Jesse’s had a really heavy case load at his law firm recently so he’s been working a lot of extra hours the last few weeks. So we were so happy to have him home over the fourth of July weekend. We slept in and just enjoyed relaxing family time for three whole days. It was so nice — and we were was sad when the extended weekend was over. Now it’s back to real-life again!
Breakfasts
Blueberry Pancakes, scrambled eggs
Oatmeal
Fruit Smoothies
Scrambled eggs and toast, fruit
French Toast, fruit
Fruit Smoothies
Scones, fruit, scrambled eggsLunches
Lunch out
Salad with hard boiled eggs, bagels, fruit
Homemade mac & cheese, fruit, peas
Mini pizzas, salad, fruit
Refried beans with cheese and rice, carrot sticks, fruit
Leftovers x 2Snacks
Watermelon Frosties
Homemade Smoothie Popsicles
Fruit/VeggiesBuild-Your-Own Haystacks
Dinners
Dinner with extended family (we brought watermelon)
Dinner with extended family (we brought the meat for grilling)
Build-Your-Own Haystacks, fruit
Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit (Jesse’s working late, so I’m making a simple dinner for the children and me.)
Cheese Quesadillas (Jesse’s working late, so I’m making a simple dinner for the children and me.)
Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken, fruit, Bread Machine Bread Sticks
Steak, fruit, tossed salad, Oven Baked Parmesan FriesFreezer-Cooking-In-An-Hour Plan (I’ll share pictures/details on how this goes on Thursday!)
Bread Machine Bread Sticks
Lemon Garlic Marinated Chicken
Pancakes
What’s on your menu this week? If you’ve blogged about it, I’d love for you to share your menu plan link in the comments.
sabrina petee says
I keep seeing “build your own haystacks” on your menu’s what is the recepie for this this.
thanks\
sabrina
Crystal says
I’m posting it this afternoon! 🙂
Amanda says
I tried both the lemon garlic chicken and the breadstick recipes for dinner tonight. They are both incredibly good! Thanks for sharing the recipe links.
Terri says
I love looking at other people’s meal plans– I’m glad to see so many other people do, too! 🙂 I go easy when my hubby is working a lot, but if I have the energy I like to go ahead & cook the big meal then freeze the left-overs. May as well get ahead when I can, right?
Tomorrow I plan to spend $40.55 (feeding the family for approx. $13.51 per person). Here’s my meal plan & grocery list: http://housewifery101.net/meal-plan-july-10-16
Leah says
Would you mind sending me the recipe for the build your own haystacks? It looks awesome and I’m sure delicious.
Evie says
I am with you on easy meals. My husband leaves for India in less than a week. He will be gone for three weeks, so I am doing OMAC cooking this week so that I do not have to cook as much while he is gone.
I am using the watermelon frosty idea and your southwest roll ups.
I am making a to die for Corn Cake.. but not sure how it will turn cause I opted for a lower calorie one since the original recipe was 800 calories (not good for my ever thickening figure)
Here is the link to my blog
http://raviandevie.blogspot.com/2011/07/menu-plan-monday-oamc-version.html
Liz @ Wonder Woman I'm Not says
This is the first time in quite a while that I actually did a menu for the week. Nothing to fancy but here it is:
http://wonderwomanimnot.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekly-menu-plan.html
Thanks for the link up
Sarah H says
Here’s our simple, recovering from a weekend away, menu for this week.
http://feedmyfamily.blogspot.com/2011/07/menu-7-4.html
Maggie says
YUM! This is an eating out of the pantry week for us (which means I can put off my grocery shopping until friday when the hubs can go with me and tag team with the kiddo while I shop). Somehow, I have three packages of tortillas I’ve got to use up this week. Here’s my menu:
http://thebeardedfamily.blogspot.com/2011/07/whats-cooking-wednesday.html
Emily says
We are moving on Friday, so this is a crazy week for us. It got even crazier when a church member passed away on Monday night, so now there’s a funeral on Sat., (and my husband is the pastor!). I am keeping things simple, but I can’t wait to have a fully-functioning kitchen again!!
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/07/menu-plan-73.html
Brianne says
Crystal, would you be willing to share the recipe for “Build Your Own Haystacks?”
Anne @ Modern Mrs Darcy says
My 8-year-old has been complaining about too many salads! So I’m using a more manly menu for this week:
http://modernmrsdarcy.com/2011/04/cooking-for-men-and-boys/
Meredith says
LOL!!! Seriously – I laughed SO hard when I read your little soup conversation! That has happened around here enough times that I started offering up that whatever they’d like to make sandwiches with from the fridge to go w/their soup was fine by me. I do soup once a week, and it is often w/o meat as a budget stretcher – and they have made it (quietly) clear that they’re not huge fans of it, but they’re on board now, so I’m thankful for that. 😉
Nony (A Slob Comes Clean) says
Our menu includes quite a bit of FREE food that my mother sent home with us from an extended family get-together for the 4th! Love it! (My menu plan post also includes a tutorial of my method for freezing ground beef in meal-sized portions.)
http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2011/07/how-i-freeze-ground-beef-in-meal-sized-portions/
Love watermelon frosties! That was my favorite drink to order when I lived in Thailand. It’s a year-round treat there!
Trish Conard says
Simple meals are the best, although I usually struggle more when it comes to planning what to eat when my husband is away than I do when he is present.
http://paconard.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-weekly-menu.html
Jody says
I see for lunch a lot you have beans rice and cheese! How exactly do you prepare and serve them? Sounds like a yummy healthy lunch! Thanks Chrystal!
Carrie @ My Favorite Finds says
Thanks for sharing your menu. My husband is a bi vocational pastor-in other words, he is a pastor AND works outside of that. Since he doesn’t get home until after 8 and is ready to eat dinner, I make sure we have a “simple” meal that will result in something left for him to eat. If I don’t plan for the kids and I to eat something decent :), then we end up having pasta, breakfast for dinner, or just whatever. We don’t eat as healthy, and then my husband doesn’t really have much to eat when he gets home.
Here’s my menu this week: http://myfavoritefinds.blogspot.com/2011/07/menu-plan-week-of-july-3.html
Anyway, planning snacks is helpful for me, too. I use it more as a reference for what I have on hand, and to make sure the kids have a variety of foods to snack on. It also helps me use some of the snackies I have in a stockpile or the produce we have.
Have a great week!
Sarah says
http://koshymommy.blogspot.com/
I’m just starting a new blog – check out this week’s menu plan!
Liz says
I’ve always wondered…when you list “snacks,” are those the snacks you make sure you have available, or do your children end up eating other stuff in addition to what you list like crackers or yogurt or popsicles or cookies? I don’t normally give my children choices for meals, but I do for snacks. And sometimes it feels like I list 10 options and they don’t want anything we have on hand. Now that it’s summer, they usually are too busy playing outside to snack, but I usually bring messy things like Ritz crackers outside so the mess stays outdoors. Love that about summer!
karla says
We’ve enjoyed your smoothie recipes several days this summer. They boys especially love the chocolate one! I can’t wait to try the watermelon frosties and the breadstick recipe looks great too. I’m excited to have so more recipes to try this week. Thanks for all you do!
Ginger says
http://onedayatatime-ginger.blogspot.com/2011/07/menu-plan-week-of-july-4.html
I’m doing an Eating from the Pantry Challenge, so here’s my plan for the week.
Meredith says
This is my plan for the week for our family – I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I actually make it to the store(s) to pick up the few fresh things we need, that I make everything I have listed, and that I don’t lose my mind in the process. Pregnant, on bed rest, five year old in tow, and now sick with some kind of head cold. Really really really not a good combo. 🙁 Last night we just did leftovers from a friend who brought us supper on Friday, thankfully tonight was slated to be a soup I already had made and had extra of in the freezer, tomorrow is Broccoli Chicken Casserole I (allrecipes.com). Thursday is Chicken Parmesan, Friday is take-out night, Saturday is my husband’s night to cook and will be brupper. Sunday is Marinated Grilled Shrimp (allrecipes.com). Looking back over the list I’m most worried about getting the two chicken dishes made… that’s only two dishes – I can do it – right?! LOL
Amber says
You can! lol, I was on bed rest with both of my pregnancies. Hang in there. :0) Hugs!
Meredith says
Thanks Amber! Oh – I was hoping I wouldn’t be on bed rest with this one too, but, man makes plans… 😉 We’ve come through it pretty well with the help of friends – family is all in FL (and we’re in CO) – but I could SO do without this head cold right now. Waiting to hear back from the doc about meds… if I can just shake this I’ll be so so so grateful. 😀
Amber says
I totally sympathize! We are blessed to have a lot of family around. I seriously don’t know what we would have done without them. Plus it’s miserable when you can’t take your normal stuff to feel better! I missed my advil when I was pregnant! 😉
[email protected] says
I want to try the Watermelon Frosties, but the kids keep eating all the watermelon!
Here’s our $100 Budget Menu (for six including three teens!):
http://thepeacefulmom.com/2011/07/01/100-budget-weekly-menu-7111/
and here’s my daughters Gluten Free Menu:
http://simpleglutenfree.net/2011/07/05/simple-gluten-free-weekly-menu-74/
Thanks for the link up!
Michelle @ Simplify, Live, Love says
Those oven fries look great!
We had baked salmon tonight with dill, tomatoes, and green onions from my garden! We also ate kohlrabi from the garden too. I’m sad because that’s the last of it already. Next year I’ll have to plant more.
Here’s our menu for the week:
http://www.simplifylivelove.com/2011/07/july-menu-part-1.html
Claire says
Glad to see that I’m not the only one who does easy meals when the Hubby is gone!
Erin @ Gourmet Frugality says
I’m glad I’m not the only one that makes simple dinners when my husband isn’t around to eat with us. 🙂
Thanks for the idea with the homemade smoothie popsicles! I make smoothies everyday but it’s been difficult getting my 2-year-old to drink them the past few weeks. I bet I would have no trouble if they were made into popsicles!
Jamie - delicious-nutritious.blogspot.com says
I would hope that most moms take a break when hubby is not around. I know I do!
We love the smoothie popsicles too – I got that one from The Kid Friendly Eat Clean Book, glad to see others doing it too. I adapted last week’s healthy chunky monkey ice cream to make a chunky monkey milkshake for a snack this week. It was delicious! We have lots of great veggies coming from our CSA, so here is our menu for the week. http://delicious-nutritious.blogspot.com/2011/07/this-weeks-meal-plan-742011.html
Keely Brand says
I would love to have the recipe for the haystacks, please. if you dont mind. 🙂 Looks delicious!
Jessie Brown says
http://tjandjessie.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/menu-plan-18/
Emily says
I make chicken similar to the lemon garlic chicken. I use Rachel Ray’s Greek Grilled Chicken recipe and serve it with lettuce, veggies, and pitas. It is very good! I do not use the extra marinade as a dressing for the pita wraps, I substitute Italian dressing. http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=156
Frugal Momma @ Live Joyfully says
Simple Dinners when Daddy’s working late are a Mom’s best friend =) Glad you had the chance to spend some family time together this weekend!
We had crock pot taco chicken tonight, with veggies from the garden–very good and easy. Just Rotel, (I used a can of diced tomatoes and a can of diced green chilis instead), Taco Seasoning, and Chicken. It was delicious!
I’m also making my famous Italian Sausage, Spinach, and 3-Cheese Stuffed Shells, and Grilled Steak Gyros…
The whole menu is here: http://www.savemoneylivejoyfully.com/2011/07/menu-for-week-july-3-9-2011.html