We’ve got cooler temperatures and rain this week, so I think it’s the perfect time to make soup. I’m so glad to be getting back to some of our favorite, easy-to-make soup dinners. Whether you use the slow cooker or not, soups are simple to pull together, and there’s usually enough leftovers for lunch. If you cannot cook early in the day, consider taking time in the evening to make a big pot of soup for the next day. Then, you just need to reheat it and it’s ready to go.

Here’s the plan for this week:

Sunday–Chicken Drumsticks, baked potatoes, and green beans
Meatless Monday–Corn & Potato Chowder and salad
Tuesday–Beef Tacos with corn shells, fixings, and black beans
Wednesday–Super Easy Chicken Soup, breadsticks
Thursday–Crustless Bacon Asparagus Quiche and salad
Friday–Macaroni & Cheese Casserole and broccoli
Saturday–Turkey Spinach Burgers, sweet potato fries, salad

There are tons of recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

I did something I never do. I got lazy the last time boneless skinless chicken breasts were on sale and didn’t feel like cutting them up and freezing in usable packages, so I just threw the whole thing in the freezer. Yesterday, I took this gigantic block of chicken out and looked at it. Sigh. Now what?

I figured out an easy way to deal with it. I thawed it enough to shove it in my 6-quart slow cooker and turned it on high. By dinnertime (5-6 hours later), I had 6 pounds of cooked chicken. We used some for fajitas last night, and now I have a bunch of cooked, chopped chicken in my fridge. That will make chicken salad for lunches this week, I can throw it on top of a salad for a quick dinner on a busy weeknight, and there’s still some leftover for more meals.

Here’s our chicken-y meal plan for this week:

Sunday–Chicken Fajitas, black beans and rice
Meatless Monday–Cheese Tortellini & cauliflower tossed with pesto
Tuesday–Tortilla Soup and cornbread
Wednesday–London Broil in the slow cooker with carrots and potatoes
Thursday–Cold Chicken on top of Greek Salad
Friday–Leftovers (there should be plenty)
Saturday–Pizza Night! We’re trying Artichoke Chicken Pizza but I’m making my own crust using this recipe

There are tons of recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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We’re back to school this week! It’s not just me who’s excited, my kids are too. I’m so eager to get back on a routine, though I know we’ll all feel tired this week getting used to a schedule again. I’m so glad I took the time to make that Master Meal List last month. It’s so easy to make my meal plan each week, just by looking at that list and matching it up with our evening activities and any other challenges. I can also throw in a new recipe here and there if I feel I’ll have the time and energy. Have you made your Master Meal List yet?

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Sunday–Pizza and board game night with friends–the perfect way to end summer!
Labor Day–BBQing with neighbors
Tuesday–Chicken Sausage sauteed with zucchini, mushrooms and onions over angel hair pasta
Wednesday–Slow Cooker Italian Sloppy Joes with salad
Thursday–Baked Mac & Cheese Casserole with broccoli
Friday–Grilled chicken on top of Caesar Salad, garlic bread
Saturday–Slow cooker Salsa Verde Chicken with brown rice, black beans and corn

There are tons of recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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It’s my kids’ last week of summer vacation! It’s been wonderful spending so much time with them, but we’re all ready for school to start, especially with all these rainy days ruining our day trip plans. My husband is taking a few days off this week to enjoy the kids too, which puts a slight dent in my plans to spend no grocery money for the rest of August (food seems to disappear faster when all five of us are home all day). It’s going to be challenging…

You can tell I had lots of chicken on hand when I did my pantry/freezer challenge to get through the end of this month. I’ve been alternating chicken with meatless meals, and I’m not tired of it yet!

Sunday–Chicken Pesto wraps (just cold chicken, pesto, mozzarella and tomato in a wholegrain tortilla) and baked breaded zucchini from our garden
Meatless Monday–Mini Broccoli Quiches and salad
Tuesday–Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup and cornbread muffins
Wednesday–Celebrating my son’s birthday with shrimp pasta (his request) and ice cream sundaes (cholesterol, anyone?)
Thursday–Caesar Chicken Casserole (from Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals), salad
Friday–Broccoli & Cheese Calzones (instead of pizza), carrots & celery
Saturday–It’s September 1st, thank goodness! I’ll go to the store and we can eat something other than chicken–yay! I want to try this Slow Cooker Coconut Beef and serve it with brown rice noodles.

Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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As we head into the end of the month, I’m tighter than usual on my budget. I realized today that I need to spend next-to-nothing for the rest of the month, not easy when I’m thinking about back-to-school haircuts, shoe shopping, supplies and more. On the grocery front, there’s actually a lot of food in my freezer and pantry, so it needs to be used up. I’m doing a Pantry & Freezer Challenge! This morning, the girls helped me make a list of everything we have on hand, and I wrote out a meal plan for these last 11 days of August that uses up what we have with very minimal purchase needed. We’ll need milk, bread and produce over the next 11 days, but the bulk of our food will come from home. Here we go:

Sunday–Chicken Divan (from the freezer) and baked potatoes

Meatless Monday–Vegetable Fried Rice

Tuesday–Slow Cooker Italian Sloppy Joes (made with ground turkey), salad

Wednesday–Breakfast for dinner–Omelets with Rosemary Potatoes, cantaloupe

Thursday–Greek Chicken (from Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals), pasta

Friday–Cheddar Corn Potato Chowder, salad

Saturday–BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, salad

Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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With chicken breasts on sale for $1.99/lb the past two weeks, I picked up a lot and then had a bunch of raw chicken to deal with at once. I picked up a new-to-me cookbook at the library called Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals and promptly found four freezer meals that sounded good. They all used cooked, cubed chicken, so yesterday afternoon I spent about an hour and a half cooking up 6 lbs of chicken and preparing all four meals. We ate one for dinner–a big hit–and I froze the other three. Since each meal was 6-8 servings, we should end up with enough leftovers for a few lunches or a leftovers night at the end of the week.

Sunday–Green Chile Chicken Casserole
Monday–Chicken sausage, mushrooms, onions, & zucchini over angel hair pasta
Tuesday–Spinach Turkey Burgers, broccoli slaw, corn
Wednesday–Homemade Calzones, salad
Thursday–Crockpot Broccoli & Beef, brown rice noodles
Friday–Veggie Pizzas and salad
Saturday–I will be out of town, so they’ll eat one of the freezer meals, Chicken Caesar Casserole

Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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What a fun weekend! We’ve had friends visiting from Florida and enjoyed BrickFair yesterday. So crowded, but so worth it! I love seeing Lego pieces used in new and interesting ways, and it was great to see some friends and their kids participating in the convention. My son is already thinking about trying for next year. There were amazing displays–a Willy Wonka factory, the Ghostbusters car, a 3-D full sized dog, and my favorite–this gingerbread house:

With guests here, I’m serving easy large-scale food that’s easy to keep me out of the kitchen. I’m still trying to get us back on our household routines; didn’t I say I would do that last week?

Here’s the meal plan for this week:

Sunday–Caesar Salad w/grilled chicken and garlic bread
Meatless Monday–Make-your-own Veggie Pizzas with whole wheat pitas, salad
Tuesday–BBQ Chicken from the slow cooker, broccoli slaw and corn on the cob
Wednesday–Balsamic Pork Chops, baked potatoes, green beans
Thursday–Breakfast for dinner: scrambled eggs with rosemary potatoes and fruit
Friday–Leftovers night!
Saturday–We’re eating at a big summer potluck. I’m bringing “Real” Macaroni & Cheese

Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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Oh, am I glad Swim Season is over! Saturday was exhausting, and after working from 6:30am through till midnight, with cleanup yesterday morning, I could barely stand up. The kids were so nice to tiptoe around me while I was passed out on the couch most of the day, and I’m hoping that I can get my house back together today. This is when I appreciate having systems like meal planning and weekly/daily chores (for the kids and for me) to get us back on track after chaotic times of life. We also overspent on food (both out–at swim meets–and groceries) in July, so I’m buckling down for August to keep us on track for our debt payoff.

Keeping it simple, as always. Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Sunday–Caesar Salad and garlic bread
Monday–Beef tacos with corn shells, black beans, toppings
Tuesday–Broccoli Pie (this recipe minus the meat), salad and cornbread
Wednesday–Pineapple Pork Chops, brown rice, green beans
Thursday–Spinach & Feta Pasta Salad
Friday–Chicken Fajitas in the DCB, leftover rice
Saturday–Friends are visiting from out of town, so I’m not sure yet

Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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Last week I talked about making a master meal list to get through busy times, like the upcoming back-to-school season. And then I promptly did not post mine. Ahem. Life gets busy. So here we go, organized by protein, these are my go-to meals that I know everyone will eat. Yes, we get tired of eating the same-old, same-old, but I like to save trying new recipes and “thinking” for other times of the year. My Family’s Master Meal List:

Beef/Ground Turkey:
Crockpot Beef & Broccoli with brown rice noodles
Hamburgers with sauteed mushrooms, baked potatoes and green beans
Turkey & Parmesan Pasta (made with ground beef or ground turkey) with salad
Slow Cooker Italian Sloppy Joes with salad
Beef Tacos with corn shells and toppings
Turkey Spinach Burgers with corn on the cob

Chicken:
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with broccoli slaw or salad
Chicken Sausage sauteed with veggies over pasta or rice
Chicken Fajitas (either made in the DCB or on the stovetop), rice and beans
Grilled chicken on top of green salad
Slow cooker Salsa Verde Chicken with brown rice, black beans and corn
Chicken Sausage Pesto Pizzas with salad

Pork:
Balsamic Mushroom Pork Chops with baked potatoes and salad
Pineapple Pork Chops with brown rice and green beans

Meatless:
Crustless Italian Spinach Pie with cornbread and salad
Veggie Pizzas made with pita breads or homemade crust with salad
Baked Mac & Cheese Casserole with broccoli
Breakfast for dinner–scrambled eggs with rosemary potatoes and fruit
Spinach & Feta Pasta Salad
Black Bean and Corn Dip with brown rice

Those 20 meals are easy for me to shop for (I know the recipes almost by heart), and then I can fill in the rest of a month with a new recipe or two, plus a few nights of leftovers.

What are your go-to meals? Same as mine? We have a busy week (do I say that every week?), so here’s what’s happening in my kitchen this week (not much!):

Sunday–leftovers to clean out the fridge (yay)
Monday–eating at a Swim Meet
Tuesday–Corn, black beans, and Ro-Tel over brown rice
Wednesday–eating at a Swim Meet (blargh)
Thursday–breakfast for dinner–scrambled eggs, rosemary potatoes, and fruit
Friday–Chicken Sausage, zucchini, mushrooms and onions sauteed over angel hair pasta
Saturday–eating at our swim team’s Year End Party
Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

Having one of those weeks where things go crazy? One of those months? I get them, too. As we head into the (gasp) back to school season, I like to think ahead for a month’s worth of meals. It’s not a time to get fancy with new recipes or ingredients. It’s a time to do what you know. It’s time for a master meal list. What are the meals your family will always eat? For us, it’s tacos, pasta salad, chicken, etc. using the same meats I buy in bulk when they’re at their lowest prices. I don’t have to take a chance that something won’t be on sale–they’re just meals I can make anytime because I have the foods in my freezer and pantry, and I can fill in with seasonal vegetables and sale items.

I’m working on a 30-day master list and will share it later this week. What would be on your master meal list?
Sunday–breakfast for dinner–eggs, bacon and Rosemary Potatoes
Monday–eating at Swim Meet
Tuesday–Crockpot Italian Sloppy Joes, carrots and celery with dip
Wednesday–Balsamic Mushroom Pork, baked potatoes, green beans
Thursday–Rainbow Rice Salad, packed to take to another Swim Meet
Friday–Pizza and salad (I have a credit for free pizza from a place down the street)
Saturday–Simple Pasta Salad using veggies from our garden

Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

I was so out of it last week! After those couple of days with no power, it really took me a while to get back on track. I lost a lot of work time, lost a lot of food in the freezer and fridge, and had guests all week so I was all over the place. Now I’m back to “normal,” meaning a busy week with three swim meets (two where I’m doing concessions) and three nights of Tae Kwon Do. Hubby and I sat down last night to plan out some cold, easy to prepare meals to get us through the week without ordering out (we’re spending enough at the swim meets) and trying to stick to our financial goals. He’s willing to cook a hot meal Saturday night after I pull off another home meet. Yay!

Sunday–Pesto Turkey Roll-ups and fruit
Monday–eating at swim meet, probably meatball subs!
Tuesday–Spinach & Feta Pasta Salad (made in the morning so it’s ready to dish out as soon as we walk in the door)
Wednesday–I’ll cook chicken drumsticks in the morning, and pack with cold potato salad and carrots/celery sticks to take to the swim meet
Thursday–Grilled chicken over Greek salad
Friday– If I can prep it in the morning, Vegetarian Baked Ziti (using zucchini, carrots, and tomatoes from our garden), salad
Saturday–Mushroom and Artichoke Chicken, egg noodles, green beans

Find lots of recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.

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