Meal Plan: Part 2

Here’s what I learned about meal planning this week: It’s filling! Our fridge was stocked all week with food, leftovers and snacks…and the meals kept on coming! 

The benefits of meal planning were well worth it. Here are the kiddos enjoying family dinnertime…

This week, we have a super busy week ahead of us. There is something going on every night so I’m keeping it easy. Here’s the plan:

1) Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Rice

Ingredients

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can Cheese Soup

1 8oz container of sour cream

Place chicken breast in crockpot. Pour the three cans of soup over the top. Cook on low 6-8 hours. One hour before you are ready to eat, shred the chicken and add the sour cream. Stir well. Cook an additional hour.

Serve over rice and pair with sautéed zucchini.

2) Skillet Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

One package of thin-sliced chicken breasts

1/3 cup Italian style bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (not Kraft)

One egg, slightly beaten

Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip chicken in egg and then coat with bread and cheese mixture. Add chicken to skillet and cook for about 10-15 minutes, turning once, until cooked through. 

You can serve with any pasta of your choice. I will probably pair with Pasta Roni Shells & White Cheddar (one of Sienna’s favorites!) and these delicious marinated tomatoes.

  

3) “Fácil” (that’s Spanish for easy) Tacos

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef

Old El Paso Hard & Soft Taco Dinner Kit

Toppings: Shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa and sour cream

Follow the directions on the box and enjoy!

Have a great week!

Meal Plan: Part 1

I’ve decided to start meal planning for our week. I’ll be the first to admit that meal planning has not been my strong suit in the past. Generally, I grocery shop by memory, a.k.a. a jumbled messy list in my brain, or by what sounds good to me at that moment. But, I feel the need to be more organized, hope to save money by only buying what I need, and plus, it gives me an opportunity to try all the recipes that I have flagged in magazines or from other blogs. This past week was my first “go” at it and it worked out really well and I tried THREE new recipes! Variety is the spice of life, right? I’m only ambitious enough to meal plan for one week, and I’m not being a stickler about what day we eat what. This is a flexible working plan. And I’m only planning a few recipes because I know I won’t actually cook every night. Some nights are too hectic - or I’m too tired - and frozen pizza is our pinch hitter.

The good news is, I’ve decided to share my meal plan with YOU. In fact, I’m hoping to post my meal plan every Monday. It’ll keep me accountable, and who knows, maybe it’ll inspire you, too!

I’ll link recipes when available or I’ll type them out for you. So, here goes…this is what we’ll be eating this week:

Meal One

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Coleslaw

Place 2-3 chicken breasts in the crockpot with Buffalo or BBQ sauce and sprinkle a ranch dressing season packet on top. Cook for at least 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Shred the chicken, spread on rolls with cheddar cheese slices and, if to your taste, sliced onions. Serve with coleslaw. For the coleslaw, I buy pre-shredded cabbage and mix with either Lighthouse or Marie’s coleslaw salad dressing (in refrigerated section at the grocery store).

Meal Two

Pumpkin Patch Pasta

Meal Three

Chicken Marsala (thanks, Andrea, for this recipe!)

1 lb. thinly sliced chicken breasts

½ cup chicken broth*

½ cup marsala wine

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic

flour for dredging

Directions:

1. Melt 1 tbsp. of butter with 1 tbsp. of olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic to skillet.

2. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour and add to skillet and brown on both sides.

3. Add chicken broth, marsala wine and other 1 tbsp. butter to skillet and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens.

4. Serve with pasta.

*Since we’re a “saucy” family, lately, I’ve been doubling the marsala wine and chicken broth. You decide what works best for you.

Last but not least, dessert!

Pumpkin Blondie Bars

And finally, a Honorable Mention....

I tried this recipe last week, the preparation is a bit messy but SO worth the mess! They are delicious. The moistest scones I’ve ever met and the maple icing is heavenly. A perfect fall breakfast! Give ‘em a try!

Maple Pecan Scones

Ok, I’m off to the grocery store! Ciao!