A Recipe Plan!

Are you like me?  Do you find tons of great recipes from all over the web and flit about feeling no closer to using good recipes than when you started?  Well, I have a plan!  I'm so excited.  I love recipes and I love cooking, but I can never get organized to use the recipes that I find.  I end up making the same things over and over.

Here is my plan:

Week 1- Find all the recipe sites that I use and bookmark them using Pinterest.

Have you used Pinterest yet?  I just love it.  I use it mostly for bookmarking great recipes, teaching ideas and more.  It really is handy!

Week 2 and following- Spend one week on each website browsing, bookmarking and possibly making some recipes!  I'm going to try to organize them on my Pinterest board according to type of food like main meal, snacks, dessert, breakfast, etc.

I also have a ton of recipe ebooks that I need to browse as well.  Someday I will get something organized!

I hope to keep you updated as I go through this journey!

My first stop will be Finding Joy in My Kitchen: I just drool everytime I click to her site!

Source: joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com via Shonda on Pinterest

Menu Plan Monday

Well, this is my last week of Plan It, Don't Panic.  I must say that I've done much better in planning my meals.  I got a little off schedule last week with different things that happened in the evenings.  I hope that you have found some good recipes from my menu plans.  I'm going to take a break from Menu Plan Monday on my blog for awhile.  I really wish I was as organized as Jessica at Life As Mom with freezer cooking days or Laura at Heavenly Homemakers who plans every meal along with all her homeschooling or SnoWhite at Finding Joy in My Kitchen with her yummy meals.  I guess I have to be who I am, but I love their organization.  I'm trying to simplify my life so I can actually concentrate on those things!

Monday- Chili Dogs
Tuesday- Cheddar Cheese Soup (from the freezer)
Wednesday- Taco Potatoes- didn't make last week
Thursday- Crockpot Chicken- one I didn't make last week
Friday- Enchilada Rice
Saturday- Sweet Potato French Toast (Sneaky Chef style)
Sunday- Chicken and Wild Rice Bake

One thing I'm working on is making food from what we already have.  It's a challenge all in itself.  I am trying to be very frugal right now as we are trying to recover from a big hospital bill that we paid this summer.

Menu Plan Monday

I can't believe I am actually menu planning! I will keep this up even after the challenge, but I'm finding so many fun recipes to try, but it helps that I write them down and actually make them.  The tricky part is making sure I have most of the ingredients.  I'm trying to be frugal since we are on such a tight budget right now.

Monday- Chicken enchiladas with Jeremy's homemade tomatillo green sauce
Tuesday- Super Easy Crockpot Chicken
Wednesday- Grilled Chicken and Peach pizza (baked)
Thursday- Taco Potatoes
Friday- Ginger Peanut Chicken
Saturday- Chicken Spaghetti
Sunday- Chicken and Wild Rice Bake- (I originally got this from Good Cheap Eats, but I tweaked it so I will post my recipe this week)

I know, lots of chicken this week.  I got a good deal at the grocery store!

Menu Plan Monday

It's clean out the freezer/pantry week I think!

Monday- Chili Pie
Tuesday- Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Wednesday- Super Sassy Southwestern Chicken with potatoes
Thursday- Chicken and wild rice bake
Friday- Ginger Peanut Chicken
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday- Egg Mcmuffin

Menu Plan Monday

I was gone all weekend to a Women's Retreat and even though I did have a monthly plan, I'm not really liking what I planned. So it's going to be leftovers from the freezer week. Let's see, what do we have?

Monday- Special K Roast
Tuesday- Chicken Noodle Soup
Wednesday- Chimichangas
Thursday- Taco salad
Friday-Chili Dogs
Saturday- Cheddar Cheese Soup
Sunday- Brunch for Jessna's dedication (Potatoes and Eggs)

I'm not into being creative this week!

Menu Plan Monday

So I actually made a menu plan for this October during the month of September, but I am rearranging what I had planned for this week. I just got some really good recipes from my FB friends that I want to try. I also found one in a book I'm currently reading-The "What's for Dinner?" Solution: Quick, Easy, and Affordable Meals Your Family Will Love by Kathi Lipp.


Monday- Crockpot Chicken and Brown Rice
Tuesday- Baked Ziti from The "What's for Dinner?" Solution: Quick, Easy, and Affordable Meals Your Family Will Love  by Kathi Lipp

Wednesday- Zucchini Quiche (Hilary- a college buddy)
Thursday- Chicken Bake (Lindsey- a friend from MOPS)
Friday- Sassy Southwestern Chicken (Alison- blogging buddy)
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday- Dutch Pancakes

I'll let you know how these recipes turn out!

Yippee- this coming weekend I'm going to a Women's Retreat! Finally, I get a few hours to have fun without the kids. Last weekend my husband went up to my parent's house to do some work for them so I was alone with the kids for 3 days. My Women's Retreat is just local so I'll be spending the night at home, but I get Friday night and all day Saturday to hang out with other women.

Menu Plan Monday

Well, I hurt my back last week and things got a little topsy turvy with my menu plan so I had to switch some things around.  I actually made breakfast burritos one night which wasn't even on the plan and my husband brought home pizza.  I'm ok with the bumps, but glad I have menu plan.  I'm also learning to think ahead and get some of the prep done the day before.

Monday- Honey Garlic Chicken (crockpot)
Tuesday- Canned soup from our cupboard
Wednesday- Nachos or Taco Salad
Thursday- Chili dogs
Friday- Parmesan Chicken
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday-omelets

Breakfast foods for the freezer:
*Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal (with chocolate chips)
*Banana Peanut Butter Muffins
*Sweet Potato Pancakes
*Cinnamon Zucchini Waffles
*Pear Muffins

Lunches:
*Rice cooker Macaroni and Cheese

Snacks and Desserts:
*No Bake Energy Bites
*Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
*Peanut Butter Brownie Cups

Guess I better start cooking!
I am having so much fun looking for yummy recipes.  How about you?

Favorite Meals of the Month (September)

Since I've been doing this monthly menu plan, I've found some good meals and not so good ones.  Here is a list of my favorites from what I made this month:

* Chicken Noodle Soup
* Balsamic Chicken (Crockpot)
* Cheddar Cheese Soup and Cheesy Pepper Bread
* Chicken and Rice Casserole (this took a long time to bake, but it was yummy)
* Italian Salmon
* Dutch Pancakes

These were all easy and ingredients readily available in my kitchen.  I will be putting these on future menu plans.

Menu Plan Monday

OK, four weeks in a row is a record for me.  I might keep this up for another month or so, but it might not be permanent.  I don't know.  At least I can see what I liked and where I bookmarked.  I'm still trying to figure out how to organize my hundreds of recipes!

Monday- Zesty Italian Chicken (crockpot) from Fix it and Forget It 5 ingredient favorites
Tuesday- Chicken Noodle Soup-  I thought I would try Life As Mom version
Wednesday- Taco Salad
Thursday- Chicken and Wild Rice Bake
Friday- Salmon and veggies
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday- Breakfast Fried Rice

I'm hooking up to Plan It Don't Panic Menu Planning Challenge at Keeper of the Home.

Menu Plan Monday!

Wow, 3 weeks in a row! I'm on a roll. For those of you who don't know, at this time last year I was pregnant (but didn't know it- read story here) and I didn't want to cook or eat anything that I made. This lasted the ENTIRE pregnancy. It was awful. I had no desire to cook and it was hard because that is a passion of mine. So now that I have my appetite back I'm so excited about all the fun recipes I'm finding to make.

As always, things didn't go according to plan.  But I'm so much less stressed because there is always something to eat!

Monday- Balsamic Chicken (Crockpot)
Tuesday- Cheddar Cheese Soup and Cheesy Pepper Bread
Wednesday- Taco salad (meat mix from the freezer and greens from the garden)
Thursday- Chicken and Rice Casserole
Friday- Italian Salmon, my husband's recipe
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday- Egg McMuffin (Egg, Turkey Bacon, Cheese)

Another challenge I have is using up what we have in our pantry, freezer and fridge.  It's actually fun to figure out what to make with what I already have.  Lots of substitutions is key!  I'm trying to reduce our food budget as we have some big expenses that we are trying to pay off right now.

I'm also going to join a Plan It-Don't Panic Challenge for 6 weeks!

Menu Plan Monday!

Wow, my second week in a row doing a menu plan. It really helps that I made one for the whole month. And, just as I figured, we didn't follow it exactly. My husband is an expert at whipping something up. He's been catching salmon and he made this totally yummy salmon with teriyaki one night. We also went out to dinner unexpectedly one night. My MIL came to watch the kids and gave us $50 to spend. Generous! So glad, since we couldn't afford to go out.

Monday- Crockpot Country Chicken
Tuesday- Easy Black Bean Soup (from the freezer) and cornbread
Wednesday- Chimichangas (from the freezer)
Thursday- Super Sassy Southwestern Chicken with steamed green beans (freezer meal)
Friday- Jeremy's Salmon with Zucchini/potato bake
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday- Omelets with veggies

Can you guess my themes for each day?
Monday- crockpot
Tuesday- soup
Wednesday- Mexican/taco
Thursday- chicken
Friday- salmon
Saturday- leftovers
Sunday- breakfast

Be looking for a very yummy salmon recipe on Thursday!

Menu Plan Monday!

I must admit.  I'm a planner, but I can never plan meals.  What's up with that?  Well, this last weekend I sat down and planned out the WHOLE month of September.  We may or may not follow the menu, but at least I won't be wondering what in the world we will be having for dinner.  I'm in the midst of making some of the freezer meals, but I hope to get that done soon and then relax for the rest of the month!  Yay!

Monday- Chicken Nuggets (nieces and nephew here)
Tuesday- Cheddar Cheese Soup with veggies, rolls (freezer meal)
Wednesday- Taco salad (freezer meal- made taco meat with rice, pinto beans and added tomatoes)
Thursday- Super Sassy Southwestern Chicken with steamed green beans (freezer meal)
Friday- Canned Salmon with Zucchini/potato bake
Saturday- Birthday party
Sunday- Breakfast- Dutch Pancakes