Menu Plan Monday---July 12th-18th

Breakfast--Well, it's confession time. I never did make those All-Bran Muffins last week that the kids love, so I will have to fit that in sometime this week. Maybe on Thursday, so we can share some with our friends who are coming over for the Bookmobile. Maybe if I tell them I am making the muffins, I will be more motivated to do it. It's not that the recipe is hard, it's just that cereal is so easy...

In any case, cereal being the norm here, we do plan to pick lots of berries tomorrow, so we can use them as a healthy and fresh cereal topping all week. We also got some cinnamon-raisin swirl bread on special, so we will have that on at least one day (the baby inhales that stuff!). For a change on another day I plan to fit in yummy yogurt parfaits. Probably Saturday, instead of pancakes. It's supposed to be hot all week and I am trying to minimize hot meals. I might like a break from the whole pancakes, bacon, and eggs thing for a week...though I might change my mind later since it involves bacon. I do love bacon. ;-)

Lunch--The usual PBJ will keep my crew happy this week, though since I have leftover torillas to use up, I think we will do ham and cheese wraps on  Monday. Tomatoes are still plentiful, and I have lettuce and carrots, so they can have small "salads" on the side or an apple with some yogurt to dip the fruit in.

Dinner--

Monday: BLTs. Simple. Delicious. Fresh. We use turkey bacon. Very good stuff. Serve with pasta salad and a small apple.

Tuesday: Last week we never did make the Tater Tot Casserole. Since we have the stuff already, I will go ahead and make it Tuesday. I will serve it will fruit cocktail. Nothing more is needed since they absolutely chow down and fill up on the casserole. My oldest son thinks ketsup is a vegetable anyway, so I will run with that one!

Wednesday: I have a doctor's appointment, so I am thinking of having another casserole ready ahead of time. My kids love my Tuna Noodle Casserole. It uses Lipton's Alfredo Noodles, creamy chicken and mushroom soup, tuna, and peas. Very simple. I'll post the recipe later once I do exact measurements (I usually eyeball it). Even if your crew doesn't normally like tuna, try this one (with the good tuna, not the cheapest stuff) and they may change their minds. We usually serve this with applesauce and rolls.

Thursday: It is Bookmobile day and we have friends who come join us for this and stay for dinner. We usually make spaghetti and have breadsticks and fresh salad on the side. My new favorite spaghetti sauce is Ragu Robusto Parmesean and Romano. Yum!! We will make a double serving because of the company (she has five kids). I need to remember to buy grated parmesean cheese because spaghetti just isn't spaghetti without parmesean on top.

Friday: Homemade pizza night and a movie from Netflix!

Saturday: Daddy is the grill master. He can grill burgers and a side of a bag of chips and a popsicle will make the little ones happy. When you were a kid, didn't you love getting those tiny bags of chips and mini-boxes of cereal? We rarely buy these sorts of things, so it will be a treat for our wee ones.

**FYI: Last week I made the Triple Decker Tortilla Pizza and it turned out great. I will post the recipe later so folks can try it, even if they don't have the cookbook it is from. Would you believe it that our one year old liked it, too, even with the salsa, onions, and peppers in it? Hubby made pico de gallo to serve with chips on the side, and Boo ate that as well (peppers, onions, tomatoes, cilantro)...with a smile on his face!! What a baby! He's going to have a stomach of steel, just like his dad and Tex.

Blessings to you for a healthy and happy week. Thanks for stopping by!!