Menu Planning

My mom has been bugging me to try e-mealz for a long time because she thought it would help simplify my life. I kept putting it off as motherly advice and something I didn't need. During her last visit, though, I finally gave in to her nagging suggestion. : )

I'm so happy I did. I love, love, love this system!

I've tried online meal planning systems before and they just didn't work.

Here's how this one is different:

1. The meals taste really good!

We've been doing this for two weeks now and haven't had a meal we didn't like. My family has been very happy! With the old plans we were lucky to get a 50% family approval rate. Some of the meals were terrible.

2. Easy to read and only two pieces of paper-

Each week on Thursday, I log in and print off my menu plan and grocery list for Wal-Mart. It is well organized, easy to read, and fits on two pieces of paper- one grocery list spreadsheet and one menu plan spreadsheet that include all of the directions for preparing the meals. The other plans I tried, I would have to print pages and pages of directions and recipes.

3. I'm not wasting ingredients-

The old plans would have me buy a jar of expensive pesto sauce for one meal that I would never use again. I've noticed that with this plan, ingredients get used again to prevent being wasteful.

4. It's easy to skip meals we won't use-

The grocery list is numbered according to what meal the item is needed for, so it is very easy to mark off items if I know I won't be making that meal this week. If we are going out to dinner or to a friend's house one night, I just cross off one meal from the menu plan and each item on the list that has that meal's number.

5. Not every meal is some complicated major recipe-

I got burned out on cooking with the old plans. With this one, there are some more detailed recipes (like Chicken Florentine Lasagna- YUMMMY!!!) but one night we had Pigs in a Blanket (hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls- which the kids LOVED) and another night was soup and sandwiches to use up the leftover meat from the roast the night before. It is so practical and easy!!

6. It is easy to budget for-

When I signed up, I chose the grocery store I would be using (Wal-Mart) and the grocery list gives me an estimated cost for each item and an approximate total. I've noticed that they try to include items on sale that week in the recipes for the week.

The whole system only costs $5 a month (billed every three months for $15), and because I found a coupon code from Dave Ramsey, it only cost $12.50 for these first three months. (The code was DAVE) I can budget for the cost out of our grocery budget.

I cannot put into words how great it has felt to:

1. Not get to 5:00 and have to ask the dreaded question, "What are we going to eat for dinner???"

2. Feed my family well.

You can also choose to do a menu plan for only 2 people if you are newlyweds or empty nesters or you can choose a diet plan like Weight Watchers or low carb.

I'm sorry if I sound like an infomercial. I'll stop now. I'm just so thankful for this and wanted to share the joy. LOL. : )

Here's the link again if you want to give it a try:

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Here Comes Another W.O.W. Challenge and a Recipe to Make While You are Busy

Are you ready for another within one week (W.O.W.) challenge? I hope so! I will have the kick-off post up tomorrow and the week will run from June 17 - June 24.

The W.O.W. challenges are always so much fun. I look forward to seeing who is going to play along and what kind of projects we are all working on. I'll let you know about mine tomorrow. No paint this time unfortunately. I have to do a "doesn't cost us anything" project this time. : )

My friend, Jessica, asked her blog readers to post a favorite recipe, so I thought I'd share one that you could make during your W.O.W. week when you are too busy to bother with a complicated dinner. This one is super easy and seems to be a crowd pleaser.

It was given to me by Faith, a friend I made on our adoption yahoo group. Faith was kind enough to send out a whole database of recipes to other moms, and this one became one of our favorite dinners. Thanks, Faith!



Faith's Cranberry Chicken



Ingredients:

1 can of Whole Berry Cranberries
1 Packet of Onion Soup Mix
1 Bottle of French Dressing
Frozen Chicken breasts or tenders. Ummmm....I don't know how many pounds: Just fill up a 13x9 pan. : ) (More NonPerfectionism Shining Through!!!)

***Yes- I DID SAY FROZEN CHICKEN!!!

That's part of why I LOVE this recipe. You don't have to thaw the chicken first. As long as you keep chicken in the freezer and the other three ingredients in the pantry, you've got an easy dinner when you need it.

Directions:

1. Mix cranberries, soup mix, and dressing together in a mixing bowl.

2. Pour over your chicken like this:

(It doesn't look that appetizing at this point. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of it all finished. We were too busy eating it, I guess.)

3. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes. Cut chicken pieces into bite size pieces if you didn't use tenders. I just take two knives and randomly cut it up right in the pan.

I highly recommend serving it with couscous and steamed broccoli as sides.


Near East Parmesan Couscous is the best and only takes 5 minutes to cook
(The sauce mixes together with the couscous and it is yummy)



Don't overcook the broccoli...should be bright green and slightly "al dente"
Dark, mushy broccoli is NOT yummy

Hope your family likes it, too!

Make sure you spread the word about W.O.W. The more people who play along the more fun we have.

See you tomorrow!

Love,

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More Fun With Apples

The girls and I had so much fun this morning. They got it into their heads that they wanted to make homemade applesauce. I blew them off at first and then I thought, "Why not?"

So I got online and found a recipe on Cooks.com
It was so easy!

4 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar (or white)
A few shakes of cinnamon
Put cut-up apples, sugar, cinnamon, and water into a 2-quart saucepan. Cover and cook at medium heat (simmering) for 15-20 minutes. Let apples cool, then mash them with a fork. 4 servings

Actually, here's one more MOST IMPORTANT ingredient:


And instead of a fork, we used my hand blender. It made a more familiar consistency.

As you can see, we ate it ALL up! It was delicioso!!! But don't take my word for it:



My only complaint is that this recipe didn't make enough. We all only got about 3 tablespoons each. (They were small apples) I think I'll triple the recipe next time (I wouldn't double or triple the sugar though, it was plenty for even more apples). Or even better, I think I'm going to make up a big batch next year and can them for the winter. (Wish I knew how..hint hint Mom? Recycling Man?) It sure made our house smell good again! Now if the cleaning fairy would just show up and clean up around here, it would be a perfect Norman Rockwell scene.

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I Was Proud of Dinner Tonight

Fall is in the air around here. It is so beautiful! I love looking out my windows at the leaves changing color.


I knew I wanted a dinner tonight that matched the weather. I think I succeeded and my family loved it. Even my youngest daughter who is THE PICKIEST EATER ON THE PLANET!!!!! She gave me thumbs up and that is a big deal. It was so easy to make so I thought I'd share it with you:


The Menu:
Roast
Carrots and Potatoes
Baked Apples for dessert


How:


Rub meat LIBERALLY with Johnny's Seasoning Salt. Johnny's is the most important ingredient. With this meal you cannot get enough Johnny's on everything. (except the apples haha) See how it says, "It's Pure Magic" on the bottle? It really is magic on roast.

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan and brown the meat on all sides.

Put whole carrots and sliced potatoes (circles) in the crockpot. Cover them all with lots of Johnny's

Put meat on top and add 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook on low all day in crockpot.


Baked apples:

Core apples
In a bowl mix 1/4 cup brown sugar w/ 1 TBSP of cinnamon. Fill the apples with this mixture and put a pat of butter on top. Pour 3/4 cup of boiling water around it all and then bake at 350 degrees until very soft. I only baked them for 30 minutes today and it wasn't long enough.

They will make your house smell like heaven. It's 10:00 and I can still smell the apples.


How to serve it:

Cut the meat and put it in serving bowls w/ the veggies and cover all of it with the juice left in the crockpot.

Serve the meat and veggies on to plates and shake a little more Johnny's on top. (I swear they did not pay me to advertise)


OK, here's the part where you will think I'm crazy, but I want you to put sour cream on top of it all. On the meat. On the veggies. I promise it is really good. If you are a reader from my fitness blog- I measured the sour cream! : ) Please do not put fat free sour cream on this meal. It would ruin it!


I wish I had taken some pictures of the finished product and my family enjoying it, but I guess if I start snapping pictures of dinner I will have really gone off the blogging deep end! : )

Hope you are enjoying Fall.


Love,

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Zucchini Bread- A Childhood Memory

Daiquiri's talking zucchini today, too. She has a LOT of ideas about what to do with it after it leaves your garden.

It's zucchini time of year again! : )

I have fond memories of my mom's zucchini bread. Every summer she would harvest the zucchini out of our garden, run it through the food processor, and then freeze it for winter. Then at Christmas time, she'd make loaves of zucchini bread as gifts for our neighbors. Of coarse there were loaves for our family, too.

Now that we have our own zucchini bread coming out of the garden, I've been making my own loaves for my own family. I do freeze some, but we can't wait until winter to have our treat.

I love zucchini bread. I love the smell, the taste, and the nostalgia.

I hope you enjoy it, too:

Sally’s Zucchini Bread

Combine all ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 TBSP cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 c. oil
2 c. sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
2 c. grated zucchini
Nuts if desired

Makes 2 regular loaves or 3 small ones
(Don’t flour or grease pan)

Lighter version: substitute applesauce for oil equal parts

Enjoy! If you are one of my neighbors and I show up with zucchini bread, you still need to act happy even if you make your own now. : )

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Sunday Morning Breakfast

We are having Aunt Angie's baked oatmeal this morning for breakfast. : )

My sister-in-law, Angie, made this for us the last time we visited. We were hooked. It's baking right now, and it smells so good, I thought I'd post the recipe so your house can smell like ours does right now. : )

The girls are running around going "Yippee, yippee. We are having Aunt Angie's oatmeal, Aunt Angie's oatmeal."

Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
(I use Old Fashioned Oats and they work fine, too)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins
(Angie uses Craisins instead and it's yummy that way, too)
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, applesauce, vanilla, butter, and egg. Add milk mixture to oat mixture; stir well. Pour oat mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Serve warm.
Yield
5 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup)

Originally from Cooking Light magazine. (we added the vanilla)

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Lysa's Recipe Swap

One of my favorite bloggers, Lysa TerKeurst, is hosting a recipe swap today. For all of you visiting from Lysa's, welcome to my new blog.

Lysa, this recipe always gets rave reviews and is super easy to make. I begged for it from my friend Tonia and make it often.

Tonia's Enchilada Casserole:

1 Chopped Onion
2 TBSP Butter
3 - 4 Chicken Breasts diced
1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1 can diced green chilies (mild or hot: I use 1/2 of a small can each of the hot and mild green chilies. That seems to be the perfect combo for our taste buds)
4 small Flour Tortillas
8 oz. shredded Cheddar Cheese (can use as much as 16 oz, but 8 oz. is usually enough)

Saute onion and butter, add chicken and cook through. Add soups, broth, and chilies. Bring to a boil.

Layer tortillas, sauce, and cheese 2 times. Bake at 350 for 35- 45 minutes.

Serve over sticky rice (I think Niko Niko brand Cal-Rose Rice is the best, but any brand of Cal-Rose will work) and with plenty of sour cream. Yum!

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