I Tri and Craft

thoughts from a mother of boys, a marathoner, a triathlete, a crafter, a wife, and a scientist

Tag Archives: Menu Plan


by Leave a comment

Party Planning and Menu Plan Monday 2/18

My big boy is turning three next month!  Where the hell did the time go?

We discussed what type of birthday party he wanted and he decided on a Superhero theme.

The other day I came home and he was chattering on and said “Star Wars birffday party.”

To which I replied “Star Wars?  I thought you wanted a Superhero birthday!”  Ian said “Oh yeah.  Superhero birfday party. BEST PARTY EVA!”

Whew!

I have been pinning ideas on my Pinterest board for the party and have been thinking about things, but I hadn’t really started to do anything yet.  Then last week I got an evite from my cousin for her daughter’s birthday (Ian and her daughter were born only a week apart) and I realized ‘HOLY CRAP! I have to send out invitations soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

I had an idea for the invitations and wanted to take some pictures of him, he of course didn’t want to cooperate.  Since he wouldn’t do as I wished, I would have to use some pictures I already had to make his invitations.  This weekend I worked on them and I am pretty pleased with the results.

invite-sneak-peak

Of course I am not going to show you yet.

Here are some of the pictures I took, instead of the ones I wanted to for his invitation.

Sunny Day Bug Hunting

Sunny Day Bug Hunting2

 

Menu Plan Monday 2/18-2/24

Mon: Lemon Garlic Chicken with Lemon Risotto

Tue: 2am Chili

Wed: SW Pork Loin with Spinach and Mashed Potatoes (recipe calls for chicken but I am subing for pork)

Thr: Cajun Chicken Stuffed with Pepper Jack Cheese and Spinach over rice

Fri: Beef Carbonnade

Sat: Fend for yourself

Sun: Beef roast (not sure what kind yet….)

 

Happy Cooking

signature-black

Need something to help plan your meals?  I use the Plan to Eat online meal planner.  Try it free for 30 days

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

Find more recipes at I’m an Organizing Junkie


by Leave a comment

Pinterest Recipes & Meal Plan Monday 2/11

As we all know Pinterest has an abundance of recipes!

Typically I don’t pin the recipes I find, I just go to the original site and save it in Plan to Eat recipe book.  Lately I have felt in a cooking rut and needed some new recipes so I, of course, turned to Pinterest.

I started a new recipe board and started pinning.

Pinterest Recipe Board

Know what I found out?

Pinterest people LOVE chicken!

I thought about planning this weeks menu with nothing but new Pinterest recipes but it was too much chicken.  So there are four out of the six cooking days that are recipes from Pinterest.

I don’t have that many recipes on there yet, in my defense it takes a long time to filter through all the dessert recipes.

 

Meal Plan Monday Feb 11-Feb 17th

Mon: Buffalo Balls with rice

Tue: Creamy Italian Potato soup

Wed: Garlic Cheddar Chicken with Creamy Garlic Pasta

Thr: Wine Gazed Steak with Parmesan Rice (my new FAVORITE rice)

Fri: Do-Ahead Ravioli Sausage Lasagna

Sat: I ain’t cookin’

Sun: Buffalo Chicken Bake

I wasn’t able to eat Buffalo Sauce while I was pregnant, I got really bad heartburn, but then again I got heartburn from water….

I had something with Buffalo Sauce the other day and realized how much I missed it.  No reason I can’t eat it now!  So, yes there are two recipes that calls for Frank’s Red Hot Sauce!

 

Happy Cooking

signature-black

Need something to help plan your meals?  I use the Plan to Eat online meal planner.  Try it free for 30 days

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

Find more recipes at I’m an Organizing Junkie


by 1 Comment

Philly Cheese Sloppy Joe Rolls ~ Menu Plan Monday Feb 4

So the other week I was supposed to make Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes, which are fantastic by the way!  I don’t remember why, but I never did.  I was looking on-line for some new recipes and came across this one for Bacon Cheeseburger Buns, and I thought it would be great to combine these two recipes!  And I did last week.

Except to make it a little easier I thought about using the premade refrigerated pizza dough, you know the kind that comes in the tubes that pop when you open it.  I got the idea from this recipe for Cheeseburger Flatbread Melts, which could be another version.

Philly Cheese Sloppy Joe Rolls

SloppyJoe-4

Ingredients:

1 medium onion chopped

1 medium bell pepper seeded and chopped; any color or combination

1/4 cup steak sauce

1 cup beef broth

salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk

1 cup provolone cheese shredded

11 oz thin crust pizza dough (or other refrigerated dough)

1 lb ground beef

Directions:

Cook ground beef while breaking it up into chunks with a spatula or spoon until browned, over med-high heat. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onions start to become tender. Drain an excess liquid. Stir in steak sauce and beef broth, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.

Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and cook until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese until it is melted and incorporated into the sauce.

Roll dough into an 12-in. x 8-in. rectangle; cut into 6-8 squares.  I actually used biscuits because that is what I had in the fridge.

SloppyJoe-1

Place 1/4 cup meat mixture in the center of each square add cheese sauce. Bring corners together in the center and pinch to seal.

SloppyJoe-2

Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with butter. Serve with extra cheese sauce spooned over and enjoy.

SloppyJoe-3

Menu Plan Feb 4-Feb 10

Mon: Roasted Tomato Soup with Parmesan Crusted Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Tue: Sesame Beef

Wed: Maple Bourbon Glazed Pork Chops with mashed potatoes

Thr: Beef & Guinness Stew

Fri: Ranch Chicken Parmesan with pasta

Sat: leftovers

Sun: Seared Marinated Flank Steak and Orzo with feta & cherry tomatoes

Happy Cooking

signature-black

Need something to help plan your meals?  I use the Plan to Eat online meal planner.  Try it free for 30 days

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

Find more recipes at I’m an Organizing Junkie


by 2 Comments

The Things Kids Say and Menu Plan Monday Jan 28

Since my toddler has started talking he has been making me laugh, constantly.

I try to remember all the funny things he says, but it is hard.  I tell myself to remember that one, and I will write it down later.  But when later comes I can’t remember what he said.

Sometimes it is just that he says a phrase that I say, or someone else always says and it is so cute coming out of his mouth.  Lately he says “hey, what’s da big idea?” from Donald Duck.

The way he interacts with Baby Sid is so cute that I wish we were filming him at all times!

Last night Ian was taking a bath (our house is very small) and Baby Sid was in the living room in his swing with Dad.  Baby Sid hadn’t felt well and started crying.  Ian yells from the bathroom “It’s OK Baby Sid, I just takin’ a bath….Don’t worry Baby Sid, Mama’s commin’…..Shhh, it’s OK Baby Sid, I almost der.”  And other things of that nature, even though Baby Sid had stopped crying and was just making noises now.

I have been putting up a few of our conversations up on my Facebook page and I hope to put some up here as well.

He had us crackin’ up all weekend.  It was really  nice that my husband finally had a weekend off and the kids and I didn’t have any plans.  We all spent the whole weekend at home.  We did a lot of building with Legos.

Legos

Update: This morning after Ian came out of his room and this was our conversation

Ian: Mama, where your brudder at? (He calls Baby Sid ‘your brother’ because that I what I sometimes say)

Me: he is still sleeping

Ian: I go see him

Me: he is sleeping, please don’t wake him up

Ian: I be quiet, like dis (he then starts to whisper) I say ‘it’s OK, Baby Sid’

Me: ok, but don’t wake him please

Ian: (after coming out of the bedroom, with a panic in his voice) I can’t find him, Baby Sid not der

Me: yes, honey, Baby Sid is in our bed, sleeping

Ian: no Mama, he all gone, I can’t find him

Me: don’t worry honey, he is just sleeping (I pick him up to show him)

Ian: Baby Sid all gone (he is starting to cry) I can’t see him, I can’t find him!…..Oh, der he is, he sleeping, he so cute…..whew, dat was close

Menu Plan Jan 28-Feb 3

Mon: Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos* with Spanish Rice

Tue: Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joe Rolls (recipe to come next week)

Wed: Baked Chicken Cordon Blu** with Arkansas Green Beans***

Thr: Taco Bake

Fri: Autumn Sausage Casserole

Sat: Leftovers

Sun: Pan-Seared Steak and Onions with Pepper Jack Potatoes 

*Last time I made this it made a lot so I froze some filling, which is what I am using this week
**I don’t actually make the Chicken Cordon Blu, I buy it from the meat counter at our local Fred Meyer Store.  I just use this recipe for the sauce.
***48 oz of frozen green beans is WAY too much for our family so I down size it to one bag

Happy Cooking

signature-black

Need something to help plan your meals?  I use the Plan to Eat online meal planner.  Try it free for 30 days

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

Find more recipes at I’m an Organizing Junkie