Menus Archives - Eat at Home

Real Life and Meal Planning – New Plans for May 6

May 5, 2013 by Tiffany

I wrote this post quite a few days early, but I went back and added the photo of Peter and me on Sunday. We’ve had a lot going on this week. Most of it involved getting ready for my son’s graduation ceremony and party on Saturday.

It’s hard to believe how fast a kid can go from being a 9 year old, playing on his first soccer team to an 18 year old and graduating from high school!

Both of my sons were also in a high school musical performance of West Side Story on Thursday and Friday. All their grandparents came in to see the play Friday night and then graduation Saturday.

Consequently, dinner has been a simple affair around here this week. One night, it was just my youngest and I for dinner. I opened a can of soup and served it over rice with a pretzel roll on the side. Just enough for the two of us!

Another night, I made a quick meal of ravioli before we all rushed out in different directions for dress rehearsals and soccer practices.

I’m looking forward to working with a planned menu again next week! The good thing is, since I shop regularly, the pantry is stocked. That means there are things I can use to quickly pull dinner together. We can still eat at home, even very simply. It’s nice to avoid running through the drive through when the schedule gets crazy. Especially, if the schedule is crazy multiple nights in a row!

Here’s a sneak peek at this week’s meal plans. You can find out more about how to get them delivered to your inbox by clicking here. We did add a new feature starting with today’s plans - the grocery lists are now color coded so that you can tell which ingredient goes with which meal. We hope you’ll like this new detail!

Traditional Plan

Slow Cooker Plan

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Real Life and Menu Plans – Traditional and Slow Cooker Plans for April 29

April 28, 2013 by Tiffany

Before we get to the real life stuff, I wanted to tell you about a new feature for the Weekly Meal Plans that we’ll be rolling out soon. Starting with the May plans (next week), the grocery lists will be color coded so that you can tell which ingredient goes with which meal. More detailed and more fun!

And big news for our family - our oldest daughter is now engaged! This isn’t exactly a surprise to anyone. We’ve seen it coming for a long time. We’re very happy for her and for our future son-in-law <——How long will it take me to get used to saying that? Any advice for this new stage of life/wedding planning/grown up kids?

This week included lots of recipe testing for me. Quite a few of our dinners were new recipes that I’ll be sharing here on the blog soon. Since I knew I’d be testing new recipes, I didn’t shop with one of the Weekly Meal Plans this time. I have to say, when I shop with the list and the meals are all planned for me I spend less time and less money.

Last Sunday, I made a new slow cooker meal that uses boneless pork chops and 2 other easy ingredients. It was a hit and I can’t wait to share it with you. I also made a simple dish of mashed sweet potatoes that I’ll be sharing soon too.

It’s so nice to come home from church to dinner that is already cooked. Sunday was capped off with a soccer game. It was sunny, but the breeze made it a little chilly for sitting outside.

Monday, we had a variation of one of our favorite 15 minute meals. We love Orange Chicken, but the store was out of orange sauce. I subbed Mandarin sauce and used red pepper and green onions with it. Yum!

Tuesday, I tested another new recipe for the crockpot. I think you will love it as much as we did! It involves beef and pita pockets. So easy and so good!

Wednesday was gray and raining. I decided it was a perfect day to try out a copy-cat Disney recipe for Strawberry Soup. Yum!

I was in a huge rush, trying to write blog posts, put clean sheets on the bed and talk on the phone to my mom about Meredith’s Big News. (Multi-tasking is highly over rated!) The kids came in the kitchen and helped me pull dinner together. I made the Strawberry Soup and photographed it. Peter fixed the biscuits. Meredith made scrambled eggs. And Mia and Isaac set the table and poured drinks. We had it done in record time.

Thursday, I put Chicken Enchilada Soup in the crockpot. It was one that was planned for a few weeks ago, but we didn’t get to it. I love when the meal planning carries over. Even when I don’t stick to the plan, there’s a benefit for the future.

This soup is one that can cook all day long and not be over cooked. And it’s great for when you have to eat in shifts. Since we’re all going in different directions with soccer practices and such, we’ll be eating at different times.

Finally, for my slow cooker fail – Friday night I put a 4 lb. bone-in pork roast in the crockpot to cook all night. On Saturday morning, I realized that it had popped the lid up a bit and the roast was still oozing red from the middle. I was unsure whether this would be safe to serve or not, so I asked on Facebook. After some lively conversation and internet research, I decided I needed to start over with a new roast. So much for getting a head start on the pulled pork for next weekend!

Here’s a sneak peek at this week’s meal plans. You can find out more about how to get them delivered to your inbox by clicking here.

Traditional Plan

Slow Cooker Plan

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Real Life and Meal Planning + Traditional and Slow Cooker Weekly Plans for April 22

April 22, 2013 by Tiffany

This week was crazy. I’ve been working on several big projects, all of which have deadlines around the same time. Throw in a bunch of soccer practices and games, along with the regular stuff and… Well, you know how it is. You’ve lived crazy busy.

As a result, we did not follow the meal plan closely at all. That’s okay. Meal plans are a tool to be used to make life easier. They are not a set of rules that have to be followed.

On Monday, I had a post to write that I also needed to cook for. I made steaks in the middle of the afternoon, some on the grill and some in an iron skillet on the stove. If you’re curious about the outcome and which tastes better, check out the post. So Monday night, we had steak, macaroni and cheese and broccoli.

Tuesday was a real treat! And it included dinner too. We attended a fundraiser for a Bolivia mission at church and got to see Joe Castillo perform. He is a sand artist that appeared on America’s Got Talent. His sand stories and his spoken stories are powerful and profound. Here’s a video of one of his performances.

On Wednesday, we ended up with a YOYO dinner (You’re on Your Own). The boys ate sandwiches early, before heading out to youth group. Jim and Mia also had sandwiches. I had book club at a new restaurant in town called Coba. The atmosphere in the restaurant is unique and fun. Check out this photo I took of the floor to ceiling jelly fish tank.

The food at Coba is good, but not a match to the atmosphere. The do serve gelato for dessert though, and that was wonderful.

Thursday is a long day for us, and this week we had soccer games after out homeschool group too. Normally, I throw something in the crockpot, but this time I decided to just grab food out. I end up with a migraine nearly every Thursday, and this week I decided to make dinner simple. I had a grocery store salad and everyone else ran through Culvers. This made 3 days in a row that I didn’t cook dinner last week.

Friday brought another soccer practice and work for the oldest two. Mia ate dinner with a friend. For the three of us who were home, I thawed grilled chicken I had made the week before. We used it to make chicken tacos with homemade guacamole. It was so easy, I”m not sure it counts as cooking, but it did count as dinner.

Saturday and Sunday I tried new recipes. All were a success, and I’ll be posting the recipes soon.

Last week was definitely out of the ordinary for us. The break from cooking was nice, but I’m ready to get back to it.

Here’s a sneak peek at this week’s meal plans. You can find out more about how to get them delivered to your inbox by clicking here.

Slow Cooker Plan

Chicken & Dressing Casserole
Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce with two cheeses
Chili Sauce Chicken Legs
Chicken Posole Stew
Pork Chops with Fried Apples
Mexican style Beef Roast
No Bake Cappuccino Pie

Traditional Plan

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Real Life and Menu Planning – Slow Cooker and Traditional Plans for April 15

April 14, 2013 by Tiffany

I am such a list maker. If I don’t have a list of things that need done (or need cooking), I will forget that I was supposed to accomplish anything at all. I’ve even been known to make lists of my lists, when life get especially busy.

Last week, we introduced printable Display Menus to the Weekly Meal Plan Service. The Display Menus are meant to be printed and posted on the fridge or near your calendar. I keep mine on the fridge, like you see in the photo above. I love having it handy to consult each day.

I don’t make the meals in the order they are listed. Instead, I try to match up the best meals for the best days. Meaning, if I have time to fix dinner in the morning, but not in the evening then a slow cooker meal is a good choice. Or if I know that we’ll all be getting in a different times, I can plan for that too. With soccer season started back up, the dinner schedule gets a little crazy sometimes.

Here’s how it worked for us this week.

Sunday, after church we had 10 Minute French Dip Sandwiches. Really quick and easy, but we got home from church very late and we were all starving! I had bought a bag of potato chips (Mike Sells brand and if you live near Cincinnati you know how good they are!). We plowed through almost the whole bag of chips waiting for lunch to be ready. If you’re looking for more after church meals, check out this post.

Monday, I made South of the Border Skillet.

On Tuesday, we had several soccer practices to juggle in different parts of town. I prepped Tilapia, Tomato and Artichoke Heart Salad and broccoli then drove across town for soccer. I left instructions for Jim, so he could pop the fish in the oven before the rest of us got home. I swapped side dishes for this meal too, since the artichoke salad was to be served with a different meal. It’s just a guideline though. Make it work for you.

Wednesday night, the boys left early for youth group and Jim got home late. We had Chipotle Lime Chicken Scampi on the grill, but we ate it in shifts. It was gorgeous outside that day and I was able to grill enough chicken for this meal and to stock some away in the freezer. Our grill could use some work though, since only two of the burners would light.

Thursday is our long day. I’m always thankful if I get dinner in the crockpot that morning. This week, I was super organized. I had browned out the hamburger when I came in from the grocery on Saturday, then froze it. That made stirring a big pot of Taco Soup together easy. I did that job on Wednesday night and we had Taco Soup on Thursday and again on Saturday evening.

This happened on Friday:

My boys got dressed up to go to the Spring formal. They learned to tie a bow tie, had dinner out with friends and danced a lot. Fun stuff!

Jim and I ended up taking our youngest daughter out to dinner. She chose Carino’s. Yum! We did a little shopping afterward. I debated on getting these shoes. I left the store without them, but I’m still pondering making the purchase.

They are super comfy. I texted that photo to my sister and she wasn’t too sure about them. My niece said they look “old lady-ish”. Of course, my niece is 13, so everything looks old lady-ish to her. What do you think? Buy them or not?

That was our week in a nutshell. Probably more than you ever wanted to know. Hopefully, it gives you a look into how I use the Weekly Meal Plans for my family and gives you ideas for your family.

Here’s a sneak peek at the menus for this week. If you want the complete grocery list, side dishes, cooking tips and all delivered to your inbox, check out the Weekly Meal Plans page.

Traditional Plan

All Slow Cooker Plan

Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu Tagged with meal plans, Menus, real life8 Comments

Real Life and Meal Plans – And a New Weekly Meal Plan Feature!

April 7, 2013 by Tiffany

I’m so excited about this new feature of the Weekly Meal Plans. Last week, I mentioned that I accidentally threw away my grocery list, which had the menu on it. This week, I was able to print off our new Display Menu and hang it on the fridge.

I can’t even tell you how many times I checked the Display Menu to see what I should be cooking for dinner that night. It’s so handy and beats looking it up on the computer (not that doing that is hard or anything, but…).

Last Sunday, we celebrated Easter. I have a fantastic pineapple dessert recipe that I’m going to share with you tomorrow. It was a great way to top off our Easter dinner. Along with all those peanut butter eggs – yum!

We had to do our egg hunt inside this time, since it was raining. My mom says that if it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain 7 Sundays in a row after that. It was looking like rain earlier, but it’s been sunny most of the day. Here’s hoping she’s wrong about that!

Yes, that’s a little plastic cupcake instead of an egg. Cute, huh? And if you look closely, you can see our basketball goal hanging on the front door. We’re classy like that.

On Monday, I put meatballs in the slow cooker. I served them on garlic bread like open face meatball sandwiches. So good!

On Tuesday, my son had soccer practice and the others were in and out around dinner time. I pulled a quick meal together of chicken tenders in the skillet and broccoli. Not on the plan, but I had all the ingredients in the fridge.

Wednesday, the boys had youth group. Somehow, I’d gathered nearly 3 dozen eggs in my fridge (not from hens, just the grocery). I decided to make an easy dinner of French toast and bacon, that would also use up the stale bread in the bread drawer. Quick and easy.

Thursday is a busy day for us. The kids all have classes and I also help at one of the homeschool groups. I almost always load up the slow cooker with dinner so it’s ready and waiting when we get home. This time, I tried a new idea for Teriyaki pork chops. Recipe coming soon. It was a hit and easy too.

Friday night brought more soccer practice. I pulled together Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner, but opted to cook it on the stove top instead of in the slow cooker.

Yesterday was grocery day again. I printed off this week’s Traditional Menu. I like to shop as fast as I can, and having that list ready to print and shop makes it all easier.

Last night, we went out to dinner with friends. It’s so good to have time to catch up. We left all the kids at home with pizza. If you’ve got little ones and still have to line up a baby sitter, hang on! It won’t be long before you can leave them on their own for a while.

Here’s a sneak peek at the menus for this week. If you want the complete grocery list, side dishes, cooking tips and all delivered to your inbox, check out the Weekly Meal Plans page.

All Slow Cooker Menu

Traditional Menu

Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu, winter Tagged with grocery list, menu, weekly meal plans1 Comment

Meal Planning and Real Life – Weekly Plans for April 1

March 31, 2013 by Tiffany

I promised myself that I was going to take more photos this week to share with you. But all I have to share is this fork. Kind of makes you wonder what we were eating, doesn’t it? This is the second demolished fork we’ve had lately. Does anyone else go through spurts of breaking silverware?

Since our week looked like a bunch of big kids flopped around the house running fevers and coughing, I thought I’d spare you photos of that.

We are finally over the virus-turned-bronchitis that hit all the kids. Fingers crossed that we all stay healthy!

Last Saturday, I shopped with the Slow Cooker Plan for March 18. I’m a little out of order, but I’m not going to worry about it.

And even though it was the Slow Cooker Plan, I chose to make several of the meals on the stove or in the oven instead.

Last Saturday, we had one kid mostly better and two who were still sick. My oldest son had a soccer game, so I put dinner in the crockpot. I used a meal that I hadn’t gotten to from the week before – Ham and Loaded Potato Casserole.

Sunday morning, our oldest woke up sick. I put Garlic Chicken with More Garlic in the oven to bake. I hadn’t gotten up early enough to cook it in the crockpot. Jim and I went to church without the kids. It was kind of strange to go to church just the two of us. So different than when the kids were little and someone had to stay home with the sick ones.

I did make Chocolate Cobbler for dessert on Sunday. Warm, chocolate dessert makes everyone feel better!

Somewhere along the way, I accidentally threw away my grocery list with the menu on it. (Very soon, I’ve got a new feature coming for the Weekly Meal Plan Service that will solve this problem. Look for more info next week!)

I thought that Chicken ala King was on the plan, but looking back now, I see that it wasn’t. Regardless, we had a stove top version for dinner on Monday night. Monday also brought doctor visits for both boys and our oldest girl, who had all progressed to bronchitis.

On Tuesday, the kids laid around sick and I joined them with a migraine. We ended up ordering pizza for dinner. We had planned to have a fun pizza night on Saturday, but with everyone sick we decided to skip it. So pizza on this night was less about the fun and more about just having dinner. We capped the day off with a round of IV antibiotics for our oldest son, who was getting worse instead of better.

We did do a lot of TV watching this week. If you’ve got Netflix, check out Thou Shalt Laugh.

It’s on instant watch right now and there’s a second one, as well. They are both very funny. My favorite comedian on these shows is Taylor Mason. Have you ever heard of him? I hadn’t, but now I’m a huge fan. He is talented and hysterical!

Wednesday, I made Mel’s Diner Chili. I had browned out the hamburger on Saturday as soon as I got home from the store. I knew that having the burger cooked and frozen would come in handy. It did! I made the chili on the stove and had it ready, start to finish in about 20 minutes.

On Thursday, I was rummaging in the pantry for the ingredients for Chicken Enchilada Soup, when I spied a can of coconut milk and my mind went to Chicken Curry instead. I had the idea to use peach/pineapple/chipotle salsa in it instead of regular, but I wasn’t sure if that would be good. So I asked on Facebook:

A bunch of readers said go for it. So I did and it was awesome! (On a side note, do you like the conversation style comments that Facebook rolled out this week? I do, but they are in a wacky order that’s hard to keep up with.)

Friday night we all made our own little pizzas from fixings I had bought for lunches/snacks.

This week, I’m hoping for sunny weather and a healthy family! I wish the same for you too.

Here’s a sneak peek at the menus for this week. If you want the complete grocery list, side dishes, cooking tips and all delivered to your inbox, check out the Weekly Meal Plans page.

All Slow Cooker Plan

Traditional Plan

Penne Gorgonzola with Grilled Chicken
Prime Time Meatloaf
Rotisserie chicken
Honey Cashew Pork Sir Fry
Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
French Bread Pizza
Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake with Strawberry Icing

I’d love to know how meal planning goes in your house. Let me know in the comments.

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Meal Planning and Real Life – Sharing a little of my week and Meal Plans for March 25

March 24, 2013 by Tiffany

Today, I’ve decided to change things up a little bit and share a little bit of my week and how the Meal Plans work out in real life for us.

Last Saturday, I printed off the Traditional Plan for March 25. I was a week ahead of the schedule. I guess I’m ready for March to be over!

Jim has been gone for 3 weeks on a business trip. He gets back on Saturday (I’m writing this on Friday, so I can have some family time with no blog work this weekend.) I am soooo ready to have him home again!

Whenever he is gone, I end up making pancakes for dinner. I’m happy to report that in three weeks, we only had pancakes twice. Current favorite: Peanut Butter Pancakes.

No, those weren’t on the Meal Plan.

Here’s the thing about using a Meal Plan – you can use it as it’s listed, making every meal on the plan. That works some weeks. Or, you can switch thing out and change things, using the plan as guideline. Here’s how I used my plan that way this week. [Read more...]

Filed under: Menus, winter Tagged with meal plan, Menus13 Comments

Weekly Meal Plans for Your Family – March 18

March 17, 2013 by Tiffany

There’s so much to love about the meal plans this week!

The Slow Cooker Plan has one of my favorite soups, one of my favorite chicken recipes and goodness-in-a-tortilla Pork Carnitas. Not to mention, Chocolate Cobbler for dessert. Yum!

The Traditional Plan has one of my favorite enchilada recipes, a vegetarian dish and more. Plus chocolate cookies for dessert. Scrumptious!

Make this your easiest month of cooking ever, by subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans. You’ll get complete grocery lists for both Traditional and Slow Cooker Plans. You even get to choose to print the 3-4 serving versions or 6-8 serving versions.

I love being able to put dinner on the table and not have to plan and wonder what we’re having each night. So easy!

At just $4 per month, it’s a no-brainer way to save time.

Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!

Here’s what’s on the plans this week and when you subscribe, you’ll also get suggested side dishes as well.

All Slow Cooker Plan

Traditional Plan

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Slow Cooker and Traditional Weekly Meal Plans – week of March 10

March 10, 2013 by Tiffany

There was such a good response to the new Small version of the Weekly Meal Plans that serve just 3-4 people! Last week, we introduced this new option, doubling the number of Meal Plans you get when you subscribe to the weekly service. At just $4 per mont, it’s a steal!

I shopped with the Traditional Plan this week and we had Pork Burgers for dinner. It was nice enough on Saturday to grill them outside!

Keep reading, if you’d like a sneak peek at this week’s menus.

Do you want to save an hour a week in planning time? Get the Weekly Meal Plans and Grocery List sent to your inbox! Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

4 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional with both 3-4 serving and 6-8 serving options for each
6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
Side dish suggestions
Complete grocery list for each plan
Printable recipes
Cooking tips and timing tricks
Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month

Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!

Here’s what’s on the plans this week and when you subscribe, you’ll also get suggested side dishes as well.

All Slow Cooker Plan

Traditional Plan

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New 3-4 Serving Size Weekly Meal Plans!

March 3, 2013 by Tiffany

Brand new on this week’s Meal Plans – new 3-4 serving sizes!

I’m really excited about this addition to the Weekly Meal Plans. We’ve added a 3-4 serving size plan for both the Traditional and the All Slow Cooker Plans. This means that each week, you’ll receive 4 plans to choose from!

The new smaller serving plans are the same recipes, only adjusted to feed a smaller family. We didn’t just cut the ingredients in half. Instead, we made adjustments so that you won’t have half cans of ingredients left over. Where that wasn’t possible, we’ve given instructions for freezing or storing extra ingredients for the next time.

In the case of slow cooker recipes, it’s also best to use the right size crockpot. Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker for the 6-8 serving size plans. Use a 4-5 quart slow cooker for the 3-4 serving size plans. This will help prevent overcooking your dinners.

If you have a smaller family or a family with very young kids who don’t eat much, you’re going to love the new 3-4 serving option!

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans and Grocery List sent to your inbox? Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

4 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional with both 3-4 serving and 6-8 serving options for each
6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
Side dish suggestions
Complete grocery list for each plan
Printable recipes
Cooking tips and timing tricks
Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month

Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s on the Meal Plans this week.