Thursday, August 18, 2011

Makin' a Comeback!

Hello friends!  So sorry to have been MIA for almost 4 months.  Life happened and I needed a break from "stuff".  I kept meal planning myself, but have honestly been too embarrassed about our meal plans to post them.  With buying a house, our budget has gotten a little tighter...so we now have two staple dinners every week:


Frozen Pizza
Hamburgers (the frozen patties bought in bulk)


I hated the idea of posting a meal plan that reflected these two items every week, but also hated the idea of planning two additional meals to AVOID posting these two items.  It's stupid...I know.  Who really reads this enough to care?!?  Haha.  And I know those who do read wouldn't care if there were two repeats every week.  It's about getting ideas right?


Well, I guess I was wrong about the, "who reads my blog anyway?!" mentality.  After taking my hiatus and strolling back here today, I found a comment from Katrina from Not-So-Newlywed Adventures that she missed my plans and had payed me forward a blog award...The Versatile Blogger Award.




Granted this was back in May she posted, but Katrina...THANK YOU!  I am so touched and honored to have been payed forward this award.


Anyone receiving the Versatile Blogger Award must follow the rules to pay it forward, if you will. The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell your readers seven (7) things about yourself.
3. Give this award to fifteen (15) recently discovered bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news.

These is a neat and fun way to get to know new/other bloggers, which is good for me because I need to getting back into both blogging myself and reading other blogs!  So here we go!

About me:
  1. I LOVE wine.  Red wine is my favorite.  I started our drinking Shiraz which people find odd because it's so dry and peppery.  It was the only one within my grasp when I start experimenting since that is what my mom was also drinking at the time (she had only recently started drinking wine, too).  
  2. Unfortunately, as per my post about my birthday, I think I now have the official reputation of a wino.  I got wine, wine charms, a wine cooler sleeve, a wine cooler in the shape of a wine bottle, chocolate wine, and a wine fridge for my birthday.  Oh...and a wine stopper candelabra!  Yeah-I'm a wino.  
  3. DH and I have two cats (Ellie & Apollo) and a dog (Zeus).  DH thinks if he hadn't come along I would be the crazy cat lady with 10 cats or something.  He's probably right.  
  4. I can play every instrument in the concert band, except for bassoon, which isn't necessarily in all concert bands.  
  5. Even though I know all those instruments, instead I teach general music to students in 1st-5th grade.  We play rhythm sticks, maracas, bells, xylophones among many other things and sing, sing, sing!  I LOVE my job. (There is a lot more to it then just that, but...I just LOVE it!)
  6. When I was 10 I fell out of a tree in my friend's backyard.  They had a treehouse built, but she was showing me how to climb even higher!  Needless to say, I wasn't paying attention to the exact branches she was using, and I ended up pulling up on a dead branch that broke.  So, there I fell...23 feet to the ground!  Luckily a bush broke my fall, but I still hit the ground hard enough to get the wind knocked out of me and badly bruise my tailbone.  I had to sit on a pillow at school for a week afterwards.  
  7. After our honeymoon to Napa, DH jokingly talked about moving out there and getting jobs teaching while also opening/running our own winery.  I've secretly considered it!  Maybe when we retire (let the countdown begin!).  :-)
And now to pay it foward.  Some of these fine bloggers have probably gotten this award before, but it just means they continue to be more versatile!  It is without hesitation that I proudly award the The Versatile Blogger Award to:

Everyone on my blog roll deserves this award, really.  But the rules said 15. :-(   Please know I love you, even if you weren't listed here.  

~~~~~~

Alright.  I made it.  My first post back in a loooooong time.  I'm not sure how often I will keep this up, or if it will be soley about meal planning anymore.  I'm thinking as life happens, this blog might become more about life in general.   If I do put up meal plans, I will stick to my guns and post those two embarrassing staples mentioned above, but that does still leave me with 5 other meals to freshly plan.  We'll see.  But now, you tell me...if this blog does change direction, should I change the name?  Decisions, decisions.  

Ta-ta for now!


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Weekly Meal Plan #24

April 10 - April 16
 
I'm officially 30!  It's not as bad as I thought.  I had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends yesterday.  In addition to officially being 30, I am officially a wino.  People were asking my hubby what to get me for my birthday.  He said that I (and we...as a semi-housewarming) didn't want any gifts, just their wonderful presence for the evening.  Still, if they did really want to get something, anything wine related would be perfect.  So, wine, wine and more wine is what I got!  I got bottles of wine, wine stoppers, a wine stopper candleabra, Chocovine wine, a traveling wine cooler in the shape of a wine bottle (it's cool), a gift card to buy more wine, and...wait for it...my best friend and maid of honor from our wedding, she and her husband got us a wine refridgerator!  It should be arriving in 4 days!  Phew!  That's a lot of wine.  I officially have the reputation of being a wino. 

After enjoying so much wine on my 30th birthday, it is now time to plan a recuperative meal plan for the week!  It's nice being back in the meal planning business and I am starting to get used to my new kitchen.  So...without further ado, this weeks meal plan.


Sunday - Tater Tot Casserole

1lb ground beef
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
Skim Milk
Oregano
1lb tater tots
16oz shredded cheddar cheese


Monday -   Chicken Shiitake and Wild Rice Soup

Butter
1 small onion
Flour
64oz chicken broth
2 carrots
3 cloves of garlic
2 celery stalks
4 skinless chicken thighs
Long grain rice and wild rice combo
Long grain white rice
1/2 shiitake mushrooms
Light Sour Cream


Tuesday - Pasta with Asparagus

1lb thin asparagus
6oz pasta
Olive Oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese


Wednesday - BLAT Wraps

8 slices of bacon
4 flour tortillas
Ranch dressing
1 avocado
1 tomato
Lettuce


Thursday - Crockpot Chicken with Black Beans 

4-5 boneless chicken breasts
1 large can black beans
1 large can corn
1 large jar of salsa
8oz cream cheese


Friday - Broiled Tilapia with Garlic

6 tilapia fillets
2 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil
Oregano
Parsley
1 lemon


Saturday - Barbequed Marinated Flank Steak

Soy Sauce
Honey
White Vinegar
Ginger
Garlic Powder
Olive Oil
1 1/2 lb Flank Steak

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Weekly Meal Plan #23 - And we're back!

April 3 - April 9

As I type, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee in our lovely kitchen in OUR NEW HOME!  We did it!  We are all cleaned and painted and packed and moved and unpacked and ready to Rock and Roll!  I'm still in disbelief that we are here.  It's been a week and every morning I wake up I get excited all over again our being in OUR house. 

I did not meal plan last week because we had a little snafu with our refrigerator and ended up needing buy a new one.  Our cold stuff only last so long in a cooler while waiting for the new fridge, which didn't get here until Thursday.  It was one long week of eating like garbage.  Ugh.  I never want to do that again.  I am so excited to finally cook in our kitchen this week!  This week's plan is mainly made up of familiar favorites, with two new meals thrown into the mix.  I thought I would keep it familiar for myself, since I'm still getting used to maneuvering around our kitchen.  Don't need to make cooking this week more difficult then it needs to be!  Oh, and shhhh...I'm most likely actually NOT making next Saturday's (4/9) meal myself because....::wimpers:: it's my 30th birthday.  Eek!!!  I don't know what we are doing yet, but I will be having a meal worthy of celebrating a 30th birthday...that's for sure!

I'm playing around with a new format.  I'm going to list the meal with it's link to the recipe and directions, and directly below it I will list what you will need a the grocery store for that meal.  You can still copy and paste to a word document and print out an entire grocery list in the end, but now you can better pick and choose which ones you will be doing! 

It's good to be back!  Have a great week, everyone!!


Sunday - Simple Hamburger Stroganoff

1 package egg noodles
1lb ground beef
1 packet dry brown gravy mix
1 package cream cheese
1 (6oz) can of chopped mushroom
1 (8oz) container of sour cream
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
Milk


Monday - Broccoli Sausage Pasta

Olive oil
Garlic
1 small onion
1 head of broccoli 
1lb smoke sausage
8oz penne pasta
Parmesan cheese


Tuesday - Artichoke and Tomato Chicken

Olive oil
4 tomatoes
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
2 red bell peppers
1 (8oz) package mozzarella cheese
6 chicken breasts
Marinara sauce


Wednesday - Creamy Burrito Casserole

1lb ground beef or turkey
1 small onion
1 package taco seasoning
6 flour tortillas
1 package of shredded cheddar
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream


ThursdayPork Chops with Mushrooms and Shallots

Butter
4 pork loin chops
Shallots
Chicken stock
Baby bella mushrooms
Dijon mustard
Fresh parsley


Friday Chicken Broccoli Casserole

2 chicken breasts
1lb broccoli
1 box of elbow noodles
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package stuffing mix
1 package of cheddar cheese
Milk


Saturday - Cream Cheese Potato Soup

Chicken broth
4 medium potatoes
1 small onion
1 package cream cheese
 

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Weekly Meal Plan #22

March 13 - March 19

Hey all!  I want to give you a heads up that the next two or three weeks, meal plans will be simple, no nonsense meal plans.  I didn't want to take a complete hiatus during our move, but need to keep is basic.  We officially close on our house in 9 days!  I can't believe it.  It still doesn't feel real.

We got our mortgage commitment this week, arranged for our first year's insurance, and started seeing up utilities and such.  Our apartment is the messiest it has EVER been with the boxes (full and empty) strewn about.  DH packed up the DVD player last night with my 30 Day Shred DVD in it!  How I am going to exercise.  He nicely plugged it back it, removed the DVD, and then told me to use my computer for the next two weeks.  That will be fun.  All pictures are off the walls, kitchen stuff we don't use on a regular basis (at least once a week) has been packed, and the cats are enjoying their new maze to play in.

So yeah - like I said.  We're going to keep it simple for now with the meal plans.  I'll be honest, too; sometimes depending on how our meals went the previous week, my actual meal plan may not be exactly what I post.  But for the next two to three week, I'm posting exactly what we are doing.  ::blushes in preparation for slight embarrassment::   ENJOY!

Sunday - Leftover Simple Hamburger Stroganoff (this was super yummy!!)
Monday - Frozen Pizza
Tuesday -Half BBQ Chicken over Potatoes and Onions (cook for 45 minutes in a dutch oven)
Wednesday - Eggs and Bacon (with chorizo for me!)
Thursday - Omaha Steak Hamburgers and Sweet Potatoe Fries
Friday - Ordering out!
Saturday - Easy Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie

You'll notice most of these don't have links.  That's how simple we are going!  They are what they are! (Cues Ke$ha...) The Simple Hamburger Stroganoff are left overs, so I'm not including their ingredients in the grocery list.  Do what you need to do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

4 medium potatoes
1 large onion
1/2 BBQ Chicken
1-2 chicken breasts
Eggs
Bacon
Chorizo
Hamburgers
Buns
Sweet Potatoe Fries
1 pkg frozen veggies
1 can cream of chicken soup
Milk
Bisquick Reduced-Fat Baking Mix

That's all folks!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Weekly Meal Plan #21

March 6th - March 12th
 
Woohoo!  Here's another meal plan! 

Why am I so excited?  Well....with every meal plan, DH and I are closer to closing on our house and moving day!  We are 15 days out from closing, and 20 days from moving.  I can't believe it!  This rollercoaster is finally starting to slow down and pull into the station. 

So get this...DH is suddenly on a low-fat kick!  I guess a couple of his co-workers do WW online and while at work will randomly figure out points for certain foods.  It's opened his eye a little to how bad some things are.  So, this week we've got meals from of course our new favorite, Skinny Taste, and other lower fat meals from other websites.  Enjoy!! 

Sunday - Baked Chicken Parmesan
Monday - Turkey Chili Taco Soup
Tuesday - Pasta with Asparagus
Wednesday - Classic Baked Chicken
Thursday - Ragu-Stuffed Peppers
Friday - Turkey & Balsamic Onion Quesadillas
Saturday - Simple Hamburger Stroganoff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

2 medium red onions
5 bell pepper
1 lb thin asparagus
1 bunch of parsley
Garlic
4 Chicken breast halves
3-4lbs chicken (breasts, thighs, legs, wings, whatever!)
1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
8oz of sliced deli turkey
1lb lean ground beef
24oz Ragu
8oz marinara sauce
10oz can rotel tomatoes with green chilies
15oz can corn kernals
15oz can kidney beans
8oz can tomato sauce
Small can of tomato paste
16oz fat free refried beans
1 can chopped mushrooms
1 pkt taco seasoning
1pkg uncooked pasta
1 pkg of egg noodles
Breadcrumbs
1 pkg whole-wheat tortillas
4oz Coucous
8oz cup raisins
24oz fat free low sodium chicken broth
1 pkt dry brown gravy mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Parmesan cheese
8oz Asiago cheese
8oz Mozzarella cheese
8oz Sharp Cheddar cheese
8oz low-fat cream cheese
8oz low-fat sour cream
Eggs
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic Vinegar
 

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Weekly Meal Plan #20

February 27 - March 5

Welcome back, everyone!  This past week has been long and exhausting, but we all survived, right?  I can't believe that this is meal plan #20!  In honor of it being #20, I'm going to create this weeks meal plan using several favorite meals from the past 20 meal plans.  Well...at least they are some of my favorites and DH's favorites.  I really hope they are some of your favorites, too!  I know...a lot of them are creamy dishes.  You can always reduce calories by using skim or 1% milk!  Have a fabulous week! 

Sunday -  Creamy Zucchini Linguini  
Monday - French Onion Chicken 
Tuesday - Cream Cheese Potato Soup 
Wednesday - Easy Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie 
Thursday - Broccoli-Sausage Pasta 
Friday - P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps 
Saturday - Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grocery List

1 large zucchini
1 bunch fresh parsley
3 large potatoes
2 medium onions
1 large head of broccoli
8 oz of mushrooms
1 head of iceberg lettuce
Garlic
1 pkg frozen vegetables
1 can water chestnuts
2 1/2 lb chicken breasts
1 pkg smoked sausage
2 pkgs of penne pasta
1 pkg linguini pasta
French's Fried Onions
Bisquick reduced-fat baking mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
64oz chicken broth
Parmesan cheese
8oz cream cheese
Flour
Milk
Eggs
Butter
Mustard



*Check the P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipes for the ingredients to the sauces you will need.  I did not include all of those ingredients because if you've made this before (or some other dishes) most likely you will have most of the ingredients necessary! :-)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Bye-week!

Hello Friends!  This week coming up is a crazy week where I actually won't be cooking several nights, so I'm taking a week off of meal planning.  I'll still be planning for the couple meals I'm doing, just not a full week.  We'll be back to normal next week, February 27th-March 5th!  Here's some yummy Dark Chocolate Chuck Bread Pudding from Skinny Taste to get you through!