Well, once again, it's Menu Plan Monday! Whoo hoo! Dinner ideas! :-) So here goes...

Sunday- Frozen dinner (Salisbury steak), mashed potatoes, veggie

Monday- Swiss Steak (Didn't get to this one last week!), rice

Tuesday- Tater Tot Casserole

Wednesday- Cheesy Garlic Chicken

Thursday- Eggplant Parmigiana

Friday- Taco Casserole

Saturday- I'm not sure. It depends on if Nicky's home or not. If he's not, we can have soup or something else easy. If he's home, I will have to cook. Argh.

Some of you have mentioned to me that I cook a lot and that my meals seem elaborate. First, let me just say that no, my meals are most definitely not elaborate. They are fairly easy, quick, and with few ingredients. They are also usually pretty bland, as we tend to like more plain food. But, also, my general rule is this: If Nicky works, I cook. If he doesn't work, I don't "cook". I mean, I do prepare a dinner, but usually something quick (like hot dogs, sloppy joes, tacos, frozen food, etc.). Believe me, cooking is one of my least favorite things to do, but someone's got to do it, so I cook. I just try to make it easy on myself. :-) So, try some of my meals. Go on. If you do, LMK how you like it and if you thought it was easy or elaborate. For more menu ideas, check out The Organizing Junkie.


Swiss Steak
1 lb. beef round steak, cut 3/4" thick
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. oil (or butter)
1-32 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 c. celery (2 stalks), cut up
1/2 c. grated carrots (2)

Cut meat & rinse. Put meat in flour then into heated oil in fry pan. Brown meat & put in crock pot. Grate carrots & chop celery & onion. Add another Tbsp. oil to pan. Saute veggies til glossy. Put in can tomatoes. Mix. Add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar & 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce. Heat well. Pour over meat in crock pot. Cook til done (several hours). Serve over rice or noodles.
* Recipe from my mom. :-)

** The instructions can seem vague. That's how I got them and I've kinda adjusted them to meet my needs. As far as cooking time....the meal is basically done already, so I think 3 hours on high would be plenty. But, since this is a crock pot meal, I use it as one of those all day cookings. So, I put in on low (or med.) from like 9 am and let it cook til dinnertime. I think it just needs the time to "marinate", ya know? Anyway, we serve it over rice and really like this a lot.