slaw and yellow rice

Friday: Turkey sliders with salads and sweet potato puffs

Weekend: TBD

 

Having tonsillitis meant that I was drinking lots of hot tea and only eating soup and yogurt for a few days.  I ended up going to Urgent Care on Saturday because I could no longer swallow anything.  It's not reassuring when the doctor looks in your throat with her little flashlight and says something like "Oh my god that's bad!"  Needless to say I'm on an antibiotic now and after only three doses the pain is almost all gone.  My tonsils were huge!  So gross.  For dinner on Sunday I made potato soup with fresh potatoes from our CSA.  It turned out really good and was easy to eat!  This week I'm going to try to make an authentic Jewish penicillin recipe for chicken soup.  I think I'll freeze some of it for the future too.  When I was first feeling bad I couldn't find any soup in the house, since I stopped eating canned soup a few years ago.  I ended up buying a can of chicken with stars soup, a childhood favorite, when I was picking up my prescription from the drug store.  

Last week it snowed and was icy a lot!  My son had two school days with delayed starts due to icy roads and two snow days.  We are looking forward to a week of more mild weather and a full week of school!

Happy Monday!

 

Looking for more menu plan ideas?  Check out Organizing Junkie! 

Menu plan Monday, November 17, 2014

It's soup weather!  The older I get the more I hate the cold weather, but I do love soup, so at least that is something to enjoy.  It actually snowed here last week and today it is cold and rainy.  

Last night I made a Buffalo Chicken Chili.  It came out more like a thick soup than a chili, and it was really good.  I made up the recipe after reading lots of different ones and not being able to find the first recipe I had wanted to use.  

I like to pair a simple green salad when serving soup, and sometimes a crusty baguette.  It really depends on the type of soup. I've pinned a bunch of soup recipes on Pinterest, so check out my board for more soup inspiration. 

 

 

 

Weekly meal plan for dinners this week:

Monday: turkey burgers, homemade sweet potato fries, green salads (and a homemade pumpkin pie for the little pumpkin who keeps complaining that he hasn't had pumpkin pie in a looooong time.)

Tuesday: Chicken orzo soup, based on this recipe; green salad.

Wednesday: dinner date with my kiddo, his choice.

Thursday: Orange chicken, based on this recipe, and this recipe!  With brown rice and broccoli.

Friday: leftovers or pizza.  depends on the mood of the day!

For the weekend:  We have a busy weekend planned.  I am hoping to have time to try to make this roasted delicata squash and pomegranate salad.

I have an abundance of squash and am still trying to figure out what to do with them.  The spaghetti squash lasangne was a hit, so I might make that again next week.  

What's on your dinner plan for the week?  Check out Organizing Junkie for more inspiration!  

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Menu plan Monday, October 20, 2014

After school snacking: Muddy Buddies

Menu plan Monday, October 20, 2014

Fall has been really busy, so busy I haven't had the chance to write.  I've been menu planning anyway, which is essential!  Our schedule is still busy full of soccer games, after school science class and the CSA pick up, not to mention homework!!  So, it's Wednesday, but here is my late plan for this week's meals.

Last week I made this awesome recipe, Crock pot BBQ Apple Pork Loin.  What a simple and tasty recipe!  I had purchased a twin pack of pork loins at Costco the other week and didn't realize that each pack had two pork loins in it, so I ended up making a lot of pulled pork from this one recipe.  I used my homemade cinnamon applesauce and a chipolte bbq sauce, along with half a chopped onion.  I had plenty of sauce for all of the pulled pork and was able to get two and a half family meals out of it!  I first served it over shredded napa cabbage and butter lettuce for me and in tortillas for my husband.  Then on Friday night before my son's evening soccer game, I served pulled pork sandwiches using whole wheat brioche buns I bought at Whole Foods.  I still have a small portion left that could make another sandwich or two for lunches.  This was a great recipe!

With the pulled pork, I made homemade sweet potato fries, at my son's request.  Our CSA just started offering sweet potatoes in our pick up and I had a small amount to use up.  In the past I did not have good luck with making fries, ending up with either over cooked (burned) fries or mushy ones.  I finally found some tips to make them turn out crisp but not burnt!  A cold water bath and some corn starch did the trick.  Read about how to make your own crispy sweet potato fries!

This week will be another hectic week. We have a school event from 5-7 on Monday night, which means dinner will be late.  We are considering a quick meal at one of the two new local restaurants that opened this past week.  We have two more weeks of evening soccer practice too.

Monday: probably out!

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday with salads

Wednesday: Soup night!  Easy chicken noodle soup using rotisserie chicken and a tortilla chicken soup with some added heat and veggies for the adults.

Thursday: stir fry chicken and rice

Friday: Homemade pizza and salads

Weekend: TBD

 

What's on your meal plan this week?  Check out Organizing Junkie for more inspiration!

 

Menu plan Monday, September 22, 2014

Hello Fall!

I haven't had a chance to write up my menu plans here, but I have a master menu calendar for the month that I've been using and it's helped!  Between changes in schedules and soccer practice, having this plan makes dinner prep much easier.

For this week, here is what I have in mind:

Sunday: Ginger Beef, Mushrooms and Kale stir fry with brown rice (This recipe was really good.  I hate kale, but could stomach it for this stir fry.  I would make it again!)

Monday: Roasted Tomato Soup with cheese quesadillas, Slow cooker baked apples

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday with homemade pico!

Wednesday: Baked Salmon, Thai crunch salad (Nappa cabbage is in the CSA pickup this week...this recipe sounds amazing!)

Thursday: travel day

Friday: Creamy Tomato Tortellini and sausage with salad

Weekend: Birthday celebrations for the kiddo!  #7!!

 

What's cooking in your house this week? Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas!

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My oven/range is about 12 years old.  For the past year or so the oven would randomly not ignite.  It wouldn't work for a day and then work the next day and continue to work for months.  It worked fine all summer, although I didn't use it too much.  Then one day at the end of August I decided to use up all the lovely CSA peaches I had and bake a pie at my son's request.  I assembled the entire pie and popped it in the fridge to chill before baking.  When I went to preheat the oven, it wouldn't turn on!  It wouldn't work for a week.  The burners on the stove top worked fine.  I ended up baking that pie in my toaster oven that happened to also have a convection feature.  It surprised me by baking beautifully!  Another week went by with no oven issue, then it started acting up again.  Considering it's age, we decided it wasn't worth paying for a repairman to come out and last Friday I purchased a new one!  It arrives today!  I can't wait to try it out.  I have bake sales and a birthday cake to bake this month, not to mention a ton of CSA tomatoes to roast for sauce.  

This week my menu is based on soccer schedules and CSA produce.  For the first time ever I have some leeks to contend with....ha!  I first had leeks in a convent in France ten years ago.  I suppose they were wonderful, but braised leeks were a big turn off to me.  I've had the instant potato and leek soup when I worked in an office as a quick lunch, and liked it.  So, with the potatoes I picked up in my share, I'll be trying out making potato and leek soup.  I'm using a low fat recipe to keep it healthier.  

Monday:  out with kiddo!

Tuesday: Quesadillas with chicken and cheese. Fresh made pico, and salads.

Wednesday: Meatloaf muffins, broccoli, homeade applesauce, couscous.

Thursday: Potato Leek Soup, salad.

Friday: Taco night!  

Weekend: TBD

What's on your menu this week?  Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu plan ideas!

 

 

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Menu plan Monday, September 1, 2014

It's the official end of our Summer of Fun, 2014 edition.  We had a GREAT summer!  I can't believe it's over and school starts tomorrow.  My little guy will be in first grade!  He is a bit anxious about it, so we spent the past few days talking about the fun we had this summer and the fun that will be in store for us in the fall.  My #summeroffun hashtag will become #autumnaladventures!  

With fall comes a very busy schedule.  Getting back into menu planning is necessary.  I'm trying to plan out a month at a time, but with room for variations based upon our CSA pickup each week.  So, here is my menu for this week:

Monday:  BBQ burgers, yummy summer salad, corn on the cob.

Tuesday: Beans and greens and sausage over Israeli cous cous.  (Will have to post this recipe sometime...my best friend invented it and it's been a staple here this summer as a way to use up swiss chard.)

Wednesday: Fresh tomato sauce with pasta and eggplant (if I can get eggplant at the CSA on Tuesday!) Salad.

Thursday: Crock pot Sante Fe chicken over brown rice.

Friday: Pizza and salad.

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: Fish tacos with quinoa pico and black beans salad.

What's on your menu for the week?  Check out various menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

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OATrageous recipes and OXO goodies

Kathy Hester’s new book, OATrageous, and OXO make a very tasty partnership! Be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post to enter to win your own set of OXO goodies.

This has been a year of learning to eat healthy and making lifestyle changes.  As a result of eating better coupled with exercising, I've lost over 40 pounds!  One of the changes I've made is incorporating oatmeal more into my diet, as well as many other things!  (Lots of plant based foods, more greens and fruit, less sugar and white flour.)  While I don't eat a strictly vegetarian or vegan diet, I've been using many more vegatarian recipes.  When learnig about Kathy Hester's new book of vegan recipes, OATrageous, I was really excited at having the chance to preview it and share info about it.

Kathy Hester has recipes to show you oats in a whole new light.  Think Italian Veggie and Oat Sausage, Veggie Oat Tacos and Oat Pizza Crust Topped with vegan sausage crumbles made from Steel-cut oats. But don’t worry she includes new takes on traditional favorites like Banana Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes and Strawberries and Cream Overnight Refrigerator Oats too. From now on it’s Exciting Oats for Every Meal!

I have to say I wasn't keen on the idea of refrigerator oats at first, but now I'm hooked!  I do modify Kathy's recipes in that I do use a dairy based yogurt, usually a fat free greek plain yogurt, but other than that I stick to her recipe. I love her recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Overnight Oats! So yummy! Pictured below, this non-yogurt based recipe, Blackberry Mojito Over-Night Refrigerator Oats is amazing!  (I leave out the rum!)  The picture alone is beautiful!

Pre-Order Book Bonus!

OATrageous Oatmeals will be available September 2014, but if you pre-order Kathy Hester’s new book, OATrageous, for $15.06 and have the chance to get over $25’s worth of goodies.  Just be one of the first 100 people to email your OATrageous purchase receipt to [email protected] with your full name, mailing address and phone number (for delivery purposes only).  Kathy has some other surprises for everyone who pre-orders including an OATragous newsletter with not-in-the-book oat recipes and special coupons.

 

OXO and OATrageous Giveaway!

OXO has partnered with Kathy's new book release to offer a great gadget giveaway!  Enter the giveaway below to win all of the pictured goodies and a copy of OATrageous when it is released! Do you have a favorite OXO kitchen gadget?  Mine is my smooth edge can opener.  It is so easy to use, especially when I have a carpal tunnel flare up.  This giveaway will be open from Monday, July 28th through Monday, August 4th, 2014.  One winner will be selected by Kathy and OXO will send the winner their prize.  US mailing addresses only. Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Menu plan Monday, July 21, 2014

I've gotten away from menu planning with interrupted weeks of travel.  This week I'm trying to get back into menu planning!

Soccer practice has started.  We have yet to make it to one, between rain and travel, but since we will be going to at least one this week I need to have meals pre-made ahead of time since practice is at 6pm.  Crock pot to the rescue?!  

I know it's summer too, but I really want to make pasta fagioli soup.  I want to use CSA veggies that we have, including celery, carrots and summer squash.  The benefit will be at least a day or two of good lunches with leftovers!

Salads for dinner...that's been my kick here for a while.  It will continue this week too!  One of the easiest meals to plan is salad with chicken as the protein.  I can cook the chicken in the slow cooker and use it for a couple of days worth of entrees.  

Some of my menu planning will change depending on todays CSA pickup.  I will incorporate whatever veggies we get this week in the menu.  

Menu Plan:

Monday:  Pasta e Fagioli soup with lots of veggies

Tuesday: Slow cooker Balsamic Chicken, salads

Wednesday:  Zucchini parm crisps, salmon burgers, green salads

Thursday:  We'll hopefully be at the Phillies game if the weather is favorable!

Friday:   Crock pot chicken for BBQ chicken salads.  

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: BBQ?  TBD

What's on your menu this week?  Check out Organizing Junkie for many more menu plans!