{Meal Planning} Week Two Update.

I started out with semi-lofty plans for Week Two of Meal Planning, blogged about here. Really actually the plans were not semi-lofty, they were basic at best. And yet life got in the way. It seems work days around here get busier and busier as we edge towards the end of the school year. This week coming up, for example, I have two meetings after school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (after teaching a full day) and I also have choir practice Monday, a wine club Tuesday (yay!), and a choir concert Wednesday. I'm already tired.

So, excuses aside, we did make one of the three planned meals for last week. We made the Spinach (and artichoke but we forgot them) Macaroni and Cheese:

Wednesday: Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe found here.

You'll need: 

• pasta (we'll use ditalini because we have it)
• diced onion
• garlic cloves (2 but let's be honest, we'll use 5)
• fresh spinach
• artichokes (jarred with marinade is good)
• whole milk 
• dijon mustard
• 2 cups shredded cheese (some mixture of cheeses TBD)
• 2 TBSP flour

It was pretty good but I will be making some adjustments to the recipe before we try it again, namely getting a more pronounced cheese and using more of the mustard to give it a "bite." 

We also had a mixed greens salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar, topped with feta. And milk. I'm still on a milk kick. 


Something that I didn't do on purpose but thought was funny about this picture - look and see for yourself. We do love Tennessee and the Vols but I didn't mean to have three power Ts in that picture!


So here we are, back to another week of meal planning. This will be week three and will definitely feature the ill-fated chicken pockets of week two (that Beamer at the chicken for, forcing us to go Outback tonight, referenced here). 




In second chances (for life and meals),

{Make this}: Meal Planning Week Two.

Last week I wrote about wanting to reinstate the meal planning that I did a lot before. To that end, I wrote out our meals for the week and reported back to stay accountable. At the end of the post, I linked the follow ups to the meals we made. And overall, we were successful - we made three of the four meals. The only meal we didn't make was the chicken caesar pitas, which is funny because it was the one I was most excited about. Turns out that Wednesday we were going to make them and Jake had a chicken caesar wrap for lunch from school without knowing we were eating it for dinner. So you may notice the chicken caesar pitas make an appearance on this one too!

Here's my meal plan + grocery list:

Monday: Chicken Caesar Pitas, Take Two

You'll need:

• caesar salad kit
• chicken (cubed and cooked)
• feta cheese
• pita pockets
• salt/pepper

You'll do:

1) Cook your chicken however you like to. 

2) Make your salad kit - toss in chicken and feta cheese. Salt and pepper lightly.

3) Heat pita pockets in oven slightly, just to make crisp.

4) Stuff salad mixture into pita pockets. 

Tuesday: Fiesta Chicken Pockets + Salad

Recipe found here. 

You'll need:

• crescent rolls
• shredded chicken
• cream cheese, 1 box
• fiesta ranch dip packet
• cheddar cheese, shredded

I think we'll add Rotel tomatoes to our chicken pockets. Salad will be a fresh spring mix with olive oil and red vinegar and some bits of feta left over from the chicken pitas. 

Wednesday: Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe found here.

You'll need: 

• pasta (we'll use ditalini because we have it)
• diced onion
• garlic cloves (2 but let's be honest, we'll use 5)
• fresh spinach
• artichokes (jarred with marinade is good)
• whole milk 
• dijon mustard
• 2 cups shredded cheese (some mixture of cheeses TBD)
• 2 TBSP flour

Thursday I have a meeting that serves dinner (sweet! free food!) so Jake will have to fend for himself. 

Friday we'll do something fun for the weekend like making nachos but I'm not holding myself to it so I'm not buying groceries for it. 

So there you have it - the plan for the week. This one is a bit crazy at work with meetings and such so here's to making it through!

In pinterest (where these recipes came from!),

{Make this}: Meal Planning Update, Day Four.

This week I have been doing blogging updates about my meal plan for the week, posted last Sunday. Thursday night was Cilantro Lime Chicken night and we decided to turn that into chicken tacos. I was pretty durn pleased with the results and wanted to share our method:

After following these crock pot instructions, we took corn tortillas and warmed them on the skillet, 2X as many as the tacos we wanted. We then took the tortillas and stacked two together and then put the shredded chicken mixture on the tortilla with shredded cheese on top. We then broiled the tacos until the cheese was browned and then added fresh chopped cilantro before serving. We got the idea from our favorite Mexican restaurant, Las Delicias. To eat, you fold these into a taco (which is misleading because they are served open faced).

Suggestions: for the crock pot, make sure to add your cilantro towards the end of the crock-pot time. Make sure to use two corn tortillas for each taco because the juice from the chicken causes the tacos to rip.

In cilantro and cheese,

{Make this}: Meal Planning Day Two Update.

On Sunday I blogged about our meals for the week and have been checking in after every meal we make to show the "after." Tuesday night we made the Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichoke from Real Simple. The recipe is here, on their website.

My thoughts on this meal: very easy to make, filling, inexpensive in terms of ingredients, would be a great pre-make and deliver with instructions for a sick friend/new family/new neighbor. Spinach makes it healthy.

Suggestions: make sure you buy creamed frozen spinach. Last time we bought chopped spinach and it just did not do as well. There were tons of frozen spinach packages at our store but only one kind of creamed spinach. Also get a big thing of fresh mozzarella and grate it yourself instead of the bagged stuff or the little mozz pearls. It makes a difference. We broiled it per instructions but it was still cold in the center so we had to put it in for longer, so use your own judgement.

In saving money and eating well (or trying...),

{Make this}: Update on Meal Plan Day One.

I blogged on Sunday about my meal planning for the week. With Jake starting his major study time for the boards, I knew we needed to be organized, eat well, and be efficient.

Last night we made Monday's menu item, which was Chinese Chicken. I shared the recipe on my Sunday post, which I've provided here:

Monday - Chinese Chicken

You'll need:

• boneless/skinless chicken breasts (chopped into cubes)
• Szechwan seasoning (on the spice aisle)
• olive oil
• white rice
• veggie of choice (broccoli works well)

You'll do:
1) Cook some white rice (hopefully you know how to do that...?).

2) In a wok (or frying pan), heat oil (we use olive oil.. you could probably use peanut oil). While that is heating, take your cubed chicken breasts and toss them in your seasoning. Once the oil is hot, cook the chicken in it, adding seasoning as needed.

3) Steam your broccoli or chosen veggie (we're doing edamame this time).

4) Serve all tossed together in a bowl, use soy sauce as you see fit.


And here's the result:

We made enough for leftovers for lunch. Jake and I shared the edamame, it was from the frozen food section and we steamed it in the microwave, put some sea salt on it, and dipped it in Toasted Asian Vinaigrette Light dressing.

We did have a bit of trouble finding the Szechwan seasoning. At our old grocery store (before the Kroger takeover) Spice Island had a Szechwan spice that we used. We needed more and our new Kroger was very sub-par in this department. We ended up finding a packet seasoning in the Asian section that worked fine but wasn't quite as good.

ps - I read that dairy aids in weight loss so I am starting to drink a glass of skim milk with dinner. I figure even if it isn't true, at least I'm replacing soda/sugary drinks with milk and getting some calcium which will be good for hair and nails.

In meal planning,

{Make this}: Meal Planning.

We're trying to get back into the habit of grocery shopping for the week around here (off and on we're really good about it.. then not so much). So today while we were eating lunch, I sat down and made a list of meals for the week (4 dinners) and the groceries we'd need to make them:

If you want to make these meals at home too, here are the links/instructions you'll need:

Monday - Chinese Chicken

You'll need:

• boneless/skinless chicken breasts (chopped into cubes)
• Szechwan seasoning (on the spice aisle)
• olive oil
• white rice
• veggie of choice (broccoli works well)

You'll do:
1) Cook some white rice (hopefully you know how to do that...?).

2) In a wok (or frying pan), heat oil (we use olive oil.. you could probably use peanut oil). While that is heating, take your cubed chicken breasts and toss them in your seasoning. Once the oil is hot, cook the chicken in it, adding seasoning as needed.

3) Steam your broccoli or chosen veggie (we're doing edamame this time).

4) Serve all tossed together in a bowl, use soy sauce as you see fit.

Tuesday: Spinach Mozzarella Pasta Bake

You'll need:

• large pasta
• frozen creamed spinach (9oz package)
• 14 oz can artichoke hearts, rinsed and quartered
• 2 cups mozzarella, grated
• parm cheese, grated

(recipe here)

Wednesday: Caesar Pita Pockets

You'll need:

• caesar salad kit
• chicken (cubed and cooked)
• feta cheese
• pita pockets
• salt/pepper

You'll do:

1) Cook your chicken however you like to. 

2) Make your salad kit - toss in chicken and feta cheese. Salt and pepper lightly.

3) Heat pita pockets in oven slightly, just to make crisp.

4) Stuff salad mixture into pita pockets. 

Thursday: Cilantro Lime Chicken 

*crockpot recipe*

You'll need:

• jarred salsa
• boneless skinless chicken breasts
• taco seasoning
• chopped cilantro (fresh)
• optional: tortillas for tacos, sour cream, mexican cheese

recipe found here

{Update}: Here are the blog posts for each day that we did of the meal plan

•      Monday: Chinese Chicken
•      Tuesday: Spinach Mozzarella Pasta Bake
•      Thursday: Cilantro Lime Chicken (Tacos)

In frugal food endeavors,

Meal Planning for the week

Another Sunday is upon us, so this morning after church, Jake and I sat down and looked through our pantry and recipes and decided our grocery list for the week (this was after Jake wanted to go sans list to the store and I was not ok with that...)

I wanted to keep this week's recipes light and simple because I feel like we ate really heavily over the weekend. I looked to Real Simple and got 4 recipes I was interested in... so here they are. 

Monday: Linguine with Asparagus and Pine Nuts

 Tuesday: Rigatoni with Roasted Sausage and Broccoli

 Wednesday: Spiced Shrimp with Green Beans and Lime (but we'll do chicken, as I don't eat shrimp)

Thursday: Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichoke

 So that is the plan for the week.... I haven't ever made any of these so if they are good, I'll report back!