Menu Monday and other ramblings

I have been doing things for meal planning a little different these days. Since my hubby works pretty much about 9-10 mths out of the year and will be home here in a few weeks, I have been trying to make sure we have at least 3 weeks worth of meals on hand. So instead of just planning weekly, I have a running list on the side of our fridge of meals on hand and we just pick something. It has worked really well although right now we are full. I won a 10lb turkey from my son's pto raffle and we almost didn't have room in the freezer for it!!

Monday: Chicken Quesadillas and Tomato soup -chicken soup for Natalie. She caught a bug yesterday:(
Tuesday: Mother in Law cooking
Wednesday: Tator tot casserole
Thursday: Gobble, Gobble - Guess what we'll be eating??
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Friday: Thanksgiving leftover casserole - Love this!!
Saturday: My daughter's 5th Birthday party. Pizza and cake!!
Sunday: Spaghetti pie, salad

We don't eat turkey for days and days I try to make as many meals as I can out of the leftovers and freeze them so we can enjoy turkey a little here and there. Last year I was able to make
Turkey soup, Turkey Chili, Turkey Tetrazzini and The Turkey Casserole

LEFTOVER THANKSGIVING CASSEROLE
3 Tbls butter
2 Tbls flour
1can (12 oz) Evaporated Milk
1 C water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 Tbls butter
1 C finely crushed herb-seasoned dry bread stuffing mix (I used stove top)
1 C cooked, diced turkey
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 C leftover mashed potatoes
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish

2. Melt 3 Tbls butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, Slowly stir in evaporated milk and water, then season with salt, pepper and onion powder. Stir sauce over low heat for 5 min.

3. In a separate saucepan, over low heat, melt 2 tbls butter. Blend in the dry stuffing mix.

4. Place turkey in the baking dish, pour sauce over the turkey, then sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Spread mashed potatoes over cheese. Top mashed potatoes with the stuffing mixture.

5. Bake 45 min

I am getting almost giddy this week knowing it is the official kick off of the Christmas season. We had an early Thanksgiving get together this past weekend with family and it really put me into high gear! I really am looking forward to this Holiday with our 2 year old. She is really starting to talk and I know she will be so much fun!

I hope everyone has lots of yummy meals planned for this week! Let the Holiday food begin :)

oh yea, Hop over to Laura's blog for more meal planning.