It’s grill week! That means the bulk of my dinner cooking is done for the week already. But I have to remind myself that 6 burgers don’t last 3 meals anymore when Anna eats it too. I never know if she’s going to eat meat or not (I usually just give her a couple of bites of mine and see if she eats it, then give her more if she wants), but tonight she put away almost half a hamburger patty!

Visit the original Menu Plan Monday for more meal ideas.

Monday: Grilled chicken sandwiches, sweet potato wedges

Tuesday: Chicken quesadillas, fresh fruit, chips & homemade salsa

Wednesday: Burgers, veggies & dip

Thursday: same as Monday

Friday: same as Tuesday

Saturday: Wheat-oat pancakes w/ strawberry topping, scrambled eggs

Sunday: Father’s Day dinner, as requested by David—Steamed shrimp (ordered from Kroger), baked potatoes, salad (I put that part in), French bread, carrot cake for dessert

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Recipe: Carrot Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

I got this recipe off the piece of cardboard that was attached to my cake pan when it was new. Believe it or not, it remains to this day the best carrot cake we’ve ever had, even beating out those in bakeries and restaurants we’ve tried. If you have a food processor, that makes grating the carrots a lot easier!

• 1 lb. carrots, grated (original recipe called for cooking and puréeing the carrots, but I opted to grate)
• 3 cups flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I substitute applesauce for some or all of the oil)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1 (15-oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans. In large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in oil, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. Fold in carrots, coconut, and pineapple. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake about 50 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 15 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack. Fill and frost cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese (regular, not low fat), softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until well blended. Blend in vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar, mixing well after each addition, until frosting is smooth.

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