Last week I did well with making meals, except the Eggplant dish made SO much, I skipped both of the fish meals. That's a big deal with us. I am going to carry over the Crab Cakes, because I am just itching to make them (okay, and EAT them!).

What worked and what didn't last week: Baked Angel Hair with Eggplant. It was good, but make a lot (lot lot lot). We felt we ate it all week, and in fact just finished it off tonight. In the future I will halve this recipe, that and the puff pastry loses a lot in the reheating process. But, it was tasty and not terribly hard. I am happy I made it, as I have always shied away from puff pastry but, pfffft, it's super easy. Try using it, seriously, it only looks hard.

The Chicken Tortilla Bake. Oh my gosh! It was so good and SO darned easy. It only fed us one dinner meal and two lunches (one for each of us), so I will be doubling this recipe from now on. Also, now that I know the basics I can see how easy it would be to substitute all kinds of meats (or no meat!) and it would still be good. We loved this and it will become a regular to the menu. (Oh, and Emi ate a bunch of it and couldn't get enough!)

Ricotta Pancakes. Another huge hit, another new regular to the menu. We all loved it and it was so easy. I think from now on I will just add a cup of ricotta to my regular pancake recipe (okay, so it's boxed but it IS Krusteaz!). The ricotta just made these super moist and 'dressed up'. Good eats!

The Buttermilk Coleslaw. It was okay, but to us seemed to be missing something. I think, when it comes down to it, I am still missing my Grandma Cayo's cole slaw. Sad thing is, I never got the recipe from her and there is no one left to get it from. I have an entire box of her recipe cards, but I could not find it in there (I get my love of collecting recipes from her!). Basically it's just a head of cabbage, shredded and then white vinegar, oil, sugar ... and I think that's it. It's equal amounts of two of the three, I just can't remember which, or was it equal amounts of all three? If anyone has a recipe that sounds like this, drop me an email? I would so dearly love to have this. (Oh, and it's not missed, there is no mayo or anything in this recipe.)

Now, on to this week's menu. Remember, for more fun recipe hunting, skip on over to Laura's at Organizing Junkie.

• Sunday: Leftovers – we still had the eggplant dish so I tossed together a salad and made some garlic bread and we had leftovers, again!

• Monday: Tomato-and-White Bean Soup, rolls

• Tuesday: Green Eggs and Ham, Potato Pancakes, applesauce with cinnamon and nutmeg

• Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Bake, green salad
• Yes, this is on the menu again. No, it’s not a hold-over. It was SO darned good, Jeff requested it for this week … and wants me to double the recipe! Now that’s a glowing recommendation.

• Thursday: Leftover Buffet
• Seems we need a specific night for leftovers as some are going to waste and I am not making planned meals because of the leftovers. Going to take a page out of Laura’s book and set up a night like this.

• Friday: Crab Cakes, deli coleslaw, linguine with butter and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (and probably frozen peas or carrots for Miss Emi)

• Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (May 18 - 24)