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Weekly Menu (4.6.14)

My goal for each week is to make a menu and do my grocery shopping based on that menu.

I sit down with some past menu successes and a couple of favorite cookbooks and my computer and go at it.  I do a check on our schedule for the week, and also do a quick run by the Meat Man in case there's anything in particular he's wanting.

I have some sites that I will typically search when I'm looking for a recipe of a familiar food (Pioneer Woman or Annie's Eats), and other times I use general search sites (AllRecipes) or even a search engine.  I've gotten pretty good over the years at gauging whether or not something will be successful in our home just by looking at the ingredients, but every once in awhile I'm surprised by the result.

I don't have a lot of patience for recipes that don't come together smoothly (who has time for that!?) and you can read more about how I choose recipes and plan our menu here.

I am probably successful at menu planning about fifty percent of the time, and when I keep up with it, it helps SO much with our grocery bill and how smoothly our home runs in the evenings.  My goal is to be a little better about doing it more often--maybe a consistent eighty percent or so.

I can pretty much guarantee that I will not be able to keep up with sharing our menu each week, but I am going to try to do it at least every so often.  So, without further ado, here is our menu with links included.

(And a note--remember that I watch kids at home too, and even the Meat Man takes leftovers to work, so our leftovers disappear quickly around here!)

Sunday
Lunch:
* Reuben sandwiches (toasted deli corned beef, swiss cheese--I actually used a horseradish cheese this time and we loved it, thousand island dressing, and sauerkraut on rye or pumpernickel)
* Chips and pickles

Dinner:
* Certified Angus Beef t-bone steak on the grill
* Salad--greens, crumbled gorgonzola, walnuts, craisins, balsamic vinaigrette
* Slices of rye bread
( Helpful hint: I had two meals I was making and delivering for friends who've just had babies, so I just tripled the meal tonight and doled it out into separate containers.  LOVE doing that.)

Monday
Lunch:
* Leftover steak or chicken, salad, bread


Dinner:
* BBQ Pulled Pork (literally throw a big old pork roast--butt or shoulder--in the crockpot with a bottle of BBQ and let it go low and slow all day--couldn't be easier)
* Cilantro Lime Coleslaw (Cabbage, carrots, cilantro, lime zest thrown together with dressing made of olive oil mayo, a little sugar, grainy mustard and lime juice)

Tuesday
Lunch:
* Leftover pulled pork and coleslaw


Dinner:
* Honey Mustard Chicken (this is one of those unexpected recipes that really blew me away.  I use chicken thighs, which are cheaper and more flavorful than chicken breasts, but I do pull off the skin before cooking.)
* Sauteed veggies (I grab a bag of frozen stir fry veggies and saute these in a little coconut oil to go along with the chicken)
* Rice (Just plain old, slow-cookin' white rice with a little lime zest and juice added)

Wednesday
Lunch:
* Leftover chicken, veggies and rice


Dinner:
* Falafel pitas
* Strawberries and mangoes (chop and combine, add a touch of honey and some lime zest or juice)

Thursday
Lunch:
* Leftover falafel


* Plantains (cut plantains in chunks, sprinkle with a tiny bit of sugar, and sear in a skillet that has a tiny bit of coconut oil)

Friday
Lunch:
* Leftover tacos


Dinner:
* Probably pizza or pbj something--the hubs and I have a date, but we'll do something simple for the kids.

Desserts for the week (I make one, and when it disappears in a few days, I make the second.  We have desserts as small, after-meal treats only, unless it's a special occasion, so they usually last the week.)

Do you meal plan?  Any tips or tricks you can share?

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