Meal Planning Monday October 27 - November 1

I am trying to get back on track with Meal Planning. It is amazing how the week we were in Nicaragua got me off track. What makes it hard is the different things in our schedule that throws things off....... here goes for October 27 - November 1.

Monday - Hot dogs, Chili and nachos / cheese dip

Tuesday - Chicken w/ "salsa" marinade, corn casserole, green beans & rolls

Wednesday - Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread

Thursday - Grilled Cheese & Soup

Friday - FALL FESTIVAL & I HOP

Saturday - Steak, baked potatoes, mac & cheese, green beans and rolls

Sunday - Leftovers

The chicken w/ "salsa" marinade is a type of chicken we had while in Nicaragua. I purchased the "salsa" while in Nicaragua. It is more like a BBQ sauce. I am going to give it a try- so we will see. Also let me explain I HOP. Since I am a the Minister of Childhood Education and often do not eat at the festivals or fellowships I am in charge of planning, I have a tradition of going to I HOP once the clean up is over. I just go chill out and eat with hubby. We are getting geared up for a big evening for Fall Festival. I am so thankful for all the help from my staff. Not to mention the hundreds of volunteers it takes to run the Fall Festival.

Have a great week! You can check out more recipes at http://www.orgjunkie.com !

Meal Planning Monday October 6-10

Well here we are another week and we did great again! Yippee! Here is our meal plan for this week. Notice it is a few days short. My hubby and I leave for Nicaragua on Saturday afternoon- along with 3 friends. We normally do a mission trip with a larger team but the 5 of us are going to encourage missionaries, pastors and their families, visit the school in San Judas and the orphanage in El Canyon. Of course Mike and I will have some meetings related to adoption. It is our prayer that we will know if God is opening or closing the door after this week. I am so excited we get to see the girls......... but back to Menu Planning!

Monday - Chicken Casserole, Mac & Cheese, Fruit, Green Beans (we didn't have last week)

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken (in crock pot) and leftovers

Wednesday- eat at church

Thursday - lasagna, salad, bread and fruit

Friday- grilled hamburgers, baked beans, chips and dip

Saturday- eat in airport

Sunday- Friday eating at the Partner's In Christ Mission House & Eskimo's

I also wanted to share about a great savings trip I made yesterday-

I went to Food Lion to purchase 3 things-

1. Herbal Essence Conditioner on sale for $2.49 - $2.00 coupon = .49 cents

2. Bird's Eye Voila! (Buy one get one) 2 bags =$4.79 - $2.00 coupons (2 / $1 each)= $2.79

I was so excited! We had one of the Bird's Eye Voila today for lunch- Chicken Parmesan. It was excellent- not a whole lot of food but a good portion for two people in a bag. Easy to fix and very tasty. I most likely will only purchase when it is on special!

I also had some great CVS and Walgreen's deals this week. I have gotten into seeing how much money I can save.........

One of the reasons is because I added up how much money we spent eating out. I also read a lot of blogs by moms who really try to be the best steward of what God has given them- this includes coupons, reading advertisements and keeping up with specials. I read so much of them while I was out recovering from surgery it challenged me. Plus remember I discovered I like eating at home!!

At least I am trying.........

Menu Planning ... Don't laugh!

Okay, I know some of you who know me well are laughing--- I mean really laughing. Yes, I am doing menu planning for my hubby and I. This is my second week. After having meals brought to us for 6 weeks during my recovery surgery - thank you lovely people at my awesome church- I really liked eating at home. If you know us personally you know we eat out ALOT. The Lord has convicted me at different times that we waste TOO much money on eating out. So this is my second week trying to do better - reading all the blogs on being frugal, meal planning, etc. also inspired me. My good friend- triathamom - who teaches Cooking Live classes at my church also is a huge inspiration to me. Being a working woman it was nice to come home last week and the past two Sunday's and have most everything already ready. The Sunday meal is nice because I have been using my crock pot. Ask any children's minister and by the time they get home on a Sunday after morning services and ministries they will tell you - you are worn out most mornings. Whoever, invented the crock pot- what a blessing!

So here is my menu plan for this next week and two of my favorite recipes.................
Sunday- BBQ wings, green beans, mac & cheese, corn casserole
Monday- Lasagna, Salad, Fruit, Bread
Tuesday- Grilled Cheese, Nachos & Chips
Wednesday- Dinner at Church
Thursday- Breakfast Casserole, Fruit
Friday- Crunchy Chicken Bake, peas, hash brown casserole, grape salad
Saturday- Dinner with Family for a Birthday
Sunday - Roast, Potatoes, Carrots, Applesauce



I am going to post the recipe to two of our family favorites:

Crunchy Chicken Bake
6 boneless chicken breasts
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup herb stuffing
2 Tablespoons melted margarine
Place chicken in a 9x13 Pyrex baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. Spread soup over chicken and cheese. Combine margarine and stuffing. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes. (Taken from my church's cookbook)


Chicken Enchiladas
1 large can chunked chicken
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 8 oz. tub of sour cream
1 small onion
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
8 to 10 flour tortillas

Combine chicken, soups, sour cream and onion in a large skillet and heat. Spoon in a portion of the mixture into a flour tortilla and cheese and roll up. Place in a 9x9 baking dish. Pour the remaining mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until hot thoroughly. (from a church cookbook where I served on staff)


So how many of you out there need to do a better job of planning meals? Okay if not that what about could you find some ways to spend the money you are going to save by not eating out? Okay, I thought that would get you............ visit http://www.orgjunkie.com/ to be inspired with over 200 meal plans for this week! Maybe you will find some inspiration! Better take a nap before AWANA- cya!