A new week begins which means it’s time to post another menu plan and join in the Menu Plan Monday carnival at orgjunkie.com. Somehow our menu last week got all wopsidoodled, so there are several meals this week that are carry-overs.

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Friday – frozen convenience meals (grocery night)
Saturday – lunch: turkey sandwiches on croissants, chips / dinner: eat out
Sunday – lunch: fend for yourselves / dinner: Fallapalooza (church Fall festival)
Monday – baked potato soup, homemade bread
Tuesday – soup leftovers
Wednesday – King Ranch chicken, mexican rice, black beans
Thursday – leftovers
Friday – meatball stew and grilled cheese sandwiches

Last week’s pot roast with maple sweet potatoes and cider gravy was very good. I had to cook the roast for about 3.5 hours instead of the 2.5 hours in the recipe, so I ended up a little short on liquid when I went to make the gravy (I supplemented with additional cider and it was fine). Everyone in the family enjoyed the meal, so it’s a keeper. However, next time I will probably use some sweet potatoes and some white potatoes since Matt isn’t a big sweet potato fan.

For more menu inspiration visit Menu Plan Monday. Have a great week!

I’m back from vacation and feeding my family again. We had a great time on our trip (more on that to come later in the week), but it is wonderful to be home again and I’m looking forward to some home cooked meals this week (even if I am the one who has to cook them).

Fall is in the air around here with temps mostly in the low to mid-sixties for the next week; I’m excited to add soups to our menus again! Here’s what we’ll be eating…

Friday – frozen pizza (grocery night)
Saturday – lunch: chili dogs & tater tots / dinner: beef pot roast with maple sweet potatoes and cider gravy
Sunday – lunch: pot roast leftovers / dinner: loaded baked potato soup & homemade bread
Monday – leftover potato soup
Tuesday – taco salads, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole
Wednesday – meatball stew & grilled cheese sandwiches
Thursday – leftover meatball stew

The pot roast is a carry-over from a couple of weeks ago because I forgot to thaw the roast; I was quite disappointed because I’ve really been looking forward to that meal. The two soups are new-to-me recipes as well, so I’ll let you know next week how those turned out.

I’m also planning to do some baking this weekend – homemade bread, apple cake, and maybe a few loaves of heavenly banana bread with bananas I have in the freezer.

For more menu planning and meal inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com

Happy Monday, and happy eating!

BTW – I’m hosting a giveaway for a Temple Touch thermometer check out my review and enter to win!

Let me just start out by saying that I feel like a blogging failure these last couple of weeks. My SIL has posted every day while I’ve struggled to get a MPM post up each week. And she has a NEWBORN! It isn’t about a lack of blogging fodder, just a lack of desire and willingness to take the time to post. Oh well, I’ll get back to it eventually.

Anyway, it is Monday (afternoon) again, so it’s time for Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com. The kids and I leave on Thursday for a vacation in the mountains with my parents and nephews, so Matt will be on his own for the weekend and the first of next week. Here’s what we’re eating until then…

Sunday – lunch: sandwiches & chips / dinner: tacos
Monday – taco leftovers
Tuesday – Beef Pot Roast with Maple Sweet Potatoes and Cider Gravy
Wednesday – roast leftovers

For more menu inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Happy Monday!

The other day when I was trying to make the menu plan and grocery list, Matt and I discussed how useful it would be to have some of our past menus to look back at for meal ideas. So, in an effort to do just that, I am going to try to start participating in Menu Plan Monday again on a regular basis.

We shop on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings, so our menus run Friday through Thursday. Here is what we’ll be dining on this week:

Friday: take out or something from the frozen food section

Saturday: lunch – turkey sandwiches on croissants, chips / dinner – pizza for Matt and the kids (girls’ night out with my two best friends for me!)

Sunday: lunch – mexican-style ravioli, salad / dinner – chili dogs, tater tots

Monday: pizza pasta bake, salad

Tuesday: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas

Wednesday: breakfast for dinner – eggs, sausage, homemade biscuits

Thursday: leftovers night

Looks like I’m all about comfort foods these days. I’ll blame that on baby girl.

For more menus and meal ideas visit orgjunkie.com.

Happy Monday!

I was a bit scarce last week as I dealt with kiddos, life, and plans and prep for the boy’s first birthday party Saturday night. Now, another Monday is upon us ushering in a new Menu Plan Monday. Here’s what we’ll be dining on at chez Sidetrack’d this week:

Sunday – lunch: leftover pizza / dinner: chicken salad sandwiches

Monday – leftover chicken salad, chips, raw veggies & dip, fruit

Tuesday – grilled brats, beans, and fries

Wednesday – salads with chicken (chicken, mac & cheese for the kiddos)

Thursday – Awesome Turkey Sandwiches, raw veggies, fruit

Friday – tacos, chips & cheese dip, rice, black beans

Saturday – lunch: pizza / dinner: leftover taco stuff

For more menu inspiration, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.

And of strawberry cakes, the one my Mema made when I was young is the one I always fall back to. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s not having tried the “best strawberry cake ever” yet, but this is the cake I choose.

Every year I bake my own birthday cake, and I bake it from this recipe. If you try it, I hope you like it, too.

Mema’s Strawberry Cake
1 box white cake mix
1 pkg (3 oz) strawberry jello
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sweet milk
4 eggs
1 cup angel flake coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup strawberries

Mix all ingredients by hand. Bake in 3 layers at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Strawberry Frosting
1 box confectioners sugar
1 stick melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix all ingredients together and spread on cake.

Notes: I usually leave out the coconut and pecans (just because I’m weird like that). I also generally bake the cake in a 9×13 and ice it in the pan (just because I’m lazy like that). And be aware that the icing has always turned out quite thin for me (more like a glaze).

I’m joining the Menu Plan masses this week, and, if all goes as planned, I’ll be cooking like crazy.  In addition to our normal meals, I will do some baking and make our Thanksgiving meal.  This year we are doing Thanksgiving at home for the first time.  We will have our Thanksgiving feast on Friday so we can celebrate with my parents.

So, here’s what we will be eating…

Monday: taco soup, tortilla chips

Tuesday: chicken alfredo over linguine, broccoli, garlic bread or breadsticks

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: beef and parmesan pasta with zucchini

Friday: Thanksgiving meal – turkey, gravy, cornbread dressing, hashbrown casserole, green bean casserole, broccoli salad, homemade rolls, and dessert

Saturday: leftovers

I also hope to make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, and bread this week.

I hope everyone has a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m running a bit late publishing my Menu Plan Monday post. At least it’s still Monday!

Having my menu planned and posted really did help last week. We went through the whole week without eating out! (Well, except for the two days I stopped and got me and Little something for lunch – still working on the lunch thing.) Anyway, here is our menu for the week; there are breakfasts listed for the weekend because we will have company.

Monday – burritos, black beans, chips & salsa

Tuesday – ravioli casserole, corn on the cob, bread

Wednesday – leftovers

Thursday – baked potatoes with broccoli & cheese

Friday – order pizza or eat out

Saturday – breakfast: biscuits, eggs, sausage, gravy (assuming it turns out edible) / lunch: sandwiches, chips / dinner: chicken & rice casserole, salad, crescent rolls

Sunday – breakfast: cinnamon rolls, fruit / lunch: leftovers or eat out / dinner: Life Group meeting

Hope you have a great week filled with good eats!

It has been months since I’ve participated in Menu Plan Monday (hosted by Organizing Junkie). With the new year upon us and the increased instances of dining out lately, I think it is time to join in again.

So, here is our plan for the week:

Monday – salad with grilled chicken, crescent rolls

Tuesday – meatball subs, salad

Wednesday – potato soup, bread

Thursday – leftovers (meatballs or soup)

Friday – baked potatoes with chili

Saturday – lunch: turkey sandwiches, chips & salsa / dinner: crock-pot roast with potatoes & carrots, biscuits

Sunday – lunch: roast leftovers / dinner: Life Group meeting

Hope you have a great week!

On Thursday I embarked on a new kitchen adventure when I decided to try making homemade cinnamon rolls. I found a recipe at The Pioneer Woman Cooks a while back and have been planning to make them as part of the Christmas cooking. My original intention was to make enough to give as gifts but thought I should make enough to for us to try them out before I inflicted them on our unsuspecting friends. Let me just tell you, these things were amazing!

It took about three hours total (work and rise time) and made a huge mess, but when Matt, my cinnamon-roll-critic in residence, said how good they were I knew it was worth it. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, my unsuspecting friends will have to wait until another time to try them. The original recipe yields about 70 cinnamon rolls; I made 1/4 of the recipe and had 18 rolls, a pan-full perfect for weekend breakfasts.

These rolls are melt-in-your-mouth, slap-your-momma (figuratively, of course) good! They are not, by any means, low in calories, but, come on, it is Christmas time.

1. There are directions on the box (usually) for cooking in the microwave. They fail to address the fact that if you cook it in a plastic bowl you will probably be eating plastic in addition to the Chex. Lesson learned last year when it burned a hole in the bottom of my Tupperware bowl.

2. Honey roasted peanuts sound like a great addition – just be sure you add them after the mix is removed from the oven. Baking honey roasted peanuts for an hour (even at low heat) causes the sugar to burn. Burnt honey roasted peanuts are not the flavor you’re going for.

3. This stuff is addictive. Thus the 4 (or 5) batches consumed over the last week or so by three people (one of whom is under three feet tall). Also the reason I can only make it during the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years.

Hope your enjoying your Christmas goodies as much as we are!

I have childhood (and teenage, and college age) memories of making Christmas goodies with my mom. We would drag out all the ingredients, and just about every mixing bowl and spoon in the kitchen, and set up shop at the kitchen table. When I was young we baked cookies and made candy, but as time progressed we moved away from baking and more into candy. There was always fudge for the fridge (2 pans – with pecans for dad & mom and without for my brother & me), and usually some combination of butterscotch haystacks, chocolate and peppermint “bark”, and white and milk chocolate covered pretzels. Other things came and went depending on the year, but these were the usual suspects. I continued to make chocolate chip cookies, and we made the occasional snickerdoodle or sugar cookie.

My own Christmas cooking focuses more on baked goods, although I might make some refrigerator fudge this year. During last week I’ve made two batches of chocolate chip cookies, two loaves of homemade bread (I make this year round), and two batches of Chex Mix. This weekend will see two recipes of homemade biscuits and, possibly, the first of the cranberry bread. The next couple of weeks should produce several batches of cranberry bread, a pound cake with caramel icing, and, hopefully, some homemade cinnamon rolls. Oh, and untold quantities of homemade Chex Mix. Add in the things I’ll make for the Christmas party we’re hosting next Sunday and our own Christmas meals (hmm…guess I better think about what we’ll eat since we’ll be home this year), and I have quite a bit of cooking to do!

There is just something about the holidays that brings out the most flavorful side of me!

Ingredients:
5 apples (smallish) – peeled, cored, and sliced thin (we usually cut them into thin bite-size chunks)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

4 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
2. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with electric mixer (or in stand mixer) for 15 minutes on high speed. Add oil and blend in.
4. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add vanilla and blend. Fold apples and nuts into batter.
5. Pour batter into prepared 9×13 inch pan.
6. In small bowl, combine 4 teaspoons white sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle over cake prior to baking.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

I originally printed this recipe from allrecipes.com several years ago.

Earlier in the week I concocted a tuna-noodle casserole for my lunch. I recognize that a lot of people read that and think, “yuck!”, my husband is included in that group which is why I ate it for lunch. But for me, this is one of my favorite comfort foods, one of those foods that brings floods of childhood memories as I cook and eat it.

My Dad and brother don’t like tuna-noodle casserole either, so growing up Mom would make it sometimes when the guys were off camping or both happened to be away from home at dinner time. I always enjoyed it when we ate it at our house, but my most special memories are of eating it with my Ghina and Poppa.

Ghina knew how much I liked the casserole, so every few months when they had it for dinner the phone would ring with an invitation for me to join them. This was a special time because it was just me and my grandparents – no parents, no brother, no cousins – a table set for three.

Entering the house I was greeted by the sound of the timer on their old-fashioned toaster oven clicking away, the smell of the casserole baking, and the sight of Ghina preparing garlic bread to be toasted. I would hang out on the stool in the kitchen, or write on the chalkboard, or play with a few toys until the timer dinged and dinner was ready.

The three of us would take our seats at the table; a family table surrounded by pictures of my Mom and her siblings as children, by mementos of a life lived together for many years. Ghina dished out our dinner. Poppa opened the box of ground black pepper. Slices of garlic toast were passed. A meal was enjoyed.

After dinner was finished and the dishes washed, Ghina and I would sit at the kitchen table and play Chinese checkers. If I was lucky we could get in several games before I had to head home to get ready for bed and school the next day.

There were many, many dinners like this each consisting of a plate of tuna-noodle casserole, a slice of garlic bread, and a special time with my grandparents. Over the years the occurences have lost their individuality and melded into a composite in my mind. Such a special memory, and it all started with a pan of tuna-noodle casserole.

It’s been a few weeks since I participated in Menu Plan Monday. The grocery list is finished on Sunday this week, so here’s what we’ll be eating this week.

Monday: turkey sandwich wraps, fruit

Tuesday: Paula Deen’s chicken casserole

Wednesday: chicken salad sandwiches, cucumbers & tomatoes

Thursday: leftover chicken salad

Friday: pasta with tomatoes & garlic, bread

Saturday lunch: sandwich wraps
Saturday dinner: homemade pizza

Sunday lunch: whatever you can find in the refrigerator
Sunday dinner: eat out with friends

Stay cool this week; it looks like it will be another hot one (at least around here)!

On a lovely Wednesday morning a few weeks ago Michelle and the girls came over and the baking began. Having noticed that small chefs can sometimes be eager to add ingredients to the mix, I had gathered all the necessary components and utensils beforehand to help speed the process (next time I might pre-measure the ingredients as well). When the girls came in we drew stools and chairs to the counters and set about making our mess cupcakes.

At my instruction B began breaking eggs into a bowl and, due to Michelle’s diligence, we got them into the mixing bowl sans shells. While they worked on eggs, I measured other ingredients and K (the 2-1/2 year old) licked raw egg off the counter. Then, into the mixing bowl – with B and K alternating turns – went all of the ingredients to be mixed by two spoons and four sweet little hands.

After everything was well mixed we used a scoop to transfer the contents of the bowl into the cupcake pans. Into the oven they went and the excruciating wait between mixing and eating began. K was excited because, “Ooo, we’re making muffins!”

While the cupcakes cooled we went to work creating frosting. There were three frostings concocted from which we would determine our favorite and the contest submission. We started with a strawberry frosting that B quickly deemed the favorite. She enjoyed it so much that Michelle and I kept seeing little fingers go into the bowl for “one more taste.”

Once the frostings were complete it was time to decorate. We had sprinkles, strawberries, and chocolate covered strawberries with which to adorn our cupcakes, and beautiful designs resulted. I wish I had pictures of B’s wonderful cupcake creations, but, unfortunately, my camera batteries were dead.

I believe a good time was had by all. In the end, the counters were sticky, the floor was sticky, there were baking supplies and powdered sugar everywhere; in general it looked like a bakery had exploded. But it was worth the clean up to see the girls enjoying the fruits (or desserts as it were) of their labor.

Here we are; it’s Monday again and time to reveal the menu plan for this week. It was kind of tricky to plan this week as Matt requested that we only have things that we don’t usually make. But, armed with internet access, a plan came together.

Monday – leftovers from this weekend: pasta with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and parsley

Tuesday – enchiladas (filling will be from tamale casserole recipe), chips with guacamole & salsa

Wednesday – leftover enchiladas

Thursday – southwest corn fritatta, salad

Friday – homemade pizza

Saturday – lunch: fend for yourself / dinner: eat out for Matt’s birthday

Sunday – lunch: pancakes / dinner: mexican at Life Group

Hope your week is full of good eats!

Okay, I’m running a bit behind today and I totally blame it on the copy of The Deathly Hallows staring up at me from the desk!

Here’s our menu for this week:

Monday – clean out the fridge/fend for yourselves

Tuesday – Papa John’s pizza

Wednesday – meatloaf, twice baked potatoes, fried green tomatoes (roll over from last week)

Thursday – leftovers of meatloaf

Friday – pasta with tomatoes and garlic, bread

Saturday – lunch: egg salad sandwiches / dinner: pasta leftovers

Sunday – lunch: eat out / dinner: Life Group meeting

Hope your week is filled with good eats!

Since we won’t be moving this week, we have a real menu again instead of “moving food”. Here’s what we are planning to eat:

Monday – meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas

Tuesday – leftovers

Wednesday – taco salads

Thursday – leftovers

Friday – pizza

Saturday – lunch: leftovers / dinner: bratwurst, german potato salad

Sunday – lunch: brats / dinner: Life Group meeting

Hope your week is filled with good eats!

Welcome to another episode of “here’s what I’ve planned for us to eat this week although I hope we don’t eat all of it because that means we have people coming to look at our house in the evenings.” And without further ado, here’s our menu:

Monday – shrimp po’boys (frozen shrimp left from last week), fries, lima beans

Tuesday – eat out (we have a house showing at 5:15)

Wednesday – chicken club sandwich ring, jalapeno kettle chips

Thursday – leftover sandwich ring and chips

Friday – beef quesadillas, tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa

Saturday – lunch: leftover quesadillas or nachos / dinner: pizza

Sunday – lunch: leftover pizza / dinner: Life Group meeting

Here’s hoping your week is filled with good eats!

I don’t know how well we will stick to my menus the next few weeks due to the upcoming move. Several things will come out of the freezer so that we have as little cold stuff as possible when we load up the truck; we will also probably be eating more convenience foods since items in the kitchen will gradually disappear into boxes. I really hope that we have to change up our menu some this week to accomodate eating out because that means that people are coming to look at our house.

With all that said, here is our current menu plan:

Monday – shrimp po’boys, fries, and black-eyed peas

Tuesday – Paula Deen’s chicken casserole from the freezer, rolls

Wednesday – leftover casserole, rolls

Thursday – spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread

Friday – pizza

Saturday – lunch – eat out / dinner – leftovers (shrimp, pizza, or sketti)

Sunday – lunch – leftovers / dinner – Life Group meeting

Hope your week is filled with lots of good eats!

I’ve been a bit lax on posting my menus the last few weeks. I am menu planning, I just haven’t been able to get a post written on Monday morning lately.

So, here is our menu for the week:

Monday – leftovers from Olive Garden lunch yesterday, Italian Cheese Bread

Tuesday – Paula Deen’s Chicken and Rice Casserole, rolls

Wednesday – Casserole leftovers

Thursday – Meatball Subs, jalapeno potato chips

Friday – cheese pizza

Saturday – quesadillas for lunch / leftover Meatball Subs for dinner

Sunday – eat out for lunch / waffles for dinner

Hope your week is filled with good eats!

I have been menu planning for a while now, so I thought it’s about time to jump into Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie. I menu plan in an effort to minimize the number of grocery store trips I make per week. Every Sunday Matt and I determine what we would like to eat for the week and I assign a meal to each night; I usually end up moving meals around and, often, push meals to the next week due to unforeseen circumstances (more leftovers than expected, unexpected meals out, etc.).

Anyway, here is what is on the menu this week:

Monday: Country Fried Steak (Southern Living recipe), mashed potatoes & gravy, green peas, homemade biscuits

Tuesday: ground beef burritos, tortilla chips and salsa

Wednesday: leftovers – burritos or nachos

Thursday: Oven-fried Parmesan Chicken Strips (Southern Living), mac & cheese

Friday: pepperoni pizza

Saturday: lunch – pizza leftovers / dinner – waffles

Sunday: lunch – eat out / dinner – eat with Life Group

Here’s to your week being filled with good eats!