This week's menu plan

I made a two week menu plan last month ... and was able to stretch it into a month by adding in little extra meals here & there! $100 for a month's worth of dinners was pretty exciting to me. And this week Hunter has Tae Kwon Do on Mondays/Wednesdays and cub scout day camp on Wednesday - Friday, combined with Ryan closing the branch this week (so he won't be home until 7 o' clock most nights) and gone to church on Tuesday nights ... it's going to busy and dinner won't really happen unless I plan & plan things that are easy and low-key. So here's this week's menu plan:

• Monday - Pasta Salad with Tomato, Zucchini & Feta - I already have all of these ingredients on hand & with it being 84 degrees tomorrow (don't hate me Vegas ... I have no a/c & face the sun in this place ... it gets nasty hot in this house!) ... this will be perfect to pre-make and then refrigerate! :) The kids won't like it, so I'll heat up the leftover hot dogs from today's bbq for them to have with some hot dog buns. Also planning on cooking up my Mom's chicken crescent rolls & freezing TONS for the kids to have on hand for quickie lunches.



• Tuesday - Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches would be low-key and oven free.



• Wednesday - This is the first day of Hunter's cub scout camp this week! So simple is in order ... I'm making meatball sandwiches and a side salad.



• Thursday - Going for easy again (and NOT using my oven at all) ... Ryan's bbq'ing hamburgers & hot dogs (a weekly/bi-weekly staple until September rolls around). It'll be the first night this week we'll all be home for a night.



• Friday - Every Friday is pizza night & then we have chocolate peanut butter popcorn with a movie ... I'm thinking we should try this taco pizza tonight, and the kids will want canadian bacon & ham too.



• Saturday - Date night after the kids go to bed ... and it's my turn to cook, so Panera's Frontegra Chicken Panini knock-off .



• Sunday - BBQ again (I love Julianna & Tony's version of hamburgers - melted cheese, bacon, bbq sauce & pineapple!!!- ... it's easy and low-key for Sunday dinner ... just what we all need after a hectic week!

Also, we've been trying lots of new recipes lately! Here are a few faves:
Absolute Best Cornbread - I NEVER have leftovers of this ... the kids ALL love it ... although with a cup of butter/sugar/corn meal ... what's not to love (besides my growning love handles?).

Southwestern Egg Rolls - Ryan & I loved this, but so did Jaxson & Savannah as well! I just did regular ranch dip (since I didn't have any avocados on-hand) and they were YUMMY! I also made a ton & froze them (without the extra frying/grilling option) and have been having them for lunch lately. Yum!

Sweet n' Sassy BBQ Almonds - made these last year for Father's Day and they are fantastic! So, I'm making them again for Ryan this year. :)

Hawaiian Haystacks - the kids loved all the versatility with this dish, they were all complaining of being too full at the end of it.

Spinach Mandarin Poppy Seed Salad - took this to a family's house the other night & people were raving about it! I added fried wonton strips to it (like the asian wonton salad there) ... definitely a new favorite salad dressing!

English Muffin Breakfast Pizzas - these were fabulous! And I loved that we could add different things based on each family members likes.

And tonight's delicious dessert ... Oreo Cream Cheesecake. Oh my. This makes a very rich dessert though ... next time I'll half it for all of us.