RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Meal Planning

I guess I've shown the planner in the past month. but I like this cover shot better. I finally got the opportunity to sit and menu plan last week. I showed the planner to Bob so he knows what's for dinner on which day. I'm also keeping the shopping list handy so as I think of something, I can just flip open to the next shopping week and add it to the list. This next shot isn't very clear but does show the a shopping list in progress.

This week:

Monday - Leftover Pot Roast (from freezer)

Tuesday - Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday - Meatloaf/ Scalloped taters/ cheesy green beans

Thursday - Tilapia/ Wild Rice/ peas

Friday - Chicken Fried Steak/ mashed taters

Saturday - Raid the Fridge/ Freezer

Sunday - Pot Roast and homemade rolls.

The Chicken Enchiladas were super easy. Sunday night when we got home from shopping I put 4 large boneless/ skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot with a 1/2 C water and about 4T Taco Seasoning Mix. Put the lid on and set to LOW. Monday morning, they were perfectly cooked. I turned the crock pot off and let them cool while we ate breakfast. Then Bob forked the meat apart and put it in the refrigerator until Tuesday.

Last night I added about another 3 T. Taco Seasoning and 1/2 can petite diced tomatoes for moistness to about half of the shredded chicken and heated it up.

I heated 8" flour tortilla shells in the microwave on a paper towel for 15 seconds. One at a time, then sprinkled a bit of shredded taco blend cheese down the center, topped with a generous 1/4 C of the chicken, rolled them up and placed them seam side down in a  9x12 glass casserole dish that I'd pretreated with a butter cooking spray and a cup of homemade cheese sauce. I got 6 enchiladas in the dish then poured another cup of the cheese sauce over top, making sure to cover all of the tortilla shell so they'd stay soft during cooking. I put uncovered in a 350* oven for about 20 minutes... the length of time it took me to mix up a batch of breakfast muffins. (I'll share that recipe next week)

We each started with two (though Bob went back for a 3rd). I topped mine with diced tomato, shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and Taco Bell taco sauce. Bob just had tomato and sour cream.

I had heated up a can of refried beans but we forgot they were in the microwave. Today I'll buy a small beef roast and make a batch of burritos for the freezer. One can of refried beans, a tiny can of diced green chiles and a small beef or pork roast will make over two dozen burritos!

We're moving in to week 2. We'll see how this goes. With Bob being off work until things on the river pick up again, I need to make use of the contents in our freezer and pantry. As cold temps move in really early, I'm thinking a pot of chili. Leftovers will go great on top of the burritos. 

This week we're combining the Master Bedroom and the bathroom. 

For most of the time we've lived here, we've kept collapsible laundry hampers in the bathtub to sort laundry in to. Of course, that means moving them to another location when we want to use the bubble tub. And frankly, they really take away from the beauty of one of my favorite rooms in the house. So after seeing THIS on pinterest, I decided while Bob is off we need to fix the blight.

Putting this laundry sorting unit into an empty corner of the bedroom will bring the beauty back to the bathroom and get rid of those horrid collapsible hampers. Bob will be able to put his clothes in the basket rather than piling them on the floor by his side of the bed and I can grab a basket on my way out in the morning and start a load without wondering if I have everything. 

I hope to have pictures of the build next week. 

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - New Meal Planner

While out shopping at Hobby Lobby last Friday, I had to browse planners. Not that I NEED another planner. I just love them. It's the OCD in me. I have several. But I knew I didn't need to buy one.  Then THIS fell into my line of vision.. okay it didn't 'fall' per say but I did come across this pretty on the main drive isle by the registers:

Take note of the price. Nearly 75% off AND is good through the end of 2018! Yeah, for that price I can play and see if I'll actually USE a meal planner. I'd apologize for the next pictures, but I've learned from watching FoodNetwork that you don't apologize. Not to point out the negative. It is what it is. I'll do better next time :-)

I told my sister about this planner and she had me pick one up for her while I was in town yesterday.

This planner has a Month On Two Pages. Good to have an overall view of the month. I can track Bob's work schedule so I know when he's home.. aka more actual meals and less 'what sounds good to me today' kind of meal planning.

While I am a Daily kind of planner girl, I like the Week On Two Pages for meal planning. I mean, meals are planned by the week, right? This enables me to get an idea of what I need to pick up on my weekly trip to the grocery store.

A couple of years ago I picked up a Note kit from Barnes & Noble that had elongated notepads - 1 for each month. I have tons of the sheets on each one left because I've only used them in the planners for things like this. So I can add one to each weekly page with a piece of Washi tape:

Bob is gone until October 11th so I won't be doing a ton of meal planning before then for me, but we have company coming for a week a few days after he gets home. So I can start now planning the meals for that week and filling out the shopping list. I'm gone the week he gets home so I want everything in place before I leave. 

I've taken all of the 'before' pictures around the house. Next week I'll be showing you the office progress. For real this time :-) I wound up having to work all weekend for my boss and got zip done in there last weekend. I HAVE to work on it this weekend. 

Enjoy the Journey!