Menu Planning Monday (On Saturday)

So, I just spent the last 2 hours planning our meals. We have 12 dinners before we get paid. Since money is a little tight, I decided to try to get all 12 dinners (plus lunches and breakfast stuff) out of our normal amount of money for one week of groceries. My plan is to make 6 meals that can all be eaten twice or that I can used to make another meal. So, for all of the meals that are casseroles, I will make the whole recipe and separate it into 2 or 3 8x8 pans depending on how much it makes. We will eat one that night and save the other for the next week. Hopefully, we will like these recipes enough to eat them twice so close together : ). My estimated cost of all of these meals plus lunch and breakfast stuff for my boys is going to be $100. I will let you know what happens!

Sunday - Pizza (I am trying a new technique this week and new dough recipe that is supposed to make the pizza thin and crispy. It uses semolina flour and slow rising overnight. I will let you know how it turns out and pass on the recipe.)
Monday - Sunny Anderson's Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Tuesday - Chicken Parmigiano
Wednesday - Chicken Parm Subs (made from leftover chicken parm)
Thursday - Giada's Ragu with Mint (It is made with ground lamb but I will more than likely use ground beef unless there is an awesome sale on ground lamb...which I doubt.)
Friday - My mac-n-cheese topped with bacon and onions
Saturday - Pizza
Sunday - Sunny Anderson's Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Monday - Giada's Ragu with Mint
Tuesday - My mac-n-cheese topped with bacon and onions
Wednesday - Pan fried Chicken with gravy and rice (Chicken breasts are on sale at Lowe's foods for $1.99 a pound)

Menu Planning Monday

If you want to join, Menu Planning Monday, go here and post a link on "I'm an Organizing Junkie" to your MMP blog post!

Monday: Parmesan Crusted Salmon (I am probably going to add some bread crumbs and parsley to the cheese and top it with balsamic drizzle and pesto...recipe to follow) and Truffle Garlic Creamed Potatoes
Tuesday: Engagement Chicken with rice
Wednesday: Grilled Tilapia with lemon butter, capers and orzo
Thursday: Chicken Picatta with rice (I am using a combo of this recipe and a recipe that I have in a magazine.)
Friday: Spaghetti with meat sauce (recipe to come...)
Saturday: French Onion Salisbury Steak (Recipe to come...)
Sunday: Pizza

Talia's Pesto
In a food processor, blend:
1 cup fresh basil (or you can use cilantro during the winter...really good)
1/2 cup pecans (or you can use pine nuts but I prefer pecans)
5 garlic cloves
1/2 cup asiago cheese (or parmesan or a mixture of both)
coarse ground black pepper (about one tsp)
kosher salt

Gradually add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup EVOO until desired consistency (thick paste). You will want to taste and add salt and pepper as you like.

Menu Planning Monday

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie to see other meal plans or to join in on the planning!

Sunday - Rachael Ray's Baked Shell Casserole
Monday - Hungry Girl's Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
(tastes like Chick-fil-a and is SO yummy!) and Rachael Ray's Crispy Oven Veggie Fries
Tuesday - Chicken Curry with rice (Recipe to come later this week)
Wednesday - leftover stuffed shell casserole
Thursday - Homemade Pizza (dough and sauce recipe to follow)
Friday - Greek Chicken with roasted potatoes and broccoli (Recipe to come later this week)
Saturday - Parmesan Crusted Chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes (Recipe to come later this week)


Pizza Dough
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup semolina flour
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2 tsp sea salt
To make the dough, add the lukewarm water to a large bowl, along with the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over top and wait until it dissolves. Pour in the olive oil, sprinkle in about half of the semolina flour and half of the bread flour and stir to combine. Then add the remaining flours and the salt. Stir a few times to combine the ingredients.

Use your hands to bring the dough together, and then turn it out onto the counter. Knead the dough for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until it feels and looks smooth.

Portion the dough and form each portion into a round. Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil. Coat the dough very lightly with olive oil and place into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it slow-rise overnight in the refrigerator (or at room temperature) until double in size.

Step 2: Shaping the Dough
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal (for sprinkling on pizza stone)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (for brushing on dough)
Place the pizza stone into a cold oven then preheat the oven to 450º degrees Fahrenheit. Let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes before baking your first pizza.

Place a piece of room temperature dough onto a lightly floured counter. Press it flat into a round. Continue to press and turn the dough while stretching it. You can also hold the dough upright, rolling it between your fingers as you stretch it. The weight of the dough will help to stretch it.
Sprinkle the stone with cornmeal. Gently transfer the dough to the stone and proceed with your pizza recipe.

Two Pizza Sauces
1 can crushed tomato (15 ounces)
1 to 2 cloves Fresh garlic
1 tsp Salt
1 can whole tomatoes (15 ounces)
1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
salt (to taste)
1 clove Fresh garlic
6 basil leafs
For a thicker sauce, with a more concentrated tomato flavor, use a can of quality crushed tomatoes (look at ingredients to make sure that the ONLY ingredient is tomatoes). Add a clove or two of thinly sliced garlic, a bit of salt and stir.

To make the second sauce, simply strain a can of whole tomatoes and crush them by hand. Add the olive oil, salt, garlic, and fresh basil and mix together.

Meal Planning Monday

Monday- Roast Chicken (brined with compound butter under skin...recipe to come) with potatoes and corn
Tuesday- Pork Won tons (that I made a while back and froze) with fried rice and stir fry veggies
Wednesday- Pasta with sausage cream sauce and Carlyn's garlic bread (follow recipe for cream sauce but add half an onion to melted butter until browned and then add a half pound or pound of sausage until no longer pink. Then, add the cream, salt, and garlic and follow the remaining instructions).
Thursday- Rachael Ray's Breaded Pork and Mozzarella Stacks with garlic broccoli
Friday- Chicken Spinach Lasagna (recipe to come)
Saturday- Rachael Ray's Steakhouse Chili (love trying new chili recipes...especially when it is so chilly outside!)
Sunday- leftover lasagna

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie to see other meal plans or to join in on the planning!

Menu Planning Monday

Sunday - Domino's pizza (large one topping with extra cheese for 5.99!)
Monday - Easy Lasagna (This was the first lasagna that I made for Chris and I after we got married)
Tuesday - Chicken with BLT Gravy (Rachael Ray 15 minute meal)
Wednesday - leftover lasagna
Thursday - Tomato Chicken Pasta (We were supposed to have this on Saturday, but I forgot we had a Christmas party with Chris' work.)
Friday - Croque Monsieur and Tomato soup with a cake for Jesus' birthday. We are having an easy low key Christmas lunch/dinner. I want to be hanging with my boys instead of in the kitchen all day. Plus, soup and sandwiches in this cold weather will be super yummy!
Saturday - We will be on the road going to my family's house in Greenville, SC for a few days and then up to Asheville to see Chris' family.

Check out I'm An Organizing Junkie for more menu plans or to join in!

Menu Planning Monday

There is a great website that I found by visiting my friend, Terra's blog. It is called "I'm an Organizing Junkie". Every Monday, she does "Menu Planning Monday" where over 300 ladies share their menus for the week. I love this idea! My friend and I actually sit down every Monday and get our menus ready for the week so this works great for me. Last Monday, we made our menus for the rest of the month so we wouldn't have to think about anything during the busy holiday season. Then, every Sunday or Monday we go grocery shopping to get our ingredients for the week.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Chicken and Rice casserole
Tuesday - Mushroom Chicken with pasta
Wednesday - Giada's Baked Ziti that I have in the freezer (yay!)
Thursday - leftover Chicken and Rice casserole
Friday - Boston Butt with sweet potato fries
Saturday - Tomato Chicken Pasta
Sunday - raid the fridge

Since there are three recipes this week that include shredded/cubed chicken (which happens a lot on my menus), I prepared all of the chicken last night. I have started buying split chicken breasts for two reasons...cheap and flavorful. So, I bought two family size packages (about 5 breasts in each pkg). I used my roasting pan and a cookie sheet and placed 5 chicken breasts on each. Then, I patted the skins dry and drizzled liberally with EVOO, salt and pepper. Roast them at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour or until the internal temperature reaches 165. I don't usually measure the temperature. I just watch the skins. Usually, when the skins are golden and crispy...they are done. After that, all you have to do is remove the chicken from the bones, chop, and separate into containers for each meal. I ended up having about 11 cups of chicken. That is a lot of chicken for $10!