Happy New Year! January menu

Wow, I can't believe I've been doing this for as long as I have been! It seems like such a short time ago I was presented with the idea of menu planning and my thoughts were, "There's no way that will work for me, I'm way too emotional about what I eat at dinner and PS that's WAYYY too much work".  Fast forward a few kids later, plus after school activities, plus church responsibilities etc...and I can't imagine life without a dinner plan!

 If I don't know what we're having for dinner come 1pm, guaranteed we're in the drive thru at 6, spending way too much money and eating junk (or eating cereal). Period. Life is way too hectic to throw together a plan last-minute.

Here's a look back on how I plan. Not much has changed in the way I do things. I've found a groove so I'll stick to it. A few people have asked how long it takes me to sit down and get a plan together. Well, it totally depends. For example, in the month of December my whole family came down with the flu and I didn't do much cooking. So I have meat in the freezer and recipes that never got used so I move those over to January and I don't have as many blanks to fill in. But, normally, to plan a full menu (including getting my shopping list together) it will take anywhere from 1-2 hours. The more you do it (and I'm going on over 2 years now) the easier it will get. Just keep your previous menus OR a master list of the meals your family eats as a reference.

I'm not sure I have ever shown pics of my calendar/menu so I'll include those today. And without further adieu:

Sweet pork sandwiches with cilantro jalapeno slaw (oh how I love these!!)
Swedish Meatballs and green beans
BBQ pork ribs, sweet cornbread, brussel sprouts (I'll try to get this recipe posted soon!)
Freezer pasta (or make your own pasta and freeze leftovers for another time!)
Sweet n Sour Chicken, rice, steamed veggies (yep, it's a repeat)
Gyros and greek salad (another repeat)
French dip, chips, canned peaches (and another...)
Tuscan grilled chicken, artichokes, biscuits
Taquitos, homemade guac.
Grilled tilapia, roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli
Chicken, strawberry wraps, raw veggies and dip
Chicken noodle soup, rolls
Christmas chicken (another recipe I'll try to get up)
Cordon Bleu, green beans, mashed potatoes
Cheeseburger salads, sweet potato fries (I double the sauce!)
Grilled Pork tenderloin, green salad, rolls
Broccoli potato soup (only use 1/2 C of onion!)
Sriracha Lime salmon
Pesto Wraps, chips, raw veggies
Meatloaf, sweet potatoes, corn
Taco Pizza, Spanish rice
Meatball sandwiches, fruit salad

That first picture is my menu front, written in pencil, of course!
The second is the back of my menu, where fresh produce is listed by week. I add the first week of produce to my big shopping list.

Homemade hot cocoa mix

3 C Powdered Milk

2 C Nesquick 

2 C Powdered sugar

3/4 C powdered coffee creamer (we like vanilla carmel!)

2 pkg instant chocolate pudding 

1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix well and get all the clumps out if you can :) store in an airtight container

Mix 1/4 C with 1 C warm milk

December Menu

Ok, this month proved to be especially hard for me to put together. All I really want to eat is comfort food (aka carbs and more carbs), but the hubby and I have committed to eating better soooo, putting pen to paper was an internal struggle. I think I managed to plan some pretty healthy meals, but also threw in some comfort foods, ya know, for moral. Thank goodness we're heading out of town for the holidays, otherwise those extra 6-8 meals would have taken me all day to figure out! Here ya go!

(These first two were on last months and never materialized :/ )

Lasagna and salad
Taquitos and guacamole
Turkey burgers and sweet potato fries
Broiled Tilapia, green bean casserole, roasted red potatoes
Sweet n Sour Chicken, rice, and steamed veggies (you can also skip the bread and frying pan, just add a little cornstarch to your sauce and bake cubed chicken)
Thai Meatballs over spaghetti squash, edamame
Sweet Pork sandwiches with cilantro lime slaw, roasted veggies
Grilled chicken, brussel sprouts, Paleo sweet potato soufflé
Gyros, greek salad
Riobollita
Grilled pizzas
Chicken strawberry salad wraps, raw veggies
Tortilla soup
Tuscan Lemon grilled chicken, artichoke
French Dip sandwiches, canned peaches
Thai coconut curry noodles (ok, heres how I do this recipe...Grill up some chicken, make the sauce, steam some broccoli and carrots, pop edamame in the microwave and let the kids pop the pods, sautee green onion and mushrooms, throw it all together. The kids get noodles, us grown-up go no-carb)
Butternut squash soup, lots of homemade croutons. Lots.
Breakfast
BBQ ribs, cornbread, green beans
Avocado bacon chicken salad (this is a new one for us!)

Green Bean Casserole

Description:You'll never make the campbells soup recipe again! These take a little more prep time, but it's sooo worth it!

Ingredients:1 large onion (cut into 1 inch wedges)
1/4 cup cooking oil
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 lbs fresh whole green beans, trimmed
6 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
6 oz cream cheese, softened
2-3 Tbsp milk

Directions:Preheat oven to 400.

In a large saucepan cook green beans, covered, in a small amount of boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain.

In a large baking dish combine green beans and mushrooms

In a small bowl combine olive oil, soy sauce and vinegar. Pour over beans and mushrooms, tossing to coat.   Bake 15 minutes, stirring once, until crisp tender.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook onions, covered, in hot oil over medium-low heat until tender (about 13-15 minutes). Uncover and add brown sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until onions are golden and carmelized (about 3-5 minutes)

In a medium mixing bowl mix together cream cheese and milk until smooth.

Spoon cheese mixture lengthwise in the center over beans and top with carmelized onions.

Return to oven until cheese and onions are heating through (about 5-8 minutes).

Sherri's Pasta Fagioli

Sorry I don't have a pic of this soup I just wanted to hurry and publish the recipe for my November menu. AND it's a great soup to make when you're feeding lots of people for the holidays (and I mean L.O.T.S.) it makes a TON! So just imagine a yummy tomato-based soup with yummy sausage, beans, veggies and pasta. You get the idea...

This is a super easy, hearty soup that will feed 15-20 people, maybe more

1 pkg Jenni O sweet italian turkey sausage (casings removed)
1 pkg (20oz) Jenni O ground turkey
1/2 lb frozen carrots and peas (rinsed)
1/2 lb frozen corn (rinsed)
1 can white beans (drained/rinsed)
1 can kidney beans (drained/rinsed)
1 meduim onion chopped
3 29oz cans tomato sauce plus 3 cans water
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs dried oregano
1+ Tbs. (to taste) garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb (before cooking) whole wheat rotini pasta (cooked in salted water)

Brown the meats together with onion, minced garlic and salt and pepper, chunking into smaller pieces.

In the meantime combine tomato sauce, water, veggies, beans, oregano, and garlic salt in a large pot and simmer until your meat is ready to be added . Simmer together 20 minutes, add cooked pasta last. Serve with parmesan cheese

This will freeze better without the pasta, just make your pasta when you are ready to eat.

November Menu

I haven't had the opportunity to try many new recipes lately, so most of this is just same ol' same ol'. But hopefully it'll still get you going on your own menu :)

Thai Coconut Curry (plus chicken)
Pot Roast (large roast, use leftovers for Taquitos later in the week)
Pesto Chicken Wraps and raw veggies
Taquitos with Spanish rice
French Dip sandwiches with chips and fruit (use a large roast and use leftovers for BBQ beef later in the week or vise versa)
Lasagna with green salad
Chocolate Chili and Sweet Cornbread
Pasta Fagioli with garlic bread
Cordon Blue with green beans and mashed potatoes
Broiled Tilapia with brussel sprouts and dinner rolls
Pot Pie
Peach Whiskey BBQ chicken (I use 3/4 C Whiskey, 2/3 jar peaches, 16oz BBQ sauce) with broccoli and mashed potatoes
Sweet n Sour chicken (stay tuned for my paleo version!!) with rice and steamed broccoli
Tortellini Soup
Basil Lime Chicken with green salad and corn
Pistolettes and fruit
Egg Salad Sandwiches and raw veggies
Breakfast
Fajitas with chips and fresh salsa
BBQ beef over sweet potatoes
Turkey Noodle Soup (A VERY rough recipe: chicken broth, shredded, cooked turkey, chopped carrots and celery par boiled, dry Italian dressing packet, bay leaves, cooked noodles...you can't really get it wrong ;))

Paleo Sweet Potato Soufflé

So, my husband and I have been experimenting with a Paleo diet lately (we aren't perfect by any means!) and we are both liking the results! I have this killer Sweet Potato Soufflé recipe that we'll make a few times a year, not just at Thanksgiving, because it's just too good. I experimented tonight to turn it into a Paleo recipe and it turned out awesome!! Hope you like it :)

3 C cooked/mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 large potatoes)

3/4 C real maple syrup

1/2 C raw honey

1/4 C coconut oil

1/3 C coconut flour

3 eggs

1 Tbsp tapioca flour

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything, minus potatoes, then add potatoes and mix (I like mine a little chunky) pour into medium greased casserole dish

Topping:

Mix together

1/3 C soft butter

1/3 C almond flour

1/3 c chopped pecans

1 Tbs real maple syrup

Dash cinnamon

Put in even "glops" on top of potato mixture

Bake in a preheated oven at 350* for about 45-60 min, or until it sets up and topping is lightly brown