Well. Merce, Jax and the 16 yr old man-child are all back in school. Which is bittersweet. I miss their faces, and then they get home completely overwhelmed with life and homework, and then I want to send them back to school. 😂 Just kidding. Maybe. I'll never tell.
One of the hardest things about school being back in session, is the barrage of activities that comes with it. We have baseball, softball, and football schedules to work around, on top of homework, church, and my own class schedule. Because of this chaos, our dinner plans suffer. And by suffer I mean it gets expensive and we end up wasting food from the grocery store and eating out way too much.
I've found that planning the menu saves us during our crazy busy times! And even when we are not crazy busy I just like to have a plan. For everything. Always. Drives my husband crazy. But you know what doesn't drive the husband crazy? Having dinner on the table.
I thought I would share our menu for September. I try to utilize easy to make leftovers throughout the month to cut down on prep time and get us eating quicker.
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| I like to print calendars from www.dreamcalendars.com. It's free, quick and easy and they have nice big squares to write in. |
9/1--Turkey kielbasa bought from the store cooked in just a bit of olive oil and seasoned salt and pepper. I throw in veggies from the garden, or whatever is in season from the produce section. Typically it's onion, squash/zucchini, bell pepper and some red potato. If you use potatoes I put them in first because they take much longer to cook than the rest. Serve over rice if your family likes that sort of thing. My kids hate rice. I really don't know who they belong to. This reheats well for lunch or dinner leftovers.
9/2--Seasoned chicken thighs seared hard in a cast iron skillet and then finished in the oven. While they are finishing in the oven (350 degrees) I make the risotto (follow the recipe on the arborrio rice container, with a splash of heavy whipping cream at the end, and a handful of freshly grated parm). I like to pair a lighter veggie with this so I do a quick asparagus saute. And, the kids don't like risotto so they get boxed mac and cheese. Merce has pitching lessons on Monday, so this is something that I start about 4pm. It all reheats well so eating after lessons isn't a problem.
9/3--First football game of the season! Jax is playing 5-6th grade football, as a 6th grader for the first time in several years. He tried it once, but it just wasn't for him and he's a total soccer player. He decided he wanted to kick for the football team this year, but surprise! There's no kickers until 7th grade. So he will try out wide receiver, and whatever the defensive person is called that guards the receivers. Sorry, I'm not a football fan either. lol. So anyway, perfect day for Leftovers! Also to clean out the freezer, so anything that survived the weekend lunches and snacks is fair game.
9/4--This is where it gets fun. Crunchwraps! I put a little plus sign by it to remind me to make extra taco meat. I mean, there's really not much of a difference between cooking 2# of meat and cooking 4-5# of meat. I brown 5# of ground beef and add taco seasoning packets PLUS a can of enchilada sauce (medium for us). The extra taco meat I spread on a cookie sheet and let it cool, then pack it up in a Freezer Ziplock (I've found brand name is best for freezing), squish it flat, seal and toss in the freezer. The Key is making sure it's cool before it goes in the bag. Crunchwraps are always a hit here! We follow this recipe:
https://cookingwithjanica.com/homemade-crunchwrap-supreme-recipe/.
9/5--Buffalo Balls are actually a low carb recipe I found that everyone in the family will eat! We follow this recipe:
https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/buffalo-balls-no-not-really-4/ and serve with sides that you would have with hot wings, like french fries. I buy those HUGE bags of french fries to last the 5 of us about a month. And we cook them in the air fryer. Fries in the air fryer are THE BEST. Seriously. Buffalo Balls reheat well too! You'll also notice we eat a lot of salad...it works for us.
9/6--Popcorn chicken is something Jax requests every month. I aim to make extras each time to reuse within two days, and just refrigerate between uses. I use a simple breading, an fry in a heavy bottomed dutch oven filled with veg oil. I love my air fryer but not for this. This isn't the healthiest of meals, but I'll pair it with a potato casserole, some people call them funeral potatoes I think....and some call them harvest potatoes. And another salad.
9/7--Enchiladas, beans and rice. This is everyone's all time favorite. And I make extra homemade refried beans to use later in burritos and as a side dish. Find the recipe for beans and rice here:
https://dinnerispouredsite.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/refried-beans-and-rice/and the enchiladas here:
https://dinnerispouredsite.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/otherwise-known-as-enchihooeys/ . Yes, that's a food blog I used to have. I wish I could keep it up...I love cooking!
9/8--We are using those leftovers! Chef salad is so quick and easy for them to customize according to their own likes. We usually have: lettuce, spinach, hard boiled eggs, cheese, croutons, black olives, green olives, ham (sliced lunch meat), carrots, the chicken, etc. This is also Jax's first Fall season baseball game and Merce has fast-pitch practice so we need something fast!
9/9--In August we had spaghetti and meatballs, and I made extra to freeze. I will use those in these meatball subs! I use the Pioneer Woman's recipe for spaghetti and meatballs. She's one of my favorite people ever. Maybe someday she will be at the Mercantile when Merce & I are there, and we will both stand there staring unable to make words come out.
9/10--Football games are out of town alot so we have leftovers. And in our area, there's nothing to eat in the little towns we travel to for sports. So that helps us to just come home and eat leftovers.
9/11--The kids have church and I teach a class on Wednesday nights, so we have quick and easy days again. Burritos made with leftover beans, taco meat, rice, and anything else mexican-ish you might have on hand. I love to top them with enchilada sauce and bake them but you can also just microwave them. Here's another post on burrito making
https://dinnerispouredsite.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/gunner-in-the-kitchen-burrito-prepping/9/12--baseball and softball practice both, but lasagna it is! Garlic bread is usually from the freezer section around here. But if you want to bake your own, power to you. Make extra HB meat and stick it in the freezer for Sunday.
9/13--pizza. And usually we just buy frozen pizza because we are all obsessed with the cheap Totino's pizza. And at $4 for a box of 4 at our local commissary, you just can't beat it.
9/14--The grandparents have the children. So dinner is their problem. #thankyounanaandpapa #sanityrestored
9/15--more ball games! So we will have chili. If you browned extra beef on Thursday then chili will be so easy. Dump stuff in a crockpot in the morning and stir it here and there throughout the day. Eat when you can, cool and freeze leftovers in ziplocks just like the taco meat!
9/16--Quesadillas. Use up some more of that taco meat you made earlier in the month and froze! We just grab a tortilla, load it with cheeses and meat/chicken, top it with more cheese and another tortilla and sear both sides.
9/17--Jalapeno Popper Chicken. I got this from pinterest. I love pinterest! It's also a keto recipe.
https://www.eatingonadime.com/keto-jalapeno-popper-chicken-recipe/9/18--Wednesday = Leftovers
9/19--Hot Wings! My kids will devour hot wings like their lives depend on it. It doesn't matter how many I make, there's never a wing left over.
9/20--Grilled chicken caprese with salad and corn on the cob. Usually on weekends we have more involved dinners...depending on the sports schedule. Here's the recipe:
https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/chicken-caprese/9/21--Chicken thighs again. The husband and I love chicken thighs, and they are so cheap! We will serve with a lemon garlic pasta, garlic bread, and more salad. Apparently we like garlic around here too. Pasta recipe:
https://www.mysuburbankitchen.com/easy-lemon-garlic-pasta/9/22--Chicken soft tacos. This couldn't be easier. Cook chicken boobs in the crockpot with a package of taco seasoning and a can of enchilada sauce. When they are cooked through, use the mixer to shred and put the meat back in the sauce to soak up all that goodness. Then use in tacos. This freezes really well, just like the taco meat above.
9/23--Leftovers because football moved to Monday and it's the oldest kiddos 17th birthday. So really, we will go out to eat after football anywhere the man-child desires.
9/24--who doesn't love a good breakfast for dinner?
9/25--remember that chili you froze? heat it up and throw it on some hotdogs. Easy meal.
9/26--Beef Teriyaki over rice. This is my families least favorite night, but one of my favorites. This isn't exactly the recipe I use, but it's very close:
https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/teriyaki-beef-and-broccoli-skillet/9/27--it's blank. That means they all fend for themselves and do whatever they want. My kids have come to love the blank day of the month. They can eat anything. Cereal. Fruit. Gunner likes to make egg sandwiches. Vienna sausages....whatever their little hearts desire.
9/28--Beef Stew. Oh well all love a good beef stew right? And have our favorite recipes, usually passed down from Grandma. Well, I love Pioneer Woman's Sunday Night Stew! It has turnips instead of potatoes so it freezes really well. And I will make a double batch, just to freeze some and use in Shepard's Meal in October.
9/29--Freezer Clean out. Free for all as long as it comes from the freezer.
9/30--Leftovers. Yes, basically two days in a row. But it's a football day. And maybe, just maybe we will go out to eat this one day of the month (birthday celebrations excluded)
Did you read ALL of that?! Congratulations if you did! I hope this comes in handy. I like to menu plan two months at a time....I started in August and went through September. In a couple weeks, I'll start on October. My husband thinks I'm crazy....but I know I'm being frugal. So I can spend money on kids clothes. and shoes. ;)
