Menu Plan Monday 2/16/09

This week all of our meals will be made from what's on hand, with one exception: the BBQ ribs my husband has requested. Since these are all ingredients I have on hand, that pretty much also means that these are some of our family's favorite meals. I'll be making a run to two different stores to hit some sales, but other than the ribs and milk, we already have all we'll need for this week's meals.

• MONDAY: my favorite vegetable soup, cold meat and/or grilled cheese sandwiches
• TUESDAY: buffalo chicken subs (chicken tenders sauted in buffalo sauce with lettuce and blue cheese dressing on a sub bun) for the adults, chicken nuggets for the kids; *new recipe* parmesean roasted potato wedges (crockpot), grape tomatoes
• WEDNESDAY: ham steaks, macaroni & cheese, peas
• THURSDAY: our favorite BBQ ribs in the crockpot, corn
• FRIDAY: our favorite beef enchiladas, stewed tomatoes, sweet corn cake

My project for today is to reorganize the pantry and the stockpile-- I'm guessing that there's enough there to eat for at least two more weeks!

Family Favorite: Crockpot Vegetable Soup

This is my own recipe, basically learned from my mom, but now tweaked to suit my (and my husband's) taste. Mom always saved all the leftover vegetables in the freezer, until the container was full. I do that, too... but sometimes we don't have enough leftover vegetables to make soup when we want it, so I came up with this combination of canned veggies that also works well. You could always add/subtract any veggies that you like... green beans, etc. The soup has a tomato broth that we love... credit for that goes to mom. There's nothing better than coming home on a cold day and smelling this soup!

Amy's Easy Homemade Vegetable Soup
2 cans diced tomatoes

2 - 20oz cans Veg-All Homestyle (big chunks of potatoes, carrots, etc.)

1 can corn1 lb stew meat, cubed (Optional- I would leave it out, but DH prefers to have meat in the soup. It will cook in the crockpot. You can brown it if you prefer, but it will cook just fine in the broth.)

2 TBSP cilantro

2 TBSP dried onion flakes

2 TBSP Mrs. Dash

OPTIONAL: a small can of tomato sauce, to make a richer broth

Place stew meat in bottom of crockpot, add dried onion and Mrs. Dash. Dump in the canned vegetables and tomato sauce, top with cilantro. Fill the crockpot the rest of the way with water. Cover and cook on low all day (8 hours or more).

Forgive the repeat-- I'm pulling this out of a previous post that contained several recipes in order to link it up with my menu plan for today.

Ham and Cheese Fondue, my way

As usual, I've taken the original recipe and changed it to suit our tastes/ what I had on hand. We enjoyed this dip here at home during the Superbowl.

Ham & Cheese Fondue, Amy's Way

1 8oz. brick cream cheese, cubed

1 bunch green onions, chopped (I actually used dried chives)

1 container light sour cream

1 cup diced ham

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients in mini crockpot and cook on low for about half an hour.

Stir well, turn heat down to low, and serve warm.

We used Ritz crackers, Fritos, and celery sticks for dipping. Yum! The original recipe called for baking this in a bread bowl and serving it with the bread cubes, and I'm sure that's good, too- I plan to try it that way some day! ;)

A Quick Menu Plan

Finally, a moment to sit and sketch out a menu plan for the rest of the week:

• MONDAY (last night): smoked sausage, macaroni & cheese, steamed broccoli (kids' request meal)
• TUESDAY: crockpot pizza, garlic bread, green beans
• ***Crockpot pizza is one of those meals I throw together with whatever is on hand- today's version will use partially cooked shell pasta, a pound of browned sausage, pepperoni, a jar of spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, and onions. Mix it all up and cook on low for 4-5 hours-- yum!
• WEDNESDAY: leftovers
• THURSDAY: chicken tacos (chicken pieces + taco seasoning + salsa, cooked in the crockpot all day and served in tortillas with cheese, lettuce, etc.)
• FRIDAY: ham steaks, au gratin potatoes, peas

All of those are quick and easy, no-recipes-required meals. I've almost given up on menu planning these last couple of months as our busy schedule keeps changing. This week is especially crazy, but I feel better knowing I at least have a plan to fall back on.

P.S. Even though it's Tuesday, you can still check out tons of others' menus over at Menu Plan Monday! :)