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Tuesday's 30 Minute Meals

If you are a busy mom like me, you know time is of the essence when it comes to making a decent meal for your family - one that they will all like as well!  As I was checking out what was in my freezer and my pantry this morning and contimplating what to make, as I knew full well I had very limited time to make anything in between picking up my daughter from dance class at 4:30 and leaving for Bible Study at 6.  I found some ingredients and thought, why not?  Here is what I put together (no lie) in 30 minutes and you can too!

Beefy Cheese Rigatoni Bake with Garlic Buns

Ingredients:

Rigatoni Bake
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 Box Rigatoni Pasta
1 Jar of Marinara Sauce with Cheese
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 tbsp garlic herb seasoning

Garlic Buns
1 hot dog bun per family member
butter or margarine
garlic salt

Preheat oven to 425.  Brown ground beef in large fry pan over medium heat and add garlic seasoning.  While meat is browning also start boiling water and cook pasta.  Pasta and beef should both be done at the same time.  (You can also be grating cheese at this time as well).  Drain noodles and add to the browned meat.  Add jar of sauce.  Mix well.  Add entire mixture to 13x9 baking dish.  Sprinkle top with cheese and bread crumbs.  Cover with foil and place in oven for 15 - 20 minutes (long enough for cheese to melt well).  While dish is baking, butter and season your buns and put on a baking sheet.  As soon as your casserole comes out, turn oven to broil and add buns.  Cook buns no longer than 3-4 minutes as they will burn!

Serve with mini carrots and dip (gotta get those vegis in!) and enjoy! This meal will feed my family of 3 for at least 2 days.  I hope you love it as much as my family does!

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School, Rehersal, Recitals Oh My!

Ah, the beloved Memorial Day Weekend is upon us.  For me it is the countdown to the last day of school for my kiddo. This past week has been particularly nuts! My kiddo has a field trip (yes, crazy me volunteered!), dance recital with a rehearsal mid week, and we are taking the camp trailer out for the first time this year.  Oh did I mention all of my kiddo's therapy appointments? Like I said, NUTso week!

Well, therapy for the week is done. Rehearsal done. Grocery shopping for camping done. Only have the field trip, recital, and pull out for the long weekend left (yes all on Friday!). My daughter was all out of wack this week as we started menu planning for dinners and well, because of the chaos, our menu this week was shot!  I vow to stick to it next week though.  I picked up a lot of meats and meal fillers (rice, potatoes, pastas) when I was at the store this week so hope to incorporate those into my meal plan.  I will post my menu when I return next week!

Have a safe weekend! :-)

May Menu

So last night I finally completed my family May Dinner menu.  Ya ya ya, I know it is part way into May already, but the important thing is that I got it done.  I actually think I will be able to use it this month.  Why this month as opposed to other attempts?  Well, I am developing quite the stockpile, thanks to coupons and I was able to get all the "fillers" for my meal plans for close to $50. So I am quite excited.  Here is a sample of what is on taps this week:

Monday - Bacon Burgers, homemade French Fries
Tuesday - Homemade Mac and Cheese with sausage and green beans
Wednesday- Tacos with all of the fixings
Thursday - On our own/ left overs
Friday - Spaghetti with french bread and salad

I encourage you to set yourself a small "fillers" budget and see how well you do! :-) I will post at the end of the month if I was able to stick to my budget.

Menu Planning.....Part 1 (the hard part)

Ok, so I hate being the only one in my house that actually has an opinion as to what to eat for meals.  When I ask what should we have, all I get is "I don't know" or "I don't care".  Where my daughter would eat pancakes, chicken nuggets or mac and cheese everyday and my husband, who is supposed to be gluten free would love to have hamburgers everyday, and I am allergic to beef, so I could live on chicken or turkey.  I need to get more variety into this house and provide a diet that is acceptable to everyone, yet not have the same thing all of the time.  The problem? I hate figuring out "what's for dinner?".  That is what I hope you will help me with.  I need quick, easy dinner ideas for the weekdays...I hope to finish my menu for May by this weekend so I can start my shopping list.