I need some inspiration. And cauliflower, anyone? It's on sale this week.

7~grilled cheese and tomato soup
8~mini meatloaves??
9~pancakes
10~maple-mustard glazed chicken, Sweet & White Potato Spears, veggies
11~midwest chowder
12~chicken manicotti
13~leftovers

Kielbasa, sour krout, mashed potatoes

eggs, toast, bacon

shrimp stir fry over rice

macaroni & cheese with fresh corn

egg, ham and cheese sandwiches

pizza with salad

spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread

today -taco salad
4/8-steaks on the grill and baked potatoes,salad
4/9-burgers on the grill and sweet potato fries
4/10-salmon patties , veggies and rice
4/11-smoked sausage and rice in the rice cooker
4/12-pork chops ,scalloped potatoes,corn & green beans
4/13-ravioli , and bread with garlic butter & salads

those tend to not be made in that order but thats on our list;)

Dh cooks cauliflower onion in a little oil, adds curry powder and can of tomatoes and lets it simmer till tender. One of my faves :)

*Enchiladas, black beans
*Pasta salad with tuna
*Dh out of town, so not sure
*Spaghetti and baked ziti, salad
*Wings, corn, spinach dip
*Dh camping with boys, dinner with dd somewhere

ohh roasted cauliflower with lots of garlic.

Or cauliflower & potato curry

We don't do weekly menus. Instead I make a list of choices and we pick what sounds good each night, crossing off the list as we go.

Our current list:

crispy coated chicken tenders (with BBQ sauce by DD's request) ~tonight
grilled cheese & tomato soup
Matzo ball soup
potato soup
spicy bean soup
salad
chicken & broccoli rice
creamy chicken curry
red beans & rice
veggie stir fry
lasagna
bean burritos
waffles
broccoli & carrot soup
garlic green beans & rice
tuna melt
something "Roman" inspired (olives, bread & cheese) ~Saturday

Chole

today we had grilled chicken, wild mushroom couscous and steamfresh broccoli, carrot and cauli with teriyaki sauce (all were freezer and pantry stockup items that i bought super cheap). I have a lot of grains like that that were bought at big lots for very little, or with a coupon. LOTS of couscous-- I think i have one box of curry and 2 plain, then a box of tabbouleh, wild mushroom risotto, and well yeah, theres more LOL. I am trying to make a dent in the pantry before i hit the store, but I may go tomorrow. Dieting when there is very little in the way of fruits and veges in the house is hard work :p Although I have pasta out the wazoo LOL. I do still have plenty of spinach, cucumbers that i think aren't over the hill yet, a few potatoes, and a handful of baby carrots. Also have a bunch of cilantro that didnt make it onto the tacos last night. God only know what I will do with it now LOL. Oh I might have celery too :) I can probably eek out one more day, maybe two, although i dont know if i can feed the kids for 2. Really honestly I could eat for a few weeks, the problem is that Dh and the kids (all picky) are running out of options.

Heres our list - we're trying to stretch everything til the weekend since i get paid Friday and we're praying for the workmans comp check in the next 2-3 days.

Tonight - leftover pork, mashed potatoes and peas
Tuesday night - burgers, yams and green beans
Wednesday night - chicken primavera with peas/carrots
Thursday night - spaghetti with meat sauce, salad
Friday night - Pork tacos with cabbage, carrots, cilantro and salsa
Saturday night - Creamy potato onion soup with crescent rolls and salad

s'ghetti salad and bread
asian noodles, with bean sprouts, mushrooms, waterchestnuts and....
cabbage and noodles and bread and butter
polenta slices with...lol....meat and....um....
mom-s b-day dinner (fresh fruit and yogurt)
ssunday I am responsible for desert

This week:

4/7 Sausage and Roasted bell pepper pasta
4/8 Chicken breast Asian salad
4/9 Split pea soup
4/10 Veggie chili and WW quesdillas
4/11 Pizza and a movie day (every friday... homemade (http://goddesshobbies.blogspot.com/2008/03/perfect-pizza.html))
4/12 Pot Roast and Baked Potatoes (its my dads birthday and he is helping me all day to get my garden soil. So I am making him a big fat dinner, complete with chocolate cake. :) )

I do also the picking of the list thing except I have a list of only 7-8 every week. this week:

- Meechi's black bean salad with chips and leftover dal
- tortellini and spinach soup and baked cauliflower (sprinkled with cheese)
- ww penne with red pepper cream sauce and curried chickpea salad served in lettuce leaves
- homemade pizza (mushrooms, olives, cheese, garlic and fake pepperoni or hawaiian, haven't decided yet)
- beans and brown rice with salsa, cheese and sour cream
- ww pita pockets stuffed with sprouts, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas and tahini sauce and melon kebobs with yogurt sauce
- beans and brats (I cook the beans with molasses myself) and fruit salad with yogurt dressing

we're trying to stretch everything til the weekend

Man Barb, if that's stretching I want to eat at your house! For us stretching means every variation of beans & rice you can imagine.

Chole

i only wish anyone at my house ate beans :(( Kids and dh with sensory issues do not lead to budget friendly shopping> Dhs list of things he wont eat is longer than what he will I would say. He tries, poor man, I will give him credit, because he knows it is important to me, but his obvious distaste that he tries to conceal makes it hard. We have added a lot of foods over the years, but beans (dried or fresh like peas, snap beans etc) and potatoes, are still a no, and most cooked veggies are as well.

Frick if I know. :lol:

I'm making silly dinner tonight - homemade biscuits with freezer jam, boca sausage, and scrambled eggs.

Probably a fried rice like Lauren suggested...

Some kind of black beans and rice

papardelle with roasted tomatoes

boca burgers and fries with homemade hamburger buns

amy's pizza

veggie pepperoni pizzas and roasted red pepper for us

some kind of sourdough grilled cheese with tomato soup/bisque

I haven't even thought about meal planning this week. If you read my post on the market about Cole's medical issues and Doctor's appointments, you'll know why. Praise the heavens for universal healthcare. But I confess the last two nights were fast food. Other possibilities for this week:

A sausage and vegetable curry over rice.
Then pork chops, mashed potatoes, some frozen vegetable
Salmon, rice, salad
Stroganoff (Dave brought home lots of organic brown mushrooms from work)
Spaghetti

Here's our plan for the week:

Monday - Taco soup, salad
Tuesday - Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Wednesday - Quesadillas with leftover roast beef, and salad
Thursday - Sweet and Sour chicken, rice, broccoli
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Sunday - Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, corn
Monday - Grilled chicken breasts, rice, green beans
Tuesday - Beef Barley Stew, noodles, salad

14~Beef Burrito Skillet
15~Orange BBQ Chicken with Grilled Vegetables
16~One-Pan Roast Pork with Parmesan Fries
17~leftovers
18~??
19~Creamy Bow-Tie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

Happy Birthday Val! (if you're starting to get your garden ready, that means I should be trying to set up a time for you to come up here, right? Let me know what your schedule is like!)

trying to make it through the next two weeks here. I really need to sit down and meal plan.

Tonight I'll feed the bigs something simple - I'll see what Josh wants, but Lindsey can have a PB&J. I'll pack them dinner to eat on the way home from ballet since it's such a long drive. Eric and Leila are having scrambled eggs. No idea what Leila will decide to eat with it, but Eric will have bacon and toast, most likely - or might do a fried egg sandwich.

off the top of my head, from tonight for a week - I'll decide each day what I want to make..
pancakes
taco salad
chicken and baked potatoes
hot dogs and french fries
baked beans over rice
chicken and rice

:anibirth: val!

M: vietnamese salad rolls, marinated sesame cucumbers, kimchi

T: goat cheese asparagus quiche - ah - poop - I KNEW that goat cheese was FOR something. Okay, havarti asparagus quiche :lol: Served with fruit toss (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, pineapple, maybe mandarin oranges)

W: mahi mahi with pina colada sauce, macadamia nuts, mango, and coconut rice

TH: papardelle with lemon, asparagus, roasted pear/cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan

F: maybe make your own pizza, maybe fajitas

S: barbecue for Piper's birthday party :D

:anibirth: val!

M: vietnamese salad rolls, marinated sesame cucumbers, kimchi

T: goat cheese asparagus quiche - ah - poop - I KNEW that goat cheese was FOR something. Okay, havarti asparagus quiche :lol: Served with fruit toss (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, pineapple, maybe mandarin oranges)

W: mahi mahi with pina colada sauce, macadamia nuts, mango, and coconut rice

TH: papardelle with lemon, asparagus, roasted pear/cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan

F: maybe make your own pizza, maybe fajitas

S: barbecue for Piper's birthday party :D

Can I have your recipes for mahi mahi with pina colada sauce and coconut rice?

No major recipes - I just usually grill or pan-sear the mahi (or on the griddler) with salt, pepper, and olive oil so it doesn't stick.

Then, for the sauce, I make a roux (equal parts flour/butter - cooked until blended into a paste) then you add pre-packaged pina colada mix (from the liquor aisle).

Coconut rice, I use my rice cooker and just sub coconut milk for whatever part of the water I need - so if I need 2 cups of water, I start with the coconut milk in my measuring cup then add enough water to make up 2 cups of water. I like mine a little sweet, so I add some sugar into that (just to taste) :)

Ooo good idea with the coconut milk. I haven't done that in forever! Perfect compliment to a hot curry dish, or a pineapple dish, etc...

Val

4/8 Chicken breast Asian salad

Thursday - Sweet and Sour chicken

Recipes, please? :)

I just grill a chicken breast, slice it longways over a bed of good salad greens from the farmers market, toss with seseme dressing, then top with slivered almonds and asian fried noodles.

It is so good! Another good dinner salad is peices of steak, sliced longways, with raspberry vinagrette, cranberries and feta cheese over really good, dark leafy greens.

Another dinner salad is just the typical chefs salad (chopped ham, boiled egg, olives over good greens with ceaser or ranch).

We like all of these sometimes for dinner. :)

Val

Oh yum - dinner salads! That is just what I need right now, thanks for the idea. I'll do that at least a couple times this week! I haven't had a good tuna nicoise salad in a long time. They are best in tomato season though!

Has anyone started on next week's menu? I'm in a rut and need other ideas too! Does anyone do a good beef or pork bbq? (like to shred for sandwiches). Any great uses for chicken legs?

So far:
today (Sun) chicken pot pie

tofu and chicken pad thai

uhm...

I'm in a rut too. This is what I have so far.

Sunday~homemade chicken soup
Monday~grilled teriyaki chicken, pierogies, broccoli
Tuesday~grilled pork chops, rice, mixed veggies
Wednesday~
Thursday~goulash
Friday~
Saturday~grilled homemade pizzas
Sunday~spaghetti w/ garlic bread