Help with Meal Planning

[Vince]

Originally Posted by carolinagirl

A crockpot is a definite must for a busy family. Some dinner suggestions for the crockpot would be:

BBQ chicken
BBQ boneless pork ribs
Baked chicken - spiced with a little curry, onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper.
Beef Roast - the crockpot makes the toughest piece of meat tender, put a dash of your favoirte wine and spices. You can also add potatoes.
Spaghetti Sauce.

Other quick meals:

Sloppy Joes
Taco Lasagne
Stuffed Shells and cheese
Pigs in a Blanket
Shrimp Alfredo

How about posting some of these recipes? Like the Baked chicken - crockpot?
or the Taco Lasagne?

[LexiGirl75]

Originally Posted by LucySnow

I remember him!! LOL!

Oh yeah, and also the Frugal Gourmet. He rocked!

[Chasey_Lane]

I usually just decide what to eat either the night before, or when I get home from work. Baked pork chops are my favorite! I combine soy sauce, garlic, bbq sauce, Old Bay and crushed black pepper in a ceramic baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Whip up some taters and vegetables and you're done!

[carolinagirl]

Originally Posted by Vince

How about posting some of these recipes? Like the Baked chicken - crockpot?
or the Taco Lasagne?

Taco Lasagna:

brown 1 lb or more of ground beef with chopped onion then add
chili powder and ground cumin or 1 taco season packet to season
1 can diced tomatoes (optional)
1 cup taco sauce
1 can black beans, drained
1 package of flour tortillas
2-3 cups of shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
scallions, finely chopped
sour cream
salsa

combine seasoned, browned ground beef, black beans, tomatoes, and taco sauce

grease the bottom of the round baking dish (I use a glass pie dish) lay one tortilla down, then spread mixtures on cover with cheese and repeat the layering process to top of dish. Finish with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted. Serve topped with sour cream, scallions and salsa.

[carolinagirl]

Vince - the baked chicken is real simple.

In the crockpot, just put in your favortie pieces of chicken, sprinkle with curry powder, onion powder and garlic power, seasoning salt and peper and set on low. The curry really gives this a great flavor and goes through the entire meat. Fix chicken rice and add a can of chicken and mushroom condensed soup and mix together. Serve chicken over rice.

[snuzzy]

We cook for leftovers
Day 1 - oven stuffer roaster w/potatoes& a veggie
Day 2 - pasta dish, chili,etc (enough for 2 nights)
Day 3 - chicken soup, chicken sandwich(club sandwiches are favorites)
Day 4 - 2nd round of Day 2 meal
Days 5-7 are quick stir fry, pork chops on grill, etc.

other roasts we use are:
pork roast, then Day 3 can be BBQ pork sandwiches or pork stir fry
turkey breast, 2nd round is sandwiches, large salad (like a Cobb salad), etc
Pot roast, briskets, hams...
"Grab night" is a favorite when we have cooked for a couple of days in a row.
We rarely eat out or order pizza.

[harleygirl]

Originally Posted by snuzzy

We cook for leftovers
Day 1 - oven stuffer roaster w/potatoes& a veggie
Day 2 - pasta dish, chili,etc (enough for 2 nights)
Day 3 - chicken soup, chicken sandwich(club sandwiches are favorites)
Day 4 - 2nd round of Day 2 meal
Days 5-7 are quick stir fry, pork chops on grill, etc.

other roasts we use are:
pork roast, then Day 3 can be BBQ pork sandwiches or pork stir fry
turkey breast, 2nd round is sandwiches, large salad (like a Cobb salad), etc
Pot roast, briskets, hams...
"Grab night" is a favorite when we have cooked for a couple of days in a row.
We rarely eat out or order pizza.

Good idea!!
I made Al Roker's chili tonight from my Today's Kitchen cookbook:
2 pounds chuck steak cut in pieces
1 pound italian sausage (casings removed)
2 large onions
12 cloves garlic diced
1 tbls cumin
1tbls paprika
1 tbls chili powder
(I cheated and bought chili mix from a packet)
1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can pinto beans
1 can northern beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
Brown the steak and sausage, drain all but 2 tbls of grease, cook onion and garlic, mix with tomatoes and simmer for 90 minutes. Then add beans, simmer for 30 more minutes. I sure it would work well in a crock pot too!!

[happyappygirl (Premo)]

Originally Posted by snuzzy

We cook for leftovers
Day 1 - oven stuffer roaster w/potatoes& a veggie
Day 2 - pasta dish, chili,etc (enough for 2 nights)
Day 3 - chicken soup, chicken sandwich(club sandwiches are favorites)
Day 4 - 2nd round of Day 2 meal
Days 5-7 are quick stir fry, pork chops on grill, etc.

other roasts we use are:
pork roast, then Day 3 can be BBQ pork sandwiches or pork stir fry
turkey breast, 2nd round is sandwiches, large salad (like a Cobb salad), etc
Pot roast, briskets, hams...
"Grab night" is a favorite when we have cooked for a couple of days in a row.
We rarely eat out or order pizza.

OMG I'm DIZZY..HOW do you DO this??? that's what i wanna do...my co-worker cooks TWO days a week (sun/wed), and re-uses leftovers alternating the meals...my family won't eat leftovers, we just fed about 6 lbs of turkey to the chickens from Xmas dinner!!
does that make them almost cannibals?

[Nickel]

Originally Posted by happyappygirl

we just fed about 6 lbs of turkey to the chickens from Xmas dinner

Oh the humanity!

[khall1195]

Originally Posted by happyappygirl

OK..all you working moms (dads)...HOW do you plan your weekly meals and shopping trips?? I need some advice, I'm tired of deciding what to cook on the way home, and buying the same stuff when i go shopping, and never being creative...HELP!!

PS meals intended for working families always on the go are a PLUS!!

OK, so I'm not a working mom, but I'll tell you what we do for our menus. The kids liked hearing about meals dad had at sea, so we went with that idea. We plan on something named after the letter of the day. Something like Meatloaf Monday, Taco Tuesday, Fish Friday, Spaghetti Saturday. Things like that.