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Real Life and Meal Planning – New Plans for May 20

May 19, 2013 by

WeeklyMealPlansandRealLife

 

I actually shopped with a real, printed grocery list this week!  After several weeks of not using the Weekly Meal Plans due to recipe development, crazy schedules and traveling family members, it was good to get back to shopping with a plan.

I chose the Traditional Plan for May 13, since I did my shopping for that week.  And we stuck pretty close to the menu too.

I shopped on Saturday.  Have I ever mentioned that I’m a speed shopper?  Especially in the grocery store, I don’t waste any time.  I grab that cart and I’m off!  If I can get through Walmart and home again in about an hour, I feel like I’ve really won.

Saturday evening, there were just two of us home at dinner time.  I knew others would be coming in later though, so I grilled 8 burgers.  We had sweet potato fries with them.  It tasted so good, like summertime.

Sunday was Mother’s Day.   Jim talked about taking us out to dinner, but our youngest daughter started running a fever on Saturday night.  And honestly, restaurants are pure craziness on Mother’s Day anyway.  I decided to make Crockpot Chicken Fajitas, but instead of using the crockpot I used my cast iron Dutch oven.  One of these days soon, I’m going to do a post on this pot.  I got it in December and I love it!  Best of all, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.  I got a deal at Walmart.

I also wanted to make guacamole to go with dinner, but the avocados weren’t ripe yet.  So I googled “how to ripen an avocado fast” and came up with a method for doing so in the oven.  Chalk that up to too-good-to-be-true.  It didn’t work and we ran past the store after church for riper avocados.

There was a frost warning on Sunday night, so we had to tuck the strawberry plants under covers.

strawberrycovers

On Monday, I grilled chicken tenders outside.  I grilled a whole 3lb. bag and froze the extra.  I love having cooked meat in the freezer. It makes cooking so much faster.  I did a quick no-time-marinade, and doused the frozen chicken with Italian dressing before grilling.

We took a walk after dinner.  It was beautiful outside!

The grill ran out of gas just as the chicken was finished cooking.  Perfect timing!

grillchicken

 

Tuesday, I battled a migraine. Yuck.  We had an easy dinner of mac & cheese and steamed broccoli.  I also created a new ice cream recipe Tuesday afternoon that I can’t wait to share with you.  Look for it this Wednesday.

Wednesday, my son reminded me that it was youth group night. Normally, my oldest son drives them to church, but he’s been in NYC this week.  So it was up to either Jim or me to do the driving this time.  This also made me realize that I’m losing my driver for next year.  My son, who just graduated will be living at home.  But he won’t be going the same places as my younger son any more.  I’ll be back to chauffeuring and finding carpools.

I’m writing this post on Wednesday evening and I haven’t decided what we’ll eat yet.  It will either be Garlic Lime Tilapia or Enchiladas.

Thursday is laundry and packing day.  And Friday, I’m off to Walt Disney World for the Food Blog Forum Conference!  A long weekend in one of my favorite places with some food blogger friends sounds fun to me!

Here’s a sneak peek at this week’s meal plans.  You can find out more about how to get them delivered to your inbox by clicking here.

Traditional Plan

Homemade Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker with hot dogs
Grilled sandwiches 
Pepper Jack Mac and Cheese 
Peanut chicken 
Pork Lettuce Wraps
Spanish Steak and Onions with roasted potatoes and asparagus (steak marinated in sliced onions, vinegar, and olive oil)
Frozen Mocha Marble Loaf

All Slow Cooker Plan

Garlic Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes in the Slow Cooker
Homemade Baked Beans in the Slow Cooker with hot dogs
Sweet and Sour Pork Chops in the Slow Cooker
Easy Meatball Subs
Pesto Tomato Ravioli (using cooking method from Ravioli in the Slow Cooker)
Cube Steaks and Gravy in the Slow Cooker
Lemon Cheesecake Dessert

Filed under: Menus, Summer menu Tagged with , , , 1 Comment

Real Life and Menu Planning – Slow Cooker and Traditional Plans for April 15

April 14, 2013 by

I am such a list maker.  If I don’t have a list of things that need done (or need cooking), I will forget that I was supposed to accomplish anything at all.  I’ve even been known to make lists of my lists, when life get especially busy.

Last week, we introduced printable Display Menus to the Weekly Meal Plan Service.  The Display Menus are meant to be printed and posted on the fridge or near your calendar.  I keep mine on the fridge, like you see in the photo above.  I love having it handy to consult each day.

I don’t make the meals in the order they are listed.  Instead, I try to match up the best meals for the best days.  Meaning, if I have time to fix dinner in the morning, but not in the evening then a slow cooker meal is a good choice.  Or if I know that we’ll all be getting in a different times, I can plan for that too.  With soccer season started back up, the dinner schedule gets a little crazy sometimes.

Here’s how it worked for us this week.

Sunday, after church we had 10 Minute French Dip Sandwiches.  Really quick and easy, but we got home from church very late and we were all starving!  I had bought a bag of potato chips (Mike Sells brand and if you live near Cincinnati you know how good they are!).  We plowed through almost the whole bag of chips waiting for lunch to be ready.  If you’re looking for more after church meals, check out this post.

Monday, I made South of the Border Skillet.

On Tuesday, we had several soccer practices to juggle in different parts of town.  I prepped Tilapia, Tomato and Artichoke Heart Salad and broccoli then drove across town for soccer.  I left instructions for Jim, so he could pop the fish in the oven before the rest of us got home.  I swapped side dishes for this meal too, since the artichoke salad was to be served with a different meal.  It’s just a guideline though.  Make it work for you.

Wednesday night, the boys left early for youth group and Jim got home late.  We had Chipotle Lime Chicken Scampi on the grill, but we ate it in shifts.  It was gorgeous outside that day and I was able to grill enough chicken for this meal and to stock some away in the freezer.  Our grill could use some work though, since only two of the burners would light.

Thursday is our long day.  I’m always thankful if I get dinner in the crockpot that morning.  This week, I was super organized.  I had browned out the hamburger when I came in from the grocery on Saturday, then froze it.  That made stirring a big pot of Taco Soup together easy.  I did that job on Wednesday night and we had Taco Soup on Thursday and again on Saturday evening.

This happened on Friday:

My boys got dressed up to go to the Spring formal.  They learned to tie a bow tie, had dinner out with friends and danced a lot.  Fun stuff!

Jim and I ended up taking our youngest daughter out to dinner.  She chose Carino’s.  Yum!  We did a little shopping afterward.  I debated on getting these shoes.  I left the store without them, but I’m still pondering making the purchase.

They are super comfy. I texted that photo to my sister and she wasn’t too sure about them.  My niece said they look “old lady-ish”.  Of course, my niece is 13, so everything looks old lady-ish to her.  What do you think?  Buy them or not?

That was our week in a nutshell.  Probably more than you ever wanted to know.  Hopefully, it gives you a look into how I use the Weekly Meal Plans for my family and gives you ideas for your family.

Here’s a sneak peek at the menus for this week.  If you want the complete grocery list, side dishes, cooking tips and all delivered to your inbox, check out the Weekly Meal Plans page.

Traditional Plan

  1. Chipotle Lime Chicken Scampi 
  2. 10 Minute French Dip Sandwiches 
  3. Tilapia with veggies baked in foil packets
  4. Hamburger Stroganoff
  5. South of the Border Skillet
  6. Taco Soup
  7. Easy Apple Crumb Cake

All Slow Cooker Plan

  1. Crockpot Cantonese Sweet and Sour Beef
  2. Sunday Chicken Dinner with mashed cauliflower
  3. Tilapia with veggies baked in foil packets
  4. Chicken and Gravy over Rice
  5. Beef Stew
  6. Beef Philly Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker
  7. Easy Apple Crumb Cake
Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu Tagged with , , 8 Comments

Meal Planning and Real Life – Weekly Plans for April 1

March 31, 2013 by

I promised myself that I was going to take more photos this week to share with you.  But all I have to share is this fork.  Kind of makes you wonder what we were eating, doesn’t it?  This is the second demolished fork we’ve had lately.  Does anyone else go through spurts of breaking silverware?

Since our week looked like a bunch of big kids flopped around the house running fevers and coughing, I thought I’d spare you photos of that.

We are finally over the virus-turned-bronchitis that hit all the kids.  Fingers crossed that we all stay healthy!

Last Saturday, I shopped with the Slow Cooker Plan for March 18.  I’m a little out of order, but I’m not going to worry about it.

And even though it was the Slow Cooker Plan, I chose to make several of the meals on the stove or in the oven instead.

Last Saturday, we had one kid mostly better and two who were still sick.  My oldest son had a soccer game, so I put dinner in the crockpot.  I used a meal that I hadn’t gotten to from the week before – Ham and Loaded Potato Casserole.

Sunday morning, our oldest woke up sick.  I put Garlic Chicken with More Garlic in the oven to bake.  I hadn’t gotten up early enough to cook it in the crockpot.  Jim and I went to church without the kids.  It was kind of strange to go to church just the two of us.  So different than when the kids were little and someone had to stay home with the sick ones.

I did make Chocolate Cobbler for dessert on Sunday.  Warm, chocolate dessert makes everyone feel better!

Somewhere along the way, I accidentally threw away my grocery list with the menu on it.  (Very soon, I’ve got a new feature coming for the Weekly Meal Plan Service that will solve this problem.  Look for more info next week!)

I thought that Chicken ala King was on the plan, but looking back now, I see that it wasn’t.  Regardless, we had a stove top version for dinner on Monday night.  Monday also brought doctor visits for both boys and our oldest girl, who had all progressed to bronchitis.

On Tuesday, the kids laid around sick and I joined them with a migraine.  We ended up ordering pizza for dinner.  We had planned to have a fun pizza night on Saturday, but with everyone sick we decided to skip it.  So pizza on this night was less about the fun and more about just having dinner.  We capped the day off with a round of IV antibiotics for our oldest son, who was getting worse instead of better.

We did do a lot of TV watching this week.  If you’ve got Netflix, check out Thou Shalt Laugh.

It’s on instant watch right now and there’s a second one, as well.  They are both very funny.  My favorite comedian on these shows is Taylor Mason.  Have you ever heard of him?  I hadn’t, but now I’m a huge fan.  He is talented and hysterical!

Wednesday, I made Mel’s Diner Chili.  I had browned out the hamburger on Saturday as soon as I got home from the store.  I knew that having the burger cooked and frozen would come in handy.  It did!  I made the chili on the stove and had it ready, start to finish in about 20 minutes.

On Thursday, I was rummaging in the pantry for the ingredients for Chicken Enchilada Soup, when I spied a can of coconut milk and my mind went to Chicken Curry instead.  I had the idea to use peach/pineapple/chipotle salsa in it instead of regular, but I wasn’t sure if that would be good.  So I asked on Facebook:

A bunch of readers said go for it.  So I did and it was awesome!  (On a side note, do you like the conversation style comments that Facebook rolled out this week? I do, but they are in a wacky order that’s hard to keep up with.)

Friday night we all made our own little pizzas from fixings I had bought for lunches/snacks.

This week, I’m hoping for sunny weather and a healthy family!  I wish the same for you too.

Here’s a sneak peek at the menus for this week.  If you want the complete grocery list, side dishes, cooking tips and all delivered to your inbox, check out the Weekly Meal Plans page.

All Slow Cooker Plan

  1. Whole chicken in the crockpot
  2. Tamale sandwich on cornbread
  3. Tilapia in the crock pot with garlic cheese sauce
  4. Sweet italian sausage pasta sauce
  5. Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
  6. Salsa verde steak in the slow cooker
  7. Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake with Strawberry Icing

Traditional Plan

  1. Penne Gorgonzola with Grilled Chicken
  2. Prime Time Meatloaf 
  3. Rotisserie chicken
  4. Honey Cashew Pork Sir Fry  
  5. Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole 
  6. French Bread Pizza
  7.  Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake with Strawberry Icing
I’d love to know how meal planning goes in your house.  Let me know in the comments.
Filed under: Menus, winter Tagged with , , Leave a Comment

Slow Cooker and Traditional Weekly Meal Plans – week of March 10

March 10, 2013 by

There was such a good response to the new Small version of the Weekly Meal Plans that serve just 3-4 people!  Last week, we introduced this new option, doubling the number of Meal Plans you get when you subscribe to the weekly service.  At just $4 per mont, it’s a steal!

I shopped with the Traditional Plan this week and we had Pork Burgers for dinner.  It was nice enough on Saturday to grill them outside!

Keep reading, if you’d like a sneak peek at this week’s menus.

Do you want to save an hour a week in planning time?  Get the Weekly Meal Plans and Grocery List sent to your inbox! Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 4 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional with both 3-4 serving and 6-8 serving options for each
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month
Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!
Here’s what’s on the plans this week and when you subscribe, you’ll also get suggested side dishes as well.

All Slow Cooker Plan

  1. Chicken Philly Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker 
  2. African Pulled Beef Sandwiches 
  3. Turkey Legs, Italian Sausage, and Potatoes in the Slow Cooker 
  4. Easy Pepper Steak in the Slow Cooker
  5. BBQ Chicken Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker
  6. Slow Cooker Black Bean Butternut Squash Chili
  7. Slow Cooker Whole Wheat Blueberry Coffee Cake

Traditional Plan

  1. Broccoli Soup
  2. Cheesy Rice and Meatball Skillet
  3. Kentucky Hot Brown Bake
  4. Pork Burgers
  5. Reuben Calzone
  6. Honey Lemon Pepper Salmon
  7. Coconut Cake
Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu, winter Tagged with , , , Leave a Comment

New 3-4 Serving Size Weekly Meal Plans!

March 3, 2013 by

Brand new on this week’s Meal Plans – new 3-4 serving sizes!

I’m really excited about this addition to the Weekly Meal Plans.  We’ve added a 3-4 serving size plan for both the Traditional and the All Slow Cooker Plans.  This means that each week, you’ll receive 4 plans to choose from!

The new smaller serving plans are the same recipes, only adjusted to feed a smaller family.  We didn’t just cut the ingredients in half.  Instead, we made adjustments so that you won’t have half cans of ingredients left over.  Where that wasn’t possible, we’ve given instructions for freezing or storing extra ingredients for the next time.

In the case of slow cooker recipes, it’s also best to use the right size crockpot.  Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker for the 6-8 serving size plans.  Use a 4-5 quart slow cooker for the 3-4 serving size plans.  This will help prevent overcooking your dinners.

If you have a smaller family or a family with very young kids who don’t eat much, you’re going to love the new 3-4 serving option!

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans and Grocery List sent to your inbox?  Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 4 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional with both 3-4 serving and 6-8 serving options for each
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month
Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!
Here’s a sneak peek at what’s on the Meal Plans this week.

All Slow Cooker

  1. Chicken and Dumplings in the Slow Cooker
  2. Easy Crockpot Beef Fajitas 
  3. Apple BBQ Pork Chops 
  4. Calico Bean Soup with Smoked Sausage
  5. My Favorite Cheater Meal – Tyson Crockpot Roast
  6. Mediterranean Chicken in the Slow Cooker
  7. Apple Crisp

Traditional Plan

  1. Italian Seasoned Salt and White Wine Pork Tenderloin
  2. Baked Spaghetti
  3. Pan Fried Shrimp Sandwiches 
  4. Beef and Black Bean Taco Bake
  5. Mini Deep Dish Pizzas 
  6. Cheesy Chicken Chowder
  7. Nutella Muffins
Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu, winter Tagged with , , , 2 Comments

Slow Cooker and Traditional Weekly Meal Plans for the week of Feb. 24

February 24, 2013 by

This post has the sneak peek at this week’s menu.  I’ve listed the main dishes below for the All Slow Cooker and Traditional versions of the Weekly Plans.  If you subscribe to the service, you’ll get side dish suggestions and the complete grocery list ready to print.

I’m super excited about an addition to the plans that’s coming next week.  You’re going to love it, especially if you’re cooking for just 2-4 people.  I tell you all about it next week.

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans and Grocery List sent to your inbox?  Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 2 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month
Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!

All Slow Cooker Plan

Salsa Verde Steak

Traditional Plan

Zesty Chicken with Couscous in the Slow Cooker

Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu, winter Tagged with , , Leave a Comment

Traditional and All Slow Cooker Weekly Meal Plans – Week of Feb. 18

February 17, 2013 by

On Friday, I printed off the grocery list for the Traditional Plan for this week.  Less than two hours later, I had run to the bank, the pharmacy and shopped for all the groceries.  I love not having to labor of meal planning and list making!

And we were all set for a quick, fun meal on Friday night of Gina’s Club Sandwiches.  Perfect for family game night!

If you’d like to skip the planning and get right to the shopping, subscribe to the Weekly Meal Plans and have the menus and grocery sent to your inbox each week.  At just $4 per month, it’s the best deal out there for saving time.  Saving at least an hour each week in planning time, plus having quick-to-fix dinners planned out for such a small price is a no-brainer!  I don’t know any other way to buy myself an hour for just $1.

Scroll down to see the main dishes for each menu below.  If you sign up to get the Meal Plans delivered to you, you’ll also receive side dish suggestions and recipes.  And, of course, the complete grocery list for each plan and printable recipes.

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans and Grocery List sent to your inbox?  Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 2 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month
Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!

All Slow Cooker

Brown Sugar Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Pulled Pork on sandwiches
Chicken Fiesta with Black Beans
Italian Chicken and Tomatoes
Pumpkin Black Bean Chicken Chili
Cube Steaks with Gravy
Chocolate Chip Pecan Banana Bars

Traditional

Cube Steaks with Gravy in the Slow Cooker
Fish Tacos with Chipotle Dressing
Gina’s Club Sandwiches
Easy Jambalaya
Ham and Swiss Scalloped Potatoes
Pesto and Crushed Tomato Shells
Chocolate Chip Pecan Banana Bars

Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu, winter Tagged with , Leave a Comment

Weekly Meal Plans – All Slow Cooker and Traditional – January 27

January 27, 2013 by

I printed the Traditional Meal Plan for myself this week and spent $105.78 shopping the list at Walmart.  Of course, I did add our breakfast and lunch items to the list, which raised the cost.  (I also bought new pj’s for my daughter, some candles and yarn for a new scarf.  None of that is included in the $105 cost.  Please tell me I’m not the only one to get distracted in Walmart and add things to the cart that aren’t on the list.)

I also have extras of a few of the items.  For instance, the list calls for 1 pound of ground beef but I bought 2 pounds.  It’s just as easy to brown two pounds and then I have some in the freezer for another meal.

I’m also liking being able to move between the All Slow Cooker plan and the Traditional plan, depending on what we’re in the mood for and how busy the week looks.

You can see the main dishes for each menu below.  If you sign up to get the Meal Plans delivered to you, you’ll also receive side dish suggestions and recipes.  And, of course, the complete grocery list for each plan and printable recipes.

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans sent to your inbox?  Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 2 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month
Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!
All Slow Cooker Meal Plan – Week of January 27
Traditional Meal Plan – Week of January 27
Filed under: Menus, Slow cooker menu, winter Tagged with , , , 1 Comment

Weekly Meal Plans – All Slow Cooker and Traditional – January 13

January 13, 2013 by

I love both of the menus this week.  There are some really fast dinners on the Traditional Meal Plan (like 15-20 minutes and it’s on the table).

And on the All Slow Cooker Meal Plan you’ll have a chance to stock your freezer with an extra meal or two.  I love cook-once-eat-twice!

You can see the main dishes for each menu below.  If you sign up to get the Meal Plans delivered to you, you’ll also receive side dish suggestions and recipes.  And, of course, the complete grocery list for each plan and printable recipes.

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans sent to your inbox?  Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 2 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month
Receive your first set of Weekly Meal Plans the same day you sign up!

All Slow Cooker Meal Plan for Week of January 13

 

Traditional Meal Plan for Week of January 13

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All Slow Cooker and Traditional Weekly Meal Plans – January 6

January 6, 2013 by

The new Weekly Meal Plans with grocery lists will be going out on Monday.  Subscribers to the plans get both the Traditional and the All Slow Cooker versions emailed to them each week.

Want to get the Weekly Meal Plans sent to your inbox?  Get all the info by clicking here.

By subscribing to the Weekly Meal Plans you’ll get:

  • 2 Meal Plans each week – All Slow Cooker and Traditional
  • 6 dinners and 1 dessert for each
  • Side dish suggestions
  • Complete grocery list for each plan
  • Printable recipes
  • Cooking tips and timing tricks
  • Delivered to your inbox each week for just $4 per month

I shopped with the All Slow Cooker list yesterday.  I love printing the list and knowing exactly what I need to buy.  And I love filling the crockpot in the morning and knowing that dinner is taken care of, no matter how crazy the day gets.

Here’s a sneak peek at the meals on each menu for this week.  Subscribers will also get side dish suggestions, along with cooking tips.

All Slow Cooker Meal Plan

Traditional Meal Plan

 

 

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