What is on your menu this week?

It's been THREE years since I've posted a recipe! And over a year since I've shared a blog post. Funny how life gets busy and changes. I started sharing my weekly menus and recipes in 2007 when my oldest child was 6 and now she is 17 and ready to graduate from high school! Most of my recipes these days come from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, so I share many recipes here. Our weekly meals include a lot of breakfast for dinner, take out on the weekends, and meat on the Traeger pellet grill. I share my food related thoughts  on Instagram . :) I made this Instant Pot version of one of my favorite soups tonight and posted it in a story on Instagram. Several friends asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd type it up here. So here you go!  This creamy veggie and chicken soup is one of my favorites. I shared the original recipe 11 years ago . Tonight I tried an Instant Pot version and it worked out well! The recipe calls for lots of veggies: mushrooms, celery, yellow squash, corn, car

My kids have been in charge of deciding what we are having for dinner for most of 2020.  We started a dinner/dishes chart when we were all quarantined at home in March.  The kid that gets to unload the dishwasher that day also gets to pick what we have for dinner.   This system has worked great for the most part and has cut out on a lot of complaining at dinner time. I've noticed that the kids are less likely to complain about dinner because one of their siblings really likes it.  That's a win!  And another win is that a lot of time the kid that picked dinner will also help me make it.   I started taking pictures of our dinners and posting them in my Instagram stories with the hashtag #jennymakesdinner and saving them in highlight bubbles labeled "dinner ideas" and "more dinners".  When I need dinner inspiration I often scroll through the saved stories to get ideas. Yesterday my son wanted spaghetti for dinner, but everyone else complained that we have it A

My two "little" boys trying out the new ninja course near us. Hi all!   I was thinking today about how much easier life would be if I actually planned a menu and shopped for it.  We're in a super busy stage of life (with kids in elementary, middle and high school) and often dinner is my family members choice of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, multigrain cheerios or leftovers.  I have found that when I actually do make dinner and we all get a chance to sit at the table and eat together, everyone eats so much better. A couple other things I wanted to share from my day today: 1.  It's a beautiful day today.  I'll take any sunny, non-foggy days during the winter we can get! 2.  I went to the temple today.  Can't wait to go back.  So nice to take time away from my normal distractions and focus on eternal things.  I can feel my loved ones that have passed on cheering me on in my life.   3.  I found the most random book at my favorite used book s

Happy Monday!  It's been forever since I've planned and posted a menu.  I'm feeling like I want to use my crockpot a lot this week, so my meals are a little crockpot heavy.  Feels good to have a plan!  Monday:  BBQ chicken sandwiches, baked fries Tuesday: Crockpot San Francisco pork chops \, rice, veggies Wednesday:  Crockpot chicken stew Thursday:  Slow cooker flank steak sliders , potato casserole, fruit Friday:  Greek Instant Pot pork pitas Saturday:  easy night Sunday:  Honey lime crockpot chicken tacos Feel free to share your menu for this week in the comments.  I love it when you do.  Have a good week! More from Jenny:  

View from one of my early morning runs.  I love sunrises!  Except that the sun starts to rise at like 4:30 here. Hi friends!  I've got to keep this short and sweet.  I have a few thoughts: 1. A bird was chirping at 4 am this morning and woke me up.  My kids still have 14 more days of school. 2.  That's three more weeks before summer. 3.  I might need to stay off instagram so I'm not mad at my friends that are "in summer" now. 4.  Making dinner is a good thing. 5.  I love food. 6.  My family is happier when I make them food, especially if they're not already starving when I start making dinner. Here's my plan for this next week: Friday: tacos Saturday:  easy night Sunday: chicken/bacon/pineapple kabobs, rice Monday:  bbq burgers and hot dogs Tuesday:  pizza Wednesday: meatballs, potatoes Thursday:  breakfast burritos All righty!  Menu made.  Now to hit the grocery store between piano lessons and everything else t

Hi there!  We are on our 6th school snow today today.  Luckily it's sunny and the snow is trying to melt a bit before we get another storm tomorrow.  It's a little insane that we have had so much snow this month and no snow at all the rest of the winter.  (My kids didn't go to school for 11 straight days a week or so ago.)   Anyway...menu planning is becoming really important again, especially with hungry kids around all the time and the hill going to our house being super snowy and slick.   I shoveled off my deck today so I can use my grill.  At least our food can taste like it's summer. :) So, I'm menu planning today.  Here's the plan: Monday:  we had broccoli beef  Tuesday:  teriyaki cedar planked salmon , orzo pilaf, green beans, salad w /homemade ranch dressing Wednesday:  try creamy black bean taco soup Thursday:  7up grilled chicken, bacon, tomato and corn pasta salad , fruit Friday:  homemade pizza Saturday:

Hi friends!  It's been forever since I've posted a menu.  I'm determined to get back at it.  I spent last week in Phoenix with my husband, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for keeping the kids alive and on schedule!  I got to hike, eat yummy salads, shop, go to the temple, visit my aunt and lots of other fun things while my husband attended a conference.  We did some fun things together too. But, now I'm home and back at mom-life full-force.  Menu planning is a must, so here goes! Monday:  breakfast burritos Tuesday:  try  Italian herb roasted chicken and little potatoes Wednesday: try Asian-style meatballs and instant pot brown rice Thursday: grilled chicken salad with tortilla strips Friday: homemade pizza - pepperoni for the littles, BBQ chicken pizza for older Saturday:  easy night Sunday:  crockpot Kalua pork , maybe in tacos Well, that's what's on my menu.  How about you?  What are you planning for dinner this week