Meal Plan for Week of 2/9

Here's your meal plan for the week of 2/9. I won't assign any days as you can mix them up and make things that take longer on days that you have more time or plan leftovers for when you family is busy.

First, here are some thoughts on how I plan meals for our family.

• Per my weekly crock pot challenge, I like to plan 2 of our meals to be made in the crock pot.
  

• I like to plan at least 2 of my meals to be something that we can eat another night. So, out of 2 meals I get 4. This works great for me the nights I get home later and don't want to mess around in the kitchen. I know that this may not work for bigger families, but for our family of 4, this works great.

• Friday night is our night for take-out. We used to go out, but my 2 year old doesn't sit so well anymore, so we usually pick something up to eat at home. It's nice to have a break one night a week.

• We also usually have one night that is for pizza. Sometimes this is our takeout night or sometimes we just do frozen pizzas.

Printable menus are available upon request. Please email me at laura@pinkfamilydinners.net if interest.

Menu for week of 2/9/09

1. Spinach Lasagna
2. Beef Stroganoff (crockpot)
3. Chicken w/ salsa (crockpot)
4. Pizza

Spinach Lasagna

(from my 2/3 post)

You need:
9 lasagna noodles (I usually use the no-boil ones)
10 oz frozen spinach thawed out, rinsed, and drained
2 eggs
16 ounce cottage or ricotta cheese
3 cups mozzarella cheese (divided)
26 ounces of spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Place 2 eggs in the bowl and beat smooth. Add the spinach, cottage or ricotta cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle in some parmesan cheese. Stir together.

2. Now, put your lasagna together. put down about a cup of sauce, then 3 noodles. Add half the cheese/spinach mixture. Repeat. Top with the remaining noodles, sauce, and mozzarella cheese. You can also add some parmesan cheese to the top.

3. Bake for 45. Let stand for 10.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

You need:
2 lbs chuck roast cut into 2-3 inch cubes
Approx. 6 oz of uncooked wide egg noodles
16 oz can of condensed mushroom soup
8 oz can beef broth, fill empty can with warm water and add to crock pot
4 oz sour cream
1 tsp salt, pepper to taste

Directions:
In crock pot add meat cubes, salt and pepper, and then uncooked noodles on top of meat. Then add beef broth, water, sour cream, and mushroom soup. Cook on medium heat for at least 6 hours, covered. There is no need to stir or mix ingredients. The soup, broth & water will make a tasty broth with the sour cream, meat and noodles.

Make sure to put the meat and noodles in the crock pot first so that they can absorb the sauce and cook evenly. You could also substitute the chuck roast for 8 oz of frozen meatballs.

Crockpot Chicken w/ Salsa

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Pizza

Right now, I do frozen, but will be experimenting in the weeks ahead making my own dough.

Remember, 2 nights I use for leftovers. I am really trying to not waste these days considering the price of food. If I plan for leftovers, we are more likely to eat them. One night is a free night too for dinner out or take out.