I'm going to try my hand at monthly menu planning and see how it goes... I may not like it and switch back to the weekly plans but I might as well give it a shot! I got a new Lilly Pulitzer agenda for Christmas and I love that it has two monthly overviews for each month in different spots. It is great for meal planning! My new plan is to try to do soups on Mondays and crockpot meals on Wednesdays... this will kick in more in February because I have totally forgotten what is in our freezer and I need to do an inventory of it all asap!

Last Week- January 7th - January 11th
Monday- Lasagna Soup
Tuesday- Bean and Cheese Burritos
Wednesday- Salmon Wonton Tostadas
Thursday- Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Friday- Date Night!

This Week- January 14th - 18th

Monday- Broccoli Cheese Soup with Rosemary Rolls
Tuesday- Brown Butter Chicken with Crispy Sage and Baked Sweet Potatoes
Wednesday- Rosemary Chicken with Quinoa and Steamed Green Beans
Thursday- Maple Glazed Salmon with Carrots
Friday- Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce and Steamed Broccoli

January 21st- 25th

Monday- Southwest Soup
Tuesday- French Dips with Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday- Crockpot BBQ Chicken with Salad
Thursday- Enchiladas with Corn
Friday- Pizza Night with Salad

January 28th - February 1st

Monday- Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Tuesday- Stromboli with Roasted Green Beans
Wednesday- Cranberry Chicken with Steamed Carrots
Thursday- Brown Sugar BBQ Salmon with Mashed Potatoes
Friday- Tacos

Weekly Meal Plan 9/24-9/28 and more Crockpot Meals

Brian's Fall quarter starts today! I asked him if I could take a first day of school picture of him but he declined :). Kenley starts pre-pre school on Wednesday, so I will take tons of pictures of her first day!

Weekly Meal Plan 

Monday- Leftover Stephanie's Goulash

Tuesday- Roast Chicken (making chicken broth with bones) 

Wednesday- Southwest Soup (made with leftover roast chicken)

Thursday- Crockpot Lasagna

Friday- Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I have said it before but my goal is to have a crockpot meals planned for Monday's and Wednesday's because I have Titus 2 some Monday's and the pre-pre school will be on Wednesday's. This week it is working out a bit different though because I am due for another crockpot meal prep day. 

I am having my tonsils removed on the 3rd and I have heard that the recovery time for adults is 2-4 weeks so I want to use this week to get really far ahead with freezer meals. Now that we have tried all of the freezer meals I made last month, there are a few things that I will do differently this time.  

Last time I made:

For the Freezer: 

2 bags of Cilantro Lime Chicken with Black Beans and Corn (We liked! I will make again but next time I will add the cilantro at the end of cooking rather than adding to the bags) 

2 bags of Teriyaki Chicken (The sauce was overpowering. I will try these again though with a different brand of teriyaki sauce. Next time I will also,not add the additional sauce on the day of cooking and I will add the pineapple 30 minutes before it's finished cooking) 

2 bags of Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken (We liked this! Next time I will chop the peppers and onion smaller and double the sweet potatoes)

2 bags of Sausage and Peppers  (We didn't like this. I won't be making it again) 

2 bags of Savory Chicken (This was okay but I won't be making it again) 

1 bag of Stephanie's Goulash (I liked it but Brian didn't. If I make it again I will probably make it without meat.) 

1 bag of Newlywed Beef Tips (This was okay but I won't be making it again)

2 bags of Black Beans 

Day of Crockpot meals:

Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches (These super are yummy!)

Shredded Chicken for tacos. (Super yummy! 1 pkg of chicken breasts + 1 jar of good salsa, cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred and use for tacos!) 

*Next time I make all of these meals I will cut all of my veggies smaller especially my onions and peppers much smaller. 

Here is what I plan to make this week: 

2 bags of Cilantro Lime Chicken

2 bags of Teriyaki Chicken

2 bags of Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken

A big batch of Chicken Stock with bones from Roast Chicken

A big batch of Black Beans 

4 Lasagnas (I'll post my recipe after I make them!) 

1 bag Ginger Cranberry Pork Roast (From MamaAndBabyLove ecookbook)

2 bags Honey Rosemary Chicken

1 bag Cranberry Chicken

1 bag Cumin Cinnamon Beef Stew (From MamaAndBabyLove ecookbook)

Crock-potting

Living in a small space always has me brainstorming for ideas that will help us simplify and streamline our day to day lives. 

One area that needs a lot of simplifying is our kitchen. We do not have a dishwasher and it seems like we are constantly doing dishes and making no progress toward actually having a tidy kitchen. 

I never really thought that I would get into the "once-a-month" cooking thing because I love to cook all the time but with it getting so hot in our house this summer the thought of turning on the oven is totally off putting! I also tend to make big messes whenever I make any thing.... So... Yay for the crockpot! 

So far this past week I have prepped and froze:

2 bags of Cilantro Lime Chicken with Black Beans and Corn

2 bags of Teriyaki Chicken

2 bags of Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken

(This didn't really taste very BBQ-y but it was really yummy!)

2 bags of Sausage and Peppers 

(we weren't fans of this though, I don't know why I even made it. Brian isn't crazy about peppers and I don't like sausage. I don't know what I was thinking!)

2 bags of Savory Chicken

1 bag of Stephanie's Goulash

1 bag of Newlywed Beef Tips

2 bags of Black Beans

I also made Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches and Shredded Chicken for tacos.

This is 16 dinners and it took me about an hour and a half to prep it all! 

1 gallon ziploc bag is enough for the 4 of us for dinner and leftovers for Brian's lunch the next day.

I make my meal plan for the week and then the night before we are going to have something I pull it from the freezer and place in the fridge and then in the morning I throw everything in the crockpot! 

I'm sure once the crisp weather of fall comes, I will be ready to cook our favorite meals again but for now this system is working awesome for us! 

What is your favorite crockpot recipe? 

I'm hooked on this now and need more recipes!