Weekly Menu - A Busy Weekend

Last week calmed down a little after camping and hot humid days that just about put me over the edge and it was only the end of May. And now, it's June!  Whew!

I'm less than inspired lately with cooking so the menu will look a little . . .bleak :-)  My kids have VBS this coming week so that will add to the cooking bleakness since meals need to be fast to the table and quick to clean up to get out the door in time! 

Saturday - We are heading to my parents with the promise of Chinese Food from their fabulous Chinese take out :-)

Sunday - Today is my nephew's graduation so all day will be spent with Family

Monday:  Sloppy Joes and Fries.  This makes everyone happy - is easy for Darryl to heat up since usually, during VBS week, the kids and I are eating before he gets home!

Tuesday - Spaghetti and salad.  (I'll probably just have salad . . .spaghetti is not my favorite but my family loves it!)

Wednesday - The boys have T-Ball so we have a little more time to eat (since T-ball starts later than VBS would)   BBQ Chicken in the crock pot (This stuff is so good!) Mashed potatoes (I'll probably cheat and buy the Bob Evans kind so I don't have to boil them in my "summer" kitchen (aka the hottest room in the house) cauliflower and Biscuits

Thursday - Tacos!!  We will most likely be heading in for the last night of VBS tonight . . .

Friday - Pork Chops on the grill, Fried Zucchini, Mac and Cheese and Biscuits

Weekly Menu . . the one I forgot to post on Friday.

So, funny story.  I wrote the Weekly Menu post that went up last Friday, two weeks ahead of time.  Great planning, right?  Then, I took the boys to the park on a Friday and wrote up a quick grocery list so we could run to the store and planned a completely different menu HA!  Oh well, we had a great few days camping and had some wonderful food and that is all that matters!

Here's the plan for the coming week.

Saturday - This is my night "off. "  Darryl either brings home dinner or we eat out.

Sunday - Burgers.  I had planned burgers for, well, tonight (the day of this post) but we ended up with a graduation open house to attend instead.

Monday - Slow cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meaetballs, Spahgetti and garlic bread.

Tuesday - Chicken on the grill,

Wednesday - Cheesy Crockpot Tortillini

Thursday - Tacos

Friday - Something on the grill

What We are Eating - Crock Pot BBQ Root Beer Chicken

Crock Pot BBQ Root Beer Chicken
adapted from Frugal Girls

A few weeks ago I had some chicken to cook but I didn't want to cook it in the oven so I went in search of a Crock Pot Recipe and came across this particular one.  It was fabulous.  So, then I was going to make Chick-Fil-lay nuggets last week but it was too hot to stand at the stove so instead, I made this recipe again; it was just as good!  Sorry there isn't a photo but it is just BBQ chicken after all :-) 

 

What You’ll Need:

• 4 – 5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
• 18 oz. Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue Sauce
• 1/2 Can of Root Beer {approx. 6 oz.}
• 1/8 Tsp. Salt
• 1/8 Tsp. Pepper

What You’ll Do:

• Cook chicken in crockpot on high for 3 hours {covered}
• After 3 hours, drain juices from crockpot
• Mix together BBQ Sauce, Root Beer, Salt and Pepper
• Pour mixture over chicken, and cook on high for 30 more minutes {covered}

And, for the record, I just figured out that I'm a day off this week HA!  That's what happens when you are camping at the beginning of the week; it throws the whole week off! 
 

Teaching Tuesday

Here's a short recap of our past "school" week:

1) The boys spent a few days with Papa and Nana who took them on walks, bike rides and to their Children's museum.

2) I attend a Homeschool conference where I learned some good things and saw some great curriculum, which, by the way, I still need to start buying.  Soon :-)

3) We went camping.  The boys explored, held catipillers, saw a box turtle and Lunar Moth thanks to the park Explorer person, picked up pine cones, caught fish and ran in the rain.

I think this week counts as a HUGE learning success!

Weekly Menu - The one with Camping included

This week starts our camping adventures for the summer.  We've been looking forward to this since last year!  This first weekend we are camping with my Aunt and Uncle whom I love (which is a good thing!).  We are only camping about 5 minutes from home (it is nice having a state campground in your backyard) which is great - we can set up the camping and kinda get it set for the summer all at the same time.  So, here's the plan for the week

Friday - Hamburgers and Fries (I know, it's taco night . . but keep reading, we are having tacos a different night!)

Saturday - Darryl cooks :-)  Whether it be pizza or fast food - he'll bring something home.

Sunday - First day of camping :-)  Dinner the first night has to be easy and "fast".  The work it takes to set up the camping spot makes me very ready to sit down and not do food.  So, my plan is tacos.  (I know, it's not Friday HA!)  I can throw the taco meat in the crock pot when we first pull in and the whole time we are setting up it can be heating up.  That way, when we are done and ready to eat, it's ready for us! 

Monday - Memorial Day!  We have our standard camping breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast/bagels.  Lunch will be simple after a bigger breakfast.  I'm just planning cheese, crackers, and meat.  Finally, dinner.  I"m guessing we'll be eating with my Aunt and Uncle so I'm sure we will do hot dogs, salads, chips and all that fun stuff.  A lot of times we marinate steak and cook it on Kabobs so I might have some on hand (I can always pan fry it for dinner when we get home on Tuesday).

Tuesday - We'll enjoy breakfast at the campground of cereal, toast and bagels before packing up.  My plan is just have sandwiches for lunch once we unload.  Then, honestly, we'll either have leftovers from the weekend like Tacos or Steak OR if there isn't enough left over, we will probably get Little Ceasers since it is so cheap.

Wednesday - It's T-ball night!  I'm going to try out Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs served with Spaghetti and garlic bread.  I'm really, really trying to use the crock pot much more this summer. 

Thursday - And, it's practice night! Cheesy Crockpot Tortellini.  I think might kids might actually like this but, I'll have something I know they love as a back up to make sure no one goes hungry.  Like . . great yeast rolls :-) 

What we are Eating

We are eating . . . .I just haven't made too much that is exciting enough to post about :-)

I did recently make corn on the cob in the crock pot . . .never again :-)  It tasted . . .weird.  I wanted it ready when we got home from church but, it wasn't worth it.  Ick.

We are also grilling alot - steaks, hamburgers, . . .all yummy! 

Otherwise, nothing new and exciting.

Teaching Tuesdays

This was our week in a nutshell last week:

Monday - We went grocery shopping.  The boys were great and helped me fill the cart. 

Tuesday - Darryl was home and they had a dentist appointment.  No cavities and no lose teeth!

Wednesday - We went shopping for Nana's birthday.  The boys had their first T-ball game.

Thursday - We loaded up and met Nana for the boys to stay with my parents for a few days.

Do you notice what was missing?  Yep, we didn't do a single "summer school" item.  But that's ok.  When I planned our summer plans, I knew we would have weeks like this and that's ok.