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Last week did not go at all as planned.  It really would have been better if it had, but it’s water under the bridge now.  Many of these meals are carried over (at least one more than once).

Monday: Tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches
reality: Nobody’s feeling all that great around here this week.  Most people fended for themselves but I did get up and make a few grilled cheese.

Tuesday: Beef enchiladas & guacamole
reality: We had to go to town in the afternoon anyway, so we ate out (Chinese buffet) for Valentine’s Day.

Wednesday: Aloha Chicken Fingers & rice
reality:

Thursday: Stuffed Pork Chops & random vegetable
reality:

Friday: King’s Arms Tavern Peanut Soup & spoon-bread
reality:

Saturday: Mixed fried rice
reality:

Sunday: Spaghetti & meat sauce
reality: 

I think updating the posts with the reality of what I made is working well.  It’s not just seeing how closely I stuck to the plan, but also reviews recipes I tried for later reference.

Monday: Chicken Quesadillas from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
reality: I made chicken quesadillas, but I skipped all the hidden veggie hoopla and just put some cooked strips of chicken in regular quesadillas.  Not because I disagreed with the concept, I just wasn’t up to it at the time.

Tuesday: Boneless Rib Roast with potatoes and artichokes (for those of use who like them)
reality: A last minute realization that there were no eggs with which to make Yorkshire pudding made me far less interested in this meal.  We had sausage and rice instead.

Wednesday: Stuffed Pork Chops
reality: A sudden and odd aversion to eggs, among other factors, led to a lack of cooking and dinner at the diner.  Well, Chris and 3 kids went to the diner, they brought me takeout because I wasn’t feeling well. I *have* to make the roast beef tomorrow, no later.

Thursday: cheeseburgers
reality: I fixed artichokes for the grown-ups in the afternoon when Chris got home from work.  I didn’t want to argue with kids about who does or does not like them, and I only had 3 anyway.  Then the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner.

Friday: King’s Arms Tavern Peanut Soup and spoonbread (mix) – carry-over from last week
reality: Chris went to Sam’s Club after work and brought home large boxes of pizzas, so that’s what we ate.  Even a dessert pizza (which I wasn’t crazy about).

Saturday: popcorn chicken
reality: I went shopping in the next town over and brought home McDonald’s.  It’s been one of those weeks, and most of these meals will end up on next week’s menu.  

Sunday: Tacos from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
reality:

Nothing new to report.  Notes on last week’s outcomes are on the original post.

Monday: Pork chops with apple-almond pesto, and probably gnocchi.
reality: Exactly as stated. Nothing fancy with the pork chops, just a pan sear.  They were thin, didn’t need more than that.  The pesto was fine, nothing to write home about.  And I always love gnocchi.

Tuesday: King’s Arms Tavern Peanut Soup and spoonbread (mix)  I’ve been wanting to make this for a long time now.  Years and years (and years) ago I was in Williamsburg over Christmas and I remember liking it quite a bit.  A will run screaming from the room at the sight of peanut butter, so she’ll have to make something for herself.  She’s not allergic, just doesn’t like the stuff.
reality: Nobody really cared so they made their own and I’ll make the soup for lunch later.

Wednesday: Pork Chops with Apple & Cabbage from Weight Watchers One Pot Cookbook.
reality: I decided it was too close to Monday’s pork chops, and I wasn’t feeling well, and Chris got a job, so we had celebratory pizza.

Thursday: cheeseburgers
reality: Cheeseburgers it is.  Nothing with them, just burgers.

Friday: Asian glazed turkey loin from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry: Great-tasting Food That Won’t Go from Your Lips to Your Hips!.
reality: This week’s menu has clearly gone down the tubes. Leftovers and whatever was lying around. 

Saturday: Tacos from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.
reality: Bacon-ranch crusted turkey breast tenderloin and gnocchi. 

Sunday: Herb crusted chicken tenders from Ready, Set, Go! Cookbook (Weight Watchers).
reality: When I wrote this I forgot it was Super Bowl Sunday.  I made a variety of snackish foods instead of a “real” dinner.

*The book links to Amazon are affiliate links…as I’ve never had anyone use one before I don’t know what I’d get, probably a few cents.  Just a heads up to be fair.

Last week was hit or miss, but I’m liking doing things we’ve never done before.  They don’t always work out and they’re not always universally popular, but I can say I tried.  I took most of this week’s recipes out of books so I don’t have many links.  One thing I am going to try is from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.  The theme of the book is to add vegetable purees to other recipes so the kids don’t know they’re eating veggies.  I’m doing it as much for me as for them, as I’m not by nature a veggie person.  Time will tell if it works.

Monday: Beef Stroganoff was a request for this week.  I don’t really use a recipe for it, just throw it all together as I feel like.  If I find some non-ground beef in the freezer that’s great, if not so be it.
reality: I made it rather differently, but everyone liked it.  Instead of mushrooms and a cream sauce (or cream of mushroom soup) and sour cream, I used cauliflower puree in the beef broth to thicken and lighten it up.  It went over well, with noodles and a salad.

Tuesday: I was wrong last week.  I’m not out of buffalo burgers, they were just in a different freezer.  Now that they’ve been found, they can be dinner.
reality: McDonald’s

Wednesday: Pork chops with apple-almond pesto, also held over from last week.
reality: emergency meal: Frito chili pie

Thursday: A week or two ago I stumbled across Hillshire Farm smoked sausages for $.99 ea.  If you’ve ever bought smoked sausage, you’ll know that’s one heck of a deal.  The ever-helpful stocker at the store brought me out a full box to take home, so I have 16 12-oz. links sitting in the freezer.  I’m going to crack a couple of those open to go with the roasted root vegetables I didn’t get around to making last week.
reality: Tuesday’s burgers, with coleslaw.

Friday: Macaroni & cheese, from scratch for a change.  I’ve never made a really good one but I’m going to try again.
reality: Thursday’s sausage and root vegetables.  Verdict: meh.  The sausage was fine – though when I make 2 pkgs there’s not nearly enough but I made 3 and there’s easily a whole pkg left in there.  The roasted veg…took me and A an hour to get into the oven, almost an hour to cook, and I didn’t really care for it.  I’ve tried and tried to make myself like sweet potatoes, and I just don’t.  I’ve never liked cooked carrots though these were still crunchy enough to be ok.  The potatoes were fine.  The parsnips were under-done and even the smaller ones that weren’t…weren’t worth all the fuss and hassle to get them in the first place, imo.  I’m trying to eat more produce, and I’m trying to eat things reasonably in season, but this winter stuff is for the birds.  

Saturday: Herb crusted chicken tenders.  Another request, and I’ll probably make some gnocchi I found on sale at the store.
reality: Friday’s mac & cheese.  There was butternut squash puree in with the cheese.  It was good, it was creamy, the kids all liked it, but I think it needed a slightly sharper shredded cheese and less cream cheese.

Sunday: Roasted turkey legs with stuffing.
reality: Friday’s leftover sausage with rice and Thursday’s leftover coleslaw

Emergency Meal (something Chris can cook if necessary): Frito chili pie

Last week’s menu actually went fairly well, all things considered.  When I made new dishes it was fairly successful, and I think I’ll continue this week.

Monday: Ginger Shrimp, snap peas, noodles
reality: Well…I made the shrimp and it was good, and I did rice instead of noodles (frankly because I forgot I’d planned noodles and the recipe itself said rice).  But I also didn’t think I had enough shrimp to go around, so I decided to try marinated tofu to bulk it up…that didn’t go so well.  I won’t be trying it again, but I suppose it was worth a shot.

Tuesday: Buffalo Cheeseburgers, Cheesy Tots, coleslaw
reality: I was out of buffalo so they were sirloin, and I totally forgot about the slaw.  I don’t have many drumsticks for Wednesday so I’ll move the slaw there I think.

Wednesday: Lemony Chicken Legs, roasted potatoes, broccoli
reality: Made as planned…mostly.  I didn’t roast the broccoli plain, I did this.  I also made a small coleslaw for myself.  *I* loved the broccoli, and the kids ate it.  Mom passed on dinner altogether, and Chris hated the broccoli.  I’ll do it again anytime, but he said to warn him first.  Hmph.

Thursday: Love Soup - skipping the jar and going straight to dinner – salad, bread
reality: I re-wrote the recipe for making it fresh, had oatmeal crunch bread, and put pumpkin seeds in the salad to be all fancy. This was probably the most healthy meal I am capable of cooking.

Friday: Chicken Satay, rice, Shaved Carrot and Peanut Salad
reality: I didn’t feel like fighting anyone over peanuts and we had lots of leftovers so I took the lazy way out.

Saturday: Pork Chops with Caramelized Apple-Almond Pesto , stuffing
reality: I was sick all morning and half the afternoon so Chris made an emergency pizza run.

Sunday: Roasted Turkey Breast with Mustard Dill Sauce, Chef Meg’s Roasted Root Vegetables, salad
reality: Friday’s chicken and carrots.  They must’ve had some mutant carrots on the show, because the salad Michael Symon made on The Chew had a big pile of nice big ribbons.  We used 4 carrots (instead of 3), had puny strips, and it was way overdressed with the amount of dressing called for.  Tasty though.

I’m going to try “real” recipes this week. I’m trying to be better in a lot of ways, and healthier dinners is one of them. So here goes…

Monday: Chef Meg’s Orange Chicken (probably subbing grapefruit), rice
reality: I spent the day shopping and really didn’t want to cook, so we all did our own thing and I’ll shift things forward.

Tuesday: Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Dill Sauce (subbing boneless turkey tenderloin), Chef Meg’s Roasted Root Vegetables
reality: Monday’s chicken with mixed results. Mom and B LOVED the grapefruit sauce, I was a little ambivalent, Chris hated it, and the girls didn’t try it. I don’t know what E did or didn’t eat. Anyway, it was the chicken with grapefruit in place of oranges, rice, and mixed greens in a rice wine vinaigrette which may or may not have had some grapefruit in it.

Wednesday: Chef Meg’s Roasted Salmon with Caramelized Apple-Almond Pesto (subbing tilapia – a lot of subbing going on here), egg noodles
reality: Thursday’s Taco Soup

Thursday: Taco Soup (didn’t get to it last week)
reality: Friday’s chicken, but I discovered at the last minute that somehow garlic had escaped my shopping list.  I made it with just the onion and tomatoes, and it was neither spectacular nor horrible.  

Friday: Baked Chicken with Garlic and Sun Dried Tomatoes, whole wheat pasta
reality: We did another ffys (fend for yourself) night.  I’d thawed the fish for Wednesday’s recipe but found a few ingredients missing (I didn’t shop well, apparently) and didn’t want to mess with it.

Saturday: hamburgers (have to do something “normal” before I have mutiny on my hands), Cheesy Quik Taters
reality: Almost totally off-track.  I went to make Wed’s fish (with tilapia), but realized I’d missed a couple of key ingredients while shopping.  So I pan-seared the fish and made corn pudding and mixed veg.  One of these days I’ll remember that I don’t like fish.

Sunday: Still up in the air, maybe pizza or something easy, I’ll be shopping again that day.

I’ve been slacking during the holidays – who hasn’t, right?  Anyway, January’s here and I’m getting back on track.

Monday:
sweet & sour pork stir-fry & rice
reality: as-is

Tuesday:
cheeseburgers & tots
reality: went out to eat, which turned out to be a colossally bad idea

Wednesday:
meatloaf & baked potatoes
reality: Tuesday’s burgers

Thursday:
turkey ? I have boneless breasts and legs.
reality: thought I’d do Saturday’s soup, but ended up with Frito chili pie

Friday:
tilapia & couscous
reality: Sunday’s chicken kiev with tonight’s couscous

Saturday:
Taco Soup
reality: bbq pork sandwiches

Sunday:
Chicken Kiev
reality: grilled cheese and tomato soup

2 things first: Yes, it’s Tuesday, and last week was a record.  I actually made every meal on the plan, on the days they were scheduled!  I don’t believe that’s ever happened before.  So yay me.

Monday:
This is cheating, because I’m writing the menu after the fact: tilapia with tortellini
reality: I made the rest of the fish from Saturday with some tortellini and the rest of the meat sauce from Sunday.

Tuesday:
turkey breast medallions with pasta salad
reality:

Wednesday:
kids gone – split pea soup
reality:

Thursday:
cheeseburgers
reality:

Friday:
sweet & sour pork
reality:

Saturday:
beef roast with Yorkshire pudding
reality:

Sunday:
taco pie
reality:

We’ve got stuff going on this week, but mostly in the daytime so the dinner schedule is largely unaffected.

Monday:
Let’s clear out the freezer of single-serve dishes; pot pies, individual entrees, small packages of mini-corndogs, hot pockets and burgers, etc.
reality: Everyone found their own and made a little room in the freezers.

Tuesday:
It’s St. Nicholas Day, the day we try to get the tree put up.  I’m torn between not cooking because we’re doing that and doing something special because we’re doing that.  For now I’ll put down ham but maybe switch it later.
reality: I did make ham, but nothing fancy about it.

Wednesday:
The kids have church that night but no choir, which means eating dinner on the early side and feeding everyone.  Soup sounds good – taco soup.
reality: Taco soup went over well.

Thursday:
Cheeseburgers as decreed last week, even though we didn’t actually follow through last week.
reality: Cheeseburgers as planned…I’m on a roll.

Friday:
Ham leftovers, or the ham itself if I didn’t make it Tuesday.
reality: Ham, with some mac & cheese and free artichokes that came in the mail – how cool is that?

Saturday:
Lemon Garlic Tilapia & couscous – come hell or high water I’m making this this week.
reality: I made it – not everyone ate it, but I made it.

Sunday:
Spaghetti & meat sauce.
reality: Oddly enough, without knowing this was on here, Chris volunteered to make this same meal Sunday morning.

Thanksgiving is over and company is gone, back to our regular programming.

I have so many burger patties of various types in the freezer I think I might as well make one day a week Cheeseburger Day.  Let’s call it Thursday.

Monday
I made turkey stock yesterday, so I’ll use that to make this: Homemade Potato Soup
reality: I got a different recipe and tweaked it but basically had potato soup.

Tuesday
Tamale Pie
reality: I didn’t look at the recipe closely and neglected to buy milk in a timely fashion.  Tuesday becomes Wednesday, and vice versa.

Wednesday
leftovers
reality: grownups did our own thing, kids were gone

Thursday
Newly appointed Cheeseburger Day.
reality: Tuesday’s tamale pie

Friday
Lemon Garlic Tilapia has been shunted now for two weeks.  Good thing it’s frozen fish.
reality: leftovers – fridge is emptied of those now

Saturday
The ham dinner I planned last week.
reality: pizza

Sunday
leftovers
reality: Thursday’s hamburgers (out of cheese)