Menu...Thursday or is it Friday?

My apologies for missing a couple of Mondays already!  We were in Phoenix at my in-laws for an early Christmas on the 20th and then the 27th...I was still recovering from the previous week and a half.  We drove, yes, drove to Phoenix the 17th & 18th...with two toddlers...and then turned around and came back on the 22nd, straight.  It wouldn't have been too bad if we hadn't had projectile vomit during the first hour and a half...in the middle of NOWHERE.  Of course, being six months pregnant meant we had to stop every two hours and walk about 20 minutes.  It worked out well, though.  We managed to cram a 12 hour drive into 14.5.  Not to bad, all things considered!

But...I digress.  :-)

I'll give you the menu for this week, even though it's Thursday (woops!  now it's Friday!).  Maybe it will give you inspiration for a questionable night!  :-)

• Monday -- Turkey Spaghetti
• I tried to make this as close to my mom's recipe as I could.  It's been so long since I was home, and she was making it.  Unfortunately, I can't ask her now.  I'll give you the best rendition that I can.  Overall, I was really pleased with the outcome.  :-)
• Saute 1 chopped onion and 5-6 stalks of celery in a couple of tablespoons of butter and some salt until they're translucent.  Add 1 pound of chopped turkey, 1 can low sodium chicken broth, 1 family-sized can of cream of mushroom soup, and 1/4 a block of Velveeta chopped.  Stir occasionally to help Velveeta melt.  Season to taste.  Cook 1/2-3/4 pound of angel hair pasta according to the package directions and drain.  Grease a 9x13 casserole dish.  Place cooked pasta in the casserole dish, top with turkey mixture and combine.  (I used tongs.  I don't think it would stir well.)  Top with shredded cheddar and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the cheddar.  Enjoy!
• Tuesday -- leftovers  :-)
• Wednesday -- Layered Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas from the Heavenly Homemakers blog
• (http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/high-five-recipes-layered-cheesy-salsa-enchiladas)  Yes, you're going to have to click the link to see the whole recipe.  :-)  I did make some adjustments, so it became a little more than 5 ingredients.  I sauteed half an onion and cooked my ground beef with that.  (I cooked enough to do Thursdays dinner, too!)  Then I added a can of seasoned black beans in with the ground beef, 1/2-ish cup of grated cheddar and 2 cups of salsa (1 cup medium Pace and 1 cup of my brother-in-law's homemade salsa -- yummy!).  I cut my tortillas into 1-ish" squares instead of using whole tortillas.  I think that made it easier for the kids to manage.  When I layered everything, I did a layer of tortillas, meat mixture, glopped (what a word!) on my homemade plain yogurt, and a light layer of cheese, then repeated.  I probably added more cheese than she called for in her recipe -- love that cheddar!  I was so encouraged that my husband and kids all really liked this recipe!  And, there's enough leftover to do lunch on Thursday!
• Thursday -- Spaghetti & Cream Cheese Whole Wheat French Bread (yep, traditional spaghetti, again!  The bread recipe is on the first or second Menu Monday.)
• Friday -- Grilled Chicken Breast & Twice Baked Potatoes
• I am so very thankful for my George Foreman grill in the winter time!  It makes cooking the chicken so very quick and keeps it nice and juicy.  For my Twice Baked Potatoes I bake my clean, pierced potatoes in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes -- or until they're fork tender.  I know I could do it more quickly in the microwave, but the skins aren't quite the same.  Once they're out and cooled, I halve them lengthwise, then scoop out the innards.  To the innards I add cream cheese, sour cream/plain yogurt, cheddar cheese, chopped bacon, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder...if I'm feeling spicy, I might add a couple dashes of hot sauce.  :-)  This is really a "til it looks right" recipe.  Unless you get it to a liquid stage (which would be super hard to do), I don't think you can go wrong.  *happy sigh*  Once that's all mixed together, I refill the shells and top with more cheddar.  Into a 350 degree oven they go for about 20 minutes.  I'll probably broil them for just a couple of minutes to brown the top -- there's just something about browned cheddar that's so very yummy.  And, no, this is NOT a low calorie, low fat recipe, but you will enjoy every single mouthful.  Honest.  :-) 
• Saturday -- Shredded Chicken Quesadillas for lunch & Waffles for dinner
• Friday I'll cook more chicken than we need so I'll have some to shred and use in chicken quesadillas.  I'm loving the cooking ahead!  It doesn't take any extra time and saves so very much.  :-) 
• Saturday night we'll have breakfast for dinner -- one of my favorites!  I'll probably fry up some eggs...maybe some bacon I have in the freezer.  Waffles will be the central focus, of course!
• Sunday -- Pizza (homemade or Papa Murphy's?)
• We'll have to see how the day goes.  We have a gift card for Papa Murphy's, but I have everything to make homemade pizza.  Usually, I use tortillas for the crust, but with the quesadillas and the layered enchiladas, I think I'll need to make pizza crust.  If I do and I like it, I'll post the recipe that I use.  I've not made homemade pizza crust yet, but I'm excited to try!

I'm looking forward to being on point Monday with Menu Monday as well as making more yogurt as well as homemade applesauce.  We go through applesauce so quickly that I have to figure out if it's cheaper to make my own or continue buying it.

Happy New Year!  Here's to a year of new experiences and healthier, more economical living!  :-)
May the Lord bless each of you!