S- Pizza night. Sausage and mushroom, bacon and blue cheese.
M- Grilled chicken and asparagus, salad
T- Pulled pork sandwiches (Image and recipe from Just A Taste)
W- Chicken Nuggets
T- Fish tacos- we are taste testing some recipes from Healthy Habits Kitchen in Wellesley this week.
F- Pizza night
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Oh, March. You have been such a lion. At least we got our fix of cute little lambs this weekend at Drumlin Farms Woolapalooza. Otherwise let’s just turn the page on the calendar and hope for warmer days ahead.
A few of this week’s dinner recipes come from the Dinner: A Love Story book I mentioned in last week’s books I’m reading post. I’ve made two so far (Emily’s Meatloaf and the Pork Roast Ragu) and they were both delicious. I’m most looking forward to seeing how the kids like Spiky Meatballs!
S- Pork Roast Ragu from Dinner: A Love Story. (Awesome dinner with friends, post kids bedtime. Felt like grown ups for awhile.)
S- Lemon Chicken Stew
M- Clean Out Refrigerator Night
T- Breaded Chicken Cutlets (from D:ALS) , Roasted Asparagus
W- Spiky Meatballs, Salad
T- Dinner Out
F- Pizza Night
S- UCONN Game Night!! Their night at the Final Four calls for Chili and Cornbread. Go Huskies…I have to say that as my husband is a Husky. 😉
Kids are going to love these spiky meatballs! Source
What’s on your dinner plan this week? Come back next week to see what’s cooking in April!
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans. Affiliate links are included here.
I love Sunday mornings when I get to catch a few minutes reading the latest Cooking Light. It’s such a great way to get my meal planning started off on the right foot. Sometimes I want to make everything new, but I realize that one new recipe a week is usually a good place to start.
This week I downloaded the Digimark App and scanned some of my favorite recipes from the magazine to instantly pull up the recipes on my phone. Then I pinned them to my Dinner board so that I can refer back to these new recipes next time I do my meal plan. It really is more efficient than dog earring half the magazine and then ripping pages out later. Note~ There are tons of great chicken breast recipes in the March issue of Cooking Light that I hope to make in future weeks.
Sunday- Burgers on the grill (yum!), spinach salad and coleslaw
Monday~ Chuck roast with sweet potatoes, onions and cinnamon in slow cooker. Egg noodles on the side
Tuesday~ CORN
Wednesday~ Parmesan Pine Nut Chicken Breasts, Green Beans and Rice
Thursday~ Omelets
Friday~ Pizza night
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Hello March…won’t you let winter go already? Who’s ready for some spring weather and grilling on the menu? Me, me, me! But it looks like we will be waiting it out for another week so there’s some cozy crock pot dinners and of course, the traditional Saint Patrick’s Day menu planned for this week.
Sunday: Corned Beef and Cabbage with Carrots, Potatoes and Irish Soda Bread.
Monday: Saint Patrick’s Day leftovers!
Tuesday: Swordfish piccata, rice and roasted asparagus
Wednesday: Meatloaf, butternut squash and egg noodles
Thursday: Ham and cheese quiche with spinach
Friday: Pizza night with homemade dough! No pepperoni during Lent so we are doing lots of veggie pizzas with red peppers, broccoli, and mushrooms. Maybe a zucchini and feta one this week too.
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Welcome back to the meal plan. After not writing one last week I’m back and happy to have the week of dinners figured out. Even though it wasn’t written down and we didn’t go hungry as we are still working through our 1/4 of a cow. I did realize that I still appreciate having the dinners planned out in advance, and the time it takes on Sunday is totally worth it.
I have two new meal planning resources to share with you today as well. The first is an article in Boston Globe magazine written by fellow Boston blogger Christine Koh, also the author of one of my latest reads, Minimalist Parenting. The article shares 4 great sites to check out for more dinner ideas. I would agree with #4–my Pinterest boards is one of my first stops as I plan the menu for the week ahead.
Second tip is from The Kitchen Hour podcast hosted by Megan Francis of the blog, The Happiest Home. I love listening to podcasts while I’m doing dishes at night or folding a load of laundry. It can be a great way to learn something new, or just get a good laugh. In the most recent podcast, Megan interviewed Jenny Rosenstrach of Dinner, A Love Story. Jenny’s blog and book of the same name shares her love for the family dinner, and appreciates the challenges of getting it all done. I love her easy recipes that don’t take a ton of effort, but instead leave more time for relaxing at the dinner table.
Got a favorite podcast? Leave a note in the comment section.
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
I recently heard someone talk about menu planning as the place where “Creativity meets practicality.” This sentiment certainly rings true in my kitchen. Menu planning helps us create healthy meals, but not spend wasted time in the kitchen trying to figure out what to do.
This week I’m reading In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed 
Sunday~ Chicken piccata, orzo and salad
Monday~ Meatloaf, baked potatoes and peas
Tuesday~ Minestrone soup and garlic bread
Wednesday~ Chicken nuggets, corn and Annie’s mac and cheese
Thursday~ Clean Out Refrigerator Night
Friday~ Pizza night
Saturday~ Date night with friends
What are some of your favorite meals to make in your family?
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Back from vacation. Back to meal plan. Back to reality. Now time to get back to unpacking.
T- My favorite slow cooker meal- Coconut Ginger Chicken and Vegetables from Simple Bites. Served with rice.
W- Madison requested “fish nuggets…since I like chicken nuggets and I like fish.” Will try making them the same way and just reduce the cooking temperature and duration. Served along with Alexis french fries and steamed green beans.
T- Veggie Frittata
F- Sloppy Joe’s in slow cooker.
S- Pizza night
What are some of your favorite slow cooker dinners?
Favorite recipe- Slow Cooker Coconut Ginger Chicken and Vegetables from SimpleBites.
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Oh how I love long weekends. They can be so lazy I forgot Sunday was when I usually write my meal plan. After watching the Patriots lose, it just didn’t feel right to be online. Holed up under a blanket was more like how we were feeling. At least we have friends over to watch the game and had a nice dinner.
As we get our ducks in a row having three young kids, I’m trying to make dinner plans again with friends. We really love entertaining and it was a joy to have friends over for dinner both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. If it means spending less time online and more time face to face, then yes, sign us up. Relationships are what matter and I want to make sure we make an effort to spend more time with friends in 2014.
Here is the dinner menu for the week ahead… 
Also on deck is making strawberry fruit roll ups…which I over baked last time. Kids still ate them but they were more like brittle candy.
For lunch, I may just have to send this one to school and see if I get any questions. Guess why???
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Anyone else have big plans of introducing new meals in their meal plan, only to find you keep going back to old favorites? In light of busy schedules, picky kids and general post-holiday tiredness, I’m realizing it’s okay to stick with your favorites. Start smaller and make one new recipe each week. Maybe one will be vegetarian, or Paleo, if you are looking to introduce a new theme into your meal plan. Just realize small steps are okay.
Sunday- Roast beef {eye of the round} with roasted potatoes and asparagus. Our new recipe for the week that was delicious.
Monday- Chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries, salad
Tuesday- Dinner with friends
Wednesday- Clean Out Refrigerator Night
Thursday- Honey Balsamic Drumsticks with steamed broccoli and Annie’s shells.
Friday- Pizza night.
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Welcome to the first meal plan of 2014! Are you trying to get more organized this year and make meal planning a part of your routine? Each week I share our plans for family friendly, healthy recipes for dinner my hope it that it inspires some easy dinners for your family.
As we start the month of January, we have been trying to declutter everywhere. Including the kitchen and pantry. After the busyness of the holidays, it’s time to take stock of what we have to use up, and make room to refresh our real foods pantry. The deep freezer is also helping us save money this month as we use up some of our summer stash of tomato sauce , squash and our 1/4 of a cow.
Sunday~ Soy ginger scallops, steamed green beans and jasmine rice. {Madison got more scallops than anyone as she kept poaching them off of her parents plate.}
Monday~ Chickpea Stew with Apricots. Awesome slow-cooker dinner for Meatless Monday. I swap out the turnip for carrots which I usually have on hand. Serve over israeli couscous. I’ll also get to use up some of our tomato sauce for this recipe.
Tuesday~ Spaghetti and meat sauce. Peas on the side…the kids LOVE them frozen, but will not eat them cooked. Anyone else’s kids do this?
Wednesday~ Whole chicken in the slow cooker with carrots and potatoes. I love this meal as I get great stock out of making the dinner, then I save the carcass and make another batch of chicken broth overnight in the crock pot.
Wednesday Lunch we are making Pizza quesadillas from the Weelicious Lunch cookbook. It’s the one day we are all home for lunch so I’m trying to plan ahead a hot lunch.
Thursday~ Clean Out Refrigerator Night. Maybe use the chicken leftovers for chicken quesadillas.
Friday~ Family pizza night! Still enjoying our homemade pizza dough in the bread machine.
Lovely meatless meal in the slow cooker: Chickpea Apricot Stew from SimpleBites.net
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans. Weelicious is an affiliate link on amazon, if you buy it through my link, thanks!
