Menu Plan: Warmer Weather Eating-- May 6-12

My tulips assure the return of warm weather. No more teasing.

 Grilling time is back and Michele at 5Dinners-in-1Hour has some new things to try on it along with seasonal vegetables to go along with them. I'm also including a recipe for whole wheat Italian breadsticks made in the bread machine to go alongside.

 I am on about my ninth month of using this time- and money-saving plan and seasonality is another one of the bonuses I'm seeing. How nice to look forward to menus that take advantage of the best of that time of the year.

Another time-saver I'm incorporating is the Express Lane curb-side pick-up service at Harris-Teeter. The much-anticipated store just opened last month a mile from home and when I learned of this service I knew I had to try it. Combining the ease of a ready-made grocery list from 5Dinners with the time-saving of shopping online---once in bed at 11 pm, another time while relaxing on my deck---probably saves me 3-4 hours in a week.

And by keeping me out of the store, I'm sticking to my list instead of making spontaneous purchases, further saving me money. This more than justifies the $1/week menu plan and $5/order shopping. Other stores are experimenting with this idea as well as home delivery, all designed to appeal to working families. Well, we homeschool moms are working moms too! Try it!

And now on with the Menu:

Monday:

Grilled Pork Chops in a smoky marinade
Mashed sweet potatoes
Steamed broccoli

Tuesday:

Tandoori Salmon
Brown rice
Green beans

Wednesday:

Easy Baked Ziti
Green salad
Whole Wheat Italian Breadsticks

Whole Wheat Breadsticks courtesy The Happy Housewife

Thursday:

Taco Chicken Legs
Corn on the Cobs
Grape tomatoes

Friday:

Leftover Buffet

Saturday:

Broiled Steak and Pineapple Bites
Green Salad

Sunday: Mother's Day

Bet you can guess I'M not cooking!!


Got menu questions? Got Mother's Day plans? Tell Mother All About It!

 

Join the rest of the menu-loving blogosphere at Organizing Junkie for more great plans!

Menu Plan: March 18-24

It's another week. Yeah, you knew that because you are reading Menu Plan Monday and you figured, "Hey! It's another week! I'll let someone ELSE plan my menu! "

Good for you. That's the idea. 

Around here, we are glad that Monday means last week is OVER. However, even if this week turns out to be as stress-filled as last week, we thank God that he will be in the midst of it. 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

  

Now let's cook!

Most menu ideas courtesy of 5Dinners-in-1Hour. Without which last week, we'd have starved on top of everything else.

Monday

Mini Honey-Mustard Meat Loaves
Oven-baked potatoes
*Stir-fried Kale. So misunderstood. See recipe below.
   

Tuesday

Roasted Shrimp
Wild Rice blend  (Uncle Ben's)
Sugar snap peas

Wednesday

Pork Barbeque on 
*Homemade Buns (click on pic for link to recipe)
Cole slaw
Applesauce

 Kick Butt Buns (Get it? Butt? Buns? )P.S. This is not BBQ, okay?

Source: food.com via Leslie "Mother Robin" on Pinterest

Thursday

Beef Fajitas on Whole Wheat Tortillas
Black beans
Sliced tomatoes and avocadoes

Friday

Date Night/Youth Club Night!

Saturday

Spinach-Artichoke Bow Ties
Green Salad

Sunday

Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Asian Rice

 Quickie Kale:

  Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a very large saute pan along with about a cup of chicken or veg broth. Season with a hefty spoonful of minced garlic.Maybe some dried minced onion too. Salt and pepper to taste.  Heat to steaming , then add a mountain of chopped kale (I bought Nature's Way pre-washed, pre-chopped). Saute until kale has become soft and edible. Serve hot. I like it with a splash of balsamic vinegar, just the way I  like steamed spinach.

This half a big bag....

...cooked down to this 4-portion serving.

Got Greens? Got Spring? Got Spring Greens or Green Springs?  Tell Mother All About It! especially the "green springs" part. We're getting impatient around here.
Linking up with Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie. Thanks, Laura!

Menu Plan Monday: Sloppy Start

 Want the Ground Hog Day activities links? Keep scrolling :-)

Good Morning/Afternoon/Middle of the Night! An icy, sleety, freezing-rainy start to our week in the Baltimore/Washington area, the perfect "recipe" (HAHAHA, I"m so funny on five hours sleep!) for a three-hour commute for my blessed husband. When it comes to rush hour length, our area is Number One in the country! Rah, Rah. We're not even close to NYC or LA's populations, but because of the geographical lay-out of the city--straddling a river that chokes everyone down to only two portals--,there are simply no alternative routes to avoid a vehicular  lock-down.

Blizzard of 2010. City simply closed shop for a week. Not that our government needs an excuse for a shut-down.

And in this area of already stressed-out government employees who are transferred here from all over the country, many whose hometowns are in milder areas of the nation, a smidgeon of snow is a call for pandemonium.

So, if terrorists want to run the show, they don't need to get all fancy with suicide planes and such. They just need a snowstorm and a couple of strategically placed disabled trucks on the Beltway. They'll be in control  for days.

WELL! Enough of gloom and doom. You came here to get some recipe ideas!

So let's find something from 5 Dinners in an Hour to calm the nerves and warm our tummies and hearts in this dead of winter. And take heart! Groundhog Day, the halfway point, is this weekend!! Yay for the weather prognosticator, Punsutawney Phil !

For my homeschooling friends who like turning anything into a teachable moment, here are some links for learning and fun:
Free Punxsutawney Phil Lesson Plan: Free Groundhog Day Printables, Coloring Pages, and Activities for Kids 

Enchanted Learning: Ground Hog Day 

Monday

Slow Cooked Chicken and Dumplings (perfect start, eh?)
Green salad

Tuesday

Spinach Lasagna
Green salad

Wednesday

Tilapia Tacos
Sliced avocadoes
Black beans

Thursday

Slow Cooked Vegetarian Chili
Whole wheat rolls

Friday--Co-op, Dance class and Middle School Youth Group

Dinner out for Mother and Father Robin

Saturday --Ground Hog Day!

DITK (Dad in the Kitchen!) Gotta be something German, Father R, to recall your Western PA roots (home of the celebrated rodent)!

Sunday

Left-over Buffet

I'm feeling better already! How about you? Got Menu? Tell Mother All About It!
Then find more inspiration at Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday: Baby, It Got Cold Outside

The Mid-Atlantic has so far been granted another mild winter. Last year our total snowfall was not even memorable (really! I can't even find records!). Along with that it was also easy on the bundling up. This winter was proving to be  the same except for that Christmas Eve Mixed Blessing that created a White Christmas morning, but a treacherous drive for services the night before. Then the other little one that popped up on our way to the ER for my snapped metatarsal. Glad we avoided another accident in the hospital parking lot!!

The Black Horse Troop of Culver. Our nephew is in the second row!

    This past Sunday and Monday were just what the White House ordered for the Presidential Inaugural: mostly above average temps and sunny skies. The parade that included our nephew was pulled off without a security or meteorological hitch! But come Tuesday, WHAM! Party's O-VER! Highs in the 20's and lows in the teens.
     So let's have some warm-up food from 5Dinners1Hour.com to take away the chill! Then  find more ideas to fight the chill at Organizing Junkie!

Monday

Herbed Pork Chops
Broccoli
Carrots (I like to add a splash of orange juice and a tablespoon of honey during cooking)

 

Tuesday

Black Bean Stuffed Peppers
Green Salad with avocado

Wednesday

Oven Fried Tilapia
Brown Rice (they'll eat it-or anything-with soy sauce)
Green Beans

 

Thursday

Slow-Cooked Honey Sesame Chicken
Sugar Snap Peas
Green Salad with mandarin oranges and almonds

Friday (Ice and snow may be on the menu too...)

LO Buffet

Saturday

Spicy Steak Bites
Mashed Potatoes
Asparagus Spears (frozen. A cold snap in CA has sent fresh through the roof. Be warned)

Sunday

DITK: Dad's in the Kitchen!


Got Menu? Tell Mother all about it! Comments warm ME up every time!
    

Menu Plan Monday: Hail to the Chief (and Chef)

   Regardless of political leanings, you still have to feel proud and blessed to live in a country that has peaceful elections every four years. We sometimes even take it for granted until we see headlines of the violence in many countries that blows-up just to put the people's choice in office. So this week, let's celebrate that fact and show honor to our great nation on the 20th.
   Here's how we're doing it.

The Black Horse Troop of Culver Academy in 1913

   My middle brother's fam is coming East to watch their son, a member of the prestigious Black Horse Troop of Culver Military Academy, ride in the Inaugural Parade!!  And it's especially special because it is exactly 100 years since the first time they rode back in (quick, do the math) 1913. And he is LEADING the troop. I think he might even get to doff his cap or salute or whatever when they pass the President. And if that wasn't enough, my youngest brother's son's Boy Scout Troop has been selected out of all the troops in his region of New Jersey to provide community service at the parade.  So my family is representing quite well, thank you.
   But the broken foot thing prevents me from watching live curb-side with them. You can imagine the scene: crowds are huge, you have to get there hours in advance, and then stand, stand, STAND in the cold.  Looks like I'll be watching on TV like everyone else across the nation and around the world like I've always done. Maybe 2016? Nah, they'll all be grown up.
    Now on to the eats.
    Continuing with the 5Dinners1Hour.com. plan, I can easily whip out this menu.  I looked over the weeks from both the January list and some from previous months that I have paid for--weeks that I haven't used for one reason or another--and settled on TWO week's worth of menu-planning. I'm only gonna list one here now. You'll have to come on back next week for the other one! Oh, snap!
     Not surprisingly, I'm utilizing any and all shop-by-internet advantages I can find. My biggest groan right now is imagining thump-da-thumping with cane in hand through miles of grocery aisles while somehow also maneuvering a cart and then laoding and off-loading those bags. I hat doing it on TWO feet, much less one-and-a-half. So to avoid that, I am brushing off my dusty grocery-delivery account. I use Peapod by Giant for my service. (available in Maryland and PA; there are others out there.) Between the clearly written list on 5Dinners1Hour and the simplicity of the on-line browsing at Peapod, I can have two weeks worth of food picked out in less time than it takes me to drive to the brick-and-mortar store and back. Which is only fifteen minutes away. Clicked on yesterday, delivered to my counter-top today. And yes, you can use your coupons. Sweet.
    Now for the menu:

Monday

Leftovers to clean out for my 5Dinner cooking today

Tuesday

Roasted Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta
Mixed vegetables
Jasmine rice

Wednesday

Almond Crusted Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Sugar snap peas

Thursday

Slow-cooked beef stew
Green Salad
Whole Wheat dinner rolls

Friday

Date night (The youth group is going snow tubing at Ski Roundtop! )

Saturday 

DITK (Dad In The Kitchen!)

Sunday

Hoping to have a family dinner while all those celebrities are in town. In honor of refilling the Oval Office, we should at least have cherry pie!

What's on your menu? Anything patriotic? Find more menu ideas at Organizing Junkie and then get out those flags. Hail to the Chief (and all you chefs)!

Menu Plan Monday: 5 Dinners-in-1 Hour

   Our menu for the week owes a lot of thanks to 5 Dinners-in-1 Hour, the meal-planning site that provides you with the menu, the grocery list, and all the prep directions to assemble five dinners in--yeah, you guessed it, even though you don't believe it---ONE hour! In fact, several week's worth of dinners at our house owe their thanks to 5 Dinners-in-1Hour. But when I broke my foot on Christmas night, boy was I glad that there were  meals filling the freezer that would not need more for me to do than throw them in a crockpot or oven to finish the job. I was also extremely thankful that Father R had planned to take the time off for the holidays, AND that he enjoys cooking. That allowed the freezer meals to wait to be popped out after he went back to work on Jan.2. And Mei got to play Clara Barton whose home and headquarters she had toured last fall. I think the novelty wore off by the end of the week, but if it gave her an appreciation for the profession, then lesson well-learned. Just wish it hadn't been at my expense.
   So as we enter Week Three of Peg-leg Mom, here's what's on the menu! I wouldn't dream of sharing the recipes; that wouldn't be fair to Michele at 5 Dinners. But you can try out a week's worth free here. I'm not including the weekend meals cuz that's HIS territory!

Dad's Lasagna. And She Helped!

Monday

Slow-Cooked Tangy Beef Sandwiches
Corn on the Cob
Carrots

Tuesday

Asian Chicken Legs
Sugar snap peas
Brown rice

Wednesday

Dad's Lasagna (NOT a 5Dinners1Hour meal. It really is Dad's!)

Green Salad

Thursday

Slow Cooker Almost Tamales

Black beans

Sliced Avocados

Friday

Slow Cooked Tuscan Bean Soup

Green Salad 

Whole Wheat Rolls

Looking forward to a fashionable black-tie party in the neighborhood on Saturday. My long skirt should be able to hide my orthopedic boot!

Check out other menus at Menu Plan Monday! What's cookin' at YOUR house?