Menu Plan Monday (3rd April - 9th April)

As you have probably gathered by now, I LIVE for menu planning! By menu planning it ensures that we have a weeks worth of meals organised which is especially useful Monday through Friday when there is not much of the day left after finishing work, picking up the kids from school and having to deal with the tasks of homework, clothes washing, showers, etc., and to do without the hassle of worrying WHAT we are cooking for dinner each night. Honestly if I left deciding what’s for dinner until I go home we wouldn’t eat until midnight!!

We had another busy start to this week.. Oliver had his birthday party on Saturday night with 3 friends staying over and me taking 5 kids to the movies to see Alice in Wonderland (which I had to say again I thoroughly enjoyed). I have to admit though that by Sunday night all I could be bothered cooking was toasted sandwiches for dinner.

One more week remaining of school holidays and then it's back to normality with the kids back to school and more importantly back home with us.

They are off to Nana and Grandad's again for a few nights this week as Noel and I are still working while they are off school. The lucky ducks will be treated to a holiday down the coast with their grandparents, which will be good for them and also good for Nana and Grandad to get away.... cross fingers that my two angels (monsters LOL) behave themselves.

We had a busy weekend with Easter and due to some change in plans we ended up being all over the place with our menu. The Lynbrook hotel was nice on Saturday night with Vera, her boyfriend Paul and all the families. The kids were well behaved but as usual I ate too much.

Our usual family Easter Sunday lunch didn't eventuate this year with everything that has been happening, which I must say felt quite weird not seeing the family during this time. Nana and Grandad wanted some quiet time (for which I do not blame them) while Sean and Vicky already had plans to go to Vicky's family for the day. We didn't end up doing a great deal at all, the usual Easter Egg hunt, Nana and Grandad popped in and that was about all. To be honest, not in the mood for a huge Easter dinner we ended up with a pasta dish while watching a movie.

Spending the day out yesterday was great - just the four of us. We ended up at Phillip Island, somewhere we haven't been for awhile. Lunch was at an old-style pub, The Isle Of Wight, in Cowes where the meal was huge therefore leaving us not wanting much for dinner. Dinner ended up being "grab your own" where the kids had frozen dinners and I had some french breadstick and butter!!!

However this is how our week was planned - cross fingers we can stay on track for the remainder of the week:

Saturday ~ Lynbrook Hotel with Vera, Paul and families

Sunday ~ Creamy Tomato, Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
Monday ~ Isle Of Wight Hotel, Cowes, for lunch so grab your own dinner

Tue ~ Roast Rack of Pork with all the trimmings

Wed ~ Carribean Lamb and Sweet Potato Curry with Steamed Rice

Thu ~ Chilli Ginger Teriyaki Beef with Noodles
Fri ~ Sticky Lemongrass Pork Patties with Steamed Rice and Asian Vegetables

I know that our week starts on a Saturday but that’s just for the ease of fitting in with my grocery shopping which is normally done on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon. As usual more great menu ideas can be found at Menu Plan Monday over at I’m An Organising Junkie, don’t be shy pop over and have a look at other’s menu plans. You never know you may just find something different to have for dinner.

Some recipes for things we cook can be found over at our cooking blog, A Dash Of Flavour, normally posted after they have been cooked or just click on the links for each meal when they appear.

Happy cooking,


My Family from WiddlyTinks.com