Meal Planning….again!

I'm heading into my 3rd week of meal planning.  This is practically unheard of.  This is an accomplishment for me for sure!  And it has been pretty great because I am reaping the benefits in so many ways.  Staying more on budget…but mostly…feeling more like I've accomplished something by being a better mom just by having dinner on the table…. and good leftovers for lunch the next day….. and great meals to send off with my husband to work.

This week my meal planning took me about 45 minutes.  I know that's looooong…and I think eventually it will get easier.  (I hope!)  But it is what it is now.  So what kept these 2 busy?  Beans and rice. (uncooked)  For a full 30 minutes.  Did it make a mess?  Yes.  Huge!  But it swept right up.  And did I mention it occupied BOTH of them for 30 minutes???

Red Beans and Rice….I used a can of Fire Roasted Tomatos instead of regular diced tomatoes because that was all I had on hand…and I think it added a little bit of flavor to it.  I don't know for sure…but regardless…this was pretty good and hit the spot.  We also just added our own red pepper sauce on our plate so that it wouldn't be too spicy for the kids.  Brown rice would be healthier, but this kids eat white rice, so I'm choosing my battles.  The kids ate the rice and sausage (I think Nolan ate the beans, too).  And…. I got another message from Geoff while at work saying that it was the best red beans and rice!




I mentioned last week that I made these Sweet Corn Chicken Tostadas.  I also mentioned that they were good and that Grace really liked them.  Truth is…that first night I just thought it was O.K.  I put the chicken mixture, cheese and chives on my taco….and it was good.  But the next day….I took my tostada and put a layer of bean dip…a layer of smashed up avocado (with a generous sprinkling of sea salt)….then the chicken mixture, cheddar cheese, and chives.  And ohmygoodnes….SO good!  The corn really adds a lot to this, too.  Try this!

BBQ Brisket- one night we ate it over Baked Potatoes with a salad and bread.  Then on another night…we had BBQ Brisket Tostadas.  This potato looks pretty ridiculous.  Ha!  It's a small potato, but really the perfect size.  Those really large ones…we never eat the whole thing.  I filled it with lots of butter, cheese, BBQ brisket, and ranch dressing.  But what it's really missing are the chives!!  We had this on Wednesday night before we had to leave at 5pm for church…..so we were rushed.

But this salad……YUM!  I added the ranch dressing before eating.  But what really made this salad so good... was the fresh tomatoes…. and a light sprinkling of sea salt and crushed black pepper.  And also, the ranch dressing.  ;)

A couple more dishes coming up this week:

Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta with Ceasar Salad

Monday is supposed to be a little chilly here…so Baked Potato Soup with Salad sounds fitting!

Chipotle Beef Chili

Baked Burritos