A Month of Dinner Menus #3

I've mentioned previously that I really enjoy making dinner menus. I know that SO MANY people despise menu planning, so I'll occasionally post a month's worth of mine. You can see previous dinner menu posts HERE and HERE.

My menu planning looks more or less like this: I sit down on Sunday night, open up Pinterest and any favorite recipe blogs/cookbooks, and make some choices for what sounds good for the week. I usually try a few new recipes each week, as well as a few repeat recipes that I know we enjoy. I plan out one or two sides for each dinner (usually quick, simple stuff, like bagged salad or frozen veggies), and jot down a shopping list for the week. I plan out 5 days of dinners -- the two extra nights are usually leftovers, eating out, or scraping something really fast and simple together (like pancakes and scrambled eggs).

Week 1

photo via Allrecipes

Monday: Italian Sausage Soup with breadsticks and salad. Not the world's prettiest soup, but filling, delicious, and healthy. One of my long-time favorites!

Tuesday: Green Chile Breakfast Quesadillas with fruit salad. Super fast and simple. I've made these quite a few times, and they make an awesome breakfast or lunch, too.

Wednesday: Avocado Chicken Pitas with salad and apple slices. A really quick, light meal. I ignore the guac instructions and just mash my avocado up with salt and lime juice to taste. Really yummy.

Thursday: Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl with green beans and grapes. A repeat favorite -- don't be intimidated by the longish ingredient list. This is good stuff.

Friday: Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with rolls and broccoli. I've tricked my children into thinking this is chicken. Suckers!

Week 2

Monday: Chicken Fajita Salad Wraps with sweet potato fries. An awesome lunch or dinner that you can easily prep ahead of time. I love it.

Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie with rolls and salad. Mel's recipes are always good. This one was a bit of a longer prep time than I usually spend, but totally worth it, plus leftovers for days.

Wednesday: Alfredo Tortellini with salad and grapes. This one was yummy, but much spicier than I expected. Start slow with the red pepper flakes and add as necessary.

Thursday: Chicken Noodle Stew with salad and rolls. Tasty and satisfying, but I had to add tons of salt to my bowl. Not sure if I just love salt too much, or if the recipe needs a bit of tinkering.

Friday: Chicken Ranch Tacos with Mexican rice and apple slices. One of those rare recipes that we all like, both kids and adults. 

Week 3

Monday: BBQ Turkey Quesadillas with grapes and green beans. A great way to use up leftover turkey or (more often for me) chicken. I love this recipe!

Tuesday: Greek Style Pita Sandwiches with chips and baby carrots. Another long-time favorite of mine. Fresh and delicious.

Wednesday: Sausage, Potato, and Spinach Soup with breadsticks. I honestly can't remember this one, but it's very similar to my favorite copycat Zuppa Toscana recipe, so I'm guessing I liked it!

Thursday: Homemade Pizza with salad. I don't really follow a recipe for the pizza, but I like to make my own dough -- my favorite recipe is THIS one. I've been using it for years! We like to set out a few toppings and let everyone make their own personal pizza.

Friday: Baked Honey Mustard Chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli. I don't care much for mustard, but still enjoyed this chicken. I added some rosemary and thought it was great.

Week 4

Monday: Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Pancakes with scrambled eggs and fruit smoothies. A favorite of ours, and one of the only ways to sneak a vegetable into Forrest's diet.

Tuesday: Oven Baked Ranch Chicken Tenders with rolls and corn. A good chicken tender, but didn't really taste any different to me than a typical chicken tender without ranch. 

Wednesday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Creamy Tomato Soup and peas. Gotta love a good comfort meal like this one. But I did add quite a bit of seasoning to the soup -- tasted a bit bland to me as written.

Thursday: Easy Quiche with baby carrots and apple slices. I haven't made a quiche in quite a while, and was very happy to rediscover them with this dinner. 

Another Month of Dinner Menus

I love writing up weekly dinner menus. I realize that this is an odd thing to enjoy--when I mention it to people, they generally respond with a look of horror. So I figured I ought to post the occasional menu here, for the benefit of those of you who dread this household task but would love some tried-and-approved recipe ideas.

And in return for this service, feel free to drop by and help me out with some of the following household tasks that I hate: laundry, mopping, dusting floorboards, changing bedsheets. I'll just text you my address. Thx.

(See a previous month of dinner menus HERE.)

(^ Chinese BBQ Chicken, Tuesday's recipe below)

Week 1 

Monday: Pineapple Pork Tacos with cilantro lime rice // Really tasty, but really messy to eat. I want to make it again as nachos--chips, pulled pork, melted cheese, topped with the fruit salsa.

Tuesday: Chinese BBQ Chicken with rice and green beans // Hands down, our favorite sweet and sour chicken recipe, and a frequent dinner at our house.

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza with green salad // One of our favorite pizzas. I prefer making my own crust; this recipe is my favorite.

Thursday: Chipotle Lime Shrimp Tacos with chips and salsa // These tacos were crazy good. Heads up though: I toned down the chipotle a lot, because we're wimpy.

Friday: Enchilada Veggie Quesadillas with fruit salad // Very quick and tasty, and pretty healthy to boot. I'll definitely repeat this one.

(^ Chicken Salad with Apple and Basil, Friday's recipe below)

Week 2

Monday: Cashew Chicken with rice and broccoli // I loved how quickly this came together. I just wish a certain small child hadn't gotten into the cashews early and left me with less than the recipe required. Looking forward to making it again . . . with enough cashews this time.

Tuesday: Chicken Ranch Burgers with watermelon and chips // This burger recipe is becoming a frequent repeat--Forrest loves them, and it's so rare that he requests a meal that doesn't involve hot dogs, so I'm happy to oblige.

Wednesday: Hawaiian Meatballs with rice, green beans, apple slices // I halved this recipe, and wished I hadn't--we didn't have any leftovers, and the kids were asking for more after it was gone!

Thursday: Slow Cooker Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce with rice and frozen egg rolls // I think I prefer my recipe for this dish, but Jeff said he liked this one better, so it's a toss up. Either one is tasty!

Friday: Chicken Salad with apple and basil sandwiches with watermelon // One of the first recipes I ever posted on my blog, and still a favorite.

(^ Sweet Potato, Chicken, and Black Bean Taco Skillet, Thursday's recipe below)

Week 3
Monday: Loaded Nachos with apple slices // I didn't stack them the way the recipe calls for, but it probably doesn't matter. I've never met a nacho I didn't love.

Tuesday: Vegetable Lo Mein with green beans and grapes // Quick and simple, and I don't think the kids realized there were veggies hidden in their noodles, so that's a major plus.

Wednesday: Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Salad Sandwiches with chips and fruit // Normally, I want nothing to do with pickles or relish, but I thought I'd give this chicken salad a chance despite seeing relish on the ingredients list. I may need to rethink my stance on relish, because I loved this recipe!

Thursday: Sweet Potato, Chicken, and Black Bean Taco Skillet with Spanish rice and apple slices // A quick and easy favorite around here. The kids love the chicken and cheese, but the sweet potato and beans are my favorite part, so it works out nicely.

Friday: Breakfast Quesadillas with fruit smoothies // Nothing not to love here. Bacon, eggs, cheese . . . definitely a winner.

(^ Green Chile Turkey Burgers; Tuesday's recipe below)

Week 4

Monday: Hawaiian Pasta Salad with fruit // I tinkered with the recipe a bit (and of course, now that it's been a few weeks, I can't remember what I changed), but we loved this. Excited to make it again.

Tuesday: Green Chile Turkey Burgers with sweet potato fries and apple slices // Probably my favorite burger to make at home. So, so good.

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Nachos with fruit // A fun twist if you get bored with traditional nachos.

Thursday: Chicken Fajita Pasta with corn on the cob // This was a little too spicy for us, but as previously mentioned, we are kind of wimpy.

Friday: Homemade pizza with salad // Nothing not to love.

A Month of Dinner Menus

I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy putting together weekly dinner menus. The evening goes more smoothly when I have a plan for dinner, we spend less on groceries when I shop with a list of recipes and ingredients, and we get to try lots of new recipes and eat a nice variety of meals without falling back on the same old boring recipes over and over again.

When I’m making my dinner menus, I keep a few things in mind. I generally try a few new recipes each week, as well as one or two favorites that we’ve had and loved in the past. I also try to get a decent variety of ingredients and cuisines/ethnicities. I usually shoot for one vegetarian meal, and one that I know the kids will love (Forrest is a very picky eater, but I’m not willing to cater to his tastes every day, so I plan maybe one dinner a week around him. My policy is that he has to taste everything on his plate—even if all he can manage is a lick—and if he doesn’t want to eat it, that’s fine . . . but he doesn’t get anything else.). I plan out 5 dinners, and we eat leftovers or go out the other two nights. Even with a menu planned out, I’ll sometimes end up scrambling to pull something together at the last minute . . . those are generally ‘breakfast for dinner’ nights—waffles, scrambled eggs, and some fruit.

Just in case anyone might find it interesting or helpful, here is a month’s worth of dinner menus—the weekly menus I planned and ate throughout the month of April. I’ll put my thoughts after each of them.

Week 1

Monday: Chinese Pineapple Chicken with jasmine rice and green beans // We liked this meal and I’m planning to repeat it soon, but I think I’ll add some red pepper flakes or sriracha to the sauce next time—I thought it was just a tad boring as written and would benefit from a little heat.

Tuesday: Bacon Avocado Grilled Cheese sandwiches with apple slices and baby carrots // So delicious! I used white American cheese slices since I happened to have them in the fridge already. Darcy loved this dinner, and Forrest picked his sandwich apart and only ate the bread and bacon.

Wednesday: Chicken Ranch Burgers with baked sweet potatoes and grapes // Forrest has been begging me to make these burgers again ever since we had them a few weeks ago, so I guess we can check this recipe off as being kid-friendly! (Although he doesn’t eat it with the ranch—he prefers ketchup.) I’ve made this dinner once with ground chicken and once with ground turkey—we liked them best with ground chicken.

Thursday: Veggie Stuffed Breakfast Burritos (pictured below) with fruit smoothies // Well, of course I’d recommend this meal—I did make the recipe up myself. I think it’s so filling and satisfying and delicious, and I love that it’s pretty healthy, too.

Friday: Crock Pot Whole Chicken with mashed potatoes, salad, and rolls // I actually ended up roasting my chicken since I forgot to get it in the crock pot in the morning—oops! So I can’t comment on this recipe. I’ll have to try it again another time.

Week 2

Monday: Crockpot Pork Roast (pictured below) with rolls and salad // We all loved this! They made delicious little sandwiches on homemade rolls.

Tuesday: Copycat PF Changs Lettuce Wraps with green beans and orange wedges // I make these lettuce wraps fairly often—we love them.

Wednesday: Panera Macaroni and Cheese with peas and apple slices // This macaroni and cheese is amazing. So creamy and delicious.

Thursday: Chicken Tortilla Soup with chips and guacamole // This is one of my favorite soup recipes ever—don’t skimp on the toppings! Heads up, though, the recipe makes quite a lot, so unless you have a larger family, or love having lots of leftovers, you may want to cut it in half.

Friday: Tuna Melts with fruit salad and baby carrots // A quick, tasty dinner. The kids didn’t like it, but I didn’t really expect them to, either.

 
^ picture via Poore Amy

Week 3

Monday: Meatball Sub Bubble Bake with salad // I chose this recipe because I expected Forrest to love it—he is crazy about meatballs. But I was really surprised when he hardly touched it! Jeff really loved it, though, and has asked me to make it again.

Tuesday: Cheesy Ham Chowder with grapes and rolls // I used leftover Easter ham to make this soup, and it was so good! Can’t wait to make it again.

Wednesday: Oven Fajitas with chips and guacamole // Well, once again I forgot to get started on time, and made this recipe in the skillet instead of baking it. But it hardly matters—we loved it anyway!

Thursday: Cheesy Spinach Baked Egg Sandwiches with salad and fruit smoothies // I’ve never managed to find the right kind of cheese for this recipe, so I make it with goat cheese instead and it’s fantastic.

Friday: Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken (pictured below) with rice and broccoli // One of my favorite dinner recipes—quick and easy and delicious. The kids both like it, too (although Forrest, predictably, picks out the vegetables).

Week 4

Monday: Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey over rice with orange slices // I definitely remember making this recipe, but I cannot remember anything about how it tasted. No comment, I guess?

Tuesday: Italian Sausage Soup with garlic bread and salad // Another favorite soup recipe—I love this one and am always perfectly happy to eat the leftovers for days afterward.

Wednesday; Avocado Chicken Pitas with baby carrots and apple slices // I make this recipe fairly often—so quick and delicious!

Thursday: Honey Sriracha Chicken Thighs (pictured below) with coconut rice and broccoli // This dinner is a favorite of ours, but go easy on the sriracha--she's not messing around and it will be SPICY if you do the amount the recipe calls for. I use 1/3-1/2 of the amount in the recipe, and I think that’s plenty of heat. I am kind of a wimp when it comes to spiciness, though.

Friday: Smothered Sweet Pork Burritos with salad and grapes // This dinner is a bit more time consuming than my usual fare, but definitely worth it.

^picture via Budget Bytes