Menu Plan Monday!

Hi!! How was your weekend??  I went to bed extra happy last night knowing that we don't have to do the crazy morning shuffle for the next 2 weeks!

How funny is this?? Pretty darn true in my house! HA! Soo happy to have a break from this for the next 14 days! :)

Soo...I always have a hard time getting a meal plan together when there is a holiday coming up. I mean let's be honest- most weeks I have a tough time coming up with meal ideas- HA!

But- with all of my kids being home for Christmas break, on top of the extra Christmas activities we are doing this week- having a plan for dinners is SO important.  At least it is for our family :) I have 5 very hungry people on my hands come 6:00 pm and it is in my best interest to have some sort of meal ready to go! HA!

With that being said- here's what's for dinner at our house this week! 

Hopefully if you are need of a couple meal ideas- you might find some here!

Monday: Meatloaf, "smashed potatoes," and steamed green beans

For tonight's dinner, I am going to make a simple meatloaf.  This recipe has great ratings and I am going to give it a try! To make the process a little quicker, instead of peeling our potatoes, I am just going to wash them really well and boil them with them their skins on. Rachael Ray calls these "smashed potatoes." I call it- "I am lazy and don't want to peel 10 potatoes." HA!  I am definitely going out on the limb doing this- because I am not sure how my kids will like the texture of the potato skin in their mashed potatoes...but I am going to give it a try anyway!  For our vegetable, I am going to steam up a bag a frozen green beans from Aldi.  They have the BEST frozen green beans!!

Tuesday: Crescent "dogs" , steamed broccoli and potato soup

We are going to look at Christmas lights on Tuesday night, so I wanted an easy dinner to have so we could leave for our lights adventure at a decent time.  Crescent dogs and steamed broccoli for the win! All of my kids love both of these things- so I know I will have some happy eaters around the dinner table.  I am going to serve my husband a side of potato soup with his dinner.  I shared my favorite potato soup recipe last week- check it out here!!

Wednesday: Mini-cheeseburgers, tater tots and steamed green beans

Ground beef was on sale this past week at our local Fresh Thyme market so I am using that  in a couple of our meals this week.  Cheeseburgers are always a hit with my family and they are even more fun when you put them on a mini bun!  I took a vote with my kids if they wanted french fries or tater tots...and tots won :)  Green beans are a stand-by vegetable in our house, as everyone likes them! My little James can't get enough of them!! 

Thursday: Christmas EVE! Pizza night and Christmas movie 

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year! For a special breakfast, I am going to make my "semi-homemade" cinnamon rolls and top them with some fun Christmas sprinkles.  Check out how I make them here!

For dinner, our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to early Christmas Eve Mass (this year it is at 4:00 pm) and then we come home, get cleaned up and in our Christmas jammies and have a pizza picnic while watching a Christmas movie.  Simple and easy- and SO much fun!

We love to use the "pizza kit" from Aldi.  I pick up a bag of their shredded mozzarella and I am able to make 2 pizzas using one bag of cheese. My girls and James have a plain cheese pizza and Aaron likes his pizza to be topped with pepperoni and mushrooms (both of which I get from Aldi). 

Friday: CHRISTMAS DAY! Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes

Christmas Day!! After we open our Christmas presents, I am going to make a fun Christmas breakfast- Rudolph pancakes (+ some eggs for Daddy :)!!

 This picture is from 2 years ago...I can't get over how young my "big" girls look!!! 

For our Christmas dinner, we are going to have Thanksgiving dinner!! We have one last round of our delicious Thanksgiving dinner in the freezer and I asked Aaron if he was okay having it for our Christmas dinner and he said, "Um. YES. Why wouldn't I be?!?" HA! 

So we will be having turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and Paula Deen's green bean casserole! April recommended Paula's recipe in this post and I am so glad I listened to her recommendation- it is SO yummy!! For dessert- we will have Christmas cupcakes :) I am going to let the girls decorate their own cupcake with sprinkles and candies!

Saturday: Hot dogs, mac 'n' cheese and steamed green peas

We are having what my kids like to call an "easy dinner" for the day after Christmas :) We are headed to my parents' house early Sunday morning and really don't want to have any leftovers in the fridge. So hot dogs on the grill, shells and cheese and steamed green peas is what's for dinner!  Sometimes I serve organic mac 'n' cheese from Aldi, sometimes I make homemade mac 'n' cheese and sometimes I serve the kind in the box that has the liquid cheese packet- which happens to be my families' favorite version- SO GROSS. But- it's Christmas time and I am in a giving mood- HA! So shells and cheese from a box it is! :)

Sunday: Headed to Baba and Papa's House! 

We will be at my parents' house on Sunday and I can't tell you how excited I am to have a few days "off" cooking!! My mom is a wonderful cook and a fabulous hostess- and it is always SO nice to just kick back and relax for a few days!!

Do you have a menu plan for this week? I LOVE to getting new ideas for dinner- so if you have a favorite recipe you are making this week- share it with me!! :)

Happy Monday and I hope you have the BEST day!

I am linking up with Laura today!