Taking on the Meal Planning monster... again

Meal Planning is my nemesis. It has been since long before we even had kids.  Somehow I thought being a stay-at-home mom would magically make it easier.  It didn't.  I've tried about 8 million times in the past to do a better job of meal planning, and have yet to stick with it.  However, to take Edison's view, I haven't failed, I've just found a thousand ways that don't work, right?

Part of my goal of being an organized family means meal planning, so I am taking on the meal planning monster one more time, and I swear this is going to be our last match.  I will take him down, take him down to Chinatown. :)

I am only planning dinners.  Breakfast & lunch is pretty easy here, so I am not planning those.  I've tried using Meals Matter in the past, but really having the plan on paper on the front of my fridge seems to work as well as anything.  I found this pad in the dollar bins at Michael's a while back, so I grabbed two.

They have a magnetic back and hang on the fridge.  I wrote my list on the side, but I re-wrote it on another piece to take it to the store, because I didn't want to rip off and lose my meal plan.

Here is this week's plan.  We're on Friday and so far it's been great.  I had to make one modification on Wed, but it still came off great.

Monday - Kid's eat free & $5.99 burger night at our local Champp's restaurant.  They're changing the deal at the end of this month, so I figured we'd better take advantage of it while we can.  Can't beat feeding a family of 4 for $17 including tip!

Tuesday - Cajun Seafood Pasta - this is mostly for my husband, as I have a seafood allergy.  The girls and I just eat regular old spaghetti and Mark takes the leftovers to work for a couple of days.  One time one of his friends asked him what restaurant he went to the night before when he saw the leftovers for this.  I felt proud.  You could easily sub all shrimp in the recipe, or even all chicken.  I do modify the directions and cook the seafood first vs. in the sauce.  You'd definitely want to do this if you use chicken.  I also add sauteed mushrooms, because in my book, everything is better with mushrooms.  :)

Wednesday - BBQ bone-in chicken leg quarters & mashed potatoes.

Thursday - Chicken Tortilla Soup - even the girls at it!  I love that Kate is finally eating soup!

Tonight - Bacon & Ham Quiche - I modified Paula Deen's Spinach & Bacon Quiche recipe, as I didn't have spinach, and couldn't bring myself to use a cup and a half of heavy cream.  I used 1 c fat-free half and half, and 1/2 c skim milk.  And I used a homemade pastry crust with part whole wheat pastry flour.