this is our happily ever after: meal planning

meal plan monday

Here's the reality....meal planning is critical to eating well, spending less at the grocery store, not allowing food to go to waste, and my sanity.

Here are 4 meals that our family will be partaking in this week.

Meal one--Simple Baked Fish with Roasted Cauliflower and New Potatoes.

To make the fish I mix a few tbsp of mayo with some lemon juice, salt, ground pepper, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, and whatever other herb/spice blend that grabs my attention. Then I spread this mixture over 2 fish fillets and bake them at 400 for about 15-20 min. This "recipe" could be done with any mild white fish like flounder, tilapia, grouper, or cod.

Meal two--Cheese Enchiladas with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Meal three--Baked Margarita Spaghetti Squash (I'm hoping this helps alleviate my craving for spaghetti!) with Grilled Chicken

Meal four--Summer Crab, Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad

Posted at 07:30 PM in meal planning, recipes, recipes: main dish | Permalink | Comments (0)

supper planning Sunday

Is it seriously Sunday already??? Weekends go by way too fast!!! I still have a long to do list and a busy week ahead. Sigh....at least I managed a nap this afternoon! Naps make this momma happy!!!

Here's the week's meal plans--

1. My Favorite Meatloaf with Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower

2. Breakfast for Dinner--Crunchy French Toast, Crispy Bacon, and Fruit Salad

3. Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas I have chiles in my freezer from August, but if you want to make this with canned chiles it will work...just use 3 large cans.

4. Pasta with Pesto and Pinenuts vegetarian night

5. Black Bean Soup (crock pot/vegetarian)

Posted at 06:52 PM in meal planning, recipes | Permalink | Comments (0)

supper planning Sunday

Happy Sunday y'all--I don't know about you, but this girl is ready for Springtime!!! We've had a great weekend and I'm looking forward to this next week and Valentine's Day on Friday. Brian and I have never gone out on Valentine's Day. We always stay home and make a nice dinner. Since my Mom is here (free babysitter!), we're going to go out for an early dinner on Saturday because certainly Saturday night will be more crowded than Friday night! We plan on going to dinner at 5:30...along with all the cute old people :)

I hope you have a week of yummy meals!!!! Here's a look at what we'll be eating this week!

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Meal One-Basalmic Honey Pulled Pork Sliders, Sweet Potato Fries, Cole Slaw

Meal Two- Baked Ziti, Salad

Meal 3- Grilled Chicken Cesar Salad with homemade croutons (my favorite cesar dressing is Marie's refrigerated salad dressing)

Meal 4- Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice (this wasn't made last week, so I moved it to this week as our semi-vegetarian meal)

Meal 5- Fish Taco Bowls

Posted at 01:25 PM in meal planning | Permalink | Comments (1)

supper planning Sunday

Note--this blog post was written before the Super Bowl, but posted after the Super Bowl :)

Happy Sunday!!!

I just woke up from a wonderful nap and B, K, and I will be headed out in a bit to go to a Super Bowl Party. Go Broncos...though I really like the Seahawks uniforms and have considered becoming a fan just so I can buy a Seahawks t-shirt. Let's be honest...I could care less about football, but I love a cute t-shirt!

Ok...here we go...5 meals for this week

Meal 1- Bean and Cheese Chalupas (tostadas to Northerners) with Guacamole

Meal 2- Mushroom and Asiago Chicken with Rice Pilaf and Steamed Zucchini

Meal 3- Spinach Artichoke Pasta with green salad

Meal 4- Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

Meal 5- Creamy Mushroom and Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Garlic Bread

Posted at 10:30 PM in meal planning, recipes | Permalink | Comments (0)

supper planning Sunday

Happy Sunday Friends---

We got an unexpected 3 day weekend here in Houston....Friday we had sleet and freezing temps throughout the day so most schools were cancelled. No complaints from this teacher, though I may be singing a different tune when we have our weather make up day! Believe it or not, there's also a 70% chance of snow this Tuesday...that's crazy business for this city!

Meal planning has really helped me these past two weeks...I feel like I'm spending less $$ at the grocery store and eating balanced meals. If you're feeling inspired or using these meal plans leave me a comment.

Meal One-- Chicken Spaghetti with steamed broccoli and roasted cauliflower

I love this recipe...it's total comfort food and the perfect thing to eat while CB and I watch the Bachelor tomorrow night.

Meal Two-- Veggie Stir fry (broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, edamame) and Potstickers (store bought)

If I come up with a good recipe for stir fry I'll share it....I usually just make it up as I go!

Meal Three-- Fish Tacos with homemade guacamole

I just season the fish (I bought frozen flounder fillets at Target) with a little southwest seasoning, lime, and olive oil then use my grill pan to cook it. I top fish tacos with salsa and shredded cabbage and serve it in warm corn tortillas

Meal Four--Roasted Vegetable Minestrone (I LOVE this soup!!!) served with crusty garlic bread

Meal Five--Meatloaf , Baked Potatoes, Roasted Veggies (that I didn't use in the soup...I'll roast two sheet pans at one time)

Posted at 08:09 PM in meal planning | Permalink | Comments (0)

supper planning Sunday

Here's what we'll be eating this week. Instead of giving you the days I've planned meals for (because in all reality I move meals around all the time) I thought I'd just give you the 5 meals I'll (or my Mom) will be preparing this week with the photos and links. I hope these meal plans give you some ideas of what to cook. I know that though there may be thousands of recipes out there I still get in a rut, I'm sure you do too!

Meal One--Gruyere Mac and Cheese with Bacon + Steamed Brocolli and Cauliflower (because if you're going to eat decadent mac and cheese you'd better balance it out with some veggies!)

Meal Two-- Creamer Peas (picked up fresh ones at the farmer's market) + okra and tomatoes + cornbread

Meal Three--Mushroom and Manchego Panini + Kale Salad

Meal Four-- Spaghetti and Meatballs + Crusty Bread + Green Salad

Meal Five--Grilled Salmon on a Bed of Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette

Posted at 09:02 PM in meal planning | Permalink | Comments (0)

meal plan monday

Next week I'll be changing meal plan monday to supper plan sunday....in case you care :) That way I don't have a memory verse and meal plan going up the same day. Memory Verse will come later today.

Here's this week's meal plan: All images are from the website where I found the recipes...begin drooling now!

Monday---Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots and Green Beans

Tuesday--Brown Sugar Basalmic Glazed Pork Loin, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Kale Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Wednesday-- Life Group Night---Ham and Swiss Paninis, carrots and dip, chips

Thursday-- Cheese Enchiladas with Spicy Pinto Beans

Friday-- Out or carry out

Saturday-- Buffalo Chicken Salad

Sunday-- Chicken Tikka Masala with Rice

Posted at 11:09 AM in meal planning, recipes | Permalink | Comments (1)

meal plan monday (one day late)

One of my personal/blogging goals this year is to return to consistently meal planning for at least a week at a time. I'm currently on a trial membership of the website, Plan To Eat. This site allows you to save recipes online via a button similar to the "pin it" button for Pinterest, place the recipes into a meal plan , and then spits out your grocery list based on the plan. I think that in the long run it will save me money because I'll become better at using bulk items and not having to run to the store every other day for those one or two things that didn't get put on the list originally! You know how those one or two things always turn into a $40+ shopping trip. I'll let you know how I like it once I really put it to use.

All of that to share this week's meal plan and recipe links with you.

Monday- My Awesome Chili....seriously, it's so yummy! I highly recommend a bag of fritos with it!

Tuesday- Chinese Orange Chicken

Wednesday- Roasted Chicken with wild rice and steamed broccoli

Thursday- Frittata with Spinach Salad

Friday- out (I never cook on Fridays)

Saturday- Homemade Chicken and Noodles

Sunday- Brown Sugar and Basalmic Glazed Pork Loin with Kale Salad and Roasted Potatoes

A few other recipes on this week's menu--

Saturday breakfast--Raspberry Coconut Granola Pancakes

Zucchini Coconut Bread

Posted at 02:32 PM in meal planning, recipes | Permalink | Comments (1)

meal plan Monday

Happy Monday to everyone---I have been making very general meal plans the past few months and haven't posted them because they were so general. It's been so hot that we've been eating a lot of sandwiches, salads, and really quick and easy meals like tacos and BLT's.

Here's this week meal plan. I'm trying to use up some things in my pantry, fridge, and freezer and buy little at the market.

Monday--Stewed Okra and Tomatoes over Quinoa

Tuesday--Grilled Fish Sandwiches, Oven Fries, Avocado and Tomato Salad (recipe coming today)