Monday, August 07, 2006

Menu Planning Monday

Well, I know it's after 1:00 EST, but better late than never, huh? I had such a busy weekend, but I know someone out there was praying for Hunter, because not only did he sleep through the night (since Thursday), but he also took a TWO HOUR NAP on Sunday afternoon, which, as many of you can understand, is the HARDEST day to stay on schedule. So during those two hours, I took one too. And so did my husband. I know, I know ... a 2-hour nap can really cramp your style -- but someone had to do it! And the family that sleeps together, stays together, you know what I mean? I woke up feeling sooo refreshed. Thank you for your prayers!

Last week, I mentioned on my Menu post that I was going to be cooking up some delish crock-pot chicken cacciatore for Sunday (yesterday). And that was still the plan yesterday morning, when I tossed everything into the crock-pot as we were running out the door for church. Now, normally, I would only use three chicken breasts ... one for me, two for hubby (he usually takes one for lunch). But when I opened the freezer, there were only 4 breasts left in the bag, so despite my husband's instance that it was too much food, I tossed ALL FOUR breasts into the crock pot. He asked me if I wanted to invite anyone over for dinner to share all this glorious chicken cacciatore, but I gave him a solid NO ... which is rarely a word used in my vocabulary. I figured I could freeze the leftovers! And, aside from having a lingering smell of garlic on my fingers and hands all morning (yes, I washed, but it wouldn't leave me!), I felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that I had chicken cacciatore for dinner that evening, and wouldn't have to do much more for the rest of the day.

But as we pulled into our driveway after church and lunch, a neighbor ran up to us to invite us for a cook out to celebrate another neighbor's birthday. Now, normally, I'd be all excited about being able to show off (I mean ... SHARE) my cooking talents with the neighbors. But, with a promising two hour nap and all ... well, they didn't get anything glorious ... instead ... they got ... YOU GUESSED IT ... chicken cacciatore over buttered garlicy egg noodles. I even shredded the chicken to feed the masses. All this to say ... It was a God thing that I cooked the 4 chicken breasts. Do you have any idea how much chicken 4 shredded breasts gives you? A TON, that's how much! I even brought some home that I'm eating for lunch right now as I type. Mmmmmm.


So, after having taken you on a couple rabbit trails, here's my menu for this week, brought to you courtesy of Laura and I'm an Organizing Junkie:


Monday: Baked spaghetti Pie, Sweet Pea Pods sauteed in garlic butter, bread

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken (I'll roast two at a time), Green Beans, Rice Pilaf, Garden Tomatoes sliced with a vinaigrette

Wednesday: Homemade Sloppy Joes (can you believe it! my gourmet husband chose this!), corn on the cob, corn cake, squash patties

Thursday: Chicken Tacos (made from leftover roasted chicken), refried black beans, corn salad

Friday: Ordering Out

Saturday: Creamy Chicken Pasta (made from leftover roasted chicken), homemade (YUM) Caesar salad

Sunday: Grilled steaks, rice, salad

Back-up-Meal: Grilled Shish Kabobs, Jasmine rice, grilled veggies

That's it!!! I made my menu and grocery list on Saturday morning, did my shopping Saturday evening, and everything is in the fridge, freezer, and pantry waiting to be made!

If YOU have a menu to share, pop on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie and enter your name and blog address in Mr. Linky! Laura's on vacation, but Mr. Linky is working hard to keep the Meme going!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My goodness, that all sounds delicious! I moved Sloppy Joes from this week's menu at the last minute. I make mine homemade too, no Manwich for us :)

Your pasta sounds soo good to me right now, I must be craving comfort food!

Have a great day, and a wonderful week :)

Beck said...

I like making sloppy joes from scratch, too - it takes the sting out of eating sloppy joes! Chicken tacos? Sounds great!

Anonymous said...

I think you should have to post the recipes or at least invite me to come by for any meals that I choose. And i choose the whole week, yum.

PandaMom said...

It is so good to know that other moms enjoy planning menus and actually cooking for their family. I love it, but most of my friends whine and complain about how they hate to cook and just eat out. Well, on a Children's Minister's salary we can't afford to eat out everyday of the week, plus homemade food is AWESOME! BTW we struggled with infertility for over 8 years. God blessed us with a darling daughter from China over 2 years ago and we just started paperwork for #2 last week. Hope to hear from you on my blog. Pandapalooza ; )

Anonymous said...

The garlic smell on the fingers. You can get these little metal bars, sometimes shaped like a bar of soap. And they say that if you rub your hands on them after using onions or garlic, it will remove the smell. I have never tried, but I know people who have and they say they work.

Mama D said...

You inspire me Gibee, you really do. And now my mouth is watering.

Heather Smith said...

Sounds yummy! I love chicken tacos! I'm gonna start doing this in a week or two I think because my brother and I are gonna plan our meals out!

the lizness said...

Believe it or not, the day I posted about having only $24 for groceries - we are still eating on some of those groceries. I feel like the woman in the bible whose oil and meal didn't run out until the end of the famine!!

Maybe God blessed and multiplied your chicken cacciatore because of your generosity.

GiBee said...

Y'all are much too nice and give me WAY too much credit!

I split the cooking chores with my husband, and he'll pick out half of the menu of things HE wants to cook, and I'll pick the other half.

But, as I look at the menu again, it looks like I'm doing most of the cooking. How'd that happen? Oh well...

Y'all are welcome any night ... stop by whenever, just don't look too closely to the "state of the house."

Lauren -- which recipe would you like?

Susanne said...

It's a good thing that I was gone and didn't read this until Friday or I would have made a "little" detour and made sure we went by your place for holidays. Yumm! What time is supper?