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Home » Crystal Paine » This Week’s Really Simple Menu

This Week’s Really Simple Menu

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Well, I hardly ended up doing much of any baking last week. Our A/C has been having some issues which has meant we’re not running it as much until we can get it fixed. Even though it was a cooler week last week, I still wasn’t feeling in the mood for heating up the house any more than it already was!

{As an aside, if you’re experiencing a/c problems or have no a/c or just need a great reminder of how blessed we are, be sure to read Amy’s post called Ninety-Four Degrees. Such good food for thought!}

So I think I’m going to probably postpone most baking ideas for now… but Fall will be here before we know it!

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Omelets, Cereal, Eggs, Peanut Butter Toast, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch {Veggies, cheese, yogurt, fruit, crackers}
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Boiled eggs
Smoothies

Dinners

Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit
Salad with sliced chicken (baked in the crockpot) and cheese, fruit
Grilled fish, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, fruit
Hamburgers, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, fruit salad
Dinner on the road — sandwiches, chips, fruit, carrots
Dinner out x 2 {While we’re traveling.}

What’s on your menu this week? Tell us in the comments or leave a link to your menu plan post.

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  1. Nicola says

    I always plug our slow cooker in outside on the patio. I hate heating up the house in Summer. In winter it is lovely though 🙂

  2. Michele ºÜº says

    I’d heard about making mashed potatoes in the crock pot before but most of what I’d seen had you making them and then just keeping them in the crock pot on warm until dinner time but that didn’t seem worth dirtying up my crock pot for.

    Then I found THIS recipe: http://pinterest.com/pin/154670568423889545/ and it is amazing! Just put washed gold potatoes, water, and butter in the crock pot and let it cook. When it is time to eat they are super easy to mash (adding milk and salt). It makes a lot, so you’d have plenty for both nights.

    I put these in the crock pot before church one Sunday and sticky chickens in the oven. DELICIOUS!!!

    I saw someone else recommend baking potatoes in the crock pot. I have done this as well, just wash them and put them in. Makes for a good potato bar dinner.

    Here’s the direct link the the site for the crock pot mashed potatoes:
    http://www.pincookie.com/mashed-potatoes-in-a-crock-pot-life-changing/

  4. Kimberly says

    I see you’ve got mashed potatoes on the menu a couple times. If you want a change of pace, I saw on Pinterest that you can cook baked potatoes in the crockpot too! I don’t have a handy link, but a quick search on Pinterest would give you the info.

  5. Heather says

    One thing that I’m doing tonight is cooking two types of meat on the grill, steak for tonight’s dinner and chicken for tomorrow’s dinner, salad with sliced chicken.

  6. Deanna says

    Hooray for simple! Some weeks I need that more than others. 🙂 I haven’t done anything too complicated since before our little guy was born 7 weeks ago.

  7. lynn says

    My oven bit the dust a few weeks ago, so we have been having ovenless meals too 🙂 The broiler still works so I have been using that, the range top, and the crockpot. I am holding out until the end of this month/start of next when the “new” models come out and every will be getting rid of the old.

  11. Christine says

    We have a swamp cooler, and we live in AZ where it’s been getting up to 110 outside (92 inside if we’re lucky). I don’t even like to use my stove top in the summer because the flames from the gas stove heat up the kitchen!! We eat a lot of sandwiches, grilled foods, microwaved leftovers, and crockpot meals… and drink lots of water and have fans everywhere!!

  12. Jessica M says

    Our kitchen has very poor circulation, so I try to avoid using my oven during the summer.

    Last night I made a great oven/stove-less meal that I was really pleased with.
    I made a taco salad:
    lettuce, tomatoes, can of kidney beans, grated cheese, black olives all tossed with italian dressing and topped with crushed tortilla chips and taco lentils (a cup of dried lentils in a microwave safe covered dish, with plenty of water and taco seasoning, microwaved until soft)
    microwaved frozen corn
    tortilla chips (with salsa, or as nachos with cheese and lentils on them)

    It was a very simple, very yummy meal which we enjoyed eating in a cool kitchen 🙂

  15. amber says

    Hope you get your air fixed soon. The first meal on my dinner is also pancakes, eggs and fruit!

  17. Patti says

    You could set up your crock pot or toaster oven on the patio or in the garage. It really helps when it is hot. We used to live in a very hot part of the country.
    Patti

  18. Sarah says

    Are you still eating your large salad for lunch every day? Just curious if you are still feeling better on your new eating plan. I like “simple.”

    • Crystal says

      Yes, I’m still doing so… It makes me feel so much better and I can tell a big difference if I’m not eating big salads every day! I’ve been feeling so great recently and am very thankful to have health & energy!

      • Marie says

        I know you’ve said you don’t use salad dressing, but I was wondering what kind of salads you make? What do you put in it?

        • Crystal says

          Lettuce/greens, whatever veggies we have on hand, sometimes cheese, a little meat, dried fruit or nuts… it varies from day to day!

      • Sarah says

        Yea! I’m so happy it’s helped you to feel better. I have had too much going on that has prevented me from getting my daily salad for awhile and can tell the difference, even though I am drinking raw juices. I think my body needs both and really craves the good stuff.

        Why don’t you use salad dressing? Just curious. There is no name-brand store-bought dressing we’ve found without additives we don’t want, so I make ours at home. We use extra virgin olive oil and Bragg’s raw apple cider vinegar as the “base”.

        I have not yet perfected a honey-mustard version yet, that is not too sweet. If anyone knows how to make Houston’s honey mustard salad dressing, I would be indebted to you! I found a couple of copycat recipes, but the result did not taste the same.

        • Crystal says

          I sometimes will have dressing on the side at restaurants, but at home, I just eat my salad without dressing. Why? Well, because I stopped using dressing awhile back (maybe because I hadn’t found any good deals on it and we didn’t have any on hand?) and I just found I didn’t miss it. So long as I have eggs, nuts, or avocado or something else flavorful on the salad, I don’t miss the dressing at all.

            • Nicole says

              as long as i have enough “wet” ingredients, i dont use salad dressing either. avacado’s, eggs, tomatos, olives, meat, etc are what i consider “wet’ ingredients.

    • Crystal says

      We’re supposed to get it fixed today — hopefully! We had a much cooler week last week than usual which was a great blessing!