Weekly Menu #6

Monday
Pesto Chicken and Pasta
Side Salad

Tuesday
Tequila Lime Shrimp with Cumin Rice
Grilled Veggies

Wednesday
French Onion Salisbury Steak
Buttered Corn on the Cob

Thursday
BBQ Chicken Potato Skins
Sweet Potato Fries

Friday
Pocket Burgers with Crispy Onion Straws
Grilled Veggies

And as always, check out these snacks and desserts to bring an extra big smile to your kiddos face!

Be sure to check out our other weekly menus here.


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Weekly Menu #5

Now that we've had a few nice days, I'm really itching to cook on the grill. Just the other night we threw some hot dogs on the grill because it was a last minute decision and we didn't have anything else to grill, and then sat around by a fire once the sun went down and it was awesome! So we'll start incorporating a few more grill ideas as we move forward. Hopefully it will get so nice outside that we can do an entire week full of grilled dinners!

Monday
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Flattened Redskin Potatoes

Tuesday
Cha Cha Chicken Tacos with mango Tango Salsa

Wednesday
Spicy Italian Beef Sandwiches
Cucumber Salad

Thursday
Grilled Bourbon Pork Medallions
Grilled Rosemary Chive Potatoes
Waldorf Salad

Friday
Lazy Lasagna
Caesar Salad

Here are some suggested snacks and desserts to go along with your menu this week.

Be sure to check out our other weekly menus for ideas and inspiration for your family's meal planning.

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Weekly Menu #4

I'm not sure about you, but I am ready for winter to end!  It has been so snowy and cold here and I just can't wait for a little sunshine... and grilling! I did put a grill recipe in this week, but I am just going to make on my grill pan indoors. The key lime flavor will transport me to a tropical location in all this cold. I also threw in a few of my favorite slow cooker recipes, since we aren't anywhere tropical and nothing says "burr" better than a warm meal in the slow cooker.

Weekly Menu #3

For this week's menu, we are going back to some of our original recipe posts! Boy you can tell we've come a long way in our picture presentation, lol! Even though the pictures aren't a scrumptious looking, we promise the recipes are. The Creamy Garlic Ranch Pork Chops are one of our most viewed recipes ever. And of course we only included 5 because we know you're going to have pizza and PB&J's for dinner sometime this week, right? Isn't that what all busy families do??

Weekly Menu #2

Here is our round up of our 2nd Weekly Menu plan. All of these dinners are sure to please! We can say this with confidence because these our our recipes and our pictures, not just ones we have taken off the internet and use stock photos. Our pictures may not be magazine worthy, but this is what you can expect your food to really look like (heck, sometimes we even post half eaten pictures because we could not hold our husbands off long enough to take a good pic:).

And we're adding a couple dessert/snack recipes now to go along with our menu plans. Just check out the suggested recipes below the daily menu plan.

As always, change the recipes up to fit your weekly schedule. We only post 5 because we assume you'll have leftovers and probably eat out or on the run sometime this week.

Monday
Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Bowls

Tuesday
Sausage 3-Cheese Stuffed Shells
Simple Italian Side Salad

Wednesday
Sweet Garlic Chicken Legs
Hassleback Potatoes

Thursday
Hearty Beef Stew

Friday
Honey I ate the Pork
Better Than Rice-a-Roni Rice Pilaf
Steamed Veggies

Here are some great dessert recipes to go along with your weekly dinners:

Enjoy!!

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Mom's Meatloaf

I have been trying various meatloaf recipes for the last few years.  This one is by far the front runner!  My oldest son even said "huh, I didn't even know I liked meatloaf."  I will take that as a compliment and mark it down as a keeper.  I know that most people say they just throw whatever in to make a meatloaf, but that doesn't work for me here. Most of the time I can throw things together and it turns our great, meatloaf is a whole different ball game...until now!
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs of Ground Beef
• 1/2 tablespoon Dried Parsley
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 cup stove top
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

Glaze

• 1/2 Cup Ketchup
• 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

Serves 6

In a small food processor place about a 1/2 bag of Stove Top stuffing mix and pulse a few times to make it so the crumbs are a little smaller.  In a large bowl combine parsley, egg, milk, garlic powder, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, onion powder and Worcestershire sauce.  When those are mixed together, stir in the Stove Top crumbs.  Last, add in the ground beef and gently mix it all together with our hands.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients.  Divide glaze in half and reserve one half for dipping after it has been cooked.

Place ground beef mixture into loaf pan and lightly brush on glaze.  Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees.

I served with Mashed Potatoes and Peas of course!

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Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs is something that everyone in my house can always agree on and since the meatloaf from the other night was such a hit with everyone I decided to try a meatball variation with the Stove Top Stuffing crumbs.  The kids were a surprised when they cut into their meatballs and found their favorite food- CHEESE!  This recipe is going straight to the top of my "Kid Friendly" recipe list!  The stringy gooey cheese is sure to make anyone say YUM!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Ground Beef
• Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Basil
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tablespoon Milk
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• 1/3 Cup Stove Top Stuffing Crumbs (place dry Stove top in food processor and pulse a few times)

Makes 12 meatballs 

Grab enough meat to make a meatball and gently flatten it in your hand.  Place a piece of mozzarella inside and then for the meat into a ball.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes at 375 degrees.

 I made mine the day before I needed them and put them in the fridge.  When ready I heated the meatballs in the pan of spaghetti sauce for about 15 minutes.  Then served sauce and meatballs over pasta.

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Crispy Crunchy Oven Baked Tacos

Tacos are a Lewis family favorite so I am always looking for a way to change them up a bit.  We generally have soft tacos so the crunchy taco variation is always my favorite!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
• 1/2  cup diced onion
• 1 small can of diced green chilies 
• 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning
• 4 oz of tomato sauce
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Refried Beans- its hard for me to gauge this one because we are not huge refried bean fans.  I would say that I used about 1/3 of a 16-ounce can
• 8-10 Crunchy Taco shells- I like the Old El Paso "stand and stuff" because they stand up on their own.

Taco Stuffers:

• More Cheddar Cheese
• Diced Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Sour Cream
• Black Olives
• Salsa

In skillet brown ground beef and onion and drain.  Next, add in green chilies, tomato sauce, refried beans, and taco seasoning.  Mix well and heat through.

Preheat oven to 400.  Fill taco shells with meat mixture, top with cheddar cheese, and place in oven safe baking dish.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  

Top with your favorite taco stuffers and ENJOY!  My personal favorite combination is lettuce, sour cream, salsa, and black olives!

This recipe was featured in Two Magical Moms March Menu Madness.  Check out the entire menu and try out some of our other YUMMY recipes!

Magical Mom's March Menu Madness

Now there is a tongue twister for you!  Every month I put together a menu for the following month.  It really helps me to stay organized.  I know that if I don't have something planned, we will spend way too much time (and money) trying to figure out what to have for dinner only to order take out of some sort.  Putting the menu together helps me keep track of how often we have something, but most importantly it helps me make my weekly grocery shopping list.  I challenge myself to put one new recipe in each week.  I use my friends, family, other blogs, cook books for inspiration.  Sherrie and I often bounce things off of each other.  I love that she can try a new recipe and tell me what she would do differently and vice versa.  I also like to add in a few things that I can make double of and freeze it to use for lunches, later in the month, or the following month.  I will explain my freezer cooking and preparation later.  First I gather all of my supplies to the kitchen island. I have two good old fashioned recipe boxes, a couple of cookbooks (including the latest from The Chew), my ipad, and a file folder with previous menus and ideas.  The second thing I do is ask my family for requests.  Next, I break down the main dishes into categories: Beef, Poultry, Pork, Fish, and Pasta.  Since I usually get only a few requests from my very indecisive family(another reason the menu is a must!) , I have to look back at previous menus, search the internet, talk to Sherrie (of course), and inevitably there are always a couple of things that I don't make from the prior month's menu because of scouts, sports, or other commitments.  Lastly, I just start filling in trying to make sure that like menu items are spaced apart enough.
I have included links to most of the recipes.  I will try to get caught up with the older ones and I will definitely add in the new ones along the way!

March 2013

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1	2
					Two- Step Perogies and onions, Caesar Salad	Herb Butter Steakhouse Steak, Sautéed Mushrooms, Almost Cut Potatoes, Loaded Potato Topping
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Slow Cooker Green Beans, Redskin Potatoes, and Ham	Puff & Stuff Chicken, Better than Rice-a-roni Rice Pilaf, Steamed Broccoli	Honey I ate the Pork, Disney's Ohana Maui Scalloped Potatoes	Cha Cha Chicken Tacos with Mango Tango Salsa	Aunt Betty’s Chicken Noodle Soup, Ham and Cheese Calzone x2 to Freeze)	Crab Cakes, Oven Roasted Asparagus,Lawry's Potato Squares	Best Darn Pork BBQ, Connie's Coleslaw
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Slow Cooker 8 Spice Lemon Chicken, Simple Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese	Lazy Lasagna (x2 to Freeze), Garlic Bread	Chipotle Barbacoa Bowls with Cilantro Brown Rice and Corn Salsa	Ritzy Buffalo Mac and Cheese, Veggies and Dip	Grilled Chicken, Crispy Parmesan Potatoes, Honey Grilled Pineapple	Lemon Grass Skewered Shrimp, Rosemary pull apart bread	Spicy Bacon Carbonara
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Green (Cilantro Lime) Chicken Burritos	Cindy’s Baked Spaghetti, Salad	Creamy Garlic Ranch Pork Chops and Garlic Mashed Potatoes Corn	Mushroom Swiss Burgers, Garlic Herb Potato Wedges	Chicken Bacon Ranch Pockets, Salad	Family Movie Night Cheese Pizza, Connie's Caramel Corn	Sweet and Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Steamed Asparagus
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Spicy Italian Shredded Beef Sandwiches, Cucumber Salad	Maple Dijon Chicken, Steamed Broccoli	Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms, Flattened Redskin Potatoes	Crispy Crunch Oven Baked Tacos, Creamy Corny Rice	Mouth Watering Pot Roast, Carrots, Mashed Potatoes	Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi Pasta	Perfect Picnic Chicken Salad, Broccoli Cheese Soup
31 Easter
Brunch Menu Still to be Determined. Turkey Breast,  Grandma's Green Beans

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