Meal Plan Monday - March 20-26

Happy Spring! We are having lovely weather on this 1st day of spring, and it has given me a renewed sense of vigor. I love these warm days that seem to last forever after coming out of a dark, cold winter. It has also made us quite hungry! We tried two new recipes last week that will be on our menu plan again this week.

Homemade Pizza
My kids absolutely loved this one. They always want to help in the kitchen, and they were able to make their own pizza with very little help. We used this Quick and Easy Pizza Dough recipe for the crust which Prairie Daughter was able to mix up on her own. We mixed it in a stand mixer with a bread hook to make clean up easy. We also recommend putting a little olive oil on your hands when you press out the dough so it won't stick to your hands, and it will add a little flavor to your crust.

We used jarred sauce since this was our first attempt at homemade pizza, but we might investigate some homemade recipes when time allows, especially when our garden starts giving us fresh tomatoes. Then we grated some mozzarella and topped it off with pepperoni. 17 minutes of baking time was just right for us, although I suggest keeping a thermometer in the oven because oven temperatures can vary, especially during season changes! The crust was so soft which made this pizza so much better than any frozen pizza. Our only problem was that the dough recipe was for only 1 pizza! Next time we will double it.

Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread
My daughter loves coffee cake from Starbucks, but she can never finish a whole piece since it is so dense. I went looking for an easy quick bread recipe that would replicate the flavor with a lighter texture. I found this recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread that was wonderful! My only changes was that I used melted butter since I generally don't use vegetable (soybean) oil because of allergies, and I added a tablespoon of vanilla for a boost in flavor. The bread came out light and airy and completely delicious. Both of my kids loved it, and I thought it was fantastic with coffee.


This Week's Meal Plan
This week I am going to be looking for a new baked good recipe because we love muffins or scones for breakfast. I'm also experimenting with the Complete crockpot steak dinner since we have a lot of rib-eyes after having a cow butchered.

Disclaimer: We deal with sensory disorders and immune deficiencies in our house, so not everyone eats everything I prepare. I am OK with that because it is our normal.  Sometimes Mommy is in survival mode, and we just have to do what works.

For my menu plan, I loosely plan breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, but I get more specific with dinners. I may assign days for specific meals, but that is always subject to change. I can't wait to review my new finds next week!

 Breakfasts 
Muffins, frozen waffles, plain egg omelets, sausage, fruit 

Lunches
Dinner leftovers, Creamed tuna and peas over noodles, homemade pizza, chicken breasts, mac & cheese, cheese/crackers, peanut butter, raisin bread, fruit, tomato soup

Dinners 
Monday: Spicy turkey and cabbage soup
Tuesday:  Crock pot chicken, potatoes, onions, peppers, squash
Wednesday: Mini turkey meatloaf and green bean sheet pan dinner
Thursday:  Lentil pasta with meat sauces, broccoli, garlic toast
Friday: Green chili chicken bake, rice, corn
Saturday: Leftovers or takeout after community egg hunt
Sunday:  Complete crockpot steak dinner

Snacks
Smoothies, yogurt, fresh fruits/vegetables, chips/salsa, Cinnamon swirl bread 

This blog links up with the orgjunkie.com Meal Plan Monday linky party!