Friday, July 24, 2009

MMC - 30 Minute Menus for July 26

Now that we are in the 'dog days' of summer, I have planned the week's menus with a whole lot of grilling, salads, and a quick bouillabaisse. You will stay cool, calm, and collected in the kitchen!

I am planning a fun evening with my family Saturday night. My children are starting families of their own so we'll have a great, entertaining time with the grandchildren. I am going to serve a spaghetti fest with a couple of options for the sauce just to keep things lively. It is also vegetarian to satisfy every palette. The appetizer course will be the Italian Buffet 'Party in a Bag': wedge of Parmesan cheese; Tuscan olive cheese ball; prosciutto; fruit tray of figs, apricots, melon with asparagus spears; red pepper and Romano bruschetta topping; artichoke pesto; Asiago cheese crackers; and gourmet olives. This will complement the spaghetti fest menu nicely. The great part of the whole meal is that I will spend little preparing it and a lot of time visiting with my family!

Do you have a party in your plans? If so, check out the latest feature on my website - 'Party in a Bag'! The Bags are designed to help you pull your party together in 30 minutes - flat! I love to entertain but don't often have the time required to pull off a big, fancy 'do', so, over the years, I have learned a few short-cuts; I will share them with you.

If you are planning a dinner party or family gathering, take a look at the Holiday and Special '30-Minute Complete Menu Plans' on my website. You will find menu ideas to help with your celebration or 'do'.

The Family Meals '30-Minute Complete Menu Plans' are developed to help with both weeknight and special dinner prep. I create Complete Menu Plans using the 30-minute menus from this blog:

  • The Complete Menu Plans give you recipes and step-by-step instructions for preparing the complete meal (not just the entree as most meal plans do) in 30 minutes - flat! I even include a grocery list to save unnecessary trips to the grocery store.
  • These are eComplete Menu Plans so you can purchase the menu plan now and use it for dinner tonight!
  • You won't have to spend your precious time thinking of menu ideas and then looking up the recipes - I will send it all directly to you!
  • You can purchase a Complete Menu Plan for the introductory price of .25 each.
  • You can purchase a Complete Menu Plan for the introductory price of .25 each. If you have found my 30-minute menus helpful, then you must check out the 30-Minute Complete Menu Plans!

You will find that I use several cooking methods, mix and match, to get dinner on the table quickly! (The ingredients in parenthesis show some of my quick-prep steps.) You can always substitute your favorite made-from-scratch recipes when you have more time.

I hope you have a great week!

Sunday:
Fillet Mignon with Bleu Cheese Topper (Panko bread crumbs; save some steak and bleu cheese for Wednesday)
Baked Potatoes (microwaved then baked to finish)
Caesar Salad (bagged salad mix)
Grown Up Smores (graham cracker tart shells)

Monday:
BBQ Chicken Quarters (prepared orange juice and bottled teriyaki sauce)
Curried Pineapple Slices (canned pineapple slices; save some pineapple for Thursday)
Potato Salad (canned potatoes)
Green Beans (buy extra for Thursday)
Spiced Oatmeal Cookies

Tuesday:
Quick Seafood Bouillabaisse (cleaned and deveined shrimp, jarred picante sauce, and canned crab, clams, mixed vegetables, and tomatoes)
Rolls of Choice
Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches (purchased jumbo cookies and ice cream)

Wednesday:
Black and Blue Salad (beef and bleu cheese left from Sunday; bagged salad greens)
Rolls (purchased rolls)
Strawberries with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar Dippers

Thursday:
Fire Cracker Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa (canned pineapple from Monday; canned chilies)
Sauteed Pierogies (frozen pierogies)
Green Beans
Fresh Baked Jumbo Cookies

Friday:
Fried Oysters over Spinach Salad (bagged baby spinach, canned oysters; remaining spinach can be used on Saturday)
Hush Puppies (frozen hush puppies)
Peach Kuchen (yellow cake mix, canned peaches)

Saturday:
Spaghetti Fest of Spinach Pesto and Marinara Sauce (vegetarian; jarred marinara sauce, bagged spinach - use any remaining from Friday, )
Pasta of Choice
Creamy Blue Cheese Lettuce Wedges (jarred salad dressing)
Garlic Bread
Tiramisu (purchased lady finger cookies)

Get inspired for your weekly menus at OrgJunkie!

I sincerely hope you have fun with your meal planning and preparation,
Elizabeth Randall and Family

2 comments:

AudreyO said...

I love filet mignon. My daughter is not much of a meat eater so I only eat steak once in a while. I love to butterfly them and cook them on the grill.

Becca said...

This is only my third time doing a menu plan, but wow, it really does help. It's so great to plan on a menu using up leftover ingredients from previous nights. It's a brilliant idea lol