For the longest time, I was asking you for your Meal Planning on Mondays for the week.
OK that’s just crazy.
On Monday, it’s just too late. The damage is done and the pizza has been ordered. I thought – why not do it on Friday for next week? So I’m here to share my meal plan, as well as ask for yours (and one of you will win THE WHAT’S FOR DINNER SOLUTION just for submitting your plan!)
This way, not only will you have the chance to come up with your menu, but the time to shop for your ingredients!
Since I will be traveling all next week, I thought I would share what we did this week for meals. I’d love for you to tell me what your dinner plan is for next week (Monday through Sunday,) and give me one great tip that we can all use to make meals easier.
Here is my menu from last week:
Monday Pizza (Our favorite place does 50% on Mondays. An extra large pizza for $9? And I get my busiest day of work off from cooking. Sign me up…
Tuesday Salsa Chicken (Freezer to Slow Cooker) , Spanish Rice, Vegetarian Re-fried Beans, and Roger’s Homemade Guacamole
Wednesday Chicken Cacciatore (Freezer to Stove Top), Microwave Baked Potatoes, Salad
Thursday Brown Rice and Chicken Casserole with leftover chicken
Friday Leftover Brown Rice and Chicken Casserole (made from leftovers…) 
Saturday On the Road
Sunday On the Road
I know – no fair – I get almost a week off of cooking… But if it makes you feel better, I’m going to Missouri where everyday it’s 93 degrees for our entire trip. (And my Texas friends give me no sympathy…)
But to make up for it – if you tell me what you’re having for dinner next week (Monday through Sunday!) I will enter you to win THE WHAT’S FOR DINNER PROJECT. But you really win by not being in a panic every night for dinner next week.
And now – two recipes that are no-oven required
Salsa Chicken
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
32 oz. salsa (2- 16 oz. jars)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
condiments:
flour tortillas
sour cream
guacamole
lettuce
tomato
cheese
salsa
Directions:
Place all ingredients in your slow cooker.
Cook on low 6-8 hours.
30-60 minutes prior to serving, remove chicken, shred and return to crock pot
Serve over Mexican rice or let everyone prepare their own tortillas using the chicken mixture as filling inside tortillas.
Add desired condiments.
Chicken Cacciatore
1 pound Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T Vegetable Oil
1 ¼ cup Onion
2 cups Mushrooms
1 t Minced garlic
1 28 oz can Crushed tomatoes in puree
2T Parsley
¼ t Pepper
2t Italian Seasoning
1t Basil
Parmesan Cheese
Preparation: Cut chicken breast into cubes. Slice onions and mushrooms. Chop garlic.
Cooking: In a large skillet, sauté chicken in vegetable oil until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from skillet and sauté onions, mushrooms and garlic until the onions are transparent. Add chicken and remaining ingredients except for parmesan cheese. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Serve over penne pasta or garlic mashed potatoes.
There are some great ideas here! I know I’m late, but I still wanted to contribute something.
Mon- calzones
Tues- corn, black bean, zucchini enchiladas
Wed- mostaccholi
Thurs- pizza
Fri- Quiche
Sat- leftovers
Sun- rice, beans, chicken in sauce
Monday: Crab Sandwiches on sourdough rolls with green beans
Tuesday: Leftover crab sandwich for mom, PB&J sandwich for kiddo (dad’s working late)
Wednesday: Ground Turkey Burritos with all the fixings
Thursday: Anniversary Date Night for mom and dad!!
Friday: Whole Roasted Chicken with quinoa, zucchini, and caramel onions
Saturday: Leftover Chicken and quinoa with side garden salad
Sunday: Family dinner at Grandma’s house (she’s cooking!)
Tip: On any night I don’t feel like cooking (like when it’s really hot and I was supposed to have the oven on all night to make dinner!) we have hummus with pita chips, cheese, and assorted fruits and veggies that are in the house. My daughter and I love this, especially on nights when daddy’s working late! And since it’s a vegetarian “snack” type of dinner it’s also cheaper then most meals I make for dinner.
Monday: hamburgers on the grill, fruit, fries
Tuesday: smoothies & popcorn (can you tell my husband is out of town?!)
Wednesday: sourdough grilled cheese, veggies & dip
Thursday: dinner out with the family
Friday: Costco pizza
Saturday: Italian grilled chicken, veggies, roasted potatoes
Sunday: ground turkey soft tacos, chips & salsa
It’s hard to get motivated to cook full meals when I’m a “single mom” during my husband’s business trips. So I try to plan easy things that dont’ wear me out but are still freshly made and on a non-paper plate! I also make extra-large batches of things, like tonight’s pasta salad, so that lunches during those weeks are a breeze. Plus, I have teens who like leftover dinners for breakfast the next day so big quantities of whatever I make are a must. Costco really saves me! Thanks for your encouragement to organize myself!
Here’s what we’re doing:
Monday: Carne Asada tacos
Tuesday: Hot dogs/Brats & corn on the cob
Wednesday: Grilled chicken (marinated in Italian salad dressing) & pasta with green beans
Thursday: BBQ chicken pizza (made with the chicken I grilled the night before)
Friday: Grilled pork tenderloin, couscous, broccoli
Saturday: Take out
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner – Bacon, egg & cheese biscuits & fresh fruit
As you can tell, we grill a lot, especially when it’s this hot out. I hate turning on the oven when it’s 90+ degrees out, but it’s nice and shady and breezy in our backyard when it’s grillin’ time!
Sounds like yummy recipes! and menus! Thanks for sharing.
Monday: always salad night – Raspberry spinach walnut salad
Tuesday: date night.
Wednesday: either shrimp or chicken fried rice
Thursday: in-laws are coming over and they’re bringing dinner. 🙂
Friday: always pizza night. Our favorite lately is using Trader Joe’s naan to make our pizzas, so everyone gets their own personal pizza. 🙂
Saturday: dinner at my BIL (my sis is in France for a week)
Sunday: dinner at my parents
Here’s mine!
MON- Chicken drumsticks (google Chaos in the Kitchen’s recipe—so easy and good!), rice, green salad
TUES- Taco salad, burritos for kiddos with the ground turkey taco meat
WEDS- Homemade pizza (thank you, Pioneer Woman, for your recipe!)
THURS-Turkey burgers on grill, grilled veggies
FRI- Leftovers, scrap things together, clean out fridge. 🙂
SAT- Flank steak salad
SUN- Breakfast for dinner
My biggest tip (because it’s always been a challenge for me) is planning ahead enough to have proteins ready to go in the fridge (defrosted from the freezer with enough time to thaw) so that I don’t scramble and have to buy that day. (I stock up on meats/chicken/ground turkey when it’s on sale and freeze it all.)
Monday-Stuffed Green Bell Peppers- Cook 2 pounds ground beef and onion in skillet. Reserve one pound for tomorrow’s no cook night. Cut bell peppers in half and boil for 15 minutes on stove top. Cook 1 cup rice. Mix ground beef, rice, can corn drained, can of diced tomatoes. Stuff peppers with mixture, top with cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese melts. Serve with tossed salad.
Tuesday-No cook Greek Pitas: Use cooked ground beef from Monday night. Mix one cut up small cucumber, 1 tsp dill, and small cup plain greek yogurt. Serve meat in whole wheat pita pockets with sauce on top. Also top with lettuce, tomatoes,and feta cheese. Serve with veggie chips.
Wednesday-Supper at Church every Wednesday night
Thursday-Roast with carrots and potatoes. Serve with green beans and rolls.
Friday-Use leftover roast to make beef stroganoff. Shred roast, add one pack Lipton onion soup mix, one can beef broth, one can diced tomatoes. Let boil and simmer. Add 8 oz. sour cream before serving over egg noodles. Serve with tossed salad and rolls.
I use a metal ring with index cards and list all of our favorites meals including left over and blank spaces to use my favorite cookbooks!!
Mine is:
Mon – Bacon Wrapped Chicken w/Italian Salsa
Tues – Mexican Style Pork Roast
Wed – Chili
Thurs – Randy’s Fried Rice
Fri – on road
Sat – LO Chili on noodles
Sun – on road
To make meals easier, I use Plan to Eat to make my meal plan. — http://www.plantoeat.com/ref/ioaico57o0. I even put new recipes in there and add them to my queue. When it’s time to make the next plan, I have ideas in there already and just need to plug them into days!
So I have been directing camp the last four days and will also be traveling next week but here’s my plans.
Thursday tonight crockpot italian beef, cucumbers, chips and dip
F riday a day of laundry and preperation grilled porkchops, fresh garden green beans and new potatoe, grilled zucchini, fresh cucumber salad, dessert root beer float
Saturday, Blts for lunch, supper grilled chicken, spiniach salad, grilling extra chicken to freeze
Sunday, smoked chicken, fresh garden veggies
Monday Cheddars resturant a favorite of ours in Springfield, MO
Tuesday pastors and wives dinner at hotel
Wednesday, Chilis
Thursday return home throw frozen chicken previously grilled in crockpot, toss some fresh tomatoes I know will need to be picked when I return home and some other garden veggies.
T ipI like to kind of pick some of the places to eat beforehand so I know my budget better. Also using crockpot and grilling in Missouri when its this hot is a necessity.