meal-plan monday

per the suggestion of my good friend, jessica, i've decided to start a new segment on this here ole blog. meal-plan monday will happen every monday unless we have a weird schedule or are out of town. hopefully it will inspire you in the kitchen or at least give you some new recipes to try.

i have 2 meal-planning goals every week:
1- provide my family the tastiest and healthiest meals possible. i don't always succeed because, let's face it, there are some weeks when i just want something fatty and greasy. or I want to make a pioneer woman recipe.
2- stay between $80 and $100 at the grocery store. this does not include any household items!

we very rarely eat out. we have made more of an effort to eat at home for the last couple of months. elle and i may eat out once a week for lunch with friends or family and then we usually eat out on saturday night. and sometimes sunday lunch with aaron's family, but that rarely works out due to elle's naps.

i only meal-plan for dinner. i buy elle a few breakfast/lunch/snack options and aaron and i have leftovers most of the time for lunch, cereal or oatmeal for breakfast (when we eat it). and every once in awhile i'll buy lunch meat but it kind of grosses me out so i don't buy often. and i eat smoothies a lot for lunch.

without further ado, here is the high-family menu for this week:

monday:
mexican pizza {recipe} (with pioneer woman's pizza dough recipe)

tuesday:
white chicken enchiladas {recipe}
side of chipolte-lime rice {recipe}

wednesday:
slow-cooker potato soup (recipe from cookbook)
pear, apple, walnut and bleu cheese salad with maple-vinegarette dressing {recipe}

thursday:
eggplant croquettes {recipe} (i modify this recipe a little to make healthier)
roasted asparagus
pear, apple, walnut and bleu cheese salad with maple-vinegarette dressing

friday:
thai turkey burgers {recipe}
sweet potato fries

saturday:
leftovers or eat out

sunday:
chicken, cannellini beans, turnip greens soup (mixing a couple of recipes form this one)
grilled swiss on sourdough

and that, folks, is what the high's will be feasting on this week! please let me know if you have any questions.