Menu Plan

While I haven't exactly been posting my meal plan, I have been better about planning my meals this month.  I have also used some of my random leftovers from the freezer which was one of my plans for the month as well.  I am hoping to get my freezers organized soon and figure out a way to easily know what's in them and what stuff I have for a quick meal.  For example, last week I had leftover roast beef so threw together some quick pulled beef sandwhiches, they were so good.  And the week before I had leftover stuff for making stuffed shells, super easy to do and yummy as well.
This week, I have been struggling with my meal plan.
Here's what I have so far:
Sunday: leftover chicken/broccoli alfredo for adults and homemade mac and cheese for kids (I discovered you really can make homemade mac and cheese in the time it would take to make the boxed kind)
Monday: cheesy noodle bake from Pioneer Woman's cookbook, green beans, homemade bread
Tuesday: I am making a meal for a family at church and am struggling with this, maybe chili, maybe beef stew.  But whatever I make them, we will have as well along with homemade bread
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: might be a hot dog night or if it's nice, grilled chicken on the BBQ, not sure
Friday: Having friends over, maybe we will get pizza, haven't done that in awhile
Saturday: I have no idea

So that is sort of a half hearted meal plan I know.
But I thought I would share how I make homemade mac and cheese.  So much better than Kraft and it really is simple once you get the hang of it.  If you are an exact sort of person, this might be kind of hard b/c I don't really measure things for this except the butter and flour.  I use equal parts butter and flour for the rue but always just eyeball the milk and cheese.
The trick is the Rue sauce.  Once you have that down you are good to go. 
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
milk
cheese - truth is I mostly use Velveeta but you can use whatever kind you want
salt and pepper
-Get water started for boiling noodles, cook noodles until desired tenderness and drain.
-Melt butter in pan, add flour and stir together.  Add 1/2 cup or so of milk and wisk together, add some salt and pepper (the salt helps it boil and thicken). 
-When the mix starts thickening, add more milk a little at a time and wisk together.  When it thickens, add a little more milk.  I just eyeball this.  You can adjust the amount of milk to how many noodles you cook. The trick is to only add some at a time and let it thicken, that helps this process go fast otherwise if you add all the milk at once, it takes forever to thicken.
-Once you get the desired thickness and amount  you want, add cheese.  Make sure you keep stirring so it doesn't burn on the bottom.  This is something I also eyeball.  It just depends on how cheesy you want it.  I add some at a time and when I feel it is cheesy enough, stop.
-Add in noodles and mix together.

And there you have it.  Homemade mac and cheese.  Really quite easy and it takes so few ingredients and really not that much time.  And to be honest, it was way better than the leftover alfredo my husband and I ate!

Chicken with broccoli and garlic sauce

Here is the recipe I promise.  It is really easy and uses stuff most of us have on hand which is great.
2 t olive oil
1 pound uncooked chicken breast cut in 1 inch pieces
1 t dried thym
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 cups broccoli
1 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
1 1/2 T cornstarch
2 cups cooked brown rice

-Heat oil in skillet, cook garlic stirring 1 minute
-season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper
-add chicken to oil and cook until browned on all sides
-add broccoli, cover and cook 2 minutes
-add 1 cup chicken broth, cover and simmer approximately 5 minutes
-in a cup, dissolve cornstarch in 1/2 cup broth, then add to skillet
-simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally
-serve over rice
For those of you who are gluten free, I don't know if cornstarch is gluten free but as long as you use gluten free broth, you are good to go.

Dinner

Dinner is such a struggle sometimes isn't it.  Today and actually this week has been one of those on the go don't really have a chance to think about dinner until dinnertime kind of weeks.  Add on top of that, the kids have such a limited amount of things they like to eat that it makes it hard to cook one meal because I get sick of the things they want.  So for this season, I sort of am  short order cook.  There are days where I make them try something new and if they don't like it, they can have something else, but then there are days where I just stick with the old standby's (macncheese, chicken nuggets) b/c I just don't have the energy to try.
Today, they got mac n cheese.  But for hubby and I, fortunately, had some frozen parts to a meal and am now cooking a nice taco casserole.  I am so grateful to remember freezing extra things for nights like this, I wish I did it more.  In one freezer I had beans and tomato sauce and in another some already cooked hamburger.  Add some seasonings, sour cream and cheese and we are good to go. 
Here is the recipe that has been given to me and I love:

Taco Casserole:

1 pound ground beef

1/2 can (15 oz) kidney beans, 1/2 can (15 oz) black beans - rinsed (you can use more or less depending on what you like)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

taco seasoning

1 t garlic powder

2-4 T chili powder

1 C sour cream

1/2 C green onions and tops chopped

1 C cheese

tomatoes

Cook ground beef and taco seasoning

Stir in beans, tom. sauce, chili powder, and garlic powder

heat until it boils - can add some water

Put mixture in  11x7 pan, spread with sour cream

sprinkle with onions, tomatoes, and cheese

Cook uncovered 20-30 minutes in 350 degrees oven

Eat with tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole.

On a side note, I often use more sour cream and cheese but that is because I can't get enough of htem.  It is super easy to make extra and freeze it.

Taffy apple dip

I have to add one recipe that I made this weekend for son's party. I found it online a couple of months ago and had it written on a sticky at my desk for weeks so decided to finally try it. It was a huge hit! The bowl was practically licked clean and since I was too busy with the kids and didn't get to eat much, I will have to make it again soon. Here it is:
8 oz cream cheese - softened
1 jar Smuckers caramel ice cream topping
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

I used a hand mixer to blend the ingredients to make it smooth. It was soooo good. You have to try it!