Monthly Meal Planning; Menu #12

 December was a tricky month to meal plan for.  My husband had 3 Christmas parties for work, Alec had his karate graduation (which was postponed at the last minute), we had a few family get togethers and we just knew we'd be eating awful at everything so I tried to make our meals as healthy as I could (and still have my kids actually eat them!). 

I gave up on our meal plan altogether by the middle of the month since our freezers were full and I really wanted to focus on eating what we had in the house. But we ate well so I can't complain!  I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with monthly planning in the new year but I won't be keeping up with our monthly meal planning posts.  I hope this past year has given you some good ideas.  



1. Turkey, broccoli, and rice casserole (using this recipe and subbing leftover turkey for the chicken)


2. Burgers/ veggie burgers/ hot dogs, with fries, squash fries, and salad. 

3. The boys got take out since my husband and I were headed to his company Christmas party.

4. Grilled steaks, baked potato, green beans and broccoli.

5. Crock pot pizza pork chops with pasta and sauce and leftover veggies from the night before. 


6. Pesto Caprese chicken with pasta and sauce and salad. 



7. We went to our friends' house and ate tacos with brownie sundaes.

8. Homemade pizzas (using the skinny biz pizza dough) with salad.

9. Shrimp carbonara (the younger boys made themselves hot dogs) and we all had salad.


10. Turkey/apple meatloaf (I used this meatball recipe and shaped it all into a loaf pan) with rice pilaf, broccoli, and salad.

11. Spiral ham with roasted potatoes, and green beans. 

12. Pasta Primavera 


13. Ham and cheese quiche with salad. 


14. Baked salmon (chicken for the boys), with white rice and sautéed zucchini and squash. 

15.  BLT sandwiches with chips and salad. (my husband was away for a Christmas party)

16. Pumpkin mac and cheese with salad.


17. Chicken breast with broccoli and couscous.

18. Teriyaki pulled pork (using pork tenderloin) with rice and vegetables.


19.  Burgers/ Hot dogs (I had a Boca Chick'n patty) and fries (I had a diced potato) and salad.

20. Chicken/ orzo one pot dish with salad. 



21. Grilled Kielbasa (chicken for Alec & I) with roasted butternut squash, turnips, and potatoes (the boys only eat the potatoes so I also served everyone some salad).

22. Sloppy joes (made with ground turkey) with salad and fruit. 


23.  Breakfast for dinner-- waffles, turkey sausage, and fresh fruit. 


24. Christmas eve we head to my mother's house for dinner and get take out pizza.

25. Christmas day I served up a post roast with mashed potatoes, squash, broccoli, crescent rolls and salad. We had dessert at my mother-in-laws-- our homemade apple pie, some chocolate cream pie, and cookies.



26. We had Christmas brunch at my father-in-law's house so I didn't bother cooking dinner; everyone just ate leftovers and fended for themselves.

27. Baked fish (chicken for the younger boys), with rice (rice cauliflower for me), frozen mixed vegetables, and salad. 


28. Weight Watchers Tuscan chicken pasta  with salad


29. Shake N Bake pork chops with noodles and frozen vegetables.

30. Turkey pot pie with extra vegetables. 



31.  New Year's Eve we ended up inviting all of Ian's grandparents over for a last minute mini graduation party.  He's starting college next month!  He requested lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and chocolate/ coffee/ peanut butter cake. 



Linking up with:








Comments

  1. HollyDecember 29, 2021 at 7:25 AM

    My mouth always waters at these posts- you are such great cooks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michele MorinDecember 29, 2021 at 9:15 AM

    I agree. Special events thwart planning in December, but it's all fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 29, 2021 at 2:45 PM

      Always, but it's well worth the thwarted planning.

      Delete
  3. Kari December 29, 2021 at 9:59 AM

    Everything looks delicious as always.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kim CarberryDecember 29, 2021 at 11:47 AM

    It sounds like you ate well throughout December. What great ideas for some meals. I love the sound of the pizza pork chops and the sloppy joes look amazing x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 29, 2021 at 2:46 PM

      The pizza pork chops have quickly become a family favorite; they are so easy too! Most of the time I just throw the pork chops and a jar of sauce in the crock pot and that's it. Cook it on low all day and sprinkle with some shredded cheese when ready to eat.

      Delete
  5. NatashaDecember 29, 2021 at 11:49 AM

    We've been trying to eat out of our freezers as well. It's amazing all the food we have in there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 29, 2021 at 2:47 PM

      It really is! I tend to go through cycles where I stock up and then cycles when we use just what we have on hand.

      Delete
  6. Sandi MagleDecember 29, 2021 at 12:32 PM

    We have also been eating out of the freezer---trying to get down to just one! LOL. Everything looks good, but not exactly diet friendly! Hugs, Sandi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 29, 2021 at 2:48 PM

      I am too! We have a large chest freezer and a small freezer on the side of our fridge and I'd love to get everything into one place. I follow Weight Watchers and try to keep most meals diet friendly for me (with small modifications).

      Delete
  7. R's RueDecember 29, 2021 at 3:24 PM

    Yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MicaDecember 29, 2021 at 5:18 PM

    These look really tasty! I try meal plan week by week but it was tricky for this week between Christmas and New years as we didn't know what yummy Christmas leftovers we would have, haha! Lots of nice easy meals that aren't too heavy as we have been eating lots of Christmas cookies in between meals, haha! :)

    Hope that you had a lovely Christmas last week :) We enjoyed spending a lot of time with family :)

    Away From The Blue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 30, 2021 at 1:01 PM

      Yes, I feel like I am eating something sugary and awful for me every single day!

      Delete
  9. MarshaDecember 29, 2021 at 11:18 PM

    I am going to have to try those pizza pork chops! It's a little cold and breezy to be grilling right now! Lots of other good recipes here!

    Thanks for sharing, Joanne!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 30, 2021 at 1:00 PM

      My husband is crazy and grills year round; even in the snow and ice!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Making Gift Card and Money Holders Using Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Supples

Image
I don't tend to keep a lot of crafting supplies on hand so when I saw this month's de-stash challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to make.  I finally realized that with so many of my Christmas gifts being cash and gift cards this year that I needed to make up some fun paper crafting/ creative ways to gift them.   I still want my nieces and nephews to have something to open so I pulled out my papers and stamps and made up some cute little money/gift card holders. They were much easier to make than I thought.  The first one I worked on was to hold some oversized Nintendo gift cards.  I made a standard sized card and folded down one corner of the card front.  Then I ran my double sided tape along the bottom an 1/2 way up the side creating a cute little pocket.  Finally I added some cute embellishments and ribbons.   Voila! A simple and easy gift card holder for those larger sized gift cards.  The bulk of the tweens and teens on my list j...
Read more

Making a Sugar Cookie "Gingerbread" House

Image
 Alec really wanted to try making his own gingerbread house this year without using a premade kit.  We talked about how we never really eat the house since they don't taste very good.  Years ago we gave up on the frosting that comes in the kit and began making our own so we thought perhaps we should try making our our house too. Only problem is that no one in the house likes gingerbread.  We talked about trying to make the house using a sugar cookie recipe.  Alec was so excited at that idea since he just LOVES sugar cookies.   He found a recipe online for a simple sugar cookie recipe and mixed up the dough.  He rolled it out an cut it to the size of our cookie sheets-- we had read that it's easiest to cut the house pieces out after the dough has been baked and is still warm and soft because then you don't have to worry about any of the pieces losing their shape while baking. I had picked out a simple cookie cutter set on Amazon and as soon as the ...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more