Meal Planning Monday: 06.06.2011-12.06.2011

This week I'll be kicking time's butt instead of time kicking my butt! Tuesday and Thursdays are the most difficult for our family dinners right now, as we are home for about 30 minutes between work and soccer. We've been relying on fast food twice a week for the past few weeks, despite my meal plans - there just isn't enough time!

I am finally taking out my much loved slow cooker from its hiding place deep in the pantry. While I'm hard at work, it will be hard at work cooking up some tasty dinners for us. What do you make in your slow cooker?

Our plates will be filled with these delish meals this week:

Vegetarian
White Bean and Kale Soup (slow cooker) with french bread

Chicken
BBQ chicken breasts, rice, asparagus, salad

Vegetarian
Corn and Grain Gratin (slow cooker) with side salad from this cookbook:






Pork
Pork Souvlaki with rice and greek salad

Photo Credit

Vegetarian
Ravioli in Brown Butter Sauce (sounds complicated, doesn't it?  It's not.  At all.  Read on my friends.)

Buy a package of your favorite ravioli.
Cook ravioli according to package directions while making the sauce.

For the sauce:
3/4 c butter
1.5 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme
1/2 c slivered, toasted almonds or chopped, toasted pecans

While ravioli is cooking, melt butter in pan.  Add the nuts and cook gently for about 4-6  minutes, until the butter browns.  Add vinegar and thyme.

Toss the sauce with the ravioli and voila!  Ravioli with Browned Butter Sauce.  :)

Beef
Seared Steak, Pepper, and Onion Fajitas

Baking
Our 5 yr old came grocery shopping with me and he quickly spotted the cans of pumpkin puree and begged me to make 'something pumpkin', so something pumpkin it will be!  I'll find time this week to whip up a batch of Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bars, to be exact.  When I saw the amount of sugar in this recipes, I could already feel the sugar rush.  I always cut the amount of sugar in anything I bake to about half and whatever I'm baking still comes out plenty sweet enough for our family.  If you have a sweet tooth, follow her recipe to the letter and if you don't, try cutting it down.

And there you have it - six meal ideas to help bring your family together around the dinner table this week.  Have a super week!