Sunday, October 23, 2011

Menu Plan Week of 10/24

Hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  We have had a pretty good one, despite my little guy having a stuffy nose and cough (which caused some sleepless hours on Friday night, never fun!)

After a heartbreaking Badgers loss, I am hoping for a Packer win today (I am writing this before the game on Sunday.... sorry, Vikings fans! haha)  We are cozying up for the cooler fall weather ahead this week.  I have mentioned this before but this is my favorite time of year to cook, partly because it is "officially" crock pot season (mine is out all year though!) and I love being back int he kitchen making comfort foods (once the late winter comes around, I am ready for grill season again!)  So, I am taking advantage and cooking up a storm lately!

I have received a lot of feedback lately about putting up a recipe archive on this page so that you can easily access recipes when you are creating your own menu plans.  Admittedly, I am not the most technologically savvy person!  Although Blogger is really easy to use, I have yet to find a way to add a tab for a recipe archive.  I have an idea for a workaround so bear with me, I will get an archive started soon!

Our menu this week:

Monday:  Super Sloppy Joe's with a side of broccolini
note:  I sub in whole cane sugar (aka Rapadura) and only about half the sugar that is called for
Tip:  You can prepare this the night before in a skillet, let it cool and cover the skillet, store right in the fridge OR put the prepared sloppy joe's into the crock pot, store in fridge and heat on HIGH for 30 minutes before eating!

Tuesday:   Pasta with Red Sauce and roasted red pepper turkey sausage (Ferndale Market - love their products!); side salad
Tip:  Make enough pasta sauce to have leftovers - I freeze it and defrost as needed!  Use your favorite sauce recipe and once you have blended all of the ingredients, you can drop it into a crock pot to simmer for the day!  Make it the night before and stick the crock in the fridge if you will be working all day.

Wednesday:  Quinoa Burgers with salad and roasted sweet potatoes
note:  I may spice this one up a little bit, turned out good the last time but it could be better!  I'll update you on the results.
Tip:  Make these the night before (blend all ingredients in the food processor, quick and easy), make into patties and chill.  Fry them up right before eating.

Thursday:  I am out; boys will eat leftover meatloaf burgers (I froze these a few weeks ago per my Tuesday menu plan in this post) and a veggie

Friday:  Chicken in the crock pot with roasted butternut squash and kale chips
Tip:  If you have the oven on earlier in the week, roast your squash, scoop it out of the shell and stick it in the fridge.  Warm it up before serving with some butter (or coconut oil) and maple syrup.  YUM!

Saturday:  Out

Sunday:  White Chicken Chili (leftover chicken from Friday!) with salad 
Note:  This was on my plan but never made it to my table a few weeks ago... hoping I am able to make it happen this week!  I am going to give this a shot with coconut milk and coconut oil substitutes for milk/butter... we'll see how it goes.  We have had it without the substitutions and it is a really delicious soup!

This will be posted as part of Menu Plan Monday on Orgjunkie's site.  Lots of menu planning inspiration there!

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