Menu Plan Monday (on Thursday...)

Just popping in to (finally) get my menu plan posted for the week.

I am so loving the Plan to Eat web site! It's really helping me a lot with my menu planning. I love how it creates a shopping list for me based on the ingredients in recipes I'm using, and I love having the recipes handy on my iPhone while I'm cooking in the kitchen. I just wish they had an app. Their mobile site works fine for me at home with WiFi, but when we go to my parents' house (with no cell reception for me), it won't be so great. Sure, I'll still be able to look up my recipes on their computer, but that's not nearly as handy as having them on my phone in the kitchen.

So here's the plan for the week:

Monday 7/11 - brats and hotdogs on the grill

Tuesday 7/12 - leftovers

Wed. 7/13 - Italian Chicken

Thurs. 7/14 - Crock Pot Chicken Thighs

Fri. 7/15 - Meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn, applesauce, and I might try Coconut-Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Sat. 7/16 - Chicken Crescent Roll-Ups

Sun. 7/10 - Crock Pot Bacon and Cheese Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes


For more menu plan ideas, check out this week's Menu Plan Monday over at orgjunkie.com.

Getting organized...yet again

Yes, I neglect this blog an awful lot. But here I am, trying to hold myself more accountable to getting organized (yet again). Step 1 is to get back into the routine of making a meal plan every week. Doing it any other way (flying by the seat of my pants, what do I have that I can make for dinner tonight) just hasn't been working out so well.

A number of people that I follow on Twitter have mentioned the Plan to Eat web site in the past few weeks. I finally went to check it out, and signed up for the free 30-day trial. After just a couple days, I can't believe how much I love it! It's a recipe file, menu planner and grocery list maker all in one.

So I actually have a meal plan (dinners, anyway) for the week. And yes, I know it's Thursday, and I'm just getting a chance to post the meal plan I'm following this week.

Monday 7/4 - Chicken and burgers on the grill

Tuesday 7/5 - Brats and hotdogs on the grill (These were super yummy! I left out the mustard and sauerkraut.)

Wed. 7/6 - Grilled Turkey and Cheese sandwiches

Thurs. 7/7 - Sloppy Joes, baked beans, apples, chips

Fri. 7/8 - Tortilla Pepperoni Pizzas

Sat. 7/9 - French Dip Sandwiches

Sun. 7/10 - Crock Pot Chicken Fried Pork Chops

For more menu plan ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday over at orgjunkie.com.

It's Challenge Thursday over at the Trixie Scraps blog!

I love scrapping with templates, and I'm hosting this week's Challenge Thursday over at the Trixie Scraps blog, so I whipped up a free template for everyone.

Come play along with the challenge and you can be entered into the monthly prize drawing!

Here is a layout I made with the template for this challenge using Trixie's kit For the Girls and her For the Girls Glitter Styles.




You can get the template over at the Trixie Scraps blog. I'd love to see what you create!

December Desktop Freebie

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of December? Are you ready? I know it's a busy month for our family. To save you a little time, we've got this cute desktop freebie for you (made with the kit Santa's Workshop) over on the Trixie Scraps blog! It comes in two sizes: 1280 x 800 and 1024 x 768. Enjoy!

Manic Monday and Desktop Freebie

Hey everyone! Happy Monday! Trixie Scraps has a great way for you to start off your week today... a fantastic deal on a fantastic kit!

Today "The First Feast" is on sale for 50% off. But the sale is ONLY for today (Monday, November 1), so make sure you hop on over to one of Trixie's stores and grab it quick!



Trixie Scraps Store
ScrapMatters
Gotta Pixel
Scrapbook-Bytes

What a great time for this kit to go on sale with Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks! This is definitely one kit you need in your stash for the holidays. Plus, you can hop on over to the Trixie Scraps blog and get this fabulous desktop calendar (made using "The First Feast") free!

Anti-Procrastination Tuesday

It's Anti-Procrastination Tuesday with Amy over at New Nostalgia. Now don't fall over just because I've had blog posts two days in a row! :) I figure if posting my weekly menu plan on Mondays can help me be more consistent with meal planning, then maybe participating in Amy's Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays will help me, well...tackle some of the tasks I've been procrastinating.

The to-do list is long, so I'm just going to start by listing a few short-term and long-term projects that I need to remember to work on completing. Then I'll come back and cross them out. So, in no particular order, here I go:

• Get bags of salt out of trunk and refill water softener. (I needed to start with an easy one).
  
• Clear off dining room table (aka storage space for stuff that needs a home).
  
• Buy photo albums and page protectors.
• Start printing out the backlog of photos just sitting on my computer. I can always do digiscrap layouts to add to the albums later. I need to at least have 4x6 prints in albums to enjoy.
• Calendar gifts to give at Christmas.
• Finish knitting youngest DD's baby blanket that I started knitting four years ago when I was pregnant with her. Didn't finish it before she was born, and, well, it's still not done.
• Finish making felted purse for my niece. (I want to be done with it by the beginning of December so I can give it to her for Christmas.)
• Knit and felt a pair of mittens for me. I keep making them for the kids, but have never made a pair for myself.
• Knit and felt a pair of mittens for youngest DD.
• Create family silhouettes to frame (see here and here).

I think I'll stop there. That's overwhelming enough for now. So what tasks/projects are on your to-do list that you keep procrastinating?

Menu Plan Monday

I've been trying to be more consistent about planning our family's meals. Life goes much smoother around our house when I don't have to decide what's for dinner on a nightly basis. And when the kiddos ask me the inevitable question, "Mom, what's for dinner?" at least I can give them an immediate answer (whether or not they like that answer LOL).

I've been following Laura over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie" for a few months now. My menu planning has been rather hit or miss (some weeks I do, some weeks I don't), so I thought if I started posting my weekly menu plan on my blog it might encourage me to be more consistent with my planning. Every week, Laura posts her menu plan for the week, and her readers link up to their menu plan blog posts. It's a fabulous resource for finding new ideas and recipes (which I seem to always need with all of the picky eaters in my house)! So this week, I'm finally joining in on the fun for the first time.

Here's my menu plan for the week:

Monday: Meatloaf

Tuesday: French Dip Sandwiches

Wednesday: One-Dish Chicken Bake

Thursday: Chicken Fried Pork Chops

Friday: Leftovers or sandwiches

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner (probably French toast)

Sunday: English Muffin Pizzas

Sometime this week I'm also going to try this pumpkin bread recipe. I already have a pumpkin bread recipe that I love, but this one caught my eye and is different from mine.

Do you know what's on your dinner menu for the week? Head on over to Laura's web site and check it out!