Eat at Home 3!

[Arich01]

I need help my Eat at Home friends! This new job has be exhausted when I get home and I just do not have the energy to make anything that takes much work at ALL. I need ideas for meals that are simple to prepare and don't require me to stand at the stove. Heck, I am happy with stuff like "season some chicken thighs and put them in the oven" sort of things. When I get to go back to the grocery (not until AFTER xmas) I do plan to grab some frozen vegetables to nuke up really easy as well as remember that the store has nuke-able bags of fresh vegetables.

Can you bake up a double batch of chicken breasts or thighs? Season half with herbs and the other half with taco seasoning. Eat the first half one night with some veggies or rice or pasta. Next night just shred the taco version for some quesadillas or tacos. Or a big ol pile of nachos!

Canned soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I make my grilled cheese in the oven http://allrecipes.com/recipe/32089/awesome-grilled-cheese-sandwiches/

I've got a ton of crock pot recipes if you have one.
Crock pot potato soup... dump it all in in the morning before work http://www.time2saveworkshops.com/crockpot-potato-soup-recipe/

King Ranch Chicken- can be done in oven too, just adjust time to thoroughly cook the chicken http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2014/01/slow-cooker-king-ranch-chicken-recipe.html

 

[TwoMisfits]

Can you bake up a double batch of chicken breasts or thighs? Season half with herbs and the other half with taco seasoning. Eat the first half one night with some veggies or rice or pasta. Next night just shred the taco version for some quesadillas or tacos. Or a big ol pile of nachos!

Definitely cook a double batch of chicken thighs or breasts. But rather than seasoning both with 2 different seasonings in the one bake, just season half of the chicken for the 1st night cooking and then save the other half to shred and add the taco seasonings to the next day. That way, the seasonings don't accidentally blend and you can adjust water/broth you add to the taco chicken mix.

Definitely plan an easy "Mexican" night as your 2nd night for proteins. Whether it's the chicken tacos (or fajitas, which you can do easily by sauteing onions and peppers the next day with the fajita seasoning mixes), steak tacos or fajitas (simply season your 1st night steak with just salt/pepper so you can go dual use - use a side wine sauce if you want to flavor the 1st night steak), or ground beef nachos (cook off double the ground beef and then split it for sloppy joes the 1st night and nacho meat the 2nd night) - all of these are very, very simple to prepare and will give you an easy avenue to add quick, tasty, fresh veggies (be it fresh lettuce, tomato, peppers, onions, salsa, guac, corn, etc).

Also, plan double use for proteins that can't go Mexican. If you make spaghetti and meatballs, make enough meatballs to do meatball subs with veggie chips and fresh fruit the next day.

And don't always cook. Have easy salad kits (the coleslaw one is always very cheap, very easy, and kicked up with a little black pepper, pretty awesome, have easy fresh fruit, have a few deli meats and a ready stock of lettuce/tomato, have "easy" in your fridge waiting. If it's easy, you'll do it. If not...

And always plan to cook a real double protein for Sunday night, so Monday starts the week with an easy meal. If you start the week well, you'll get less overwhelmed as the week goes...And if you plan for double use, you can then get away with only 2 main "cooks" in the week for Tuesday/Thursday...

 

[TwoMisfits]

Sun - Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Tomato/Veggie Sauce (this week is onion, carrot, garlic, and kale, Navel Orange slices
Mon - Sloppy Joes, Roasted Broccoli, PBJ Muffins (accidentally bought seeded grapes, so turning them into muffins with grapes and peanuts)
Tues - Ground Beef Tacos, Roasted Carrots, Chips with Mango Salsa
Wed - Chicken Cacciatore, Starch (thinking mashed potatoes b/c I have a lot of them), Kiwi/Pineapple
Thurs - Leftovers and Apps (fun finger foods)
Fri - Xmas Story Chinese Dinner - Peking Duck, Fried Rice and LoMein (this is a huge hit for my family - we order it in every year), sliced cucumber strips, clementines (I don't cook Christmas - it's my one definite day off)
Sat - Clean Out the fridge day - we'll see what there is when I get here

 

[Arich01]

Sunday- I too am making a homemade tomato sauce with onion, garlic, carrot, and bell pepper! Using to make lasagna tonight, which I'll split in half and put one in the freezer for a future easy meal
Monday-Roast chicken, stuffing, and green beans
Tuesday-Not sure!
Wednesday-Probably tacos that the hubby will make. I'll be baking all day, so I won't want to cook dinner
Thursday- Christmas Eve dinner with the in-laws
Friday- Bagel and cream cheese casserole http://famishedfish.com/2014/08/the...ys-bagel-and-cream-cheese-baked-french-toast/ Then Christmas dinner at my Dad's house
Saturday- We're having friends over for a card night. We'll smoke a turkey and put out fixings for make your own turkey sandwiches, chips and dip, and Christmas cookies!

 

[LilyWDW]

Thank you all of those you gave me some great answers to my question. I really appreciate it, you will never know how much.

I actually put some of it into use tonight! I had 3 chicken breasts thawed because I was going to make enchiladas but did NOT have the energy to do so. So I covered 2 of them with roasted red pepper sauce and shredded mozz and then cooked up some spaghetti real quick. That gives me chicken parm for tonight and lunch tomorrow. Then I will use the unsauced breast (which was seasoned with only salt and pepper) on Wednesday (when I work again) for something... thinking chicken tacos as I have the tortillas from planning enchiladas.

My overall plan is to keep chicken breasts and thighs, pork chops, and ground beef on hand. These will all allow fast and easy meals on the nights I need them. Then, I will make bigger meals on my days off that I can eat for leftovers either for dinners or lunches. I am also going to be sure to keep some lunch meats on hand with decent rolls and toppings for those "oh crud" nights where I want to do NOTHING.

So again, thank you all.

 

[usnuzuloose]

You could have sloppy joes, make it ahead of time and when you get home , reheat it and have with chips.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Sun - Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Tomato/Veggie Sauce (this week is onion, carrot, garlic, and kale, Navel Orange slices
Mon - Sloppy Joes, Roasted Broccoli, PBJ Muffins (accidentally bought seeded grapes, so turning them into muffins with grapes and peanuts)
Tues - Ground Beef Tacos, Roasted Carrots, Chips with Mango Salsa
Wed - Chicken Cacciatore, Starch (thinking mashed potatoes b/c I have a lot of them), Kiwi/Pineapple
Thurs - Leftovers and Apps (fun finger foods)
Fri - Xmas Story Chinese Dinner - Peking Duck, Fried Rice and LoMein (this is a huge hit for my family - we order it in every year), sliced cucumber strips, clementines (I don't cook Christmas - it's my one definite day off)
Sat - Clean Out the fridge day - we'll see what there is when I get here

Per family's request, moving Chicken Cacciatore to tomorrow and making a double batch of white rice, so I can make homemade Chicken Fried Rice on Tuesday (pretty much swapping my Wed/Thurs plans with my Mon/Tues plans - may pull out less ground beef Wednesday and drop either the original Mon or Tues plan if I have lots of leftovers)...

 

[pigletto]

Things are a bit different this week with holiday plans and dd being home from university. I need a menu more than ever on busy weeks because with all the last minute running around we tend to grab fast food or eat out and I don't want to do that.
So...

Sunday- DH and ds had frozen pizza after we got home from Star Wars. I had a tuna sandwich.

Monday- DD will have a veggie stir fry over pasta, Ds and I will have chicken in ours (dd is a vegetarian)

Tuesday- Whole wheat wraps with chicken and veggies and cheese, dd will have beans in hers.

Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner (eggs, pancakes, fruit smoothies)

Thursday- Christmas eve potluck, I am bringing 2 trays of mac and cheese

Friday- Big Christmas breakfast here (oven baked scrambled eggs, sausage, pastries from bakery, fruit, juice, coffee), Big Christmas dinner at my parents (Turkey)

Saturday- Boxing Day gathering at my parents ( I think it's prime Rib this year)

Sunday- Blissful day of nowhere to go and nothing to plan. I think we will stay in cozy clothes and maybe have something really easy like nachos.

 

[queenofthehive]

Menu Plan Week of Dec 19

Saturday - Hamburgers, baked beans, and chips
Sunday -brats, mashed potatoes, okra
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - spaghetti, peas
Wednesday - herb crusted fish, rice, and green beans
Thursday - pizza, wings and Greek salad from a local pizzeria.
Friday - deli, veggie, cheese and cracker, fruit trays & cookies and cupcakes (a day of grazing)

 

[stayhomemom77]

Tonight-chicken breasts, twice baked potatoes, broccoli
Wed-meatball subs, veggie sticks
Thurs-pizza, clementines
Fri-my mom's
Sat-my mother in law's
Sun-spaghetti bolognese, garlic toast, clementines
Mon-soup and grilled cheese, not sure of veg

 

[TwoMisfits]

Sun - Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Tomato/Veggie Sauce (this week is onion, carrot, garlic, and kale, Navel Orange slices
Mon - Sloppy Joes, Roasted Broccoli, PBJ Muffins (accidentally bought seeded grapes, so turning them into muffins with grapes and peanuts)
Tues - Ground Beef Tacos, Roasted Carrots, Chips with Mango Salsa
Wed - Chicken Cacciatore, Starch (thinking mashed potatoes b/c I have a lot of them), Kiwi/Pineapple
Thurs - Leftovers and Apps (fun finger foods)
Fri - Xmas Story Chinese Dinner - Peking Duck, Fried Rice and LoMein (this is a huge hit for my family - we order it in every year), sliced cucumber strips, clementines (I don't cook Christmas - it's my one definite day off)
Sat - Clean Out the fridge day - we'll see what there is when I get here

Still cleaning out the fridge tomorrow - in fact, it's leftovers for all 3 meals...for next week...
Sun - Wed - Dinners with Extended Families (different people different days and I get to do no cooking - I just bring some fruit or cookies - hurrah!)
Thurs - Nice final NYE lunch with extended family and then Annual "Eat the Emergency Food" Evening (annual tradition, so we are always turning it over if we have no weather event in the year) with champagne cocktails and dipped strawberries (since you gotta have something nice to ring in the New Year)
Fri - Breakfast for dinner - Strawberry/banana/nutella crepes with bacon and fruit smoothies (maybe alcoholic to ring in the new year - maybe with leftover champagne)
Sat - Chicken and sausage gumbo, white rice, and leftover fruit from the week (if we have tons of leftovers from all the family meals, we may push this to Sunday)

 

[LilyWDW]

Okay, here I go trying to put into use some of the hints and tips I asked for! Tomorrow is grocery and food prep day. This will include boiling some eggs, making muffins, mixing up a dip, and chopping vegetables making things easy to grab on crazy days. Breakfasts will include the eggs and muffins. Lunches will be leftovers and sandwiches mostly. Snacks are vegetables and dip, chips and dip, fruit, and eggs. Then my dinner plan includes:

Today: Leftover fettuccine alfredo and breadsticks from xmas eve
Tomorrow: Tacos
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Slow cooker white chicken chili
Wednesday: (W) Leftovers
Thursday: (W) Leftovers
Friday: (W) Eggs, sausage, and toast
Saturday: (W) One pan garlic ranch chicken and vegetables
Sunday: (W) Leftovers
Monday: Beef roast, mashed potatoes, and green beans (thin sliced roast will make awesome sandwiches too!)
Tuesday: Slow cooker honey garlic chicken, rice, and broccoli
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: (W) Leftovers
Friday: Shepard's Pie
Saturday: (W) Leftovers
Sunday: (W) Pan fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, vegetable (frozen or canned)

 

[figment3258]

Hi all I havnt been on the boards in quite some time
Need to get back on the wagon!
This weeks plan looks like this
Sun leftovers
Mon ham and fried rice
Tues hubbys birthday so Cobb salads with homemade ranch dressing
Wed chicken parm stuffed shells
Thurs since its New Year's Eve pig out night big bowl of jalapeño popper dip
Fri hamburgers with ranch pasta salad with Ham ( we have a ton of leftover ham from Christmas )
Sat homemade pizzas
Sun leftovers then off to the great wolf lodge for 3 days can't wait!
Ps when my kids opened the paper on Christmas that said were going to the great wolf lodge all I got was oh it's not Disney

 

[charming23]

Well it has been a bit of time since I posted. Life has been crazy busy and we have been eating out way too much. My plan until after the New Year is to eat out of our freezer and pantry to use stuff up. Like last night we had spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, all from things I had on hand.

My menu plan is

Tonight- Dinner at my Aunt's for a belated Christmas celebration
Monday- beef stew in the crock pot with salad
Tuesday- Chicken teriyaki stir fry with rice
Wednesday- grilled ham and cheese with tomato soup
Thursday- beef and chicken fajitas with rice, beans, and toppings
Friday- ribs with baked sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts
Saturday- leftovers

 

[lillygator]

ok I need to get back to this, we wasted so much food and money this year.
I got a new crock pot for christmas and I intend to make good use of it.

 

[queenofthehive]

Great to see folks back again!! Love to see all the menu ideas!

Menu Plan Week of Dec 26th
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - leftovers
Monday - Mexican chicken salad (black beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes)
Tuesday - Grilled salmon over spinach, baked sweet potatoes
Wednesday - grilled chicken salad (peppers, tomatoes, cukes)
Thursday - Son's b-day so most likely pizza, wings and greek salad from pizzeria
Friday - grilled fish, grilled veggies (zucchini, peppers, mushrooms) and rice

 

[stayhomemom77]

I've done up a plan for the next five weeks. I'll post the whole month at a glance now, and then I'll do a weekly post each Monday as I'm sure there will be some changes. Some things are a bit vague, as the meat and vegetables I will buy will be dependant on the weekly sales on offer for each shopping trip but I like having a plan that can be mixed up a bit if necessary.

The hubs tends to eat low carb through the week but likes to have carbs on the weekend. Because of the holiday though, he's taking this week off from that. The kids are sort of finicky eaters and I have to eat gluten free. For convenience and a little boost (possibly??) to the weight loss program I follow, I'll be eating low carb when DH does one week or so a month. For January, I choose from the 4th to the 8th.

I try to make at least one large batch of homemade soup weekly, that can be eaten for lunches but I haven't planned out those yet. Chili, cream of broccoli, corn chowder, lentil stew, chickpea stew and chicken & rice are all ones I make regularly and usually have the stuff for in my freezer/pantry.

I also tend to have beans and rice often for my own lunch as it is gluten free, filing and pretty cheap. I find it necessary to do this to balance out all the meat DH eats when he goes without carbs. He tends to eat twice as much (or more!!) meat to make up for his missing starch on the side. It's been killing my budget but I've also found a few other ways to adapt. I increased the grocery budget slightly for 2016, so we'll see how it goes.

On to the menu...

Tonight-spaghetti bolognese, garlic toast, fruit
Tues-pork tenderloin medallions and spaghetti squash, mixed with feta, black olives and tomatoes
Wed-dinner out at East Side Mario's
Thurs-homemade calzones, fruit
Fri-chili topped baked potatoes, green beans
Sat-turkey pot pie
Sun-leftovers

Mon-ham, green beans, salad (eating low carb Mon-Fri, so no starchy sides until the weekend)
Tues-ham and eggs, pancakes for the kids, fruit
Wed-cheese stuffed meatballs in marinara sauce with green beans (over pasta for the kids)
Thurs-chicken skewers, greek salad
Fri-pork chops, salad
Sat-butter chicken, rice, naan, peas
Sun-leftovers

Mon-bacon and eggs
Tues- meat and veggie stir fry (made with veggies and protein on sale that week)
Wed-chicken Caesar salad
Thurs-bacon wrapped mini meatloaves, not sure of veg
Fri-beef tacos/bean burritos
Sat-turkey dinner with all the fixings
Sun-leftovers

Mon-Cobb salad
Tues-ham sliders, some frozen veg
Wed-cheeseburgers and homemade fries, salad
Thurs-chicken and noodles, salad
Fri-frittata (using whatever meat and veg are available)
Sat-turkey enchiladas
Sun-leftovers

Mon-breakfast for dinner (eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon/sausage/ham depending on what's on sale)
Tues-chicken fingers and fries, salad
Wed-soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit
Thurs-ham and twice baked potatoes, peas
Fri-shepherd's pie
Sat-pasta with garlic toast, not sure of veg
Sun-leftovers

 

[DnA2010]

Stayhomemom77 your menus sound great! Yum yum!

 

[pigletto]

Another week...another menu.

Sunday.. went out to eat with my mom and my sisters before going to see a play
Monday..Made chili. Ds had friends over and we got them subs
Tuesday.. Wraps (chicken , cheese and veggie for us, and beans and cheese and veggie for dd)
Wednesday.. A roast chicken, baked sweet potato, brussel sprouts, carrots
Thursday.. Pasta with bolognese sauce, garlic bread
Friday.. Not entirely sure yet. Will likely put something in the crock pot to have when we get home. We're all going to a museum a few hours away for the day, and then dh and ds are going to a basketball game. It will just be dd and I for dinner. Maybe a minestrone soup.
Saturday.. Leftovers?
Sunday... at inlaws for the day, eating there and bringing appetizers.

 

[crazelion]

Sunday- Spaghetti and Meatballs
Monday- leftovers
Tuesday - Cabbage, ham, cornbread
Wednesday -leftovers
Thursday - Homemade chili over nachos, fruit
Friday- leftovers
Saturday - not sure
Sunday - not sure