Just go with it...

Well that didn't take long; I ended up having a work meeting at the end of the day which was off site so it put my drive home at twice as long or more. So of course I couldn't go to the store and then pick up the girls on time so I just had to go with it.

I moved up the pizza braid to Monday since I already had everything for it. {It actually ended up being pizza 'muffins'.} I just took some Pillsbury crescent rolls flattened out, lined the muffin pan, put some sauce, pepperoni and cheese then folded up and baked. Super easy, almost mess free and super delicious!!!

So I'll rearrange the menu a bit and will be doing my weekly cooking tonight instead. Luckily Tuesdays are pretty free right now so I'll actually have the time to still do my 5 dinners in 1 hour!

This week I am planning meals that I already have lots of the ingredients for to save money & to use up the items I have. The last two weeks with lots of new recipes I've spent a decent amount of money on new seasonings and oils so I figure it's a good idea to plan around those things. :)

The one thing I struggle with is my toddler who will NOT eat ANY meat. She seriously has a fear of it for whatever reason. At least with all of my meals being pre-made it gives me a bit more time to get her something to eat. I always give her a fruit or 2 plus a veggie and milk and/or yogurt but for her 'main' item it's usually noodles or a sandwich. I do offer her meat but I don't force it because it is pointless. I'm hoping she comes around eventually.

Here's my menu for the week:

Monday: Quesadillas w/leftover Barbacoa {Going grocery shopping!}

Tuesday: Spinach & Chicken Pasta Bake via Saving Money, Living Life

Wednesday: Meatloaf

Thursday: Crock pot Sesame Chicken via ifyouwantgoodfood.blogspot.com

Friday: Chicken Piccata via Skinnytaste

Saturday: Pizza Braid

Sunday: Tomato Bisque & Homemade Croutons

Be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie!

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken is #1

I was home with my 3 year old yesterday who had a fever, cough and runny nose. So I updated our weekly menu a bit by using the Crock Pot Sesame Chicken and will move Barbacoa Beef to Sunday. {My house smelled so good all day it was hard not to dig in!}

I added about 1/2 a cup of chicken broth into my crock pot just to make sure there were enough juices but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. It was YUMMY, my oldest LOVED it and my husband couldn't stop saying how amazing it was! Definitely a KEEPER!

Amazing how easy this stuff was to make, I literally spent 1-3 minutes on this meal. I trimmed my chicken breasts, got a crock pot liner and placed it inside one of my large measuring cups to help keep it open, poured in all of the ingredients then plopped in the chicken. I used this tip from Renee at Living, Laughing & Loving and twisted my crock pot cover pinched it shut with a clip and placed that inside a zip lock baggie. {I also rubber banded the outside of the zip lock to keep it from shaking around too much.} It worked GREAT!

Asian Turkey Meatballs = Awesome!

Tuesday's dinner was these Asian Turkey Meatballs via Skinnytaste and they were amazingly awesome! They smelled delicious and they tasted even better! I served them with rice cooked in coconut milk {in my rice cooker} with the sauce from the recipe and even my oldest loved them! She seriously couldn't get enough!

These will definitely be a regular on our weekly menu plan! {Next time I will make a double batch and freeze one for later.}

Six Dinners in One Hour

Yeah, that's right. SIX dinners in one hour. I am super pleased with this weeks menu and super excited to try the new recipes. I did learn that things like meatballs and hamburger patties are a tad bit more time consuming only because I had to mix up all the meat and shape them but I still managed to finish up right at an hour.

The Asian Turkey Meatball smelled absolutely delicious and I can't wait to try those tonight!

I also have to say that grocery shopping with a complete list of items for 5-7 meals is WAY easier than the way I was shopping. I was in and out of the store in about 40 minutes.

Monday:

Sunday's leftover pizza

Tuesday:

Asian Turkey Meatballs via Skinnytaste 

Wednesday:

Barbacoa Beef ~ Burritos via Skinnytaste 

Thursday:

Parmesan Chicken via Skinnytaste

Friday:

Oma's Sour Cream Chicken via Making Life Delicious

Saturday:

Mini Sliders via Make 5 Dinners in One Hour

Sunday:

Crock pot Sesame Chicken via ifyouwantgoodfood.blogspot.com

{I'm very excited to get going for week 2! And to be trying some new recipes!}

Lazy Weekends...

We had a wonderfully, lazy weekend! I never left the house after returning home from work on Friday evening.

Luckily I had meals already prepared and ready to go PLUS left overs from the week! We all loved the cheese & cracker chicken by What's Cookin' Chicago. {I did stray a bit by adding the cheese to the top instead of the cracker mix just because I wanted a very light amount of cheese on mine.} I served it with some homemade {stove top} mac-n-cheese with some mixed Italian pasta noodles that I was trying to finish up. It went fast and the family wouldn't stop eating it!

I also took the time to bake some cookies with my 3 year old, she loved munching on the chocolate chips while helping put everything together! We ended up making white and milk chocolate chip cookies that turned out wonderful. {I never got around to taking any pictures though - I did say this was a LAZY weekend didn't I?}

Sunday I baked some peanut butter muffins so that the girls' will have a quick and healthy breakfast ready to grab. They turned out pretty good! I loosely followed this recipe from allrecipes.com: Peanut Butter Muffins. Made some adjustments based on all of the reviews. {Even my picky 13 year old who never eats anything but plain peanut butter loved them!}

Now it's Monday and I really need to get my weekly menu plan created so that I can go shopping tonight!

It was a great week, eating healthy, non-processed, all homemade meals! My husband even commented that my dinners had been great and he loved the 'work' as well! So here's to an even easier and better week two!

Sweet & Tangy = 66%

Last night's dinner was Sweet & Tangy Chicken from Syrup & Biscuits. It was SUPER easy, I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and threw everything into a zip lock baggy and then poured it out into a baking dish lined with Reynolds Wrap non-sick Pan Lining Paper. {I LOVE this stuff, I used to use the Reynolds 100% recycled aluminum to line things but this stuff doesn't rip!}

So back to dinner. I served it with rice and it was a huge hit with my oldest daughter and I {she said she could eat this every week} but my husband wasn't feeling it. :( He ate it, but I don't think he's wanting me to make it again any time soon. Back to reality, typically if my oldest loves it then he hates it or vice versa.

I thought it was a delicious sauce ~ sweet & tangy just like the name. A hint of apricots from the jam and the onion chunks from the soup mix got really soft and tasted like bits of apricots. {It actually fooled my oldest, at first she didn't want to eat it because she saw pieces of 'something she didn't recognize' then she asked what was in the sauce and I told her Russian Dressing and Apricot Preserves. So she said, "Oh, those must be pieces of apricots. Yum!" ~ but don't tell her!}

Thanks to Syrup & Biscuits for sharing this yummy recipe!

French Dip Goodness

Last night I prepared French Dip Sandwiches from Melissa's Bargains. I had thrown everything in the crock pot the night before and stored it in the fridge. So yesterday morning I was able to take it out, plug it in, turn it on and go.

Wednesdays are a bit hectic as my daughters both have swim class and we don't get home until almost 7:00. So being the first time I ever made this, I 'shredded' the roast when I got home from work and then threw it back in to the sauce on warm while we were at swim. First of all I say 'shredded' but really it was so tender it just fell apart on it's own. My oldest daughter and I couldn't stop snacking on it ~ it was amazingly delicious! I've never had luck with my crock pot and had pretty much given up using it for anything other than Mulled Wine BUT I am a believer now!

We got home from swim and I pulled out the beef, toasted the buns and threw the sandwiches together ~ a huge hit and loved by all. {Except for my vegetarian toddler ~ she opted for French Dip minus the roast.}

Next time I will add more seasonings along with some fresh minced garlic and I will not 'shred' it until we are ready to eat it. Even though it was amazing after warming for a while it was even way more amazing after just being pulled apart and it was SUPER easy and SUPER quick so it's not really time consuming like I thought it would be.

Thank you to Melissa's Bargains for sharing such a wonderful and simple recipe! {About time I learned how to use my crock pot!}

Chicken Parmesan = Heavenly Delicious

Last night I was so excited to try out my first menu plan meal which happened to be Chicken Parmesan from Skinnytaste.com I had prepared it the night before. I picked this meal specifically for my oldest daughter who just adores Chicken Parmesan.

I followed the directions exactly with preparing the recipe but with cooking I strayed just a tiny bit. She called for flipping over the chicken half way through and I didn't want to ruin my beautiful breadcrumbs so I did NOT flip. They still turned out great. I served with some Ronzoni Smart Taste angel hair pasta. {Even my Italian husband the 'noodle snob' LOVED this pasta!}

Now let me just say that I have a family of 4, my 3 year old toddler has become vegetarian and refuses to eat meat. {I mean she even inspects food to make sure we're not trying to pull one over her!} My husband isn't too picky but he loves fine restaurants and has gotten a taste of too much 'good' food so even though he'll eat what I cook ~ he doesn't usually LOVE it. My oldest daughter is SUPER picky but loves meat and pasta as long as there's no random chopped veggies or anything else that she can't recognize in her food.

SO to cook a meal that all 3 {excluding vegetarian toddler} of us actually LOVE is nearly impossible. This Chicken Parmesan was LOVED by every single one of us! It was amazing! So easy and yet so delicious. I don't even like Chicken Parmesan and I LOVED it.

This will be a REGULAR meal in our menu plan ~ I am happy to say.

I wrote out my Weekly Menu Plan and grocery list yesterday and headed for the store. The trip was relatively easy since I knew exactly what I was buying and had my list in hand {which I never have}. It would have been easier if I was at 'My Kroger' but since I had errands to run on another side of town I had to go to a different Kroger so I was a bit lost in looking for some things.

When I got home I put everything away and started dinner for that night which was simply Tomato Bisque and homemade croutons. Kroger has a VERY delicious creamy tomato bisque that they sell - our entire family LOVES it! {And it's WAY cheaper than buying us all soup bowls at Panera} Then I just buy a loaf of some type of fresh bread like sour dough and chop it into big chunks spray with a ton of olive oil spray, sprinkle some garlic salt and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Once dinner was done, I cleaned up the bowls and started my meals for the week at 6:30. I definitely made some mistakes my first time around {like next time I will trim all of my chicken at once and have it ready to go} but it was still SUPER easy and I had 3 full meals completely prepped in 20 minutes! One meal is a crock pot meal so I will throw that together tonight and plug in Wednesday morning. Then 10 minutes to clean everything up. Not bad! Not bad at all.

This weeks menu:

Monday:
Kroger's Creamy Tomato Bisque with homemade croutons

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan via Skinnytaste

Wednesday: French Dip Sandwiches via Melissa's Bargains

Thursday: Sweet & Tangy Chicken via Syrup & Biscuits
Friday: Cheddar & Cracker Chicken via What's Cookin' Chicago

Saturday: Mini Melts via Cooking Unbound {These are absolutely delicious!}

I haven't really planned Sunday yet...I have some things in the house that I can choose from or we will end up eating out either Friday or Saturday and have one of those meals.

Started with the weekend

So Friday I went grocery shopping and had a mini menu plan tryout for the weekend. Friday night I made the Mini Sliders (2 batches) and Saturday morning I made the crock pot Carnitas along with the cilantro rice which fed us all day.

Everyone loved the meals and it was great to pull them out of the fridge and throw them in the oven! I have my meal plan for the rest of this week almost done and am excited to keep going.

Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars

1 pkg yellow cake mix3/4 cup butter

2 1/2 cups quick oats

12 ounces preserves or jam

1 T water

Preheat oven to 375.

Melt butter. Combine cake mix and oats in a large bowl; stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly.

Measure half of this mixture (about 3 cups) into a greased 13x9x2−inch pan.

Press firmly into pan to cover the bottom.

Combine preserves and water; spoon over crumb mixture in pan, and spread evenly. Cover with remaining crumb mixture. Pat firmly to make top even.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes − top should be very light brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe from:

Insider's Recipes Master Edition 

Copyright© 2002 VJJE Publishing Co.

Waldorf Salad

1 cup walnut halves

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Pinch of dry mustard

Juice of 1/2 lemon

4 to 6 tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced (2 cups)

1 to 2 cups finely diced inner ribs celery

(white part only), leaves reserved

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 bunches tender greens, such as arugula, baby kale,

or pepper cress, washed and dried

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until aromatic and lightly toasted.

Let cool.

Combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, both mustards, and the lemon juice in a large bowl. Fold in the apples and diced celery and season with salt and pepper.

Put the salad greens in a large bowl.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and toss well. Divide the greens among four plates. Spoon the apple mixture onto the greens and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and reserved celery leaves.

Recipe from:

Insider's Recipes Master Edition 

Copyright© 2002 VJJE Publishing Co. 

theKitchn

theKitchn.com is a wonderful site for learning how to do things along with recipes and lots of articles.

Menu Planner - Printable

I came across this helpful link at one of the blogs I read. It might come in handy!

Menu Planner - Printable Sheet

Introduction

I'm creating this blog for myself.  I love, love, LOVE reading all of the awesome Mom blogs out there with recipes and menu plans and pretty photos. I have saved many bookmarks and recipes but they tend to be a bit unorganized {OK a LOT unorganized} and I have multiple devices so I thought I would make myself a blog to keep track of all the things I want to keep track of.

At this moment in my life I am a busy Mom of two beautiful girls currently age 13 and 3.  I love them dearly but boy do they keep me busy!  I am employed full-time as a User Interface / User Experience Designer and love my work!  I work partly because we enjoy the extra money and partly to keep my sanity. I admire women that can stay home but I just wasn't cut out for that.

I am also currently dealing with health issues that continue to boggle the minds of all of the doctors that I see. So I try to keep track of how I'm feeling to see if I can find any kind of trigger or trend what-so-ever.  {So far no real luck on that.}

So now that I'm all set up I can't wait to add all of my favorite things on here and try to start keeping a weekly menu plan schedule myself.