Menu Plan Monday - Sept 28th

Last week had it's ups and downs. There were some good recipes and some not so good recipes and some necessary tweaks to our menu plan. Sunday and Monday went off without a hitch! And I'm proud to say my family was very receptive to the new "Meatless Monday" tradition! On Tuesday, I was preparing to make the Ricotta & Ham Stuffed Chicken Breasts when I realized my ricotta was not fit for human consumption! So we just grilled the chicken breasts with a little BBQ sauce instead. On Thursday, I just did not feel like eating fish, so I made Bruschetta Chicken Bake instead. It's an easy dish that is one of our family's favorites, so it was a breeze to change things up for that night.

Now on to this week's menu:

Sunday - Rosemary Grilled Steak with Tomato Jam, Loaded Potato Skins, Baked Beans and Biscuits

Meatless Monday - Blueberry Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs

Tuesday - Mexican Chicken-and-Rice Casserole, Cornbread Muffins

Wednesday - Grilled Pepper, Onion & Sausage Calzones, Salad

Thursday - Tilapia Piccata, Rice-a-Roni, Broccoli, Honey Wheat Bread

Friday - Salisbury Steak (frozen meal), Mashed Potatoes (using potato reserved from Monday), Fried Zucchini, Biscuits

Saturday - We have a party to attend, so no cooking for me!

For more menu planning resources, head on over to Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com. Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday - Sept 21st

I'm working on organizing my office and in the process, I sorted through all my old magazines. I tore/clipped any recipes I wanted to try or craft projects to make and set the rest aside to be used for craft projects, school projects, etc. So now I'm on to trying all those yummy recipes in my "I'd like to try that someday" recipe stack!

I'm also trying to start implementing "Meatless Mondays" in our household. It's a bit of a challenge because we have quite a few picky eaters and this is a brand new concept for them. We'll see how it goes.

Now on to the menu:

Sun - Steak with Sherry Mushroom Sauce, Baked Potatoes, Corn
Mon - Refried Bean Tostadas, Spanish Rice
Tue - Ricotta & Ham Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Pasta Side, Green Beans, Biscuits
Wed - Mushroom & Sweet Onion Cheesesteaks, Mac & Cheese
Thu - Baked Tilapia (with Ritz crackers), Rice Side, Squash Casserole
Fri - Pork Medallions with Lemon Sauce, Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, Corn on the Cob
Sat - Sausage Ratatouille (from Oct '09 Family Fun Magazine), Cornbread

For more menu planning resources, head on over to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. Have a great week!

Dinner for Four for $2.00

I just served my family a yummy dinner for an estimated $2.00 total for the entire dinner for a family of four! That certainly made every bite taste even better! We had Spaghetti with Meatballs and Garlic Bread. Here's the breakdown:

1/2 bag Schwan's Italian Style Meatballs - Free (promotion details here)
Classico Pasta Sauce - approx. $1.25 (from Tom Thumb Living Well promo)
Dreamfield's Penne Pasta - approx. $0.41 (from Tom Thumb Living Well promo)
2 Archer Farms Artisan Mini Baguettes - Free (used Target coupon from HotCouponWorld)
4 Tbsp Butter
Garlic Powder to taste
Dried Basil to taste

The sauce and pasta cost me a total of $1.66 and I'm not going to figure out the cost of the butter, garlic and basil (which would be minimal) so I'm just rounding up to $2.00 total.

I sliced the baguettes, mixed some garlic and basil with the butter, slathered it on and popped them in the oven for 5-10 minutes for some yummy garlic bread! Meanwhile, I boiled some pasta and let the sauce and meatballs simmer in a pot on the stove. Turned out to be a really cheap, really simple dinner!

Note: While the Schwan's and Target deals are still active, the Tom Thumb Living Well promo has long since expired. I just wanted to post this as an example to all of you of why it pays to stock up when you find a great deal! If I hadn't had the extra pasta and sauce in my pantry, this meal would have easily cost me double!