Menu Plan Monday 2013 ~ Week of February 18th

Happy Monday morning, Friends!

Do I sound a little too cheerful for a Monday morning?  Maybe the fact that it's Sunday evening as I type this up has something to do with me being cheery!  Or maybe it's because I managed to get a few things accomplished around here last week.  I've managed to de-clutter our bedroom, Grace's room and the spare bedroom in just over a week's time.  While the rooms aren't 100% complete, just removing the majority of the junk and clutter have me feeling really great!  Closets are on the agenda for this week!

In addition to getting a head start on some Spring Cleaning, I am also babysitting this week.  Meaning, I'll be keeping the menu plan simple.  I am also hoping to try a couple of new recipes this week, if I can!

Monday

Chicken Noodle Soup with corn bread

I know the groundhog predicted an early spring, but it's still super-chilly

and perfect soup weather!  

Tuesday

Porcupine Meatballs 

We loved this recipe the last time I made it, 

I'm thinking Joe will love it even more using ground venison from the freezer! 

Wednesday 

Leftover Night

Thursday 

Baked Chicken Fingers, Mashed Potatoes w/Cauliflower, Peas 

Friday 

Lima Bean Soup, Salad, biscuits 

Saturday 

Pierogies, kielbasa, cabbage 

Sunday 

Cabbage Chicken Stir Fry

This dish is so delicious, I could eat it every day of the week!  

Mmmm!  

Now that you know what we're eating this week, let us know in the comments what's for dinner at your house this week! Or, if you need more menu planning inspiration? Follow me over to Menu Plan Monday hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie! Or, if you like what you see here, you can check out my past menu plans.

You can also find this week's menu plan linked to On the Menu Monday hosted by Yvonne at Stone Gable. If you haven't checked out Yvonne's blog before, I suggest you drop everything and head on over to check out her delicious recipes, inviting tablescapes and stunning photographs!

Menu Plan Monday 2013 ~ Week of February 11th

Is it just me or do the weeks seem to be speeding by?  Or maybe it's just the weekends that seem to disappear at the blink of an eye, making the rest of the week seem shorter.  Hmmm.  All I know is that I've been having a really tough time keeping up with all that needs to be done.

Last week was especially busy for us.  We ran errands, had some friends over to watch the Super Bowl, ran down to Philly to get our taxes done, and watched one of Grace's little buddies for a couple days while his momma works.  For Grace and I, that's a very busy week!

Menu planning took a back seat while I got other things done around the house, but it wasn't such a big deal since we had plenty of leftovers from the big game!

This week is looking to be another busy week with our little buddy here for a few days again, and since Lent begins this week, I really don't want to be caught unprepared at dinner time.  It's naptime for Grace's buddy, so I figure it's a good time to work on this week's menu:

Monday 

Chicken Pot Pie, salad

Tonight's pot pie is leftovers from last night. 

I'm not accustomed to cooking with 2 kiddos 

running around, so having leftovers in the fridge is 

really convenient for today! 

Tuesday 

French Toast, SPAM, Fruit 

Wednesday 

Meatless for Lent 

Crock Pot Ravioli, salad, bread

It's been a while since I served this dish.

With Lent beginning this week, 

I was sure to take advantage of a sale

on Ravioli last week and picked up 2 packages!   

Thursday 

Valentine's Day 

(undecided)

Friday 

Meatless for Lent 

Spanish Rice with Corn Quesadillas

When I cleaned out the fridge over the weekend, 

I discovered several packages of shredded cheese.  

 I hate when being unorganized causes us to over-purchase.  

Quesadillas for lunches and dinners 

will be a fun way to use it all up before 

the expiration date!  

Saturday 

Pizza Night 

I have a free one-time-use coupon code for Papa John's Pizza

for voting correctly for the Super Bowl coin toss.  

Sunday 

Crock Pot Chicken Stew

I'm not sure yet what our plans are for the weekend, 

but I do know that I want to keep Sunday's meal pretty easy. 

Can't get much easier than a simple crock pot stew!  

Now that you know what we're eating this week, let us know in the comments what's for dinner at your house this week! Or, if you need more menu planning inspiration? Follow me over to Menu Plan Monday hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie! Or, if you like what you see here, you can check out my past menu plans.

You can also find this week's menu plan linked to On the Menu Monday hosted by Yvonne at Stone Gable. If you haven't checked out Yvonne's blog before, I suggest you drop everything and head on over to check out her delicious recipes, inviting tablescapes and stunning photographs!  

Wordless Wednesday ~ So Sleepy

I may or may not have mentioned here before that Grace has pretty much phased out nap time.  I miss nap time.  You know, the only two hours of alone time that us stay-at-home-moms get each day.  The two hours that we use to shower, fold laundry, clean out the fridge, get dinner ready, clean the bathroon, or even catch a nap ourselves if the kiddo kept us up all night the night before.

Since nap time is no longer a part of our daily schedule, it's been a challenge to find time to get all of those things done during the day.  A couple of days last week, Grace and I entertained one of our little friends.  This resulted in earlier mornings and a lot more play time than usual for Grace.

This is how I found her when I peeked in on her while trying to get dinner started after our little friend left for the day.

Hamburger Soup

I love beef vegetable soup, but I don't make it as often as I would like since we don't purchase red meat that often.  On the occasions that we do buy red meat, it's usually in the form of hamburger patties or ground beef.  I stay away from pricey beef cubes unless I can find a really great sale.

Hamburger Soup is a good substitute for the more traditional beef vegetable soup.  I find it to be quicker as well as less expensive, especially if you have some pre-cooked ground beef in your freezer.  I didn't have any on hand, but starting from raw ground beef only adds a few more minutes to the process.

Hamburger Soup 

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 lb. ground beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 lg. carrot, diced 
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 3 Tbs. steak sauce
• 1 Tbs. worcestershire sauce 
• 2 cartons beef broth 
• 1/2 Tbs. oregano
• 1/2 Tbs. Mrs. Dash 
• pepper, to taste 
• 3 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed 
• cooked pasta, small variety preferred 

Directions: 

• Brown the the ground meat, drain. 
• Add in your diced vegetables and the broth. 
• Stir in the steak sauce, worcestershire sauce and seasonings.  
• bring to boil.
• Cover, reduce heat.  Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. 
• Stir in the mixed vegetables and pasta, simmer for another 5-10 minutes. 

We love this soup!  It's an easy, throw-together soup that's perfect for during the busy work week.  It's such an easy and quick soup that you can throw together in the morning and serve for lunch on a cold afternoon!  

Guest Post ~ Groundhog Day Pudding Cups

January has passed by so quickly that the entire month is truly a blur!  Because of this, I didn't get around to doing anything special for Groundhog Day.  In fact, I completely forgot about it until I saw the adorable treat my friend Merry made for her kiddos to celebrate the day that we find out if we'll have an early spring or if we'll be stuck with 6 more weeks of winter!

Since I've been wanting to ask Merry to do a guest post ever since I shared photos of her daughter's Princess and the Pea birthday party, I saw this as the perfect opportunity!  

Hi, my name is Merry and I am mom to James, 11, and Lily, 5. I am a big holiday celebrator. No matter how small the holiday I can find a way to celebrate it. Especially these winter holidays when Christmas is over and spring seems so far away. It's another 2 weeks to Valentines Day? Have no fear - Groundhog Day is here! Lily has come home from school asking to watch Punxsutawney Phil on tv live and this year I have made a cute dessert, Groundhog pudding cups for the kids to enjoy. So we are in full Groundhog mode here.

I got the idea from FamilyFun magazine (you can see my inspiration here) and if you don't already get it look into it because they have many great and easy things to do for and with your kids. The only changes I made to the directions in the magazine is I substituted butterscotch chips for the suggested peanut butter ones and used a tube of black cake decorator icing that I already had. It was hard but I managed to not eat the whole bag of Milanos before I could make these.

So, have a Happy Groundhog Day and in this house we are hoping for an early spring!
(and don't drive angry!)

Note from Alison:  In case you're like me and you've lived under a rock since the release of the movie Groundhog Day in 1993, the last line in Merry's post is a reference to the movie.  I've never seen the movie so I had to ask her!  I guess it's about time I watch it...I wonder if it will be on cable at all today?