Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of November 7th (the Tuesday edition)

Hello, Friends! 

I am very late with this week's menu plan!  I usually try to work on my menu over the weekend, but Joe worked Saturday and Grace wanted my full attention all day.  On Sunday, we ran some errands and I just didn't get around to thinking about the meals we would eat this week. 

Usually, if I can't manage to work on my post during the weekend, I'll just do it on Monday morning.  Yesterday, we celebrated my birthday with a trip to the zoo (Grace's first trip to the Philadelphia Zoo!)  Joe seems to hardly get any time off from work, so I like to plan some "family time" to celebrate special occasions.  (We took Grace to Sesame Place to celebrate our anniversary!  LOL!)  By the time we got back from the zoo, washed up, ate dinner and had birthday cake, it was time to get Grace ready for bed.  She was over-tired and put up a pretty good fight.  I fully intended to put together this week's menu after Grace was down for the night.  She finally fell asleep around 10:00, by 10:30, I could no longer keep my eyes open!

So, here I am planning this week's menu....a day late!  Sometimes life just gets in the way! 

Last week's menu plan didn't go exactly as planned.  I planned meals that I really was in the mood for, and I even had most of the ingredients on hand.  The problem was that I started the week with too many leftovers from the weekend before that I really wanted to use up. 

I ended up making 3 new recipes last week!  That's really a lot for me.  All three were successful, too!  I'll be sharing those new recipes with y'all very soon! 

Last night, we ended up having "leftover buffet" for dinner.  We each just reheated our own plate of leftovers.  It's great to come home to a fridge full of leftovers after a busy day out!  Almost as good as coming home to a hot meal cooked in the crock pot! 

I'm going to be keeping the rest of the week's meals pretty easy, too, so I can focus on other parts of the house.  Between Grace skipping naps and the extra time in the kitchen, last week, I've been having trouble keeping up with the house work and it's really getting to me.  I'm hoping to distract Grace a little this week, so I can get some de-cluttering done around the house.  Soon it will be time to get the Christmas decorations up, and I'm going to need the house to be clean if I'm going to decorate. 

So, here's what we'll be eating this week: 

• Leftover Crock Pot Minestrone Soup, Zesty Chicken Salsa Muffins.  I never did get around to trying this muffin recipe.  (Check out the video above.)  I think they will be great paired with the leftover minestrone.  Whatever soup we still have leftover after this meal will end up in the freezer for another meal later in the month.

• Breakfast for Dinner:  Eggs, Scrapple and Fried Potatoes.  We have several dozen eggs in the fridge, that need to be used up.  I thought I would make a big breakfast over the weekend, but that just didn't work out.  Sometimes it's just easier to make a big breakfast at dinner time, instead! 

• Tuna Noodle Casserole.  This was one of the meals that got bumped last week.  I'm really in the mood for this comfort-food meal, so I'll be sure it gets to the table one night this week. 

• Spanish Chicken.  We got a good deal on split chicken breast last week and this is my favorite dish to use them in.  I can't wait!  It's been several months since we've had this meal and it's one of our favorites!  Even Grace enjoys it! 

• Chicken Pot Pie.  I never made chicken pot pie before.  Unless adding some cream of broccoli soup to cooked chicken and veggies, topped with canned biscuits and baked in the oven counts as pot pie.  Well, I guess that counts.  I like quick short-cut type dinners and that is an old favorite of ours (except, in all honesty, I don't put the biscuits on top, I bake them seperately otherwise they seem raw to me!).  This week, I'm hoping to attempt my first TRUE pot pie.  With a real crust on top. 

• Leftovers!  Leftovers!  Leftovers!  I'm sure there will be plenty of leftovers from the delicious dishes listed above!  This will make dinners for the weekend really easy!  Have I mentioned how much I love leftovers? 

• Crunchy Tuna Salad.  I'm sure we'll still have plenty of eggs left after we have our breakfast for dinner night this week.  I'll hard boil some to chop up for toppings on a green salads and also make some Crunchy Tuna Salad for lunches this week. 

I'd love to hear what you'll be making for dinner this week!  Share your dinner ideas in the comments.  For more recipes and menu planning ispiration, follow me over to I'm an Organizing Junkie and check out Menu Plan Monday!