Menu Planning Monday

My first, and perhaps only, edition of Menu Plan Monday.

Why first?

Because I have procrastinated terribly at this task (posting it anyway, I almost always have my menu planned for about the last year or so).

Why only?

Because in our house we eat basically the same menu every week with the exception of Sunday lunch (or dinner, depending on what you call it . . . the meal we eat when we return home from morning services at church.)

Really? Every week?

Yup, pretty much. We have a number of supertasters in our family. Never heard of that, eh? (here's an unusual, unscientific test to determine your tasting level, or this slightly more scientific-sounding one). I was skeptical until the Tribune had an article on it a couple years back and now I see even Wikipedia has an entry covering it. It must be legit if you find it there. J Supertasters have super sensitive taste buds, or more of them, and enjoy only fairly simple, non-combined foods without lots of sauces or unusual spices. They can tell when I switch the brand of tomato sauce I use, or if I use a tablespoon less butter in the Mac and Cheese, or add even a smidgen of whole wheat to a recipe. The road to healthier eating has been slow and not without its bumps, but we have made considerable progress in the last few years. Supertasters have strong aversions to cabbage type foods in particular, among other things. We keep things boring simple at meal time in our house.

I do rearrange the meals based on our activities, guests, and last minute schedule changes. We generally eat all 21 meals together as a whole family (my husband rides his bike home from his office on campus of the school we live at), and my brother in law joins us for lunch most weekdays since he works with my husband.

For this coming week we don’t have anything too unusual . . .

Monday

Breakfast: cereal (I like to start the week easy and the kids can help themselves while I get extra cleaning time in), orange juice, grapefruit

Snack: apples

Lunch: Sandwiches (PB&J), carrots, water

Snack: pretzels(in car on the way to ballet and drama)

Dinner: Chicken and rice (usually rice-a-roni, I try to also make some plain brown rice, which I prefer.)

Tuesday

Breakfast: pancakes and/or waffles (I keep them both going at the same time so I can feed more mouths at a time), milk, fruit.

Snack: hardboiled eggs

Lunch: Beef Stew (from a can) and buttered homemade bread

Snack: crackers and peanut butter

Dinner: Cheeseburgers (I don’t add anything to my ground beef, it is straight beef from our local farmer, no breadcrumbs, spices, eggs – nothing!) and baked fries

Wednesday:

Breakfast: oatmeal with nuts and blueberries (optional, most like it plain)

Snack: kiwi

Lunch: sandwiches, carrots, water

Snack: pretzels

Dinner: Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

Thursday

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and toast, milk

Snack: oranges

Lunch: Chicken and Potatoes (this is a favorite around here, and the easiest real meal I make)

To make this I put chicken breasts in one pan with a dash of olive oil, a few sprinkles of garlic powder, salt, and oregano and cover the pan with foil. The potatoes get diced and tossed in another pan with 3 Tbsp butter and sprinklings of salt and pepper, and then cover the pan with foil. I put it in the 250 degree oven when we start school in the morning about 9:00 and take it out to eat at noon. Salad and water to drink completes our meal.

Snack: choice (fruit, veggie, pretzels, crackers, toast – do it yourself)

Dinner: Pizza (I buy frozen from a pizzeria that we love or else make homemade, this week we will have frozen) and a movie in the living room

Friday

Breakfast: French Toast

Snack: fruit kabobs (my kids love making their own)

Lunch: Sandwiches (probably grilled cheese for a switch), carrots and water

Snack: popcorn (popped in coconut oil, with a little salt and butter. Sometimes I make a second batch with a little white sugar - 1/4 cup - for a kettle corn taste)

Dinner: Mac and Cheese with ground beef and sausage, peas, salad

Saturday:

Breakfast: oatmeal and yogurt

Snack: nuts (soccer day)

Lunch: Left over buffet

Dinner: Lasagna

Sunday

Breakfast: Cinnamon rolls and smoothies (yogurt, blueberries, bananas, ground flax, honey)

Lunch: Roast (this is the one meal that varies regularly we either have turkey or a roast, and occasionally go out to eat instead) with carrots, beans and potatoes, homemade rolls, and salad

Dinner: Pizza (yup, twice every week. Works for me . . .)

Now that I look this over, I realize that I do offer other healthier options (lots of salad and fruit around our house) and maybe I will do a “Part 2” next week with how those fit into our regular meals. I try about once a month to offer something new during a “sandwich” meal. That way it is not the main course, but lets some of our non-super tasters explore new tastes and dishes. Also, right now I am working on retraining my tastebuds, loosely following Perfect Weight America’s plan. I will write up what I eat this week and post it next Monday.

I have also written up a second post with some of the recipes and directions for our meals. You can find that here. I'll add more to later posts as I have time.