Monday, April 26, 2010

Menu Plan Monday: April 26th

First, let me say that the plan for 2 meals to stretch to 4 meals last week didn't go as planned. Despite cooking over 2 pounds of chicken on Monday, there wasn't enough left after the first night to feed the ravenous hordes Tuesday night. After eating the marinated flank steak one night (and husband removing more for lunch) there were 3 thin strips of meat left! This is an ongoing problem for me: If I make more, they eat more.

This is why I'm hoping to make more progress in getting my family to eat more salad; it would be good for them and also help to fill them up! So far, I'm the only one who has taken up the habit. I miss a day here and there, but I try to have greens and dressing reading to go at any given moment, either for lunch or dinner.

Unfortunately, this is not the week to cook a ton of stuff as we are headed out of town again this weekend, this time for 5 days. I need to strike the delicate balance between making Enough Food and not making Too Much Food.

Here is the plan:
  • Monday (busy night): Chicken Casserole and salad
  • Tuesday: Parents out for Dinner, Kidlets eating spaghetti, meatballs, and steamed green beans
  • Wednesday: Mini Hamburgers, Mixed Roasted Potatoes, and steamed asparagus
  • Thursday: Leftovers (backup plan: Bean and Cheese Quesadillas and whatever isn't consumed can be frozen for future snacks/meals)
  • Friday: Tilapia and Pepper Packets (already frozen, ready to go!), brown rice pilaf or whole wheat couscous, and steamed broccoli
  • Saturday: Out of Town
  • Sunday: Out of Town
  • Monday: Out of Town

Salad Dressing of the WeekItalian Dressing I was supposed to make last week, but didn't get to.

I am going to defrost a loaf of banana bread to help fill everyone up. Also my daughter has decided that she loves hardboiled eggs, so that will be another available snack. Hopefully this and everything else will keep everyone fed through the week, yet leave very little remaining food when we head out of town!

Happy Eating! See more menu planning inspiration at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

4 comments:

Tifani said...

I'm not sure how many kids you have, but I have 4 that eat like 12. I never can seem to find a way to stretch food the way people suggest. I just end up doubling the food to stretch to make it work.

Michelle said...

I'm glad to know that I'm not alone! I have 2 kids, and they're very active, particularly my son. He wants to eat every 2 hours and he's always been like that, even as a baby. (He's lean, barely any fat, but a lot of muscle--and he weighs 52 lbs at age 5!)

I'm trying to think up some strategies to put food away before serving the meal, then maybe they'll eat less because they'll see less?

Keli said...

I have the same problem that you do. I make more so they eat more. I have been serving everyone from the counters and that has seemed to help. That way it's not sitting on the table in front of them. Hubby goes back for thirds (!) but tonight I made double and actually have enough for the second meal!

Netta said...

I'm crackin' up! It seems like kids will eat & eat.
A couple of summers ago I thought I would go insane... ALL I was doing was feeding snacks to kids. So I portioned them out into baggies and made a snack section in the pantry & the frig. We had only ONE snack in the AM and one in the afternoon (and of course another one at bedtime!).
They got to choose & I didn't have to get it for them everytime.
It went well... and I think I'll do it again this summer.