Week 76 Menu

As I was making dinner tonight, I couldn't help but think how much I love bagged spinach. Pre-washed, super healthy, good hot or cold. Perhaps the perfect food?


This week's menu is very short...because we are going on VACATION! East coast-bound on Wednesday, then off to BERLIN on Friday. Yup, you heard me right. Berlin for 1 week then Paris for 1 week! I can't wait! Anyway, I'm only cooking one night this week. That may be even better than traveling. Just kidding.

I am going to keep posting while I travel, so please keep visiting the blog. I'm excited to share my culinary adventures with you!

MONDAY:
- Pasta Salad a la Kristy Tayler (click here and see Valerie's comment)
- Good crusty bread

TUESDAY:
- Packing...therefore eating out!

WEDNESDAY:
- Flying!

THURSDAY:
- At my mom's

FRIDAY:
- Dinner at JFK waiting for our red-eye flight to take off

SATURDAY:
- HELLO BERLIN!

SUNDAY:
- More Berlin! :)

I'm counting on all of you the next few weeks to share your menus...you need to inspire one another! Show us what you got! (I'll still do the weekly menu post even if my menu involves a lot of eating out...which it will!)

Week 75 Menu

I am loving this summer so far. Now that I have a blender that works (smoothies, smoothies, smoothies!) and I have all your great summertime meal ideas, I'm set! I'm going to start trying all your ideas this week. Thank you! And if you have more summertime meal ideas, please go post them here!


MONDAY:
- Grilled pork loin (I think we'll cut it into chops?)
- Fresh zucchini
- Rice

TUESDAY:
- Asian Spinach & Pasta Salad
- Good crusty bread or some kind of chinese food side dish (perhaps from the freezer section at the store, or maybe just from the local chinese food spot!)

WEDNESDAY:
- Taco Salad (click here and see Julie B's comment)
- Guacamole

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- 4th of July! Who knows?!? Between pancake breakfasts, town parades, rodeos and fireworks as activities to choose from, we'll just see where the day takes us...

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Pasta Salad a la Kristy Tayler (click here and see Valerie's comment)
- Good crusty bread

I can't wait to try the rest of the recipes you shared...but only so many days in a week! Thanks again everyone, and I'm excited to see what YOU are eating this week!

Week 74 Menu

One of our first weeks here in the Bay Area we went to Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. It was AWESOME. I took so many great pictures and have just been waiting for the day when I have time to write up a good entry about our visit. I still haven't done that, so I'm just going to tease you with one of the photos today. I promise to share more Tartine with you soon!


MONDAY:
- Nate's Birthday! Cate and I will plan something special, but can't write it here or we'll spoil the surprise! :)

TUESDAY:
- BBQ Night (hot dogs and/or hamburgers)
- Baked Beans
- Corn on the Cob
- Watermelon

WEDNESDAY:
- Homemade pizza (click through and look for "Uncle Tony's Pizza Crust")
- Salad

THURSDAY:
- Breakfast for dinner (Hillary - last week you posted "mixed berry waffles" - do you actually mix berries into the batter or are you just topping them with berries?)

FRIDAY:
- Pork Chops
- Rice
- Veggie

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Steak on the grill (that just sounds good, we'll see if I can find some on SALE)
- Baked homemade french fries
- Salad

Bring on the menus! I've said it before, I'll say it again...I love seeing what you are all cooking every week. Being able to browse your menus/recipes for ideas every week is such a huge help. THANK YOU!

Week 72 Menu

Oh, man, back in the grind...time to plan a real menu again!

My mom visited this weekend, which was, of course, wonderful. She works for M&M/Mars...this is what she left for us. That is my biggest salad bowl. What are we going to do with all this candy? EAT IT?!?!


MONDAY:
- Pasta Alfredo w/Chicken & Broccoli
- Salad
- Good bread
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

TUESDAY:
- Tacos
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

WEDNESDAY:
- Steak
- Baked Potatoes
- Veggie
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

FRIDAY:
- A Yummy Dinner Salad of some sort
- Fruit
- Good bread
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

SATURDAY:
- Eat out
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

SUNDAY:
- Father's Day! I'm going to see if I can get Mr. I-Don't-Ever-Have-Ideas-For-Dinner to tell me what he would like for Father's Day dinner... :)
- Mini Snickers, Milky Way & Dove candy

Post your menus! Yeah, I'm being bossy about it. Get those menus up here! And be sure to check back in the next day or so for another giveaway (it's gonna be good!).

Week 71 Menu

Sorry, no menu again this week...finishing up the trip in Utah then hitting the road. And when we get home, my mom is in town - yea! Even though I don't have a menu, I DO have a picture of the yummy Creamy Chicken Enchiladas I made the other week. It's a great recipe - try them! Warning...there are a lot of steps to make them, but it's worth the work.


Okay, people, last week I didn't have a menu, and only 3 people posted theirs! Memorial Day is a pretty good excuse...but the holiday is over. So get your menus up here! :)

Week 70 Menu

I either like torturing myself (i.e. 2 kids, 1 car, 1 mama, 800 miles) or Willie got in my head...either way, the girls and I have taken to the open road in search of a land called Utah. Which means no menu...but perhaps some fun Roadtrip food posts to share this week!


Since I'm not cooking and providing any help with your menu planning this week, please peruse old menus and definitely post your own! You need to inspire one another while I play hooky.

Week 69 Menu

Don't you just love it when cherries are on sale?!?!


MONDAY:
- Pasta...boring, but it's a busy day tomorrow.

TUESDAY:
- Texas Pulled Pork sandwiches

WEDNESDAY:
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Grill night - hot dogs & hamburgers
- Baked beans
- Fruit

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- I really want to grill some steaks...I think we should!
- Homemade fries
- Veggie

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT, FOLKS! Remember, ANY kind of menu, fancy or no, I love 'em all!

Make sure you read the post about meal planning if you didn't catch it earlier this week...and share your ideas if you haven't already!

And thank you for your bran muffin recipes!! Can't wait to try them. While we're here, I'm going to make an addendum to my request...any BANANA bran muffin recipes out there? If YES...click here and please share!

Week 68 Menu & HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas out there! I hope your day was filled with flowers, chocolate, clean dishes and, most importantly, necklaces made out of plastic wrap and Starburst candy!


I've got lots and lots of carry-over from last week's menu. Honestly, what are we eating around here? All I know is I didn't have to cook tonight because of this great holiday (I can't change that diaper, it's Mother's Day! I can't do dishes, it's Mother's Day!), so that's one carry-over item. There's no way I'm cooking on Mother's Day!

ANYHOW...SHARE YOUR MENUS! Seriously, it does NOT need to be fancy!!!! Of course it CAN be, but I like 'em when they're not, too! :)

MONDAY:
- Orange Chicken (great recipe - click through!)
- Rice
- Carrots (click & scroll to the bottom for a "recipe")

TUESDAY:
- Hawaiian Pizza on Trader Joe's pizza crust (you can find it in the reefer section, yeah you heard right. I overheard the TJ's guys talking about the "reefer" over and over one day...it was so funny. They realized I heard them and explained it was the "refrigerated" section, which is not nearly as interesting)

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken Tostadas (see Chicken Tostada Goop recipe)

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Grill night...hamburgers? chicken? we shall see...

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- no idea...give me a break, it's mother's day...I'll do some planning later. :)

Week 67 Menu

We had the yummiest mango this morning. Worth the work, I suppose...does anyone have a "trick" for cutting mango? Or is it just a lost cause? Regardless, I love it!


Yeah, yeah, my menu's not so different from last week...for some reason I ended up not cooking a lot of what I had planned, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what we ate instead!

MONDAY:
- Chicken Masala & Rice
- Naan bread
- Some sort of veggie

TUESDAY:
- Bistro Chicken
- Mashed potatoes
- Veggie

WEDNESDAY:
- Orange Chicken (great recipe - click through!)
- Rice
- Carrots (click & scroll to the bottom for a "recipe")

THURSDAY:
- Homemade pizza

FRIDAY:
- Hot dogs
- Stuff that goes with hot dogs...how's that for specifics?

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Chicken Tostadas (see Chicken Tostada Goop recipe)

Now time for YOU to post your menu! Any menu! Fancy dancy, boring, yucky, yum. Bring it on!

And don't miss the ProFlowers Giveaway!

PS - I've been terrible about responding to all your lovely comments this week! It was a busy week for the blog and a busy week for work...please know I read them all! If you said something nice, THANK YOU. If you answered a question for me, THANK YOU. You guys are the best!

Week 66 Menu

There are few things I love more than chubby hands doing things.


Let's see what we're having this week...

MONDAY:
- Pork Chops
- Rice
- Veggie

TUESDAY:
- Something easy because I'm going to meet MARIA SHRIVER that night! Stay tuned this week for a full report!

WEDNESDAY:
- Hamburgers on the grill
- Homemade fries? or chips
- Fruit

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Orange Chicken (great recipe - click through!)
- Rice
- Salad

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Homemade pizza (with Trader Joe's crust)

Now for your menus! And don't forget to enter the free Rock Scissor Paper Giveaway!

Week 65 Menu

I am back in the GRIND, folks. I have a lot of freelance work right now, which means I really need to get organized food-wise. This week I started doing dinner food prep while Cate eats her lunch. It was very helpful...if you're home during the day, definitely a good tip for making dinnertime a little easier.

Here's what we're eating this week (probably). Bring on the menus! I seriously read through them every week to plan my menus. I'm so happy you all share!

MONDAY:
- Leftovers

TUESDAY:
- Orange Chicken
- Rice
- Steamed veggies

WEDNESDAY:
- Manicotti
- Salad
- Bread

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers? Hot Dogs? I don't know...

FRIDAY:
- Baked French Toast

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Pork Chops
- Rice
- Veggie

Week 64...Lights, CAMERA, Action!

I found the camera cord! AND I'm ready to cook. Let's get this show on the road!

We took our first trip up to "the city" (i.e. San Francisco) yesterday (more on that later). We had a blast. It really is a great place and I can't wait to explore it more.


Milton's is a restaurant/deli in Del Mar (San Diego area). They also have a baking company and they make my most favorite sandwich bread, Whole Grain Plus. It tastes great, is full of whole grains and fiber, and has NO high fructose corn syrup. I thought it was local to San Diego, but it's not - you can get it everywhere! I was so excited when I found it this week at my new Trader Joe's. Go get yourself some, you'll be happy.


I'm actually going to cook this week. For real.

MONDAY:
- Caprese Salad
- Good bread
- Spinach salad with pears, feta cheese & Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette

TUESDAY:
- Kitchen sink quesadillas
- Chips & Guacamole

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken noodle soup
- Good bread

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Fettucine alfredo w/broccoli & chicken
- Salad

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Pot roast
- Mashed potatoes
- Veggie
- Rolls (I sure hope they have Rhodes in the Bay Area!)

Now, what are YOU eating this week?

Week 63 Menu

We made it to our new apartment...and the work continues! My plan this week is to get this kitchen unpacked and maybe cook a real meal by the end of the week...cross your fingers for me. Until then, please please please post your menus!!

Week 62 Menu...and Moving!

This is it. We are moving this week. Come Thursday we will no longer be San Diegans...it's off to the Bay Area we go! Nate will be doing a post-doc at Stanford and we'll be starting a new life in Northern California. I am SUPER excited about all the great things to come and about living in the Bay Area. But I am definitely sad this week...about leaving San Diego, which is an amazing place to live, but more about leaving our dear friends. But, as one of those friends pointed out to me, if you weren't sad when you left a place, THAT would be sad.


Yes, that's my studly surfer husband coming in from a sunset surf. Seriously, how could anyone NOT want to live in San Diego?!?!

Since I am in the throes of packing, it's pretty much impossible to cook. Here's my "menu".

MONDAY:
- Maybe eating at Lindsay's depending on how the day goes

TUESDAY:
- Eat out

WEDNESDAY:
- Eat out

THURSDAY:
- Pizza, to feed the slaves, I mean friends, loading our truck - ordering from Regents Pizza, which is AWESOME by the way

FRIDAY:
- Unloading the truck...who knows?!?!

SATURDAY:
- Eat out?

SUNDAY:
- Eat out?

Geesh, this is worse than when I had a baby! :) Please post your menus for one another. I'm so grateful I have such amazingly supportive readers who always post menus. You guys rule.

To all my San Diego friends...we're gonna miss you!

Week 61 Menu & Happy Easter!

We just finished a WONDERFUL day. I won't bore you with details, but it was perfect in so many ways and I feel abundantly blessed. Happy Easter!


I have dirty laundry to clean, empty boxes to fill, moving trucks to reserve, farewells to make to good, dear friends...cooking is honestly the last thing on my mind (let alone finding time for food shopping). I'm just planning on using up food in the freezer this week. I still can't believe we're moving. Wow.

MONDAY:
- Eating at our friends' new home!

TUESDAY:
- Easter leftovers

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken Cordon Bleu (in the freezer)
- Rice
- Salad

THURSDAY:
- Chicken Masala (simmer sauce from TJs, with garbanzo beans added)
- Rice

FRIDAY:
- Goodbye party thrown by friends

SATURDAY:
- Goodbye party with Book Club

SUNDAY:
- ????

Now PLEASE post some real menus. :)

For you San Diegans out there...while I have your ever so rapt attention - and since it's my blog and I can do what I want - if you want a decent, used car, buy ours! :) Click here for info.

Week 60 Menu & Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I usually go crazy on St. Patrick's Day...all of our food is green...green french fries, green salad, green fruit dip, green mashed potatoes, green rice krispie treats, green punch...you name it, I've turned it green...although, I've yet to figure out green corned beef!


This year, however, St. Patrick's Day is also graduation! Tomorrow, Nate will have the luck o' the Irish on his side as he defends his PhD Thesis, "Allele-specific Gene Regulation in Humans." What? I'm sure it will be fascinating and I am so excited for him! We're going to have a little dessert party tomorrow night with friends...where I'll pull out the green desserts, of course. Go Nate!

I can't even think about menus right now. Which is why this week's menu is LAME. I need to start packing since we're moving so soon...maybe I should pack my kitchen first so I CAN'T cook. Last night, Nate was saying that me having a food blog is like him (the scientist) having a painting blog. Ha ha ha ha...

MONDAY:
- Going out to a restaurant to celebrate!

TUESDAY:
- Lentil Soup (click on the link and scroll almost to the bottom...a delicious and easy recipe)

WEDNESDAY:
- Leftovers (which means, more soup.)

THURSDAY:
- Pizza

FRIDAY:
- Pasta

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Easter Sunday...I'll post the Easter dinner menu later this week!

PLEASE share menus the next few weeks. I need you to inspire each other since I'm a loser.

Okay, one more time...Go Nate!! :)

Week 59 Menu (& Slicing Fresh Mozzarella)

I love fresh mozzarella. It's pretty much all I use on our pizzas nowadays. And I can make myself sick eating caprese salad. But I tend to mangle the cheese when I slice it. Quick side note - Cate loves Rachael Ray. It's hilarious. I asked her why she likes her so much and Cate responded, "Because she's nice." So cute. While Cate was watching an episode of 30-Minute Meals one day, I overheard Rachael give a great tip for slicing fresh mozzarella - use a serrated knife. DUH! Don't know why I never thought of that myself, but it definitely helps. It would probably work well on other softer cheeses as well.


Here's the menu. It's another crazy week. Actually, this whole month is crazy, but fun and exciting, too. One week and one day until Nate's defense! And this week we should get our apartment up near Stanford squared away - yea! What a mix of emotions right now...so busy, so stressed, so excited, so sad to leave San Diego. If I start talking crazy talk on here, please forgive me. :)

MONDAY:
- Omelettes
- Fruit

TUESDAY:
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Good crusty bread

WEDNESDAY:
- Mac & Cheese
- Salad

THURSDAY:
- Book Club at Jen's

FRIDAY:
- Leftovers

SATURDAY:
- Eat out - family arrives for the Nate's PhD defense!

SUNDAY:
- Family in town...and the night before the defense...can't decide what we're going to do yet!

Thank you all for your great menus every week! I didn't respond to anyone's comments/menus last week. Please know that I read them all and use them for inspiration. As always, I was so happy to see people posting menus for the first time! And thank you for the PhD congratulations some of you left in your comments! :) Have a great week, everyone!

Week 58 Menu

Yesterday I stopped in at Village Mill Bread Company in Del Mar. Their Cinnamon Swirl bread is awesome, by the way. Yesterday I grabbed a beautiful loaf of challah, allowing us to have a great french toast breakfast this morning!


Menu planning the next two weeks is not going to be so fun...Nate's final defense is in 2 weeks, so he's busy, busy, busy. Poor guy - it sure will be nice for him when it's all done! Can't believe 6 1/2 years of a PhD are almost done. Amazing. Anyway, when he's not around, it's very hard to motivate myself to cook. But I'm going to do my darndest.

MONDAY:
- Bistro Chicken
- Potatoes
- Salad

TUESDAY:
- Chicken a la King
- Rice
- Salad

WEDNESDAY:
- Leftovers

THURSDAY:
- Omelettes
- Fruit

FRIDAY:
- Homemade pizza
- Salad

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Chicken Noodle Soup

Week 57 Menu

Sorry the menu is so late tonight...let's just say that tonight is one of those tricky crazy mom nights. I won't go into details, but I gotta get this up quick and run! :) In fact, I'm just going to TBD a few of the nights and finish the week's plan later. I REALLY need your menus this week!

MONDAY:
- Pizza (as per Cate's request)

TUESDAY:
- Spaghetti & Meatballs
- Salad
- Garlic bread (w/TJs whole grain french bread)

WEDNESDAY:
- Rosemary Chicken with Artichokes & White Beans

THURSDAY:
- Our great friends Liz & Dave are visiting us for a night...we'll see where this crazy night leads us! :)

FRIDAY:
- TJs Orange Chicken (freezer section)
- Rice
- Little egg rolls

SATURDAY:
- TBD

SUNDAY:
- TBD

Week 56 Menu

Tonight is leftover night...I went out to get Cate some food and found this on the dinner table instead...


Cate and her dad were busy making snowmen. It was so cute. Hey, if there's no dinner on the table, this sure is a good substitute.

By the way - several of you have commented in the last few weeks about using my recipes (beef stew, tostada goop for enchiladas, pizza dough, to name a few...check the Recipes: Main Dishes page for recipes). I love the positive feedback and I'm so happy the recipes are working for you - yea! :)

I have a LOT of carry-overs on my menu from last week...I think I must have been half asleep when I went to the grocery store since I forgot half my ingredients! You may be wondering what we ate at all, and, to be honest, I don't really remember. We didn't starve, so that's good.

MONDAY:
- Either hamburgers or BBQ pork
- Chips
- Salad

TUESDAY:
- Beef Stew (Cate's current favorite)

WEDNESDAY:
- Pat's Oriental Chicken Salad
- Mini egg rolls (from the frozen food aisle, of course!)

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Breakfast for dinner
- Fruit
- Hashbrowns

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Chicken Salad sandwiches
- Chips
- Fruit & Salad

Share your menus! And, if you haven't entered the ProFlowers giveaway, you have a few more hours... :)