Menu planning FRIDAY!

I like to plan my meals the week before instead of at the beginning of the week. I do a big grocery shopping trip every two weeks on Saturday or Sunday night. I do the shopping late at night, once the kids are in bed. My girls are good shoppers, but it is nice to get a mini break. Plus at that hour it is nice and UNcrowded at our grocery store.

I do a few in between trips for fresh produce, milk, or a specific ingredient. But I try to plan my meals for two weeks and get all that I can at once. I make a tentative plan, but I have been known to switch days around depending on what sounds good and how much cooking I want to do that day! So my plan is...

Week 1
Monday:
Chicken and Rice Bake
Steamed Veggies

Tuesday:
Tacos/Burritos

Wednesday:
Chicken Stir Fry
Brown Rice

Thursday:
Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza (with BBQ sauce, onions, bacon, cooked chicken)

Friday:
Hamburgers
Home fries

Week 2
Monday:
Beef Macaroni Casserole
Steamed veggies

Tuesday:
Chicken Skillet Dinner

Wednesday:
French Dip sandwiches

Thursday:
Baked Potatoes

Friday:
Breakfast for dinner (Pancakes or French Toast, Scrambled eggs, Hash browns)

Ok, so we aren't the healthiest people around! But hey, at least I'm cooking dinner every night. I used to be the queen of heating up a can of soup and calling it dinner.

I also serve a green salad with almost every dinner. And when I grocery shop I buy low fat or fat free, organic, and fresh as much as possible. We're getting a little healthier, slowly but surely.

The beef macaroni casserole is one I tried out recently and liked. I just sauteed ground beef (93% lean), garlic and onion, then added a jar of traditional spaghetti sauce (I was going to make my own but was out of tomato sauce). I simmered that for awhile. Then I boiled large elbow macaroni until it was al dente, drained it, then mixed it all together and poured it into a casserole dish. I shredded some cheddar and monterey jack cheese and mixed it with some bread crumbs, then sprinkled that on top. I baked it at 375 for about 15 minutes until the cheese melted. Chloe kept asking for more, she really liked it.