Back To Cooking

I have been slacking off with cooking lately. It's time to get it in gear. It's been a while since I sat down to write out a meal plan so over the weekend I took pen to paper and wrote out our meals for the next week:

Monday: Teriyaki Turkey Burgers w/Green Beans & Potatoes...

Dele wanted fried rice instead of potatoes....

Tuesday: Oven Fried Chicken {recipe posted here} w/Zucchini & Fruit

Wednesday: Chicken Tostadas w/Spanish Rice

Thursday: Salmon w/Sweet Potatoes & {Me: A big salad; I don't eat Salmon}

Friday: Whole Wheat Pasta w/Meatballs, Garlic Bread & Salad

Saturday: Filet Mignon w/Mashed Potatoes & Asparagus

Sunday: Chicken Kabobs w/ New Orleans Style Dirty Rice & Corn

I'm not a stickler for sticking to the meal that has been designated for a certain day. I make whatever our tastebuds feel like from the list, but it's good for me to have a visual of what all our options are. Do you ever hit burn out with cooking? My break was nice while it lasted but it's time for me to get back in the saddle.

Last Nights Dinner: Oven Fried Chicken! {Recipe Included}

Last night I took out my recipe binder and thumbed through the pages to look for something that sounded good for dinner... I suggested Bourbon Chicken but my husband wasn't really feeling that...so I went on to suggest oven fried chicken...and he was all about it! The last time I made this {for the first time} it was SO GOOD!!! I used chicken breasts and pounded them thin, but this time I chose to slice up the chicken breasts into more of a chicken tender shape. I use this recipe {which I write out below}, found on All Recipes. Ingredients
12 chicken thighs {I did 4 large chicken breasts, cut into chicken tender sizes}
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs {I added 1/2 c more}
Salt and Pepper to taste {add this to your flour; approx 1 tsp of each}
1 teaspoon paprika {you will sprinkle this on your chicken before baking}
1/2 cup vegetable oil {I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil}
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Place flour in a shallow plate or bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the bread crumbs in another shallow plate or bowl and beat the eggs in another bowl.
3.Dredge the chicken piece by piece in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs, until all pieces are coated. Pour the oil into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add the chicken to the dish and sprinkle with paprika to taste. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then turn pieces over and bake for another 30 minutes {don't miss this step!}. Remove from oven and drain on paper towels. Enjoy!

This is what your chicken will look like after you've coated it with flour, egg and bread crumbs - with the oil in the bottom of your dish....
Just need to sprinkle the top of the chicken w/ paprika before placing in the oven!....
And in it goes - and you don't have to stand on your feet for an hour frying chicken AND it's healthier!...
About 15 minutes before the chicken is ready to come out, I sauteed some zucchini. Mashed potatoes would have been an additional yummy side but we don't need to be eating potatoes right now ; )
And this is what your chicken will look like when it comes out!!....

Serve it up and enjoy!!!

And remember...eat all your veggies ; )

Meal Planning and Trying Out New Recipes!

Last week I went to pick up my "monthly prescription" from CVS and while I was waiting I saw the below Cooking Light Magazine. The thing that particularly stood out to me on the cover was "Slow Cooking Made Easy".

Lately it has become more difficult to have dinner ready by the time my husband gets home {my goal that sometimes happens, sometimes doesn't} because Ilah is at my feet. While although I open up the tupperware cupboard and let her have at it, those plastic lids and bowls only keep her occupied for so long. Sooner rather than later those plastic pices are no longer playful distractions as soon enough she is reaching up for things on the kitchen counters {she is that tall now that she can reach right on up and now get things}, pulling at my pant leg, rearranging the kitchen mats {and pulling up the non-slip grips underneath}, fussing for "something", and being my shadow as I reach in and out of the refrigerator for ingredients. It seems that it takes twice as long to make a meal now. So it's time to utilize my slow cooker more!

I bought the above March issue of Cooking Light Magazine after thumbing through and noticing MANY delicious recipes, and while although my full intension was to solely hone in on the slow cooker recipes, the pages that I dog-eared the most were not the slow cooker ones. I couldn't help it...after seeing the dishes I had to flag them and add them to my meal planner to make them.

From the Cooking Light Magazine, this is what I made for dinner on Friday night...and it was DELICIOUS. It's "Caramel Pork with radish-Squash Slaw" - but I used Chicken instead, and made grilled carrots.

Get recipe here

Last week while I was planning out my menus for the next several weeks, I pulled many recipes from these new magazines to try out...

I also am making many dishes out of this book as well....

I probably have twenty-five to thirty recipes flagged in this book alone! Since I cook mostly Chicken, I scooped up this book {$4.99, Homegoods} when I saw it! I found it online for just $2.50 + shipping {go here}. It's full of recipes for Soups and Appetizers, Light Bites, Main Courses and Entertaining.

So technically this isn't a "meal planner" but rather a date book that I turned into my meal planner and it's perfect!....



Last week I sat down and planned out FOUR weeks worth of meals based on two grocery shopping trips.....

Below are the meals written out in my "meal planner". I'm not a stickler for following it to a "t". So if we feel like eating something other than what's written out for that day, I will just swap meals. Also, many of these meals call for some of the same ingredients which allows for day-ahead preparation of the following days meal, or a side item as a leftover the next days meal. And in some cases there may be enough leftover for dinner the next night, in which case I won't have to cook what's been planned on that day.

Mon: Rotisserie Chicken w/Wild Rice & Corn
Tues: Beef Chili & Cornbread
Wed: Leftovers
Thurs: Caramel Chicken, Rice & Peas and Grilled Carrots
Fri: Leftovers
Sat: Angel Hair and Bruschetta
Sun: Taco Night! w/Spanish Rice & Beans

Mon: Shrimp Pad Tai
Tues: Asian Glazed Chicken w/Rice & String Beans
Wed: Turkey Burgers, Sweet Potatoes {for him}, Corn {for me}, and Salad
Thurs: Cajun Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Dirty Rice {yes, that's what it's called! Ha!}
Fri: Terriyaki Chicken Stirfry w/Brown Rice
Sat: Brisket w/Parmesean Potatoes & Corn
Sun: Baked Chicken Tenders, Okra, Black-Eyed Peas & Rice

Mon: Slow Cooker Jumbalaya
Tues: Pasta Florentine w/Turkey & Spinach, Salad & Garlic Bread
Wed: Leftovers
Thurs: BBQ Chicken, Stuffing, Corn
Fri: Plum Meatballs w/Marinara Sauce and Grilled Mixed Veggies
Sat: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Sun: Grilled Salmon w/Wild Rice & Sweet Potatoes

Mon: Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Tues: Leftovers
Wed: Baked Chicken, Potatoes & Carrots
Thurs: Homemade Pizza
Fri: Burboun Chicken over Rice
Sat: Dinner Out
Sun: Make a meal from whatever you have on hand! Maybe I will do Steak Fajitas or my mom's Steak Picado!

Everything that is made for dinner is my husband's lunch the next day, unless he decides to go out with some co-workers.

Everything is prepared fresh, from scratch...except the corn and beans ; )

Do I always do a 4 week meal plan? No. But I tend to generate a lot of mental meals after I done my INTENTIONAL grocery shopping {intentional meaning I don't buy things on a whim - I view the grocery store ad, see what's on sale, and match up coupons to the sales items for even more of a savings; and sometimes I just want to make a certain dish and need special ingredients which also makes my grocery store visit intentional}...then I take the time to go through my refrigerator/freezer/pantry with a pencil and pad in hand {and also refer to my magazine pages that I have flagged}, and that's how I plan out my meals.

If you don't have anything at the moment to write down your meal planning in, you can always just print these free downloadable Monthly Menu Planner sheets. You can go here to see my original post!

Perhaps you would like a Weekly Menu Plan rather than a monthly one...just visit the link above!

Over the years I have gotten many recipes off of AllRecipes. Their site has always been great but they have enhanced it to make it even better. I just love this new tool now on their site...


If you would rather a site that does the meal planning for you, AllRecipes can do it for a small fee, sending the weekly menu, the recipes, and the ingredients to your inbox {I'm sure there are some sites that don't charge a fee to get weekly menus}....

I love this free newly added tool that allows you to input ingredients that you have on hand and it brings up recipes for you to make based on them!....


There are so many different ways to meal plan - which is a great method to saving money! Do you meal plan? What's your method?

P.S. - For those of you who looked at my four week meal plan wide-eyed, you can read this past post on how I came to appreciate cooking!

Old Fashion Apple Crisp and Menu Planning

Last night I made an apple crisp for dessert and it came out so yummy! I used Ina Gartner's recipe {but ommitted the lemon and orange add-in's as other reviewers recommended, as I didn't think we would like the extra ingredients either}. The best part of an apple crisp is the topping and this one is gooood!! I only had 3 pounds of apples on hand {the recipe calls for 5 pounds} so if you follow the recipe, you will have more apple filling than what's seen in my photos below. The recipe for Old Fashion Apple Crisp can be found here.

I planned out my meals, and accompanying desserts, for the next 3 weeks. Wanna know what we're having?.....

WEEK OF AUGUST 16........

Monday: Spanish Fiesta - This is a dish my great-grandmother used to make; it's like an Enchilada Casserole {Apple Crisp w/Vanilla Ice-Cream for Dessert}

Tuesday: Salmon, Wild Rice, Plantain {Leftover Dessert from Above}

Wednesday: Thai Chicken over Rice

Thursday: Chili {because yes, we loved it that much!}

Friday: Pasta Florentine {Tiramisu for Dessert}

Saturday: Date Night!

Sunday: BBQ!


WEEK OF AUGUST 23........

Monday: Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry w/Brown Rice {Smoothies for Desserts}

Tuesday: Steak Diane w/Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday: Spiced Chicken w/Black Eyed Peas & Rice {Carrot Cake for Dessert}

Thursday: Jambalaya {Leftover Dessert from Above}

Friday: BBQ Chicken Pizza w/Salad

Saturday: Pad-Tai Asian Dish {Fruit for Dessert}

Sunday: Leftovers from Above


WEEK OF AUGUST 30/SEPT........

Monday: Tuscan Style Oven Roasted Chicken w/Mozzarella and Fingerling Potatoes {Marble Sour Cream Bundt Cake for Dessert}

Tuesday: Spicy Chicken Legs w/Empanadas and Plantains {Leftover Dessert from Above}

Wednesday: Steak Fajitas w/Rice & Beans {Lime Jell-O w/Whipped Cream for Dessert}

Thursday: Large Spinach Salad w/Chicken, candied pecans, strawberries, cucumbers, avocado, and tomatoes with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing {Smoothie for Dessert}

Friday: Herb Roasted Chicken w/Asparagus and Parmesan Roasted Potatoes {Chocolate Mouse Parfaits with Mixed Berries for Dessert}

Saturday: Dinner Out

Sunday: Turkey Burgers w/Pasta Salad and Fruit {Make More of Friday's Dessert}

Everything above will be made from scratch : ) If you want to come over for dinner on a particular night, just let me know so that I have an extra table setting ready for you ; )