Meal Ideas for Week 25, 2010

This week I plan to grill a lot, I heard the forecast was really hot and I am going easy. Monday I won't be home all day so we are having meatloaf, last time I made two and this one is frozen, it is thawing in the fridge now and will be ready to bake for dinner tomorrow. We are also going to have Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches, followed by Ham steak on the grill that should use the whole can of pineapple in two nights. A couple of weeks ago I planned to try Chicken Mozzarella Melt with bow tie pasta and never got around to it, so I am going to try it this week, and I thought we might also have Asian Sirloin Steak to finish off the week. I hope you will consider sharing what you like to serve on hot summer days.

Meatloaf
Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches
Grilled Ham Steak and Pineapple
Chicken Mozzarella Melt with Bow Tie Pasta
Grilled Asian Sirloin Steak

Thanks for joining us and I hope you are having a great summer.
For recipes and more meal ideas, please visit http://sharemealideas.com

Sherri

Week 24, 2010

This week I am going to try more than one new recipe, I am feeling bored again. I am trying the Island Chicken I previously posted and did not marinate long enough, and we are having chicken with cream of mushroom gravy, sounds kind of hot in this weather, but it sounds good to me, so I am cooking it! lol The new recipes are Portabella Burgers ( don't imagine the kids will eat these, but maybe I will get lucky - will have a back up for them), Crescent burgers (hopefully these will make it up to the kids) and Unstuffed tilapia.

Unstuffed Tilapia
Crescent Burgers
Island Chicken
Grilled Portabella Burgers
Chicken with Cream of Mushroom Gravy

As always find these recipes and more at: http://sharemealideas.com/

Have a great week,
Sherri

Meal Ideas for week 23, 2010

Hello all,

Did you miss me? I have to confess, I was feeling the cooking burnout and never got around to meal planning for the week last week, wow was that a mistake! In general, everyday, I was in my old boat of its dinner time and I don't know what we are having, and I was not in the mood to cook, so I am back to making my life simpler and meal planning again. As always, I am looking for your great summer recipes to expand my summer menu, which as you can see contains a lot of grilling. I am making grilled pork chops one night and there is no recipe as I am just basting them with barbecue sauce and grilling. I am also making veggie sandwiches which you know my kids don't eat, but DH and I love them so the kids will have something else along side. Hope you have a great week, talk to you soon.


Grilled Pizza
Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken
Grilled Pork Chops with barbecue sauce
Blue Cheese Burgers Deluxe
Veggie Sandwiches


As always to view these recipes and more please visit the recipe page at: sharemealideas.com

Thanks, Sherri

Meal Ideas for week 20, 2010

Life is busy now with the end of the school year quickly approaching and we are falling back on quick and easy ideas for the most part this week. No really new ideas, but I am trying the Salsa chicken that I know many people love, I just have not previously tried it on my picky eaters. I am also making Italian rice, which is our made up version of spaghetti with rice instead of the noodles, my kids seem to like it for a change of pace. Hope you are all doing well as always let me know if you find any great meal ideas that your kids will eat.
Meal ideas for this week include:

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Italian Rice
Garlic Chicken
Grilled Salmon
Turkey Marsala


For more meal ideas and recipes please go to: http://sharemealideas.com/
Thanks, Sherri

Week 17, 2010

Another week, seems time is going so quickly, the kids will be out of school soon. YIKES! Seriously I am somewhat looking forward to the summer and break from school myself. This week is busy so I am going very easy with just one new experiment for the week, which will be the pineapple chicken stir fry. Also planning cheeseburger mac, chicken piccata, and salmon cakes. I'm also in the mood for grilled pork chops but will baste with regular ole barbecue sauce so there is no recipe for that one. Hope you have a great week! Oh, and if you are in facebook we have a fan page so please join us!

Sherri

Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry
Cheeseburger Mac
Chicken Piccata
Grilled Pork Chops
Salmon Cakes

For more recipes and menu ideas please visit: sharemealideas.com

Week 16, 2010

I am going to start with a huge thanks to Patty one of our readers, who stepped up last week and submitted a couple of recipes to help get me out of my slump. The weather has cooled a bit and now I feel a little more like cooking. Looking forward to trying Baked BBQ chicken and Almond Crusted Turkey! I think it will be nice enough to have pizza on the grill, oh have you tried it? And I am going to try a new recipe, Island Chicken; I found at a cute website called Annie's Eats. We will also add a little Baked Penne to satisfy my need for easy and kidsItalian fix.
As always, I want to know what you are cooking so I can try new recipes or even just be inspired by something we have not had in a while. Do I sound like a I am begging? I feel like it, pleeeeeaaase. Feel free to post your eating challenges as a well, for example: my kids rarely do casseroles, they don't care for Mexican, but they do eat Asian inspired and most "kid" food, or even if you have a specific allergy or food dislike, I know cheese fits both of these for some families. Maybe we can team up and find new answers to the "what's for dinner" issue.
Have a fantastic week,
Sherri

Baked Barbecue Chicken
Grilled Pizza
Island Chicken
Almond Crusted Turkey
Baked Penne

Week 15, 2010

This week is tough for me, I totally do not feel like cooking and am coming up empty on good ideas. It is Spring and the weather is beautiful, so I am going to grill several days to enjoy the weather and because it is always easy. Hope you are all doing well and let me know if you have any ideas for next week, I could use some ideas.
Topping the easy list is rotisserie chicken and grilled hamburgers. Then I am going to make Hawaiian grilled chicken sandwiches and grill some white fish. I think I will also make a fresh batch of spaghetti and meatballs as they kids always love that and then I can freeze some for another night.
For the rotesserie chicken I just use a rub (Penzey's) and put in the rotesserie, so I am not posting a recipe. Grilled hamburgers don't have a recipe either, but if you need a new inspiration, we liked the Gorgeous George Burgers posted earlier, hint: use the search button at the top of the recipe page. White fish will probably only have olive oil and lemon or my other favorite penzey's rub for fish, so again no recipe. I will post for hawaiian chicken sandwiches, and a link to spaghetti and meatballs. Sherri

Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches
Spaghetti and meatballs
Grilled hamburgers
Grilled fish
Rotisserie Chicken

Week 14, 2010 Meal Ideas

This week we are having Italian chicken, I think I will marinate in italian salad dressing and cook on the grill, if you don't want to grill I found a recipe for italian chicken in the slow cookers, I never thought to just throw it in the crock pot with italian dressing. I am trying Mac and Cheddar Cheese with chicken and broccoli from Rachel Ray for the kids as the next night we are having Veggie Sandwiches and the kids will be having something else. I am also going to make beef stroganoff in the slow cookers and going to try chicken lo mein from Family fun since my kids "usually" like asian food. Have a great week and don't forget to let me know what you are cooking this week.

Sherri

Italian Chicken
Mac n Cheddar Cheese
Veggie Sandwiches
Beef Stroganoff
Chicken Lo Mein

Week 13, 2010

This week we are going to have meatloaf, a family favorite, roma chicken and salmon. I am going to try tarragon chicken and I have had a request for stuffed shells. I do not have a recipe for stuffed shells, I think the last time I made them I used the recipe on the box. So if any of you have a good recipe I would love it, I would like to try cheese and spinach, but don't know if I can sneak the spinach in, I was thinking in half and then I would have backup of plain cheese without cooking another meal. I am always open to other ideas if you have any secrets that work at your house. Have a great week!
Sherri

Meatloaf
Tarragon Chicken
Stuffed Shells
Roma Chicken
Red River Salmon

For more meal ideas please visit: http://sharemealideas.com

Week 12, 2010

This week we have crockpot fajitas and pork medallions both passed on from other members. And a second recipe for cheeseburger macaroni that is similar to the one we tried a week or two ago, but is slightly different. My philosophy is if you post or give me the recipe I will try it, and truthfully my DH commented again this last week, that he really likes the variety in our meals these days. I am also posting parmesan fish, as we love this and we are trying Teriaki chicken, lucked out that this is a grill recipe and it should be warm enough to grill this week! YEA!
I am looking for more crock pot/slow cooker recipes so please post your family favorites, or you can always email them to me and I will post them as I put them in the menu.
I am also going to try something new in the newsletter to just put the link for the blog in and then you go directly there for the recipes. I am hoping that some of you will comment at the end of the post and offer up ideas of what you are cooking this week, not necessarily the recipes, just some more ideas. (You can do this, by clicking on the word comment at the top of the post for the week and it will allow you to post comments.)
Don't forget the search button on the top of the recipe page, you can type in words, ie chicken, and it will bring up all the recipes pertaining to that word. I am going to be adding more topics such as side dishes, desserts, and triggers like slow cooker/crockpot to make the search feature even better.
Hope everyone has a great week and thanks for reading and participating!
Sherri

Cheeseburger macaroni II
Crock pot Fijitas
Parmesan Fish
Pork Medallions with balsamic-honey glaze
Teriyaki Chicken

Week 10, 2010 Meal Ideas

Wow, I can't believe this is the 10th week already. Congratulations to Pattyt for winning the Pampered Chef product in the 2nd drawing for February. A special thanks to everyone who has either submitted recipes or just given them to me. I love to cook when it is something new and recommended by friends.

This week I think I must be feeling a little brave as all the recipes are new to our family! One night we are trying fish fingers, oven fried fish sticks (not the kind from a box; lol). This is my quest to add more fish to our lives; and well, my Catholic friends love me since it is Lent. I am always on the lookout for new and yummy fish recipes so if you have any I would love to hear about them.

Also on the menu we are trying sesame-ginger turkey wraps. This is a slow cooker recipe, yea! I think you could easily use either dark or white meat based on your preference and I would also think you could substitute chicken if you prefer. Looks pretty simple to me. I am also trying maple glazed chicken and sweet potatoes. This one looks really easy also. I love maple syrup, as well as, sweet potatoes. Then compliments of our group we are trying Julie's spinach and cheese lasagna and Patty's Cheeseburger macaroni. Thanks ladies for these ideas.

I hope this is inspiring you to making your life easier by planning your meals in advance of the 5 o'clock crunch; I just can not believe I did not make myself do this before. Have a great week. Sherri

Spinach and Cheese Lasagna
Maple glazed chicken and sweet potatoes
Cheeseburger Macaroni
Sesame-ginger turkey wraps
Fish fingers

For more recipe ideas go to: http://sharemealideas.com

Week 9, 2010 Meal Ideas

On the menu this week we are going to try herbed chicken in pastry, supposed to look fancy, but not be too difficult. A request has been made for those awesome meatballs and homemade spaghetti sauce, so we must accomodate! Also we are going to have Kristin's taco salad, as well as, Kim's pork chops and mushroom gravy, in the slow cooker. And I am going to test a new fish recipe called toasted almond topped fish.
Don't forget to post your recipes; this is the last few days to be entered into the drawing for the Pampered Chef Bamboo Specialty Set. Thanks to everyone who has contributed recipes!
Have a great week. Sherri

Herbed Chicken in Pastry
Spaghetti sauce and Meatballs
Taco Salad
Pork Chops and Mushroom Gravy (slow cooker)
Toasted Almond-Topped Fish

For more recipe ideas go to http://sharemealideas.com

Week 8, 2010

Congratulations Kim for submitting 2 recipes to me and for winning the Mix n Chop. Please add your favorite recipes and receive an entry for each recipe in the end of the month drawing for the Bamboo Specialty Set.
This week I am going easy with rotisserie chicken, or the baked if you don't have a rotisserie. I plan to try the mixed grill pork tenderloin from David and piccata chicken from Patty. I know Patty plans to fix extra the first night and then serve the leftovers over alfredo pasta another night. I love trying the recipes suggested to me by our group. I am also trying the gorgeous george burger, that uses soy burgers, but I think it would also be good with turkey burgers, since it is supposed to be from a healthy heart site. And we are also having shrimp stir fry. I have a great sauce recipe which I just add to favorite veggies and shrimp this week, but you can always add other meats or go vegetarian.
I have to chuckle, my DD asked this week, "can we just have ravioli?" yes, the frozen kind from the bag. I think she is missing the old repeats!! So I guess I am doing pretty well in getting them all past the hum drum same old things and ready for some more favorites to appear again.
Wishing everyone a great week.
Sherri

Rotisserie Chicken
Mixed Grill Pork Tenderloin
Gorgeous George Burger
Chicken Piccata
Stir fry with shrimp

For more recipes and meal ideas go to: http://sharemealideas.com

Week 7, 2010

So this week I am once again asking for your help. When I started this, I somewhat mapped out the first 6 weeks of menus. Now I am working on the next few weeks and I have some ideas, but am looking for some more new ideas, or it is going to be repeats!!! haha, My family is so excited about the new non repeating weekly menu, but they are going to start asking for their favorites to return. Hence, a favorite at our house meatloaf is making the first repeat of the year. I am going to try Sesame Chicken a recipe I found on the Allrecipes website, supposed to be kid friendly, and thanks to the Whole Foods website we are going to try Lasagna Rolls. The salmon recipe this week, is my favorite! It is called Red River Salmon, because in May the awesome Red River Salmon is available, but I love the recipe so much I fix it even if the salmon is not Red River, just wild. Thanks to Julie we are also going to try Garlic Chicken especially since her family has already approved it. (And a sneak peak at the following week, we are going to try Davids mixed grill with pork tenderloin.) A side note, try the Taco Salad that Kristin posted, I know for a fact that it is great, but my picky kiddos do not do mexican. Thanks for the posts! Did I say, I love new recipes! Funny, now my DD has started voicing her opinion on each dish as she starts dinner since she is used to the you have to try three bites, so mommy can talk about it on the blog. Best thing is she is pretty happy with our meals lately.
I hope everyone has an awesome Valentine's Day and don't forget to post your recipes for the drawings for the Pampered Chef Mix N Chop and the Bamboo Specialty Set. See week 5 for more info.
Sherri

Sesame Chicken Strips with Sweet Sauce
Lasagna Rolls
Red River Salmon
Meatloaf
Garlic Chicken

For more recipes and meal ideas go to: http://sharemealideas.com

Week 6, 2010

One of my goals was to see if I could go 6 weeks without a repeat recipe, and I am proud to say I did it!! I seriously think; dinnertime is better at our house, even the children who I was trying to please are enjoying most of the new recipes and the variety.
Meal ideas for this week include at crock pot roast chicken, a recipe that is new to us, but I learned the one week I did not include a crock pot recipe, my schedule really needed one. DH loves the seafood enchiladas and the kids are okay with them. I am also going to try creamy baked chicken, a recipe I borrowed from another blog a couple of months ago and am so sorry to say I did not copy the name of the blog or blogger to give credit. I know it caught my eye and had several good reviews.
I hope everyone is thinking about their favorite recipe to post so they can be entered into the drawing for the Pampered Chef Mix 'N Chop and the Bamboo Specialty Cooking Set. More information can be found under the blog from week 5.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Sherri

Crock pot Roast Chicken
Seafood Enchiladas
Baked Penne Pasta
Creamy Chicken
Ham Steak with Maple and Mustard Glaze

For more recipes and meal ideas visit: http://sharemealideas.com

Week 5 2010

This week for the meal ideas I am using some recipes of friends that have been forwarded on to me. Some tried and true and some recently tried. Jenn sent in Roma chicken, saying she really liked it, and she had moderate success with her 3 children. I am looking forward to trying this. Kim sent in brisket, which is pretty much my recipe wrapped in foil and cooked in the crock pot, I used to cook it in the oven very low, but love the crock pot idea. I have also been looking for a good spaghetti sauce and meatball recipe which she said her family loves, I am sure my will also, what's not to like? We are also having curry pot pie, now if you are not a big curry fan, don't stress, it has a very light flavor and we really like this recipe. I also like the flavor from roasting the vegetables in the oven prior to adding to the recipe.
I know you are starting to think of the blog as my friends are starting to talk to me about what they are cooking and what I am cooking. I love this as my family is really enjoying the variety we are having versus being stuck with the same ole things every week or two.
Now to motivate everyone to share more recipes on the site; I am having a give away! Everyone likes freebies, so here is the deal.
Mid month, (February) I will have a drawing for the hot new, Mix 'N Chop, a great tool for browning beef, and at month end I will have a second drawing for a Bamboo Specialty Cooking Set, a great set of bamboo spatulas that I use all the time. Both items are, of course, from The Pampered Chef. How do you get entered to win these items? Share a recipe on the website and you will receive an entry for each recipe you share. If you shared a recipe in January you will actually receive two entries for jumping on board and helping get this started! I am looking forward to seeing your family favorites, and feel free to share recipes that are in other categories: side dishes, desserts whatever you would like.
I hope this is motivating you to plan your weekly meals in advance, it has made my life so much easier getting dinner on the table. Sherri

Roma Chicken
Salmon Burgers
Crockpot Brisket
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Curry Pot Pie

For other recipe ideas go to sharemealideas.com

Week 4, 2010

Well, even my DH commented this week that he is enjoying the variety of my meal planning and I know he is enjoying my calm replies when he comes home from work and asks what we are having for dinner, versus the old, panicked I don’t know yet……
I am excited my friends are starting to think of me and the website with their ideas as well, I am looking forward to trying some new recipes of my friends as well.

Week 4 and no repeats so far, wow that impresses even me! This week DH and I are having shrimp alfredo while the kids have ravioli one night, and another night we are having veggie sandwiches and the kids will have chicken strips, but DH and I love these sandwiches and I really want them this week. The veggie sandwiches are meant to cook extra vegetables and then use the left-overs the next night with pasta the notes are at the bottom of the recipe, if you are not making the pasta the next night, reduce the amount of vegetables by about half. The new recipe for the week is orange chicken, my kids love this from the box at wholesale club, but they were out today, and I would really like to make it a littler healthier. I have tried other recipes in the past that did not compare, so hopefully this one will be good, I will let you know after I cook it.
By the way, did you know that after I cook a new recipe I reply to the post on the recipe and let you know what the family thought??
So this week I may be cooking two meals a couple of nights, but just knowing what I am having is so great! Who knows maybe the kids will be adventurous this week!
Have a great week, Sherri

Turkey Marsala
Shrimp Alfredo
Sliders and fries
Orange Chicken
California Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

For other recipe ideas go to sharemealideas.com

Week 3, 2010

Wow, week 3, I can not tell you how much I love that I am not stressed at the end of the day trying to figure out what to cook for dinner! I am also going to post the new menu for the week on Fridays instead of Sundays so that if you needed to grocery shop during the weekend you will have the new menu ideas. I am excited to see what everyone else is cooking (hint, hint); I want this to be interactive. ; )

This week the kids are out of school a couple of days so I am fixing homemade pizza, one night, they love this activity. I posted the dough recipe I use when time is short, and then everyone tops with their favorite ingredients. I love to see who gets creative. We are having stuffed peppers, my kids usually eat the filling only, usually the left over part I put around the peppers. The French dip recipe is great, but it does contain a beer, I don’t usually notice the kids doing anything weird after it has cooked all day, who knows maybe they sleep better that night! The new recipe this week is the chicken and sour cream burritos. I love this recipe, but have never been brave enough to try it on my kids, who are not big fans of Mexican (I know, how that can be??) So we’ll see what happens.

The week’s menu ideas are below, as always click the link if you want to go to the recipe. Sherri

Homemade pizza

Chicken and dumplings

French Dip sandwiches

Stuffed peppers

Chicken and sour cream burritos

Week 2, 2010

It seems my children are opposed to "new" things, but that does not hinder my goals, so this week we are trying one new recipe, creamy rice chicken, and I am trying tater tot casserole again, but this week I am going to make with green beans and separate it out on their plate to see if they will eat it as they do not really like foods mixed together. I tried the oven fried chicken once before and they loved it, I am convinced that the panko bread crumbs are the secret! Also I am using turkey tenderloins in the honey mustard chicken for a slightly different flavor. Let me know what your children are eating and if you try any of these ideas. Have a great week. Sherri
This weeks menu is: (click on title to link to recipe)

Honey Mustard Turkey
Lasagna
Oven Fried Chicken
Tater Tot Casserole
Creamy Rice Chicken

Week one menu

Well, here we go! Below are 5 dishes I am planning for this week with a link to the recipes. I will let you know how the new recipe goes with the family after I serve it. Since the site is new I am very interested in feedback on recipes and suggestions for things you would like or not like to see on this site. I want it to be a great resource for us all. Please note that I am planning rotisserie chicken, as I have a rotisserie, but I am providing a recipe for oven baked rotisserie chicken that is good too. The new recipe is Seasame noodles that I plan to add leftover chicken to. Don't forget I would love to hear from you and what you are planning this week also.
Sherri

Parmesan Baked Alaska Cod
Meatloaf
Rotisserie Chicken
Beef Stroganoff (crockpot recipe)
Seasame Noodles