..meals for this "week"..

I know you're thinking, "It's Tuesday.. Almost mid-week. Why are you posting your meals now?" Well that's because the hubs started a new position at work, so he no longer has Monday through Friday work weeks. He doesn't even have weeks really. I'm not even sure how to describe his schedule other than he works a few days, is off a couple, works a few more days.. And during those working days he swaps between day and night shifts. I can cook just fine for the day shifts. He's home by 7pm, and I have it ready to eat when he walks in the door. But night shifts are weird.. He leaves anywhere from 5-5:30pm, so if I made supper that would put us eating at 4:30pm. Umm, no. So what I've been doing is making a bigger late lunch kinda thing. Paninis, grilled turkey dogs, and piled high sandwiches, stuff like that. But this "week" he's on day shift, so I worked up a quick meal plan and this is what I came up with:

-Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and salad

-Tuna patties, fried potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce and cornbread

-Beef stroganoff, green beans, pear halves with mayo and cheddar and Italian bread

-Pork carnitas, refried beans and rice, guacamole and chips

-Work chicken. I don't know what else to call it other than this because the hubs found the recipe while he was at work. It's just chicken breasts, black beans, corn and salsa. Add cream cheese at the end, serve over rice. Boom, work chicken :)

..nom nom..

Seriously, this stuff... I used to be scared of guacamole. One too many bowls of grayish-green goo at second rate restaurants probably jump started that fear. Even when I was brave enough to taste it, it was so bland that I wondered what the point of eating it was. Then one day my husband made some at home. The man who can't make macaroni, made guacamole. He said he had found a recipe on the internet and wanted to try it. And it is GOOD! I'm not kidding. I make it twice a week because I crave it. I have tweaked the original recipe that my husband found (I don't even know the website he found it on, just went by what he told me he remembered reading). And I'm also not a big "measure everything exactly, every single time" kinda girl. Except in baking. Because that junk is finicky! Anyway, if you wanna know how I make guac, here you go! 

This recipe makes enough for me and the hubs. But we can put it away, so judge for yourself :) Also, the size of your diced/chopped pieces is totally a personal preference. For example, the hubs is not a huge tomato fan, so I dice the pieces up pretty small. 

2 ripened avocados

1 Roma tomato, diced (I only use half the tomato when the hubs is eating it)

1/8 c. chopped red onion

1-2 tsp chopped cilantro

Juice of half a lime

Garlic salt

Salt

Here's where I get technical with the fancy lingo, you ready? :)

Cut up and scoop your avocados into a bowl. Take a fork and mash those suckers up good. Add the next four ingredients and stir up. Add your salts to taste.. I go a little heavier on the garlic salt. Stir, grab some tortilla chips and stuff your face! Or schmear it on a taco. Whatever, this stuff is good. Everyone's idea of good is different though. If you like heat, throw in some diced jalapeños. Don't like cilantro? Lessen it or leave it out completely. Go guac crazy! 

..meal planning..

Around here we get sales ads twice a week.. The ones that come in Sunday's paper which is mostly retail ads like Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl's, etc. And then we have a free weekly paper that comes on Tuesday that is almost entirely classified ads, but it also includes all of the local grocery ads. The difference is, retail ads are usually valid Sunday-Saturday, and the grocery ads are valid Wednesday-Tuesday. So when I get ahold of each set, I go through, mark things that are on sale for a good price, and then figure out if I need to make one or two grocery runs that week. Sometimes I will go on Monday, and then again after Wednesday, when the grocery ads have changed. It's all about getting the best deal and saving the most money. Once I look at all of the good sale items, I try to make out a menu plan for the week. I NEVER used to plan meals, but now that the girls keep me busy until the hubs comes home, I don't like making last minute store runs, frantically trying to decide what we're going to eat that night. Plus, it also cuts down on our grocery bill. No more "aimless" buying, and it means if I have a list, I can get in and out of the store faster. So I thought that maybe someone out there in www land might want to see an example of what my weekly meals looks like. I figure out enough meals to cover the week, but don't necessarily "assign" the meal to a day. That leaves a little wiggle room if I need it. So the meals I have lined up for this week are: 

{Slow cooker BBQ pork chops with broccoli fritters, baked potatoes and rolls

{Chicken enchiladas with sour cream rice and homemade guacamole

{Sloppy joes with mashed potatoes, fresh corn on the cob and fried green tomatoes

{Spaghetti carbonara with salad and garlic bread

{Turkey and Swiss paninis with homemade guacamole and chips

You see that I've got five meals there and, well, there are seven days in a week. We always have some kind of dinner plans for the other two days. Usually we eat with the in-laws once a week, and there is always one night where I'm really busy, so I'll grab take out from one of our favorite restaurants. So I know that if I tried to plan for seven meals, it just wouldn't happen. Every family is different. Many families are much busier than we are, and many are not. So if you want to menu plan, do the number of meals that works for you! 

During the week, I'll try to post recipes as I make them. I can't promise there will be magazine-quality photos to go along, but I'll do my best!