Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 16

4 whole months of Menu Planning. I love it! It keeps me on track, gives me more freedom because I am not always saying, "What in the world are we going to have for dinner!?"
This week we're trying two new recipes, and enjoying two favorites...
Our favorites:

Kung Pao Chickenand Turkey and Colby/Jack Panini (THE BEST SANDWICH EVER!)

New recipes this week were found in the current issues of Cooking Light and Everyday Food magazines and of course, Everyday Italian on Food Network!
Herb Crusted Salmon
Spaghetti with Olives and Breadcrumbs
More menus over at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 17

From Today's Simple Beauty post :

QUOTE

I need to plan this weeks menu too. I usually have it done by now but we were away for the weekend and as well, I'm not shopping this week ! I've bought bread, milk etc but that's it. Everything else will come out of what we have in the fridge/freezer/pantry already !!

We're trying to save for an international trip later in the year so I'm trying to lower the grocery budget. I'm trying to lower the everything budget but groceries is probably the one I have the most control over. That and miscellaneous spending but I'm pretty good at not doing that to excess. It's the groceries ... I love cooking, I love trying new recipes, we all ( in my little family ) love eating ! I do, most of the time, stick to the budget we've set but when trying to save, I feel like I need to come in WAY UNDER that budget figure !

Anyway, my Menu Plan Monday posts over at the Beans Blog could be interesting for the next little while. Do any of you have some great (healthy) cheap meals ? That's the other thing ... it's pretty easy to eat cheap if you don't eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg ... but I want to do cheap(er) while still healthy. I'd love to hear your ideas ...

END QUOTE

I thought it was easier to cut and paste than to write all of that over again !

The menu for this week ... well, we had pizza on Friday. Pizza and movie night. You all should know that by now !! Although, I guess I do change it up from time to time. Saturday we were at Mum and Dad's place in Brissy. Mum cooked a delicious rolled chicken roast that she stuffed herself. One of these days I'll make her recipe and post it here. Sunday was a throw together meal after being away for the weekend. We had BLT's. I love BLT's.

Monday, that's tonight. Spaghetti - from the stash in my freezer. Can you believe we are still eating that ? That's why I love it !! One day's effort and I have a stash of good, healthy, yummy food in my freezer for those nights that I don't feel like cooking !! Yeah ... like tonight. See aforementioned Simple Beauty post !

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Well ... I haven't really planned them yet. BUT I didn't end up making the lentil wraps and hummus last week so we will probably have that one night. We went light on the cheese on pizza's Friday night so still have 1/2 a bag of mozzarella left. We will probably have pizza one night. I've got some chicken breast in the freezer so one meal will definitely involve that and probably rice.

Head over to Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com to see what everyone else is cookin' this week. But ... make sure you leave me a comment with your healthy/light on my budget meal ideas first !!

THE salad !!

This salad is so good.

So good, you will not want to share it.

But you will have to because it is HUGE ! Very Huge.

It's a Jamie Oliver recipe but I saw it posted on The Pioneer Woman's site here.

Pioneer Woman has step by step instructions ~ with photos !!

Go check it out !

But I want the recipe posted here so that I have super easy access to it !

I'll be making this OFTEN ! Especially when I have an army to feed.

Really, it makes A LOT !! A very huge LOT !!

How about that recipe ?? OK ... here it is.

For the salad, you need :

1 package linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled

1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage ~ this is called Wombok or Chinese cabbage in Australia
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small bag bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions ~ spring onions in Australia
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers ~ I only added 1/2 a cucumber
LOTS of chopped cilantro ~ up to one bunch ~ cilantro is called coriander in Australia
cashews, lightly toasted in skillet

For the dressing, you need :

Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped ~ I used a bit less ginger
2 cloves chopped garlic ~ I used a lot more garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped ~ I used one jalapeno
More chopped cilantro—LOTS ~ again, coriander in Australia

Mix together salad ingredients.
Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad.
Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter ~ A VERY BIG PLATTER !!!

*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.*

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 16

I'm soooo excited about the salad that I'm making for dinner tonight. I almost didn't post this now but I know if I wait to take photos of the salad, I'll run out of time and it will be Tuesday before I post my menu plan MONDAY !

FRIDAY:
Chinese Take Out
(remember I had 8 visitors for the weekend ??!!)

SATURDAY:
Jamie Oliver's Spaghetti with Meatballs
This was yummy and easy.
I'll be posting a recipe at Simple Beauty soon.


SUNDAY:
Homemade Mac and Cheese
Click HERE to see the step by step of making this dish with a four year old assistant !!


MONDAY:
Jamie Oliver's Asian Noodle Salad Adapted by Pioneer Woman
This looks soooo yummy !!
I'll be taking photos and posting the recipe here if it is indeed at good as she says/it looks !!!

TUESDAY:
Crock Pot ~ Garlic Chicken (new recipe)
Roast Cauliflower (recipe HERE)


WEDNESDAY:
Crock Pot ~ Chili Black Bean Stew (new recipe)

(yeah, this is hummus not black bean stew !!)

THURSDAY:
Lentil Wraps (recipe HERE)
Hummus (recipe HERE)

Yum Yum Yum !!

Can't wait to see what everyone else has on the menu this week. Ok ... maybe not everyone ! There are over 200 people who participate every week over at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday ! That's lots of menu ideas !!

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 15

Chicken Satay recipe found *HERE* scroll down a bit. It's called Jenny Lynn's Chicken Satay.
For the Chicken Fajitas I am going to try this marinade...or this one...or maybe this one... Haven't decided yet.
Roasted Salmon and Brussels Sprouts found *HERE*
Kung Pao Chicken *HERE* we eat this a lot! :o)

More menus over at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Tasty Toasted Treats

The Cast of Characters:

Lavash Bread
(or your favorite wrap)
ham
cheese - thinly sliced (or grated)
tomato - sliced
avocado
baby spinach
lime pickle
sandwich press






Scene One :

Layer wrap with desired filling
(this particular one was for the kids so I used BBQ sauce instead of lime pickle)








Scene Two :

Roll and put in sandwich press to toast.


The Finale :

Put onto plate.
Cut in half.
Put into mouth.

Say "yum" or similar expression of culinary pleasure.

These are the one I made for the kids. They love these.


And this is mine ...
Rory wasn't home. I did this for us during the day while Jono was home for a week of school holidays.

This lime pickle is the secret ingredient. SOOOOOO YUMMY !
It's a bit on the spicy side but it's a nice compliment to all the other flavors !!

Yum.
I think I have everything in the pantry/fridge to make this for lunch today. Makes me hungry thinking about it !!!

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 14

First off let me say...I am sorry I did not post recipes as promised last week! Oops. We've been fighting a nasty virus around here. Horrible cold virus. I was out last week with it and then this week my husband was down for the count. Hopefully we are all on the mend and our daughter doesn't get sick! I will try to post them this week!
We tried a couple new recipes last week that were really delicious!
The Roasted Pork with Black-eyed Pea Salad was really yummy! My husband especially liked the Black-eyed Pea salad. (This was super easy too! I had a whole tenderloin leftover that I froze and we are eating tonight!)
The Chicken with Potatoes and Arugula was amazingly quick and easy! It has found a permanent home in my "standby meals" folder! TRY IT!
I just recently started recording the show "Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller" on the Food Network. Robin Miller creates three meals each episode that are quick and fairly healthy. On the Food TV website you can find a "Game Plan" and shopping list for each episode. (The link above takes you to the show's page.)
This week two of her recipes make an appearance on our menu!
The Chicken Rollatini with Ditalini looked delicious when she prepared it, and the Pistachio-Crusted Tilapia with Chard, Flash-Fried Prosciutto, Gorgonzola and Pine Nuts sounds amazing! I will let you know!
The Baked Potato Soup recipe is out of Cooking Light magazine. It is not in the current issue, but can be found online *HERE* My friend had two April issues and let me view her extra copy this week. In the Letters section there was a letter about this soup with a photo that looked absolutely delicious! I had to find the recipe!
Oh, the Baked Artichokes with Gorgonzola & Herbs recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis' show Everyday Italian. They looked yummy, will let you know what we thought!
The Asparagus Tart is wonderfully tasty! I made it on Easter Sunday and most everyone enjoyed it. There were no leftovers!
That's our week! Check out more menus over at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 15

This week has been crazy. We had Rory's sister Gina and her husband Eddie here Thurs-Sun. And then Wed. we have 5 people coming to stay til Sat. and then Thurs. we have 3 more joining them. Also staying til Sat. CRAZY !!!! Plus, Alia was sick all weekend and now Rory has had the day off of work with the same thing !! Sheesh ! Needless to say, meals this week aren't what they usually are around here !!

Friday :
Pizza and Movie Night

Saturday :
Bonnie's Creamy Asparagus Pasta
Beer Bread

Sunday :
Tuna Mac

Monday :
Tasty Toasted Treats
I tried to post this recipe but blogger won't upload the photos properly. Will try again tomorrow.

Tuesday :
Crock Pot Pot Roast
Will post recipe after I take a couple photos. I've made this before and it's delish !

Wednesday :
5 bazillion visitors arrive.
I'm ordering pizza !!!

Thursday :
Haven't decided 100% what to make yet !

Make sure you head over to orgjunkie.com for more great menu plans !!

Menu Plan Monday - Bonnie - Edition 14

So, it's Tuesday morning here and this is Menu Plan uh, Monday ! But I just couldn't do it yesterday. I decided instead to wait til morning ... which is now.

THE MENU:

Friday:

Went to friends house for dinner

Saturday:
Went out for my birthday dinner.

Sunday:
kids - packed lunch at church
parents - eggs and fried ham after church

Monday:
sushi

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:
To Be Determined on the day.
I didn't do a big shop this week.
Am trying to use up the meals we have in the freezer
and stuff we have in the pantry.



Rory got me two new cookbooks for my birthday so I'll be trying some new recipes out of them real soon !!

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 13

I was determined not to be in the 200's this week on I'm An Organizing Junkie's links. Just a dumb goal of mine. But I also wanted to get my menu plan done earlier so that I could do my shopping on Mondays instead of Tuesdays.
Here's the plan for the week:I came down terribly sick on Wed. last week and didn't have the energy to cook, so I have moved two of the previous meals to this week. I just bought a BIG bag of chicken breasts from Sam's Club, so chicken is the star ingredient this week! :o)
Two recipes from Everyday Food.
Roasted Pork with Black-eyed Pea Salad
and Chicken with Potatoes and Arugula
I find that Saturdays are particularly lazy around here and it's best not to "plan" a meal for that day. So I have declared it leftover day or raid the pantry...works for us.
Check out more menus over at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

A photo of extreme deliciocity !

I made this tonight and I LOOOOOOOOOOVED it.

Rory said he'd happily eat JUST THE LAMB !

It is THAT good !

So tender.

So flavorful.

You have GOT TO TRY this meal !

PS ... for those of you in Australia ~ orzo is called risoni here.

Menu Plan Monday - Khrista - Edition 12

THREE MONTHS OF MENU PLANNING! I tell you it has certainly benefited me and my family! I love it, and hate missing a week! I unintentionally took last week off, and really felt the effects! We ate out three times last week as a result! Time to get back with my menu planning! Food is expensive enough as it is without eating out! I plan to stick to my food budget this week! Our budget is $300 for two weeks! Thanks to some software Bonnie suggested I can hopefully stick to it!
Here is an article I read just this morning supporting the idea that food prices are in fact on the rise. Food Prices on the Rise
I picked up the newest issue of Clean Eating Magazine the other day and we're are having the Meatball Subs found in this issue tonight.
The Half-Hour Chicken Gumbo is from the newest issue of Everyday Food magazine.
The Pasta with Tuna and Olives, and the Eat-Clean Chicken and Rice are from the cookbook "The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook". These are two recipes we have not tried yet. I'll let you know what we think.
I found the "South of the Border Lasagna" on the back of a Westbrae Natural Whole Wheat Lasagna pasta box. It's really yummy, vegetarian, and a quick meal. I'll share the recipe soon!
(I know I say that often, but I promise I will go back and read all the post that I promised recipes and post them this week!)
Find more menus over at I'm An Organizing Junkie!