Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with applesauce and chocolate chip cookies
Tuesday - Homemade Pizza
Wednesday - Spaghetti with garlic bread and shrimp scampi
Thursday - Turkey and spinach roll ups
Friday - Roast Sticky Chicken
Saturday - Kielbasa with fried garlic potatos
Sunday - Out to eat

Recipes to follow... this is Freezer Frenzy week again.

Menu Plan Monday

After everything that has been going on around here these last few months, I really didnt think it could get any worse. Really. I should have knocked on wood when I thought that.

Our fridge and freezer has died. I have now been a week without and still waiting for the repairman to come and make me a happy woman with a complete kitchen. Until then, feeling nothing like a real woman and beside myself to cook, we have been eating take out and frozen pizza, taking great care to not make leftovers.

Sure, we have a mini-fridge, but all that fits in there are the condiments... then it is full. I never realized how many condiments we owned. And I am sure that there are many more we havent even discovered!

So here goes:

Monday Frozen Pizza or Homemade pizza
Tuesday Sliced Roast and gravy from the freezer made into sandwiches, served with chips
Wednesday HOPEFULLY THE FRIDGE WILL GET FIXED TODAY Eat Out (Long day with many many appointments back to back)
Thursday EXPECTING THE FRIDGE TO BE COOLING DOWN NOW Eat Out (Long day #2 with many many appointments back to back)
Friday Spaghetti and meatballs (Babysitting 12 yo Autistic boy all day then heading out to do some much needed grocery shopping)
Saturday Apple Pork Chops with oven steak fries and grilled veggies
Sunday Steak on the grill with garlic potatos and corn on the cob

Anxiety over Teen and Menu Plans

Do we look alike?

(Daughter on left, me -at same age- on right)

The last 10 days have been some of the longest days in my life. It is amazing how much stress you can feel from a very independent, "I disowned you 6-months ago, Mom," graduates in 1 week and has a full 4-year scholarship to the local state college, 18-year-old daughter.

And she doesnt even live with us!

But I have been in tears and in constant worry over her as she makes her own choices and pushes toward self-sufficiency. Not that I didnt do the same thing at that age, but I like to think that I did it in a non-hurtful way. And yet she is leaving a wake of worried and *now* emotionally damaged adults behind her as she pushes ahead.

And whether she chooses to believe it or not, I love her as much as I did when she was a little, bouncy, sweet curly-headed girl. Recent events aside, she is an amazing girl. Letting go is so difficult... not that the last 2 years have left me any other option... just that it is difficult.

And dont even remind me that I put my parents through the same worry and heartache. Trust me, my mother has reminded me of that many, many times these past few days.

oh... and can I even mention the girl that my 16 yo daughter brought home for the weekend??? Decent kid at first glance, friendly and forthright. Uh, until she started telling me how she had pierced herself in about 20 places on her face... shutter... as well as tattooing herself... creeps.... and how she spent 5 weeks in a "hospital" in between 2 of her closest friends commiting suicide.

Yea... these are just *some* of the reasons I worry...

BUT we still have to eat... so my plan for this week is as follows:

Sunday - Pot Pie (using shredded beef from the freezer)
* I have decided that I prefer my meat cubed, not shredded... but alas, all I had was shredded.
Monday - Chicken Tostadas with Spanish Rice
Tuesday - Pork Roast with fried potatoes
Wednesday - Spaghetti and Meatballs (2 freezer sauce recipes to follow)
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Steak on the grill

Menu Plan Monday -Mar 16, 2009

This week I am working on emptying my freezers so that I can fill them back up with a OAMC weekend. By next Monday I hope to have at least 3 months of dinner prepared and frozen in my larger freezer. Stay tuned this week for additional details.

Sunday - Roast Beef and gravy

Monday - Chili Mac

Tuesday - Roasted Chicken (second recipe from the bottom)

Wednesday - Frozen Pizzas

Thursday - Turkey Dinner (I have a 22# turkey taking up half a shelf in my freezer)

Friday - Beef stew

Saturday - Leftovers

For close to 400 meal plans per week go to OrgJunkie.com. This week's Meme guest hosted by $5 dinners.

~Anne

Party Flips and Flops -Menu Plan Monday -Giveaway

You KNOW that I am *so* OCD that I plan every moment of my life, right? So what was I thinking when I planned a dinner and game party on a Monday for Saturday?!?!?!?

And amazingly, with everyone's crazy-full schedules now-a-days, 20 people RSVP'd. Whoo hoo! Party on!

So what did Anne do? you ask....

I will tell you what I did. I went nutz cooking and cleaning all week. And I learned some lessons along the way. Sure, most of it was "Duh" stuff that I should have realized, but I thought it was worth sharing.

So Let's start with Party Flips... all the good stuff that went over with a BANG!

• Ooey Gooey Bars. Basically yellow cake mix and a whole lot of powdered sugar. Yummy. Too sweet for me, but half the platter was g-o-n-e!


• Bruschetta Chicken well, kinda bruschetta chicken. I ran out of time and just chopped the chicken, tossed it, the stuffing, and the tomatos in a casserole and baked it. Eventually I remembered to pour on the dressing. I forgot the cheese entirely. It looked like crap and I felt weird serving it, but I *needed* another main dish. Threw-together-chicken-surprise-casserole was the ONLY dish completely emptied. AND 3 people asked for the recipe AND one couple invited themselves over again this weekend and specially requested it again! Who knew!


• Utility Sink Bar Fridge. Because there is only so much room in the fridge and no one wants to go out in a Mid-west winter to get stuff from the garage fridge... stick a plug in the drain, fill the sink with ice and add bottles and cans.

And now the Party Flops... all the things that went wrong.

• Spaghetti Cups A great idea from Picky Palate, but never try a new idea the day of the party. Oh yeah, and dont forget to buy the main ingredient.


• 20 people frenzy. I went all out, didnt really figure out how much food was appropriate for the number of guests. I really overdid it.


• Dinner Party/Game Night. You can't do it all in one night. We started and ended with food and drinks. We never got to the games. Sure, we had a blast, but it wasnt game night.

Hmmmm!

Now my menu for this week:

Sunday - Spaghetti

Monday - Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday - Nachos

Wednesday - BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Take out

And the GIVEAWAY: I saw this on Jill's blog and just HAVE to join the fun!

The first FIVE people to comment on this post will get something made by me!

I am going to echo her disclaimers:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.


2. What I create will be just for you.


3. It'll be done this year.


4. You will have no clue what it is going to be until I post it and ask you to contact me with your mailing address.

To qualify you must comment here after you repost this on your blog offering the same to the first five people who comment on your blog.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

~Anne

Menu Plan Monday -Nov 24

Thanksgiving week! I love Thanksgiving! This week we will gather with friends, eat way too much, begin decorating for Christmas, start the Christmas baking, and mostly, be thankful for all that we have.


I plan to spend the next 4 days in the kitchen... but not preparing dinner, so my menu reflects easy dinners until the big day.


Monday -Homemade Pizza

Tuesday -Beef stew

Wednesday -Spaghetti

Thursday -Turkey (duh!) with EZ Potato Casserole, Mashed potatos with gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Homemade dinner rolls, Garlic biscuits, Cranberry sauce, pies, cookies, mmmm... appetizers. I need to work on appetizers. More on that later!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday -Leftovers!!!


~Anne

Menu Plan Monday -Nov 10

Oh boy... it is another week ALREADY! Hmmmm. I am not ready yet! *giggle*

Monday -Spaghetti with homemade french bread

Tuesday -Baked Chicken

Wednesday -Pot pie

Thursday -Homemade Pizza

Friday -Tostadas and Spanish rice (Mia's recipe)

Saturday -Shredded BBQ Beef sandwiches

Sunday -Leftovers

The Pot Pie on Wednesday will be with leftover chicken......

I buy pre-made pie crusts (deep dish.) *shh, don't tell*

I chop up 2 cups of meat. I chop up 3 potatoes (I prefer to use baked). Add in 2/3 cup of mixed veggies (I use frozen, but you can use fresh or anything you have in the fridge.) and 2 cups of gravy... yummy! I throw it in the pie crust (pretty much), don't even cover it with another crust (they just pick off the top one anyway), and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. If the meat and the potatoes are pre-cooked, it is merely an act of heating everything and browning to taste, otherwise add more time so the potatoes cook through. Sometimes I don't have crusts (and I CANNOT make crust to save my life) so I make it like dumplings in a casserole dish with biscuit mix on top. Either way it is YUMMY!

What are you having for dinner this week?

~Anne

Menu Plan Monday -Nov 3

Monday -Spaghetti and garlic bread
Tuesday -Pizza
Wednesday -Pot pie
Thursday -Sloppy Joes
Friday -Roast beef with mashed potatoes
Saturday -BBQ with friends
Sunday -Baked Chicken

I got everything inventoried. =D I filled the freezer with TONS of dinners for quick and easy reheating during the week. I still want to make some meatballs and some breakfasts, but with all I accomplished, I am satisfied. I love a full freezer!

~Anne

Menu Plan Monday -Oct 27

My goal this week is to inventory all food products in the house including the freezers.

Monday - Spaghetti/Meatballs and garlic bread

Tuesday - Nachos

Wednesday - Garlic Chicken and potato casserole

Thursday - BBQ beef sandwiches with chips

Friday - Chinese take-out

Saturday - Buffet with friends

Sunday - Leftovers

What are your plans?

~Anne

Menu Plan Monday -Oct 20

New feature here... Menu Plan Monday. I have followed a menu plan for the last 7 years until recently when I let just about everything slip. So plan with me, follow me as I go back to my Once A Month Cooking techniques and fill my 22 cu ft freezer with fully cooked meals. Yes, I cook like I am feeding an army!

Here is this week's plan:

Monday - Polska Kielbasa and fried garlic potatoes

Tuesday - Chicken pot pie

Wednesday - Beef stew with mixed vegetables

Thursday - Homemade pizza

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Brats, dogs, and burgers on the grill

Sunday - Turkey dinner with all the fixings (yes, I know it is a month BEFORE Thanksgiving... but I really love turkey!)

~Anne