Menu for the Week - A Review

Image by StephanieK. via Flickr

I don't think it's any secret that I am a big fan of meal planning. I am sort of obsessed with it, in fact. You can see some of my meal ideas on my meal planning site.

I have to be honest though, most of my ideas, if not all of them, are recipes and meals from magazines and websites. I honestly find one of the hardest things about cooking to be figuring out what to make so I am always looking for new places to inspire me.

This is why I was excited to have the opportunity to try out Menu for the Week. At Menu for the Week, you are sent a full week of recipes and a shopping list every week. The list is even sent right to you so all you have to do is print the recipes and the shopping list and you are all set!!

All recipes are tried by the owner, Dawn's own family and only recipes that meet the families approval make the lists. They are also kid friendly. Menu for the Week has a large collection of recipes, so your family will never be bored. One recipe each week is also a crock pot recipe.

I was impressed with the site for Menu for the Week from the first time I looked at it. It's simple and easy to navigate. Before signing up for my free 6 month trial I so graciously received to try out, I check out some of the recipes from the free week. All of the recipes seemed easy and sounded very yummy. Since I work all day outside the home, I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I am always looking for easy and quick.

After signing up for the 6 month subscription, I browsed around the past weeks' plans that were listed. Most of the meals were thing that my family would actually eat and they wouldn't take me all night to cook.

Just like the site says, every Friday you are sent a new menu with recipes and the grocery list. They are sent just to your email. It's so easy!

I have been using the recipes in our weekly menu and so far, they have been easy and my family has loved them - even my two girls that are 4 and 2 and tend to be picky at times.

Overall, I really like Menu of the Week and would recommend it to anyone. It would even make a great Mother's Day gift. You can get your own subscription here.

Crock Pot Challenge - Week One

Welcome to week one of my crock pot challenge. I have made a vow to use my crock pot at least twice a week. I am sharing that challenge with all of you. Now, you don't have use your crock pot twice if you don't want - even just once is enough. The goal is to make dinnertime easier!

I will post my recipes here. You can grab the button from the side and post about it on your site. Then link back here. Hopefully we can share some great recipes and have some easy, yummy dinner ideas.

Here are my recipes for this week:

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.



Chicken Tacos

You need:
1 lb chicken breast (can still be frozen)
1 jar of salsa
taco shells (hard or soft)
whatever else your family enjoys for taco fixings

Directions:
Put the chicken breasts in the crock pot. They can still be frozen. Cover then with salsa. You don't have to use the whole jar - just make sure that they are covered well. Let them cook all day (8-10 hours). At the end of that time, you can shred then with a fork. They should be tender and come right apart. Use the shredded chicken as the filling in your taco shells. Add whatever your family enjoys on their tacos.


What are you making this week in your crock pot?