April Meal Plan

I have been plugging away at my April meal plan.....not sure if I am going to plan the entire month or not.  Our weather has been such a variation that I might just meal plan a week or two at a time.
Here is what I have so far:
April
1   Pot Roast with mashed taters and veggies (peas and carrots?) (and Yorkshire pudding!)
2
3   Clean Out the fridge night!
4   Homemade pasta sauce with meatballs  (Did this on Monday)
5   Cream of broccoli soup with homemade biscuits.
6  
7   Family Easter dinner - The Great One and I are responsible for making pies for 33 people! lol
8   Roasted Ham, Scallop Potatoes and veggies
9  Taco Salad??
10  Leftover ham used in mac and cheese (homemade)
11  Shepherds pie
12  Slow cooker corn chowder
13  Asian pork chops on the BBQ with double baked taters and salad
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

15 Minutes......

The Great One showed up with three family packs of boneless pork loin chops.  They were on for a GREAT price at a local grocery store and he took advantage of the sale.
I took 15 minutes, divided up the chops and prepared some for the freezer and some for tonight.

Pork Chops divided up into Ziploc bags......

Asian Marinade

Grilled Chop Marinade



4 of the 5 meals.....

Pork Stir fry - cut up and ready!

Asian Chops

Grilled BBQ Chops

Tonight's BBQ Chops (white wine, salt, pepper, garlic and chili flakes)

15 minutes made 5 meals......works for me!!!!

April.....

I'm sitting down tonight to start plugging in my April Calendar and do a bit of meal planning.  Can I tell you, I'm excited that this will be the first month where I am going to get to start putting in some frequent BBQ type meals......I LOVE this time of year!!!!!  While I know that I won't have as many BBQ days as the month of June, even a few will put a smile on my face : )

Will post my April meal plan as soon as I have it ready. 

Success!

The lawnmower taco recipe did not go over to well with the family.....neither did the tex mex fussili we tried (I like both of them.....the family however, did not....so it is a no repeat on both....sigh!)
BUT - the honey terriyaki chicken recipe - success!!!!!  VERY good - we did it on the BBQ (It is so nice outside lately!) and every little bit was gone - as in, no leftovers!!!!!
So - try it - you will like it!  Heck, you may like the lawnmower taco too......normal people like you and I do....it's those fuss pots like my "three" kids, that don't! lol
Enjoy!

Meal Plan Monday

I am adjusting our meal plan this week due to the amazingly beautiful weather that is headed our way!!!

Monday
Lawnmower Taco Meal  (pre-made freezer meal that we did not use at the beginning of the month!)

Tuesday
Grilled Terriyaki Honey Chicken  (Another pre-made marinade), with Spicy Noodle Salad and some steamed asparagus

Wednesday
Not entirely sure yet......... maybe a pork chop recipe or pork roast - potatoes and steamed broccoli

Thursday
Clean Out the Fridge Night!

Friday
Salsa chicken or BBQ

Saturday
Pizza night!!!!!

Sunday
Hmmmm....... lots of choices........something on the BBQ, or ham???

The Best Burgers....

Here is the recipe for the burgers I made for my freezer.  They are seriously delicious!!!!


Yummo Burgers   Click Here For Printable Recipe

2 lbs ground beef

1 egg , slightly beaten

0.5 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix (can use the whole package if desired)

2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic (or use 1 teaspoon garlic powder)

¼ cup dry breadcrumbs (or crushed soda cracker crumbs, more if needed)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 

1 -2 tablespoon Frank's red hot sauce  (optional but I would use it!!!)

Directions:

1. In a bowl crumble the ground beef with clean hands.
2. Add in the dry soup mix, egg, garlic, breadcrumbs or crushed soda cracker crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and hot sauce (if using).
3. Using clean hands mix until combined, add in more breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs if needed to just hold the mixture together (do not overwork the meat or it will be tough).
4. Divide the ground beef into 6 equal patties (or make 8 small patties).
6. Place the patties onto a large plate or a small cookie sheet; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours to blend flavors.
7. Grill or pan fry the burgers as desired until cooked through (if desired sprinkle a small amount of seasoned salt on top while cooking the patties).
8. Serve burgers in toasted buns with choice of condiments.
9. TIPS FOR EXTRA JUICINESS; shape the hamburger into a ball, press 1 tablespoon cold butter into the middle then seal the meat around the ball then flatten into burger shapes ----or add in 2-4 tablespoons raw finely grated potato into the hamburger mixture then shape into patties, use no more than 4 tablespoons for 2 pounds of ground beef or the burgers will take on a meatloaf texture.

1 hour, 10 minutes....

Today I took an hour.....and hour and ten minutes......and I made:
10 burgers (6 for dinner, 4 for the freezer) UPDATE - Made 12 more burgers Sat afternoon in 15 minutes - will post recipe with pics soon!!!
Tater Tot Casserole
Marinara sauce with meat
Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Not bad.....will post pictures later...... UPDATE!!!!
Here are the pictures from my freezer meal hour......

The way I started - clean stove!

Browning my meatballs for the sweet and sour meatballs .

 Getting my marinara sauce going.....  (basically some onions, celery and red pepper sauteed in olive oil.  Then add 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 can of diced tomatoes, some tomato paste, salt and pepper, oregano and basil and some dried chili flakes - then cook for about an hour)



This is how I prep any of my Ziploc meals - I put the plastic bag in a large bowl to hold it upright - makes life much easier!!!



Here is a view from the top - all ingredients in! 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - ready to freeze.  Remember - freeze them flat and they take less room in your freezer!  I would normally write all instructions on the bag...but this is such a staple meal in our home that I have the directions for it all in the old brain ; ) 

Tater Tot Casserole ready to freeze.  (We had this this week as I swapped out a  meal - really good!!!)



Burgers - ready for the freezer and dinner!  I will post this recipe soon - it was delicious!!!



Finished marinara sauce with some meat added.  Easy as pie!