Menu Plan Monday (on Saturday!) and Recipe Critique

Hi everyone. We returned yesterday from a fabulous time at Michael's mom and stepdad's house. We had such a good time. The girls loved running around outside, picking yummies out of the garden, and eating lots of Cheese Puffs! Thank you Jeff and Mindi for such a good time!

A few of you asked about the "Lemon Spaghetti" that was on the menu. I would give it a B. It was different, but missing something. I think it would be really good if you added in some chicken that had been cooked with onion and garlic and a splash of lemon. It was a very light recipe and I would probably make it again...just jazzed up a little bit. Here is the original recipe. You might want to try it and see what you think.

Lemon Spaghetti
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water
until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the
lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed
to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped
basil.

We ended up going to the store today so I am posting my menu plan today instead of Monday.
This week's meal options are:

1)Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese
2)Chicken and Rice Casserole, Carrots, and Broccoli
3)Brown Beans and Cornbread (Yes, this has been on the plan for awhile now...I keep putting it off)
4)BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Homemade Au Gratin Potatoes (new recipe), and Peas
5) Chicken Quesadillas...which sadly will only have onion and green peppers...no red peppers as they were $2.49 EACH!!!! Is that not crazy??!!! The green peppers were still $1.50 each but you have to have something beside chicken and onion in the mix.

Yep, a lot of chicken, but we have 4 packages in the freezer so we are using some of it up.

Michael's little break is over and he heads back to school on Monday. I think his first day back they have a test. And so the insanity begins again....

Have a great rest of the weekend!