Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of December 5th

The Christmas decorations are down from the attic and each night, little by little, I've been decorating the house.  Soon after I'm finished decorating, I'll be starting on baking some Christmas cookies.  Then I'll move on to wrapping presents. 

Since there are a lot of extras being added to my daily chore list (really, I don't have a list, but I NEED to make one), I've decided I'll be making some larger meals that we can just reheat throughout the week. Cooking just three nights a week will help cut down on the after-dinner clean-up, getting me out of the kitchen faster so I can focus on other things. 

Crock Pot Cowboy Stew.  I made this for dinner on Friday.  It wasn't part of last week's plan, but I decided to make it anyway.  This recipes makes a lot, so I knew it would be a good meal to carry into this week in the form of leftovers!  I'll make some corn bread to serve on the side. 

Spaghetti with Crock Pot Meat Sauce.  I was really in the mood for this last week, but when I went downstairs to check the pantry, I found that I didn't have more than half of the ingredients for this sauce.  Shocking!  Joe picked up the stuff I needed for the recipe, so I'll make it this week.  We'll use some of the sauce this week and freeze the rest.

Crock Pot 16-Bean Soup.  Do you see a pattern here?  I'm really giving my slow cooker a work out this week!  I love bean soup and can't wait to give this recipe a try!  I'm thinking of making some Corn Quesadillas to serve on the side.

Those three recipes should be enough to keep us fed all week, but if we end up short for some reason, I'll whip up a batch of Bisquick Blueberry Pancakes for a quick and frugal meal. 


So, now that you know what we'll be eating this week, share your dinner ideas in the comments or follow me over to Menu Plan Monday for great recipes and menu planning inspiration!