Here’s my menu plan for the week! I’m going to try something a little different this time. Each day I’m going to use something from the meal the previous night and hopefully save some cooking time!

Monday: Leftover Couscous Salad (see recipe below) with grilled chicken

Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Wednesday: Eating taco salad with friends (I’m bringing chips, lettuce and salsa!)

Thursday: “Beef” (ground turkey) Stroganoff with homemade meatballs and salad (I will be making the mini meatloaves for Friday at the same time)

Friday: Mini Meatloaves with mashed potatoes and cooked spinach

Saturday: Grilled Tilapia with potato pancakes and green beans

Sunday: Leftovers with green bean salad

Couscous salad recipe:

Oh, I think I’m in love! Couscous is so easy to make and it’s really healthy too! Here’s what I did to make my couscous salad. I generally don’t cook by measurements, so I’m not exactly sure how much of each ingredient I put in. But really you can’t go wrong!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of dry couscous (you can get this in a box, in a plastic container, or from the dispensers at Central Market, HEB, or Whole Foods)
About 2 Tbsp. of olive oil (to saute the onion and spinach)
Fresh leaf spinach, cut pretty thinly
1/4 of a large onion – chopped
Minced garlic (I put in about a spoonful)
Fresh basil leaves – chopped (a lot)
Fresh mint leaves – chopped (not as much as the basil)
Sun-dried tomatoes – chopped (you can use fresh tomatoes if you would rather)
Feta cheese (optional)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
Salt
Sugar

Directions:

Boil 2 cups of water and put the couscous into the boiling water. Cover and remove from heat (it needs to sit about 5 minutes to be ready). Saute the spinach, onion, and garlic in the 2 Tbsp. of olive oil until the spinach has wilted. Add the basil, mint and tomatoes, and then add the mixture to the couscous and stir. Combine the last four ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sugar) and then add to the couscous salad. You can chill the salad if desired, and then add the feta cheese right before serving. This recipe was adapted from the couscous salad recipe HERE.

SOOO good, and perfect for summer!

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Menu planning has been one of the biggest budget savers in our family. I highly recommend taking a little bit of time once a week (it only takes me about 20 minutes) to think about what you have in your freezer and pantry and write down either on paper or a blog the meals that you can make with what you have! Almost every day I go back to my “Menu Plan Monday” post from the previous Monday to see what we are going to have that night. It just makes life flow so much better!

Here’s what’s cookin’ this week…

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Wings and Salad- I got five FREE bottles of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce at Kroger, so I’m going to try the recipe on the back of the bottle.

Tuesday: Layered Tijuana Casserole in the Crock Pot that I didn’t make last week because I kept forgetting to grab tortillas at the store!

Wednesday: Hamburgers, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli (from my HUGE veggie score at Kroger!)

Thursday: Grilled chicken, brown rice, and veggie medley – I sometimes will marinate my chicken in italian dressing all day, but I always add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper (and whatever else sounds good to me at the moment)

Friday: Pizza! (Totinos pizza rolls count as pizza, right?) and salad (with walnuts and cranberries – YUM!)

Saturday: Roast, potatoes and carrots in the crock pot. The last time I made roast I decided to add a little molasses to the bottom of the crock pot as I was cooking the roast. I don’t know why, but it sounded like it might taste good! AND IT DID! Wow, I’m definitely doing that again.

Sunday: Leftovers!

Check out orgjunkie.com for more Menu Plan Mondays!

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Here’s what we are having this week:

Monday: Frozen Enchiladas that I made and froze last week

Tuesday: Leftover spaghetti and salad (a quick, yummy salad that we love is made by mixing spinach leaves, craisins, chopped walnuts, and crumbled bacon and tossing it in a raspberry walnut vinaigrette)

Wednesday: Crockpot chicken with potatoes and carrots

Thursday: Chili with Couscous (instead of rice) – Couscous is the greatest rice substitute when you are in a hurry! For our family of five (four of us that eat a full meal) I boil 2 cups of water, and then pour 1 1/2 cups of couscous into the water and let it return to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes. Voila! You can get couscous in a box at most grocery stores close to the rice, but you can also get it at stores like Whole Foods or HEB in the food dispenser section (where you fill up a bag with the item at a certain price per pound) for much cheaper than the box mixes.

Friday: Hamburgers on the grill and homemade sweet potato fries (my favorite!) – the temperature should be back up in the low 70s by Friday

Saturday: I might, MIGHT try making Tamales in the Crockpot. If I’m brave enough to try it I will let you know how it goes!

Sunday: Leftovers!

Make sure to check out Organizing Junkie’s blog for more great menu ideas!

Here is what’s cooking this week:

Monday: Italian Meatloaf from the freezer (made last week)

I cannot even begin to describe how AMAZING this meatloaf is!! I think that if I had to choose one meal to eat every day for the rest of my life this would be it! Wow! I used Sharp Cheddar Cheese instead of the Mozzerela, and I had to improvise a little on the seasonings. I served it with plain pasta and veggies on the side. I’m REALLY looking forward to eating it again!

Tuesday: Chicken Spaghetti that I didn’t get a chance to make last week

Wednesday: Grilled BBQ Chicken with brown rice (that I froze last week) and veggies

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Homemade pizza (crust from Pillsbury)

Saturday: Cheese and Ground Turkey Enchiladas (recipe on the back of the McCormick Enchilada mix package) – SOO good!

Sunday: Leftover enchiladas!

The Garlic Chicken and Spinach Spaghetti from last week was also amazing! That one will be going in my recipe collection, along with the Italian Meatloaf. It’s a great meal to serve if you want something nice, but not expensive, for company.

I will definitely try my Turkey week again in the future (WAY after Thanksgiving). It worked out really well and I was actually able to make 6 meals instead of 5 (I made 2 of the Turkey Tetrazzini and froze one). Here’s what’s on the menu for this week:

Monday: Turkey Tetrazzini from the freezer

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken, er… Turkey and Dumplings with broccoli (Gold Medal Flour was part of the Kroger deal last week, so I’m going to take a stab at making homemade dumplings with it – I’ll let you know how it goes!)

Wednesday: Baked Spaghetti (just regular spaghetti in a casserole dish with melted cheese on top) and green beans

Thursday: Meatball Stroganoff over noodles (maybe I will be brave and try the homemade noodles) with mixed veggies

Friday: Grilled Chicken Ceasar Wraps

Saturday: Homemade Hamburgers and French Fries (make sure to come back next week for a recipe for yummy Sweet Potato Fries!)

Sunday: Probably eating out

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I think I did okay last week on my first Menu Plan Monday. I was very close to sticking to my plan. Here are a few things that I would change about last week’s menu: the tortillas for the Chicken Ceasar Wraps needed to be A LOT bigger, I would be prepared with cheese on hand for days that I have cheese in the meal , I would serve my roast earlier in the week instead of waiting until the next Sunday when it had already gone bad.

On to this week….

Monday: Out of town, eating with friends

Tuesday: Out of town, eating on the road (probably off the dollar menu at Wendy’s – my favorite is to get a Dollar Menu Ceasar Salad and Chicken Nuggets to tear apart on top of the salad [you end up with a Chicken Ceasar Salad for just a little over $2.00])

Wednesday: Baked Tilapia with Couscous (see recipe below)

Thursday: Grilled Cheese to go (soccer night!)

Friday: Chicken Paprika (see recipe below), brown rice, broccoli and brownies

Saturday: Leftovers!

Sunday: Whole Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and Onions in the crockpot (I’ll put it all in on Saturday night on low)

Baked Tilapia with Couscous:

4-6 Tilapia filets
2 cups couscous
1 can of diced tomatoes (undrained)
Italian seasonings (fresh or dried)
Minced garlic (as much as you would like!)
Splash of lemon juice
salt
pepper
Cooked or fresh chopped spinich
Feta cheese (if desired – I do it without the feta)
A little extra water or tomato sauce

Salt and Pepper Tilapia Filets to taste. Put in the bottom of a greased 9×13 inch pan. Mix together rest of ingredients and pour on top of tilapia filets (sprinkle the feta over the top). Bake at 350 until couscous is soft and tilapia is cooked through. This is a recipe that I kind of “wing” when I make it and so I don’t really know the recipe exactly… but you really can’t mess it up!

Chicken Paprika:

1 chicken, cut for frying or 4-6 chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp paprika
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp. salt
2 cups water
1 cup sour cream

Brown chicken, salted and peppered to taste, in 2 Tbsp. oil in heavy pot. Remove chicken to saute onion. After onion is sauted, add paprika, flour and salt to hot mixture and stir until smooth. Add 1/2 water to onion mixture and stir until smooth. Then add the remaining water and the chicken with its natural juices. Cover with a good fitting lid and simmer for about one hour. (While chicken is simmering, cook white or brown rice). Remove lid after simmering and add sour cream to chicken. Allow to cook slowly for 5 minutes more. Serve over cooked rice. Serves 4-5