Menu for August 31-September 13

Here is my plan for the next two weeks.  I haven't done a two-week plan in a while, but I don't want to spend every weekend making meals.  Plus, it saves me money if I buy for two weeks at a time.  Instead of going to the store every weekend.  (Except for like milk and that kind of stuff.)

We only have after school activities on Wednesdays--for now.  So, I really just need a crock pot meal one day a week.  But, I like having most of the meals made ahead of time.  Makes life a little bit easier.

Anyhow!  Here you go!

August 31- September 6
Sunday-- Chicken/ steak, zucchini, baked sweet potatoes

Monday--Nachos (using leftover chicken from last week's quesadillas)

Tuesday-- Marinara Chicken and Veggies,

Wednesday-- Chicken tacos, salad

Thursday-- Chicken Stir Fry-- Not a crock pot meal (Chicken, rice, broccoli and carrots-- using this recipe for the Teriyaki sauce)

Friday-- Game!  Harp gets to cheer with the cheerleaders.  She's beyond excited!

Saturday-- ??

September 7- 13
Sunday-- ??

Monday-- Cauliflower Pizza,--Not a crock pot meal, salad

Tuesday-- Cheeseburger Wraps,--Not a crock pot meal, Peas, Salad

Wednesday-- Crock Pot Western Beef Casserole

Thursday--One Pot Chicken Lo Mein-- Not a crock pot meal

Friday-- Game!

Meal Plan for August 24-30

Sunday--Caribbean Jerk chicken with Mango and Cucumber Salsa, carrots and zucchini

Monday--Lasagna, (that I froze a few weeks ago), salad

Tuesday--Chicken Quesadillas (using this crock pot recipe for the chicken), corn, black beans

Wednesday-- Sesame Chicken, rice, broccoli

Thursday-- Pancakes (or waffles), sausage, eggs

Friday--  Football game.  Who knows what we will eat.

Saturday--  Grill out!  Chicken/ steak, salad, baked sweet potato

Meal Plan and My Process! :)

OK, friends.  A few disclaimers before I get started.

First, none of these recipes are mine.  I am not claiming to be this awesome cook that has tons of recipes to share.  I like to cook.  And I like to be organized and prepared.  I started this blog for me, myself, and I.  So I could have all of the recipes that we like in one place.  It's just totally easy to share with y'all.  I will credit the original posts that I found these recipes from.  And I don't mind sharing my process with you--but that doesn't make me an expert.

Second, we try to eat as clean as possible.  That doesn't mean that every single part of every single meal is "clean."  I do the best I can--based on what we can afford during that particular shopping trip and on what I can find.  You don't have to buy exactly what I do to make these meals.  I normally take "regular" recipes and make them as clean as possible--you can do whatever your little heart desires!

OK, enough of that!  Here's what I did today.  It took me about 3 1/2 hours.  The kids were watching a movie with Adam so I was able to take my time.  I also stopped about half way through to clean up and sit down for a second.  My back was killing me! Anyhow.  I only made meals for this next week.  I will do more next weekend.  I didn't want to spend so much time in the kitchen on my last few days left.  But, it was raining today--so... here's how I spent my afternoon!

The Meal Plan:
Saturday (tonight)-- Lasagna (doubled the recipe so I could freeze one) and salad
Sunday--Grilled chicken and steak, grilled veggies, baked sweet potatoes (no recipe needed for this!)
Monday--Crustless Zucchini Enchilada Quiche from ifoodreal and a salad
Tuesday-- (first day back for teachers!) Crockpot Salsa Pineapple Chicken from Who Needs a Cape?, green beans, carrots
Wednesday-- Cheeseburger wraps from Mostly Homemade Mom, peas, organic corn
Thursday-- Pulled Pork, sweet potato fries, ??

I didn't make a plan for Friday.  Adam will have football and I will figure it out then.

The Process:
First thing I do is turn the radio on :)  I can not function without music playing.  Then I pull up my blog on my Kindle and get that set up.

Next, I get my bags ready, pull out the pitcher I'm gonna use, and get coffee.  Coffee is also a must.

I started browning the meat for the Cheeseburger Wraps first. I always buy this meat from Lowes Foods.  Whatever ground beef you want to use is totally fine.

While the meat was browning, I started with the easiest recipe I had--Pineapple Salsa Chicken.

First, I put the ziploc bag inside the pitcher and wrapped the edges around the side.  Then, I drained the pineapple and dumped that in.  Then the salsa.  The chicken went on top.  I used already frozen chicken tenderloins.  Chicken breasts freak me out.  :)

Next, I did the Pulled Pork.  Again, I put the meat in last.  The pork wasn't frozen--I bought it yesterday.

Then I put those two in the freezer.

Before I started the Crustless Zucchini recipe, I cleaned up the kitchen and added the ingredients to the Cheeseburger wrap meat.  After it simmers a while, remove it from the heat to cool down before placing it in a bag.

The Crustless Zucchini Enchilada Quiche required some effort.  And patience.  Kind of tedious.  I have never tried this one before, so if it doesn't turn out good, I will let y'all know!

First, I made the homemade enchilada sauce that she recommends in the recipe.  I let that simmer while I did the rest.  It smelled so good!

 Then, I was supposed to shred the zucchini.  I just grated it! haha   

Two large zucchinis made the 3 cups that the recipe called for.  I had to squeeze the water out of the pile of zucchini that I had after I grated it.  I used a paper towel.  Annoying.  Kinda gross.  Oh well.  Once I had the zucchini done, I cut up the tortillas.  I used whole wheat.  She uses corn, I think.  You use what you want!

After I combined everything, I let it cool.  I did not add the cheese yet.  I will stir that in before I bake it on Monday.  

Next, I made lasagna! I doubled the recipe so I could freeze one for later.  I also used one pound of ground beef, and one pound of ground turkey.  Not much of this meal is clean.  It's hard to find whole wheat lasagna noodles.  I also have a hard time finding good cheese.  And I don't feel like making my own sauce.  Like ever.  Oh well.  You need a cheat meal every once in a while! :)

OK, so in the big pot is the sauce and meat.  The two smaller ones are the noodles.  I boiled 1 1/2 boxes of noodles.  I wasn't sure how many I would need.  After the sauce simmered for a while and the noodles cooked, I dumped the noodles in the strainer in the sink.  Make sure you let them cool off before trying to layer them in your pan!  Just sayin!

While the noodles were cooling, I poured the quiche filling into a ziploc bag and put that in the freezer.

Then, I started layering the noodles into the pan that I was going to use for dinner tonight.

After that finished, I popped it in the oven!  I bought a disposable aluminum pan for the one to freeze.  So, I did that one next.  Everything was cool by now, so the cheese didn't melt when I put it on.  Then I wrapped the pan in foil.  Then I put the plastic lid on top.  Just to protect it some.  Make sure you slide a baking sheet underneath the aluminum pan before moving it to the freezer.  Especially if your freezer is in the garage.   Dropping it would be a disaster.  A disaster I barely avoided.  

I had a lot of sauce and noodles left over.  So, I decided to make some lasagna roll-ups.  But, I didn't add any cheese.  I just spread some sauce on each noodle and then rolled them up!  I froze them in pairs.  I figured we could take them for lunch when school starts.  I ended up with 4 "packets."

And then I STILL had sauce leftover.  So I froze it! haha  We will use it someday!

By this time, dinner was ready!

These sweet faces were happy!  They love lasagna and ate it all!

Here's what my freezer looks like now.  I put a piece of cardboard on each shelf when I was cleaning it out this summer.  One day last school year, one of my bags busted.  I think it slipped through one of the openings of the wire shelf.  I remember like not having time to clean it out.  Well, I didn't clean it until this summer.  It was a frozen, disgusting mess.  So, I added the cardboard to hopefully prevent that from happening again.

OK friends.  I am exhausted.  My back pain is on a whole new level right now! :)

I will have more meals next week.  Well, I will make more.  From the list I posted the other day.  I don't think my post with be this detailed.  Depends on my mood! :)

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken

This was on the list of meals that I was going to make before school started.  But, I needed something new for dinner last night.  So.... here it is!

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken (click here for the full recipe)

Ingredients1 1/2 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried onion
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds

When it was close to dinner time, I started the rice.  We don't eat a lot of carbs.  When we do, I try to make it as healthy as I can.  So, we had this rice:  ( Local people, it's from Lowes Foods)

 While the rice was cooking, I spread some coconut oil on the bottom of this dish.  Then I put some broccoli on top and put it in the oven.  (350 degrees for like 30ish minutes)

Then I took the chicken out of the crock pot and added the cornstarch and water to the sauce.  I was supposed to cut the chicken up.  I was lazy.  I just used that wooden spoon and kinda shredded it.  Eh.  Whatever.

The sauce was supposed to thicken up.  Mine never did.  I got impatient, the rice and broccoli got done, the kids got hungry.  So I dumped the chicken back into the crockpot and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top.

Here's what Adam and I had.  The kids don't like broccoli and they don't like their food to be all touching like this.  So, they had rice, "brown" chicken as Harp calls it, raw green peppers, and an orange.

This doesn't look anything like the picture from the website where I found this recipe, but it tasted good and the kids ate it!  It's a keeper! 

If you want to make this a freezer meal, put all of the ingredients in a ziploc bag (except the cornstarch and water) and put it in the freezer.  Allow it to thaw some in the fridge the night before you want to cook it.  In the morning, put it in the crock pot!  High for 4 hours, or low for 6ish.  Whatever you feel like! :)

Back to School Freezer Meals!

Hey Y'all!  Here are the meals I'm planning on freezing before school starts.  I was going to make the meals and take pictures of the stuff in the bags and all of that jazz.  But, like what's the point?!  Anyhow.
Most of these are new.  As in, not ones that I've tried before.  Maybe they aren't new to you.  Either way... I plan to make these before school starts.  Thought I'd share! :)

If it's your first time making freezer meals, read this first:  Tips and Tricks for Freezing Meals


Homemade Freezer Chicken Taquitos  (makes enough to save some for lunches too.  Not a crock pot meal) NEW!

Southwest Chicken Bake (add the cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips before baking--not before freezing.  Not a crock pot meal) NEW!

Crustless Zucchini Enchilada Quiche (Mix everything together except the cheese.  Put everything in a ziploc bag and freeze.  Add cheese before baking it--not a crock pot meal) NEW!

Cheeseburger Wraps

Tacos using this seasoning (double this recipe--one pound for taco night, one pound for nachos)

Slow Cooker Pineapple Salsa Chicken NEW!

Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli  NEW!

Pulled Pork

Teriyaki Pork Chops 

Pizza Bake (makes two meals)

Crockpot Sesame Chicken  NEW!

Mamma's Lasagna NEW!  (For this one, buy a disposable rectangle pan.)

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry NEW!

Waffles NEW! (This is our favorite waffle recipe, but it's the first time I've posted it on here.)

Pancakes NEW! (Very similar to the waffle recipe above.  I will make these "little" pancakes for Harp's benefit.)

OK friends!  That's all I've got!  Good luck with your meals!  Let me know if you have any questions :)

Mamma's Lasagna

This is the recipe my mom uses when she makes lasagna.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef,
1 lb. box of lasagna noodles
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 large and 1 small jar of spaghetti sauce
15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of seasoning salt

Brown the meat and then drain.
Simmer everything (except the noodles and cheese) for at least 45 minutes.
Cook the noodles while it's simmering.
Spray pan.  Layer noodles, sauce, cheese, etc.
Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 45 minutes.

OR, let everything cool before layering.  After it cools, layer like it says above and then cover the pan with tin foil and freeze.  Make sure you put it in the fridge the night before eating to allow time to thaw.  And then bake it for 45 minutes at 350.