Weekly Menu for 6/24

Well last week's craziness has gone by and we are ready to settle in to a much more normal type of week.  Which of course means that I need to be thinking about what I'm going to be feeding my family this week.

A weekly menu plan isn't always in my list of fun things to do, but you can bet that I really appreciate it when we are wrapping up a busy and tiring day and I don't really have to think about what we're going to do for dinner.  Not to mention, it really helps out with our $100 budget.

This meal plan included a birthday dinner for one of my kids, so the ever-kid-friendly Pizza is on the menu for this week.  Since the diner of honor tends toward the picky side, our pizza topping will be pepperoni, Italian sausage, and cheese.  One of the nice things about pizza night is that my kids enjoy helping put it together.  It is a lot of fun seeing them standing at the counter and very carefully putting the toppings in place. Not to mention the added bonus of pre-dinner sampling.

So what are we going to be enjoying this week?

Pizza
Grill Something
Chipotle Pork
Hamburgers
Spicy Basil Chicken
Tacos

Very simple this week.  Summer makes me want to slow and have simplify.  What about you?  Do your habits seem to change with the seasons?

Chicken Salad

This is great summer-time meal.  It can use leftover chicken and doesn't require heating your house at all.  Serve on bread, in a tomato cup, on a bed of lettuce, or just out of the bowl.  Enjoy!

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup red grapes, halved or quartered as needed

1/2 cup shelled walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sweet relish

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Gently stir until well mixed and evenly dressed.

Weekly Menu for 6/17

This week is going to be a crazy week.  Between Father's Day, family occasions, and other goings-on, there isn't much of a menu to speak of this week.  Honestly, I think we may only be home for 2 meals this week, and there are leftovers that can be put into play for dinners.  It's just one of those weeks.  So instead of trying to pretend I have an actual menu for this week, I'm just going to take this time to post recipes.

First up will be Chicken Salad.  It is such a great recipe to pull out when you have extra chicken sitting around.  It's one of my favorite things to do with leftover rotisserie chicken.  Adding grapes and celery to the grocery list doesn't put much of a dent in my budget and another meal is taken care of.

I thank my sister for reminding me of what all our family puts into our Chicken Salad.  Because as far as I know, when I type the recipe in a little bit, that will be the first time the complete recipe will be written down.

I hope you have a great week and are able to enjoy eating at home more than I will be this week!

Weekly menu for 6/10

Another week is upon us and another menu is ready to be created.  I very much enjoyed everything we had to eat last week.  There wasn't anything new, but there were several old favorites that we hadn't had in a while.  I heard one time that the average home cook makes the same 6 meals over and over again.  Apparently it is a goal of mine to bring that average up.  I will admit, though, that I go through seasons with some meals.  Pasta salad gets a lot of play in the summer.  And Chili is heavy on the menu in the winter.

But I love to try new meals.  There is something wonderful when you make something and realize that it is going to go down as a family favorite.  And upon finding a great one, I enjoy taking the time to add it to my cookbook.  Only the best get written down so they are in the first place I look when I'm thinking of what to make.  Two of those meals are on the menu for this week.

Taking our schedule into consideration this week, I had to keep in mind that there would be two nights where we had other dinner plans.  So the weekly menu plan has 5 meals on it this time.  That is always a huge help to my budget, but I don't take those times for granted.  We may splurge a whole meal on occasion, but I try to stay reasonable on our meals even when I have more budget to work with.  The savings are always nice, and I don't want to get used to spending more per meal than I should.  It would just be that much harder on weeks when we had no plans to stay within my $100 budget.

All that being said, we are having a pretty basic menu this week:

Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad
Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps (yes, the link goes to lettuce cups, but I just make it into wraps)
Grill Something
Smoked Sausage and Mac and Cheese
Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Here's an example of how menu planning can help save money.  The Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad calls for rotisserie chicken, but it doesn't need a whole chicken.  Now, if I don't plan on using those leftovers, there is a really good chance they will go to waste.  But with only a few more ingredients, I can use the remaining chicken and make Chicken Salad.   Simple, delicious, good for the budget, and not wasteful.  Love it.

So what do you have going on this week?

Pasta Salad

This is my basic pasta salad recipe.  You can change up the meat, cheese, veggies, and dressing to make it anything you like.  I stick to this basic combination most of the time.  This is a great basic meal on a budget.  And as an added bonus, it is very kid friendly.  My kids love being able to pick out each individual piece.  I do use both green and red peppers if the price is right.  If red peppers are really expensive, I'll just double the amount of green peppers and not use the red.

Pasta Salad
Serves 6

1 pound rotini
1 small summer sausage roll (about 8 ounces), cubed
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cubed
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed
1/2 cup green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 cup Italian salad dressing (more or less to taste)

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse in cold water.

Meanwhile, chop remaining ingredients (except dressing) and combine in a large bowl.  When cool and well-drained, add pasta.  Add salad dressing to taste.  Toss well.


*I always have more peppers, tomatoes, and olives than I can use.  Chop the remaining veggies for a salad another time or use in a different recipe.  One ingredient, multiple recipes.  You can save money and decrease waste.

Weekly Menu for 6/3

Good morning, internet world!  It is a lovely day here and I'm excited that we get to start spending more time outside and at the pool.  In light of the weather warming up, again we are looking to more summery fare on the menu this week.

There is one exception, of course.  One day we are going to be having meatloaf because we are taking dinner to some friends that just had a baby. Since the new dad is a fairly picky eater, a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, we are doing meatloaf with a side of macaroni and cheese for them.  And because I'm a lazy cook and don't really feel like making two dinners in one night, I'm just going to double it and have the same for us.

There are a couple of recipes that I will post this week to make the weekly menu plan complete.  You can be on the look out for recipes for both pasta salad and meatloaf.

I think with the dinner that we are taking to our friends, I will be over my $100 budget.  We'll see how it all pans out.  Also of note, we will be out of the house for dinner one night this week.  So without further ado, here is the meal plan for this week:

Pasta Salad
Spaghetti and Meatballs (as requested by my oldest)
Grill Something
Fish Tacos
Meatloaf
Chicken Fajitas

The chicken fajitas is just something that I will throw together.  I suppose I could put an actual recipe together for that.  If I'm feeling ambitious, I may do that.

Anything interesting on your menu for this week?  I'm always looking for new meals to add in to our menu plans.