Menus 1/4/10 - 1/10/10

See tons more menu plans at www.orgjunkie.com! 

Vacation's over, back to routine... too soon!  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I will be out of town on a work trip.  Mr. Mamie is accompanying me, so GrandmaT and the kids (whenever they are over) will eat from the fridge and freezer - which is good, as we need to free up some space!

1/4 Mon: Out of town - CORN/YOYO (Clean Out the Refrigerator/You're On Your Own) for Grandma and any children who are present.Mr. Mamie and I plan to eat at Paradise Bakery in Salt Lake City.

1/5 Tues: Out of town - CORN/YOYO for Grandma and any children who are present. Mr. Mamie and I will probably be meeting up with his cousin and the cousin's fiancee; I'm hoping for Wasatch Pizza Co.

1/6 Wed: Out of town - CORN/YOYO (Clean Out the Refrigerator/You're On Your Own) for Grandma and any children who are present. The Mr. and I will eat somewhere on the road.

I'm not sure which of the following nights Niece and Nephew will be here for dinner, but I have planned to accommodate them on any night they're over.

1/7 Thurs: Mr. Mamie has class - Bacon Cheeseburger Soup, Costco dinner rolls (from the freezer), green salad.

1/8 Fri:  BBQ Turkey Meatloaf, Easy Cheesy Rolls, green salad.

1/9 Sat: Green Chili Chicken and Noodle Bake (this is a recipe I found in my mom's computer recipe file; I'll post it after we try it), Savory Cheese Muffins, green salad.

1/10 Sun: Brother Igor's birthday, though I think he'll still be on the road.  We'll eat what he probably would have chosen if he were home! Steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, French bread (from the freezer), green salad.

EVERYTHING we're cooking this week comes from our pantry/freezer, in keeping with the eat From the Pantry Challenge hosted by Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom.

Some notes about last week's menu:

 Layered Chicken and Black Bean Casserole was good, though I used a too-large casserole dish I think.  The  Jalapeno Corn Muffins were an appropriate side, but if you make them, be careful - they really rose and somewhat over-flowed the muffin tin cups.

Parmesan Italian Pork Chops were tasty if not spectacular; I forgot to put the  Swiss Cheese Potatoes into the CrockPot in a timely fashion, so I improvised and did them in the oven. Tasted good (Mr. Mamie LOVES Swiss cheese), but the Swiss was not as melty as I would have liked.

I did end up making the  Italian Beef Sandwiches with a good-sized pork loin roast, and it was DELICIOUS! We had the meat mixture on crusty sandwich rolls broiled in the oven with cheese.  I have a FULL Ziploc (gallon) in the freezer, and I think we'll get two more meals out of it.  For one meal we'll serve the meat in lightly-fried corn tortillas with a little cheese, mmmmmmm.  This recipe is a KEEPER!

CrockPot Honey Mustard Chicken didn't happen, as we had plenty of left-overs to eat.  This will definitely reappear in the plan soon, though, as Mrs. Igor has made it and say's it's deelish.

The Beef and Bean Chimichangas  were fantastic! Niece especially like them.  I made them using Lynn's homemade taco sauce, which is incredible - we liked it so much that from now on we're making our own, and not buying bottled sauce.This was a hot, yummy, and easy dinner to fix after returning from a day up in the mountains playing in the snow.

GrandmaT's birthday Ham, Pasta, and Broccoli Casserole was yummy and enjoyed by all. I still intend to post the recipe with our modifications.  For her birthday cake, Grandma chose these banana cupcakes with honey frosting, which were superb - the honey frosting is to die for! We'll be using the frosting on many more baked goods (GolfDad is already plotting how good it will be on HIS birthday carrot cake - in August!).

It's Sunday afternoon as I write this, and the  Crockpot BBQ Beans and Polish Sausage are simmering away and smelling delicious.

Last week I made Health Nut Blueberry Muffins ,  Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Muffins,  and Pumpkin-Butterscotch Chip Muffins, so we have a well-supplied freezer as we head back to work/school this month. Mr. Mamie especially loved the pumpkin-butterscotch muffins, which are very aromatic and decadent-tasting.

Have a great week, and happy munching!