Week Menu #1

As promised, the weekly menu has been added to Embrace Your Muffintop. I hope that you can gain some ideas to spice up your weekly dinners or put a new spin on your old recipes! 

Sunday - Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients: 

• 24 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 celery stalk
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 16 oz fat free low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup hot cayenne pepper sauce (I used Frank's) 

The original recipe is for lettuce wraps, which sounds super yummy! However, the Hubbs isn't too crazy about that idea. I picked up some hamburger buns. We are going to use them twice this week! Super save! Thanks to the great mind behind Skinnytaste.com!

You can find the recipe here.


Monday - Cheeseburger Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 pd. of pasta cooked - penne or similar
• 1 pd. of ground beef
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 2 cups of cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp. of pepper
•  1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

I have some shredded cheese that I bought last week that is a mix of cheese and I am going to substitute that for the cheddar cheese. Always make use of what you have in your pantry and fridge. Special thanks to BudgetSavvyDiva.com for this easy inexpensive dish!

You can find the entire recipe here.

Tuesday - Pepperoni Pizza Pull

Ingredients:

• 1 package of sliced pepperoni, chopped
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan 
• 1 - 11 oz. package of (12) of refrigerated breadsticks
• 1 cup of pizza sauce, warmed

This looks super yummy and easy. I will absolutely blog about how it is. It might become a bi-weekly throw together meal. This is from the people at recipe.com. This is one of my go-to websites. They have tons, and I mean tons of different recipes for anything you might want to try. 

You can find the entire recipe here.

Wednesday - Waffles and Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Jimmy Dean sausage (or your favorite breakfast meat)

For the Waffles:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups of milk
• 1/2 veg. oil
• 1 tbsp. white sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of vanilla
• chocolate chips (optional)
• blueberries (optional)

The girls love breakfast foods. We have this dinner once a week. Each week I switch up the main dish. Sometimes I will make pancakes or french toast. This is a cheap, cheap, cheap meal. I usually make it on nights that the Hubbs will be late for dinner. I use the same recipe from allrecipes.com for our waffles. They come out fluffy and perfect each time. You can find the entire recipe here.

Thursday - Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 pizza dough (I used store bought and let it sit out for about 20 minutes)
• 8 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese 
• 3 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup of Franks Wing Sauce
• 1/3 cup of ranch or blue cheese dressing

Now, this is one dinner that we have had before. It is DELISH! I was worried that it was going to be spicy, but it had just the right about of bite that I love. It doesn't burn your mouth or leave you draining your water glass. We have this about 2 times a month. It's a easy and quick dinner that the whole family loves. I found this at pincookie.com. You can find the entire recipe here.

Friday - Philly Cheese Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 softball-sized onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons steak sauce, such as A-1
• 1 cup beef stock
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 4 dinner rolls
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup provolone, shredded

I love love love Philly Cheese Steaks. This is a nice twist using an type of meat that is not as expensive as steak. I will be leaving the green pepper and onion in big chunks. The Hubbs doesn't like eating either one of these veggies, but likes the taste. What can I say? He's a weirdo! This recipe is from the fabulous site atasteofhomecooking.com. You can find the entire recipe here.

Saturday -

Family Date Night! We go out once a week. Depending on how our budget is looking we may go to a fast food joint or to a sit-down restaurant. We have been taking the girls out to eat since they were born. Bella was at IHOP when she was 8 days old. It's important to me that they know how to act in a public place and that they observe others using good table manners. 

I hope that you find some inspiration and motivation to try something new this week. In the future I plan to have the price of each dish to go along with the recipe. Being a one-income family I know the importance of keeping things savvy and using things I buy more then once in a week, if possible. I hope your dinners are exceptional and try something that's out of the norm. You might just love it!