My Meal Plan for February

I was going to begin this post by telling you about our lovely, productive weekend. I've felt like I've been so business-y here lately and our weekend was turning out to be a really nice thing to share. Then yesterday happened. Not only am I not ready to talk about it, but I've not had the sleep (or coffee yet) to aid in the words putting into sentence doing. Also, I think that yesterday's events really don't belong in a post about making nummy food. Because then you won't wanna make the yummy food. Anyways, my weekend recap may come mid-week.

Ok. Here it is. My meal plan for this month. I will link to all meals so you can check out the individual recipes. In a few days be watching for my "this is how I made all of this in one day" post.

My approach to meal planning this month was to try more crockpot meals, only do real cooking once a week, and repeat meals for convenience. I'll list the side dishes that I planned as well. Those usually get made in the few minutes to hour before dinner time.

Freezer Meals for the Crockpot:
All my crockpot meals come from sixsistersstuff.com. They are new to us and so far we are liking most of them.


BBQ Spare ribs w/ baked potatoes and veggies x2

Maple Dijon Glazed Chicken w/ roasted potatoes and veggies x2

Cilantro Lime Chicken Burritos x2
This is a recipe we didn't mind but I like my crockpot chicken better.

Black Bean Taco Soup x2
This was delicious! I will definitely make this again!

Freezer Meals for the Oven/Stove:

Pizza x4

Stroganoff w/steamed broccoli x2

Italian Pie w/ veggies x2

Sausage Lasagna w/veggies x2



PW's Chicken Spaghetti w/ veggies x2
I don't make this exactly the same way PW does. I use 2-3 cooked chicken breast diced into bite sized pieces instead of a whole chicken, and veggie broth instead of chicken broth. Still good. Just saves a few steps.


Meals for My Cooking Night:
I love to cook so I reserved one night a week for making a meal. All the other nights I used the freezer meals. It worked out really well for me and I think I'll continue this for awhile.

Doro Wat & lentils w/Injera & kale x2
We are studying Africa this month in our homeschooling and so we decided to make some of our favorite food: Ethiopian! I used some recipes in a seasoning sampler my BFF gave me. If you are super interested in making Ethiopian food we can talk recipes some time. Let me know in the comments.

Orange Chicken x2
I LURV Orange Chicken but I can't get it anymore because of the soy thing. HH and Abiah are addicted too but rarely get to enjoy it out of respect for me. And maybe because I have forbidden that they taste the sweet/tangy nectar of orange chicken since I can't. Maybe. When I saw sixsistersstuff.com had a few recipes I decided to try them both to see if we should add it to our monthly meal plans for good. The guys were pretty excited. 

Our first time around we tried the orange chicken recipe from this post. Mine looked NOTHING like their picture. It had a strong ginger flavor but was strangely still very bland. I added salt, sweet chili sauce, more salt, and more sweet chili sauce and it just didn't get better. The kids loved it so they ate it. I won't use that recipe again.

The second time around we tried this recipe. When I first found the recipe I was super excited because I love orange chicken and this one sounded like it would be good. And then I read the comments. And I wasn't so sure anymore. So many people said they threw it in the trash! Ugh. Anyways, I decided to give it a try but give it a twist. I decided against using the crockpot and just made this one on the stove. It was super simple. The changes I made were: add seasoning salt, garlic, and ginger to the flour mixture and add grated orange peel to the sauce. It wasn't Panda Express good or our favorite  Chinese resturaunt good, but it was good. I'll make it again. We all loved it. And it only took about 1/2 and hour to make. Super easy, ya'll.

Pan Nachos x2

If you have any questions let me know. Enjoy!

Freezer Meals: Beef Stroganoff

I don't have any pictures of this recipe. It's easy and one that my kids LOVE.

You will need:
1 lb thinly sliced beef, cooked (I use 1/2 lb)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
10-15 mushrooms, sliced
12 oz can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of sour cream
2 Tbl ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire
1/4 cup water
One box of pasta, cooked (I prefer bowtie or penne)
1 Tlb butter

After the meat is cooked add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms and cook until the onions and mushrooms are tender. In a separate bowl mix together the soup, sour cream, ketchup, Worcestershire, and water. When veggies are tender add sauce. Add one box of cooked pasta and the butter. Mix well and serve.

You can also make the sauce portion of this recipe and freeze it until you need it. Defrost for 24 hours. Heat it up and mix with the cooked pasta and butter.

We really enjoy this recipe. I think we have it a couple of times a month. Enjoy!

WFMW: Freezer Meals: Crockpot Liners

With all the crockpot meals I'm trying out this month I thought I'd do myself a favor and splurge on some crockpot liners. Friends, they are the best things ever!

You simply line your crockpot with one of the liner bags...

Dump in your crockpot meal... Cook it... Serve it.... Take out the left overs...

And grab the liner and toss it in the garbage.

I wash the lid off and put my crockpot way for the night. It's so easy. I love that an easy meal now has an easy clean up. You can find a box of these in the food prep isle of most grocery stores. Go get some. Now!

I'm linking up with WFMW at We Are THAT Family.

Freezer Meals: Italian Pie

This is another favorite recipe from my childhood. It's easy to make but takes a little more prep time since it is making a pie. It also freezes well before and after cooking. I usually double the recipe so I don't go through all the work twice.

For one pie you will need:
1 lb. Italian sausage, cooked (I used one lb for two pies and no one was the wiser)
6 eggs (I leave them out due to allergies and have no problem so they aren't a necessity)
2 packages (10oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 lb shredded mozzarella
2/3 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
two pie crusts
marinara sauce (I use my pizza sauce recipe)

First mix the sausage, eggs, spinach, cheeses, salt, and garlic together, blending well.

Roll out one pie crust to fit your pie plate.

Place the rolled out dough in the pie plate and fill with the topping.

Cover with a second rolled out pie crust.

When you are ready to eat them bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving. You can make 8-10 servings.

We like it with a spoon of warmed marinara or pizza sauce on the top.

If you want to freeze them first, wrap well in plastic wrap and a top layer of foil. 

Defrost for 24 hours before baking.

In the past, before we had kids, I would bake one of these up and freeze the individual pieces wrapped up in saran wrap for Nathan's lunch. It made an easy grab-n-go meal for the nights when we didn't have left overs for him to take.

Let me know if you try this one out. Enjoy!

Freezer Meals: Pie Crust

Rumor has it that my paternal grandma wasn't the greatest in the kitchen. Her mom, Old-old Grandma, was a fantastic cook, but for some reason Grandma Ann didn't inherit that skill. This recipe is one of the few things, I'm told, that she made well.

What is it about recipes from older generations that makes you feel closer to them? When I make pie crust I think of Dr. Pepper, Avon, and Grandma Ann's cackle. She had the best cackle.

This is the only pie crust I use. It's easy to make and freezes well. I don't know how long you are allowed to freeze it, but I will be honest and say I've used one that was in the freezer for at least a year. At least. Apparently I need to make pie more.

Grandma Ann's Pie Crust

You will need:

4 c. flour
1&1/2 tsp salt
1tablespoon sugar
1&3/4 c. Shortening or butter
1/2 c. Cold water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg or egg substitute

Mix the first three ingredients together. Cut in butter or shortening (I no longer use shortnening #1 because it is made from soy and I'm allergic and #2 I read Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food and #3 Butter is better). Mix last three ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to flour mixture. Mix well.

Divide into 4 balls.

Wrap individually.

Do yourself a favor and label them and then freeze. Unless you need them right away, of course.

When I plan to use the dough I pull it out the night before and let it thaw. I'll be posting a dinner recipe in the next few weeks that will use this crust.

Do you have many recipes from older relatives? Does making them stir up fun memories?

Enjoy!

Survey Time!

I'm thinking about putting together a series of posts on my monthly meal plan with detailed posts about how I do once a month freezer meal prep. Are you guys interested in something like that or are you thinking, "There are 5 million posts like this all over the web already. Just post pictures of your chubby babies and stories of the funny things they say"?

Let me know your vote by leaving a comment below.

Freezer Meals: Pizza Sauce

I have a few recipes that I want to post of necessary ingredients for other recipes I plan to share with you. This is one of those.

I tend to cook using the "ish" method: little to no measuring. I did measure out the ingredients the last time I made sauce so you can have more to work with than "ish". You can adjust as you see fit.

Pizza Sauce

For a long time I bought Hunt's pizza sauce for homemade pizza. Then I realized how easy it was for me to make my own. I like the flavor and consistency much better.

You will need: tomato sauce (29 oz), Italian seasoning (1 tablespoon), garlic powder (1 teaspoon), and salt (dash).

Mix together. I separate this recipe into three containers and freeze. One container is enough sauce for 2 pizzas.

We have pizza almost weekly per HH's request. I use Pioneer Woman's Pizza Crust. I've found that I like the crust best baked on the lowest rack in the oven for 15 minutes instead of 10.

Enjoy!

My Tips for Meal Planning

Our first discussion on meal planning was me answering the why question. Why I do meal planning and freezer meals. Today I want to share a few tips or ideas that have made meal planning easier for me.

First off I'm gonna say know your audience. Know what your family's needs, desires, and maybe even goals are food wise and cater to those as much as possible. I completely believe, and teach my kids, that God made food for our enjoyment, but it is also for the nourishment of our bodies so it's okay to eat things we don't really like because it is what is served or what is available. But the flip side is that there is no reason to bring on WWIII with your children every night because they detest certain foods.

I try to introduce different foods to my family and I don't often make separate meals for picky eaters. I will say that it is pretty hard to make a three year old eat something they don't like though. There are times when I know my kids are just being picky, but there are those few foods that they just don't like. Sometimes I just don't serve them those foods. Sometimes the other option is pb&j. There are also somethings I just let them pick out.

Even HH has a few things he's picky about. Zucchini is one of those things. He knows I chop and shred it up and put it in lots of our food. I just don't serve it to him by itself.

And speaking of HH, who is adorable by the way, he's not the most severe meat-n-potatoes guy I've ever met, but, to him, unless the meal has meat it's survival food. For me it is important to cater to HH's desires and needs and it makes me happy to make food he enjoys, but I have cut back on the portions of meat I use and I try to do one meat-less meal a week. Those aren't his favorite meals of the week, but I just tell him those are the nights we are in wilderness survival training. And those meals are better than the cottage cheese waffles I served once...that he refused to eat. Poor guy.

Anyways, the reason I state this as my first tip is that there is so much information out there with great ideas and other family's choices, but we have to remember that our family is it's own separate unit and we have to find what works best for us. Glean. Take the things you think will work for you and try them out. Maybe try something you aren't sure of. You never know. But don't try to force yourself,  your hubby, or your kids into some other family's mold.

(Stepping off soap box now.)

Secondly, if you are new to meal planning try at first to make 10-12 of the same meals twice. So in one month's time you'll have the same meal twice but can spread it out however works best for you.

Third, plan at least one night a week to be "left overs" night. Clean the fridge out and eat all the random left overs up. For us this cuts down on waste and makes for an easy cooking night. I usually plan left overs for days when I'm really busy.

Another tip for busy days is planning a crockpot meal. Our homeschool group meets at our house on Wednesdays and I've found that is the best day for me to have something going in the crockpot. Then if anyone stays late to chat I don't have to rush off to make dinner.

Also, make a master shopping list. I don't mean jot things down you think you may need. I mean sit down and think about all the things you buy when grocery shopping. ALL. You'll find that you revise and add to your list as you get more comfortable with meal planning but this is such a helpful tool. For me having this master shopping list saved on my computer helps me to think about the things I often forget about. Like floss. Sippy cups to replace the leaky ones. And random spices I barely use. I do try to jot things down as I run out, but I really do rely mostly on my master list. When I'm ready to do my shopping I sit down with my recipes and mark the things I need and then I go through the list to mark everything else I plan to buy. Like scotch tape.

And finally, for now, give yourself time. It will take you some time to figure out what will work for your family. Sometimes out schedule is really open and I can do a lot of food prep myself. There are those months, though, that I have to plan for a busier schedule. It's easy to get discouraged if all the things you wanted to do didn't get done the first month. There have been many months when I come home from shopping discouraged because I felt like I "did it wrong." HH has his hands full, let me tell you.


Do you have any meal planning tips you'd like to share?

Meal Planning and "Putting Up" Food

So, this is a topic I've wanted to talk about here for some time but honestly it intimidates me. While I do feel like I've got some things figured out that work well for my family, I hesitate #1 because I don't want anyone to think I've got it all figured out and #2 because what works for my family may not work for yours and #3 there are people out there who know WAY more about this stuff and do it better than I do.

Meanwhile, I have had many face-to-face conversations about meal planning and "putting up" food (or what normal people call freezer meals). I really do enjoy talking about it and helping in any way I can. So my cousin, who I've helped with freezer meals and talked to about meal planning, asked me to put together a list of a few freezer meals and maybe some shopping list ideas for the ladies of her moms group.

After I finished panicking about my lack of qualifications, I got excited, because I really like this stuff. If one person is helped out that makes me happy. Also, I know some friends who read my blog have asked a few questions so I figure this will be a great way for me to work my thoughts out for my cousin's mom group and answer some questions some of you have asked me.

First I want to start with the why. Why I do meal planning and "put up" freezer meals:

I think I really started the habit right before Amelia was born four years ago. She and Hazel are only 15 months apart and I felt very overwhelmed by the idea of having two under two and a 6 year old plus the responsibilities of daily living. My mom helped me set up my menu planning and shopping list. In the last month before I had Amelia we filled my freezer with so many yummy meals. It helped me feel like I was at least one step ahead. And it also distracted me in my last month of pregnancy.

A benefit  of meal planning for me is availability. We live about 30 minutes from "town" and our closest store (20 minutes) is a Safeway. While we actually do shop at Safeway quite a bit, it is too expensive for me to shop there for everything. Because of the distance I try to do one big shopping trip once a month with a few runs mid-month to Safeway for fresh veggies and fruit, milk, cheese, etc. This gives me more time to focus on  school and other activities we'd rather do than grocery shopping. And I honestly believe that meal planning, whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, will save you money.

As far as freezer meals go, what mom/wife/teacher/busy-crazy-running-around lady wouldn't find it helpful to be able to pull a meal out of the freezer in the morning and only have to bake it or heat it up before being able to call it dinner? I love it! But I didn't always understand the value. At first it was a "homeschool" thing to do, but when I was able to have a months worth of dinners made in one to two days I got excited.

I don't always do my freezer meals for a month in one day. I've gone back and forth. For me it depends on the season I'm in. Lately I find that I shop for the month and do prep work for meals (chopping veggies, separating meats, cooking beans, etc.) and then try to either make double batches if it's something we'll eat more than once a month or make a few of the simpler meals to freeze.

I have a list of recipes and a few topics regarding meal planning and freezer meals to talk about here. Do you meal plan and do freezer meals? Have a favorite recipe you want to share? If you have any questions please leave a comment below. I'm not an expert, but maybe we can help each other.