Dinner Time in Oakley, UT

Thanks Sister Budge for setting this all up. The only reason I do anything worth while is because of peer pressure.

I rate menu planning in my top 10 of "things I HATE to do" so I've come up with a couple of things that help me manage it. One thing I do is give each day of the week a theme so I can narrow down the hundreds of choices into just a few dozen, otherwise I just get too overwhelmed. The other thing I use is an ical calendar. I type in the name of the recipe, which cookbook it's in, and the ingredients. It's a little time consuming at first but then when I have 30-40 entered I can just drag them around to the next month. And then I also have a list of ingredients I need to buy without having to go to the cookbooks. I'm definitely not strict about this. I would say more often than not I don't follow it at all but it helps me pretend that I'm an organized person.

Anyway, here are my weekly themes:
M - Mexican Monday
T - Mormon Americana (this is my casserole, cream of whatever soup, jello night)
W - Asian Cuisine
Th - Pizza, Pasta, Soup and Salad
F - Fun Food
S - Whatever
S - Crock Pot Easy

And here's my week (Sep. 28 - Oct. 5)
M - Leftovers
T - Chicken Fajitas
W - Red Beans and Rice
Th - Mom & Dad eating out so kids get scrambled eggs and toast
F - Home-made Pizza (Does any one have a good thin crust recipe?!!)
S - No Clue. It took me 2 hours just to come up with M-F
S - All Day Meatloaf & Veggies (recipe below - never tried it. Hope it works.)

See what I mean. I never stick to my themes but whatever!

Meatloaf and Vegetables:
4 large potatoes, sliced
6 carrots, sliced
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. cracker crumbs
1/3 c. ketchup
1/3 c. finely chopped onions
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Place potatoes and carrots in slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/4 t. salt.
2. Combine remaining ingredients. Mix well and shape into loaf. Place loaf on top of vegetables, making sure that it doesn't touch sides of slow cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 8 - 10 hours.