Meal Plan Monday: Cold & Rainy Edition

Like everyone else, I've spent the weekend Christmas shopping from the same spot I'm sitting in now, wearing stretchy pants, and otherwise not paying attention to most of the things I've eaten. But I just posted a photo on instagram about not missing a Monday working out, so today I guess I'll apply that to meal plans to eat. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail, so they say. So here we go!

The weather is gray, chilly, and seems to be begging for soup. That was my jumping off point this week.

Monday: Homemade Chicken and Noodles
I have chicken in the crockpot cooking as I type, just salt and peppered. After dance this afternoon, I will boil and drain some noodles, and dice the chicken, added together with the juices from the crockpot plus a little broth, carrots, and peas because we need veggies. And then I'll season it.

Tuesday: Taco Soup
I usually make this with hominy, but I have corn on hand this week, so I'll be substituting that instead. Recipe found here.

Wednesday: Supper at Church
I've been facilitating a ladies' group at church this year, and this is our last meeting for the fall. We decided to have our Christmas party catered, so I'll be putting that together. Thankfully, the rest of the fam will eat from the church kitchen!

Thursday: Leftovers
We've got company coming in for the weekend, so we'll either be eating leftovers from Monday and Tuesday or hot turkey and cheese sandwiches (think grilled cheese, with turkey) from the stove.

Friday: Fun Night
Out to eat, for sure!

I'd love to expand my soup recipes, but ingredient lists a mile long and things like "lentils" turn me off. Do you have any
recipes you would recommend?

Meal Plan Monday

I'm dusting off the blog today to post our meal plan for the week. We've been gone on vacation, had sick kids, and overall busy, so I took some time yesterday to be intentional about what we'll put in our mouths this week. I also need to drink some more water after all the diet coke I drank at Disney World!

Monday: Green Beans with Bacon and Potatoes
This is a family favorite I posted a few years ago. It has something in it for everyone!

Tuesday: Domino's Pizza
Pizza is a tradition on soccer practice night, you see.

Wednesday: Supper at Church
I have no clue what's on the menu, but we're eating it. Besides the hot line, there's an awesome salad bar with different lettuces, fresh veggies and fruits, baked potatoes, and soup. My post-vacay self may need to check out the salad bar.

Thursday: Chicken and Rice Skillet
I'll have to post the recipe for this soon. Here's the closest I could find, but mine doesn't use as many ingredients. It's one of my husband's faves that I've been making since I was trying out my new pots and pans during our newlywed days. It's one skillet, delicious, and makes great leftovers.

Friday: Date Night
Fingers crossed this involves Mexican food.

Most of my meal plan Mondays include recipes that we go back to over and over. Familiarity and ease of prep is what I'm looking for always. What's your go-to weeknight meal?

Monday Meal Plan

I'm back this week with another Monday meal plan! Last week was the first week back at school. The week before that was one of the first with soccer practice. Tonight we start dance up again, so my great summer routine has been swept aside for convenience and just getting them fed something.

As much as I would love to braise meat all day or slow roast vegetables, I don't always have time for that because I'm running my kiddos to school, church, and extra-curriculars. That is absolutely not a complaint because I love that I have this time for this season. But it's a preface to the fact that we're having a freezer convenience meal tonight, because we had a great, fun, but tiring weekend, and I'm reclaiming the house today.

Monday: Birds Eye Garlic Chicken
My son told me last week that I am the best cook ever, and that this is his favorite meal I make. Maybe one day a daughter-in-law will appreciate how low I have set the bar for her in the kitchen. You can read a review I wrote on the freezer meal back in 2012 here. My little guy still loves it, although I have to buy a bigger family size bag than I did before. Relatively healthy with noodles that kiddos love.

Tuesday: Domino's Pizza
Batting a thousand so far this week. This is a soccer night, and we all go to practice together. Last season it became a tradition to pick up Domino's on the way home each Tuesday. I order on their app from the sideline while I'm (shocker) talking to other moms, and it's ready when we're done. Our standard order is a thin crust cheese, so it isn't quite as unhealthy as a regular pan pizza. Paired with fruit for kids, salad for adults.

Wednesday: Supper at Church
My oldest is big enough to have his own set of Wednesday night activities rather than just playing in the nursery. We have a relatively new dining/multi-purpose facility, with soaring ceilings and open space. I love the sound of our church family sharing a meal together. We'll eat whatever the kitchen is dishing up, and we'll be thankful.

Thursday: Chicken Tacos
I'm cooking up a big batch of chicken on Tuesday to take supper to a family that just had a baby. So, on our one night at home, this supper will be easy to reheat and serve. The chicken is cooked in the crockpot with a jar of salsa.

Friday: Date Night
We're meeting our Sunday school class for Mexican Food, my fave!

As you can see, my meal planning isn't quite so taxing these days, which is why I haven't posted the past couple of weeks. Mondays and Thursdays are all I mostly have going on since my family will riot if I don't order pizza on Tuesday. It's tradition, they say! Who am I to mess with tradition?!

Monday Meal Plan

That's two weeks in a row I've planned our meals. This is definitely a homemaking record for me. I even managed to take our reusable grocery bags to the store two weeks in a row. Monday, I'm coming for you!

Monday: BLTs
I have all the ingredients on hand, and it's time to use them up. I'll toast the bread in the toaster and cook the bacon in the oven following these directions from the Kitchn. I can't stand to get my cooktop greasy. Add lettuce, tomato, and a little swipe of Duke's Mayonnaise, plated with chips and fruit.

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken
I'm using my fave Fort Worth Moms Blog recipe found here, but changing it up by putting it in the crockpot by following the cooking instructions found here. If all goes as hoped, I'll have leftover chicken for chicken salad sandwiches the rest of the week. One of my faves!

Wednesday: Veggie Frittata
I love taking the leftover veggies from yesterday's roasted chicken and baking them into a frittata. Here are instructions on how to take almost any vegetable and turn it into a frittata.

Thursday: Tacos in a Bag
We had chicken tacos last week, but this changes it up just a bit especially since I'm using beef this time. These are a hit with whoever I serve them: kids, adults, college students. You use single serve (like lunchbox size) bags of tortilla chips and make them into tacos. Super easy, and the kids think it's awesome because...chips!

Friday: Mama's OOO (out of office)
It's my birthday weekend, and we may eat our way through Cowtown. Kitchen's closed, family!

What's cooking at your house?