Weekly Menu Plan!!

Hi! I usually post my menu plan for the week on Monday, but yesterday I linked up with Andrea and Erika for their super fun Favorite Things Link-Up.  

You can check out the post here! 

I am really loving posting my weekly menu plan...it is helping me be accountable in making sure I have our meals planned for the week and it has been encouraging me to not just keep making the same 5 meals over and over again ;)

So here is what we are eating this week....(one day late!) 

If you have read any of my menu plan posts, you know that I LOVE Aldi and that is where I do the majority of our grocery shopping.  I thought it would be fun to show you the products I get at Aldi that I use to make our meals!

Last night (Monday), we had pasta and turkey meatballs.  To make our meatballs, I combine 1 pound of ground turkey, with (approximately) 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs, 1 Italian dressing seasoning packet and a nice, big handful of shredded mozzarella cheese.  I form the mixture into small balls and bake them on a foil lined baking sheet (that I have sprayed with cooking spray).  While they are baking, I boil the pasta and then add our sauce.  I know making homemade spaghetti sauce is SO easy...but right now...the convenience of jarred sauce wins over...and we love Aldi's organic tomato basil pasta sauce and their marinara sauce!

It is an "easy" dinner night tonight because my husband is working late.  I am going to make my kids a box of Aldi's organic macaroni and cheese.  While the pasta is boiling, I am going to steam some frozen green peas in the microwave.  My girls love when I add the peas to their macaroni- so that is what I will do!  They love mandarin oranges and vanilla greek yogurt, so that will be on their plate too :) For fun, they will each get an applesauce cup! 

Wednesday night, we will have leftover pasta and meatballs.  I LOVE leftover night...it is a night off of cooking- YAY! :)

On Thursday, my husband should be off a little before dinner time- so I am going to have him grill some hot dogs for dinner.  I am VERY picky about meat and the only hot dogs we buy are Hebrew National All Beef Hot dogs.  Aldi does not sell them, so we pick those up when we are at Wal Mart. On my menu plan, I had planned for us to have potato puffs AKA tater tots with our hot dogs....but when I was shopping this past Saturday at Aldi I saw these fun Galaxy Bites and had to get them! I know my kids will be SO excited to see these on their dinner plate!  Also- I think these are the perfect shape for my little baby to pick up and eat too!

Friday night is Pizza Picnic night at our house!  I make homemade pizza crust, pre-bake it for about 12 minutes at 450 degrees, then top it with some pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Then it goes back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly :) I used to make my own pizza sauce, but we really like Aldi's pizza sauce! It is one less than I have to make...which I am all about is this busy season of life! :)

For Saturday's dinner we are going to have grilled chicken salads.  I get my chicken breasts from our local Kroger, only because they have the best price for them.  Sometimes Aldi will have a "special buy" on their chicken breasts and you can get them for 1.89/pound. I definitely pick some up when they run that sale!  ***I actually just checked Aldi's website and starting on 4/29 their "special buy" for the week is their chicken breasts for 1.89/pound...SCORE! :)  We LOVE the artisan salad mix from Aldi! I cut it up, clean it in our salad spinner and then put it in a Tupperware to use throughout the week.  For our salads, we keep it pretty simple...I add cut up carrots and cucumbers; and my husband likes shredded cheddar cheese on his salad.  We top our salad with sliced grilled chicken and add our favorite salad dressing!  SO easy and so delicious!  Our kids will have cut up pieces of grilled chicken, applesauce and green beans since they aren't the biggest fans of salad :)

Sunday's dinner is a tried and true one for us...grilled pork tenderloin.  I LOVE grilling pork tenderloin!! In Aldi's meat section, they have several different types of marinated pork tenderloin- we like the peppercorn marinade the best.  I usually make my own mashed potatoes, but lately Aldi has been carrying Bob Evans homemade mashed potatoes in their refrigerated section.  There are no artificial ingredients in them and they are delicious.  I am ALL about making as many things homemade as possible...but I am also all about recognizing when a short cut can really help out!  So for now- we are enjoying Bob Evans making our mashed potatoes for us! HA!  For our broccoli, I get Aldi's frozen broccoli florets (that are in a steamer bag).  We used to get away with only needing one bag of broccoli to feed our crew...but broccoli has become a favorite veggie with all of my kids; and my husband and I love it- so I get two bags now for us. They are only 1.09/bag, the broccoli steams perfectly in the bag and the broccoli florets are nice and big (not yucky, broken up, small pieces). 

Are you making any fun meals this week?  What are some "short cuts" you use to help you get dinner on the table? I am all ears!! :)

I am linking up with Laura for Menu Plan Monday! (A day late :)