Meal Planning Monday

I'm not sure this post is even worth it, since we are having such a boring week! 

Monday - grilled chicken, salad, mashed potatoes
Tuesday - pasta with vodka sauce, salad
Wednesday - sandwiches and chips (eating on the run to go to an adoption class @ Watermark)
Thursday - cornbread taco casserole
Friday - out to eat
Saturday - dinner with the Vangs, and most importantly, their baby!  sour cream chicken enchiladas
Sunday - hamburgers, waffle fries, fruit

I did manage to make this sourdough starter so now I just need to find time to make the bread itself!  I'm so excited about tasting it.  I'll let you all know how it turns out!

Have a great week!

Waiting for busy season to be over...

Since I'm in "busy season", I don't have much time for cooking.  In fact, my sweet husband has made a few of out meals lately and I'm sure he'll continue to over the next 4 weeks.  Even though I'm not getting to try anything new, the blog world is still producing tons of things I want to make!  So, since this blog has been so boring lately, I thought I'd point you to some other great blogs that can keep you entertained til tax day arrives.

As soon as summer squash makes an appearance at Sprouts, I'm going to try this summer squash and corn chowder.

I keep making mental notes to make these chocolate zucchini muffins, but its yet to happen.  Maybe my community group will luck out and get to try them one Sunday!

Speaking of zucchini, these baked zucchini fries seem like a great, healthy alternative to your typical french fries.

I adore sourdough bread, so this sourdough bread basics jumped out at me. I've tried once before to make sourdough starter, then bread and it was not so successful.  Resulted in some good bread, but it wasn't sourdough. My next free weekend, I'm doing this!

To round out this list of 5, I am absolutely dying to make these homemade soft pretzel bites! I love pretzels from the mall, but who knows what it is in the cheese dip they serve with them...probably Velveeta-esqe :) I'm sure this recipe would be 1,000 times better! 

All of the blogs I've linked to are awesome sources of inspiration, so spend some time with each of them and I'll be back as soon as I can!

A first - risotto!

I've always been intimidated by risotto, so when I saw this "forget the stove risotto" on my friend Dana's blog, I knew that would be my first foray into risotto.  It was delicious - totally rich and decadent, with all that Parmesan!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
salt and pepper to taste

Combine rice and chicken stock into a casserole dish or dutch oven. Give it a stir or two. Cover and place into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the majority of the liquid is absorbed.
Stir in Parmesan, butter, and salt and pepper until combined and cheese is melted.

I sauteed some chicken with some seasonings and cut it up small, then spread it across the risotto.  When I make this again, I think I'll use 1/2 the Parmesan just to make it a little less rich.  So, keep that in mind when you make it!  I'm sure it would be great with veggies mixed in, too.

Meal Planning Monday

Monday - tacos, corn, salad
Tuesday - waffles with homemade strawberry sauce, sausage, eggs
Wednesday - out to eat at Fuzzy's
Thursday - grilled chicken, frozen veggies, wild rice
Friday - out to eat
Saturday breakfast - "healthy" blueberry muffins
Saturday lunch - wedding reception!
Saturday dinner - homemade pizza
Sunday breakfast - bagels & cream cheese
Sunday lunch - grilled cheese and soup
Sunday dinner - TBD

spice rubbed tilapia

This is one of our favorite ways to eat fish!

 

This is the spice mix that inspired it:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
sprinkle of salt

I typically mix it up a little, but its usually equal parts cumin, paprika, pepper and then a mix of other things.  Some options are: seasoning salt, Tony Chachere's or garlic powder.  All you do is rub olive oil on the fish and then pat on the seasoning mix.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes and then grill or bake! 

Meal Planning Monday

I thought about not posting this to keep from becoming a blog that only posts my meal plan...but a post is a post, right? :)  I'm going to have a very busy week at work as the 3-15 deadline approaches, so we are having a very boring week foodwise!

Monday - grilled chicken, wild rice, green beans
Tuesday - king ranch chicken, salad
Wednesday- Monday leftovers
Thursday - Tuesday leftovers
Friday - eating at Babe's with our friends the Combs!
Saturday -
  breakfast - smoothies, cereal
  lunch - leftovers 
  dinner - soup, salad & sandwiches (aka recovering from Babe's)
Sunday -
  breakfast - "healthy" blueberry muffins
  lunch - out to eat
  dinner - hamburgers, sweet potato fries, fruit

Go to Tom Thumb!

Its time to head to your local Tom Thumb (or Safeway, Randalls,etc)...I saved 72% at Tom Thumb yesterday!  Here's what I did: they have a coupon in the weekly ad for $5 off a $15 frozen food purchase.  You can pick up the ad at your store, so you don't need to already have it.  They have a lot of frozen items on sale, but I combined that coupon with another deal they are running:

Buy 5 Lean Cuisine meals at $2@, get 2 free Dreyers milkshakes/smoothies!

I ended up getting 2 Lean Cuisines that were $2 each and 3 that were $1.88 each.  That got me 2/3 of the way to $15...just $5.64 to go (and yes, I used my phone calculator in the freezer aisle to add up exactly how much I had!) :) I added a box of FiberPlus Eggos for $2, a clearance priced box of Jamba Juice fruit bars for $2, and a few mini ice cream cups (Tom Thumb brand, each about 80 cents).  This put me just over $15.

Coupons used:
$5/$15 Tom Thumb
$1/3 Lean Cuisines - frozen foods coupon book found in the freezer section of TT
$1.10/2 Lean Cuisines - printed
50c/1 Eggo waffles, doubled

I ended up paying just over $7 for 5 lunches, 4 breakfasts, and 8 ice cream type treats!