Meal Plan Oct 10-17

Apple Butternut Squash Soup
Vegetarian Chilaquiles
Chicken Curry Crockpot
Parmesan Garlic Chicken

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Baked Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Review: Pretty good, I love cheese and it has a good dose of it. Abigail didn't want to eat much of it, but she is also kind of sick.

Changes: I wanted to use the spaghetti sauce I made earlier so I left out that step. But I also forgot to add the tomato paste to my sauce, so it was a bit soupy. Probably out to try again following the directions.

Served With: Would be good if it was served with some garlic bread. I was hungry a few hours after eating this. You could also add some sausage to the sauce if you wanted to add some meat.

Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

Review: Yummy. It's always a bit time consuming cutting a pineapple. I wasn't so fond of the texture of the green onion, but that is just personal preference. I did like the flavor they added. If you want a cute way to serve it check out the link, she cut a pineapple in half and served it in there! It was very pretty for a fancy dinner.

Changes: I think next time I'd like to add some sweet red pepper. Give it a little more flavor and color!

BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken

Review: Tasty and easy! My kind of meal! Everyone one enjoyed it. (I'll try and post a picture tomorrow, we have leftovers!)

Changes: I think I did it exactly as called for for once! My slow cooker seems to cook a bit hot, so I cooked it on low for 2 hours and then turned it down to warm for the final 2 hours. I used 5 chicken breasts and I think it should serve 8 people.

Served With: Roasted Potatoes With Rosemary

Cherry Wheat Germ Muffins

Cherry Wheat Germ Muffins

Review: Very Yummy! This one is a go for the bake sale.

Changes: I used white whole wheat flour in place of the all purpose flour, got to get those whole grains. The wheat germ I had was raw so I toasted it in a pan on the stove for 5 minutes or so over medium heat. I also didn't have any all spice and didn't feel like dirtying another spoon so I used 1/2 teaspoon of cinammon. Lazy I know, but it worked!

Menu Plan September 26-October 2

Well, I did cook last week. Just not too much. Nick and I had a nice candle light dinner on Friday since we had a babysitter. (First time in a long time, other than family.) We had halibut with peach salsa. I also made a shrimp bake.

For this week we will be having:
Crockpot BBQ Chicken
Skinny Baked Broccoli Macaroni
Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice
Spaghetti Squash with homemade spaghetti sauce
Black Bean Enchilada - from the freezer

My MOPS group is having a bake sale fundraiser, so I'm thinking about making these:
Cherry Wheat Germ Muffins
Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Meal Plan September 19-25

It's just me and Abigail for the first bit of the week, so we will be eating hummus, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and whatever else I can scrounge up. Once Nick gets home on Thursday, back to cooking!

Garlicky Baked Shrimp

Cream Cheese Crockpot Chicken

Pizza on the grill - thanks Amy!

Fabric Pumpkin

If you read this blog because you know me in real life, you know that I also enjoy doing crafty things. Only problem, I have a hard time finishing anything. I guess that's why cooking is good, we have to eat! (The clean up can wait for tomorrow ;)) It seems like forever but finally I have had some time to craft, Abigail is getting old enough that she can play for a few minutes and I can get something done!

So I saw these cute fabric pumpkins here and thought, I could do that and I can use stuff I already have! This is a wonderful tutorial, every step clearly laid out. Perfect. I've been wanting to bust out the sewing machine and this was a good excuse. I had a few hiccups along the way, like using the wrong stitch and seeing the thread when I started stuffing, and it was a bit difficult to sew on the stem. I also didn't have yarn or a big plastic needle, so I used some twine and just wrapped it around. Abigail won't be playing with this.

Well, here is the final product! I'm satisfied, it's not perfect, but I like it and it looks lovely on my dining room table with the clearance place mats I got from Walmart last week. Hope you enjoy and get inspired!

Linking up here: I Heart Nap Time

Spaghetti Sauce in a Crockpot

Here is what I found to try, Spaghetti Sauce in a Crockpot.

I only made half the recipe because I was afraid it wasn't going to fit in my crockpot. Looking back it probably would have. This was delicious on Eggplant Rollatini. I also have 2 bags of sauce in the freezer now. Yeah for freezer food!

Chicken Curry

Frozen for next time. Not all that pretty once cooked, but tasty!

Chicken Curry

Review: Tasty, easy once all is chopped. I think I may have misunderstood the directions. I used the amounts called for but split it between two bags. One bag just served 2.5. So next time I'll double it. I love that I can just throw it all in the crockpot next time.

Changes: Added a green pepper I needed to use. Also I can find the chicken stock I liked in Denver here in Pittsburg, so I used vegetable stock instead.

Served With: Nothing, its a whole meal in one pot! A simple salad would be nice though, with a mango dressing. Hmmm...

Meal Plan September 12-18

Well we again didn't get to one of the recipes from last week. So we shall have Chicken Curry this week. Not to make excuses, (but to make excuses) Walmart only had rotten mangos. So I had to make a trip to the regular grocery today when we ran out of milk and get the mango there at Giant Eagle.

Also Nick is going to be gone 2 nights this week and we will be out of town for 3. So I don't have much for this week. Or next for that matter, because again we will be out of town. But I will still try and post something every couple of days.

Chicken Curry in the Crockpot
Pizza
Grilled cheese
Omelets
Too much eating out...

Crock-pot Rotisserie Chicken

Crock-pot Rotisserie Chicken

Review: Delicious! Pretty easy, except deskinning the chicken.
Changes: I just eyeballed all the ingredients.
Served With: Homemade bread and mashed sweet potatoes.

Plenty of leftovers! I think I'll make some chicken salad and freeze some for another meal.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, the camera was in the basement hiding...

Chewy Granola Bars

Chewy Granola Bars

Review: Tasty. A little bit crumbly. I'm going to tweak them so they are a little easier to eat next time, but I'm definitely making these again.

Changes: I didn't use 2 cups of chocolate chips. I used 1/4 c mini chocolate chips, 1/2 c sunflower seeds, 1/2 c chopped peanuts, 1/2 c raisins. Hmm, seems like there was another 1/4 c of something...

Served With: A glass of milk would be nice.

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Review: A little bit time consuming, cutting, breading, and cooking. First bite tasted like candy, a bit odd. But after that it was pretty tasty. Abigail really liked it.

Changes: I eyeballed the ingredients. There wasn't directions on how much meat, so I used 1.25 lbs. This should serve the 4-5.

Served With: Green salad and rice.

Next time I think I'll find some snap peas or something to add to the crockpot. I doubled the sauce and froze half for another meal.

Baked Mexican Fish

This must be the easiest fish every that doesn't include lemon. Not that there is anything wrong with a nice squirt of lemon...

Baked Mexican Fish
Fish fillets - we usually use a mild fish, because I'm not a fishy person
Salsa
Cheese
Crushed tortilla chips - Save the bottom of the bag chips for this!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking dish large enough to hold your fish with cooking spray. Lay fish out in a single layer. Add as much salsa as you'd like on top. Sprinkle with cheese, again as much as you like. Bake as appropriate based on the size of your fish. Five minutes before it is done cooking, sprinkle tortilla chips on top. Continue cooking last 5 minutes to crisp up chips.

Meal Plan September 5-11

Chicken Curry in the Crockpot
Rotisserie Chicken in the Crockpot
Breakfast for dinner
Homemade Pizza
Baked fish with salsa and cheese

It is going to be really rainy this week and starting to cool off. Time to start up the oven! Goals for the week: make muffins, bread, and make a pasta sauce that isn't loaded with sodium.

What's on you agenda for the week?

Southwest Turkey Burgers

Southwest Turkey Burgers

Review: Pretty good.

Changes: I didn't want to splurge on bacon... of course it would have been better with bacon. I used dry herbs, since I used all my parsley last week on the stuffed shells. We served it on wheat buns but also didn't use the special relish.

Served With: Corn on the cob. Pickles, ketchup.

My mom is visiting for a couple days! I don't think she is going to like everything we eat, or the options we have in the house. But she was good with these burgers. They were a bit time consuming chopping things finely. But do a little bit at a time I guess, that's the only way I can get anything done! They were also a bit on the spicy side. I think it would be even better if you sautéed the onion and peppers before adding them to the meat.

Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

Review: Seemed very runny as I added it to the pan. After tasting it, it needs some sugar! Also seems a little eggy.

Changes: I didn't have many sesame seeds, so I added a little more raisins. I'm not sure what oats would be best, but for this batch I used quick oats. If I make this again, I'll use at least some old fashion oats.

I'm sure you couldn't go wrong with adding a little chocolate chip to the mix. :)

Pork Flautas

So I wasn't sure what a flautas was, so I googled it. Well, it's pretty much the same thing as a taquito, which thanks to the frozen section at the grocery I have actually heard of. It's a filled up and rolled up flour shell (main difference from a taquito, which uses a corn shell). Also in some areas of Mexico flautas are longer and more likely to be served as a main dish. Hope that clears that up...

Pork Flautas

Review: Tasty with some toppings. We had sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Changes: There wasn't much direction on seasonings, so I kind of just threw them in there. I think it would possibly work better to use a bit of seasoning from a taco seasoning packet. Probably 2 tablespoons.

Served With: Steamed corn.

Our dilemma, how to eat this... Would you eat this with a fork or fingers?

Meal Plan August 29-September 4

I know it is so cliche but where has the month/year gone! Things got a little crazy here last week so I still have the ingredients for a Pepper Patch Pasta so it is moved to this week. 


So for this week we will be eating:
Pepper Patch Pasta With Grilled Chicken
Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Onion & Monterey Jack Baked Flautas

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Southwest Turkey Burgers

Black Bean Enchilladas - from the freezer

Happy eating!

Linking up here! 

Turkey and Spinach Pasta Bake

Well I found some ground turkey on markdown the other day. So I need to use it! So we are taking a break from the scheduled menu to serve up some Turkey and Spinach Stuffed Shells. Although, I'm not going to stuff shells, just use whatever noodles are in the cabinet. Think this should save some time too. I'm also making half for now and freezing the other half for later.

Review: Okay, I'd like a little more sauce and a little less parsley. I never get the parsley cut up fine enough, and I just don't enjoy biting into it.

Changes: Used mini penne pasta. Cooked it and mixed it in with everything else.

Served With: Spinach and arugula salad.

Banana Oatmeal Wheat Muffins

I'm a sucker for muffins. I love having them for breakfast or a quick snack. Problem is so many times they aren't that healthy. I don't really want my kids getting hooked on sugary snacks (like I am), so I try to find some healthier way to enjoy the foods I love.

Here is what I came up with... It was roughly based on these.

1 cup quick oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax
1 1/2  teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large brown bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and spray. Mix dry ingredients (flour - almonds). In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients (eggs - bananas). Make a well in the dry and add the wet. Stir to combine but no more! I prefer to use a cookie scooper to fill the muffin pan, it took two overfull scoops in each muffin. Bake 20 minutes. It made about 16 muffins.

I think they are pretty tasty. Next time I think I will try and cut back the oil and maybe the sugar. Also I think you could change out the banana for some other fruit as long as it equals a little more than 1 cup. And mom I'm sure you could put chocolate chips in instead of raisins.

Hope you enjoy!

White Bean Italian Pizza

Pizza before it went in the oven.

White Bean Italian Pizza

Review: Pretty good, as long as you get a bite with more than just beans.

Changes: I added a tomato that I needed to use and didn't use mushrooms. I also had a few minutes for the crust to rise, so I let it go for about an hour.

Served With: Spinach salad.

I think I might like to add some hot/spicy peppers to this pizza. Maybe I'll cut the tomatoes a little thicker next time. I tried to go paper thin on the tomato and onion. I like the onion that way, but I like a little more bite to my tomatoes I guess.

BBQ Pulled Pork

5 boneless pork loin chops
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Baby Rays BBQ + more for topping

Put it all in the slow cooker for 3-4 hours on low. Pull the chops out and shred. Place the pork in a oven safe dish and spoon in some of the juice and add some more BBQ. Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm on buns. And if your odd, add a pickle. Haha, thats for you babe!

Served With: Frozen veggies because I forgot to get corn. Oops.

You can throw whatever pork you have and do this with it. I think it might taste even better if you used broth instead of water. If you use a fatty meat might want to skim some of the fat off before you pull out the juice.

Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Breasts With Cucumber Peach Salsa

Grilled Chicken Breasts With Cucumber Peach Salsa

Review: Okay. Nick did a good job grilling the chicken. We aren't much on cucumber, so the salsa was a bit to heavy on that.

Changes: I didn't have mint leaves so I used ginger. I have no idea how this affected things. But the salsa was still okay.

Served With: Salad and cooked carrots

Meal Plan August 22-29

So, I'm not going to specify what day we are having what. I'm a little to free spirited to say so many days in advance and I wouldn't want to dissapoint anyone who was hoping to get a review on a specific day. I'm a mom, sometimes dinners go great other nights, I have to take care of my babe and we eat peanut butter and jelly.

So for this week we will be eating:
White Bean Italian Pizza
Maple Apple Chicken - Crock-pot
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Pepper Patch Pasta With Grilled Chicken

Happy eating!

Oh just a little picture of me and my money!

I'm linking up here Organization Junkie, check out more meal plans!

Cheesy Beany Veggie Quesadillas

Cheesy!

Cheesy Beany Veggie Quesadillas

Review: Easy, tasty, whole meal in one. And I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

Changes: We don't really like raw onions so I left them off. Also I heated the beans and just a bit of taco seasoning in the microwave. We also have a fancy quesadilla maker we got as a wedding gift, so I pulled that out for the first time in 6 months. Got to love a unitasker! Next time I'll have some sour cream to serve on top.

Served With: Nothing! Seemed like a complete meal. Well we did have some cantaloupe as dessert.

Parmesan Shrimp Skewers

Parmesan Shrimp Skewers
(Sorry, I really need to learn to take pictures!)

Review: Good, a bit time consuming to skewer all the pieces.

Changes: I did not use anchovies. I forgot the water, and I blended everything except the oil, and then added the oil in one big blob because I was using my mini chopper. I chopped up the veggies and made the sauce in the morning and let them marinade most of the day. The I added the shrimp just before I skewered them. I also just put the remaining cheese on before I grilled them.

Served With: Rice and green salad.

I think I would try this again and add some pineapple to the line-up. Although I don't think I'd marinate them, that might be strange. 

Slow-Cooker Cranberry Pork

Slow-Cooker Cranberry Pork

1 (16 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1/3 cup fat free Catalina salad dressing
1 onion, sliced
4 3/4" thick pork loin chops

Review: Simple! I really enjoyed the sauce. Meat was dry, but that was my fault.

Changes: I didn't want to buy pork loin roast, since I just got some chops on sale a week ago. So I used the chops, but didn't adjust the cooking time enough. I did 1.5 hours on high and 1.5 on low.

Served With: Fresh green beans and wheat bread.

Abigail even helped me tonight! As I cut the onions she put them in the bowl. I would like to learn to incorporate her more in the things I do. She wants to be around and help, so put her to work! She also helped unload the dishwasher, bringing me items to put on the shelves.

Nick just found out he is going to be out of town Wednesday through Friday. I've got to learn to be flexible! I'm not sure what I'm going to do for dinner Thursday night now... I enjoy sharing dinner with another adult and I never know how much Abigail is going to eat, so it doesn't really feel worth it to cook for just the two of us. 

Dinner August 15-21

Monday - Slow-Cooker Cranberry Pork
Tuesday - Cheesy, Beany Veggie Quesadillas
Thursday - Grilled Chicken Breasts With Cucumber Peach Salsa
Friday - Parmesan Shrimp Skewers

Nick is usually traveling on Wednesdays so me and Abigail usually have leftovers, eggs, or grilled cheese. This Saturday we were invited to someones house for a cookout. And we usually eat out one night.

How many nights a week do you cook dinner at home?

Crock-pot Lasagna

This recipe is based off this Kraft recipe. But I wanted to make it a little healthier.

1 lb. Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
24 oz. spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
15 oz low-fat ricotta cheese
7 oz 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup low-fat grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 organic egg
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
12 oz chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
6 lasagna noodles, uncooked

1.  Cook meat in large pot, drain and rinse. Stir in spaghetti sauce and water.
2.  In a separate large bowl mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 Tbsp parmesan, egg, parsley, and broccoli.
3.  Spoon 1 cup meat sauce into slow cooker. Top with 3 noodles broken to fit and 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Spoon 2 cups meat sauce on top. Add another layer of noodles and the rest of the cheese mixture. Top with rest of meat sauce. Place lid on slow cooker.
4.  Cook on low 5 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and let stand covered 10 minutes or until melted.

Review: Pretty tasty, good way to hide some more veggies. I think I would like to get a little more flavor.

Changes: Maybe add a little oregano to the cheese mixture. I would like to find an organic lower sodium spaghetti sauce. I would like to have a healthier noodle, but haven't found them at the store.

Served With: Salad and garlic toast. Served to my in-laws. I think I would normally not have the garlic toast, there are enough carbs in the noodles.

Storing Produce Longer

I always seem to buy a little more produce than we can eat and it ends up going in the trash. When I opened my email this morning I found this helpful article on how to make a few items last longer. It just happens to be from my favorite store that I miss so much, Sprouts!
Storing Produce

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp & Vegetables

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp & Vegetables

Review: Full of flavor and pretty simple. I really enjoyed the shrimp. Next time I will cut the parsley smaller, I didn't enjoy the texture of leaves.

Changes: I didn't buy enough asparagus, so I only used 1 lb. I also didn't have chicken stock, so I substituted vegetable bouillon. I had to cook the broth for alot longer to get it to thicken up.

Served With: Buttered bread. Should have served with rice instead, but who doesn't like bread...

Nick changed the days he was out of town this week, so I've switched Wednesday and Thursday's meals. We have enough left overs we will probably have them for lunch and dinner tomorrow too. So be sure to check back August 15th for the next review!

Summer Squash and Bean Saute

Summer Squash and Bean Saute

Review: Was pretty good considering it was veggies and beans. Abigail was not so much of a fan. She tried a bite of everything, and spit each one back out. We'll see how leftovers for lunch go tomorrow, we have plenty.

Changes: I didn't have red wine vinegar, so I substituted a high quality basalmic vinegar.

Served With: 1/2 a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I made one for Abigail and it smelled so good, me and Nick had to have a little too.

Graham-Crusted Talapia

Graham-Crusted Talapia

Review: Quick and tasty! Abigail even enjoyed it, but she does seem to like fish over beef or chicken many nights.

Changes: I really didn't want to turn the oven on, so I pan fried the talapia in just a bit of canola oil. I also didn't have 3/4" thick pieces, mine were quite thin.

Served With: Microwaved seasoned rice and frozen mixed veggies.

If you try it let me know what you think of it!

Dinner August 1-7

Monday - Graham-Crusted Talapia, with frozen veggies and rice
Tuesday - Summer Squash & White Bean Saute
Wednesday - homemade or frozen pizza
Thursday - Lemon Garlic Shrimp & Vegetables
Friday - out

I love the summer! I don't have a garden this year since we just moved, but I can stop by a farmers market and get some yummy fresh produce. This week I picked up zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, corn, peaches, strawberries, and cantaloupe.

This weeks menu is abbreviated because we are leaving on Friday to go to Evansville to visit Nicks family! We are so excited, it seems like forever since we've got to go there. So there won't be a menu for next week either. But come back August 14 for another week of meals.