menu plan monday – april 1, 2013

april?  really?  le sigh.  just when i think we’ve done the busiest week ever, the next week tops it.  so definitely the case for this week.  the last of the birthday trifecta, house inspection, a trip to ohio to look for houses, house guests.  ack!

here’s what we’ll be eating this week :

meatless monday : shepard’s pie.  from slow cooker revolution.  meatless monday has been ousted this week as it’s my amazing husband’s birthday.  the definite meat and potatoes guy, although i have changed his outlook on veggie meals here and there!  this marks the third recipe i’ve made from this cookbook in two weeks – it’s earned a spot on my cookbook shelf until next year per the 2013 cookbook challenge.  he’s all about irish food and i loved that i was able to put this together while the kids ate breakfast this am.  more work intensive on the front end than i prefer for a slow cooker meal, but it smells heavenly at the moment.

for his cake, he’s selected this tunnel of fudge cake.  do any of you remember this as a boxed mix?  andy and i both have fond memories of it and after i vetoed his choice of making his cake in the shape of a mizzou tiger (i love the guy but have a few too many things on my plate at the moment.), he tried to me smart with me and picked this.  of course a bit of googling and i found this recipe.  i might have taken a bite of the batter and it was delicious.  hoping the cake is too!

i’ve selected monday as a night of the week for our family to eat a meatless meal as it tends to be more budget friendly as well as a friendlier option for the environment. my meat and potato eating husband tends to go along with this idea because i also make him a yummy dessert in addition to his meatless meal. what can i say, i’m nice like that.

tuesday : out.  we have a house inspection that’s scheduled for two hours and of course, is during during time.  a two hour inspection?  our realtor told us to not feel violated, but i’d be lying if i didn’t say i already do.

wednesday : lemon chicken.  andy’s parents are coming for a visit and this one is an easy meal to have ready.  rice in the rice cooker and veggies on the side and i have an easy meal for the win.  this was a recipe i found on pinterest and it’s no longer online so i’m going to try and post it here this week for you to enjoy as well!

thursday : meatballs.  nana is in charge of dinner and this is what she’s bringing!

friday : some type of chicken dish.  again, nana’s in charge.  that nana is pretty darn amazing.

new recipe reviews

honey-mustard drumsticks.  from slow cooker revolution.  this was our easter dinner.  just as easy as the bbq drumsticks i made last week, but lighter in taste.  everyone enjoyed them, although andy preferred the bbq version.  definitely something i’d make again.

fried brown rice with green beans and balsamic vinegar.  from whole grains for a new generation.  hello awesome!  beyond easy, especially as i chopped everything during naptime so i just had to stir fry everything together.  i doubled the batch as i figured we’d enjoy it and then could have leftovers for lunch the next day.  good call on my part!  the only thing i did NOT double was the chile paste.  camryn is more on the picky side regarding heat so i left as is.  it still had enough heat for me and she didn’t mention anything at all.  i also subbed frozen cut green beans for convenience and they were perfect here.

chicken mango lettuce cups.  from steamy kitchen’s healthy asian favorites.  yum!  another tasty asian dish this week.  carson must’ve thought so as well as he ate an entire saucer worth of chicken filling.  loved the savory/sweet combination.  i enjoyed leftovers the next day on a bed of spinach.