Meal plan 4/27 -5/2 and catching up...

I was worn out after Easter and last week was crazy busy. So sorry I did not get around to posting my plan for last week so here it is...

Meal plan 4/20 - 4/26
Sunday - Easter - Spiral ham in the Crockpot
Monday - Quesadillas
Tuesday - crockpot bacon & cheese chicken
Wednesday - Grilled hot dogs and sweet potatoes
Thursday - Teriyaki chicken and fried rice (from the freezer!)
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Dinner out :)

And here is this weeks plan...
Meal Plan 4/37 - 5/3
Sunday - Grilled chicken
Monday - Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole (from the freezer)
Tuesday - Grilled Rib-eye steaks
Wednesday - New   minestrone soup
Thursday -  New    Tex mex chicken salad
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - New  crock pot Mongolian beef  

Friday and Saturday may have some changes due to it being my Birthday and my family may have something planned or I may get really lazy :)

Here are some photos of our happy Easter!

Meal plan 4/13 - 4/19/2014

    Often when I talk with people about meal planning their first reaction is "oh I could never do that!" Or "What if something comes up?" I say Sure you can and if something comes up roll with it. Last week was a perfect example for me. Sunday I was just plain wiped out so we ordered pizza and another night I had run out of an ingredient I needed so I swapped a recipe from another night. If I remember right I swapped dinner on Tuesday and Thursday. It was an easy fix and no stress. Meal planning does take a bit of forethought but in the end it has reduced my daily stress level. I started by planning out a few weeks at a time and now I try to sit down at least once a week and plan for about 2 weeks out. As we come into warmer weather I try to always have burgers, hot dogs or brats (paired with a nice salad of course) on hand for a quick grill option if we feel like being outside or I just want a quick easy dinner.

Here is my list for this week...
Sunday - Cheesy Potato soup W / ham
Monday - Kielbasa W / onions and bell peppers
Tuesday - Chili W/ Cornbread (Chili is from the Freezer)

Wednesday -  Roasted Chicken (in the Crockpot)
Thursday -  Mexican Chicken Salad Inspired buy this recipe
Friday - Crockpot steak fajitas
Saturday -  Pizza, We will be eating out since we will be at a family outing.

Steel cut oats... AKA my favorite breakfast at the moment :)

If you like oatmeal at all I think you will like steel cut oats. They are really good for you and I like the bit of "chew" in the texture.

Honestly I had not even heard of "steel cut oats"until about a year ago. Luckily they are easy to find in most grocery stores in the same area of the store where you find your regular oatmeal.

There are a few different ways to cook them (none quick) but its worth it since its mostly waiting time no real "work" is involved.

I made this yesterday morning...

I know it's hard to see the oats since I covered it with fruit but it's under there :)

I made a single serving by following the directions on the package. It took about 45minutes to cook.

I added
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup of raisins (toward the end of cooking)

Toppings can be anything you like.Think dried fruit of your favorite nuts. Bananas and blackberries are my current favorite :)

If you want to make this for a crowd there are 2 options that I have found that work well with little effort... either cook overnight in a Crockpot or prepare the and let the oats soak in the cooking liquid over night then cook in the morning for 5-10 minutes.

Here are 2 recipes I have tried:  crockpot overnight steel cut oats

When I made this I had no apples or flax seed. It was still fine. Next time I will add an exrtra 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and at least 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla. ( if you are using a really good quality vanilla I would use a bit less)   *TIP* I am not a huge fan of Crock pot liners but for this it would be worth it! Mine was slightly overcooked and not the most fun to clean. Oh... it might not have been so bad if I had remembered to oil my crock :)

Recipe 2... overnight steel cut oats  It's Crazy good! Not to mention simple!

Meal plan 3/31 - 4/5 2014

Monday - scalloped potatoes and ham  
Tuesday - slow cooker balsamic pot roast recipe  New!
Wednesday - chicken hard tacos
Thursday - Hut Dogs w/ oven roasted fries & salad
Friday - Pizza ( dough recipe ) More info Here
Saturday - pork roast with apples and onions   New!
 

Meal plan Jan 26th - Feb1st 2014

I'm working on meal planning again for many reasons...
1. My kids have after school activities 4 days a week
2. I'm working part time (which I love and am grateful for!)
3. I want to use my crock pot more due to the fact that my oven and stove are propane and the price of propane has skyrocketed here in the Midwest.

Sunday: Hungarian Goulash
Monday: Bacon and Cheese Chicken
Tuesday: Steak fajitas
Wednesday: Potato soup
Thursday: Tater tot hot dish (it's a MN thing!)
Friday: Sweet Garlic Chicken ( NEW! I saw this allover FB and want to try it!)
Saturday: Ravioli with Italian beef

All these recipes will be made in the Crockpot!

Here is the Steak Fajita recipe :)  Print

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salsa
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pound of steak, trimmed of excess fat. Flank is good I generally use tenderized round (AKA cubbed steak)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips   (you can use all green peppers to save $!)
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro for garnish (dried is OK too)

Directions:
In a small mixing bowl, combine salsa, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper. Place flank steak in a 4-5 quart slow cooker and pour sauce over steak, making sure to coat steak well. Add bell peppers and onion. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours (OR on high heat setting 3 to 4 hours).

Remove steak and vegetables from juice and let steak stand 10 minutes before slicing. Slice steak thinly across grain of meat. Serve with peppers and onion. Garnish with fresh cilantro and your favorite toppings.

*TIPS*

If you want more heat use a spicier salsa or add diced Jalapeños.

This is great with guacamole or a Mango Salsa!

For more tender meat place your beef on the counter for about an hour before adding to crock pot. I'm not sure why this works but it does for me.

I highly recommend cooking this on Low Vs. High!


My favorite Guacamole (that my husband will eat!)
1 ripe avocado mashed
1-2 Tablespoons finely diced red onion
1 Teaspoon lime juice or to taste
salt to taste
cilantro to taste 1/2 Teaspoon dried or 1 teaspoon diced fresh
1 roma tomato diced (optional)  I do not add this when the Hubby is sharing :)
1 diced Jalapeño (optional) I do not normally add this for myself.

If a recipe does not have a link either it is new, I do not have it typed up yet or its a recipe i never do the same way twice :) It's just how I roll...

Meal plan 4/22 - 4/28

Sunday - Glazed meatloaf
Monday - Orange chicken w/ fried rice NEW
Tuesday - Grilled Burgers w/grilled potatoes
Wednesday - Kielbasa w/ peppers & onions
Thursday - Tater tot hot dish
Friday - Chicken enchiladas (filling for this is leftover from last weeks grilled chicken tacos. I will just add some cooked rice to the filling)
Saturday - Grilled steak... I need something no fuss and easy since I will be busy hosting my Pampered Chef show :) I am sooo excited!

On my list to try this week... Home Made yogurt... I have been doing lots of reading so we will see what happens :)

Best Glazed Meatloaf I Have Ever Eaten

I love meatloaf, always have, but I struggle with making meatloaf with good full flavor. I never make it the same way twice so  I have been searching for recipes. While I love Ree the PW I do not like her meatloaf recipe. So sorry Ree! I have found a Crock pot recipe that is pretty good and have made multiple times Here is that recipe Mary's Meatloaf .  While watching my much loved PBS cooking shows last weekend Bridget made a glazed meatloaf that looked good and not to putzy. I normally do not like glazed meatloaf because in my experience the top it just slimy and mushy. I must say that this recipe is really good! It did take a bit of time to assemble but I made enough for 2 dinners :) The glaze tasted great and was caramelized beautifully! Here is the recipe Glazed Meatloaf from Cooks Country

*UPDATE *  I have changed the basic recipe just a bit to reflect how I make it.  here is my printable...

 

To make cleanup easier I lined a large sheet pan with foil and placed an oven safe cooling rack on top. I then put a smaller piece of foil on top of the rack and poked a bunch of holes in the foil so grease could run off. (I hate grease soaked meatloaf!) It worked well. They still needed to be washed but it was not too bad considering

If you do not like Thyme you may need to decrease the amount of that herb. It was a tiny bit too much for me. I did not use all the glaze on the loaf. Next time I will either use it all or cook what is left in a pot on the stove to serve with the meatloaf. We all really liked the taste of this.It is a keeper in my book and I will make it this way again.

I hope you like it too!

What we ate last week and this weeks plan

Time got away from me last week so I never posted last week’s dinner plan. Here is what we ate last week.

Sunday …  Easter ham I saved .50 a LB and got the same cut as the Spiral Ham I normally get from Aldi and looked up a glaze recipe. Basic Ham glaze

Monday…  I was under the weather so I caved and we had frozen Pizza from Aldi

Tuesday…Scalloped Potatoes and Ham A-la The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond

Wednesday… Rush hour Chicken Fajitas One of my favorite recipes from my time as a Pampered Chef consultant. Every Busy mom needs this recipe!

Thursday… Sloppy Joe’s

Friday… Pork Chops w/roasted sweet potato wedges

Saturday… Burgers on the grill w/ Loaded baked potato Salad

And here is the plan for this week…4/15/12 - 4/21/12

Sunday …  Whole Chicken roasted in the Crockpot

Monday…  Cheeseburger Macaroni

Tuesday… Shredded Chicken Hard Tacos courtesy of Nick at Macheesmo

Wednesday… Pulled Pork (not totally sure of how I will prepare this yet except it will be in the Crockpot

Thursday…  Tortellini bites (basically served with a Parmesan and butter sauce)

Friday… Pizza

Saturday… Meatloaf, I saw a great episode of Cooks country this weekend and I want to try out their recipe.

Enjoy!

So sorry I have not had a chance to type up my Easter bread recipe's I will get to it I promise!

Meal plan for week of 4/1 - 4/7

Sunday...  Chicken Enchiladas
Monday... Chicken teriyaki with fried rice
Tuesday... Diablo beef (arm roast in Crock pot) New
Wednesday...   Garlic Chicken
Thursday... Pizza (home made) We did not end up having this last week :)
Friday... not sure what is going on yet... I think we are going to a pot luck banquet so I need to figure this out.
Saturday... Sour Cream and Bacon Crockpot Chicken New