Meals Planned Out

What method do you use to create your dinner meals for the week? Do you randomly go through what foods you have in the house, go shopping to fill in the blanks and wing it for the week? Or do you plan meals, then fall short and go out a few times or pick up fast food as a last resort? Or do you plan the meals and then actually follow through?

I have been there on all of those. And I'm sure there are even different ways of planning your meals for the week and grocery shopping. 

I had been struggling in this department. I love to cook a meal for my family. I do admit that I have those days that I'm not feeling my best, tired from a long day of battles and I will order pizza. But having a plan for the week, a plan that some one else has created is making my life easier. At least in the food category.

Thanks to my sister in law, who also uses them, I found Emeals.


At first I viewed the samples and used a few of the recipes from there to check it out. I needed to see what the reaction was from my family. The reaction was very positive. So I went ahead and signed up for a membership. 


I picked my favorite grocery store, the types of meals that I wanted recipes for and then the weekly menu, ingredients, directions for preparing and shopping list are all done for me. I love it! No thinking about what should I make this week.


Now for my family, we do have a crazy schedule for the week with Miss K's dance classes and mid week church so we have to pick which meals will be best on the nights we leave home early or get home late. Other than that, it's take the guess work out of the equation for me. 


My time spent in the grocery store is cut in half now. I found that I'm not buying things that I don't need for the week and sticking to the grocery list. You do have to remember, it's only dinner meals that are on the list, so you have to make sure you get your breakfast and lunch items on your own. I have my own sub shopping list that I downloaded into my Excel files for the staples that we run out of, toiletries and foods that will not be in the emeals list.

But this has been a blessing so far.


My biggest hurdle that I'm going to have to overcome.....shopping the sales and couponing. I love to buy bulk when my most used items are on sale with a coupon. I've been failing in the coupon department (it is SO time consuming for me) but have kept up with my bulk items. It feels different shopping for my picked out meals and no extras. I'm still weighing my options on whether I will completely cut out bulk buying. 

For now I'm staying with what works for my family and myself. 





I was not contacted or compensated by the creator or founder of Emeals.com to write a review.  My article is solely my opinion about their product/service that I currently use.






 

WW: My Pegboard

 Are you on Pinterest? Share the last five items you pinned, choose one and let it inspire a blog post.

Source: healthyisclassy.tumblr.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: lifeoflovely.blogspot.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: signsbyandrea.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: cleaneatingmag.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Source: theaprongal.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? I have discovered the dark side of browsing, blogging and "pinning" things that interest me, inspire me and make me swoon over. 

My latest pins on my boards have mostly been about food. I love a good recipe and I used to be more traditional about where I get my recipes from, good ol cookbooks. The problem with cookbooks though, there are no photos of the finished product, no reviews and certainly no one suggesting different variations. 

I'm loving the virtual pins of photos and more photos of food. My latest favorite that I can't wait to try is baked s'mores. I like making real campfire s'mores because it's fun, but the chocolate never melts! I love, ooey gooey chocolate. The combination of warm melted chocolate, soft marshmallow and crispy graham cracker crust. Oh my!

I'm just salivating sitting here thinking about this treat! If only the calories weren't over the top, I would eat them all by myself.

Today I am linking up with Mama Kat for her fabulous Writer's Workshop.

Chicken Fettucine Alfredo with Petite Shrimp

I finally remembered to take photos during the preparation of my
meal. I've made this dish several times, without the shrimp, and have
wanted to share it.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
with Petite Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 16 oz package frozen petite shrimp
1 box fettuccine noodles ( half of of box is used)
1 jar garlic alfredo- I prefer Bertolli
Shaved Parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove ( I have minced garlic on hand to make this easier)
Olive oil for braising
Powdered Garlic
Black Pepper

Directions:
Remove shrimp from packaging into colander. Rinse with cold water for two minutes to remove ice. Drain. Leave shrimp in colander and place on plate lined with a paper towel. Place in fridge while cooking all other ingredients. Cube your chicken breasts to about 1 inch cubes and remove any unwanted fat trimmings. Sprinkle about 1-2 tbsps of olive oil in your pan. If you have fresh garlic, then you will need to prepare the clove to cook with the chicken. Start boiling your water for your noodles before coking your chicken. Heat large skillet to medium high heat and when preheated, cook chicken and garlic in pan just until chicken turns white.Remove from heat. Once you have cooked your noodles to desired tenderness, drain. Add alfredo sauce to your chicken, return to heat. I start on low and gradually add my noodles, stirring frequently then add the shrimp last. Since the shrimp has been previously cooked, I do not want to overdo them. I sprinkle the pepper, shaved parmesan cheese and more garlic (we LOVE garlic) while tasting it. I let sit on medium low to low for about 20 minutes. Cook your side dish and/or bread. I served steamed broccoli and french bread this time.

Let me know what you think and if you made any changes.

Meal Plan Monday 02/28

Last week's Slow Cooker beef stew was a success! It turned out really good, the meat was so soft and tender and everyone enjoyed eating it. My hubby and Miss K used sour cream in theirs and I, the mayonnaise junkie used mayo on my meat.
My previously frozen beefaroni was pretty good, but made a mental note to make sure to cook the noodles a little less for next time when freezing. They were al dente for freezing but after I reheated this dish in the oven, the noodles were bit soft for my liking.
I never got to make my Rice a Roni and beef since we changed plans and ate dinner with my friends. We may use that as a quick dish for this week if need be.


This week I bought my groceries ahead of time instead of planning out my meals and then buying the ingredients. I had extra chicken, pasta and vegetables from buying sale items and BOGO's a few weeks in a row so I was able to grab the necessities and come up with our menu this week. I left off Saturday and Sunday since we usually try to shop on Friday afternoon and I plan those meals after that trip.
Hope you have a great week!

Monday: Cheater Chicken Pot Pie
Tuesday: Salisbury Steak, baked potatoes, creamed corn
Wednesday: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli and crescent rolls
Thursday:Breakfast for dinner, cinnamon rolls, eggs
Friday: Four Cheese Macaroni, tossed salad, buttermilk biscuits

Won't you join me and The Organizing Junkie and get your meal plan done?

Meal Plan Monday 02/14

Meal Plan Monday again! I did rally well last week with only missing one of my nights and having to substitute with frozen pizzas. I do have an excuse, I am fighting off a cold and I had no energy to do anything let alone cook. The hubby wanted to order pizza, but I am trying to stick to my budget and not go out to dinner so we ate our previously purchased pizzas. So all the dinners last week go shuffled by one day and we missed having our chicken alfredo.
We ate a late lunch on Sunday afternoon at Olive Garden so we skipped having our steaks on Sunday night.

Monday: Grilled Ribeyes, grilled shrimp, pirogies, corn and garlic bread
Tuesday: Baked Chicken Teriyaki, mashed potatoes and steamed green beans
Wednesday: Mexican Pasta Skillet, garden salad, bread
Thursday: Crispy Baked Chicken, steamed vegetables and brown rice
Friday: Cowabunga Beef Burgers with coleslaw and home made french fries
Saturday: Mini meatloaves, new potatoes, fiesta corn
Sunday: Slow cooker beef stew, baked bread

Meal Plan Monday

I have been a meal planner and usually throw in one extra item in my grocery cart, like a few frozen pizzas just in case I have to change up a night that was planned or something out of the ordinary happens and we need a quicker meal. I always have over stock of non perishable or frozen foods in the house, since I am a sale and BOGO shopper when it comes to groceries. It's easier to grocery shop for the vegetables and meats when I plan out a weekly menu.
So here goes.

Monday: Cowabunga Beef Burgers with Yummy Yammy Fries
Tuesday: Kid Pleasing Spaghetti
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn
Thursday: Homemade French Toast, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs with cheese
Friday: Pasta Alfredo with Mushrooms and Broccoli
Saturday: dinner out (going to the Budweiser Shootout in Daytona)
Sunday: leaving this one in the air because it is February 13th and the day before Valentines, possibly Grilled Ribeyes, Pierogies, Grilled Shrimp, Salad and Bread

End of Summer Dessert

Please excuse this horrible picture. I thought
about taking a photo of this dessert in the car and I was without
my camera. So my husband took this picture
with his iPhone.

I don't have a name for this dessert dish because
I kinda just made it up. It was fabulous but I want to make some
changes on it for the next one.
So for now it's called Carrot Surprise

Ingredients:
1 Box Carrot Cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup walnuts
1 container fluffy white cake frosting
1 box instant french vanilla pudding
1 3/4 cup milk
1 20oz canned chunk pineapple-drained
1 1/2 large bananas
shredded coconut
canned whipped cream
2 9"round cake pans

Preheat oven to box directions. Prepare cake mix with eggs, applesauce, oil, nuts and water. Follow box directions on mixing/beating. Bake according to directions on box. Remove cakes when toothpick inserted comes clean. Let cool and remove 1 cake into large serving dish with high sides to allow for pudding. Reserve the other cake to eat.
Frost cake with half of white frosting. You can omit frosting if you like, I did it so the cake wouldn't get mushy since we were not going to be eating it immediately. Prepare pudding with milk ( 1 3/4 cup milk makes the pudding custard thickness). Allow pudding to thicken while stirring with a wire whisk. Pour over cake.
Cut bananas into small slices and place around pudding and on top. Place pineapple that was previously drained around pudding on the edging of the bowl. Sprinkle with coconut to your liking.
Chill at least 30 minutes to let set.
Cut and serve and top with whipped cream.

Recipes

My Recipes, My Borrowed Recipes, Generation Recipes, Ones to Share


Ham and Cheese Roll up

Cooking

I modified this recipe from Kraft Food and Family Magazine

Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury Refrigerated French Loaf
9 Slices Ham lunch meat ( I used Land o Frost)
6 Slices Borden Yellow American Cheese
1 egg
Flour ( small amount when rolling)
Directions:
Prepare a cookie sheet with tin foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 according to bread directions.
Roll out dough on wax paper that you have lightly sifted some flour on to prevent sticking. Place the ham covering most of the dough. Then starting from the top, lay out the 6 cheese slices. Roll from the top and roll up the dough. Flip it over and pinch the crease and roll over the ends pinching them. Beat the egg for basting. Lay dough roll crease side down on your cookie sheet. Bast the top and cute several slits in top to allow for steaming. Cook to package directions which was almost the 30 minutes in my oven.
Cut and enjoy! I dipped mine in mayonnaise. You could also dip it in ranch dressing.
Serve with romaine leaves, moistened with caesar dressing and croutons.
This is a light summer dinner.

Finished Roll up


Mini Meat Loaves You Can't Live Without

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 egg, large

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Pat mixture in rectangle, 9x3 inch, ungreased baking dish. Cut into 1 1/2 squares, separate squares slighty.
Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes until juice runs clear.

Serves 4.

Crock Pot Chicken Recipe #1

Crock Pot Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Whole Fryer Chicken 2- 2 1/2 lbs
1 can Cream Mushroom Soup 10.5 oz
1 can Chicken Broth 14.5 oz
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 tsp Celery Salt
2 Cloves Minced Garlic
Dash of Salt

Directions:
Wash chicken, remove package of heart, gizzard, liver. ( I threw mine out)
Lay chicken breast up in crock pot.
Mix broth, soup in separate bowl and pour over chicken.
Add previously chopped onion, spices and minced garlic and cover.
Cook on Low setting for 7-8 hours.
Remove chicken on platter to cool for cutting. It
is pretty tender and should fall apart without even needing a knife.

Serve with hot buttered noodles or rice( I prefer brown)
and steamed fresh green beans and dinner rolls.