Happy 9th Birthday, This Week for Dinner! That’s right, it has been exactly 9 years since I posted my first menu, along with a post explaining what the blog was all about (which, unsurprisingly, has evolved since then). There were no photos and my friend Margo was the only other person to comment on those first blog posts (thanks, Margo!). I had no idea what I was getting myself into that night when I hit publish and I could not have imagined the amazing experiences and people that would come into my life as a result. Including all of you faithfully posting menus every week, helping me and so many others get a handle on dinner. Every day I am grateful for this journey and look forward to it continuing for many years (forever? sure!). To celebrate the blog’s birthday, everyone should eat some chocolate. I’ll start with this devil’s food cake donut.

This week’s menu is made up pretty much exclusively of my family’s requests. I aim to please! (Sometimes.)

MONDAY:
– Malibu melt wraps

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Kai Pa Lo

WEDNESDAY:
– Pizza

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Omelettes
– Fresh fruit

SATURDAY:
– Take out night

SUNDAY:
– Curry in a Hurry (recipe to come!) with rice and veggies

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

The best blog birthday present you can give me is to post your menu.

Hey everyone! I’m getting to the meal planning a little late today, but at least I’m getting it done, right? I have some travel this week (visiting the General Mills headquarters), so it’s gonna be a little crazy and not a typical week.

MONDAY:
– Rachel sandwiches

TUESDAY:
– Pat’s Oriental Chicken Salad

WEDNESDAY:
– Take out night

THURSDAY:
– Salsa chicken
– Chips and guacamole

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Another take out night, for sanity’s sake!

SUNDAY:
– Homemade hamburgers
– Fresh veggies and fruit

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Your turn! Share your menus for the week, I love seeing them all!

Hey everyone. Can’t believe we are halfway through January. Bananas! My compost bin arrived so we’re going to start composting this week and get moving with this year’s resolution. Exciting!

I have a few carry-over items from last week’s menu on this week’s menu. I have been cooking, I just ended up with extra meals based on the groceries we had. Plus we unexpectedly met out of town friends last night at the Anaheim Packing District, which is a fun place with great food, by the way. It’s a little busy on the weekend, fair warning, but it’s great! And there is a park area just outside that is perfect for the kids to run around and be crazy, including sliding down the astroturf hill with pizza box lids as sleds!

MONDAY:
– Pork and Udon Noodle Soup (recipe to come!)

TUESDAY:
– Homemade pizza night (honey goat cheese and margherita)

WEDNESDAY:
– Caprese Paninis

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Homemade hamburgers

SATURDAY:
– Takeout night

SUNDAY:
– Salsa chicken
– Chips and guacamole

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

That’s it from me. You know the drill, share your menus! THANK YOU!

Hello! Hope the first week of January went great! I am super grateful so many of you posted menus last week because they served as my inspiration for our meals this week. So helpful! Here’s my plan for the week.

MONDAY:
– Nachos and guacamole

TUESDAY:
– Pork and Udon Noodle Soup (recipe to come!)

WEDNESDAY:
– Chili

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Caprese Paninis

SATURDAY:
– Eat out/takeout night

SUNDAY:
– Homemade pizza night

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Let’s keep the good momentum going! Post your menu for the week, no matter how simple or fancy!

Happy New Year! I cannot believe that it is January. Unbelievable. Now that the holidays are over, I’m getting ready to settle back into “normal” life, starting with this week’s dinner plan. Also, stay tuned this week for my new year’s resolution for 2016. I’m really excited about it and hope some of you will join me with this year’s little project!

MONDAY:
– Taco night

TUESDAY:
– Boozy Beef Stew

WEDNESDAY:
– Chicken Caesar wraps
– Smoothies

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Homemade hamburgers

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night

SUNDAY:
– Chicken soup with rice

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

It’s a new year! Let’s start things off right with some meal planning! (I know, SO exciting! 😉 ) Please share your menus! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got cooking!

Happy Sunday! If you’re currently on winter break, I hope you’re enjoying it as much as we are. We’ve eaten so much vetebrod there’s no way we could be anything but happy.

While I’m sort of skipping meal planning this week, I do know some of the food we’ll be having. All of the grandparents will be in town and it’s going to be a fun week, filled with some cooking, lots of eating, and the Rose Bowl (go Stanford!).

• Today: Dinner at friends’ home, we’ll bring two batches of Grandma Blomquist’s Brownies for dessert
• Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup and SoNo Chocolate Ganache Cake
• Tuesday: Out to dinner
• Wednesday: No clue!
• Thursday: New Year’s Eve! I’m thinking chicken wings, Pat’s Oriental Chicken Salad, chips and dips of all kinds, cheese and crackers, bowls of M&Ms
• Friday: ROSE BOWL! Hot dogs? Nachos? Hopefully a Stanford win!
• Saturday: No clue!
• Sunday: No clue!

How’s that for a meal plan? 😉 Thank you to the faithful meal planners who posted their menus last week. You guys are the best! Just like last week, please post your menus and provide inspiration for everyone else, since I’m not doing much of that myself. 🙂

I have a confession to make. I haven’t followed my meal plans for the last two weeks! This is my busiest time of year with work plus I have two of my kids’ birthdays during the second week of December, not to mention all the craziness that comes with the holiday season. I was feeling pretty down on myself for not making dinner as often as I wanted and failing so miserably at following my weekly menu plans. Then, about a week ago, I decided to give myself a break. I can only do so much and I needed to just let go and stop beating myself up over the lack of dinners being cooked. We still ate food. Everyone is surviving just fine. When it gets crazy like this, I just need to take it one day at a time and prioritize each day based on that day’s needs. Maybe cooking dinner is a priority one day, but maybe not another. Once the new year rolls around and we get back into a normal routine, I’ll get back into the weekly dinner groove. Making dinner for my family is a priority in my life. But, until the crazy is over, I just need to remind myself that it’s okay to let go if I need to.

As a Christmas present to myself this week I’m not going to worry about a weekly menu. This is kind of crazy for me. As someone who isn’t always the most organized in the traditional sense, the weekly menus are a godsend. They really do help me so much each week. But this week we’re going to go with the flow. If we’re out looking at Christmas lights one night and need to hit Rubio’s (again), so be it. If I’m home with the kids one day and we have time to make a nice dinner, then we’ll make a nice dinner.

Here is my mini-plan for the week, with the meals I know we’ll for sure be eating!

• Christmas Eve: Chinese food takeout, a longstanding Maynard family tradition!
• Christmas Day: Swedish meatballs with boiled red potatoes and lingonberries
• All week long: Bulle! (Swedish cardamom bread that we can’t get enough, which is why I only make it once a year!) I have two posts about this bread on my blog. The first is here, where the bread is braided and gorgeous. The second is here, where you get to see a picture of my Swedish grandparents and the bread is made into buns.

If you have a menu planned this week, please share it in the comments! And be sure to tell us what yummy foods your family is cooking up for the holidays!

Hello! It’s birthday week around these parts, so it’s going to be a busy and fun week. One of my “things” as a mom is making fun birthday cakes for my kids, but this year Anna wanted a stack of donuts and Cate wants chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Part of me is relieved, as the cakes normally take hours to make at this the busiest time of the year, but admittedly I am also sad. But if the kids are happy, that’s what matters!

MONDAY:
– BLTs
– Fresh fruit and chips & salsa

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Soup with Rice

WEDNESDAY:
– Steak
– Crispy Rosemary Potatoes and Broccoli

THURSDAY:
– Out to dinner!

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Taco night

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner: waffles and smoothies

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Can’t wait to see your menus for the week, too! Please share!

This is going to sound funny, but I hate it when I diligently follow my weekly meal plan! That means when I go to plan the next week, I have to come up with totally new ideas. This is one of those weeks. What got into me? 😉 Okay, here’s goes…

MONDAY:
– Baked Stuffed Winter Squash

TUESDAY:
– Green Noodles
– Salad and garlic bread

WEDNESDAY:
– Chicken Caesar Wraps
– Fresh fruit

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos

SATURDAY:
– Take out night

SUNDAY:
– Chicken Soup with Rice

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Thank you all for posting menus week after week. They are great inspiration! Looking forward to seeing what you’ve got cooking this week!

Wow. Sunday is almost over and I just now realized I haven’t planned this week’s menu. We’ve literally been living off of leftovers. I guess I forgot they don’t last forever!

MONDAY:
– Turkey Boursin Baguettes

TUESDAY:
– Carnitas Tacos

WEDNESDAY:
– Chili

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Teriyaki chicken (crock pot)
– Rice and veggies

SATURDAY:
– Take out night

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner: Omelettes and fruit

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Okay, you know what’s next…share your weekly menu in the comments! And have a great week!