Menu Plan Monday – Memorial Day

Hi everyone! As I sit here typing this I am SO tired and sore because we have been painting our house all weekend! I thought my arms would be what was sore after painting all day yesterday, but it’s my legs that are killing me. Sitting down in the air-conditioned living room is a very good thing, let me just say. We still have a little more painting to do tomorrow to complete everything, but we’re really happy with how the project is turning out so it’s all worth it. I’ll post photos later this week so you can see the before and after.

In the midst of all the painting I slipped away quickly to pick up groceries for the week. Let me just warn you, this week’s menu plan is pretty uninspired (I am trying two new recipes, though… I couldn’t resist!) and simple – in part because of the aforementioned painting, but also because this next weekend I’m doing a garage sale with a good friend. Yup, another tiring weekend. I’m a garage sale junkie, though, so I don’t mind. I’m actually excited! I love having garage sales – it means cleaning out the house, getting rid of clutter, and having some fun money. This time I’m going to use any profits toward fixing up our back porch to make it more friendly for us to hang out and play on. I want to get a comfy loveseat or couple of chairs, and most importantly an outdoor fan. Anyway, I digress. But now hopefully you’ll understand why this week’s menu plan is the way it is. :)

Monday: Grilling out, of course! We’re doing hot dogs and chicken. I got Oscar Mayer Angus beef hot dogs

and am curious to see if we’ll be able to taste the difference. I’m going to bake some onion rings and french fries – nothing homemade, just some I bought in the frozen section at the grocery store. Can I plug our favorite frozen fries, by the way? They’re the Ore Ida extra crispy seasoned crinkles and they’re absolutely amazing.

Tuesday: We’re meeting some friends at Chick-fil-A for family night. Not only do the kids get free meals – we also have coupons to try their new spicy chicken sandwich for free. Not too shabby.

Wednesday: Barbecue Chicken Pizza – this is a recipe I got from Food on the Table. I’m not sharing it yet, though… keep an eye out for a post on this website coming soon!

Thursday: Chicken Alfredo. This is a new recipe – it’s the first time I’ve ever made alfredo sauce from scratch. Here’s the recipe I am going to try, courtesy of allrecipes.com:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1  3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I like to use Italian flat-leaf)

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and mix with the butter until smooth.
2. Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes, whisking the entire time.
3. Add garlic and cheese, continuing to whisk, until everything is melted and well-blended.
4. Stir in the parsley and serve! We’ll have ours with grilled chicken.

Friday: Leftovers. Perfect, because I’ll be busy getting everything ready for the garage sale.

Saturday: We’re grabbing something out, because I know I’ll be tired from a long day.

Have a great week, everyone! Don’t forget, too, that the giveaway for a free cookbook ends TONIGHT at midnight (CST)!