What's for dinner?

I have realized that life runs a lot more smoothly if I figure out what we're having for dinner before say, 5:30 p.m. I had to learn this the hard way...there have been many days where I have taken a hungry toddler to the grocery store sans list, cruising the aisles for inspiration. Not a good plan. So, on the weeks that I'm feeling like I've got my best mom foot forward, I actually come up with a menu for the week and do one mega shopping trip while B is home to watch the kids. Sometimes I even post the menu on the refrigerator, so that we can see what's for dinner on any given day. B loves that for some reason. I guess he likes to look forward to his favorite meals (and know which nights to work late).

So, I am new at this blogging stuff, but I'm going to try to link my menu to recipes and a grocery list to help all my imaginary friends out there do their shopping.

Happy cooking! Let me know if you have any great recipes/menu planning tips to share. I am always in the market for new ideas (no pun intended).

Here's the menu for this week:

Sunday: Chicken Tortilla Soup with Cheese Quesadillas and Guacamole
Monday: Salmon and Couscous with Fruit and Sauteed Spinach (This spinach recipe serves about 3--you might need to double it.)
Tuesday: Talapia Fish Sticks with Sweet Potato Fries and Veggies with Dip
Wednesday: "Butterflies and Trees" with Grilled Chicken (You could save time by picking up a rotisserie chicken, but that will mean an extra trip to the store since you can't buy this ahead of time.)
Thursday: Salmon Croquettes with Cauliflower Mock Mashed Potatoes and peas
Friday: Pizza and movie night! Here's a recipe for easy pizza dough...or call your favorite pizza man and take the night off!
Saturday: Indian Summer Turkey Chili FWIW, I always tweak this recipe a little...I don't do the barbecue sauce because it just seems wrong to me. Instead, I add about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and about a quarter cup of chicken stock to loosen up the tomato paste.


Click here for the Grocery List--Chances are you already have things like salt and olive oil in your pantry, but I'm putting it all on the list just in case...