Weekly Meal Planning, Week of 7.8.12

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday! Sorry I disappeared there for a while; I was off work the second half of the week, and took a mini-break from blogging too. Despite the busyness of the holiday as well as a wedding this weekend, I was actually able to relax a little bit, which was nice.


A glimpse of our Independence Day fun.



With the dapper ring bearers at their cousin's wedding.

I'm also behind on e-mails, so if you've e-mailed me lately, I'll get back to you as soon as I can! I did manage to plan our meals this week, after taking a meal-planning hiatus last week. I didn't cook much, but when I did, I actually made some pretty fabulous meals just using what I had on hand (something I'm not normally very good at). I'll be sharing those with you in the coming days. Here's what we'll be eating this week (including tonight's meal, because I have no more excuses for not cooking).

Tonight: Joe's ribs, stovetop mac and cheese, creamy succotash with bacon and thyme. Joe continues to hold tight to the secret of his ribs, but I do know he's trying something different tonight: Using my detective skills, I was able to glean that he's marinating them in apple juice, and it seems that brown sugar is involved as well. I can't wait to try them.

Monday: Shrimp po' boys and chips. For some reason I've been craving this sandwich lately, and Joe is thrilled to have these on the menu this week too.

Tuesday: Southwestern BBQ shredded chicken sandwiches, Mexican rice. In my mind, these sandwiches will be a twist on a typical shredded BBQ chicken sandwich, using corn relish and avocado instead of cole slaw for the topping, and also with the addition of some jalapeno havarti cheese I found at Aldi when I went grocery shopping. I can't wait for this meal.

Wednesday: Chicken cordon bleu pasta. This pasta is so incredibly decadent that I have a feeling we'll have lots of leftovers -- but if it's as delicious as I suspect, that will be a very good thing!

Thursday: Joe's softball game, which means the boys and I will probably eat dinner out or have something simple. I usually try to take them for a walk to the ice cream parlor on these nights, but it's been so hot lately that we've skipped the past couple of weeks. I think it's supposed to "cool down" this week (with highs only in the upper 80's -- practically a cold spell!), so maybe we'll be able to take a walk this week.

Friday: Greek beef tacos. These tacos are still holding steady as my favorite dinner ever.

Saturday: Pasta with Tex-Mex pepper cream sauce, Mexican garlic bread. I plan to use roasted red peppers in the pasta. I'll use cilantro, Monterey jack, jalapenos, and garlic as a spread for the bread to give the traditionally Italian version of garlic bread a South of the Border makeover.

Sunday: Spicy avocado chicken enchiladas. These enchiladas come highly recommended by my friend Jessie, and I'm really excited to try them.