Menu Plan Monday 2012 ~ Week of August 20th

Good Morning, Friends!

It's been hectic around here the past several weeks.  I've been working hard on ridding my home of items we no longer use or no longer need.  My goal for this month was to remove 500 items from our house.  I must admit that I haven't been doing a good job at keeping count of the number of items being purged from our basement and closets.  But, I do think I've managed to get rid of a lot of our unwanted stuff.  And there's still more that needs to go!

When I haven't been cleaning out our closets, I've been visiting with friends and family and just enjoying what's left of the summer.

Menu Planning has really taken a back seat around here lately, and I really missed it!  I'm looking forward to getting back in the kitchen and trying some new recipes!

Last week, I had a couple of hours to myself so I decided to organize our pantry.  In doing so, I realized we really shouldn't have to go grocery shopping for a long time!  On Sunday, we picked up some deli meat, bread, milk, fruit and lettuce.  I'm hoping we can go most of the week without needing to make another trip to the market.  Whenever we run into the store for "just one thing" we end up with a shopping cart full of items we didn't intend on picking up.  Money we didn't intend on spending.  I really need for that to stop...at least until I can fit more in our over-flowing pantry!

Here's how we'll be using up some of our unintended stockpile:

• Mini Barbecue Meat Loaves and steamed vegetables.  

• Enchiladas.  Last week, to make meal time easier on myself, I made Zesty Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches.  We enjoyed this for a few nights' dinner and there's still a small bowl leftover!  I'll add some rice, beans, chilis and cheese and see how it does as enchilada filling! 

• French Toast, turkey bacon and fruit.  

• Lima Beans and Ham over Rice.  I've been wanting to try this recipe for several months now, and for one reason or another it always gets bumped from the menu plan.  Not this week, I'm definitely going to make this recipe this week!  

• Chicken Pot Pie.  After preparing a wonderful Beef Pot Pie last month, I've been in the mood for soups and other comfort foods, especially after all of the leftovers and quick meals from the last several weeks.  

• Leftovers.  I'm sure there will be plenty of leftovers from the meals listed above.  In order to avoid waste, I'll either serve the leftovers for dinner or freeze for meals in future menu plans!  

Now that you know what we're eating this week, let us know in the comments what's for dinner at your house this week! Or, if you need more menu planning inspiration? Follow me over to Menu Plan Monday hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie! Or, if you like what you see here, you can check out my past menu plans.

You can also find this week's menu plan linked to On the Menu Monday hosted by Yvonne at Stone Gable.