Menu Monday

May 09, 2011

In an effort to keep myself on track with one of my May goals – which was to eat out less, I have decided that it would be great to post my menu for the week here every Monday.

I have been a meal planning, menu making nut long before I started my Weight Watchers journey. I actually started doing it when my husband and I first got married at the ripe old age of 21.  I discovered the number one way to stick to a grocery budget is to plan meals, and we certainly didn't have very much to spend on groceries back then.

I actually find it very easy, and it calms me to have the right ingredients in the house, to make a decent meal for most, if not all, nights of the week. How do I do it?  I basically start with a blank sheet of notebook paper and write all the days of the week only the left side, then I fill in any extra information about that day – for instance, if I know we are going out for a birthday or to a friend’s house for dinner, I note that. Last, I paw through previous meal plans, and my cookbooks to come up with the meals for the week, and make a shopping list of all the items I need – organized by grocery area of course – I use Produce, Deli, Meat, Canned Goods, Dry Goods, Fridge, Freezer, and Other as my categories.

So without further explanation, here’s What’s for dinner this week at our house.

Monday: Tomato Cheese Quiche – Cut up Fresh Fruit – Leftover Pasta Salad

Tuesday: PW’s - Lemon Blueberry Pancakes - this will be a new recipe for us - I'm in love with blueberry lemon combinations, so I can't wait.

Wednesday: My Mom’s Mac n Cheese - Recipe below

Thursday: Soft Shelled Tacos and Spanish Rice - I use Old El Paso Taco Seasoning and Rice a Roni boxed mix... creative I know, but I think these have the best flavor.

Friday: Homemade Cheese and Turkey Pepperoni Pizza, Green Salad

My Mom's Mac n Cheese - 8 servings
1 cup dry macaroni (I use shells)
1 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup light Velveeta Cheese - cut up
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs

Cook macaroni according to directions and drain.  Combine with the rest of the ingredients in a 2-1/2 quart casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Awesome comfort food!

Do you menu plan for the week.  If so I'd love for you to share your menu for the week, and if you post it to your blog, feel free to post a link to your menu plan in the comments.

Bon Appetit!

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8 comments

  1. When I grocery shop, I mentally make a list of the dishes I want to make depending on the sale and what looks good similar to yours :) though not as detailed! Good for you for being on top of it!

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  2. I tend to mentally plan ahead, but my husband and I could definitely benefit from some more detailed planning.

    I think we might give that mac n cheese recipe a whirl in the next evening or two as we are running around nutso getting this darn house ready to sell.

    The eggs -- do you just toss them in there with the pasta and cheeses?

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  3. Another question -- only one cup of pasta?

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  4. Hey Sarah... Yep the eggs mix in with everything, just beat them a little to get them to mix evenly. Also yes, 1 cup of elbow macaroni, which actually makes way more cooked macaroni than you think. Sometimes I might go up to a cup and a 1/2 b/c I think it makes quite a lot of sauce, and I personally like it a little less cheesy - strange I know. Different kinds of pasta absorbs water and expand differently so if you aren't using elbow macaroni you might have to play aroundw with it a little to figure out how much pasta to use.

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  5. I too menu plan. It keeps me on track. Check out what we are having on our menu this week (although, busy week so it is any easy cooking week!)

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  6. Hi! I'm a grad student studying to become a nutritional counselor, and this looks pretty good! If you slip up don't worry about it, it's the general idea you want to be worried about. Keep it up you can do it!!

    www.marleeindebt.blogspot.com

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  7. I love these! I need to be better planning my meals, thanks for the inspiration!

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  8. I love these! I need to be better planning my meals, thanks for the inspiration!

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