Weekly Menu Plan 23.0

Hi MincedReviewers!  I have dropped the huge giant roasting pan .. um.. I mean ball…on my menu planning posts.  I will not lie and say that I am back on track BUT I am going to post a menu plan for this week. For those of you that are new to MincedReviews, the menu plan is a week full of recipes that I love, that will help you get ready for your upcoming week and ahead of upcoming grocery shopping trips. Happy cooking everyone!

Sunday- Fire Roasted Tomato and Feta Pasta w/Shrimp.

Monday-Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken.

Tuesday-Santa Fe Chicken

Wednesday-Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff.

Thursday – Cauliflower, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Quinoa Gratin.

Friday-Lemon, Herb and Parmesan Crusted Fish.

Friday- No cooking for you!

Sunday –  Fire Roasted Tomato and Feta Pasta w/Shrimp– Wow that’s a long name for such an easy recipe.  This actually makes a great mid-week meal but I can’t wait, so Sunday it is. 

Monday– My ‘I’m not actually cooking’ night.  Making Trader Joe’s Kung Pao Chicken. Throw it over rice.  Done and Done.

Tuesday–  Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken– A healthy, clean recipe that you can make in advance and throw in the slow cooker.  So fantastic and I just love how the delicious the house smells when we get home.

Wednesday–  Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff– Okay, so two nights in a row of crock pot meals may seem a bit excessive but with baseball season starting, it’s a must do.  This recipe is basically the anthesis of Tuesday night in terms of healthy BUT you gotta slip once in a while.  I add button mushrooms to this recipe and try to keep it organic.

Thursday– Cauliflower, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Quinoa Gratin – Wow.  Wow. Wow. Wow.  Love love love this recipe. Wonderful right out of the oven and even better reheated.

Friday – Lemon, Herb & Parmesan Crusted Fish. – An easy, healthy way to end the week.  Serve with rice or orzo and a veggie that you love. 

Saturday–  No cooking for you (or me in this case)  Have an easy night tonight.

Don’t forget to click on the link below to use the printable grocery list!  This will help keep you on track as you shop.  Hope this helps streamline your grocery store trips! The goal is for you to go to the store ONCE this week. Save time. Save $$.

Grocery List Template

and as always, here is your menu planning template to print out, write your menu and stick on your fridge.  It is super cute!!

Menu Planning Template

Weekly Menu Plan – 22.0

Hi MincedReviewers!   I was starting to slip, going to the grocery store 3-4 times a week, spending more $ than I should be.  I needed to rewind and go back to you where I started.  I planned my menu for the week, printed my grocery store template off to check off what I needed and off to the grocery store I went.  I bought a TON but I feel better prepared and certainly will save money.  You never really end up leaving with just the one thing you went in for.  The below is what I am planning on preparing this week.  Happy cooking everyone!

Sunday – Cod with Italian Crumbs

Monday – Chicken Breasts with Avocado, Tomato and Cucumber Salsa.

Tuesday – Pasta with Tomatoes and Mozzarella.

Wednesday – Healthy Breakfast Night

Thursday – Spice Rubbed Salmon with Lemon Garlic Spinach.

Friday- No cooking for you!

Saturday – Chicken Souvlaki Gyro Style.

Sunday –  Cod with Italian Crumb Topping.   This recipe by AllRecipes was shockingly delicious.  I am not sure why I had lower hopes for this but I was surprised.   The only thing I changed in this recipe is that I brushed the fillets with olive oil instead of egg whites.  Served with Jasmine rice and green beans. 

Monday– Chicken Breasts with Avocado, Tomato and Cucumber Salsa.  I am making this tonight and am crazy excited for this.    I found this on Cooking Light and really it couldn’t be any more perfect for this time of year.  

Tuesday–  Pasta with Tomatoes and Mozzarella.  I am making this Epicurious recipe for the first time.  I’ve made similar dishes though.  I am thinking I may add pancetta (or super crispy turkey bacon) to this for a little more flavor.   I am going to serve this with salad and fresh bread.  

Wednesday–  Breakfast night!  I am soo hungry for a spinach feta omelet!   The boys love breakfast for dinner so we try to do this every couple of weeks.  Please see the blog link below on how to make the perfect omelet.

The Omelet Blog.

Thursday– Spice Rubbed Salmon with Lemon Garlic Spinach.  This is  a new recipe for me.  I found it on Cooking Light. I’ll let you know how it goes and if I make any changes after Thursday. 

Friday –  No cooking for you (or me in this case)!  Have an easy night tonight.

Saturday–  Chicken Souvlaki Gyro Style.  My SIL and BIL made this recipe from AllRecipes while we were on vacay together this summer.  AmaZing!  The big change on this recipe is to purchase the tzatziki sauce vs. making homemade.  I am all for homemade, in fact I usually prefer it, but the return on investment. The $ to buy all the ingredients, the time to make just does not outweigh buying a small tub of ready made tzatziki sauce.  Trader Joe’s makes an excellent one! **note** the pic above is a pic of my plate on vacation.  Yum! 

Don’t forget to click on the link below to use the printable grocery list!  This will help keep you on track as you shop.  Hope this helps streamline your grocery store trips! The goal is for you to go to the store ONCE this week. Save time. Save $$.

Grocery List Template

and as always, here is your menu planning template to print out, write your menu and stick on your fridge.  It is super cute!!

Menu Planning Template

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

In celebration of this fabulous food holiday, here is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Sprinkle a little sea salt on the top before baking. Perfect.

Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Menu Plan 13.0

Week 13:

Sunday – Chicken Fried Steak

Monday – Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken.

Tuesday – Trader Joe’s General Tsoa Stir Fry Sauce

Wednesday – Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Thursday – Spicy Bean and Cheese Burrito.

Saturday – Baked Shrimp and Feta.

Sunday –Chicken Fried Steak w/Gravy – I found this recipe in the November edition of Food Network Magazine. It is a recipe from one of my most fave chefs, Ree Drummond (the Pioneer Woman) so I knew that I HAD to try it!  I love that it is true comfort food.  Especially when served with mashed potatoes and steamed corn.  Yum!  ** Don’t skip the tenderizing step! It seems like an easy thing to skip over but don’t.  This will prevent the meat from getting too tough.  Also, make sure that you are using your silicone whisk when making the gravy directly in the pan.  🙂

Monday–  Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken. This recipe is a classic recipe from AllRecipes.  I haven’t made this recipe in a while but it is a tried and true recipe that I always seem to come back to.   With the lemon and garlic, it has a fresh light taste.   Especially for a slow cooker recipe, which in my opinion, generally tend to be heavier.  Remember to use fresh lemon juice (not bottled!).  It makes a big difference.  Substituting bottled lemon juice can leave a fake lemon taste. 

Tuesday–  General Tsao Chicken –  This is such an easy weeknight meal.  I cut up 3 chicken breasts into pieces and cook in the wok with olive oil until no longer pink.  Dump an entire bottle of Trader Joe’s General Tsao sauce.  Add red, orange and yellow peppers (1/2 of each pepper) cut into skinny strips, cook until tender, add jasmine rice (already cooked). Voila.  Easy, delicious AND cheap.

Wednesday– Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup – I love love love tomato basil soup.  This is such a fantastic recipe (I found this recipe on a great site called Today’s Mama).  My initial pull to try it was that it was a slow cooker recipe.  I am always on a quest for good slow cooker recipes. I love to serve Tomato Basil soup with croutons on top and sometimes I will add rice for a twist.  Delish!

Thursday– Spicy Bean and Cheese Burrito – I found this recipe last month in Rachel Ray’s magazine.  This is a fantastic mid-week recipe!  It’s quick.  It’s easy.  The added bonus is that it gives you a little break from meat.   I do not change anything about this recipe.  Perfect as is.  🙂

Friday– Take a break, will ya?  Order in.

Saturday–  Baked Shrimp and Feta – This recipe by Rachel Ray had me at feta.  Seriously.  If the recipe title has the word ‘feta’ in it, I either have tried or will try it.   This recipe is so simple to make.  Serve with angel hair pasta and a salad.  

Don’t forget to click on the link below to use the printable grocery list!  This will help keep you on track as you shop.  Hope this helps streamline your grocery store trips! The goal is for you to go to the store ONCE this week. Save time. Save $$.

Grocery List Template

and as always, here is your menu planning template to print out, write your menu and stick on your fridge.  It is super cute!!

Menu Planning Template

Happy cooking!

Menu Plan 12.0

The weekly menu plan is back….. at long last!

Week 12:

Sunday – Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Monday – Holiday Fiesta Quesadillas

Tuesday – Beef Tips

Wednesday – TJ Madarin Chicken

Thursday – Easy Marinated Shrimp

Saturday – Pretzel Coated Chicken Breasts

Sunday –Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings.  If you have not made this before and you have a slow cooker, you HAVE to try this.  It is a perfect cold weather easy dinner.  Notes: 1. I use chicken broth in place of water. and 2. I cut the biscuits into smaller pieces (4 to 6 pcs. per biscuit), otherwise they come out a bit doughier than we like.  

Monday–  Holiday Fiesta Quesadillas.  This recipe by Ree Drummond looks amazing.  I have not made this recipe yet, but I will be making this next Monday.  I will post feedback on the recipe afterwards on my Facebook page.  www.Facebook.com/MincedReviews.

Tuesday– Beef Tips.  This recipe from All Recipes is a great mid-week recipe.  We try not to each much red meat, so I only make this occasionally.  The only thing that I change is that I omit the tsp of salt.  This recipe has enough salt as is.  Serve with egg noodles.

Wednesday– Mandarin Orange Chicken.  Not every night can be a ‘made from scratch’ night.  We (the boys included) love Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken.  I steam rice in the rice cooker, heat the chicken in the oven and once in awhile we will also make the Trader Joe’s egg rolls to go with it.

Thursday– Marinated Grilled Shrimp.  This is such a fantastic easy meal.  Now that it’s colder, I use my grill pan on the stove.  The results are nearly the same as using an outdoor grill.  Serve with angel hair pasta (w/olive oil and garlic salt), garlic bread and a salad.  Easy.  Easy. Dinner.

Friday– Fun Friday!  Go out to dinner.  Eat frozen pizza.  Just take it easy.  It’s the end of the week, you deserve a break!!

Saturday–  Pretzel Crusted Chicken Breasts.  This recipe is a Rachel Ray recipe that I have adapted.  This is such a great variation of a typical bread crumb coated chicken breast.  A couple of notes:  1.  I did not use thyme in the pretzel crumb mixture (just didn’t have any on hand and I didn’t miss it). 2. I used olive oil to fry in vs. vegetable oil.  I get that oil is oil but I just prefer olive oil because it seems so much better for you. Who knows? 3. I don’t make the cheddar mustard sauce.  If you have the time, I say have at it.  I had honey mustard sauce on hand so we just used that and saved a little time.  I have made this a few times.  We love it!  For a fun variation, I used the pumpernickel pretzels from Trader Joes the second time that I made it.  Serve with mashed potatoes and corn.  Yummy comfort food with a twist! 🙂

The link below is to a printable grocery list that you can check off what you need and add what I’ve left off the list.  Hope this helps streamline your grocery store trips! The goal is for you to go to the store ONCE this week. Save time. Save $$.

Grocery List Template

and as always, here is your menu planning template to print out, write your menu and stick on your fridge.

Menu Planning Template

Happy cooking!

Menu Plan 9.0

Week 9:

Saturday – Chicken Fried Steak

Thursday – Chicken Fried Rice

Wednesday – Tuna Casserole

Monday – Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Sunday – Forty Garlic Chicken

Sunday – Forty Garlic Chicken, this is a recipe from week one but I MUST make it again.  We all love it so much!  Henry asked me to make it so make it I shall. 🙂 Remember to serve with fresh french bread and make sure you allow plenty of time to cook this. It takes a couple of hours to cook but it is AMAZING. Reminder – refer to my garlic blog for garlic peeling tips. It’s essential for this recipe.

Monday–  Slow Cooker Pulled Pork.   This is such a great way to start the week.  You can throw everything in the crock pot the night before and put it on before you leave for the day on Monday.  Serve on buns with sweet potato fries on the side and maybe a little cole slaw.

Tuesday– Spaghetti with turkey meatballs.  Ok, so with soccer practices on Tuesday nights it is becoming difficult to cook EVERY night.  Today has to be an easy night.  I usually keep Trader Joe’s turkey meatballs in the freezer, throw them in a sauce pan and cover with a jar of sauce.  Simmer for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.  Serve over spaghetti, throw some garlic bread in. Done. 

Wednesday– Tuna Casserole.   Serve with biscuits.  You can certainly make your own, but during the week, it’s refrigerated biscuits for us! 🙂

Thursday– Chicken Fried Rice.  Such a quick easy meal.  I typically use this dish as an opportunity to unload the veggies in the fridge that are on the verge of biting the dust.  I love to add diced cucumber for a little crunch but will add zucchini, carrots, celery.  Again, I don’t really go shopping for this, I usually just open the veggie drawer and start slicing and dicing.

Friday–  Date Night!!!  or Leftover night.  Whatev.

Saturday– Chicken Fried Steak w/Gravy – If you haven’t heard of Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Women, you are missing out!  She is amaZing.  This is one of my favorite recipes from her.   Serve with Mashed Potatoes and a salad. Yum!! 

The link below is to a printable grocery list that you can check off what you need and add what I’ve left off the list.  Hope this helps streamline your grocery store trips! The goal is for you to go to the store ONCE this week. Save time. Save $$.

Grocery List Template

and as always, here is your menu planning template to print out, write your menu and stick on your fridge.

Menu Planning Template

Happy cooking!