Monday Menu Plan: 6/25-7/1

Confession: I’m really bad at grilling.

Honestly, I’ve always avoided using the grill, designating those summer evenings of tasty charred meals to nights when my husband is available to man the station. I’m not sure why, but the grill has always intimidated me. Maybe it’s because I’ve pretty much burned  to oblivion everything I’ve ever grilled.

Regardless of my hang-ups, this week I’m instituting a change in my mentality. You’ll notice a grill-heavy menu, which I will be cooking ALL. BY. MYSELF. (Note to my husband, since I know you’re reading this Mike: If I ask you to take over, say NO).

I need to get over this redonkulous fear of the grill, and reclaim the mighty art of grilling from all those manly-men I’ve relied on all these years to produce my perfectly fire-singed morsels of delight. I mean seriously, if I can kick ass in the kitchen, I can certainly do alright cooking outdoors.

And just in case, I’ll have the eight closest chinese takeout restaurants on speed dial. No joke.

Do you cook on the grill? If you do, what’s your favorite grilled meal to make? Share with us in the comments section below!

On a side note, we’ll be going into the city on Tuesday because my husband is attending the New York Stock Exchange closing bell ceremony. He’ll be there to celebrate Foot Locker Inc’s 100th year of trading on the NYSE. How awesome/exciting/cool/exciting is that?!? What’s even more exciting is the prospect of finagling a tasty meal from the Halal cart while we’re there. Omnomnom.

Okay, so this isn’t a food-related picture. But it *is* a picture (that I sort of love) of my husband Mike and I. And I’m putting it up because I can. Also, because we celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary last Wednesday. Yay for that!

Breakfasts: quick oats, eggs & toast, fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, homemade granola

Lunches: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I wonder if I can grill pb&j???), pasta with olive oil & parmesan, leftovers, raw fruits and veggies

Snacks: raw fruits and veggies, pretzels, yogurt, applesauce, popcorn

Dinner:

Monday

• tomato pesto pizza (I was planning to grill this but it hella rained today!)
• spinach side salad

Tuesday

• dinner in NYC

Wednesday

• hot dogs
• grilled corn on the cob
• grilled summer squash & zucchini

Thursday

• grilled eggplant burgers
• spinach side salad

Friday

• poached eggs on toast
• spinach side salad

Saturday

• grilled chicken thighs
• grilled sweet potato rounds
• raw veggies

Sunday 

• grilled ratatouille over whole wheat pasta
• grilled corn on the cob

What’s on your menu plan this week? Share in the comments section below! If you blog your own menu plan, leave a link so we can check it out. And if you want information on how to plan a weekly menu, click HERE.

Monday Menu Plan: 6/11-6/17

Conversation time: I need to talk about dirty dishes.

I’ve been getting along just fine for the past half-dozen years doing the hand washing thaaang. Now that we’re in our new place though, I’ve been reintroduced to the water gulping, electricity sucking monster that is the dishwasher. I had one in the past, but for the life of me I can’t really remember actually using it (although at the time we didn’t have dirty dish mass-producing children yet, so that’s probably why). Being the Frugal McDougal that I am, I’m really struggling with the whole hand washing vs. dishwasher thing.

Now I’ll admit, I haven’t yet googled the heck out of the issue (like I usually do), I figured someone out there in the vast world of interwebs who reads my posts might have some good, relevant information taking up brainspace in their noggin that they’d be willing to share.

So I’m reaching out to you, my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, amazing, smart, funny, amazing readers:
What do you think of hand washing dishes vs. tossing them in the dishwasher?
Is one option greener/cleaner/more economical than the other? What’s your personal dish washing preference?

Breakfasts: quick oats, eggs & toast, fresh fruit, homemade yogurt

Lunches: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta with olive oil & parmesan, leftovers, fruits and veggies

Snacks: fruits and veggies, pretzels, yogurt & fruit, applesauce, popcorn

Dinner:

Monday

• impromptu dinner at a friend’s house (originally rice & veggie soup with salad was on the menu, but our homeschool powwow ran gloriously longer than expected!)

Tuesday

• family pizza outing to Colony Grill

Wednesday

• crustless broccoli cheddar quiche
• spinach and banana “monster milkshakes”
• crusty bread

Thursday

• Homemade General Tso’s Chicken
• vegetable fried brown rice

Friday

• poached eggs on toast
• salad

Saturday

• beans and rice

Sunday 

• Father’s Day Cookout (?)

What’s on your menu plan this week? Share in the comments section below! If you blog your own menu plan, leave a link so we can check it out. And if you want information on how to plan a weekly menu, click HERE.