Meal Plan Monday

When you ask your family what they would like for dinner, do you get the response, "food" ?  Well, that's the answer I get at my house all.   the.   time.  Seriously?  My family has an incredible lack of motivation in helping me plan meals.  They like to eat, that's for sure, but having a hand in putting together the menu is not something they look forward to.  So when I sat down to plan this week's menu, I was feeling discouraged.  I had absolutely no ideas about what to prepare, but I knew I didn't want it to be the same ole, same ole.

Thank God for Pinterest!

I said a quick prayer that God would help me get over my grumbly attitude, and I got to work searching for some new meals to put on our table this week.  Not all of them are healthy, in fact several are loaded with dairy and cheese, but I think they are going to please every member of my family.  (Including my vegetarian self, and my oldest son who won't touch a vegetable other than potatoes or spinach.)  I thought I'd share my plan with you, in hopes of giving you a little bit of inspiration (and holding myself accountable to stick to my plan!)

Monday:  Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce with crusty bread and a salad

Recipe here 

Tuesday:  Veggie tacos for me, beef tacos for them, with black beans and cilantro lime rice  (recipe link)

Wednesday:  Pasta Salad (with baked chicken for them) and bread

(recipe link)

Thursday:  Burgers on homemade brioche buns with oven fries  (I'll have a black bean burger, of course!)

 Bun recipe     

                               

Fries recipe

Friday:  Spinach stuffed shells with a salad

(recipe link)

Saturday:  Spinach alfredo pizza (homemade crust) with salad (can you tell we eat our greens?) and baked mac-n-cheese  (just in case the little two make a face at the spinach pizza)

I got the recipe for the pizza topping here

(the only variations I am planning are to make a crust from scratch instead of using the Pillsbury crust she recommends and I'll add shredded mozzarella to the top)

the homemade pizza crust recipe is here

and the mac-n-cheese recipe is here

I'm going to try my hand at homemade bread this week.  I found a recipe for a french loaf here.  I've never attempted it before, but if I can do it, we just might stop buying the bagged variety.  

Mmmm . . . you can't tell me you'd rather have Mrs. Bairds.  I sincerely hope my efforts are successful!

I checked my attitude, got my heart and mind in the right place, and I plan to spend some time creating meals that let my family know how much I love and care for them.  What are you cooking up in your kitchen this week?  Next Monday will come all too fast, if you have any ideas or recipes for me (especially vegetarian) I would love to hear from you!

I'm linking this post to:  An Original Belle,  The Barn Hop, The Better Mom, The Purposed Heart, and These Five of Mine Plus Two 

Happy Homemaking!