my lunch today
It’s a busy week at our house this week. I’m finishing up the final edits for my book (I’m so excited that it’s almost done!), my husband has this big legal case he’s involved in, and we’re hosting a bridal shower for a special couple at our house on Saturday (There are 60-75 people coming, so it’s the biggest event we’ve hosted in our home so far!). At any rate, we’re mostly eating from the freezer this week to keep things simple.
Breakfasts
Granola bars, fruit
Peanut butter & homemade jam sandwiches
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies
Scrambled eggs and toast, fruit
Oatmeal, Blueberry Ginger Smoothie
Fried egg sandwiches, fruit
Pancakes, scrambled eggsLunches
Leftovers
Salad with hard boiled eggs, peaches
Peanut butter & homemade jam sandwiches, fruit, carrots
Macaroni & Cheese, peas
Refried beans with cheese & salad, fruit
Tuna salad sandwiches, fruit, carrots
LeftoversSnacks
Banana Almond Smoothie
Toaster pastries
Banana Cocoa Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Fruit/VeggiesDinners
Dinner at friend’s house (we brought salad toppings for a salad bar)
Build-Your-Own Haystacks, fruit
Crockpot Barbecue Chicken, Bread Machine Bread Sticks, green salad, fruit
Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken, fruit, Bread Machine Bread Sticks, green salad
Hamburgers, Oven Baked Parmesan Seasoned Fries, steamed veggies, fruit
Asian Barbecue Chicken, rice, steamed veggies, fruit salad
Dinner at extended family’s houseFreezer-Cooking-In-An-Hour Plan (I’ll share pictures/details on how this goes on Thursday!)
Homemade Pancake Mix
Honey Pizza Dough
Fruit Crisp Topping
Did you make a menu plan this week? If so, I’d love to have you share your link in the comments.
Aisha says
Hey Crystal,
What was your seating arrangement for 60 -75 people? I am having a baby shower at my home and wondering how to seat people.
Thanks!
Crystal says
It’s kind of hard to explain in writing, but it was basically just arched rows with a center aisle–as many as we could squeeze into the basement!
Martha Artyomenko says
Hope your bridal shower goes well! We have had some large group showers, and just did a bridal shower which I posted about on my blog with some pictures of the food.
http://homeschoolblogger.com/martha/784000/
We had cupcakes, chicken salad in cream puffs, veggie pizza, stuffed eggs, lemon roll, homemade soft pretzel bites, old fashioned taffy and gum, old fashioned soda pops in glass bottles, tea and water with lime slices.
Rachel says
Oh- Will the book be ready for Relevant? I would wait in line for an autograph! 🙂 {HUGS}
Crystal says
Unfortunately, it’s not going to be out until January 12, 2012. There are so many steps to publishing a book, it’s crazy! Can’t wait to meet you at Relevant!
Ellen says
I wanted to try to freeze this, thaw, heat and eat before I wrote about it. We ate it from the freezer last night and it was sooooo yummy that I am ready to share. 🙂
It is a chicken pot pie that only has a top crust of honey corn bread. So, I made the bottom and froze it then mixed up the easy honey corn bread to pour on top the day I cooked it and it was great! It is a recipe from the Mayo Clinic site with lots of veggies, I used chicken, not turkey. Here is the link:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/RE00013
andrea- says
Yesss. I made one 🙂 I got this great idea today to use a blank header as a “template” to make up a menu planner that I can fill in (I just rotated it so it looks like a notepad).. im obsessed with lists having to be cute.. so im super excited about it! I like how you have things in groups by lunch dinners ect.. more options that way! bravo 🙂
Cara Ivey says
I feel so unmotivated this week. I’m having to force myself to stick with the menu I planned! But tonight is my baking night and oh boy am I excited!
Dinner:
Mango Sweet Potato Chicken
Asian chicken and fried brown rice
Turkey meatballs and baked Ziti
Turkey killet dinner
Italian Crockpot chicken and Broccoli w/ zucchini
Breakfast for Dinner (such a HUGE hit last time)
Cheeze Nip chicken w/ sweet potato fries (Needed to find a way to use up all those cheeze nips I got on clearance)
Baking Night:
Overnight Cinnamon rolls
Blueberry pancakes for freezer
Cherry Freezer Jam
Amish Oatmeal Bake
Energy Bites
Some kind of muffin or bread for snacks
Cara Ivey says
Oh, we tried out the Haystacks last week and boy was that a hit!! The kids looked at me in disbelief when I told them how we were going to put together our own dinners at the table!! Of course it turned into a contest of who could make the highest MOUNTAIN of food… But they ate it all!! Thanks for the fun family dinner idea!!
Crystal says
So glad you all enjoyed it! Love the competition aspect. 🙂
Heather says
That salad looks good! Do I see avocado??
I hit a homerun with this easy pasta:
http://thirtythreemom.com/2011/07/25/simple-recipe-greek-pasta-salad/
It’s great for the heat wave.
BTW – CONGRATS on the book! I can’t wait to buy it!
kj says
I made something new this week. I only had a little of the baking mix (from your site) left, not enough for cinnamon rolls. So I added the milk to make a dough, then kneaded in brown sugar and raisins, rolled it out and cut biscuits out of it. Really good, quick and used up the rest of the baking mix. (Then I had to make more, of course, because I am now used to it being in my fridge.) 🙂
Crystal says
Oh, what a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Tammy @ Skinny Mom's Kitchen says
Your salad looks gorgeous! I love a good salad in the summer.
I am also so busy with everything summer making it hard to put together a menu plan for this week. Because I did not get to make everything on last weeks I am referring back to it. The big thing I am still focusing on is calories and portion control because these last 5 pounds are being mighty stubborn 🙂
Here is a link to my menu plan from last week.
http://www.skinnymomskitchen.com/2011/07/18/weekly-healthy-weight-loss-menu-plan/
Margaret says
I’ve got a hectic week here, too (my son’s birthday is this weekend, plus, I’m also hosting a bridal shower on Sunday…and both of these events are two hours away where my family lives). So we are doing alot of easy meals. I found a new crock pot recipe that i’ve got in right now for tonight…frozen chicken breasts, one can rotel, one can black beans (drained), 1 cup frozen corn and one package of cream cheese. I’m going to shred the chicken up and serve this over tortilla chips with shredded cheese tonight. I love meals that I can just dump ingredients in and wait for it to cook itself 🙂
Elizabeth says
Crystal, I would also love to hear more about the shower! They can be tricky to plan without spending a fortune.
Cara Ivey says
I’d love to hear more about it too! Will you be making “Mocktails”?
Making My Own Luck says
I haven’t made pizza in a long time. I’ll have to add it for next week. My 3 year old son has been loving helping me get dinner ready so that will be a fun project. Last night he prepped the string beans all by himself and didn’t do too bad — much better than my DH would have done! I was impressed. Here’s my meal plan for the week:
http://cookingluck.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-happy-to-be-back-from-vacation-menu.html
Mel says
Your salad looks so yummy!! I’m out of tomatoes today, but they’re on the grocery list…I may have a similar salad tomorrow. ; )
Shelby says
I love the Build Your Own Haystack! My three-year-old would love it because of the name.
Here is our menu for the week: http://womworkingmom.blogspot.com/2011/07/wom-meals-this-weeks-menu.html
T says
Crystal, can you share your menu for the shower? I would love to know how to feed a crowd on a budget. Thanks and have a good time.
Crystal says
We’re still tweaking it, but I think we’re doing cheesecakes, cheesecake bites, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a fruit tray. For drinks, we’re doing coffee, mocha, and raspberry iced tea.
Lynette Parker says
I was wondering do you pack a lunch for your husband, because that can add to a grocery bill.
Crystal says
I don’t pack lunches for my husband anymore. I did for years when we were on a really tight budget, but now that we have some more wiggle room, he has a cash lunch budget to use however he chooses (usually using coupons or Groupons for a restaurant). This is working well for our family at this season of our lives.
Jenny says
Would you mind hosting the details of your bridal shower event when its over? What you served? How you prepared? A special series on entertaining large crowds perhaps? Where you can cut back and what some ideas for good splurges might be?
We have never had that many people before…usually we cap it around 2 dozen which is enormous and costly for us. Any ideas on how you pulled it off and what you would or wouldnt do differently would be very interesting!
Enjoy the party!
Jenny
Crystal says
We’ll wait and see how it goes before I do a series! I’m hosting another smaller baby shower next week, too, so once I recover from the two events, I’ll see if I have any tips to share! 🙂
Lisette says
We tried the crockpot bbq chicken last night, and we thought it was great! Thanks for the recipe!
Leah says
I am a little late getting this up because yesterday afternoon was spent making chicken broth using the leftovers from last weeks lemon herb crockpot chicken, and homemade spicy garlic dill pickles.
Monday- cedar planked grilled salmon, ranch spinach pasta salad- This was a god send considering my husband was working late and an overly emotional almost 2 year old! The pasta salad was made that afternoon so all I had to do was put the salmon on the grill for 8 min!
Tuesday- my Mom’s meatloaf, mashed potatoes, grannie style cream corn (from the food network)
Wednesday- Healthy Eggplant Parmesan (baked not fried in oil), spaghetti, and a vegetable of some sort
Thursday- Kielbasa, pierogies, and vegetable
Friday- dinner and a movie with my husband
Cara Ivey says
We love Keilbasa and Pierogi in our house!! We grill them then put them over an Arugala salad with a grainy mustard vinagrette!! YUMMY!!!
Tiffany says
Great menu!! 🙂 Here is the link to mine: http://healthynbalanced.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/menu-plan-for-725-731/
Ashlee Guerra says
Great menu and definitely agree about keeping things easy – I had never heard of freezer cooking (at least not to the extent that you do it) until your blog – sure I froze leftovers here and there but now I too know how to plan for a busy week (or month)! Thank you.
Here is my menu plan: http://ashofalltrades.blogspot.com/2011/07/meal-plan-july-24-30th.html
Jessie Brown says
Here’s our menu for the week:
http://tjandjessie.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2270&action=edit&message=6
Amber says
Hey hun I just wanted to let you know you might wanna repost your link. I clicked on it and it asked me to login but I erased everything after .com and got to your site. I’ve even bookmarked it! 🙂 Gotta love getting new ideas for dinners from everyone here. 😀
Denise says
We have no a/c either, altho in Maine it hasn’t been as bad as other places. My kids have been thrilled w/ fruit smoothies and toast for breakfast. Even simple things like applesauce and graham crackers. And, thank goodness for the crock pot..I’m surprised it’s still running after this last week. And the bread maker 🙂 Right now we’re getting the prettiest sounding rain I’ve ever heard!
Vicky says
Denise, I like the sound of rain too. I always think, free car wash! 🙂
Cara Ivey says
My Huband and I just moved to Texas from Rockland!! Do me a favor, next time you see the ocean, or a rugged lobsterman, or breath in the fresh summer air, send some of that love my way!! We miss it terribly! Maine is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.
Michelle @ Simplify, Live, Love says
Here’s my menu and freezer cooking plan. My garden is really starting to produce now so I planned to maximize homegrown freshness! I also need to keep adding to my freezer stash for quick meals once school starts, so I’ve included that plan, too. Here’s our menu:
http://www.simplifylivelove.com/2011/07/july-menu-part-4-freezer-cooking-plan.html
Ashley says
I wanted to try the crockpot BBQ Chicken this week 🙂
We’ve also got lots of left overs in the fridge and freezer:
Enchilada Meatloaf, BBQ meatloaf, steak fajitas, spaghetti and gnocci and sauce, and fruit smoothies, cinnamon rolls and brownie banana waffels in the freezer for breakfast.
Jodi Hitchcock says
Given the heat wave we are having… and no central air to keep us cool, we have been eating lots of easy, grilled and quick meals (who wants to be stuck in the house over a stove during the best hours of the day?!). This is our dinner menu plan for the week and includes lots of freezer cooking as well!
Monday- Taco Salads
Tuesday- Grilled Cajun Chicken Sandwiches (using marinated freezer chicken) and green salad
Wednesday- Grilled steak (using marinated freezer steak), grilled potatoes and corn
Thursday- Cube steak sandwiches (a treat for my step daughter who has been begging me to make them!), fries and green salad
Friday- Dinner at a friends house
Saturday- My high school reunion (woo-hoo, no cooking for two nights in a row!)
Sunday- Pesto Chicken Pasta and Asparagus
Visit my cooking/kitchen blog for some of my fun, family and budget friendly recipes! With 5 kids at home, that is the only way I can do it :-). Fyi, I have not been posting much for the summer but will pick back up when it cools off and I start cooking more! Enjoy!
http://thisisjodiskitchen.blogspot.com/
PS… this is my favorite blog! Even on my busiest Mama days I always check through to see what has been posted that day! Keep it up and CONGRATS on the book!
Crystal says
Thanks so much for your kind encouragement. But no A/C in this heat?!?! I feel for you!
Emily says
It’s a little cooler here – thank goodness! We are very busy – I am directing VBS at our church and it starts in 2 weeks, so I am in crunch time now! Alas, I’ll still need to have dinner on the table every night {what would my husband do without me?!} 😉
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/07/menu-plan-724.html
We had a yummy chicken & rice dish with homemade cheese sauce tonight (I invented it!). I’m also planning on GF pizza, meatballs, Chicken Enchilada dip (super easy and delicious), and a few meals on the grill (done by hubby, of course!).
Nicole says
Lol, that’s what you had for lunch today? No wonder you are super slim and gorgeous. 🙂
BethB says
I had the same thought! I’m trying to lose a bit of weight and work on my eating issues so it helps me seeing what Thin People eat. Although I gotta tell you, if I ate that for lunch I’d be hungry 30 minutes later! 🙂
Becky Sosa says
Love your menu heres mine.
Just Dinners. Lunch and Breakfast are not very eventful. Well neither is dinner.
Tuna Melts and Sun CHips
Beef and Rice cassarole
BBQ on a bun
Chicken and dumplings (chicken in the crock pot. Dumplings made from biscut dough added last twenty to thirty minutes of cooking).
verde mexican cassarole.
BBQ chicken quesadillas.
Sara@Save Money, Live Joyfully says
We hosted a party for 55 over the weekend, so I know no matter how far you plan in advance (I started in April), the last week is still SO hectic. Good luck getting everything done with a minimum of stress 🙂
This week I’m finally getting back on track with my menu. Since we haven’t gotten a new freezer yet, I need to check the meat prices for the week to make sure what I need is on sale, but I plan to make Homemade Chicken Taquitos with Black Beans, Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce, and Egg and Potato Breakfast Hash with Chicken Sausage. The entire menu is here: http://www.savemoneylivejoyfully.com/2011/07/weekly-menu-july-25-30.html
Jamie - delicious-nutritious.blogspot.com says
I mixed up half a batch of one of the pizza dough options from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day yesterday and we enjoyed our best pizza dough yet. We will have another homemade pizza next weekend with the rest of the dough and even some Algerian Flatbread this week with our stuffed summer squash. This week we will be eating left-overs or PB&J for lunch all week. Here is our menu: http://delicious-nutritious.blogspot.com/2011/07/this-weeks-meal-plan-7252011.html