Menu Plan Monday: 3/17-23

Top o' the mornin' to ye!
In all seriousness, as I mentioned last week, St. Patrick's Day is kind of a big deal in our family, but not for the pot o' gold or the leprechauns. Hubby turns the big 3-0 today, and though we celebrated over the weekend with his parents, I may have a few treats up my sleeve for him. :-)

This Week's Menu Plan: 3/17-3/23

Monday: Salad Night

Tuesday: Leftover Pizza, Green Beans

Wednesday: Lasagna Casserole, Asparagus

Thursday: Corned Beef in the Crock Pot, Potatoes, Cole Slaw (Hubby doesn't like cooked cabbage)

Friday: Slow Cooker Chicken Curry (from No Cook Freezer Meals), rice, broccoli

Saturday: Maple Dijon Pork Chops, Green Beans, Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes

Sunday: Lasagna Casserole, Cauliflower.

Recipes I Tried:

• SkinnyTaste Whole Wheat Pancakes: I actually didn't make these, but my mother-in-law tried them on a whim when Kiddo asked for pancakes. They were ok, but not great. The texture wasn't as light and fluffy as I'm used to, and they got a bit rubbery as they cooled. I did like the addition of cinnamon, though, so I'll definitely add some in when I make pancakes using Quick Mix Pancakes or pancakes from my Betty Crocker Cookbook (my favorite pancake recipes).
• Steel Cut Oats in the Slow Cooker: Ok, I've actually made this successfully a few times, but hadn't blogged about it. Since I got a question in the comments of last week's menu plan, I thought I'd share my experience.
  I had been afraid to try crock pot oatmeal because I know it can go wrong and turn into a burnt, gluey mess. I tried to find the simplest recipe I could find, using steel cut oats, which are supposed to hold up to long cooking times. Finally, I used my small 4 qt. programmable crock pot that automatically turned to warm after 8 hours, so it didn't overcook. There were a few "browned lumps" of overcooked oatmeal on the top, which I could have fished out, but we didn't mind it a little lumpy. :-) The leftovers even re-heated well in the microwave when we stirred in a little water. Yum!
  

I'm not sure how to make crock pot oatmeal look pretty... It doesn't help
that Hubby served himself it before I got a chance to take the picture!

Freezer Cooking:

This week we're eating Lasagna Casserole from the freezer. The pork chops and chicken also frozen from earlier sales.

Crock Pot Dishes:

I only used my crock pot once last week (for the oatmeal), but this week I'll be using it at least twice with the Slow Cooker Chicken Curry and Corned Beef.

This Week's Big Goal:

My big goal this week is to create a blogging schedule. I know that if I'm going to grow my blog, I need to better utilize my free time and take advantage of networking opportunities. I've been having good weeks where I can manage my posting, drafting, and networking, but I'm finding that I'm pretty inconsistent with participating in social media and link parties. I hope creating a {somewhat flexible} schedule will help me be more purposeful with my blogging and computer time. 

If you missed last week's posts, there were some good ones! I talked about our rug-shopping woes on Wednesday and then shared how we got our new area rug for an amazing price on Friday. For Tips & Tricks Thursday, I talked about how Bloglovin' saved me from a flooded inbox.

Have a great week!

I linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Org Junkie