Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday, but who's counting)

My fellow blogger Sharon of The Bird's Nest alerted me to this bit of web-wide fun, started by Laura on her blog, which is called I'm an Organizing Junkie. Last week was an unprecendented week for Laura, since she had over five hundred people participating in Menu Plan Monday and linking to her blog, which would be very exciting. I'm thinking of starting my own web-wide bit of wonderment, perhaps titling it "Flounder Flop Friday" and encouraging people to link to InsomniMom with their stories of how their energy has totally given out by the end of the week. Think it'll be a success? Hmmm.

Anyway, I may be an excellent candidate for the motivational hints and general helpfulness of Laura's excellent blog because here is my list for Menu Plan Monday.... and hello, Tuesday? All I can say in my defense is that, well, I was busy. Doing stuff. Oh, not my chores or anything, but just busy. Maybe playing with the puppy. Shut up.

Without further ado, then, here goes - my very first Menu Plan Monday. All food was shopped for yesterday afternoon, so see? I did do something.

Menu Plans for the week of January 11, 2010

Monday - Ham and Corn Chowder with Soft Pretzels. This soup was so bad, I am not including a link to the recipe because none of us did more than pick at it. It could be used in battle as culinary warfare. The pretzels were good, though.

Tuesday - Spaghetti and garlic toast (with the ragù sauce made from my mom's recipe) Whole wheat pasta is what we use.

Wednesday - Fifteen-Bean Soup and cornbread (made from beans from N.K. Hurst, which is right here in Indianapolis. The recipe, which is fabulous, can be found on the bag the beans come in and it is so perfect for a frigid, snowy night. And listen, I've eaten a lot of cornbread in my day, including the authentic kind you bake with bacon drippings in a skillet? And I've never found any cornbread better than what comes from an inexpensive little box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix.

Thursday - Breakfast for Dinner - scrambled eggs, sausage links and potato puffs (baked in the oven, not fried).

Friday - Meelyn and Aisling are having a sleepover, so the girls and their guests are going to make Poured Crust Pizzas in my cast iron skillets, decorating them with the toppings of their choice.

I'm going to have a couple of different kinds of shredded cheese available for the pizzas, plus diced onions and green peppers, mushrooms, pre-cooked sausage and pepperoni. For dessert, the girls want a dish of M&Ms and some of Dorie Greenspan's Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters, which can be found on page 73 of her excellent book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. For snacks later on, I'll just pop a big bowl of popcorn.