Where I have been and Menu Monday Recap

Hello my friends.  I have been a bit absent the past week.  I am sure this will happen from time to time.  Although I would love to be able to post every day I just can't do it.  Life just happens.  Last week was up and down and all around.  We started to get into a routine with school and then we had a homeschool outing planned which was nice but made things a bit more chaotic.  I suppose this is something I will eventually get used to in future years of homeschooling.  God is teaching me one of the character qualities we are learning about in Corbin's school - flexibility.  There were times at night last week where I just wanted to curl up on the couch and just watch my TV shows too.  And I did (when the kids are sleeping of course.)  Now I don't normally do this but I was physically and mentally drained last week and just zoned out for a bit. Night time is normally a time when I would blog. Anyway that is in a nutshell where I have been.

Here is my menu recap for the past two weeks with some pictures and recipes. This is different from my original post (two weeks ago) because I had to be flexible on a few nights and change it up. If you try any of these or would like a recipe to any of these let me know!

Monday - Spinach and Cheese Ravioli with marinara sauce, garlic bread and salad  I use the Costco raviolis and Ragu sauce.  This is a simple easy meal.  If I don't make it with marinara then sometimes I make a creamy pesto sauce with walnuts.  I will post about that sometime.

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken and Veggie Kabobs with rice  I love grilled veggies and chicken with buttered white rice.  The grill brings out wonderful aromatic flavors that taste so good.  I marinated these in a Lawry's marinade and I always put pineapple on my kabobs.  There is nothing better.

Wednesday - Mini Meatloaves, mashed potatoes, and corn This is a family favorite and feeds a lot.  It is a unique way of making meatloaves and they are full of flavor and have a great texture. I use BBQ sauce for all of them except in two which I use ketchup for guess who? Corbin! The crispiness of the cheese on top is yummy!  I have the recipe for you here.  BTW - this is a Kraft recipe. I am sure you can find it on the Kraft website.

Thursday - Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with a side salad I had this on a visit to my Uncle and Aunt's house recently and it was so comforting, creamy and cheesy. 

  

Friday - Homemade Meatball sandwiches An easy "go-to" recipe for me to make.  Trader Joe's meatballs, some Hoagie buns or Hot Dog buns, your favorite marinara sauce and lots of Mozzarella.  We don't usually have left overs with this which is why I made it on a Friday because I don't need leftovers for Steve's lunch the next day.

Saturday - Out

Sunday - Mom's Crockpot pork chops with white rice and a salad  Now let me say - I don't generally like pork.  It just has a "porky" taste.  However my Mom makes these pork chops and they don't have that "porky" taste and they end up really tender.  She uses boneless pork chops. She does a great job.

Monday - Bobby's Goulash (as in Bobby Deen, Paula Deen's son) with Garlic Bread  Well, in my opinion, anything Paula Deen makes needs no explanation, it is always just plain good.  This is a winner.  If you have a smaller family or smaller eaters then make a half recipe because a full recipe will yield a lot of food.  It makes really good leftovers though.  One of those dishes that is even better the next day.

Tuesday - Chinese Chicken Salad  I love this salad.  The first time I had it was when it was brought to us for a meal after I had Corbin.  It is filling and the dressing has a sweet tangy taste.  You make your own dressing for this and I love that because you don't have all the preservatives that most store bought dressings have.  The recipe comes from Todd Wilbur's book - Top Secret Restaurant Recipes and it is "Applebee's Chinese Chicken Salad."

Wednesday - Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (a recipe by Campbell's) with homemade refried beans and Spanish rice Our all time favorite enchilada recipe at our house.  This is a dish I bring to friends who have had babies and more often then not they ask me for the recipe.  Everyone seems to like it. I like it because it uses chicken and not ground beef.  Personally if I prefer shredded beef in beef enchiladas rather that ground beef.  I like all of the above but that is just a personal preference.

Thursday - Out

Friday - Out (I had such a hectic day that I really did not feel like cooking dinner.  We are blessed we were able to eat out again.)

Saturday - Turkey hot dish  I got this recipe from on of my favorite recipe websites - www.tastykitchen.com. I did adapt this recipe a bit because I don't know what "veg-all" is so I just added some red bell pepper.  You could put any veggies you like in it.  I also did not have tater tots but I had the flat hashbrown patties.  I cooked these halfway and crushed them up for the top. 

Sunday - My Dad got a new rotisserie for his grill so he is testing it out as I type.  He is making rotisserie chicken and we are making Aarti's roasted new potatoes with thyme (one of my favorite herbs).  We are also roasting carrots, asparagus and onions.  Yummers!

Hope to see you here tomorrow for the next one or two week menu plan.
Happy Labor Day!