Menu Plan Monday...something old, something new

I really knocked it out of the park on Saturday & Sunday this week...I hope that doesn't mean it can only go downhill from here!

Saturday: fish fry--yummy,lightly breaded talapia, fresh-cut fries, and coleslaw

Sunday: Chicken Manicotti (my friend's recipe...actually, it's more a process than a recipe--see below for more info) salad with feta cheese & homemade vinaigrette, toasted garlic baguette

Monday: I'm tired of being in the kitchen. There are 15 pounds of chicken pasta in the fridge. Help yourself.

Tuesday: I'm working, and The President has karate at 6:15. I'll put a pot roast with veggies in the crock pot, so dinner will be ready when we get home.

Wednesday: (Unless I change my mind) baked pork chops, rice pilaf, green beans...zzzzz

Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas...maybe

Friday: Something fun & easy, preferably not cooked by me!


Chicken Manicotti

Manicotti is a pain in the butt to stuff, so my friend just uses bow tie or spiral pasta instead...unless she's really trying to impress someone. I used rotini noodles, and it worked great!

*Fry & crumble 6-7 slices bacon, set aside
*Slice 5-6 chicken breasts in strips/ bite size pieces. Season with salt & pepper, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, etc. Saute in olive oil until browned. (I minced two cloves of fresh garlic and added that to the pan, as well.
*Boil noodles and drain.
*When chicken is cooked through, remove from pan. Melt down the following ingredients (in the pan with the chicken juices) until it "looks right." I didn't measure a single thing:
*1 can cream of chicken soup
*1 block cream cheese
*sour cream (some)
*shredded parmesan cheese
*thin and smooth with half & half, if needed

*Mix everything together, put in a casserole dish and top with more cheese. Even for my family of 5, we ate less than half of this. It's nice to have left-overs for tonight & lunch for work tomorrow.

We may save the chicken enchiladas for next week. Here's the recipe anyway:


· 1 ½ lb. flank steak OR 1 lb. Shrimp OR 3 c. shredded cooked chicken
· 2 c. shredded cheese (we use a Mexican blend)
· 1 8-oz. Can diced green chiles
· 1 c. sour cream
· ½ c. sliced green onions
· 1 small can sliced black olives (optional)
· 1 19-oz. Can enchilada sauce
· 1 package large corn or flour tortillas
Season flank steak to taste with salt & pepper. Bake in oven at 250° for 30 minutes (until thermometer reads 160°). Let stand for a few minutes, then slice across the grain into strips. (For shrimp enchiladas, we buy the shrimp steamed, then just peel & add to dish.) Combine beef, chicken, or shrimp with sour cream, diced chiles, onion, black olives, and 1 ½ c. of shredded cheese. Mix well. Place about 1/3 c. of the meat mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll to enclose filling and place enchiladas seam side down in 9x13 dish (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray). Pour sauce over the enchiladas. Cover the pan with foil and bake covered at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove cover, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and bake uncovered until cheese melts.

Don't forget to visit Organizing Junkie for more menus!

Menu Plan Monday...already?

Well, at least the fact that I've committed to participate in Menu Plan Monday keeps me posting once a week. I really intended to put up another post before now, but it's been a long and challenging week. I can feel the funny coming, though...I promise!

Here's what we're eating this week. If you're looking for inspiration, there are hundreds of menu planners on Organizing Junkie.

Saturday: Thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, we enjoyed a cozy, rainy day at home...and Pop cooked his legendary beef stew. Not only is this a taste of my childhood, but it is just perfection in a bowl. If anyone from the Campbell's soup corporation is reading...we might be willing to negotiate a deal, for the right price! He also made corn bread.

Sunday: Church and more rain...finished the stew left-overs, and my "Oh, Boy Cheesecake" (recipe below)with cherry topping for dessert.

Monday: Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole (recipe below), green beans.

Tuesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad.

Wednesday: Oven-baked chicken or pork chops (I have both in the freezer), macaroni & cheese (we were supposed to have last week, had stewed potatoes instead), steamed broccoli.

Thursday: Steak fajitas, refried beans, rice.

Friday: Dinner out or pizza night.

Sausage & Wild Rice Casserole
· 1 pound sausage (mild)
· 1 can cream of chicken soup
· 1 carton sour cream
· 1 box Uncle Ben’s long grain wild rice
· 1 can sliced water chestnuts

Cook rice according to directions. Crumble and brown sausage and drain. Add soup, sour cream, and chestnuts (I usually cut them in half). Pour over rice in a buttered (I use non-stick spray) casserole dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.


Oh Boy, Cheesecake!
This is a crowd-pleasing, award-winning, deceptively easy recipe. Even though I share the recipe freely, my friends always want me to make it. And, about the name...
When we were teen-agers, my friend (sweet girl, but a real airhead) was over at my house. We were in the kitchen when my sister & her future husband (now her ex-husband) came in. They opened the refrigerator & saw that Mom had made this dessert. The future ex-brother-in-law said, “Oh boy, cheesecake!” Months later sweet airhead friend asked me, “When is your Mom going to make another one of those Oh Boy Cheesecakes?” That has been the name of this dessert ever since!

· 1 8 oz. Cream cheese
· 1/3 c. sugar
· 1 8 oz. Sour cream
· 1 8 oz. Cool whip
· 1 Tbs. Lemon juice (optional-I use fresh lemon juice)
· 1 tsp. Vanilla flavoring
Combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sour cream, mix. Fold in cool whip, add lemon juice and vanilla. Pour in large graham cracker crust. Chill. Top with blueberry or cherry pie filling, if desired.

Cheap and Easy

My new lifestyle make-over is going great. It takes my type-A tendencies, love of lists, planning, and organization and smooshes it all together with saving money (a new concept, no?), quality family time, and stress reduction. I am still on board.

It took a pretty good chunk of time Saturday, but I planned my menu for the week, and then reviewed all the sale flyers, to see where I should shop for the best deals. I ended up with three grocery stops, but after spending $175.55 total, I saved $66.31!

Here's the scoop...I shopped Wal-Mart for probably 75% of my items. Paper towels, snack foods, and basic canned goods and other staple items will be cheaper there most of the time. But my local W-M store's produce and meat are horrible. I won't buy either there. I only saved a little $$ at Wal-Mart with coupons (try coupons.com) so my biggest savings was $1.50 off swim diapers. (Tell me about it...Fat Baby should totally not even need them any more...but you try to tell him not to poop in the YMCA pool & see how that works out for you!)

Then, I hit Winn-Dixie for my meat and produce needs. I bought two chuck roasts at $23 and change...buy one get one free. They were GINORMOUS--so, I made the investment, cut them in half, and have one for this week (recipe below) and now have THREE MORE servings in the freezer. I also bought country style ribs on buy one-get one, (more freezer stocking) which Pop will barbecue to sheer perfection!

Finally, Food World has 12-pack cans of coke products, 4 for $11. They also had a coupon in their flyer for $2 off milk (huge score!) when you buy two boxes of poptarts (2 for $5). Now, I'm stocked up with "emergency" breakfast-on-the-go food, and cheap milk.

I told My Baby's Daddy that it seemed kooky to go to three different grocery stores like some crazy coupon freak. He reminded me of the Dave Ramsey motto, "Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else." True that. Besides, all the stores are close to home and each other. I didn't really go out of my way. And by shopping on a Saturday---no kids to schlep in and out, it was pretty quick. I also had a really good list.

Here's the menu for the week, with a great easy recipe.

Sunday: grilled pork chops, rice pilaf, green beans
Monday: spaghetti with meat sauce, salad
Tuesday: country style ribs, cole slaw, corn
Wednesday: crock pot barbecue sandwiches, chips
Thursday: BLTs or gumbo (in freezer from great restaurant at the beach)
Friday: beef brisket (barbecued by Pop...yum-already in freezer) or dinner out




Crock Pot Barbecue
· 3 c. chopped celery
· 1 c. chopped onion
· 1 c. ketchup
· 1 c. barbecue sauce
· 1 c. water
· 2 Tbsp. vinegar
· 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
· 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
· 1 tsp. chili powder
· 1 tsp. salt
· ½ tsp. pepper
· ½ tsp. garlic powder
· 3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast

Combine all ingredients except roast in slow cooker. Mix well and add roast to mixture. Cover. Cook on high 6-7 hours. Remove roast, cool and shred meat. Return to sauce and heat well. Serve on hamburger buns.

This is so very easy and yummy. It's great for a group, and always gets rave reviews.

Edited to add: This is a great website with unlimited resources for organizing your world!