Menus for the rest of November

I've prioritized this because I think if I can organize this one small area of my life it will help with my stress levels. I hope I'm not just being delusional here. I am planning these meals for just myself. The sons' schedules are so erratic and their social lives so full that I can no longer count on them being home for any dinners. We have a whole week off of school the week before Thanksgiving so I will have time to make a real dinner instead of the sandwich-in-the-car meal I plan for when school is in session during that time. I've already volunteered to make the squash and a pie for the holiday spent at my sister's home as is tradition. 

11/11: Homemade chicken soup with drop dumplings (I roasted a small chicken on Thursday and last night made soup stock from the leftover carcass). Brioche rolls.

11/12: Lamb chop, parsley potatoes, peas with savory

11/13: Chicken salad sandwich (using some of the roasted chicken I set aside), baby carrots

11/14: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple slices (eaten in the car between hair appointment and cleaning job)

11/15: Slow cooker swiss steak (put in crockpot before work), steamed rice, green beans

11/16: Baked tilapia with lemon, white and wild rice, salad

11/17: Salad of spring greens, shredded carrots, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, chicken with lemon vinaigrette, roll

11/18: Mini Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts

11/19: Pork chops, homemade applesauce, rice pilaf, California blend veggies

11/20: Grilled salmon, baked sweet potato, salad

11/21: Country beef stew with veggies, dinner roll

11/22: Spaghetti with marinara sauce, salad

11/23: Thanksgiving Day

11/24: Salad of chopped kale, sliced apples, dried cranberries, blue cheese, pecans, turkey with apple cider dressing, roll

11/25: Mom's macaroni and cheese, salad

11/26:  Chicken paprikash with drop dumplings, green beans

11/27: roast beef and provolone sandwich, celery sticks

11/28: tuna salad sandwich, baby carrots

11/29: Pork adobo over steamed rice, green beans

11/30: Salad of spring greens, shredded carrots, roasted beets, goat cheese, pecans and chicken with poppyseed dressing, roll

July Menus

After reviewing what I have on hand and thinking about it while working last night I sat down and made a list of dinner menus for the rest of the month. Yesterday I grilled one of the eye round steaks, cut it into strips and made a dinner salad with spring greens, cucumber, grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, the steak and blue cheese with a greek vinaigrette dressing. Dessert was fresh grapes.
Tonight I have a pot of Gail's Pork Adobo simmering on the stove as well as some basmati rice steaming. Some whole green buttered green beans will round this out and I will pack up my portion to take to work and leave the rest for the kids.
The remainder of the meal plans are as follows in no particular order. I have noted when it is planned for a night off from the hospital (I have 3 more this month), I am using planned overs, and trying a couple of new recipes (which I haven't done in months):
Grilled chicken breast with balsamic glaze, California blend veggies
Grilled Tuscan seasoned pork chops, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Shepherd's Pie, peas
Pasta carbonara Florentine, salad
Herbed eye of round roast, mashed potatoes, candied carrots (night off meal)
Beef stroganoff (planned overs), egg noodles, beets
Asian Summer salad, fresh fruit
Lemon Chicken scallopine with gremolata orzo (new recipe), green salad
Grilled Asian pork tenderloin (new recipe), white & wild rice pilaf, snow peas (night off)
Grilled Asian pork tenderloin salad with Asian vinaigrette (using planned overs)
Pork lo mein (using planned overs), egg rolls
Pan seared barramundi fillets, Israeli couscous, asparagus (night off)

Catching Up and July Menus

 I cannot believe it is July already and I have been on vacation for a whole month. Does not seem that long. I have been enjoying my time off, reading lots of murder mysteries, watching lots of Netflix, I've gone to the $5 matinee several times, gone to the zoo several times, and even spent three glorious days in the Pennsylvania countryside with my BFF (since jr. high) at her summer farmhouse. I've done some grocery shopping, mostly fresh produce and some small items from Aldi and worked my  2x a month cleaning job.
In bigger news I got called for a second face to face interview with the hospital. I really have no handle on how it went, I've never had an interview with a panel of people (3) before. They said I should hear something in about a week, this was exactly a week ago and still no word. <sigh> In the meantime I am focusing on my mental health, taking each day at a time and being grateful for the break.
I am a bit behind in my menu posting too. Here are the July menus I put together. I actually ate out the first two days of July, once with a friend, the second time with the GF and of course on the fourth we had our traditional all day family picnic at the park followed by fireworks viewing. GF provided the food and I did the cooking. I am trying several new recipes this month all found on Pinterest. Those are in bold print. Recipes using planned overs are in italics.

 

July Menu Ideas:

Apple glazed pork chops, rice a roni, peas

Spaghetti with meatballs, salad

Grilled Caprese chicken, risotto, corn on the cob

Polenta with grilled vegetables in balsamic sauce

Roasted leg of lamb, white and wild rice, salad

Shepherd’s pie, mixed veggies

Honey Apple Pork kebobs, chicken rice a roni, salad

Baked Cod, garlic redskin potatoes, peas

London broil, baked potatoes, salad

One Pan Balsamic chicken and veggies, rice

Salad Nicoise, rolls

Slow cooker beef brisket, mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts

Papardelle with salmon, zucchini & walnuts, salad

Grilled pork chops, scalloped potatoes, green beans

Beef and Noodles, candied carrots

Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, corn

Asian Summer salad, rolls

Turkey enchiladas, Spanish rice

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, homefries, broccoli

Turkey salad sandwiches, hand cut baked fries

Turkey creole,  rice, salad

Honey mustard pork scallopine, german potato salad, green beans

Tuna and sun dried tomato penne, broccoli

Grilled chicken provencal, basmati rice, salad

Slow cooker chicken paprikash with drop dumplings, peas

Fettucine with pesto sauce, tomato salad

Spinach and tomato white pizza, antipasto salad

Pasta au pistou, salad

June Dinner Menus

  I have put together 25 dinner ideas for June. This is based on my not working a second full time job since I have not been called back for a face to face interview after my phone interview (my daughter assures me this is normal operating procedure and it takes forever and not to panic). Here are my plans, based on items still on hand:

Chicken stir fry

Basmati rice

Mandarin oranges

 

London Broil

Pasta and Lentil salad

 

Mediterranean Steak Salad

Hawaiian rolls

 

Veggie omelets with hollandaise sauce

Scottish skillet potatoes

 

BBQ spare ribs

German potato salad

Corn on the cob

 

Slub Glub

Salad

 

Loco Moco

Hawaiian coleslaw

 

Grilled chicken provencal

Rice a roni

Green beans

 

Spaghetti with meatballs

Salad

 

Spicy Pineapple Rum pork chops

Baked potatoes

Broccoli

 

Honey-Mustard pork scallopine

Rice a roni

Capri blend veggies

 

Zesty Lemon-Oregano grilled tilapia

Rosemary roasted potatoes

Candied carrots

 

Maple grilled salmon fillets

Baked potatoes

Capri blend veggies

 

Chicken fajitas

Yellow rice

Refried beans

 

Tropical pork kebobs

Steamed rice

Green salad

 

Pasta carbonara Florentine

Broccoli

 

Sun dried tomato and tuna penne

Parmesan zucchini

 

Grilled cheddar brats

Butter crumb egg noodles

Green beans

 

Grilled Italian chicken thighs

Pasta salad

 

Asian Summer salad

Hawaiian rolls

 

Chili Lime grilled tilapia

Spanish rice

Corn

 

Cottage Pie

Harvard beets

 

Chicken parmesan

Pasta with sauce

Salad

 

Coffee rubbed steaks

Twice baked potatoes

Capri blend veggies

 

Spinach quiche

Salad

 

 

Pasta au pistou

Garlic bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes ahead

  The day finally arrived where the 2015-2016 contracts appeared in our mailboxes and yes I actually received one. Of course it is a contract I cannot sign as it is written. Once again my hours have been cut, this time from my aftercare aide position. We cannot tolerate any more cuts in the amount of money coming in so I will work out the remainder of this school year at that job. Next year I will accept just the cafeteria manager job. And I am seriously hunting for a full time second shift position. I already have two leads to pursue thanks to my adult daughters. I settled on going for a full time job so that I can build up the savings account, pay off my car loan early, and possibly be in a position to then cut back to just the full time job and the twice a month cleaning gig. After discussing the situation with friends and family and praying and sleeping on it I am actually feeling hopeful. And as if a burden has been lifted. And I haven't even gotten another job yet. Just goes to show how anxious my current situation has been making me.

May dinner menus

  With the budget issues I have there will be no grocery shopping of any kind happening in May except for perhaps milk and fresh produce. I've barely made any kind of dinner in the last month, college age son has been working two nights a week or joining his girlfriend's family at the dinner table. Adult son has only eaten dinner at home twice in the last month due to his crazy work schedule and college age daughter mostly joins her boyfriend for dinner, either cooking them a meal at his house or joining his family meal. Cooking for one person generally means not really making a whole meal at all. A lot of nights I've brought home leftovers from school lunch and reheated those, or eaten cereal, or salad, or an egg and toast. This means we still have nicely filled freezers and pantry shelves. Weekend cooking has been at GF's house using the food he buys. And while I was home with shingles I really didn't feel like eating at all.
This means I can plan out some nice meals for May. Whether or not I make them is another thing. This is final exam week at college for the youngest two so I anticipate that college age son will work additional evenings and college age daughter has told me not to worry about feeding her this month as well as over the summer as she has gotten a summer job (her current job is aftercare at the school where I work which will end in 5 weeks) whose hours mean she probably won't be home for dinner. Adult son of course continues on with his unpredictable schedule.
All of these dinner plans are based on food already in the house except for salads.  If I can get salad fixings I will but if not I will substitute a cooked frozen vegetable for the salads. Everything else is already on hand (including two cans of German potato salad and two cans of three bean salad and a turkey at GF's house that needs to be cooked to free up space in his tiny freezer). Mother's Day has been spent at oldest son's house for a family picnic. I don't know if that is happening this year but if not it is still a day I do not have to cook. GF also has a picnic each year at his place the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and we usually have leftover picnic foods on Memorial Day itself so I did not plan meals for those two days either. All Fridays are GF's choice since I will be working later at the aftercare job until school is out. I am doing my 'quick meal'/slow cooker meal plan for weeknights except that now that it is grilling season there are more quick meals using my grill.
Here are the meal plans I have put together. Meals using the slow cooker are in bold. Meals using the grill are in italic. Meals using planned overs are underlined. They aren't in any type of order except that the pork roast will be today's dinner. It is a new recipe I am trying.

Maple Glazed stuffed pork roast
scalloped potatoes
garlicky green beans


Chicken picata
penne with oil and garlic
green salad

Pork fajitas
Spanish rice

Swiss steak
egg noodles
peas

Cheddar brats
German potato salad
green beans

Chicken Marsala
Rice pilaf
Salad

Hot dogs
Baked beans

Honey Mustard pork scallopine
rice a roni
corn

Spaghetti with marinara sauce
broccoli

Garam Masala salmon
basmati rice
green beans

Grilled lamb chop
baked potato
peas

Roast Turkey
 mashed potatoes
candied carrots

Turkey curry
basmati rice

Swedish meatballs
egg noodles
beets

Turkey stir fry
steamed rice

Bangers and Mash
peas

BBQ Ribs
potato salad
corn

BBQ chicken thighs
home fries
three bean salad

Country Beef stew with veggies
rolls

Teriyaki chicken
basmati rice
cucumber salad

Grilled pork chops
parsley potatoes
corn

Herb crusted spit roasted roast beef
white and wild rice
Harvard beets

April Dinner Menu Plans

  Although we are just about halfway through April I have finally sat down and made out some menus. I shopped on Monday and made a roast beef, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn for dinner. Lunches since I am on break have been sandwiches using lunch meat I purchased and/or the roast beef. Tuesday's night dinner was pork adobo with steamed rice. Wednesday I used some of the planned over roast and did beef and noodles in gravy with green beans. Last night I made a large salad of spring greens, tomatoes, red bell peppers, cucumbers, kalamata olives, gorgonzola cheese, pine nuts, and strips of planned over roast beef. Topped with a garlic vinaigrette dressing. I will be chopping up the remainder of the roast beef and sticking it in the freezer for a hash to be served on Monday night. I have two occasions to attend this month, one a dinner for my DIL for her 30th birthday and the other a surprise party for her. On different nights. Now that fish fry is over Friday nights will go back to being Val's choice except for tonight. He will be gone bowling so I am making myself a small meal.


Here are the rest of my monthly ideas:

Tonight: Grilled lamb chops, white & wild rice, salad

Broiled pork chops, baked potatoes, green beans

Spaghetti with mushrooms, salad

Roast beef hash, Harvard beets

Slow cooker chicken and dumplings, green salad

Pasta carbonara Florentine, Italian blend veggies

Swiss steak, egg noodles, broccoli

Val's choice

out to dinner

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans

Sun dried tomato sausages w/ peppers & onions, homemade fries

Honey mustard pork scallopine, parsley potatoes, broccoli

Chicken stir fry, steamed rice

Cheddar brats, buttered egg noodles, capri veggies

Val's choice

Out to dinner

BBQ pork chops, au gratin potatoes, corn

Skillet lasagna, salad

Grilled steaks, pasta salad

Pork fajitas, Spanish rice, refried beans

Chicken picata, pasta w/ garlic, broccoli

February Dinner Menus

Happy February everyone! I  have to admit this is one of my favorite months of the year. It is short and it includes Valentine's day and my birthday! We have a LOT of activities going on this month. My school/parish Fish Fries start the Friday after Ash Wednesday and this year I've been hired to run the kitchen portion of this event. This means every Friday of Lent (except Good Friday) I will be transitioning directly from my cafeteria job to the fry job. It is a challenge I am actually looking forward to. It also means Friday night dinners are taken care of. :-). We also have plans to go out to dinner three additional times this month, a birthday party today, a fundraiser for the school my DIL works at, and a baby shower later in the month that takes place late enough in the afternoon that it should spill over into the dinner hour.
That left me with 18 dinners to plan. I am trying two new recipes this month. I am mostly going with the tried and true. Dinners using planned overs will have an asterisk, meals that are quick will be in italics, and meals using the slow cooker will be in bold. The one new recipe will be underlined.

Pasta Carbonara Florentine
Salad with homemade Italian vinaigrette

Hot Dogs
Baked beans

Mozzarella & Tomato Panini
Chips

Ham & Seven Bean Soup*
Corn Muffins

Mom's Chicken Paprikash
Buttered egg noodles
green beans

Fettucine with Garlic and broccoli
salad with homemade creamy garlic dressing

Slow Cooker Pork Adobo
steamed basmati rice
green beans

Corned Beef Hash*
creamed corn

Slow Cooker short ribs
steamed brown rice
Mixed veggies

Broiled Pork Chops
Au gratin Potatoes
Harvard Beets

Roast Turkey
Sage & Raisin stuffing
Cranberry sauce
Corn

Bavarian Pot Roast
Mashed potatoes
Roast winter veggies

Turkey Stir Fry*
steamed rice

Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
salad with green goddess dressing

Pot Roast Hash*
candied carrots

Spaghetti with Marinara sauce
salad with homemade Italian vinaigrette

Swiss steak
buttered egg noodles
Brussels sprouts

Slow Cooker honey ginger chicken
steamed basmati rice
broccoli

Cheddar brats
German potato salad
green beans

January Dinner Menus

I have finished up my menu planning for January. Once again between the work schedule and changes in who was home for dinner I still have a lot in the freezer to use up. Most of these menus are based on what we have on hand.  Today I will be making a huge bone in ham so several menus are based on planned overs from that. During the work week I am alternating fast and slow cooker meals. The first work week of the month are menus for one since I will be the only one home for dinner that week. Fast meals are in bold, slow meals are in italic, and meals using planned overs are indicated with an *. Friday's are GF'S choice, either he cooks or we go out. 

1: Pork roast with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, corn

2. Chicken cutlets, white rice, Harvard beets

3. Out to dinner

4. Spaghetti & meatballs, salad

5. Grilled tilapia fillets, hash browns, broccoli with lemon

6. Winter Vegetable stew, crackers with cheese

7: Ham & cheese omelet, *rye toast

8. Creamed salmon over rice, peas

9. Val's choice

10: honey glazed chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans

11: herb crusted eye of round, roasted winter vegetables

12. Kielbasa with sauerkraut, pierogies, green beans

13. Chicken stir fry, steamed rice

14. Swiss steak, egg noodles, mixed veggies

15. Pork chops, parsley potatoes, Brussels sprouts, applesauce

16: Val's choice

17: Beef stroganoff*,  egg noodles, green beans

18. Pork stew, crescent rolls

19. Austrian Ham & noodle casserole*, salad

20: Easy one pot chicken dinner

21: Ham & bean soup,* rye bread

22: Slub glub, corn

23: Val's choice

24: Heather's baked garlic chicken, risotto, salad

25: Pineapple Rum pork chops, white & wild rice, green beans

26: Hot dogs, baked beans

27: Beef stew, corn muffins

28: Harry's birthday choice

29: homemade pepperoni pizza, salad

30: Val's choice

31: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, Harvard beets

December Dinner Plan

I want to be able to hit the ground running in December with so much going on between work and prepping for the holidays it feels as if I am ahead of the game if I have my dinner menu plans in place. Tightening up the food budget I will be scheduling more meatless and 'stretcher' type meals such as soups and stews. College age son has two more weeks of his Tuesday night class which doesn't see us getting home until 9 pm. We've stopped having a real dinner on these nights, choosing to go with hot cereal or cold sandwiches. Instead of driving home, then turning around and driving up to his school I've begun just staying at my school and either doing work at my desk or reading. Saving on gas this way!
Friday nights has me working until 6:30 so these nights are designated as GF's choice, he either makes dinner himself or takes us out to eat. There will be three of these in December since I have an upcoming two week vacation at the holidays. We also have annual plans to join GF's brother and sister-in-law for an evening out on New Year's Eve and Christmas day is potluck at my son's house.
This left me 24 dinners to plan. I designated Wednesdays as Meatless Meal night, Thursdays are Soup night. I am using either quick or slow cooker ideas during the work week. I have also included some meals based on planned overs.

Cheddar Brats, Spanish rice, green beans with lemon & herb (quick meal)

Winter Veggie Stew, pumpkin muffins (meatless & slow cooker)

Chicken soup Florentine, crescent rolls (slow cooker)

Heather's garlic baked chicken, mushroom risotto, peas with savory

Cranberry pot roast, mashed potatoes, corn (slow cooker)

Hot dogs, baked beans, mixed veggies (quick)

Homemade Garden pizza, salad (meatless, quick)

Chicken corn chowder, homemade biscuits (slow cooker)

Sloppy Joes, mac and cheese, green beans

Chicken and noodles (slow cooker), Harvard beets

Irish bangers, colcannon, candied carrots (quick)

Corned beef hash (uses planned over chopped corned beef from last month that I stuck in the freezer), mixed veggies

Pumpkin pancakes, Scottish skillet potatoes (meatless, quick)

Vegetable soup (aka Libby soup),  butter muffins (meatless, slow cooker)

Chicken marsala, homemade cavatelle, salad

Spicy meatloaf, mashed potatoes, red cabbage & apples

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, baked potatoes, sugar snap peas

Chicken stir fry, basmati rice

Christmas Eve: Pork Tenderloin balsamico, white & wild rice, Winter salad

Tacos with shredded beef (uses planned over roast from Christmas Day), Spanish rice, corn

Turkey Creole (uses leftover turkey from Christmas Day), brown rice, salad

Texas beef brisket, scalloped potatoes, green beans

Lemon & herb salmon, baked potato, peas with savory

Beef stroganoff (uses leftover brisket), egg noodles, salad

November Dinner Menus

  About thirty minutes of diligent work and I have come up with my menu plan for November. I have several off days this month, no school on election day and the entire week of Thanksgiving off.  My standard quick/slow/quick weekdays are in play for the weeks I am working. Some menus that don't fit into those categories are for my off days. I have one birthday child this month that we will be going out to eat with as well as a Ladies Raffle one Friday night. The remainder of working Friday night's are GF's choice since I work until 6:30. This means either he cooks or as is more likely we go out. LOL. The holiday will be spent with my sister M at her house as is our tradition. No word yet on what my assignment will be. I am trying a couple of new recipe from Gooseberry Patch's Slow Cooker Fall Favorites but the majority of the recipes are tried and true family faves.
Quick ideas are in italics, slow cooker menus in bold, and new recipes are indicated with an *.

1 Chicken Stew with drop dumplings, salad

 

2 Out to dinner for K’s birthday

 

3 Sun dried tomato chicken sausages w/ peppers & onions on buns, home fries

 

4 Vermont Maple Chicken, egg noodles, maple-cinnamon carrots

 

5 Apple & Brown sugar corned beef*, green beans, Irish brown bread

 

6 Tuna-sun dried tomato penne, salad

 

7 Ladies Raffle Night

 

8 Herb rubbed pork loin roast, winter roasted veggies

 

9 Garlic baked chicken, chickeny homemade ‘rice a roni’, salad

 

10 Chicken stir fry, brown basmati rice

 

11 Libby Soup, Hawaiian rolls

 

12 Asian grilled salmon, coconut rice,  sugar snap peas

 

13 Crockpot bison meatloaf, mashed brown sugar squash,  mixed veggies

 

14 V's Choice

 

15 Chicken marsala, cavatelle with sauce, salad

 

16 Irish stout short ribs, mashed potatoes, corn

 

17  Cheddar brats, cabbage and noodles

 

18 Slow cooker corn chowder, crescent rolls

 

19 Salmon cakes with faux hollandaise sauce, home fries, green beans

 

20 Slow cooker smothered pork chops,  steamed rice, brussels sprouts

 

21 V's Choice

 

22 Pineapple cranberry pork roast*,  garlic red skins, corn

 

23 Texas style beef brisket, egg noodles, green beans

 

24 Honey glazed chicken breast, baked sweet potatoes, spinach

 

25  Horseradish encrusted tilapia, baked potatoes, Hawaiian coleslaw

 

26 Homemade pizza, salad

 

27 Thanksgiving Day

 

28  Bison tacos, Spanish rice

 

29 Mini Turkey day: Roast turkey with stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce

 

30 Pineapple Rum pork chops, white and wild rice, salad

October Menus: 10/26-10/31

  Considering it is almost the end of October it is a bit late to do a full month's worth of menus. So here is the plan for this final week of the month. I am working on November menus and will share those when are completed.
Since I am back to work I am also back to my plan of using either slow cooker meals or quick to the table ones during the week.
Today I won't be cooking since GF and I are going to the Browns game later this afternoon.
Here's is the plan for the remainder of the week:

Monday: Grilled Lemon Herb Salmon fillet (grilled chicken for those who don't like salmon), white and wild rice, salad

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Ratatouille, crescent rolls

Wednesday: Pumpkin pancakes, Scottish skillet potatoes

Thursday: Bison chili, mini corn muffins

Friday: Going to oldest son's house for granddaughter E's first Halloween!

August Menus

  I sat down this morning and prepared the menus for August. I cannot beleive it is almost the last few weeks of my summer vacation. Where has the time gone? I return to work on the 21st for prep and cleaning in the kitchen. Kiddos return to school on the 27th so I will be back at both the cafeteria and the aftercare jobs starting that day. I planned out quickly assembled dinners for those work days and will return to my work week dinner plan of alternating crockpot, quick recipes, and planned over meals after Labor Day.
This month I am trying a few new to me recipes after revisiting some old cookbooks I have. All new recipes are marked with an *. Menus using planned overs are in bold. We have several events coming up in August, a birthday party, a baptism, two fairs, and one last festival. I did not plan menus for those days. I also didn't plan a menu for the last Friday of the month. I will be working late and on that day GF gets to decide what will be for dinner. So here are the 25 menus (all mains based on items I have on hand) I have to choose from:

 Lemon-Dill Grilled Salmon* , baked potato, grilled asparagus

  Family Steak, twice baked potatoes, garlicky green beans

 Chicken Lasagna Alfredo*, salad

  Mediterranean Steak salad, breadsticks, sliced melon

 Spicy Pineapple rum pork chops, scalloped potatoes, grilled corn on the cob

 Penne with Meatballs, salad

 One Dish Chicken with potatoes & green beans

 Chicken Piccata, pasta with garlic, salad

 Herb Crusted Eye of Round, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts

 Grilled Zesty Chicken oregano, Israeli couscous, greek salad

 Grilled Asian Pork Tenderloin Salad, fly off the plate rolls

Beef Stroganoff , salad

 Heather's Garlic baked chicken, mushroom risotto*, salad

 Pork Lo Mein , eggrolls

 Spit roasted Leg of lamb, pasta & lentil salad

 Asian Summer Salad, popovers

 Shepard's Pie, candied carrots

Applewood Rubbed Pork chops, parsley potatoes, green beans

 Steak, caprese salad, corn on the cob

 Shrimp Orzo skillet, salad

 Horseradish encrusted tilapia, au gratin potatoes, broccoli with lemon

Tuscan Grilled Chicken, quinoa salad*

Steak w/ Chimichurri sauce*, pasta salad

 Tuscan Chicken Pannini , chips

 Hawaiian Pork kebobs, coconut rice, Hawaiian coleslaw

 

July Dinner Menus

 Even though we are a week into the month I sat down yesterday and put together menus for the rest of the month. This coming Sunday is youngest son's graduation party so the menu is already set for that. Saturday we went out to dinner with friends. Yesterday we had spaghetti and meatballs with salad. Here are the remainder of the meals. New recipes are indicated by a *, menus based on planned overs are in bold. I will be babysitting for middle daughter at least one more Wednesday this month, we have a birthday party for grandson, and we have at least one more festival we plan to attend so I took that into account when figuring out how many menus to make.

Grilled cheddar brats, my rice pilaf, salad

Cheesy garden pizza, salad with green goddess dressing

Hank burgers (topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms and Swiss cheese), grilled rosemary potato wedges

Herb rubbed pork roast, scalloped potatoes, Harvard beets

Grad party leftovers

Pork lo mien, egg rolls

Coffee rubbed steaks, baked potato, garlicky green beans

Garden omelet with hollandaise sauce, fruit salad

Grilled pork with rice and quinoa salad*, fly off the plate rolls

Heather's garlic baked chicken, mushroom risotto*, caprese salad

Irish garlic sausages, potatoes O'Brien, cucumber salad

Hawaiian pork kebabs, coconut rice, Hawaiian coleslaw

Asian grilled salmon, baked sweet potato, broccoli with lemon

London broil, pasta and lentil salad

Chicken piccata, pasta with garlic, zucchini and tomatoes

Mediterranean steak salad, rolls

Bbq ribs, baked beans, salad

Herb crusted eye of round, Yorkshire pudding, Brussels sprouts

Asian summer salad, rolls

Philly cheese steak stuffed peppers, salad

Loco Moco, Hawaiian coleslaw

June Menus

  Better late than never, here are my June menu plans. We have several 'events' going on in June, a dinner with my aftercare co-workers hosted by our boss tonight, my youngest son's commencement so we will go out to eat after, a couple of church festivals and a graduation party for my nephew K. With the new grandbaby due momentarily I also figure I am probably going to have to be really fluid with these ideas and I will of course be making some meals to take to son's house to share with him and DIL after they get home from the hospital. Breakfasts will be things like yogurt and fruit, toast, homemade coffee cakes, homemade bagels or English muffins, cereal, or oatmeal. I like to save cooked breakfasts for the weekend.  Lunches will be leftovers or simple things like hot dogs, grilled cheese, tuna or egg salad sandwiches, simple salads, homemade stovetop mac & cheese.
Here are my dinner menus for the month. I have planned out at least one day with a meatless dinner that is vegetable based, a couple of dinners based on planned overs, and tried to alternate poultry, pork, beef, lamb, and seafood.
My plan is to put in a small garden this year to give us tomatoes, cukes, peppers, eggplant, and lettuce as well as fresh herbs. Obviously the only thing I expect to harvest in June is lettuce so most of our veggie based meals will come from the local year round farmer's market.
These are in no special order. I'm trying out a couple of new ideas which are in italics. Planned over meals are underlined. Meals that use a larger cut of meat are in bold.

We have already had grilled Pineapple rum pork chops with au gratin potatoes and pickles and calzones.

Penne with roasted eggplant and mozzarella cheese, salad

Grilled brown sugar chicken, parsley potatoes, Hawaiian coleslaw

Spaghetti with meatballs, salad

Grilled Garden pizza, salad

Greek pork chops, couscous with pine nuts, sugar snap peas

Bulgogi (Korean bbq steak), steamed basmati rice, Asian veggies

Grilled Rustic Italian Chicken, pasta salad

BBQ Pork chops, corn on the cob, Harvard beets

Beef Ravioli (trying my hand at making this from scratch) with Marinara sauce, salad, garlic toast

Pasta au pistou, sautéed zucchini with garlic

Lemon grilled salmon fillet, white and wild rice, capri blend veggies

Sloppy Joes on homemade buns, homemade chips, pickles & olives

Moroccan Lamb chops, pasta and lentil salad

Pasta with Sun dried tomatoes and tuna, salad

London broil, potato salad, corn

Mediterranean Steak salad, herb rolls

Spinach Quiche, Creole cabbage

Lime Chicken soft tacos, homemade Spanish rice

Baked Ham, cheesy potato casserole, green beans

Ham and cheese bowties, peas

Shrimp Orzo skillet, salad

Garden Omelets, Scottish skillet potatoes, fruit

March Menus

 Although we are into the second week of March I do have menus put together for the month. This last week included a Pot Roast simmered in Tastefully Simple's Irish Stout Slow Cooker sauce and it was fabulously delicious. I highly recommend this sauce. The lady I purchased it from is a regular at a local weekly farmer's market. Needless to say I will be buying more. Along with the pot roast we had mashed potatoes and green beans. Monday I took off from my aftercare job to run a few errands I could not do on the weekend and which could wait until Friday which was a teacher inservice day. So I popped an eye round in the oven and we had herb crusted eye of round roast, buttered Amish egg noodles, and Brussels sprouts. Tuesday no one else was home for dinner so after work I just warmed up a plate of leftovers from Monday's dinner. Wednesday I tried a new recipe for slow cooker macaroni and cheese. Youngest son loved it but adult son and I didn't care much for it. Won't be trying it again. Thursday we had pizza. Friday GF and I grabbed fish sandwiches and went to the Auto Show. Last night GF and I had dinner with my oldest son and his wife at our favorite local Italian restaurant.
SO....the menus start with today's plan:

Irish Garlic Sausages
Mashed potatoes
candied carrots

The rest of the menus are in no particular order. I am still following my weeknight plan of alternating slow cooker recipes with quick recipes. We do have one more 'out to eat' planned for the last Friday of the month when we will give a local fish fry (not the one where I work) a try. And the two Fridays I work the GF is in charge of dinner. New recipes are marked with an *, slow cooker recipes are in bold, and quick recipes are in italics.

Country beef stew, crescent rolls

Grilled balsamic salmon*, white and wild rice, salad

Rustic Chicken stew*, Herb rolls

Grilled coffee encrusted steaks, butter crumb noodles, broccoli

Herb roasted pork tenderloin with apples*, roasted winter vegetables

Pork schnitzel, Mom's kniffles, cinnamon applesauce, green beans

Corned Beef and Cabbage, egg noodles, carrots

Pasta Carbonara Florentine, Caprese salad

Gail's Pork Adobo, steamed jasmine rice, lemon-garlic green beans

Moroccan Lamb chops, Sun dried tomato couscous

Spaghetti with Meatballs, salad

Hawaiian Short Ribs, steamed rice, Hawaiian coleslaw

Chicken Piccata, linguine with pesto, broccoli with garlic

Minestrone soup, Tuscan herb rolls

Chicken stir fry, steamed rice

Shepherd's Pie, Brussels sprouts

Italian Chicken and Pasta*, Italian blend veggies

Soft Tacos, Spanish rice

February Menu Plans

 Since I am home again today I decided it was an excellent time to prepare my February dinner menus while having a second cup of coffee.
I am going to follow my previous plan of alternating slow cooker meals with quickly prepared meals on work nights. There are a few special occasions coming up in February, a birthday party for youngest son and his cousin, Valentine's Day (GF & I will go out to eat), my birthday (once again GF and I will go out to dinner) and a raffle that we attend each year. Also on Friday nights GF has been either cooking or taking me somewhere to eat since I do not get out of work until late. So the only Friday I needed to plan for was the last one of the month since my aftercare job has been cancelled for that evening due to a big school fundraiser. (another hit to the bank account..boo). Slow cooker meals are in bold. Meals using leftovers are in italics and meals prepared in under thirty minutes are underlined. I am also trying a couple of new to me recipes that I have indicated with an *.

Dry Rubbed Pork Roast*, mashed potatoes, green beans with walnuts

Pork Stir fry, steamed rice, egg rolls

Beef Brisket, egg noodles, broccoli with garlic and herbs

BBQ Beef sandwiches, oven fries, peas

Pumpkin Lentil soup, Hawaiian rolls

Chicken Marsala, parmesan risotto, salad

Roast Turkey breast, stovetop style stuffing with dried cranberries, Corn

Slow Cooker Swiss steak*, egg noodles, broccoli

Turkey burritos, yellow rice, green salad

Mom's One Pot Dinner* crescent rolls

Shrimp Orzo Skillet, salad

Spaghetti with meatballs , salad

Herb crusted eye of round, au gratin potatoes,  green beans

Honey glazed chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies

Skillet Lasagna, salad, garlic toast

Corned beef with cabbage, potato pancakes, carrots

Balsamic glazed Salmon*, basmati rice, broccoli

Gail's Pork Adobo (giving this a try in the slow cooker), steamed rice, asian blend veggies

Horseradish encrusted tilapia, garlic potatoes, coleslaw

Chicken stew, whole wheat biscuits

Mom's Chicken paprikash, drop dumplings, green beans

Modenese Pork Chops* white and wild rice, corn

January Dinner Menus

I have to confess that I spent today for the most part in the recliner in GF's living room. With the hot water tank not working at home (we are giving the thermocouple a couple of days to dry out and see if the tank will stay lit) youngest son and I are temporarily staying with the GF. College age daughter preferred to stay home and shower at her GF's house (as per her invitation to do so offered by his mom) and of course adult son stayed home with her as well (he told me quick cold showers don't bother him a bit..nice to know) to take care of the pets and guard both the house and his sister. While GF went off to work I did a couple of loads of laundry here and picked up around the house to earn my keep. LOL. Other than that I indulged in my favorite activity of reading. I finished up an excellent murder mystery, caught up with my favorite blog (CT on a Budget),and did a bit of blogging myself. I also put together our dinner menus for the month of January. Anticipating having two very small paychecks due to the two week holiday break plus college age daughter's tuition bill coming due for second semester I am trying to use up what we have on hand and do very little shopping. As a matter of fact I am setting myself a goal of no more than $175 for the entire month including health&beauty/cleaning/paper products. I did a mental inventory of the freezers at home and then sat down and came up with the menus. At the end of the month youngest son will have his 18th birthday and we will take him out to dinner and then celebrate jointly with his soon to be 10 year old cousin whose birthday is the day before son's is. I will get together with my niece to plan the party menu for that.
This month I decided to make every Tuesday soup night utilizing my crockpot. Sundays are for large cuts of meat. I have planned a meatless meal one night each week and on work nights I am alternating between quick cooking and crockpot meals. Two Fridays GF has volunteered to take on dinner duty. I am going with tried and true recipes this month and not taking on anything new.
New Years' Day dinner is the only one designated for a specific day. Recipes using planned overs are indicated with an *, meatless meals are in bold, meals using items already on hand are underlined.

New Years Day: Baked country style spareribs with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, carrots
Honey glazed chicken, steamed rice, Brussels sprouts
Mom's Chicken paprikash, Mom's kniffles, beets
Spaghetti & Meatballs, salad, garlic toast
Herb crusted eye of round, mashed potatoes, corn
Beef and Noodle soup*, fly off the plate rolls
Skillet Lasagna, salad
Mediterranean Lentil soup, crescent rolls
Balsamic glazed chicken breasts, basmati rice, peas
Crockpot New England style dinner using cottage ham
Chicken parmesan, penne with sauce, salad
Stuffed pork tenderloin, au gratin potatoes, beets
Ham & Swiss Panini*, garlic roast potatoes
Coffee rubbed eye of round steaks, parsley potatoes, herbed broccoli
Crockpot macaroni and cheese, salad
Pineapple Rum pork chops, rice mix, green beans
Tuna and sun dried tomato penne, salad
Baked Ham, scalloped potatoes, candied carrots
BBQ baked chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw
Ham and bean soup*, corn muffins
Creamed chipped beef on toast, salad
Pork adobo, rice, green beans
Welsh rarebit over English muffins, peas
Broccoli-Cheese soup, Hawaiian rolls
Horseradish encrusted tilapia, hash browns, coleslaw
Crockpot Ham and cheese bowtie bake*, peas

December Menus

  Once again I have been so overwhelmed by life that I have not had any time at all to blog. I put together these menus for December and so far we've stuck to them. Menus using the slow cooker are in bold. Menus that are quick cooking are in italics. Menus using planned overs are underlined. I haven't planned out menus for several days. On Christmas Day we go to my oldest son's and we all bring something. On New Year's Eve we will  be going out with another couple. I have a holiday party to attend one Friday night so no menu there. On the 1st we attended a birthday party so no dinner that night.  And on two Friday night's my GF has volunteered to make dinner so those menus will be a surprise to me (he already made dinner this last Friday and we had Tuna Noodle casserole, so one more surprise night to go!). What was also nice about this menu planning was that when it came time to grocery shop I only needed to purchase the Christmas Eve pork tenderloins, a couple bags of chicken, and a package of cheddar brats. The rest of the meat/poultry/seafood was already tucked away in the deep freezer!
Since I am so late sharing this we have already eaten the steak menu, the cheddar brats menu, the garlic baked chicken menu, and the kids and I went out to Chipotle one week night, and I had cereal on another night instead of cooking for just myself.


Steaks
Beefy rice a roni
capri blend veggies

Chicken Picatta
spaghetti squash
broccoli

Crockpot Mac and Cheese
salad

Steph's Chicken Stew
crescent rolls

Herb crusted eye of round
mashed potatoes
candied carrots

Spaghetti with Meatballs
garlic toast
salad

Pork Adobo
steamed rice
green beans

French dip sandwiches
hash browns
mixed veggies

Lamb chops
Israeli couscous with parmesan and sun dried tomatoes
tabouleh

Ham Steak and Apple skillet
parsley potatoes
green beans

Vermont Maple Chicken
Winter roasted vegetables

Cheddar brats
chicken rice a roni
cauliflower polonaise

Homemade chicken strips
garlic potatoes
peas

Swedish meatballs
egg noodles
capri blend veggies

Grilled pork chops
buttered basmati rice
creole cabbage

Heather's Garlic baked chicken
white and wild rice pilaf
green beans

Country pork stew
crescent rolls

Homemade pepperoni pizzas
salad

Christmas Eve Dinner:
Salad
Pork tenderloin balsamico
white and wild rice pilaf
green beans almondine
fly off the plate rolls

Mom's chicken paprikash
egg noodles
green beans

Beef stroganoff (using planned over roast beef from Christmas Day)
steamed rice
Harvard beets

Shrimp Orzo skillet
salad

Spicy Meatloaf
au gratin potatoes
corn

Tuscan chicken Panini
Parmesan oven potatoes

November Dinner Menus

 Taking advantage of a day off from work (teacher inservice) I got busy and sat down and did my November dinner menus. I plan on doing a large grocery shopping trip today. It looks as if mid-month is going to be the best time for me to shop so I will be buying for the last week of October as well as for November today. Then next month I will do same, creating a new routine for myself.
I think I also have a good pattern for dinners as far as workdays are concerned basing them on either quickly assembled meals or the slow cooker. I have also planned Sunday suppers for large cuts of meat that I can then re-use at least once during the week and also provide GF with a meal mid-week. I have had some good conversations this week with an aftercare co-worker about a local CSA that she and her hubby have used this year. http://freshforkmarket.com/ I was impressed because it is not just produce, it is also locally sourced foods such as Ohio maple syrup for example, and local meats and cheeses. The package she had works out to $25 a week and after checking out their website I see a larger package works out to $40 weekly. I am seriously considering this for next spring. They have a winter package but it is primarily for the customers they already have. I'm liking what I'm hearing and what I see on their website.
In the meantime here are my menus for November. I am not trying any new recipes this month which for me is unusual. I am going with all tried and true. Menus using planned overs are in bold. Menus using the slow cooker are in italics and menus using meals that can be made in 30 minutes or less are underlined. I have the entire week of Thanksgiving off from work so I have planned menus we enjoy but take some time to make for that week. We have one more high school football/marching band night and have planned on taking out middle adult daughter for her birthday. And of course there is Thanksgiving which we will spend with family. It is bring a dish and I have yet to hear what my sister wants me to bring. I am doing a mini Thanksgiving style dinner though so we have planned overs (the only drawback to not hosting the day is the lack of leftovers) for Black Friday.

Shrimp Orzo skillet
salad

Cheddar Broccoli Soup
crescent rolls

Broiled pork chops
Cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes
corn

Sausage and Apple Kraut
Pierogies
green beans

Sun dried tomato & mozzarella sausages with peppers and onions
rice pilaf
broccoli with garlic and herbs

Swedish Meatballs
egg noodles
salad

Vermont Maple Chicken
White and wild rice
green beans

Herb encrusted eye of round
mashed potatoes
candied carrots

French Dip sandwiches
chips
coleslaw

Moroccan Lamb chops
couscous
peas with mint

Mediterraean Lentil Soup
rolls

Broiled salmon fillets
hash browns
coleslaw

Tacos with toppings
spanish rice

Chicken Marsala
Creamy parmesan rice
salad

Cranberry Pork Roast
scalloped potatoes
green beans

Mozzarella and Sun dried Pannini
salad

Broiled steak
beef rice a roni
broccoli

Texas style beef brisket
butter crumb egg noodles
brussels sprouts

Roast pork stir fry
steamed rice

Heather's garlic baked chicken
risotto
salad

Beef and Noodle Soup
fly off the plate rolls

Brown sugar baked ham
au gratin potatoes
Harvard beets

Roast turkey breast over stuffing
mashed potatoes
cranberry sauce
mashed brown sugar squash

Ham and Cheese bowties
salad

Spaghetti with Meatballs
Salad
garlic toast

Turkey in gravy over stuffing
cranberry sauce
potato pancakes
corn

Slub Glub (aka beef and macaroni)
salad