Hey everyone! From what I've been reading, I think Easter weekend was a pretty good one for most of us. Now I'm trying to decide what I want to blog about....hmmm? Well, I thought I'd share what I've been cooking lately and how I plan menus.
This is our kitchen desk-buffet and the perfect spot for "Planning Central," with everything I need close at hand. Now, I no longer grocery shop with coupons, and I really don't pay that much attention to grocery store ads.....unless it's some really smokin' deal. It's just the two of us, and I did my share of "coupon-clipping" when we had kiddos at home. My menu plans are created around what we really like to eat, how many meals I actually want to cook for the week, and a few "This sounds good, let's try it!" ideas, usually from Pinterest.
There are so many cute and colorful menu planner sheets on Pinterest, but this one caught my attention Free Printable Menu Planner Sheet. I printed it off on white cardstock and framed it under glass so I can use a dry-erase pen.
This is my Homekeeping Planner.
I've shared before how much I enjoy the "Create 365 Happy Planner" and decided to make a few additional purchases from their vast selection of products to create my own Homekeeping Planner.
Among the things I added to make it perfect for me, is this Meal Planning section. One page is for your menu plans for the week, and I always write these in pencil....seriously, life happens and things sometimes get changed or switched around!
The grocery shopping list is on the other page. I generally take this entire Homekeeping Planner with me to the store.
Just to the left of "Planning Central," are my most-used cookbooks....within easy reach.
A couple of years ago, I purchased a Becky Higgins Project Life Recipe Kit & this 6X8 album (I got mine at Michael's with a coupon). I had handwritten recipes, and tons of loose recipes and wanted to get them organized. I was ruthless in my purging and now everything fits in this album with plenty of room for growth.
I love that there are pocket page protectors so I didn't have to rewrite our old family faves.
With the above tools, the pantry just a few steps away, and the Keurig within easy reach, I can do my planning quite easily.
Now, maybe you would like to see what's been on the menu plan lately.....please say "yes" and make my day!
I love having a good veggie-filled, whole-meal salad, and this one was so good. The orange poppy-seed dressing was delicious. You could add an artisan bread, but we didn't need it.
We didn't have a big crop of citrus this year (next year's should be huge), but we had some lemons that were begging me to create something "lemony" and this Lemon Bread was delicious!
Lemon Bread by Cristina
We have chicken several times a week, so I'm always looking for something new to try. I love using the crockpot, but chicken always cooks so fast and tends to get dry in the crockpot.....breasts do anyway. So, I'm still working on honing in on the right cooking time for this recipe. It was truly delicious with the veggies done to perfection....the chicken was just a bit dry.
Sarah (lots of crockpot recipes)
I really like having at least one "meatless" meal each week, and this was very good. If you haven't tried Quinoa, it's good but might take some getting used to. It's loaded with nutrients, plus it has 5g of fiber & 8g of protein per cup. With the addition of the black beans in this recipe, you've got a very well-balanced meatless meal. I did nix the jalapeño and went easy on the chili powder and cumin.....I can't eat very spicy things. We added a dollop of sour cream and a few crispy nacho chips to finish off this meal.
One-Pan Mexican Quinoa by Chungah
I should have known better than to use uncooked rice in this recipe....rice never thoroughly cooks for me in a dish like this. It was quite good, except for the"al dente" rice! I'll be cooking the rice ahead of time from now on. This is another meatless meal, but we didn't have this and the one above in the same week!
Slow-Cooked Stuffed Peppers byTaste of Home
This was delicious and a nice alternative to our typical kielbasa, mashed potatoes & sauerkraut meal....but that's good, too!
This was so good, and the addition of some steamed veggies made it a complete meal.
If you need a dessert in a hurry, just make sure to always have a couple of cake mixes & pie-fillings on hand. There are a ton of different combos, but this was scrumptious. The addition of a very small amount of almond flavoring mixed in with the cherries was a nice tip.
This is what is on the plan for tonight. I love one-pan meals and leftovers. It's pretty much impossible to cook a meal for just 2 people, and I don't even try. I plan my weekly menus to utilize leftovers.....cook once, serve twice or sometimes more! I'll let you know how this turns out, but just look at it...it will have to be good!
One Pan Balsamic Chicken & Vegetables by Jaclyn
Thanks for stopping by and maybe getting some new ideas for good stuff to cook up. I would like to do this kind of post on a more regular basis, but I'm not committing to anything right now. If you try any of the above, let me know what you think or how you might have tweaked the recipe. Hope you have a great rest of your week!
I often party with these lovely bloggers:
Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home
Tuesday
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home
Tuesday
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Wednesday
Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop
Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home
