THANKSGIVING IS THIS WEEK HOW IS THIS SO?!?!? Miraculously I graduated from the hard splint from my hand surgery, so while my thumb doesn’t work yet and I still have to be careful, I will be able to help cook Thanksgiving dinner! The girls and Nate are ready to help with the cooking this year. While I’m sad we won’t be with extended family (COVID!), I think it will be a special year, all of us cooking together in the kitchen. I did make a few store-bought modifications to our menu to simplify cooking, but for the most part we are still cooking up our usual feast!

MONDAY:

• Beef Bulgogi Meatballs (HelloFresh)

TUESDAY:

• Pork Tostadas Supremo (HelloFresh)

WEDNESDAY:

• Pineapple Pork Meatballs (HelloFresh)

THURSDAY | Thanksgiving 2020!

• Turkey (for real this is the BEST technique for cooking turkey, be sure to click through and check it out!)
• Classic Mashed Potatoes
• Classic Stuffing (full disclosure we are using Trader Joe’s stuffing mixes – cornbread and gluten-free – because of my darn hand)
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls 
• Cranberry Slush (my great-grandmother’s recipe that we have EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHAT)
• Cranberry Sauce
• Sweet Potato Souffle
• Butternut Squash
• Charcuterie Board
• Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Crumble Apple Pie, Chocolate Mousse (we actually bought the pumpkin pie and apple pie this year because I just can’t do pie crust with my hand, but we will for sure make the chocolate mousse from scratch!)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Leftovers

SUNDAY:

• Leftovers

Please share your weekly menu in the comments, including your Thanksgiving menu plans! Have a happy and delicious Thanksgiving and please stay safe!!!

Wow. SEVEN HUNDRED weekly menus! Thank you to everyone who posts and for keeping me on the ball week after week. I am so grateful for our community!

Given my hand surgery situation, this week I’m going to start planning Thanksgiving to try to figure out how to do our food traditions but without the amount of cooking I normally do. Any suggestions are appreciated!

MONDAY:

• Sweet Chili Pork Bowls (Hello Fresh)

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Tikka Masala (Costco)

WEDNESDAY:

• Bulgogi Pork Tenderloin (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY:

• Rosemary Demi-Glace Pork Chops (Hello Fresh)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Chicken Sausage and Tomato Risotto (Hello Fresh)

Your turn! Share your menus in the comments below! And Happy 700th Menu Week to all!

Hello everyone! With the help of Hello Fresh (which we are loving, by the way!) and Costco, our family is figuring out dinner as I recover from hand surgery.. Just a few more weeks (hopefully!) with me out of commission.

MONDAY:

• Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken (Hello Fresh)

TUESDAY:

• Zesty Salmon with rice and salad

WEDNESDAY:

• Ancho BBQ Sloppy Joes (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY:

• Italian Chicken over Lemony Spaghetti (Hello Fresh)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Sweet Chili Pork Bowls (Hello Fresh)

SUNDAY:

• Stuffed Turkey Breasts (Costco)

Your turn! Share your menus in the comments below! Have a delicious week!

WOW. I completely spaced planning and posting a menu last week. I didn’t even realize until Wednesday or Thursday! This probably is a good indication of where our family is with dinner these days…flying by the seat of our pants! I am still unable to cook, so we’re utilizing Costco and Trader Joe’s meals to at least make it feel a little like eating dinner at home instead of just takeout all the time. Here’s a go at a menu…

MONDAY:

• Pesto Chicken Pasta

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Salad Sandwiches

WEDNESDAY:

• Homemade Hamburgers

THURSDAY:

• Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken (Hello Fresh meal)

FRIDAY:

• Sesame Beef Tacos (Hello Fresh meal)

SATURDAY:

• Local Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Chipotle Chicken and Rice Bowls (Hello Fresh meal)

PLEASE share your menus below! We need your dinner ideas to inspire while I’m in this strange cooking time! Thank you!

Also, I signed up for Hello Fresh to see if it can help during this crazy time for our family. I’ll keep you posted! If you want to try it out, click here to check Hello Fresh out via my referral link, which gives you $70 off and me a $10 credit.

Well. Our family is figuring out how to dinner now that I am out of commission. I had hand surgery earlier this week and began physical therapy, which will be very intense. I highly recommend not severing any tendons in your hand if you can at all help it.

I don’t have access at this moment to my artwork files, which I can update tomorrow. But here is what dinner is looking like this week with Nate and the kids in charge after a visit to Costco.

MONDAY:

• Salmon with lemon-basil butter (Costco!)

TUESDAY:

• Grilled Tri-Tip with salad

WEDNESDAY:

• Chicken Tikka Masala 

THURSDAY:

• Stuffed Roast Turkey 

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout night

SUNDAY:

• Grill Night

Your turn! Please share your menus below!!

Well, life took an interesting turn. I cut my hand on a flower vase and now have to see a hand surgeon to repair my thumb’s flexon tendon. My dominant hand is down for the count for the time being and I can’t cook. SOOOO…as our family adjusts for the next little while, I’m planning meals that my girls can easily pull together with little to no coaching. Also, it just took 20 hours to type that, the first thing I’ve typed since the injury. Who knew switching thumbs on the keyboard would throw my speedy typing off SO much?! Send lots of luck to the Maynards this week! 😉 I am also foregoing the cute menu graphic this week…at least I got this far!

MONDAY:

• Chicken Enchiladas

TUESDAY:

• English Muffin Pizzas

WEDNESDAY:

• Pancakes

THURSDAY:

• Spaghetti

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout

SUNDAY:

• Grill Night

 Your turn! Share your meal plans below! Thank you and have a delicious week!

Hi everyone! Let’s get down to business!

MONDAY:

• Hot Dogs & Brats

TUESDAY:

• Carne Asada Salad with Cilantro Crema

WEDNESDAY:

• Pollo Guisado on Tostada Shells

THURSDAY:

• Leftovers

FRIDAY:

• Rachel Sandwiches

SATURDAY:

• Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Grill Night (whatever looks good at the butcher!)

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I completely forgot to plan my menu yesterday! Happy birthday to me! 😉 This week I probably need a menu more than most weeks and yet I’m least prepared! My company Velodyne Lidar is set to go public and I’m on the communications team, so I honestly feel like if we get cereal on the table it will be considered a win!  

MONDAY:

• Leftovers

TUESDAY:

• Takeout (I know this will be a busy work night)

WEDNESDAY:

• Chicken Pesto Pasta (using store bought pesto & rotisserie chicken!)

THURSDAY:

• Brats and Hot Dogs

FRIDAY:

• Caprese Salad with baguette and fresh fruit

SATURDAY:

• Takeout

SUNDAY:

• Grill night

Your turn! Share your meal plans below!

I truly cannot believe another week has passed and it’s time for planning again! We have two birthdays this week (mine and Owen’s…my baby is turning 9!). It’s a family celebration year for Owen and he requested Cheesecake Factory. It’s going to be a fun weekend and I plan to not cook! 😉

MONDAY:

• Enchiladas (using up the rest of our leftover carnitas!)

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Marsala with Mashed Potatoes & Salad

WEDNESDAY:

• Lasagna Baked Ziti

THURSDAY:

• Leftovers

FRIDAY:

• Dinner at Cheesecake Factory (my little birthday boy’s request!)

SATURDAY:

• Eat out to celebrate my birthday!

SUNDAY:

• Grill Night with Salad

Please share your own meal plan in the comments below. Thank you and have a delicious week!

Well, last week was a week. I did get to the store last weekend, but then didn’t do anything that was on the menu. Lots of random cooking, eating out and whatnot to survive a really draining week. The biggest casualty was the bag of bean sprouts we never used, so I consider life won.Thank goodness for non-perishable foods and the freezer. All of this to say there is a reason why this week’s menu looks a lot like last week’s. 😉 

MONDAY:

• Build-Your-Own Naan Pizzas

TUESDAY:

• Asian Spinach Pasta Salad

WEDNESDAY:

• Carnitas Tacos (slow cooker will be in the garage all day)

THURSDAY:

• BLATs

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Local Takeout

SUNDAY:

• Grill Night (whatever we find that looks good at the store that day)
• Salad

Please share your own menu below! Thank you, you guys are the best!