This is going to have to be easy week! I'm actually going away on Friday to speak at a marriage conference all next weekend, and I'm going to have to be preparing for that. So here's what I have planned for the homefront:

Monday: It's Keith's birthday! So we're actually going away for a romantic evening. I've got a hotel booked (he doesn't know that yet) and my mother is sleeping over. So my plan is to take my husband out for a romantic dinner and then a romantic evening. I'm leaving the kids with some frozen hamburger helper leftovers. They like that better than most things I make, anyway.

The kids really can be picky. Last week's salmon chowder didn't work out so well for them, but I had enough to eat leftovers for lunch all week! I liked it.

Tuesday: Baked Potatoes. This is one of the kids' favourite meals, so I'll make up for the salmon here. I'm trying to do one meatless meal a week, so this qualifies. You bake a bunch of potatoes, and then load the table with butter, salsa, shredded cheese, black beans, sour cream, green onions, and any other toppings you like! They're happy, we're happy, and it's easy!

Wednesday: Pasta with Sausage. I haven't done pasta in a while, and I do have some sausage to use up. So I cut up the sausage and brown it, add some tomatoes and pesto and a bit of hot pepper sauce, and then toss it all with the pasta. It's good, and it's easy!

Thursday: Ham and Scalloped Potatoes. We're having company over, so this will look great but will still be easy! I love doing scalloped potatoes. I use onions grated really thin so nobody notices they're there, a lot of garlic, and some butter. But I also have this great herbed salt that you can add, and if you add milk and flour to the whole thing you can cut down on the butter so it's not too too fattening. They key thing is to layer really well and put the garlic on every layer, so it's really tasty. Then you don't need as much butter.

I'll throw in some broccoli and carrots and green beans, too. I find that what really makes a meal is having a lot of vegetable choices. It's healthy, and it makes you look like you worked harder than you did. I usually put raw veggies on the table, too, for munching, because kids always eat them!

And that's it! I'm farming the kids out to various families next weekend while we're speaking, so that's taken care of. Although I'm thinking about making a lasagna to send with each child just to thank the families.

Have a great week! And do check out my other posts. I've got some great things up about marriage and kids and chores!

Labels: cooking, Menu Plan Monday