Monday, September 3, 2007

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Labor Day, everyone! I hope all of you are enjoying some time off with your families as summer comes to a close. I know I, for one, am looking forward to fall. Such as fall is around these parts, anyways.

We went down to Key West yesterday. It was kind of a bust - the kids ranked it a 4 on their "fun scale." But we did have a really fun time on the drive (3 hours each way!). It was nice to just have some time to hang out together. Since most of the beaches in the Keys are pretty disappointing, I've promised the kids if they get all their schoolwork done, I'll take them to a nicer beach on Friday. Hmm. I just remembered they only have 4 days to work with this week, so maybe I should cut them a break.

As I mentioned, we will be starting school up this week here, so the menu plan is rather simple. I tried to make it full of easy-to-do things which will help make the day run smoother as I get a handle on going back to full days of school, plus maintaining home & hearth. Well, the imaginary hearth in my head. Not too many fireplaces down here in south Florida. Oh, and you might notice a couple of repeats from last week. That's because there were a couple of nights last week where I ended up not needing to cook for various reasons.

Monday ~ Roast Sticky Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, salad

Tuesday ~ Roast & veggies in the crockpot

Wednesday ~ Chicken Stir Fry & rice

Thursday ~ Shredded Beef Sandwiches (crockpot), cole slaw

Friday ~ Cobb Salad

Saturday ~ Bezella (an Arabic stew) & rice

Sunday ~ Burgers, cole slaw, corn on the cob


Have I mentioned that I believe that Crock-pots are one of the best inventions in history? If you don't use one, you are really missing out. They can make your life so much easier! And my mother-in-law introduced me to the joy of cooking with pressure cookers. I had always had an image of them being these dangerous things that would explode all over the kitchen, but I love it! It's wonderful for making quick soups or chicken or even a roast. Especially great on those nights when I have forgotten to think about dinner until later in the afternoon. Using these two helpful kitchen appliances makes my life much, much easier!

For more great ideas for what to serve for dinner, be sure to stop by The Organizing Junkie and see what yummy things other people are cooking up!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a delicious meal plan this week!! I love the sticky chicken idea. Have a great week.

An Ordinary Mom said...

We start school this week, too, so I am also trying to keep things simple.

Enjoy your week!

Christi said...

Everything sounds absolutely delicious - I wish I could come eat at your house this week!

Have a great week!

teachermomof2 said...

Everything sounds great! We start school this week too, so my menu is pretty simple.

For special occasions we usually make the honoree's favorite dish and make sure they have a special cake, too. I love crepes! I have even filled them with lasagna filling and made manicotti.

Have a great week!
Lisa

Hyperactive Lu said...

We also LOVE our crock pot! Its a lifesaver for anyone...especially our family!!! :) Everything looks great! Good luck with school starting up!

tammi said...

Haha, I'm afraid of pressure cookers! Ever since my mom told me about an incident her mom had where it exploded peas all over the kitchen and gave her mom steam burns. I've never even been tempted to try one!! I'm a huge fan of the crock-pot though.

Good luck with school this week!!

Amy said...

I love my crockpot, too. I inherited a pressure cooker from my grandma, but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.

Unknown said...

great menu..what's bezella? can you post the recipe?

I am with you on the crock, my friend re-intorduced me to the pressure cooker so now I want one..we always had pork roast & cabbage in ours growing up!

CarolinaDreamz said...

Popped in to read your menus. I purchased a pressure cooker a few years ago, and have yet to use it. I also had this huge fear and I knew it wouldn't fit a whole meal for the size my family was then.

I lost a lot of sleep, the other night, trying to think where it is.. and who knows now if I can find the book..

Are most recipes adaptable, no matter what PC you have? Thanks for mentioning it.. after all that lost sleep.. I had forgotten about it again.. *sigh*
~Heidi

Lori ~ The Simple Life at Home said...

Well, not sure how many of you come back to read if I comment on your comments, but, I just want to encourage those of you who are scared of them to try pressure cookers. The new once are very safe. And when you can cook a roast to "falling apart perfection" in just about an hour, it's well worth.

Heidi asked if recipes for pressure cookers were adaptable. Well, honestly, I'm not sure. I have only used this one brand given to me by my mil and haven't tried too many things - just a few basics. I did have a problem one time where something burned (I think it was a roast). But I think my sauce was too thick and now I put down a layer of carrots, onions and celery to keep my main dish from just heavily sitting right on top of the heat. The trick is to raise the temp really high, really fast for a short period of time, then bring it down and let it simmer, then it finishes off as the steam releases slowly before you finally open it.

C'mon, you can do it!

Tiffany @ As For My House said...

I'm looking forward to getting settled, getting all my stuff out of storage - and getting my crock pot back! Can't wait for pot roast! LOL

What's Sticky Chicken? That sounds yummy!

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