Nagel Oct 28th - Nov 3rd

It's easier for me to post on Wednesday since that seems to be my shopping day lately.

1. Cereal and Toast

This is not a joke. I had to buy a special milk jug today for a Halloween costume on Friday so we need to consume a whole gallon of milk by tomorrow morning. And since Miles has scouts till 5 and Matt and scouts till 5:30 it seems like a really good night to not cook.

2. Beef and Broccoli

3. Cynthia's Potato Bacon Soup (love having this soup on Halloween!)

4. Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

5. Spaghetti

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Survival Mode - Kind of

Brandon is leaving town on Wednesday for a job interview in Albuquerque, and won't be back until Saturday afternoon -- barring him getting the flu like the rest of us. So I just have to make dinner for today and tomorrow and then easy. Except I'm now sick so really, it is just easy all week. I love Cynthia's idea for themes, I think it would really help coming up with ideas, and not just do tacos a lot. This is what I'm thinking:

Monday - Crock Pot (maybe we will finish FHE before 9:00 if I don't cook dinner)

Tues - Mexican

W - Soup

Th - Pasta

Fri - Kid friendly

Sat - Fast

Sun - Leftovers (I rarely cook on Sun since I don't do dishes, it is my way of "resting from my labors"

Except with Brandon gone, we will do kid friendly all week.

This is the menu
M - Cowboy Beans - yes I am finally making them, they are in the crockpot.
T - Enchilada Casserole
W - Vegetable Soup
Th - Spaghetti
F - Pasta & Cheese - homemade (not mac because I just use whatever pasta I have on hand)
S - Pizza and Breadsticks (store bought or homemade, depending on my level of ambition)

Pasta & Cheese
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp minced onion or 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T potato flour
1 C milk
dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 C cheddar cheese
3 T Parmesan cheese
Cooked pasta

1. In a small saucepan over med heat, melt the butter. Add the minced onion (if using) and saute for a minute or so. Add the garlic powder, paprika, salt & pepper and saute a few seconds. Add the flour and stir forming a crumbly roux.
2. Add milk a little at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Add Worcestershire sauce. Continue stirring until sauce boils. Boil for 1 minute. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve over cooked pasta. Makes 1 Cup sauce.

Blah...end of the month and trying to stay in budget

Here's what we are having:
Sun-pizza and carrot sticks
Mon-red beans and rice
Tues-pot stickers and ravioli (not enough of each to have a full meal)
Wed-tomato soup and grilled cheese
Th-spaghetti
Fri-stroganoff
Sat--something fun and spooky...just haven't decided yet
Happy Halloween!!

Infanger's are alive

So it's been a long while and obviously we've been eating but I haven't done any posting because well....I've been cooking by what's in the fridge on any given day. Because I have no plan (again) here is what we ate!

I did find a new meal planning website via Make and Takes called This Week for Dinner. She seems to be sensible and real which is always nice.

Okay what we have been eating. No idea what is for dinner tonight...
S-Apple Puff Pancake
M-Chili and cornbread
T-Tacos
W-grilled cheese
T-Ravioli with cream sauce and salmon and veggies

S-Spaghetti with homemade bread
M-Chicken noodle soup and more bread and Stubarb pie (now I'm out of rhubarb and I'm sad)
T-Alfredo noodles with chicken and veggies
W-Chicken stirfry with rice
T-Tuna and grilled cheese with fruit

I am trying to do themes again:
M- Soups
T-pasta
W-Fast
T-leftovers
F-date night

Nagel Oct 19th

1. Roasted Pork and Potatoes

2. Chicken Quesadillas

3. Pizza

4. Stroganoff

5. Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I MUST stay within budget this month so next week might have a lot of cereal and scrambled eggs.

It makes me laugh to hear Sally refer to Phil's time away as "survival mode". I always feel like my menus reflect survival mode.

Dinner for Oct 19-24

What to eat???? This is what I am thinking, subject to change of course. :)

M - Homemade Macaroni & Cheese (Andrew hurt his shoulder and needs some lovin')
T - Slow Cooker Cowboy Beans -- now just to remember to soak the beans. (I actually remembered to soak the beans last week, just didn't notice the crockpot was on --high -- so they turned to mush --refried beans anyone???)
W - Enchilada Casserole
Th - Italian Seasoned Chicken and Mashed Potatoes for kids and Pesto mashed potatoes for Brandon and I. If I am really adventurous I might even make Cynthia's Rosemary Bread.
F - Fondue night (hopefully - everyone else had the flu last week, thankfully we have been spared, for now)
S - Leftovers

Back to Survival

Phil's gone for the next month (except for Halloween...he makes it back in time to take the kids trick or treating and then leaves the next day), so that means back in survival mode. I try to keep things simple, not only to make it less work for me, but because I want to avoid the "I don't like this" battle that inevitably happens when I try something fancy or new. Just the old stand bys this week.
Sun--Chicken nuggets and roasted roots
Mon--spaghetti
Tues--tacos
Wed--grilled cheese and soup
Th--chicken pot pie
Fri--pizza
Sat--rice and beans

Dinner for this week

I am using my crockpot again and borrowing things from "A Year of Slow Cooking." HER BOOK IS OUT TODAY! This is what we are planning:

M - Chow Mein &/or Sweet & Sour Meatballs (I have a little leftover Sweet & Sour in fridge) over rice
T - Slow Cooker Cowboy Beans -- now just to remember to soak the beans.
W - Chicken and potatoes (sweet for K & I and regular for everyone else)
Th - Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
F - Fondue Night with friends

Hmmm . . . I guess I should plan dinner

So I haven't been planning much for dinner this month between canning about 60 jars of peaches (Brandon helped a lot!) about 4 jars of tomatoes (Still have boxes in the garage that are ripening that we picked before the frost), 30 jars of pears, 14 jars of pickles (I still need to do more), freezing 3 gallons of green, red, yellow, and orange peppers (once again THANK YOU Brandon), Shredding lots of zucchini & yellow squash to freeze (still some in freezer), making and freezing pesto, and making jam. Plus doing 2 birthday parties and having a 2 month old. Can I say I'm tired and my house looks like a tornado struck? I have to admit I HATE September ever since we got a garden. Love the fresh veggies, but they almost all need to be done in September during the 2 weeks the two older kids have birthdays. I know, I know, -- whine, whine, whine. So I must admit dinner has been a last minute process most nights -- what takes the least amount of time and effort and in some cases, doesn't use the stove since I have canning pans on it boiling away or waiting to boil away. Then this weekend we ate our 72-hour kit food which was great because there was no planning and little preparing for 3 days. Even thought it has been a while, I am kind of getting excited to cook for real again. I am so loving this blog right now, because I am going back through looking for inspiration.Now to decide what to cook.

M - 72- hour kits
T - Frito Pie
W - Waffles (These sound so good -- Thanks Sarah!!)
Th - -Grilled Ratatouille Soup with Breaded Ravioli (a Rachel Ray recipe my sister e-mailed me and said was good). I am just going to bread some Gluten-free pasta for my GF girl and GF & Reg Rosemary Bread. I guess you could call it a baking/cooking day.
F - Some sort of chicken pasta or BBQ chicken with the Pioneer Woman's Potato Bundles (LOVE THESE!). We are having company and one of the people coming has Crohn's so we are eating dairy & red meat free along with gluten free. Her potato bundles will be done with oil sans milk.

Recipe for Minestone

Love this recipe. Used to make it all of the time and just now saw it in my recipe box and remembered how good it is...especially on a chilly day with some good bread.

1tbsp olive oil
1 cup each of chopped cabbage, carrots, celery and onions
2 tsp minced garlic
6 cups water (or 6 cups chicken stock and omit the bouillon)
3 tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 cup spaghetti broken into 2 inch pieces
1 can (15oz) red kidney beans,drained and rinsed
1 can (15oz) white northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup tomato soup
1. Heat oil in 4qt pot over medium heat. Add veggies. Saute till crisp tender (5 min).
2. Add water, bouillon, and seasoning. Bring to boil, stir in spaghetti and simmer till tender (10 min).
3. Meanwhile, mash 1 cup of beans in a small bowl till smooth as possible. Stir into soup along with remaining beans and tomato sauce. Heat through

Nagel Oct 5th - 11th

Still struggling with planning dinners but I'm going to give it a try this week:

1. pizza

2. red beans and rice

3. spaghetti

4. minestrone soup (I saw it on Sally's post and it sounded good)

5. waffles

The hardest thing to come up with are the sides. So lately we just haven't had any. Honestly, it's a miracle that dinner is served every night. (Even if dinner is popcorn, apples and hot chocolate) I've never had a pregnancy affect my brain this much and for this long. *sigh*

Sunday, Matt's parents are hosting a dinner for Rich - I mean Bishop Haglund. It will be good to chat with a Nashville buddy.

A Quick Rundown of the Week

Back to cooking a little better now that Phil is town.
M--cabbage/chicken salad and bread
T--minestrone main dish soup and salad
W--chicken potpie
Th--chicken noodle soup
F--ravioli
Sat--spaghetti and meatballs
Sun--stroganaff