Menu Plan for Week of August 22, 2010

I truly neglected my menu-planning this summer. And in all fairness, we didn't do a lot of eating at home. We went camping, visited family near Toronto, did some cottaging, took vacation in Nova Scotia, and I even spent a few days in New York City.

But as I gear up to say goodbye to summer, I also bid adieu to any extra time I may have had in the kitchen. Starting in September I am returning to work full-time. As a teacher who has been out of the workforce for 6.5 years, I expect to be extremely busy and frazzled. One of my key objectives is to figure out how to keep us all eating healthy meals and snacks. Where do I find the time to shop for, prepare, cook, and clean up all the food? How do I manage to not cave under all the extra pressure and order pizza for my family four nights a week?

By the way, if I figure any of this out, you'll be the first to know.

Since I am starting back at school a few hours a day this week, I want to jump right back in with the menu planning, because that's one thing that certainly helps make life easier.

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Emeril's Oven-Roasted Chicken Wings and Mexicana Chopped Salad
Tuesday: Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs
Wednesday: Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa
Thursday: Couscous Salad with Black Beans, Mushrooms, and Corn
Friday: Pasta with Pesto and Tomatoes
Saturday: Fajitas

Since I have more basil than I know what to do with, I'm going to make a couple batches of this Basil Pesto so I can freeze it in small portions and have it ready to add to pasta on a busy weeknight.

I'm also using up a gazillion blueberries in several batches of these Blueberry Coffee-Cake Muffins, which are significantly less healthy than my usual Lemon Blueberry Muffins. I did cut the sugar quantity and added some whole wheat flour and flaxseed, to make myself feel slightly less guilty about giving muffins that are essentially "cake" to my children.