Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week – and – Do I Really Follow My Menu Plan?!!?!

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Ever wonder if I really follow the menu plans I share each Sunday? This week is your chance to find out! Every day (as much as possible) through Saturday, I will take pictures of my kitchen work and of our meals and share them with you here. 

I’ll warn you right now – wait – no I won’t. You’ll just have to keep visiting every day to find out more about my days and to see what we’re really eating. :)

In the meantime, here’s our “menu plan”. This may look clean and organized – but how does it really look at our house from day to day? Hmmmm…

Sunday, January 27
Oatmeal, fruit
Cheesy beef and rice, tossed salad, green beans
Leftovers (no huddle tonight!)

Monday, January 28
Whole wheat pancakes, blueberries
Chicken and noodles, carrots
Bbq meatballs, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday, January 29
Scrambled egg sandwiches, oranges
Tuna casserole, peas
Sloppy joes, green beans

Wednesday, January 30
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Meat and cheese burritos, fruit
Alfredo sauce with pasta, tossed salad

Thursday, January 31
Simple sourdough biscuits, fruit
Homemade corn dogs, baby carrots, fruit
Popcorn chicken, homemade fries, peas

Friday, February 1
Giant breakfast cookies, apples
Taco corn fritters, fruit smoothies
Homemade pizza, fruit

Saturday, February 2
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, fruit
Leftovers
Chicken pot pie

I’ve got my camera in my pocket, ready to take pictures all week long. I’ll check in later tonight to share with you how today went! :)

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Menu Plan for the Week

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve made this easy Overnight No-Knead Bread. I have to ask myself why???? It’s too easy and yummy not to make often. :)

For High School Huddle tonight, I made a double batch of Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. Can you smell them from where you are? Yum!

cookies

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

Sunday, January 20
Baked oatmeal, applesauce
Cheeseburger macaroni, green beans
High School Huddle – Chicken enchiladas, spanish rice, chips and salsa, tossed salad, chocolate crinkle cookies

Monday, January 21
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Salmon patties, rice with butter and salt, steamed mixed veggies
Italian stew, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 22
Warm pumpkin custard, toast
Taco corn fritters, fruit-kefir smoothies
Fiesta chicken, tossed salad

Wednesday, January 23
No-knead overnight bread, fruit salad
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Thursday, January 24
Creamy orange cooler, toast
Taco potatoes, fruit
Sloppy joes, potato salad, green beans

Friday, January 25
Scrambled eggs, fruit-kefir smoothies
Calzones, raw veggies
Chili with cheese and sour cream, fruit

Saturday, January 26
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, fruit
Leftovers
Chicken salad, whole wheat pita bread, veggies, apples

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Last night before bed, I pulled some Whole Wheat Butterhorns out of the freezer to thaw and rise so that we could have them with our lunch today.

Correction.

I was in bed already and beginning to relax when I remembered that I had intended to get the butterhorns out of the freezer. I then had to wrestle around in my head while I tried to decide whether or not it was worth it to get up and get them out as planned. 

We were planning to invite college students over to share our lunch, and I knew they would love them and that they would help our lunch “stretch” a little farther. So I went ahead and got up. Oh, it was so worth it. These butterhorns are yummy! And the college students, as well as our family, were very happy to eat them today. :)

whole_wheat_butterhorns

Don’t worry. I made more than just these few.
This was the second round I pulled out of the oven.

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, January 13
Baked oatmeal, fruit
Lasagna, whole wheat butterhorns, tossed salad, green beans
High School Huddle:  Chili cheese dogs, fritos, olives, baby carrots, chocolate chip cookies

Monday, January 14
Whole wheat pancakes, blueberries
Beefy vegetable soup, corn bread muffins
Creamy crock pot chicken and rice, carrots, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 15
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Chicken patty sandwiches, fruit plate, baby carrots
Beef stroganoff, green beans

Wednesday, January 16
Scrambled eggs, creamy orange coolers
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, carrot sticks
Pizza boats, fruit salad

Thursday, January 17
Whole wheat bagels, cottage cheese and pineapple
Chicken tortilla soup, oranges
Tacos

Friday, January 18 (Elias’ 11th birthday choices!)
Donuts
Pizzadillas, fruit
Hamburgers, chips, veggies, fruit

Saturday, January 19
Breakfast pizza, oranges
Leftovers
Pasta alfredo, tossed salad, steamed broccoli and carrots

Did you make a menu plan this week?  Share if you’d like!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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So sorry about the fuzziness of this photo, but I wanted to share how pretty my mother-in-law looks with her new Living Locket from Origami Owl. I loved personalizing it for her, and she was very excited when she received it. Living Lockets make great gifts – go check them  out! Fuzzy picture or no – isn’t my mother-in-law beautiful!?

gma_copp_with_origami_owl

We’ll be getting back into a school routine this week, which I am very excited about! We traveled a lot over Christmas break, so getting back into my kitchen and re-grouping with my family here at home feels wonderful. 

We had two weeks off from hosting High School Huddle, and that starts back up again tonight too. I’m so excited to fill my living room with so many awesome teens tonight. (And the Bbq Chicken smells pretty good right now, if I do say so myself…)

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, January 6
Baked oatmeal, fruit
Beef enchiladas, tossed salad
High School Huddle:  Crock pot bbq chicken, baked potatoes, green beans, cream cheese corn, butterscotch bars

Monday, January 7
Peanut butter pancakes, bananas
Chili with shredded cheese, raw veggies
Beef garden casserole, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 8
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Calico beans, cornbread muffins
Chicken noodle soup, carrots

Wednesday, January 9
Coconut flour muffins, apples
Tuna salad on crackers, carrot sticks, applesauce
Beef stew, whole wheat biscuits

Thursday, January 10
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, oranges
Sloppy joes, peas
Spanish rice, tossed salad

Friday, January 11
Zucchini bread, bananas
Meat and cheese burritos, fruit and kefir smoothies
Whole wheat calzones, apples, raw veggies

Saturday, January 12
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Leftovers
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Are you ready for the You Can Do This! The First Five Steps Toward a Real Food Kitchen eCourse!? We have it finished and ready to launch in just a few hours!

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Menu Plan for the Week (and My Barbecue Chicken Advice)

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Today, I had a teeny tiny dilemma. 

Our oldest son Asa (age 15) knew that some of his friends were coming to town this weekend and that we would see them at church. What he didn’t know was what his friends’ plans would be after church. We decided that we wanted to ask them to join us for lunch. But we knew that there was the possibility that they would have other plans already.

What was I to do? I needed to have plenty of food prepared in case I had 6-10 or so extra kids. But I sure didn’t want loads of leftovers if they decided not to come.

Problem solved:  I made eight pounds of Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken Breasts, knowing that we would either eat it all up at lunch, or I could freeze whatever was left for easy Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches another time.

Elias (our 10 year old) found those little snowman potholders at a thrift store and picked them up for us. 
They are perfect for hauling the crock pot across the kitchen. 

As it turns out, Asa’s friends made other plans. So, our normal crew ate all we wanted for lunch, and now I have a nice bowl full of BBQ Chicken in my freezer for a quick, healthy meal another time. Asa has been able to fellowship with his friends from church camp all day…at someone else’s house. I’m so thankful that he has such great friends. :)

So there you have it – my helpful BBQ Chicken advice. It’s easy to make a big batch when you’re serving extras – and it’s easy to freeze if you make too much. And it takes a delightful five minutes to throw together. I love it!

Here’s what our menu looks like this week:

Sunday, December 16
Oatmeal, fruit
Crock pot barbecue chicken – shredded and made into sandwiches, peas
High School Huddle – Italian pasta bake, tossed salad, green beans, bread and butter, chocolate chip cookies

Monday, December 17
Pancake sausage muffins, applesauce
Whole wheat calzones, raw veggies
Barbecue brisket, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday, December 18
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Pizza boats, fruit-kefir smoothies
Teriyaki chicken and veggies

Wednesday, December 19
Easy breakfast casserole, clementines
Snowflake quesadillas, fruit salad
Taco potatoes

Thursday, December 20 (Malachi’s Birthday – his food choices)
Donuts  ;)
Homemade corndogs, fruit
Pasta alfredo, tossed salad, steamed broccoli and carrots

Friday, December 21
Giant breakfast cookies, apples
Tuna salad, crackers, baby carrots, peaches
Pizza, tossed salad

Saturday, December 22
Scrambled eggs, clementines
Leftovers
Hoagie sandwiches, chips, apples, carrots

Have anything yummy on your menu this week you’d like to tell us about?

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Menu Plan for the Week (Plus a little more exciting news about what’s coming this week!)

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After an awesome Thanksgiving break, I’m excited to have our menu planned out so we can settle down into a new school week. Here’s what we’ll be eating:

Sunday, November 25
Breakfast cake, apple slices
Chili, raw veggies, apple crisp
Healthier cheese dip with chips, grapes

Monday, November 26
Leftover apple crisp
Chicken patty sandwiches, homemade ranch dip with carrots and broccoli
Potato soup, carrots, applesauce

Tuesday, November 27
Scrambled eggs, fruit/kefir smoothies
Bean and cheese burritos, fruit salad
Chicken alfredo, steamed broccoli, tossed salad

Wednesday, November 28
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Baked potatoes with cheese and sour cream, peas
Calico beans, corn bread muffins

Thursday, November 29
Warm pumpkin custard, toast, applesauce
Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, raw veggies
Spanish rice, tossed salad

Friday, November 30
Peanut butter pancakes, bananas
Creamy mac and cheese, peas
One dish meat and potato casserole

Saturday, December 1
Banana bread, fried eggs, pears
Leftovers
Baked steak, baked potatoes, green beans

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Menu Plan for the Week (And Cake Boys Episode 6!)

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Remember how we hosted our church’s high schoolers for “Huddle” each Sunday night during the ’11-’12 school year? When school started this year, we were deep in the midst of Matt traveling many weekends for York College soccer, as well as being very involved in our city league soccer (Matt is currently president of the board) and of course our boys play and/or referee. I’ve talked about it plenty – you know our family eats, sleeps, and breathes, and loves soccer from August until November. 

During those months, we still wanted to be a part of Huddle, so we loved it that our friends hosted and fed the kids – and Matt and I just got to show up! Now that life has settled down a tiny bit for us, it’s our turn again! 

This morning I made Baked Oatmeal, using this recipe – baking it in a pyrex dish for about 25 minutes.

Here’s what we’ll be feeding the teens tonight, and what our family will be eating the rest of the week:

Sunday, November 11
Baked oatmeal, pears
Roasted chicken, potatoes, carrots, gravy
 Huddle – Cheesy salsa enchiladas, spanish rice, tossed salad, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Monday, November 12
Warm pumpkin soother, toast
Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit
Chicken alfredo with pasta, steamed broccoli and carrots

Tuesday, November 13
Scrambled eggs, whole wheat biscuits, applesauce
Potato soup, zucchini muffins
Teriyaki chicken and veggies with rice

Wednesday, November 14
Blueberry struesel muffins, bananas
Creamy mac and cheese, peas
Calico beans, tossed salad

Thursday, November 15
Coconut flour muffins, pears
Pizza boats, fruit
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Friday, November 16
Whole wheat pancakes, fruit
Chicken and noodles, carrots
Taco potatoes, fruit salad

Saturday, November 17
Homemade donuts, fruit
Sloppy joes, potato wedges, peas
Leftovers

And now…Cake Boys Episode 6, in which Justus shares his recipe! And he also uses food coloring. Ugh.  Why yes, we do compromise every once in a while. ;)

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Is that a pretty picture or what? Matt put that lunch together last week with some of the last of the peppers and tomatoes from our garden. It was awesome!

Here’s what’s on our menu this week:

Sunday, November 4
Breakfast cookies, fruit
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad
Huddle

Monday, November 5
Pancake sausage muffins, pears
Meat and cheese burritos, fruit salad
Oven baked bbq chicken, tossed salad, green beans

Tuesday, November 6 (Matt’s bday!)
Peach cobbler – made with healthy ingredients, it’s the perfect bday breakfast!
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli and carrots
Cheesy turkey sausage stromboli, tossed salad

Wednesday,  November 7
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Cheeseburger macaroni, peas
Creamy chicken and rice casserole, green beans

Thursday, November 8
Honey whole wheat bagels, creamy orange coolers
Tuna salad on homemade pitas, fruit, raw veggies
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Friday, November 9
Biscuits and turkey sausage gravy, fruit
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Tacos

Saturday, November 10
Omelets, smoothies
Leftovers
Chicken and noodles

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Menu Plan for the Week

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I have two things to tell you:

1. Soccer is officially over for the season. 
2. My kids are sick of oatmeal for breakfast on Sundays.

The boys had one last game today, and York College (where Matt coaches) finished yesterday. It’s been an awesome season, and now we can hang up our stinky shin guards. 

Actually, I’ll wash them and then we’ll probably play a pick-up game in the yard tomorrow. Soccer never really ends around here.

And about the oatmeal – Typically oatmeal is our standard Sunday breakfast. But every once in a while the kids decide they just can’t eat another bowl. I decided to give those spoiled kids my darling offspring a break, and serve them Breakfast Cookies on Sundays for a while instead. It will actually be an easier breakfast than making oatmeal (not that making oatmeal is the least bit difficult) – simply because I can make the cookies the night before. Then, everyone can just help themselves to cookies and a glass of milk once they are dressed and ready for church. :)

Here’s our menu plan for this week:

Sunday, October 28
Breakfast cookies, fruit
Leg of lamb, potatoes, carrots, gravy
Huddle at our friend’s house

Monday, October 29
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Chicken and noodles, carrots
Shepherd’s Pie, tossed salad

Tuesday, October 30
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Teriyaki chicken and rice with veggies
Hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Wednesday, October 31
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Pizza boats, fruit salad
Tuna casserole, peas

Thursday, November 1
Homemade poptarts, bananas
Taco potatoes, yogurt smoothies
Alfredo sauce with pasta, tossed salad

Friday, November 2
Mini apple pies, cheese slices
Tuna salad on crackers, pineapple with cottage cheese
Homemade pizza, fruit

Saturday, November 3
Oven baked pancake, fruit
Leftovers
Tacos

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Menu Plan for the Week {And My Four Pound Hamburger Meat Dilemma}

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This weekend I got out four pounds of hamburger meat to thaw. “What are you doing with all the hamburger meat?” was the question I was asked several times during the morning as different family members went into the kitchen and saw the meat thawing. My answer? “I really have no idea.”

You’ve got to love it that my plans are always so clearly laid out and organized. ;)

What can I say? All I knew was that I had a few hours between soccer games to get some cooking done, and that our supply of convenience foods in the freezer was getting low. Therefore, I grabbed out the meat to thaw so that I could make something with it when I actually had time.

As I stood watching my boys play a soccer game in the late morning, I watched and cheered and memorized every move my children made so that I could talk through the game in detail with them later I mentally made a plan for the cooking I would do in the three hours I had at home before the next game. Going by what sounded good, what I had in my pantry, and what would work best to get me ahead for this week – I ended up making two Lasagna Casseroles and two pans of Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas.

Don’t worry. I can multi-task. I really was watching and cheering while I thought about browning hamburger meat and making tortillas.

Here’s our menu for this week….just to prove that I don’t always get meat out of the freezer without a plan. :)

Sunday, October 21
Oatmeal, pears
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad
Huddle at our friend’s house

Monday, October 22
Whole wheat peanut butter pancakes, bananas
Tuna salad on crackers, sweet peppers, baby carrots
Alfredo sauce with pasta, tossed salad, steamed broccoli and carrots

Tuesday, October 23
Easy no-knead bread, fruit salad
Chicken salad in homemade pita bread with lettuce and tomatoes, apple slices
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad

Wednesday, October 24
Granola, dried fruit
Cheeseburger macaroni, peas
Cheesy chicken and rice, tossed salad, green beans

Thursday, October 25
Cinnamon swirl toast, apples
Hamburger patties, ranch potato wedges, green beans, sweet peppers
Chicken and noodles, carrot sticks

Friday, October 26
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Potato soup, carrots, coconut flour cheddar biscuits, sweet pepper slices
Hot spinach and artichoke dip, organic corn chips, grapes

Saturday, October 27
Whole wheat donuts, fruit
Leftovers
Fried eggs, blueberry struesel muffins, applesauce

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