Weekly Menu Musings #27

Welcome to the 27th Meal Plan (food ideas in bold). Spring is here! I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my back. I love that I just went on my first run (okay, jog/walk) with my new nine year old. I love breathing in deeply the smell of freshly cut grass and barbecue from my neighbors. I love seeing our neighbors again after months of hibernating. I love that spring means hope, newness of life, and growth.

Now onto food. I realized after tossing some near-spoiling leftovers from my fridge that I am doing that with much less frequency. I am trying to be good about checking the fridge before writing my menus so I use up what we have. Plus, we really try to eat up our leftovers for lunches or re-purose them into other meals.

Main Meals

Crock-pot Seasoned Drumsticks (go here to read about how we eat organic chicken for less than $2/lb.): Since I crock-potted chicken drumsticks this weekend, I have chicken to shred on hand which will be used in…

Slow Cooker Chicken with Thai Peanut Sauce: I’ve been craving different ethnic flavors lately and any excuse to use fresh ginger is a plus!

Crock-pot White Bean Chili with Chicken: We haven’t had this chili in many months and the family always loves it.

Chicken Fajitas in the Cast Iron Skillet. Cooking in a cast iron skillet seems to really enhance the flavors in any meal!!

Crock-pot Mexican Rice: I am experimenting this week, and will be a good match with…

Crock-pot Re-fried Beans: We have some leftover from last week’s menu, and bean burritos are a quick family favorite!

Guacamole: I just inherited more avocados yesterday, so I made some last night and have more to use. I don’t know if we could ever get tired of guacamole. It even converts the avocado-haters of the family into guacamole-lovers.

Sourdough Pizza Crust: I am using this again this week to make a stromboli. Only difference is you roll it up and bake it. We are digging these lately. Thanks, Jolie, for the inspiration! We’ll make another couple of batches (one batch makes 2 large), so we’ll have these for a couple of dinners again with a salad.

Dessert and Snacks

I am bringing all of the snacks this week to a Bible Study Group (or should I say Sermon Study Group), so I am bringing:

KIND-Inspired Bars: that I cut into bite-sized squares. Isn’t anything better mini?

Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Bars, Raw, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free: These little bars have a zesty little kick.

Pretzel Rods: leftover from Ellie’s birthday treats.

Hummus: We’ll finish off the snacks with a veggie and hummus tray.

And then as always this week we’ll have:

Smoothies (click here to see all 52 smoothie variations in one place): Our featured smoothie this week is the Blackberry Banana Green Smoothie.

Breakfast

Cheesy Slow Cooker Eggs and Vegetable Casserole: Not on the menu this week, but I just updated this picture. This Cheesy Slow Cooker Eggs and Vegetable Casserole may be a good overnight breakfast idea for those of you having Easter company.