Menu Plan Monday - Oct 27th

There's nothing predictable about a New England fall. Last week we saw temperatures dipping into the 20's overnight - I was ready to break out the window plastic and the puffy coats. Last night there was a big rainstorm, and today? It feels like mid-spring. It's true what they say - if you don't like the weather in New England, wait five minutes :)

Last week's new recipes were GREAT! The Vegetable Curry was delish...and not too spicy - even the baby loved it! There were a LOT of leftovers too - I'd say it made closer to 10 servings instead of 8. The ribs pleased even my hubby's BBQ snob palate, and the Chipotle Chicken Tenders disappeared fast. I made the Squash and Apple Casserole in the crockpot instead of the oven, it was very tasty but probably would have had a nice crust (like an apple brown betty) if it were baked. Our only snafu was leftover's night...I have discovered that I need to be a little more specific when hubby is in charge of scavenging - he ate ALL of the leftover chicken from the roaster I made last week....that was about TWO MEALS worth of leftover chicken, because I use it in stew and skillet dishes to stretch it further. I suppose I can't blame him, it is sinfully tasty...but the man needs to learn a little restraint! :)

This week we actually have most nights home together! Friday night we'll be going to a family Halloween party (man, I need to finish the Boy Wonder's costume!!) and we have to decide whether we'll celebrate our anniversary this weekend or next - depends on when grammie wants to have a sleepover with her boy...I am really trying to work out of my stockpile as much as possible - I had to invest in some new spices for one dish this week but other than that shopping was exclusively perishables (fruits and veggies, milk).

Baking this week will include muffins made with the leftovers from the squash and apple casserole and a batch of Applesauce Bread for breakfasts and snacks. I'll be doing a batch of 40 minute buns with half as dinner rolls and half as sandwich sized buns. I found a recipe for wheat bread, but I'm still working up the courage to give it a go...I'll post it if it works!

Here's what'll be on our table, don't forget to pay Laura a visit over at I'm an Organizing Junkie and check out all of the fabulous menus for the week! Get crazy - add yours :)

monday - Cabbage Roll Casserole ($4.28 for 6 servings)

tuesday - Bee Rocks, fruit salad ($6.50, includes 12 servings of Bee Rocks)

wednesday - Autumn Chicken, mashed butternut squash, Homemade rolls ($4.61 for 4 servings)

thursday - Lloyd's BBQ chicken on homemade buns, steamed broccoli ($3.30 for 4 servings)

friday - Halloween shindig at the in-laws - free meal!

saturday - If we don't go out for an anniversary dinner, then Caraway pork chops, leftover dinner rolls, steamed mixed veggies with butter and sweet basil ($5.40 for 4 servings)

sunday Homemade cheese pizza ($1.94)






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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 20th

Another week, another menu plan! I'm starting to measure the passage of time based on what's crossing the dinner table :) We're working on finishing our Halloween costumes, I actually scored a huge bit of burlap from the pumpkin patch farm for the Boy Wonder's costume..hooray! We had fun bouncing through the pumpkin field, but it was a very blustery day - and if you've ever dealt with a fall/winter wind in New England, you understand quickly why Yanks are called "hardy". Makes me miss the Colorado winters I grew up with!

Last week's menu went OK, but I ended up switching a bunch of nights around, and I never got around to making the squash and apple casserole. I am going to give it another try this week, and I think I'm going to do it in the crockpot instead of the oven - we'll see how that comes out! Everything else went over very well, though I'd definitely do more cheese in the Broccoli cheese soup next time. Hubby's coworkers have been very jealous of all the good leftovers he brings for lunch :)

This week we only have two nights where everyone will be home for dinner (can you tell which ones?), most other nights the hubby is working so he'll have to enjoy the previous night's dinner on his meal breaks! I had a couple of recipes that I really wanted to try, which made me overshoot my budget by about 10 bucks...next week I have to aim to spend as little as possible and work out of my stockpile. I made a batch of carrot-applesauce muffins that came out AWESOME, so a double batch of those will serve as breakfast and snack options.

Don't forget to visit Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie and check out the 300-plus other MPM participants!

monday - Crockpot Vegetable Curry with coconut rice ($7.06 for 8 servings)

tuesday - Leftover veggie soup with leftover chicken and rice added ($0.23 - it's mostly leftovers!)

wednesday - I'm working a 16 hour shift so the boys will be making good on all the leftovers in the fridge!

thursday - Homemade cheese pizza ($1.99 for 6-8 servings)

friday - Oven Baked Country Ribs, Baked squash and apple casserole, cornbread ($7.82 for 6 servings)

saturday - Chipotle Ranch Chicken Fingers, Green Giant broccoli cheese & rice Steamers that I got on sale for 88 cents! ($5.67 for 4-6 servings)

sunday - Leftover baked ziti from nephew's b'day party (froze a bunch of it!) - FREE!





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Menu Plan Monday - Oct 6th

I can't believe it's Monday already. Heck, I can't believe it's OCTOBER! Seems like every week is busier than the next, and I'm reminded that I have to get going on the Boy Wonder's Halloween costume....with all of my free time :)

We stuck pretty close to the menu last week, with a couple of adjustments - Monday I ended up not having to cook because a friend came over for a frugal shopping tutorial and brought some homemade potato and bean soup - it was quite yummy and the leftovers will be used for lunch this week! So the Chickpea Stew found its way back onto this week's menu. My brother and his family were up visiting from NY and they came over on Tuesday with my nephew so the kids could play (his son is 6 months older than BW) so I doubled the batch of pizza dough and made it sicilian-style instead...that's one great thing about homemade pizza, it's easy to feed a crowd without spending a lot more $$. The zucchini muffins were AWESOME and I still have 2 cups of frozen shredded zuke in the freezer to make more if I run out....mmmmm....

I hit a great deal on eggs this week ($1 a dozen!) so we are definitely doing a breakfast-for-dinner night, otherwise it's a pretty straightforward menu - go check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for her Canadian Thanksgiving menu, and TONS of other awesome menu ideas!

monday - Chickpea Stew with rice ($3.44)

tuesday - Sausage Oven Omelette with homemade corn muffins ($5.08)

wednesday - Homemade Pizza with peppers and onions ($2.84)

thursday - Bee Rocks and canteloupe/strawberry salad ($2.39)

friday - Chinese Beef and Broccoli with rice ($5.20)

saturday - We're both working that night and BW is having a sleepover at Grammie's!

sunday - If we're not dining at my in-law's, then Homemade Veggie Soup with added rotini pasta, and grilled cheese sandwiches ($3.15)







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Menu Plan Monday - Sept 29th

What a rough week for connecting to the internet! Our signal hasn't been reliable and I am SO far behind in postings! The good news is that we survived last week, hubby survived his first week of work at the new job, and we all ate well :) The Autumn Chicken was a HUGE hit, and unbelievably easy to make. I actually came home on a break from work to put everything in the crockpot and made it back with time to spare.

This week is a big cooking week, everyone will be home for dinner every night but Sunday - the in-laws got us tickets to dinner and a show with the Clancy Legacy for our anniversary (These are the kids of the irish musicians the Clancy Brothers and the Makems). We saw them when the boy wonder was 9 months old and he loved the music then, so Sunday should be a lot of fun! I'm working almost completely out of the pantry again - haven't done the shopping just yet but I don't expect that supplies will run me more than $20 again, the biggest expense will be diapers and wipes, which should set us back about $40 for a 6 week supply. And we inherited a HUGE pan of baked ziti, some hot dogs, and salad from my nephew's birthday party yesterday - I love free food!

The baking list this week: zucchini muffins, a batch of cornbread, and buns/rolls (half a batch of rolls, half a batch of breadsticks) to use as breakfast, side dishes and snacks.

Here's what we're eating, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more ideas!

monday - Chickpea Stew with rice ($3.44)

tuesday - Homemade cheese pizza with this crust, leftover (free) salad from the party ($2.14)

wednesday - Breaded drumsticks, green beans, cornbread ($3.00)

thursday - Baked Ziti and salad leftover from the party, breadsticks ($0.30)

friday - Herb Crusted Pork chops, dinner rolls, mixed veggies ($2.87)

saturday - Chicken Quesadillas using this mexican chicken, avocado slices ($6.00)

sunday - Early anniversary present - dinner and a show from my in-laws!








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Menu Plan Monday - September 1st

Wow - is it really September already? I can barely remember all the things we meant to do this summer, and here we are with summer almost behind us. Our schedule doesn't change all that much since DS is far too young to be off to school just yet, but at work things will be crazy for the next week and a half, and then the extra time will dry up until Thanksgiving/Christmas. So I'm working yet ANOTHER overtime-laden week, though at least this time I managed to cram everything into 4 days so that I have plenty of time off mixed in.

I am trying a bunch of new recipes this week - my printer has been working overtime as I've read through all of the great Menu plans from last week! We didn't have too many experiments last week, the BBQ Quesadillas were good but not as crispy as I had envisioned...that should be an easy fix and I'll adjust the recipe once I figure out how :) The Sausage and Summer Squash was a hit, and the Naan toasted up really nice in the broiler - this one will definitely get into regular rotation!

Here's my week, head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie to see what's for dinner elsewhere!

monday: Zucchini cakes with mushroom ragout - made with Homesteader Cornbread instead of muffin mix (see bottom of recipe page) ($6.29 - $1.57/serving)

tuesday: Bee Rocks - I had never heard of this recipe before but it sounds like a Shepherd's pie hot pocket - yummy! ($4.99 for12 servings! - $0.41/serving)

wednesday: BBQ pork ribs in the slow cooker, leftover corn muffins from Monday, mixed veggies ($11.53 for 8 servings - $1.44/serving)

thursday: Leftover day! Boys will fend for themselves while I'm working the night.

friday: Comfort food day - Grilled cheese sandwiches, Tomato soup ($1.95 - $0.97/serving)

saturday: 7-Layer Casserole ($5.88 - $1.17/serving)

sunday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken, egg noodles, mixed veggies ($5.73 - $1.43/serving)