OK, all you menu planners - how are we doing? I heard from a couple of you and it looks like we're making good progress. I hope the rest of you are working along with us, too. If you want to look at a few dinner ideas you can go here to Tonia's blog to see her list and here to Stephanie's blog to see her list. Thanks girls for posting them!

So, I'm off to a good start this week. I ended up adding a few more meals to my list (thanks to some suggestions from my Sis-in-laws comment a while back) and I actually came up with 7 weeks of meals! Oh and I don't think I'm done. There are some meals that I know we will want to eat more often than every other month, so I need to go back and revamp it a little - put the favorites in more frequently. So I'm hoping to end up with about 10 weeks of meals, but for now - this is what I've come up with {Notice that I haven't assigned days to the meals, that's so that I can rearrange them as needed for that week.}:

Week 1

Chicken Noodle Soup

Enchiladas

BBQ Pork sandwiches

Chicken Bombs

Pizza

Chicken and Asparagus Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

Week 2

Chile Verde Soup (Chicken)

Spaghetti

Sub Sandwiches

Crispy Onion Chicken

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Nachos

Fish

Week 3

Santa Fe Chicken

Taco Soup

Tuna Melts

Stroganoff

Pizza

Spring Rolls

Pot Roast

Week 4 - this week's menu, since the Ham will be eaten on Easter

Hawaiian Haystacks

Hamburgers

Potato Cheese Soup

Crispy Onion Chicken

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Nachos

Ham

Week 5

Chicken Salad Sandwiched

Tacos

Fish

Stir Fry

Pizza

Chicken Pot Pie

Pork Chops

Week 6

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Tater-Tot Casserole

Lasagna

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

Nachos

Crispy Onion Chicken

Week 7 - I just notice that this week as A LOT of rice, I think I need to fix that

Hawaiian Haystacks

Chili and Rice

Kalua Pork

Fish

Pizza

Chinese Noodles

Stew

So there you have it. Just getting this part done made my shopping so much easier. I got a whole weeks worth of food in less time and money than I usually need to go shopping. I was at the store for about 40 minutes (I had Abby and Juliana with me) and I believe I spent just under $150. I think that rocks for a week's food for 6 - especially in Hawaii.

So, on to your assignment for this week:

1. Finish making your week meal plans
2. If you feel the urge - share them with us
3. Collect all the recipes for your meals (or at least write out ALL the ingredients so the next step is easier)
4. Make COMPLETE shopping lists for your weekly menus. Even the little things that you know you always have on hand. If you make a complete shopping list you can just do a quick glance over your pantry and cupboards and cross off the things you already have on hand and then just buy the rest. Trust me - it's better this way, and it really cuts down on those last minute runs to get the one thing I forgot....

I'm not sure where we are page number-wise in the pamphlet, but that sounds like enough work for this week. I know that there are some great shopping list templates in there - I print a bunch off yesterday (and actually used one while shopping). I loved the way it helped me put foods in the same categories, so I didn't miss anything and have to walk back across the store for one thing (though my store is pretty small, so it's not that much of an inconvenience). However, while I was at the store, I wrote down what aisles had what items and the order of the aisles - well, the way that I shop them. That way I can streamline the process even more and hopefully be able to continue to cut down my shopping time, because frankly hanging out at Foodland is not my idea of fun - well, unless its the middle of August and incredible hot outside, then yes, hanging out at Foodland is great! And trust me, half the community will be there, too - it's the only big air conditioned place around for miles (and the next closest one is a grocery store, too).

OK I'm totally getting off track here. Menus, recipes, shopping lists. Get to work!

PS - Juliana says, "Baaaaah -bah!" Actually, that's the only thing she says. Everything is Bah-bah - mama, dada, baby, bottle, sissy, brother, monkey, button (as in belly). That's about everything that she actually can identify, but it's all Baaaaaah-bah! With a finger pointing at whatever it is she's talking about.

And the winner is......

I took all your comments and numbered them in the order received (2 of you got 2 numbers for sharing my blog info) and used a random number generator to give me:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
9
Timestamp: 2009-04-03 20:35:05 UTC

And entry #9 belongs to Tonia! Congratulations! I will make your binder as soon as school is out next week (and I can enjoy my "vacation"). If you have any color/design preference you'd better email me.

As for the rest of you - keep working! And you can make you're own cute binder, too, maybe that will help motivate you.

I'm still waiting to see some meal list from you guys. SHARE! I happen to know that some of you came up with big lists, so at least list some favorites for us to see. Thanks, Jess for your ideas, I've added a couple more meals to my lists from your suggestions.

OK, so at least check in and let me know that you're keeping up with the plan. And since I haven't had a chance to make my week menus I will let you guys have until this Monday to get that step done. But then we're moving on, so you'd better keep up.

So your assignment for this week is to leave me a comment tell me how many meals you came up with (and SHARE some of your favorites if you want to) and to finish (because you did already start, right?) organizing those meals into weekly menus. Hop to it!

I haven't forgotten!

I haven't forgotten about you all - I promise. Just have been really busy with some projects due last week and finishing up other work. The end of the semester is next week, so it's crunch time! But the good news is that I have 10 days off before school starts up again - and I didn't even know this until yesterday. And by then my kids will be back to school.....ah, heaven! I can't wait, I need a little break.

Back to my original thought - I will try to get my post up tonight with the winner of the recipe binder and the next step in menu planning! Speaking of which, I haven't seen a whole lot of dinner lists..... HOP TO IT LADIES! I wanna see 'em!

Charity Fundraiser with Usborne Books and More

One of my very best friends, Tonia is having a Usborn Book open house and donating all the proceeds to a wonderful charity called Common Bonds. I know they are wonderful, because they did wonderful things for Tonia when she lost her baby 4 1/2 years ago. This group means a lot to her and so they mean a lot to me. Here's a link to her blog for more information:

Charity Fundraiser with Usborne Books and More

Even if you don't live in the area (she's in Utah) there's a link to her website where you can order and the proceeds still go to the charity. And the books are fabulous - so you can't go wrong. Hope you'll check it out.

So.... How are you all doing on your meal list? I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at just how many meals I came up with - considering that I feel like we're always eating the same thing over and over. In fact I came up with 19 just by sitting down and writing. Then I went through my recipe binder and asked the kids what they liked. And of course in the process I thought of a few more that I didn't have down yet. Seriously - I ended up with 33! And that's not counting Chicken Nuggets and Hot Dogs, which I am putting on my list as "don't have time to cook today" alternates. I'm excited to be able to put together 5 weeks of menus, even if I don't find a couple more - we have pizza every Friday. So here's what I came up with, separated into categories of meats:

Chicken:

Santa Fe Chicken

Hawaiian Haystacks (which curiously actual Hawaiians have usually not heard of)

Blacken Chicken Alfredo

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Crispy Onion Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chicken Divan Casserole

Chile Verde Soup

Chicken Bombs

Chicken Salad Sandwiches (dinner tonight)

Chicken Pot Pie

Beef:

Tacos

Spaghetti

Stroganoff

Enchiladas

Nachos

Taco Soup

Hamburgers

Chili (and rice)

Pot Roast

Tater Tot Casserole

Stew

Pork:

Kalua Pork

Chinese Noodles

Ham (I just found a FABULOUS and SUPER EASY crock pot recipe for this)

Pork Chops

BBQ Pork Sandwiches

Other:

Breakfast Casserole

Tuna Melts

Pizza

Lasagna

Potato Cheese Soup

Sub (deli) Sandwiches

So I want to hear what you came up with. Leave it in the comments, if you want, or leave a link to your blog and put it there - whatever works for you. But I want to hear some ideas. I'm all for making 6 weeks of menus! So, please share.

This week's assignment:

Read the next step's directions, pages 8-16. Basically we're taking all those recipes and putting them into weekly menus. It mentions in the booklet to be conscious of varying your meat, but I would also caution you to look at your starches as well. We eat a lot of stuff with rice, and I don't like having it day after day after day, so I will need to vary rice, pasta, potatoes, etc, too. And there are certain meals that we will gladly eat more often than once a month (or longer), so I will need to take that into consideration as well.

Well, I think that's it for now. Remember that if you want to participate in the drawing for the recipe binder you need to leave a comment letting me know that you're playing along. Comments need to be done by this Saturday, at midnight (Hawaii time). And next week I'll announce the winner!

If anyone cares...

I just wanted to let you all know that I was successful in my planning ahead endeavors. I have just completed my (HUGE) assignment that is due tomorrow (well, today) morning and it is only 2:30am! I'm so excited that I get to sleep tonight. And that I won't be a zombie tomorrow, because I have class all day, oh and did I mention that it's also the first day of Spring Break for the kids, so they will ALL be home ALL day!
And the best part is that now my next big assignment that is due on Friday is at least 80% done - I combined the 2 so I wouldn't have to do more work than necessary. How smart am I?

OK, off to bed with me!

Simply Monday.....on Thursday: What's for Dinner?

What to eat for dinner? Seriously, I hate even thinking about this question. Are you with me? I know you are - I heard all those mental moans out there when you read that first line. I try to plan ahead. And actually I've been doing pretty good this last week or so, but there's still got to be a better way. And I think I may have stumbled upon it. I'm not even sure when or where it happened, but I found this:

Sounds perfect, don't you think. And it is. The best part is that ITS FREE!!!! OK, so you have to sign up for a free newsletter, but I figure I can always go unsubscribe later if want to. So far the one issue I've gotten was pretty good. So go here to sign up and get your free copy. As a quick side note - there are other little booklets of a similar nature that look good from that same website.

Now - I have to tell you why I liked this booklet so much. First of all - it's a downloadable PDF, so it's instant gratification. But I love that it goes through planning your menus step by step. I'm mean, seriously, we all know how do plan menus. I think my biggest problem is that it seems a bit overwhelming. But this booklet breaks it down into doable, logical, steps that makes it seem, well, easy. And I think I've figured out a way to also incorporate my frozen dinners from my Big Cook in too. But we'll get to that part down the road a ways.

For now I just need to make the time to do it. So, I was thinking that maybe some of you would want to join me. It would be fun to do it all together. We can motivate each other and share ideas along the way. So, if you want to join me, here's what we're going to work on this week:

1. First of course, you need to go here and sign up. They will email you the link to download the booklet. Download it! (You will need a PDF reader for this. Go here if you need one.)


2. Read over the booklet - or if you want, just the first 7 pages. That's what we're going to work on this week - just step one.


3. Decide where you're going to keep all this menu info. Personally I have a recipe binder (so do a few other gals in my family - I know - I made them) that I'm going to use. Most of my recipes are already in there, so I think that will work well for me.


4. Print off page 7, or just make your list on any piece of paper.


5. Make your list baby. I'm going to concentrate on just dinners for now. My older 3 kids eat breakfast and lunch at school (nice) so I really only have to plan those meals for the weekends - oh and Spring Break (the next 2 weeks! I have a love/hate relationship with year-round school).

That's it. Oh, but you only have until Monday to do it. Well, you can take longer than that, but that's when I'm planning on moving to the next step. I think that's doable. Make you're list on Sunday after church if you need to. And don't forget to include the whole family - you don't have to do this formally (though it might make a good FHE activity), but do ask everyone what their favorite meals are, etc.... And be prepared to share with the rest of us. I would love to hear what everyone else comes up with, too. Aim for about 28 meals (like the booklet says), but if you don't make it, no worries, that's what the sharing is for. We can remind you of meals you've forgotten, inspire you to try new ones, good stuff like that.

So who's with me? Let me know - leave me a comment so that I don't blabber on about this each week if no one is playing along. Invite you're friends, share the love. In fact - to get you just as excited about planning your menus as I am, I will host my very first give away. (I mean, come on, you deserve something just for reading this far.) I will make cute recipe/menu planning binder for one lucky winner. It will look something like this one:

Though, obviously I would put your name on it - not mine.

Here's what you need to do to enter

• Leave a comment saying that you're going to play along and plan your menu with me.
• If you want a second entry, post about this on your blog (facebook, whatever) with a link to get your readers back here (so they can enter if they want to also). If you choose to do this, make sure to tell me in a comment about that, too (the same one a different one, doesn't matter).

Got it? I'll give you until Saturday, March 28th at midnight (Hawaii time - you should all be sounds asleep by then anyway) to leave all your comments. Then I'll announce the winner (chosen at random) in Simply Monday on the 30th. And if I get enough comments that I think it warrants it, I'll make another binder and chose 2 winners.

So, you feeling lucky? Well, I can't wait to see who's going to play along. And I am seriously excited to do some menu planning. Even if the actual menu planning part is boring - at least this part is fun

PS - yes, I know that it says I posted this on Wednesday - but it's late and it's already Thursday for most of you. Besides I had the new picture already done and I didn't want to change it even though I ended up posting it a little early.