Meal Plan 4/2

I’m trying to get off to a great start this week by having my meal plan all set and ready to go first thing Monday morning!  I’m hoping this is a precursor of good things to come.

Here’s what I’ve got to consider while I’m making this week’s meal plan:

1. Part of the extra special chaos this week is that the kiddos get out of school for spring break on Thursday, I’m hosting Easter Dinner on Sunday, and NEXT week the kids and I are heading out of town for a trip to visit relatives-which means I’ve got to be thinking ahead to that.  Whee!

2.  Princess has her birthday this week-so that means dinner out with just the birthday kiddo and the parents!  We’ll probably do that on Friday just to make life easy.

3.  Yankee Bill has meetings on Wed & Thurs night.  The kiddos have scouts on Wed.  I’ve got appointments in town on Monday (which always means I don’t feel like cooking by the time I get home).

4.  My goal every week is to include in my meal plan: 1 venison meal, 1 fish meal, 1 bean meal, 1 meatless meal, 1 soup meal

Taking all that into account here is my game plan:

Monday: Ridiculously Easy Crockpot Roast with Rice & Carrots

I’m heading into town today, so a slow cooker meal that I can start in the morning and have ready when I get home is just the ticket! Ridiculously Easy Crockpot Roast is, well, ridiculously easy.  I’ll use a Venison roast from the freezer, toss the carrots in to cook with them, then just put rice on the side.

This is my venison meal for the week.

Tuesday:  Pork Schnitzel, Buttered Noodles and Green Beans

I’ve got some boneless pork chops in the freezer that will make lovely Schnitzel.  I won’t do the full on German meal this time-the week is too busy-but it will still be nice paired with buttered wide egg noodles and some of my canned green beans from last summer.

Wednesday: Lentil Soup with Sweet Northern Cornbread

I’ll toss this together in the crockpot and let it go all day.  I can whip up the Sweet Northern Cornbread easily a bit before supper.  Since the kids will be home on Thurs & Fri for break, it will be a nice, easy to warm up lunch as well.

This is my bean, meatless AND soup meal for the week.  Yay! A three for one!

Thursday: Kids Cooking

The kids are off on Thurs, and I’ve got a Dr. appt early in the morning in town that I’ll have to drag them along to.  I’m thinking that we will sit down on Thursday morning and plan a dinner together-then we can go through the whole process as a learning experience for them.  Check the recipes.  Look to see what we have on hand. Make a shopping list.  Purchase ingredients (making substitutions based on availability & price).  Preparing the meal.  I think it should be fun since they’ve both shown more of an interest in cooking lately, and we have plenty of time so it needn’t be rushed.

Friday: Pizza Monkey Bread

Again, since the kids will be home all day it seems like a good time to get them involved.  Together we can make the Pizza Monkey Bread, using the Pizza Hut Crust Clone of course.

Saturday: Baked Potatoes with Creamed Tuna & Salad

I’ll just bake the potatoes and make tuna in a cream gravy to pour over top and stick a green salad on the side.  Maybe not the most elegant of meals, but it’s fast, easy, tasty and includes fish 🙂

This is my fish meal for the week.

Sunday: Easter Dinner

I’m hosting Easter Dinner for 10.  I’m taking care of the Ham in the crockpot (I may do my copycat  Honey Baked Ham ) my ham wrapped asparagus, and some rolls.  I’ve got others bringing vegetables, “green goo”, twice baked potatoes, salad & dessert.  Now to clean the house. . .

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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” .