Grill once, eat (at least) thrice

Don't you love it when everyone likes (and eats) their dinner. This week we did something that saved time, and everyone likes all three meals.
We grilled chicken once and ate three meals off of it (and still have a little chicken left to freeze). We got Mexican, Italian and American out of it, so it didn't feel like we were eating the same thing every meal. And the best part of it, everyone liked all of them.

So, first grill ups lots of chicken. Some with instructions for the Grilled Chicken Quesadillas, and the rest seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic salt.

Night One:
Grilled Chicken Quesadillas

Night Two:
Ranch Chicken Pizza (I didn't use arugula)

Night Three:
Chicken Phillies Recipe (Sorry I couldn't find the source)

Grilled Chicken
Onion
Multi-colored peppers
Olive Oil
Shredded cheese
Hoagie Buns

Turn your oven on to broil. Slice the chicken, peppers, and onions thinly and saute them in olive oil. Place on your hoagie bun, add cheese and broil about 5 minutes until cheese is melted and heated through.

YUMMY!

Two-week menu

Monday-Enchiladas Rancheras with fruit
Tuesday-Pizza with green salad (for me only!)
Wednesday-Greek style chicken sandwiches-roughly based on this, but I will have to tone it down for the gringos
Thursday-Loaded chicken baked potatoes *make extra shredded chicken for Friday
Friday-Hawaiian Haystacks
Saturday-Dry Rub Ribs-(have made these before-to die for!!)
Sunday-Meatballs
Monday-Spagetti dinner fundraiser
Tuesday-Tacos
Wednesday-Pulled pork or chicken sandwhiches
Thursday-Chili-roughly based on this
Friday and Saturday-possibly out of town

*Loaded Baked Potatoes
Bake your potatoes and add shredded chicken tossed in BBQ sauce, cheese, ranch, and green onions

Two-Week Menu

Monday: Taco Cups and Guacamole
Tuesday: Out to eat (Grandma is taking 1/2 the kids camping!)
Wednesday: Church BBQ-Grilled Chicken and Aloha Fruit Dip
Thursday: Trip
Friday: Trip
Saturday: I've learned that my husband likes to come up with something on the spur of the moment on Saturday
Sunday: Roast and Potatoes
Monday: Crock pot burritos-freezer
Tuesday: Date
Wednesday: Cheese Manicotti-freezer
Thursday: BBQ Chicken Salad
Friday: Orange chicken--freezer
Saturday: 4th of July Celebrations- Bringing Strawberry Cheesecake Squares and Berry Salad for the potluck BBQ

Two-week menu

Monday: Quesadilla Fiesta
Tuesday: Baked Potato Bar
Wednesday: (Feeding missionaries), Chicken BBQ Sandwhiches, Corn on the Cob, French Fries, and Frosty Orange Dessert
Thursday: Chicken Pitas
Friday: Church dinner party
Saturday: Steak and potatoes
Sunday: Lemon Crock Pot Chicken (from freezer group)
Monday: Baked taquitos (freezer)
Tuesday: Philly Buns
Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie (freezer)
Thursday: (Babysitting nieces and nephews), Grilled Pita Pizzas
Friday: (still babysitting) Grilled Hamburgers
Satuday: Breakfast burritos

Menu Planning take 626

I have tried a lot of different systems to organize my recipes and plan my menus. I haven't stuck with any of them. This week I tried something that just might work. I'm kind of excited about it. I read somewhere about having a having a theme for each night of a week.
They listed some suggestions, but I went through my recipes to see what categories we eat the most. Here is what I came up with:

Sunday--Sunday Foods (you know like roasts, scalloped potatoes etc.)
Monday-Mexican
Tuesday-Italian, Pasta, Pizza
Wednesday-Hamburgers, Sliders, Sandwiches, Sloppy Joes, and Wraps
Thursday-Salad, Soups, Chili (I'm the only one who will eat lettuce, but I still make salads that they can eat on rice, chips, or plain)
Friday-Grillin and Meat night- Kind of a man's night, meat and potatoes. (Pork, chicken, steak kebabs etc)
Saturday-Misc.Breakfast for dinner (I have a whole different binder for breakfast), casseroles, and Asian



So, basically after I sorted my recipes, I put them into a big binder with dividers. Then, when I am menu planning I just look through each day, and put the recipe I'm using that day in the front of the section so it easy to find. On the back of the sections divider (which I just cut down a 12x12 to size) I can write down suggestions for that category that don't have recipes ( like tacos), or page numbers of recipes in books that fit that category.

I'm excited. I just planned out the next two weeks.

Mon-BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
Tues-Pasta Meal from freezer group
Wed-Croque Madame Sandwiches
Thurs-Chinese Chicken Salad
Fri-Grilled chicken and Parmesan potatoes
Sat-Breakfast sandwiches
Sun-Scalloped Potatoes with ham
Mon-Crock pot burritos
Tues-Beef Stroganoff from freezer group
Wed-Sloppy Joes
Thurs-Chicken Chowder
Fri-Parmesan Chicken
Sat-Baked egg and ham cups with smoothies

Two-week Menu-UPDATED with links

So, I actually followed my last menu so I'm going to try it again. It was a learning curve because we ended up having meals with rice for 5 meals in a row. Needless to say I won't be needing rice anymore for a while!
Mon-Tortilla Soup
Tues-Hamburgers
Wed-Almond Chicken from my friend Jana
Thurs-Scalloped Potatoes
Fri-BBQ Chicken Pizza
Sat-Lasagna Buns
Sun-Crock Pot Ranch Pork Chops *See recipe below from my friend Jana
Mon-Cowboy Spuds
Tues-Dry rub ribs with sauted quinoa
Wed-Strogonoff
Thurs-Baked potato soup with bread
Fri-Enchiladas

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup4 lbs peeled,
cubed potatoes
5 Tablespoons real butter1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
6 cloves roasted garlic (directions are below
)1- 1 1/2 Cups warm skim milk (I used 1% and I didn't warm it)
1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.(I sprinkled the Ranch seasoning over the chops and then put the soup on.) Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, Parmesan, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Season to taste if needed. For thinner mashed potatoes add more milk, slowly until your desired consistency.Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot. Roasted GarlicPreheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place bulb of garlic with skins on, wrap lightly in tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from foil and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove garlic from skins, place in a bowl and mash with a fork until completely mashed. Set aside. One garlic bulb will have around 12 cloves.

Weekly Menu

My friend Tina comes up with a word or phrase of the year instead of writing down New Years resolutions. I didn't really do any resolutions this year, but if I had to pick a word for me it would be: FOCUS

I have good intentions to be organized, but sometimes I'm an all-or-nothing kind of gal. My hubbie can tell you about all of the elaborate menu systems and chore chart systems I have spent hours preparing only to abandon them after one week or less.

And sometimes I have good intentions to start something, but don't because I want to wait until it's perfect. Like my latest menu system was to write down all of the dinners we eat on a seperate card, and then pick from the cards for the weekly menu. But, then I get distracted and didn't finish writing down the meals and gave up.

So for me. Simpler is better. There is nothing wrong with a ripped out piece of paper from a notebook tacked to my fridge. It will still get meals made even though it is not in a fancy decorated box.

So, anyway, I made a menu for this week and next (I know the week is almost over). I love reading the weekly menu over at Sister Stuff and you have to check out This Week for Dinner. Not only do they post weekly menus and then people can add their own, they also post recipes and cooking tips.

Anyway, I analyzed all of the freezer meals I still have in my freezer from my freezer group and decided I better get those eaten.

So, here is my menu:
Wed: Brinner: French Toast and Cheesy Eggs
Thurs: Sloppy Joes
Fri: Honey Ribs from Freezer Group
Sat: Pizza Calzones
Sun: Crock Pot Italian Chicken
Mon: Mu Shu Chicken
Tues: Mexican Chicken and Rice Dinner
Wed: Tortilla Soup
Thurs: Sausage Pasta Dish
Fri-Papa Murphys
Sat-Hopefully date with my hubbie!