Menu Planning Monday: Kids choice week!

First off, I just want to say how nice it was to have almost a full week of crockpot meals. I think I have decided to do this every so often. Eventhough I didn't have to leave town, it was still nice to not to have to worry about dinner every night since we've been so busy. It was such a nice break for me.

Now it's back to normal again. This week is kids choice week. It is always a big hit around here. What I do is have each one of the children pick out a meal they would like to eat. We have five children that pick a meal right now, so Mom and Dad get a night too.

Anyways, the older three are responsible for helping me plan the menu, making a grocery list, cooking, and serving the meal. It gets them involved in every aspect of menu planning. My goal is to have their spouses thank me one day. Of course the little ones just help Mom or dad cook and serve the meal.

They all really love to help me in the kitchen. Sometimes a little too much, if you know what I mean. Doing this helps to keep only one child in the kitchen with me at a time. At least for one whole week! It is also a nice one-on-one time for us.

This menu will cost us right at $60.00 for our family of eight. My weekly budget is $75.00 so I plan on spending a little to buy a few staple items i'll be needing soon. Maybe i'll be able to get some really great deals that I can stock up on.

Breakfast:

Monday: Waffles and fruit

Tuesday: Breakfast casserole--->just got this recipe from a friend!

Wednesday: Muffins and sausage

Thursday: Homemade cinnamon rolls

Friday: Pancakes and fruit

Saturday: Eggs, hashbrowns, and a meat

Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits

Lunch:

Monday: Hot dogs, mac & cheese, and a veggie

Tuesday: Sandwiches and a veggie---> We're going blueberry picking and then having a picnic at the park!

Wednesday: Chicken salad and baked potatoes

Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit

Friday: Soup and crackers

Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches

Snacks:

Monday: Amish Friendship bread and milk

Tuesday: Fruit

Wednesday: Homemade chocolate oatmeal cookies

Thursday: Veggie and cheese tray

Friday: Tortilla wraps---> Filled with peanut butter, banana, and/or honey

Dinner:

Monday: 10 yo son's pick!

Meat lasagna

Brocolli with homemade cheese sauce to top

Pumpkin rolls

Tuesday: Mom's pick!
Chinese stirfry

Fried rice

Eggrolls

Wednesday: 14 yo daughter's pick! She'll be cooking with Dad since he's the one that makes this.

Crawfish pie

Homegrown green beans--->The first of the year!

Pumpkin pie

Thursday: 12 yo daughter's pick!

Chicken and sausage jambalaya

Corn

Yeast rolls

Friday: 5 yo daughter's pick!

Homemade pizza rolls

Breadsticks and marinara sauce for dipping

Saturday: 3 yo son's pick!

Sloppy joes

French fries--->this counts as a veggie, right?

Sunday: Dad's pick since we didn't make it last week!

Italian sausage and peppers

Corn

Cheese bread

Homemade Pizza rolls:

Ingredients:
Mozarella cheese
A jar of pizza sauce or you can make your own (i'll share my recipe another day)
1 package of egg roll wrappers
oil (for frying)
Whatever toppings you want to go inside of them (we stick to pepperoni that I chop up coarsely, onions, bell peppers, sausage, and ham. Not all at the same time, just whatever we have at the time.)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Place a spoonful or two inside an eggroll wrapper. Fold as you would an eggroll. Bottom up, sides in, and then moisten the top then fold it over to seal it. Fry in your oil till golden brown. You can use a deep fryer if you want or just put at least an inch or two of oil in a frying pan on the stove. I'm sure you could bake them, but I have never done it so i'm not sure how long you would need to cook them.

*for the little ones I will cut an eggroll in half and make mini pizza rolls. These would look more like the pizza rolls you buy in the store, but taste so much better.

Crawfish Pie:

Ingredients:

1 med. to large onion
3 stalks of celery
6 to 8 cloves of garlic
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can light or regular evaporated milk
1 pound of crawfish tails
5 tablespoons of cornstarch
pie crust for 2-crust pie

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Sauté onions, celery and garlic in butter or olive oil. Add milk and soup; bring to medium boil. Add crawfish, bring to medium boil again then add corn starch. Lower heat and cook for another 10 minutes or until thick. Grease pie shell w/butter and place pie shell in bottom of pan then add thickened mixture. Put on top shell and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. I have a great recipe for pie crusts, but i'll have to dig it out of my other binder. You can always use a store bought crust, you just have to buy a double one since it covers the top.

For more great menu's, check out Menu Planning Monday, hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie.