Menu planning is getting to be more important, yet more challenging, as I try to think of different meals to use what we have but not to be boring. So, with being sleep deprived and sick the last little bit, it's been kind of hard to figure out what to have for dinner this week. I finally sat down Monday after dinner (since this is Tuesday I edited this post a bit, so no you haven't gone through a slip in time or something ;) and got the plan for the week done.
So, onto this week's menu!
Monday: Minute steaks (thin cut steaks fried in frying pan), leftover beans, leftover pasta salad (from fried chicken night)To Bake: Bread (Wednesday)
Tuesday: Chili, corn bread (turkey and ground beef)
Wednesday: BBQ pork steaks, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans
Thursday: Baked fish, flavored rice (giving the free Uncle Ben's a shot), pears
Friday: Pizza (ham and pineapple topping)
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Breaded shrimp (found a lowly bag in the freezer), french fries, peaches
Desserts: Jello, pudding
Does your dh fish and hunt? Cheryl
ReplyDeleteNot at the current time. Between the license, the materials and the expense, we just have come to the conclusion that it's not worth it right now. The hunting regulations in this state are REALLY nasty to deal with and you really have to love hunting up here because the terrain and the mosquitoes are nasty too (mosquitoes will suck a caribou dry they are so prolific and huge up here. Growing up I loved the outdoors and went camping with my dad a lot. Up here we own a motor home to go camping. There is NO WAY I'd want to camp in the summer when you have to have mosquito netting to do it).
DeleteSounds delicious! Also looks like you are finding good things in your freezer -- cheese, now breaded shrimp. Yum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't know if these would be appealing to your son for milk, but Money Saving Mom blog currently lists how to get free sippy cups that look to be a hybrid of a sippy cup and a bottle...using a Walgreens in-store coupon, plus a printable coupon, etc.
They wouldn't. I've tried everything and try everything new that comes on the market. He won't even switch bottle types. The Playtex drop in bottles are the only ones he'll use and they have to be the old style ones before they changed the bottle shape. So we end up buying a new bottle when he toasts a nipple on the bottle and then have to throw the brand new bottle into the donation box as he'll only drink out of his bottles he's been drinking out of since he was a baby. With him it's both a sensory need and a nutritional one. Thanks for the head's up though. I'll check out MSM as I have a new baby niece to look forward to and a few nephews who will be on sippy cups by Christmas :).
DeleteMeals are still looking pretty good so far, Erika.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this would be helpful for you, but at one time I made a list of main meals that we liked to eat and would sometimes use that to decide what we wanted to make that night. You could modify this idea and make a list of main meals that you can make from your pantry that you have lots of pantry ingredients for. That way you can include some special meals each week (like the steak or shrimp which you have less of), along with some common meals that you have lots of ingredients for (such as pizza, pasta, various chicken recipes etc). It might make your life easier.
If the list of common meals is long enough (say 12-14 meal ideas), you can rotate them each week as well so you only repeat the meals maybe every couple weeks or so. You could probably put together a second list of "special meals"/"recipes to try" and a third list of "quick survival meals" for when you are too sick or too exhausted to cook (maybe prepare some freezer meals ahead as your freezer empties out). The lists can be added to over time, so don't feel obligated to spend hours doing this. Just start jotting some down as you think of them or come across an idea.
*Laugh* I have a list of about three pages long of just pantry meals that I can make. My husband then looked through them all this week, finished and said, "None of that appeals". I only wanted to hit him for a few seconds ;).
DeleteRight now, instead of focusing only on the pantry I'm also really working on cleaning anything old out of the freezer. Right now I'm on a quest to figure out ways to use cheap hot dogs that my husband doesn't like as I was able to get a HUGE container of them on sale cheap a while back (summertime I believe). Then I have loads more in the freezer that I found (fridge freezer), so it's been an interesting week hitting all of the mid century types of food blogs to find hot dog recipes (since that was kind of the hey day of hot dogs :).
Do you think your family might like corny dog muffins? I love them myself. :) I have a recipe that doesn't use a mix or anything. Basically corn bread muffins with cut up hot dogs and a bit of cheese, but I think you could even leave the cheese out. They freeze pretty well, too. If I have more than I think we will eat, I freeze them and pull them out for lunches for me.
DeleteI actually found recipes for things similar to that in my search for hot dog recipes. One if a frankfurter loaf where you use a corn bread mix (which I have those) , cut the hot dogs at 1" intervals, but not all the way through the hotdog and then you lay them out in a loaf pan lengthwise after coating them in flour (so they don't all sink to the bottom when it is cooking). You somehow end up with this corn bread loaf with hot dogs throughout it and the slices help the hotdogs to slice evenly as you slice the bread so you end up with basically corn bread loaf.
DeleteIt intrigued me. The biggest problem I have, is once again, my husband as he didn't like the cheap hot dogs I bought and he doesn't want any recipe that makes the hot dogs taste like hot dogs. I told him I might try recipes like your muffins and that frankfurter loaf though and he might just have to put up with it. I refuse to let that many hot dogs go to waste. Period *laugh*.
OK, here is a meal that my husband LOVES and I believe you have all the ingredients for...Shepherds pie. I fry up some ground beef and boil some mixed veggies at the same time. Once the meat and veggies are cooked, I mix them together with beef gravy in a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes (I used instant mashed because my family love them) and a bit of cheddar cheese on top if you have some. Bake in oven until bubbly and warmed through. My daughter has decided she doesn't like ground beef anymore, so I started making this with diced cooked chicken and chicken gravy...she LOVED it as did my husband (yeah, a meal everyone will eat!). It's easy and trust me the gravy is the trick to making everything taste awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks :). I actually do make Sheppard's Pie on occasion. I'm the only one that likes it though as my husband doesn't like the mashed potato topping and then my daughter hates anything with vegetables in it. She's a fun kid ;).
DeleteAround here, I could plunk a brick of Tillamook cheese down on the table with a knife and say "eat up" and they'd be happy. Just kidding! We are cheese eaters, though.
ReplyDeleteYour meals look great! It seems like your stockpile is holding out well. I'm actually seeing some major room in one of my freezers, so feel like I'm making progress. It's one that got left cracked open recently on accident so needs to be defrosted. Once it's empty, I'll clean it, re-load it with stuff from one of the other ones, clean that one, and so on. When I'm done, I hope to have an empty freezer.
Every family is different. Would your family enjoy some "Chinese" food? We call it that when I stir-fry up a bit of chicken, and whatever veggies I have including: onions, carrots, celery, frozen broccoli, etc. and dump in a generous amount of soy sauce. A small amount of ground ginger is good in there, too. It's a good way to use up things with a small amount of meat (you could use beef) and give it a different flavor. Rice would be good with that, or I've stirred leftover noodles in as well at times.
I, unfortunately, married a pretty picky eater (although he doesn't consider himself as such). One of the things he WILL NOT eat in any shape or form is something that resembles stir fry. His mom used to make stir fry all the time when he was a kid and that, soup and tuna fish are three things I don't put in front of him if I can help it. At least soup he'll tolerate to a point, but stir fry he won't and tuna will turn him green just smelling it.
DeleteI commented yesterday but somehow my comment didn't make it here... My go to recipe when I somehow end up with too many hotdogs is " modified lecho" ... You sauté some onions, peppers, mushrooms and zucchini (you can skip mushrooms and/or zucchini if you don't have them), add hotdogs cut up in small rings, add tomato paste and chicken stock, cook few minutes, enjoy... it's best next day after flavors develop, serve with bread, pasta, rice or potatoes.... cheap and yummy ... looks like those https://www.google.com/search?q=leczo+z+parowkami&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivzeLKx97KAhXFlR4KHTPfALAQ_AUIBygB&biw=1240&bih=620
ReplyDeleteHuh. Thank you! I'll definitely look into that. If my husband won't go for it, it'll still give me options for lunch.
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