Menu Plan Monday - 9/28 to 10/4

I find it time consuming to post my menu online. I type it out, add links, add photos, etc., etc. I think that's why I stopped posting online for two years. It takes what little energy I have to write out the menu in the first place. By the time I'm finished posting online, the satisfaction gained from planning a week's worth of menus has subsided.

After 6 years of being on chemo almost continuously with just a few months break here and there, I decided that my kids would get a home cooked meal whenever I can make it. It involves some creative planning but it's been working. I used to receive meals from friends but, fast forward 5.5 years, and that's a lot of meals. So, I cook when I have energy and store meals away when I don't. On the days I know I can't cook, I plan ahead and fill in the menu with some convenience items to avoid the last-minute McDonald's foray whenever possible. If we eat out, it's a planned dinner.

Our meals are far from elegant but my family loves my cooking. My girls have a healthy love of food and that's all I ask.

So, for the past two years, at my daughter's suggestion, I printed a monthly calendar in Word. I just filled in the blanks for each day of the month. Easy, peasy and fast. Anyway, I'll give this online menu planning a go and see how long I can keep this up.

Monday: Crockpot corny chili. Actually made this today before I posted my entry. My youngest daughter loved it although we both found it a bit too thin. I managed to thicken it with some tomato paste. Mind you, the finished product looked just like the photo. I'll be freezing half for another day's meal.

Tuesday: Eating from the freezer (I have a little bit of this and a little bit of that in the freezer. I think I'll cook it all up and call it dinner).

Wednesday: BBQ Burgers and fries (I'm hoping the rain lets up so we can have some end-of-season burgers on the BBQ. My kids and hubby love BBQ'd food

Thursday: Spaghetti with garlic bread. Depending upon my energy level, I may make a homemade sauce during the day. Gotta love that crockpot. In the ideal world, I'd love to make enough so that I can freeze a batch for another time.

Friday: Frozen pizza/leftovers - must have pizza on Fridays and I have 4 of them bought on sale sitting in the freezer right now

Saturday: Burritos (of course)

Sunday: This will depend upon whatever meat I can buy on sale tomorrow at the supermarket. I try to cook a nice Sunday meal each week. I'll update this link once I know what meat I purchase.

Well. Menu done. Not bad considering I'm on Day 13 of 14 of my chemo pills. This upcoming week is my off week for one set of chemo pills that I take so I hope I have more energy than I do now.

Menu Plan Monday - 9/21 to 9/27

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 years since I updated this blog. I'm happy to report that I've still been menu planning all this time and it's helped me through some difficult times. In particular, I'm now on my 5th or 6th chemo (lost track) and I'm able to plan my menus on a day when I feel better knowing that my kids will eat foods they know and love even when I'm ill. I also plan easy meals around the days when I know I won't be much good in the kitchen. This helps me keep some normalcy under uncertain circumstances.

I should mention that I'm the one in the family who is extremely lactose-intolerant. My kids aren't and my hubby is only slightly. Most of my meals are dairy free except for the pizza and burritos (see my mods below).

Here's this weeks' menu:

Monday: Fish and Chips/salad (this is just freezer bought breaded fish with tater tots)

Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with garlic bread

Wednesday: Crockpot Cantonese Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice (a new recipe from Cook at Home)

Thursday: 50's Prime Time Meatloaf (my kids love meatloaf, I'll be trying this also from Cook at Home's website), mashed potatoes and a veg from the farmer's market visit on Tues.

Friday: Frozen pizza/leftovers - the kids mutiny if we don't have pizza on Fridays. The kids eat their pizza with cheese but I don't. My hubby and I are the ones who eat the leftovers from the past week.

Saturday: Burritos with brown rice and beans - again, the kids mutiny if we don't eat burritos on Saturday. The kids eat theirs with cheese, I omit the cheese and stock my burritos with refried beans instead.

Sunday: Baseball banquet - eating out (I usually cook a traditional Sunday meal but not this week).