Menu Monday

This week and next will be a little nutty for us as my 12 yr old daughter gets ready to perform in a children's theater production of the Wizard of Oz. My oldest daughter has also been helping with crowd control during the rehearsals, and the director has asked her to step in and fill a role in the Friday night production. With a solo and a lot of lines! My first thought for this week's hectic schedule was to do a lot of fast food...seriously. But that really was something not in the budget this week! And, yes, I know, it would also not have been the healthiest thing for us to do!

I usually plan a menu and grocery shop every two weeks. This week I did my menu planning out of my freezer and cabinets, making a list of what I already had, and planning meals around what we already had . My actual grocery list was only about 10 items at Sams Club, and another 15 or 20 at Kroger. The young man ringing me up at Kroger( I started to type, "checking me out" but that didn't sound right!) Has seen me several times before with my customary two, FULL shopping carts, and asked, "Is this ALL?" It was nice to be in and out of both stores in an hour. My children will tell you, grocery shopping for us is usually a several hour ordeal! So while my menu may not reflect what I would typically plan, it does serve the purpose of saving money this week and cleaning out my freezer and cabinets. I still have not found a use for the one can of cranberry sauce that remains from Thanksgiving! I also don't usually "plan" our breakfasts and lunches. We usually have cereal, toast, eggs, fruit, etc for breakfast. This week I will make pumpkin muffins, baked oatmeal and cinnamon rolls. Lunch us usually leftovers, pb and j, tuna, grilled cheese, yogurt, fruit.

Menu for April 4 to 17
Monday: Chicken, mushroom and spinach quesadillas, tossed salad
Tuesday: Baked chicken, baked sweet potatos and broccoli
Wednesday: Meatloaf, roasted potatos, corn
Thursday:chicken pot pie, salad, applesauce
Friday: Spagetti with homemade meat sauce, salad, garlic bread
Saturday:Black bean and chicken burritos, brown rice, peaches
Sunday: Black bean, chicken and rice soup!
Monday: Macaroni and cheese, peas and cornbread
Tuesday:French toast, bacon, peaches
Wednesday: Grilled hamburgers, baked beans, home made fries
Thursday: vegetable beef soup, cornbread
Friday: Dinner out, since we will be taking a day trip to the space center in Huntsville, Alabama
Saturday: Grilled chicken, green beans, baked sweet potatos
Sunday: potluck at church...apple pie andcrock pot bacon
wrapped "sausages"

I will post some more recipes later, but for now just this one pot luck favorite. One sunday a year or so ago, I was staring blankly at my fridge trying to come up with a quick dish for our church fellowship meal the next day. So I called my mother in law. She is truly a walking cookbook. I could tell her I have kidney beans, mayonaise and yellow cake mix in the house, and she would come up with something. On that particular day I had an abundance of hot dogs but no buns and some bacon that needed to be used up. She asked if I had any brown sugar and then brought me some toothpicks to round out my ingredients. When she first told me, I turned up my nose.. It sounded gross, not to mention hot dogs and bacon? Could we get any unhealthier? But I tried it and it was a huge hit. Now, I am not an advocate for the hot dog and all its mystery ingredients, but for an every now and then, fix it and forget it dish, this is great. I never bring any leftovers home, so I know I am not the only one who thinks hot dogs are ok every once in awhile!

4 packages hot dogs
2 packages bacon
4 cups brown sugar
Toothpicks

Cut hot dogs in thirds and uncooked bacon strips in half. Wrap each hot dog in a piece of bacon, secure with a toothpick. Place in crock pot. Cover with brown sugar. Do NOT stir. Cover and cook on low about 5 hours.