September 20-October 3, 2011

20 T - Southern Vegetable Stew, Two Tone Bread
21 W - BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Scalloped Corn
22 R - Grilled Hot Dogs, Tater Tots, Cucumber Salad
23 F - Omelets, Toast, Fruit Salad
24 S - Spanish Beef Hash, Rice, Carrots
25 U - German Potato Salad with Sausage, Apples Sauce
26 M - Oven Fried Chicken, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Peas
27 T - Miss Stoker's Lasagna, Salad
28 W - Mojo Chicken, Black Beans, Rice
29 R - Spaghetti, Salad, Rolls
30 F - Biscuits and Sausage, Fruit Salad
1 S - Pizza, Salad
2 U - Pork with Potatoes and Onions
3 M - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Peas

And in a personal effort to get lunch more organized - a repeating menu:

T - Yogurt (with oatmeal and flax seeds sprinkled on top - shh, don't tell the kids it isn't granola!)
W - Left Overs
R - Beans & Rice
F - PB&J
S - Egg Salad
U - Left Overs (actually this is supper, since we've started having Sunday Dinner)
M - Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Sometimes when I have "Pizza" on my meal plan, it means a frozen pizza.  Sometimes it means Little Caesar's.  But lately, it has meant homemade pizza - because making yeasty things has become kind of relaxing and rewarding to me and because it is pretty fast to make pizza dough.  Last week I made it with beer - because I had made another recipe with beer and we generally do not drink beer, but I had to buy a 6-pack.  It was really good..and I have 4 more cans - so we will probably have beer pizza dough again this time!

Pintos & Cheese

Lunch.  That's one meal that I really struggle to get under control.  I'll make a detailed meal plan with a grocery list to match and totally forget we have to have lunch every day too.  Leftovers are good, but there isn't always something left over.  So in my (haha) free time, I've been researching lunch options.  I like a hot lunch and making a pot of beans has started to be something that really works for us.

When I was a kid, the only beans I would eat were baked beans, but I love them all now.  Recently I found a recipe for pinto beans that can simmer quietly in the kitchen, while we do our regular morning things.  The only requirement is you have to be home for a few hours to add (like Amelia Bedila) "a little of this and a pinch of that" over the cooking time.  We eat it as a soup with cheese or with some rice or in a tortilla as a bean taco - the kids reeeeeeally like it.

This recipe is similar to the black bean recipe I use:

1 cup pinto beans (soaked overnight or "quick soaked" earlier in the morning)
4 cups water
1 slice of bacon
salt to taste - this can be added later too

simmer the above for about 2 hours, then add:

1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 diced onion and 1/2 diced green bell pepper
1 minced clove of garlic
salt & pepper to taste
cumin (I don't really measure it)
about 1 tbsp sugar

stir, then use the back of the spoon to mash some of the beans against the side of the pan.  How many?  As many as you want - half, 1/3, all of them - any amount is ok.  Then simmer covered 1/2 hour and uncovered the final 1/2 hour.  Really you cannot simmer these too long.  They are great right away and great left over and can be drained and added into something like a casserole as well.

September 6-19, 2011

T 6 – Balsamic Pork Scallopine, Egg Noodles, Green Beans, Carrots

W 7 – Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas

R 8 – 40 Cloves and a Chicken, Green Beans, Carrots

F 9 – Creamy Pumpkin Polenta, Biscuits

S 10 – Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Knots

U 11 – Slow and Easy BBQ Ribs, Ranch Pasta Salad, Carrots

M 12 – Best Chicken Fajita Chowder, Sesame Bread Sticks

T 13 – BBQ Meatballs, Basil Baked Tomatoes

W 14 – Pizza, Salad

R 15  - Out for Caleb’s Birthday

F 16 – Breakfast for Dinner

S 17 – Spaghetti, Salad, Everything Bread

U 18 – Stephanie’s Slow Cooker Stew

M 19 – Sloppy Jose Supper, Corn Bread, Carrots

I haven't posted a meal plan for a while for a handful of reasons.  I had been cooking off of a rotating meal plan, but that got monotonous for me.  I like variety :)  Then for a while I made a weekly list, but I think I'd better get back into the 2 week routine.  Meal planning is work.  Planning a month of meals is too much of it!  But now at least I get 2 weeks before I have to do it again! 

Something new, but overdue, we've started having Sunday dinner.  I've been looking for new crockpot meals and when we get home from church our house smells like...well...food! 

BTW, Caleb's birthday is the 16th, but it is football season and Rob will be out every Friday until November - or later, one of the teams is having a stellar season so far, I'm afraid they will go to the playoffs.  So Friday nights for a while will be for experiments or Breakfast for Dinner, which the kids enjoy a lot.