Menu Plan Monday

How was everyone's Thanksgiving holiday? Did you eat too much? I sure did! We had a wonderful holiday, starting with everyone being out of school the entire week. You know I enjoyed a break in the hectic school schedule, because it meant I had a chance to relax and....my favorite.....sleep late! I really did enjoy that :)

Thursday was a pretty relaxed day for us as well. While the kids watched the Thanksgiving Day parade, I made what little food I was to bring to Rick's parents house. Since I had most things ready before Thursday, I only had to make cheese dip for earlier in the day and mashed potatoes for dinner. The suprise of the day was that Rick shot his first deer of the season Thursday morning! It was a small(ish) deer...only a 6 point, but we are happy to have the meat no matter what size it was. Before taking it to be processed he drove by the house to let the kids see it. They were all tickled to see Dad's "catch" and talked about how pretty it was. Now they are excited about having deer meat soon...I must admit, I am too. I am going to have to hunt around for the stew recipe I found last year. When I find it I will share it with you...it was so yummy.

I have to tell you about the new cake recipe I tried for Thanksgiving. It is the Pumpkin Spice Cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting from Country Living's website. It was the perfect Thanksgiving cake! If you are looking for a new cake recipe, I highly recommend it. It was easy to make, as well as moist and flavorful. I did not get a picture of it though (I know, you're not suprised). You'll just have to take my word for it....

Now, for this week's menu I am really planning to rock the leftovers, because we'll be out of town this weekend. My side of the family is going to have Christmas really early this year so that everyone can come. So we will be heading down to Kennedy, Alabama for the weekend...yay! While I'm there I hope to get a sewing lesson from my aunt, if there is time. There might be more hunting in store for Rick too....it looks like the weather will be perfect for it.

Monday...............Lasagna with garlic bread
Tuesday..............Leftovers
Wednesday............Chicken and noodles with cornbread
Thursday.............Leftovers
Friday & Saturday............Out of town for my family's Christmas get-together. I'm making 2 peanut butter pies for the dinner on Saturday.

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be blessed!

Menu Plan Monday....Thanksgiving Week :)

Well, this weeks menu plan is pretty easy for me....Thanksgiving dinner will probably cover the last half of the week's dinners at our house :)

Last night we had some of my family over for dinner....my Aunt Terri, Uncle Jeff, cousin Chasity, her husband John and their daughter Lili-Grace. They live about 2 1/2 hours south of our city and were coming up to do a little sightseeing. This was actually their first time to come to our home, and our first time to have any of my family in our home. (Long story, I have been meaning to tell a bit of how this all happened, but haven't been able to find the right words.) So, it was really a special day for us. We had the best time! I love my family so much and it was so great to have Rick's mom over and watch my family and Rick's family get to know each other and get along so well. Rick and I have been together for 9 years and this is the first time his mother has been able to meet anyone in my family. We ate dinner early and then the adults talked for hours and the kids played. There was not a dull moment during the entire evening!

Monday..............Roast with potatoes & carrots, Creamy Chicken Casserole, green beans, macaroni & cheese, rolls, peanut butter pie, chocolate bar cake, and pound cake

Tuesday..............Thanksgiving dinner at church

Wednesday.............leftovers from Monday

Thursday.............Thanksgiving!!! I know we are taking a smoked turkey, but besides that, I have no idea what I'm cooking yet....I haven't received my "orders" from my mother-in-law, LOL)

Friday................Leftovers, of course ;)

Saturday..............Leftovers? It will depend on if there is any more food left by then.

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday

I have been cleaning and doing laundry all day long. Right now I am curled up on the couch, exhausted. I couldn't wait any longer to post my menu plan for this week, though. It is already Tuesday night :)

For the most part this week's recipes are some of my tried and true recipes. They are also pretty easy. The only new recipe I will be trying is something that I just decided to try in the crockpot.....Chicken Tacos. We had them tonight and they were really good! I just put several chicken breasts in the crockpot and poured 3/4 of a jar of Pace salsa over them. Turned the crockpot on low and then after 6 hours, just shred the chicken up. Serve in soft or hard tacos with all the fixings. Yum!


Monday................Creamy Chicken
Tuesday..............Chicken Tacos, Refried Beans and Cheese Dip
Wednesday...............Potato Packets, Green Beans, Creamed Corn and Corn Bread
Thursday...............Shepherd's Pie, Black-eyed Peas
Friday.................leftovers
Saturday.............Chili

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Pasta e Fagioli

Is there anything better than coming home to a pot of warm, homemade soup after a busy day? In my book, it is definitely a great way to wind down the day. It is very relaxing to come home and only warm up bread, pour some cold lemonade and enjoy dinner with my family. Next time you want some soup, try this....

Pasta e Fagioli

1 package italian sausage, browned and drained
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 can (26.5 oz) pasta sauce (I use Hunts Garlic & Herb Sauce, canned not jarred....it's cheaper and tastes great)
2 tsp oregano
1 T Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time (I used Radiatorre [sp?], but you can use whatever you've got on hand)

Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot. Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit. Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole can of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta. Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit. Garnish with a little grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread.

*As I mentioned on this week's menu plan, this is a new recipe for our family. I was unsure how it would turn out or whether anyone would like it. I'm always a little concerned when trying new recipes. I really don't want to waste the time preparing a meal as well as wasting the food itself if it's not good. I shouldn't have worried though, because it was soooo delicious! It definitely reminded me of Olive Garden's version of this soup. This would be the perfect soup to have cooking away in the crockpot on a cold winter day. The warmth of soup and bread as well as the spiciness of the dish would warm you up quickly :)

My husband and I both really liked it. The kids, however, weren't sure what to think. Zoe seems to be getting more picky as she gets older, so she of course did not like it (even though she said this before she ever took a bite!) Harmony and Canaan ate it and thought it was okay. It may have been a little spicy for them, but they did eat it.

I mentioned also that this recipe came from Crockpot 365. However, I did make changes to the recipe to reflect our own tastes. I used italian sausage instead of hamburger meat, 2 cans of white beans instead of 1 can white beans and 1 can kidney beans, and also more pasta sauce and only 1 can diced tomatoes. If you would like to see Stephani's recipe click here.

Also, I am participating in Mt. Hope Chronicles' Living. Lovely. this week, since the theme of the week is "Savor Slow Food". We have certainly done that!

Better Late Than Never

For some reason, I have had a hard time coming up with a menu for this week's dinners. After searching around the 'net for some inspiration, it is finally ready. My problems stems from the fact that we have something going on at least two nights this week. Also I have a few recipes that I want to try, but they are all chicken dishes. I don't think I want to feed the family chicken every night of the week :) We will be eating it 3 nights this week, though.

Two of the recipes used this week are new to me: Pasta E Fagioli and Brown Sugar Chicken. Both come from Crockpot365, a great website with tons of crockpot recipes. Personally, I am always happy about finding a new crockpot recipe. Using the crockpot really saves time spent in the kitchen in the evenings.

The meatloaf that I'm making is just a variation of PW's BBQ Meatballs. The meatballs are sooo good, but are a little time consuming, so I think I'll just make the meatloaf instead. Same taste, different form :)


Monday.........Chicken Spagetti & Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Tuesday..........Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Wednesday..........Pasta E Fagioli & Garlic Breadsticks

Thursday..........Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans

Friday...........Leftovers

Saturday............Brown Sugar Chicken w/ Rice


This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Halloween '09