dinner this week...

I did meal plan this past week…but I didn't follow through with each meal like I had originally planned.  Laziness/illness toward the end of the week changed our plans.

I did make Mix and Match Mama's BBQ Joes (pictured above) and they were SO good!  I made them earlier this week and actually had one again tonight.  This will definitely be made again.  Geoff and I ate them on the garlic Texas Toast…but the kids ate them on just regular buns…which was fine by me because everyone ate what was put on their plate!

We also had just regular spaghetti and meat sauce this week.  We had that 2 nights.  ;)  So cooking did end up being pretty light this week.

Up this week:

-PW's Pot Roast and Creamy Mashed Potatoes (and I may make some homemade bread in my bread maker too!)

-Mix and Match Mama's Ranch Chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes  (we were supposed to make this week, but didn't)

-I made beef stew last month and froze half…so I may thaw that and make some cornbread one evening.

-Lasagna.  We may not eat this this week, but I already have most of the stuff to make it and do not want it to go bad... so I will definitely make this week in 2- 8x8 pans and freeze for a later date.

for dinner this week….

4th week in a row of meal planning!  Whoo-hoo!

And I'm still getting most all meal ideas from Mix and Match Mama.

So this is what we had for dinner this week:

Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta.  Geoff and I thought this was SO good.  The only thing I'll change next time is to cook the chicken in less than a cup of broth because I like for the sauce to be a little creamier.  I ended up adding a little cornstarch to this to thicken it up.  But bottom line…SO good!  Only bad thing (which is kinda a big deal)….not one child liked it.

And this baked potato soup.  ohmygoodness.  Delish!

These Baked Burritos were definitely a WINNER!  2 out of 3 kids ate the actual burrito (I left the chives and jalapeño out of theirs….and the 3rd child ate the meat mixture on a crispy taco.  And there was no complaining.  I made these with ground turkey.

(I'm definitely not a food photographer.  ha!)

Still up this week:

Ranch Chicken with Roasted Red Potatoes

BBQ Joes

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

Meal Planning

I've been in a dinner planning/making funk for quite a while.  It got to a really bad point where we'd grocery shop each week…spend all of the allotted grocery budget  (and then some, at times)….then get home with said groceries…and have 'nothing' to eat.

Part of my problem is that I feel so defeated because I'll spend the time making the dinner…and then NO ONE will eat it except for Geoff and me.  I've gotten better about telling them they HAVE to eat what's on their plate or nothing at all.  Sometimes they force it down.  And sometimes I just give up.  But it's a work in progress and so for today…I'm good with that.

It does take some time to make the menu plan, but it really is worth it.  A good friend of mine suggested Mix and Match Mama…and I am so thankful she did!!  I have gotten most all of my recipes these past few weeks from her.  With the World Wide Web…we have so many ideas and recipes at our fingertips…but that's not always a good thing.  It's too much at times.  So I've been perusing her crock pot section and it's worked thus far.



Sweet Corn Chicken Tostadas.  These were good.  Grace ate a whole one!  So 1 out of 3 kids ate what I cooked.  Slowly, but surely!

I did not get a picture of the Crunchy BBQ Brisket Tacos…but they were SO good!  It was basically just brisket cooked in salsa, then shredded and mixed with BBQ sauce.  My mom makes the best BBQ brisket…and we usually eat it with cole slaw and potato salad and baked beans.  I never thought to put my BBQ brisket on a crispy taco shell with cheddar cheese and green onions.  But now I do.  Yum!

I also did not get a picture of this Sweet Corn Turkey Chili…but it was really good, as well.


Tex Mex Chicken Pot Pie.  This was good, but not a most favorite.  We did eat all of the leftovers, though!   I may make this here and there, but probably not on a regular rotation.  None of the kids liked it!  ;(






Fiesta Chicken and Rice.  This was good…and EVERYONE in the family ate it for dinner.  Win!!  The chives really add so much to many of these meals.




Sausage and potato chowder.  SO SO good!  Geoff even sent me a text from work saying it was the best soup.  Will be making this again!  The only thing that I'll change, though, is instead of adding 3 cups of broth to the crock pot…I'll just do 1.5-2 cups just to make a little thicker soup.

And my little helper was able to do a lot to help me.  He absolutely loves helping me.  It's the sweetest thing really.

Those tippy toes!

The finished product.  Yum!

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Banana Pancakes from Ambitious Kitchen.  Clean-eating pancakes.  Geoff and I thought they were pretty good.  They tasted like banana-oat pancakes.  They are full of protein.  But…….. the kids did not approve.   Of course.

One Pot Spaghetti.  Geoff made this one night when I was working.  It was good, but I think I like regular ole spaghetti and meat sauce.  Cooking it in the crockpot is easy, yes.  But the noodles do soak up quite a bit of sauce.  I'm not totally discounting it though…on a busy day…this is a good recipe to have ready by the time I get home, as well as, something I can usually get all 3 kids to eat.



Up this week:

Honey Mustard Brisket Tacos
Red Beans & Rice

a little meal planning

So I've been trying to get back into the swing of cooking since Nolan was born.
But much like before Nolan...I have a few goals in mind when deciding on meals to cook for the family.

1) Easy.
2) Good.
3) My kids will {read: probably} eat.
4) Easy.

If you're in a rut like me, I thought it might be nice to just share the recipes I've been using in case they might give you a little idea.


For the following recipes...I usually make the full recipe, but split it between 2- 8x8 aluminum pans.  We eat one that day, then freeze the other for another day.

-PW's Chicken Spaghetti
-Lasagna
-Pasta Bake (if we have leftover spaghetti sauce from spagetti...I will layer in an 8x8 pan: spaghetti (or penne), sauce, cheese, then repeat)
-cheese and chili enchiladas


And here are a few other meals we've been eating:

Crispy Beef Tacos (I use the Taco Bell shells and seasoning)
PW's Sloppy Joes
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Crockpot BBQ Chicken w/ Baked Potato
a deli pizza from Wal-Mart and salad

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For the Crockpot BBQ Chicken.....I just place chicken in crockpot.  

Mix together some BBQ sauce, a little white vinegar, black pepper, and a little brown sugar.  Then pour over chicken.  

Cook 3-4 hours on high, and 6-8 hours on low (it really just depends on your own crockpot though).  

Once chicken is cooked, I shred it all up.  We then take our baked potatoes and load them up with butter, cheese, and ranch dressing.  Then we pile the shredded BBQ chicken on top of the loaded potato.  It is so so good.  And Easy!  

For the girls, they will usually eat the chicken by itself...and then I take one of the baked potatoes' insides and make them 'mashed potatoes.'  But at least we're all eating the same thing!  :)

menu plan for the week:

On the menu this week:  {roughly}

PWs Taco Pizza

PWs Three-Cheese Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce

Grilled Burritos- Healthy and Thrifty.  And they look really tasty, too!

___________

Reviews of last week's menu: (it was really 2 weeks ago)

Geoff made us these Mexican stuffed shells.

They are pretty good.  Grace ate them well, too.  Will make this again!

And he also made us this Monterey Chicken.  It was also really good.

Although- I think we kept wishing there were french fries under all of that cheese, bacon, and chives!

meal plan for the week...

This is a very loose menu.  I've still been menu planning somewhat since my last menu planning post.  However- I do feel like we stick to it better when I have it written down here.  Odd, I know.  I can write it on my paper...but now the links are right at my finger tips.

I haven't set out to see how much my grocery bill will be this week. But I did find recipes where we already had most of the ingredients. So here's what we're having for dinner {and lunch} this week!

Monterey Chicken

Mexican Stuffed Shells

PW's Sloppy Joe's

PW's Seafood Pasta (we'll just use shrimp)

As far as sides- we will throw in some salads, veggies, and maybe mashed potatoes? We'll see.


Finishing up this post on the way to church! Happy Sunday!

What a beautiful day the Lord has made!

This week's menu:

So I've been trying to stick with a strict budget and menu planning.  This will be our 3rd week and I am so happy that we've stuck with it.  I know it's always easier when we first start doing things like this....and then over time...we become lazy or too busy.  But I really hope we stick with this because we have saved so much money....and eventhough we aren't eating the healthiest, I still think I have lost a few pounds.  Fattening foods at home just don't seem to be as fattening as fast food.  That- coupled with the fact that I usually don't place as much food on my plate as restaurants do....and I don't usually get seconds.

This week took me a little long to plan because I am working 6 out of 8 days.....so it had to be stratetigic in the difficulty and mess factor.  I also have to make sure it's something that I am at least half way looking forward to....otherwise, it's extra easy for me to just say, "ohhh....let's just pick something up."

This week is also good because several of these recipes are halved and frozen for another meal to have in a few weeks or next month.

So anyway- here is our menu for this week:

Cheese and chili enchiladas (made in 2- 8" aluminum square pans..one for eating and one to freeze for later) salsa, rice, beans, salad (we just got a tub of mixed greens already washed....made ranch dressing from the Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch dry seasoning pack....and the intention is to have a little side salad with most meals....the girls even eat the salad!)

Lasagna (also made in 2- 8inch aluminum square pans, one for now and one to freeze), salad, and olive cheese bread (I had all the ingredients except for the French bread which costs just a little over a dollar.....and I will cook half, and freeze half.

Monday night Geoff will grill hamburgers....and I am going to attempt to make PW's french fries.  Since he'll have the grill fired up....I am going to have him grill us some chicken to put on salads the next day.

Which brings us to the next meal....Grilled Chicken Salad.  We'll use the mixed greens, hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, tomato, and cheese.  The girls will probably eat some leftovers or some of our chicken and salad as well.

And a Taco Ring...served with this salsa, sour cream, and salad.


Notice: I didn't put days beside them here because it is ever evolving.  It never fails....I will have each day planned out....and I still sorta do....but sometimes, depending on what's going on...it is easier to make certain things on certain days.  Also keeping in mind if I need leftovers for lunch the next day or not.

And for breakfast throughout the week....I thought we'd try these egg muffins {another recipe that we already have all of the ingredients for}


If you're in a meal planning rut, I hope this helps!

a little menu planning....

I don't do this often.  Although I would like to.

But yesterday morning, I needed to run to the bank.  Then decided I needed to run to the grocery store.  So instead of just picking up a few things that would just 'get us through' the day and maybe the next- I decided to do a quick search of some cheap, easy, and good recipes.  I didn't have much time, but wanted to have a comprehensive list....so that we were not running back to the store a few times in the week (like we usually do).

It was rainy and I had both girls, so I also wanted to make the trip quick.  I tried to pick recipes that I only needed a few more ingredients for.  Oh yeh- and they had to be easy.   Did I already say that?

Ok- so if you are in a rut like me....need some new easy ideas- I thought I'd share.  I have not tried all of them so I can't necessarily attest to the taste, but just thought I'd share what we were planning for our week.


First up- Black Bean Chicken Quesadillas- we actually made these tonight.  They were pretty good- and healthy, too.  We used wheat tortillas.  I think next time I'll use more cheese, though.  The recipe doens't call for a certain amount of anything- you just add what you want, but I was thinking a little more cheese would have made them a little better (although not as healthy, I suppose!).

For tomorrow- {and this is definitely not healthy, but looks really good!}- Dorito Casserole

We will probably eat leftovers for lunch on Wednesday and then eat up at the church Wednesday night.  It's taco night and the girls ate it pretty well the last time.

Thursday we'll probably try this- Sundried Tomato Basil Chicken.  This is a crockpot meal....just chicken and a bottle of Kraft Sundried Tomato Basil dressing.  Then I'm going to make some brown rice, and steam some frozen vegetables.  Fairly healthy.  Maybe this night will make up for Tuesday.  ;)

Friday we are planning to visit friends out of town....and Saturday morning will be Grace's birthday gathering...and Saturday night might just have to be a order-in night.  We'll see.  I also bought stuff for beef tacos, but I forgot about taco night at church, so I guess that will probably end up being a meal sometime during the weekend or next wee.  Regardless-I call it a good week to have 3 meals planned. Definitely a step up from the 0-1 I usually have planned.  ;)