Menu Plan Monday & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I plan to make this week super stress-free in the menu department. My oldest daughter is out of town for the week at EFY and hubby continues to work the evening shift. That leaves me with three young children who are thankful to be fed. Doesn't matter how easy it is to fix, they just want food. What a blessing! That's not to say they aren't picky eaters at times, but they don't mind if I suggest cereal one night or do something that doesn't require a lot of time in the kitchen. Here's my plan:

Meatless Monday: Pasta with marinara sauce, pea salad or leftover garden salad

Tried and True Tuesday: Skillet Salmon (minus the cucumbers, which I generally like, but not in this recipe), pears, roasted squash

Work less on Wednesday: Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes with blueberry syrup, sliced oranges

Thanksgiving Thursday (named after traditional post-Thanksgiving menu planning): Leftovers

First Time Friday: Hubby and I will be out of town for the evening heading south to pick up a truckload of teenagers from EFY early Saturday morning. I'm not sure what the kids will eat. I'll leave that up to our very competent babysitter!

Simple Saturday: Tacos...with meat from the freezer I cooked a couple of weeks ago. That's it. I'm sure I'll be much too tired to make anything else.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Crockpot Chicken and Rice, broccoli with cheese

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For those of you visiting from Orgjunkie.com, where you can find even more menu plans, I made the "Cookie of the Week" on Saturday, the Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, recipe posted by Your Homebased Mom. The timing couldn't have been better, as I had just received my Oxo Good Grips Cookie Scoop in the mail (BTW, I ordered the medium size)! Neither the recipe nor my new handy-dandy kitchen gadget disappointed, though my cookies weren't fat...just big and chewy! I think I ate about 10 or so within a 12-hour period. Along with the cookie scoop I also received my new pressure cooker/canner and picked up some pint jars, lids, and bands. I don't know what I'm doing yet, but I'll eventually share what I learn.