Hello everyone! Well, it’s Thanksgiving week! Which for me means lots of easy dinners the first half of the week then a major feast on Thursday, followed by leftovers for as long as I can drag them out! I’ll put both our weekly menu and our Thanksgiving menu below. When you share in the comments, feel free to leave either your weekly menu, your Thanksgiving menu, or BOTH! 🙂 And, for the Thanksgiving menus, please link to recipes you’re using if they can be found online!

MONDAY:
– Chicken salad sandwiches
– Fresh fruit

TUESDAY:
– Breakfast burritos

WEDNESDAY:
– Chicken tenders (from Trader Joe’s freezer)
– Raw veggies and dip

THURSDAY:
– HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (see menu below!)

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Leftovers

SUNDAY:
– Leftovers

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

And here is our plan for the Thanksgiving feast!

• Turkey (This year I am going to dry brine the turkey, then spatchcock it to cook. Also, I’m cooking two smaller turkeys instead of one big one.)
• Classic Mashed Potatoes
• Classic Stuffing
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls and/or Squash Rolls
• Cranberry Slush (my great-grandmother’s recipe that we have EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHAT)
• Cranberry Sauce (whole cranberry sauce from the can this year!)
• Sweet Potato Souffle
• Broccoli Casserole
• Butternut Squash (I’m going to cube it then pan fry it in browned butter)
• Rose’s Creamed Onions (this recipe is from Nate’s great-grandmother)
• Pumpkin Pie (buying it!), Swedish Apple Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie (a recipe my mom would make when I was a kid)

Got a lot of cooking and shopping ahead of me! I’m already tired. But I’m also super excited to eat everything! As usual, please leave your menus in the comments! And this week if you want to share your Thanksgiving plans, we’d love to see them!

Happy Sunday! My day has been very busy with soccer tournaments, and then Nate and I are going to see Matisyahu tonight (so excited!), so basically I’m squeezing in doing the weekly meal plan with 10 minutes I have to spare! Here we go!

MONDAY:
– Trader Joe’s mac n cheese from the freezer section
– A really good garden salad to make up for the lazy entree 😉

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Tortilla Soup

WEDNESDAY:
– Turkey Boursin Baguettes

THURSDAY:
– Soccer team party at Pizza Port

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night

SUNDAY:
– Carnitas Tacos

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

I just walked in the door from a weekend camping with my girls at Joshua Tree National Park. My friends Tracey Clark and Catherine Connors hosted a Girls Adventure Weekend. There were 6 moms total with 7 daughters between the ages of 8 and 12. It was a magical weekend.

In addition to all the awesome girl power magic, we saw the trident missile that the Navy tested last night over the ocean off the coast of San Diego. There is no cell coverage in Joshua Tree, so after we saw the strange light in the sky we decided that aliens had finally come to Earth. We learned the next morning, however, from neighboring campers with a radio that the light had been a classified Navy missile test, but that’s all we knew. When I got home Nate said that Twitter pretty much exploded last night when it happened. All the videos and photos that are online don’t even come close to how amazing and strange and beautiful it was. We suddenly saw a large, very bright, defined white light with a tail traveling horizontally across the sky, which lasted maybe a minute or two. The light left an effervescent blue-green trail behind it, and surrounding the entire area was a huge white circle, with a defined edge and yet completely foggy looking in an otherwise very clear sky. The white circle faded after about 10 minutes and the fuzzy bluish streak glowed for about 20 minutes. It was CRAZY. We feel lucky to have had such an amazing view, in the desert with its dark and massive sky.

Okay, back to Earth. Menu time!

MONDAY:
– Loaded Nachos

TUESDAY:
– Naan Pizzas (margherita)

WEDNESDAY:
– Pancakes (Nate’s gonna be home late that night…he hates pancakes for dinner, but the kids love it!)
– Bacon and fruit

THURSDAY:
– BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
– Coleslaw

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Leftovers or take out night (if not enough leftovers!)

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast burritos (didn’t do these last week!)

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

You know the drill…please share your menus!

Happy Day of the Dead! Hope everyone is enjoying some good Mexican food today!

Let’s cut right to the chase…menu time!

MONDAY:
– Bertucci’s Tortellini

TUESDAY:
– Loaded Nachos

WEDNESDAY:
– Chicken Stir Fry

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– BLTs

SATURDAY:
– Take Out Night

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast Burritos

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

Your turn! Please share your menus! (As usual, last week’s menus were so helpful when planning for this week…thank you!)

Hi everyone! Before we get to today’s menu, I want to share some news. Drumroll…dundundundundundundun….I am launching This Week for Dinner: The Podcast the first week of November! I can’t WAIT to share it with you! Each episode will feature an interview with someone awesome sharing favorite recipes and kitchen tips…and often much more than that! I keep saying the word “excited” in reference to the podcast, but it really is the perfect word. I am, quite simply, excited! Whenever I walk away from working on the podcast (which is a lot lately!), I feel happy and uplifted and PUMPED about it all. The podcast is just so much fun and pretty soon I’ll be able to share all of the fun with you, too! So, stay tuned. Launch date is coming SOON!

Okay, let’s get to the matter at hand…the weekly menu!

MONDAY:
– Rotisserie Chicken (from store)
– Veggies

TUESDAY:
– Chili
– Tortilla chips

WEDNESDAY:
– Easiest Ever Chicken Pot Pie

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Take out night

SATURDAY:
– Happy Halloween!
– Pesto Tortellini Soup (super easy recipe!)

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for Dinner: Eggs, toast and fruit

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

Okey dokey, let’s see what you’ve got! Share your menus, no matter what shape or size it may take!

I have a confession to make. I have been in a real “I don’t want to plan my weekly menu” funk for the last month or so (hence me posting at 8 pm tonight!). Each week I’ve been moaning and complaining to Nate about it, but I do it anyway, 100% because of the blog. And, I have to tell you, I am SO grateful that the blog keeps me on track. I am always so glad that there is a meal plan and shopping list in place. After all, we’ve gotta eat no matter how much I don’t want to plan it out! Anyway, just thought I’d confess, in case anyone else feels the same way…I do, too! And I wanted to thank you all for keeping me coming back each week to plan because it really does make life better! And, as always, thank you for posting your menus each week. They are tremendously helpful when I sit down to plan every Sunday!

Okay, so let’s just get down to business. Here’s this week’s plan!

MONDAY:
– Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
– Salad

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Piccata
– Mashed potatoes + veggie

WEDNESDAY:
– Boozy Beef Stew
– Crusty bread

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Bean and cheese burritos

SATURDAY:
– Take out night

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for Dinner: Omelettes and Smoothies

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

Okey dokey! Your turn! Tell us what you’re having for dinner this week!

Hey everybody! I can’t believe it’s already time to play the weekly menu! I have a few carry-over items from last week, but I actually cooked every night last week, which is a miracle! It was a busy week and I ended up having to move things around. I actually like having carry-overs…makes for easier planning, and I totally stole ideas from your menus from last week for the rest!

MONDAY:
– Grammy’s Orange Chicken
– Rice and veggie

TUESDAY:
– Malibu Melt Wraps
– Fruit and chips

WEDNESDAY:
– Korean BBQ Tacos (I’ve always used the Campbell’s sauce mix, but I created a homemade version…recipe to come!)

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Penne in vodka sauce
– Salad and garlic bread

SATURDAY:
– Take out night

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner: Bacon, Eggs and Milk Toast

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

That’s all she wrote. Your turn! Share your menus!

Hey everyone! I’m getting a bit of a late start on menu planning today because I just got home from New Orleans. I’m going to do a whole post about everything we ate later this week, but suffice it to say the food and music and the city were all MARVELOUS. All I want to do is lay on the couch and think about the bazillions of calories I consumed the last few days, but I still gotta plan dinner for the week, so here we are!

MONDAY:
– Grammy’s Orange Chicken
– Rice and veggie

TUESDAY:
– Chili

WEDNESDAY:
– Malibu Melt Wraps

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Eat out

SATURDAY:
– English muffin pizzas (didn’t get to these last week!)

SUNDAY:
– Western egg scramble with fresh fruit

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

Okey, dokey! Comment and share your menu for the week please! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got cookin’!

First things first, I’m going to New Orleans this week. If you have knowledge of food that must be eaten there, please tell me in the comments! It’s a girls’ weekend with my mom, sister and sister-in-law and we have three days to eat all of the good food in New Orleans. Help us make that happen!

My menu is filled to the brim with easy meals this week, both for the days when I’m getting ready to leave and for the days when Nate will be home alone with the kids. So basically what I’m saying is this week’s menu is NOT so fancy. But at least it’s still tasty!

MONDAY:
– BLTs
– Fresh fruit and chips

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Fingers and Salad

WEDNESDAY:
– Easiest Ever Chicken Pot Pie

THURSDAY:
– Hot dogs
– Baked beans and fresh fruit

FRIDAY:
– Eat out

SATURDAY:
– English Muffin Pizzas (the kids LOVE making these with Nate when I’m out of town, it’s so cute!)

SUNDAY:
– Turkey Boursin Baguettes
– Fresh fruit and chips

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

It’s birthday week around here! Owen and I share the same birthday in September and this coming weekend we will be doing all of the celebrating! Owen has asked for a pirate-themed party and a birthday cake shaped like an anchor. This might be the easiest birthday cake requested of me yet…phew!

MONDAY:
– Honey-Glazed Chicken with Root Vegetables (recipe to come!)

TUESDAY:
– Rachel Sandwiches
– Fresh fruit

WEDNESDAY:
– Butternut Squash Gnocchi (recipe to come on Babble!)

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Eat out for my birthday celebration!

SATURDAY:
– Eat out for Owen’s birthday celebration, after a Pirate Party in the afternoon 🙂

SUNDAY:
– Omelettes
– Fresh fruit

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

Your turn! Please oh pretty please share your menu in the comments! Consider it a birthday present for me! 😉 You guys are the best! Have a great week!