Hope everyone had a successful week in the kitchen. This week went really smoothly for me in terms of meals. I eliminated one of the planned dinners due to extra leftovers- always a nice surprise! Plus I was missing one of the ingredients which I was able to pick up this weekend- now it’s back on the menu for this week! I want to reiterate that our weekly meal planning is not intended for you to feel intimidated, pressure to “look good” or judged in anyway. We are not here to impress each other. My meals my be totally different from yours and that’s ok. Cooking is was of my biggest hobbies and although what I make at home is very doable I don’t care if you have sandwiches on the menu every night. The point is that you think about the meal before it happens.
The salmon I made last week was so so easy and turned out great. It’s from a cookbook that I received in the mail and plan on reviewing so stay tuned! Other big news around here, we finally have a grill (and a smoker!!). We’ve been without one since we moved in over a month ago. Our last grill stayed at our Austin home that we’re renting out and we never needed one at the condo in Hawaii because they had plenty of them there. I am so excited to be grilling this summer and we are starting this weekend by having some new friends over for dinner. They have twin girls around Lucas’s age plus a one year old so there will be plenty of activity around here!
My meal plan loosens up towards the end of the week because my parents will be driving in from Texas on Thursday! We are so excited for them to visit! It’s always fun to figure out what we want to eat together so that’s why I am not doing too much planning past Thursday. Hope you all have a fantastic week. I love seeing what you’re eating!
Menu for the Week of June 12th
Sunday
Homemade Guacamole & Chips, On the BBQ: Beer Marinated Chicken Thighs & Tenders, Bacon-wrapped Shrimp, Mixed Greens with Lime-Cilantro Dressing, Pesto Pasta Salad, Ice Cream Sundae Bar (Having company over)
Monday
Crock Pot Pinto Beans, Leftovers (will probably make soft tacos from the chicken)
Tuesday
Lemon Dill Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Sauteed zucchini & mushrooms with thyme
Wednesday
Asian Chicken Salad *Quesadillas for the kids (using left over crock pot beans and rotisserie chicken)
Thursday
Chicken Fettucini Alfredo with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Grilled Veggies (zucchini, onion, asparagus)
Friday
Open (since my family will be here not sure if we’ll go out or cook)
Saturday
Out to eat!
Have a great week in the kitchen!
What I Ate This Month & Meal Planning
Easy Kids Birthday Cake: Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Meal Planning
Meal Planning Monday
This is a weird week for me. I am throwing 2 parties and delivering meals to 2 families and have VBS all week. AND I am not feeling well…so this week I am just getting by. I just went to the store sans shopping list. While I spent a lot of money, I don’t feel like I got home with enough of anything to actually cook a full meal!!! Except for the meals I am delivering.
Monday: Bean and cheese tostadas or quesadillas (work night for me, so hubby will prep) and watermelon.
Tuesday: Shrimp and vegetable spring rolls made by Gretchen!!
Wednesday: Loaded baked potatoes with oven roasted carrots and mixed berry salad.
Thursday: I am having a shower at my house! So gluten free chicken nuggets from the freezer and leftover roasted carrots and berries for my fam and I will eat dessert and fruit!
Friday: Eat out, I hope! After this week, I think this is a no brainer!
Saturday: Grilled salmon and veggies with watermelon smoothies.
Mmm, loaded baked potatoes sound yummy. Hope you feel better!
Aloha! We were out of town when you posted this fun idea last week, but now we’re back and I’m excited to participate! What a great idea, Melanie! I love hearing what other people are cooking–gives me some new idea in the kitchen as well. Here’s our week:
Sunday: fish tacos (in the works as I am typing this)!
Monday: pasta primavera (broccoli, zucchini, carrots, red pepper)
Tuesday: Girls’ night out! I’ll be eating at El Maricachi 🙂 –something simple (left overs) for the kids and Brian
Wednesday: Tandoori Chicken, steamed broccoli, quinoa dish
Thursday: tuna melts and a side of veggies and/or salad
Friday: I’m guessing we’ll go out or eat something simple at home 🙂
Saturday: ??
The kids and I are also excited about trying your new blueberry muffin recipe this week!! Thank you 🙂
Thanks for joining in Amy! Funny, I pulled a recipe for tandoori chicken too! Can’t remember from where though since my brain is pregnancy-mush. Have a fun girls night out. That used to be our fav Mexican restaurant on the island.
Sunday – Seared Ahi Tuna on greens with raspberries, mandarin organges, asparagus, avacado, crushed almonds and green onion
Monday- Lamb meatballs and Turkey Meatballs with whole wheat linguini and garlic marinara sauce
Tuesday-Dijon/Soy Salmon, Couscous, and mixed veggies (squash, zuccini, mushrooms, and carrots)
Wednesday- Hamburgers with Sweet Potatoe Fries
Thursday-Turkey Panini, fruit salad and Veggie chips
Friday-hopefully sushi delivery
Saturday-Go out
I love how you 2 were just MEANT to be sisters in law! Y’all are super stars in the kitchen!!!
That is hilarious! Actually this is Marlos’ menu! He is the head chef of the family (runs in the Macedo genes)! I am trying to get better in the kitchen though. I am like the sous chef – Marlos tells me what to do!
Sounds yummy Macedos 🙂
Good morning !!!! My menu this week is a little different because Brennyn has swim lessons right at dinner time, James Dad is here, James will be going out of town and then my Mom will be staying with us. So I am keeping it simple and not trying anything new. I do have a recipe for next week that I really want to try.
Sunday: Since I found out the night before James Dad would be in I made something easy and unhealthy 🙂 Green Chili Chicken Casserole with corn, black bean, avocado and tomato relish, with some tortilla chips.
Monday: Mexican Chicken Salad served over a sweet potato. This is a Weight Watchers recipe.
Tuesday: Baked Shrimp w/Tomato, zucchini, yellow squash and fat free feta. This is another WW recipe.
Wednesday: Simple Tuna salad over mixed greens and fruit.
Thursday: Left Overs or sandwiches
Friday: James will be returning home, I plan on making baked spaghetti but we have a meeting at 6:00 so I bet we go out.
Saturday- I am having a Monster of a garage sale so we will probably eat out.
Your green chili chicken recipe doesn’t sound unhealthy with corn, beans, avo and tomatoes! 🙂 Thanks for joining in!
Hi Melanie
Its Dana Raver(McKenna). I love your blog! So many great ideas and information. At our house we eat a lot of veggies, fruit and meat. My husband has Type 1 Diabetes so carbs rarely get a staring role at our dinner table.
Monday: chef salad for mom & dad, pb & honey torillas for kids, pineapple and carrot sticks- eaten at a swim meet
Tuesday: chicken parmesan, sauteed broccoli, whole wheat pasta, lemonade cookies- doubling this to take to a neightbor with a new baby.
Note: I grind original Fiber One cereal in blender to make ‘healthy’ bread crumbs for the chicken
Wednesday: marinated flank steak, cauliflower mashers(mock mashed potatoes), brussel sprots- sliced into shreds and sauteed with almonds and dried cranberries.
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: homemade pizzas, we use sandwich thins for the crust. Ceaser salad. Berries
Saturday: out
Sunday: steak, roasted asaparagus, blueberry pie- my husbands favorites for Father’s Day 🙂
Dana,
I would love your cauliflower mashers I have always wanted to try this.
Gretchen
Dana! It’s great to hear from you! I am glad to hear your husband is watching what he eats as so many Diabetics rely on insulin or meds instead and ignore the diet. Thanks so much for reading along and for contributing. I know I’m getting great ideas from everyone else!
Here is our menu for the week. Due to the OUTRAGEOUS Texas heat I planning many cold food items. A girls got to cool off some how. Also we are big fruit eaters in this house so it is pretty much a given with everymeal.
Monday–Mandarin Chicken salad with fruit, baby carrots, and rolls
Tuesday–Homemade shrimp and veggie spring rolls with satay and sesame soy dipping sauces (from bottles)and fruit (doubled for the Smiths) my hope is that my boys will enjoy stuffing and rolling the spring rolls there for being more interested in eating them.
Wednesday–nachos I use store bought corn chips loaded with stretched taco meat from trainermomma.com. Makes about four pounds of taco meat using only one pound of ground meat. My family prefers this meat to regular ground meat. the recipe calls for bulgar wheat but I have also used quinoa for my gluten free friends:) On my nachos put under broiler with chips, “meat”, cheese, then load with tomatoes and lettuce and homemade guacamole. And of course fruit:)
Thursday–homemade sandwich wrap bar. I bought premade tortillas, several kinds of lunch meat, cheese, and veggie toppings. I find if I have a meal that my kids can pile their own ingredients (ie gyro night, salad bar, etc. ) they are more willing to try new veggies and actually enjoy them.
Friday–Weekly pizza (cheese for the kids, and a veggie for the adults) night I will probably do these on the grill. I am trying to perfec this technique. With salad and fruit
Saturday–Pancakes I would love any good whole grain pancake suggestions I am still on the hunt. I will be making these in Star Wars pancake molds for the men in the house so hopefully a “healthy” pancake will go down much better. I will serve these with berries and fresh peaches as we will be picking fresh Fredricksburg peaches that morning.
Sunday–per hubby’s request we will be eating Margarita lime chicken, with cilantro lime rice, mango salsa, grilled or roasted asparagus, and probably watermelon for the celebration of our favorite Daddy!
Hi Gretchen
I ‘adopted’ your Margarita Lime chicken recipe and the Mango Salsa from a MOPS cookbook many years ago. I have made it many times. We love it!
Dana
It is one of our favorites as well. My kids gobble up the salsa.
I am now officially craving nachos! Looks like a great week. Have you made the spring rolls before? I adore spring rolls and have pulled several recipes but never made them! On the list!
Years ago we would make them regularly, but haven’t for quite a while. My brother in law went to Vietnam with the Army and started making them after that trip and we learned from him. I found a recipe online to try. Prior I would l just wrap up whatever was in the kitchen. I hope it turns out well. It is nice to have willing friends to try new recipes on.
They turned out AWESOME!
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