WELCOME!

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
For a while now, I have been posting my montly menus on Facebook. Well, I decided to create a blog so that more people will have the opportunity to check in and hopefully be inspired. As for the name of the blog, Sherri's Sanity, that is what montly menu planning is for me; my sanity. With 3 young kids, I do NOT have the patience for the clock to turn 5 and have no plan for dinner, it just adds to the craziness to the "witching hours" (those insane hours at the end of the day where we, moms, try to jam-pack 4 hours worth of stuff into 2) I HATE the hours of 5pm-8pm. BUT I have found that in my (almost) year of planning monthly menus, I have been so much less of a headcase during that time. When mom is happier, hubby and kids are happier. AND their tummies will be filled with yummy homemade food; even better!!Now, this blog will definitely take time to put together. Once again, I am a mother of 3 small kids and although I wish I could just sit down and crack it all out, that just isnt going to happen. So, check back often and I will try and keep things rolling. :) Another thing that fills my bucket, so to speak, is crafting! So I'm sure that will come along on the blog shortly too. Happy planning!!!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Recipe Review: Cheeseburger Salads

I made the Cheeseburger Salads tonight and they were super yummy!! Better yet, they were so EASY!! I used a package of Jenni-O gound turkey instead of hamburger. Next time I will make extra sauce as a little more "dressing" was needed, in my opinion. I will also melt the butter for the "croutons" (I only used 2/3 cube) and drizzle and toss in a bowl before toasting.

Friday, May 4, 2012

My thoughts on leftovers

Raise your hand if you're REALLY great about eating leftovers?? Yeah, I'm not raising mine either. Food that goes uneaten is money wasted in my mind, so unless I have enough for a freezer meal, I avoid making extra food whenever possible. Especially meat! So what i do, for example, is because I know that we will never eat a whole roast in one sitting, I buy a nice sized one and cut it in half. I have this handy little gadget that I actually got from a Groupon and I love it. It's called a Frisper by a company called Oliso. It works just like a Food Saver but it's way smaller and was way cheaper!! And using it keeps my frozen meats so much better! Anyway, today I was able to get roast on sale B1G1. So I got 2 for $20 and cut them both in half. That's $5 per meal! And I know that none of it will go to waste :) Win-win! If your family is really great at eating leftovers my hat's off to you because it just doesn't happen over here.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

May 2012 Menu

Have I ever mention how GOOD it feels to crack out a dinner menu for an entire MONTH!!?? I've been doing this for a little over a year and the feeling never changes!! I'm assuming that because you read my blog you are at least aspiring to menu plan. If it's just an aspiration, at this point, I challenge you RIGHT NOW to sit down and fill out 1 week. JUST ONE! You can do it!! You will feel sooooo good, I promise.

So, really quick, I had a few newbies on my menu last month so I wanted to give a quick review.

The Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf was fabulous! I used the hot sauce (option to use ketchup) and my kids thought it was too spicy to eat. Whoops. But my husband and I loved it! Also for next time I'll throw it under the broiler the last few minutes to crisp the bacon a bit more because I dont like chewy bacon.

The Chinese Chicken Salad was also very yummy! I loved the crispy won ton wrappers and I used a rotisserie chicken which made this a super easy and quick meal. I will be making again.

And I already gave you my review for the Artichoke Lasagna.

There were a few more that I actually didn't get to this month but I had a great excuse...Ever heard of the Ragnar?? Yeah, I ran that. So a few meals didn't get made ;)

So, on to May. I'm trying several new recipes this month. New recipes make me smile :) I LOVE the discovery and challenge of it. Here's what I'm trying...

Spicy Stewed Beef with Creamy Cheddar Grits
Cheeseburger Salad
Pork Sandwiches with Cilantro Jalapeno Slaw
Fancy Macaroni
Chicken Salad Snadwiches
Grilled Chicken with Broccoli Pasta Salad
Mediterranean Salmon and Noodles
Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
Honey Butter Pork
Lasagna


And here's the rest, all tried and true recipes

Meatball Sandwiches (I use ground turkey which is leaner so I use less breadcrumbs otherwise it would be really dry. This is also a huge recipe as-is, so either cut in half or freeze some meatballs for later. Bake for 6 min on a cookie sheet, turn once then bake an additional 6 min. Add meatballs to a crockpot with jarred spaghetti sauce and simmer on low for a few hours). Serve on crusty rolls with cheese, black olives, red onions or whatever else you like.
Thai Coconut Curry Noodles
Tortellini Pasta Salad (I use red pepper instead of tomato and add baby spinach)
Honey Lime Enchiladas with Cilantro Lime Rice
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Crockpot Cordon Bleu
Fish Tacos
Funeral Potato Casserole
Turkey Breast and Sweet Potato Casserole
Grilled Homemade Pizzas
Round Steak in Mushroom sauce (Roast, 1 pkt dry onion soup, 2 cans cream mush soup in the crockpot)
Turkey Burgers
Rice soup (1 box Uncle Bens Wild Rice, water per instructions, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 C sour cream, 1/4 C white cooking wine, 1 can canned chicken, drained. Simmer, covered, until rice is soft)
Sweet pork salads
Sweet and Salty Salad Wraps

I think that's it! Now I have to go sort through a months worth of coupons that I've been neglecting. *Sigh