Finally Getting Back to Things

It's been so long since I posted that I'm ashamed to tell you I can't even remember everything I cooked a few weeks ago.  So let me give you what I remember.

The Meal Plan of October 2 was basically a bust.  Let's start with the sausage, onions and peppers.  I have made this meal 1,000 times before (hello, I'm Italian).  I've made it on an outdoor grill, my stove-top grill, and in the oven.  Basically I grab some mild and sweet sausages (not hot because the little man eats all the same things we do... even though he would probably like the hot ones), at least 2 onions, and at least 2 different types of bell peppers (in this case I did green and red).  Since I started dinner prep late, I threw the peppers and onions on my stove top grill to get them going and then found online that I could put my sausages in the oven at 200 for 20 minutes to cook them and just throw them on my grill at the end to make them crispy.  I read this in a few different places so it seemed legit.

It wasn't.

My sausages weren't cooked at all when I finally went to serve dinner.  So, I grilled them for 10 more minutes and finally cut them up and threw them in the microwave.  This meant they just tasted really weird and we didn't eat until 6:20, which also meant the little man was super hungry which equals super cranky, which also means that since I was cooking my hubby was watching the super hungry and cranky little mean which equals a super hungry and cranky big man.  Let me tell you... dinner was fun.

It's going to be some time before I can make sausage, peppers, and onions again,

And then I tried the Chicken Stuffing Bake on Monday night...as planned.  Before I go any further I need to confess a weird thing I do... for some reason if a recipe calls for cream of [insert item here.... chicken, mushroom, etc] I'm immediately intrigued.  I don't really know why since I can't remember my mom ever cooking with these soups so it isn't like it evokes some childhood memory, but I want to try that recipe.  I always think the recipes will be easy, flavorful, and will bring me back to a 1950s nostalgia that I am way too young to (yes... "too" young... comments?)  know anything about.  And here is the thing - so far, in the last 16 years when I've really been cooking my own evening meals consistently, that has never happened.  Not even once that I can think of.

Here's the truth... when I make a meal that calls for cream of "something" often that meal tastes like the glue from first grade - that big vat of white glue.  Or, it tastes like next to nothing.  And this recipe was no different.  After silently eating for a few minutes Brian asked, "What's the glue-like stuff?"  My answer, "It's the stuffing."  Let me tell you, that was not a good omen for this meal.  And it only got worse.

I would love to find a quick cooking and prepping one dish meal that tastes decent but I haven't yet.  And, if I ever do, I'm pretty sure it won't contain any cream of anythings.

So, since I had hit it out of the park on Sunday and Monday night (that was dripping with sarcasm by the way) I completely freaked and ditched the other 2 recipes I was planning on making.  Instead I made pasta with jarred sauce one night (bigger raves than Sunday or Monday) and I made baked barbecue chicken (just bake the chicken with barbecue sauce and brush some more on throughout the cooking process) with roasted brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes from some almost-bad potatoes.  No one complained... phew. 

Then we went away and Brian got to eat my mom's cooking for 5 days.  He ate every last bite.  Kind of made me a little jealous that he loved it so much so I felt I had to do something big to recover.  And I called in the aid of The Pioneer Woman.

I made Chipotle Steak Salad and we are still dreaming about the dressing (this was a Brian dish for sure) and I made the Beef with Snow Peas.  Brian ate the beef, the brown rice (yes, I said "brown" rice) AND the snow peas.  He went back for seconds on the entire thing... another Brian dish.  I also made the Baked Chicken Parm that I talked about in an earlier post and that is quickly becoming a staple in my kitchen.  With the chicken I also had some oven baked zucchini and apparently I'm the only person in the house who likes zucchini.

One night last week I also made the Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes.  Here's the deal... these potatoes are so good I can't even remember what I paired them with... I just remember these potatoes.  They were divine.  And they were soo good that I put the leftovers in my fridge and Sunday morning I fried them up in a scant amount of olive oil and served them with eggs.  Just writing this makes me wish I had some still in the fridge - they were that good.  Make them now (and it doesn't even matter that I had to use 2 dishes to make them... it was well worth it).  And if you make them be forewarned that Brian might show up at your back door asking for some.

I'll let you know what I'm cooking this week soon.  I'm assuming that at some point I'll catch up... but don't hold your breath.

 

Meal Plan Week of October 2

I have a plan y'all... and since we are going away this week I didn't have to plan for a whole week so that made it a lot easier.  Here is what we will be eating (fingers crossed) this week:

Sunday: Grilled sausage, onions, and peppers
Monday: Chicken stuffing bake with peas and carrots
Tuesday: Bacon and broccoli penne
Wednesday: Spiced honey lemon chicken and brussel sprouts

Wish us luck with this plan!

I Finally Cooked

Completely unplanned, I was able to get two real meals out (well almost real) that I had to cook.  Let me share.

Last night I found some pork chops in my freezer (pretty thin, bone-in, loin chops) and decided it was their time to shine.  The only person I could turn to for some yummy pork chops was the Pioneer Woman (y'all, if you don't know about the Pioneer Woman then take some time to go through her blog... I started following her a couple of years ago and now she has some cookbooks, a recipe site and a show on the Food Network) so I made her Pan-Fried Pork Chops.  I know, they were fried... can anything fried be bad?  Well, the answer is yes (when something is so fried that you a- can't taste the food, and b- can't touch your fingers afterwards for fear of starting an oil slick) but not with these pork chops.

I actually found this recipe because I was trying to decide if I was going to fry the chops in vegetable or canola oil.  My gut said canola oil and so did this recipe so I used it as a guide (most other recipes called for vegetable oil but that turned my stomach... not sure why).  To add to the "down-home-ness" of fried pork chops I also made mac and cheese and frozen peas (which, if you have been watching The Chew you would know that even Mario Batali says frozen peas are good to use - he also likes frozen corn).

So, how did it go over?  Well... when Brian came home and I put his plate in front of him (very 1950s of me... then I fixed him a drink and fetched him the paper - oh wait, now I'm confusing 1950s and a dog) he said, "Now THIS is a meal."  He then sat down and ate everything on his plate, what was left in the kitchen, and what morsels Evan left on his plate.  Evan was mostly drawn to the mac and cheese (what a surprise) but he did eat the pork chops and peas as well. 

Let's review:

Recipe: Pan-Fried Pork Chops
Rating: Brian (I know... it's been a while but sometimes the simplest things are the most satisfying)
Future Recommendations: So, the recipe, as you can see if you read through it, talks about liberally salting the pork chops before you coat them.  Now, I am a firm believer in salt and use only sea salt for cooking (cause it's in the house, I would also use kosher salt if it had it) but I think I went overboard.  For me it was salted WAY too liberally.  Brian said he didn't have any problem with it but I'm sticking with my taste buds on this one and I plan on having a lighter hand next time.


Then, tonight, I cooked again (I know, shocker of all shocks).  Often on Friday nights I make soup and sandwiches (ummm... because it's easy and I'm tired).  The last few times I've done this I've made Trader Joe's Creamy Tomato soup (I can't say enough good things about this soup) and a simple grilled cheese I make on my panini maker.  Tonight I had Trader Joe's butternut squash soup in my pantry and I decided to step it up a notch with the panini because I found some chicken in my freezer and another Pioneer Woman recipe Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini.

Clearly I don't need to tell you much about the soup except that it is definitely a second to the tomato soup and that I found out, when Brian came home, that he doesn't like butternut squash soup (he then convinced me to make him some chicken noodle... then I fixed him a drink and got him the paper).  But we have to talk about the sandwich because, as usual, I changed some things.

I made the chicken as recommended in the recipe (but I have to tell you that slicing it in half was way more trouble to me than pounding it... I'm an old dog and I don't learn new tricks so well) and I made the bacon chewy, but I didn't have any ranch dressing or spicy mustard so I just slathered the bread with some sweet honey mustard.  And normally, when I make paninis, I don't put anything on the outside of the bread but since this was a treat I decided to spray it with some butter Pam.  Then they went on the panini maker* for 3 minutes. 

Brian felt the sandwich was worth the trouble.  Evan took everything out of the inside and ate it (I also gave him some extra chicken and he drank his soup out of a cup) and while I wasn't enamored (probably because I'm the one who had to go to all the trouble to make it) I do think there are some things I want to do to the sandwich that will make me want to make it again.

Recipe: Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini
Rating: Brian (I'm begrudgingly giving this a Brian... he loved it but I still haven't made up my mind)
Future Recommendations: First off, the recipe specifically calls for "chewy bacon".  Turns out I don't like chewy bacon and I find it hard to bite through.  Next time I would definitely make it crispy.  I also think that the ranch dressing is a must have.  I also want to add some red onion for a bite of flavor.  After I do all of that I'll re-rate the panini for you all.

*If you don't have a panini maker (and why don't you, I use this thing at least 2x a week and it's affordable) you can always use a grill pan and use something heavy to weigh down the sandwich like a brick or skillet (what, no grill pan either... you're killing me), or the flat side of a griddle (got mine at a restaurant supply store but you can get them anywhere) or just a skillet... I know you have a skillet.

The Yellow Meal

Yup... still no meal plan.  Today just got very hectic with a cranky little baby and a rambunctious 2-year old.  I have a few ideas though... I'll have to share them with you as they pan out. However, all this chaos also meant I didn't get to go to the grocery store.  So, when 4:30 rolled around I started rooting through my freezer and people, the pickings were slim.  So I made what I refer to as a "yellow meal."  You know the blue plate special?  Yeah, this is nothing like that.

First off, let me please assert that I am well aware of the fact that people eat with their eyes.  I am also aware of the fact that as an overall color "yellow" is not the preferred choice for meals.  And I am even aware of the fact that as a rule of thumb a yellow food does not contain a lot of nutritional value.  On a positive, apparently children like yellow food.

But, let me make this even more appetizing... the color was actually somewhere between yellow and brown. 

So what did we eat?  We had fish sticks (Trader Joe's of course... and supposedly lower in fat):

(not my picture so don't ask me what is in the background), fries, and corn... you know, the kind of dinner that makes you feel like a really good mother.  Or, at least makes Evan think I'm a really good mother.

I won't spend too much time on this meal (Fish sticks were good, fries awesome - also Trader Joe's, and the corn was sweet... you know, like corn) but I wanted to let you know how bad it has gotten over here.  I swear I'll cook again soon... very soon.

Leftovers Saturday

To top off my week that has been completely off of meal plan tonight we ate leftovers. I literally took everything out of my fridge and put it all together:

I ended up throwing out the black beans and rice and the Chili Mac casserole since they both looked past their prime, but I heated up everything else.  And, since I knew Brian wasn't going to eat the pork, I also defrosted some shrimp and sauteed them to add to our buffet.  Incidentally this was Evan's first time having shrimp (he has only been allowed to have shellfish since he turned 2 a month ago) and it was my first time ever cooking shrimp.  Evan ate it all up and I think the shrimp were cooked well.

Of course Brian said it was hell week all over for him (since he didn't like most of these dishes originally except for the 2 added by his parents from Friday night) but I enjoyed having the pasta pesto with shrimp... it was even better than alone.  The only dish that didn't re-heat well was the pork.  It was really dry but it had a kind of Pork Lo Mein taste to it so since I still have a few slices leftover I might make that next week.

As for next week's meal plan... don't hold your breath.  I'm trying to work on it tonight but it's already 9:30 (don't go by my "posted on" time because something is all wonky with that) and that is really late for me (I know... exciting mom life I lead).  Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow night?

Happy eating!

I Made Soup... Just Soup... And We Survived

This week has completely gone awry.  For Wednesday's dinner (supposed to be the Tilapia that I made Monday night) I just made some pasta with Trader Joe's Pesto Genovese (yumminess in a container), some frozen fire roasted meatballs, and a salad.  Then Brian's parents came down on Thursday to babysit for us when we go see Wicked and since that was last minute I ran out to Trader Joe's and made their spice pork roast (hello - 2 for $14 which fed 5 people with leftovers), frozen peas with a mint sauce, salad, and mashed potatoes.  And tonight Brian and I are eating out.  So, phbbt to the meal plan this week.

Instead, let me tell you a little story about last week.  For last week's meal plan I tried to do some new dishes that would use old ingredients in a more economical fashion.  For instance... mushrooms and chicken.  A few weeks ago I was making dinner when I saw that I had some baby portabella mushrooms about to go bad so I decided to roast them and add them as a side for dinner.  They were a huge hit with Brian and Evan so I thought since I love mushrooms let me see what else I can make with them.  I added using chicken (because I had a lot in the freezer) and wild rice (since that was on my mind after cleaning out my pantry).  Voila - I came across this recipe: chicken and wild rice soup.  It looked very filling (was going to double the amount of chicken) and easy (2 important things in my household) and I figured I could just add some biscuits and it would be a meal.

As I was cooking dinner, Brian made his daily phone call to ask what we were having for dinner... and I hesitated.  I knew if I said "soup" he wouldn't take it well so I said, "chicken and mushrooms".  He asked, "What else?", and I answered, "Wild Rice". He got very quiet and said, "Is that all?"  And I said, "Well... it's soup with chicken, mushrooms, wild rice, and some biscuits".  And then came the silence.  He said, "You're feeding me soup for dinner?" (and understand he pronounced soup like arsenic), and I said, "What's the difference between soup for dinner and sausage on a plate?" (longstanding joke - when we first met Brian said he wanted sausage for dinner and nothing else and I said, "you just want sausage on a plate?" because that was so shocking to me having grown up in a meat, veggie, starch for dinner and that has become a common phrase in our house).  He let it go.

When he came home he was in a foul mood that he was having soup for dinner.  Evan gobbled up his portion (he had most of the contents with just a little bit of broth), I ate all of mine, and as Brian begrudgingly ate he stopped complaining... slowly.  At some point he said, "You know, this is really good... but it's just soup", and I said, "What is the difference between this soup or me just putting chicken, sauteed mushrooms, and wild rice on the plate?".  He couldn't answer and at one point he even admitted the problem might be more his perception of soup than the soup itself.  And... he had seconds. 

I'm not sure how soon I can do a soup night again... but I bet with some more practice he will learn to love soup (or maybe I need to add a sandwich for him).

Anyway... here is the consensus:

Recipe: Chicken and Wild Rice soup
Rating: Evan - I can't give this a Brian for 2 reasons... 1) Brian didn't love the idea of a soup dinner, and 2) The soup needed a little but more flavor for my taste buds.
Future Recommendations: If I make this again I would make sure to cook it a little bit longer (the wild rice was a little underdone) and I definitely need to add some fresh herbs (I didn't have any in the house).  Maybe some rosemary... or tarragon... or something distinctive.

Off to a So-So Start

So, Monday I was supposed to make Chili-Mac Casserole but the children were not cooperating and all the sudden it was 5:15 and I hadn't even started cooking.  So instead I pre-heated the oven and cooked Trader Joe's breaded Tilapia filets (frozen) and served it with Trader Joe's yummy tartar sauce, Trader Joe's awesome frozen sweet corn (seriously, I have a problem) and some leftover mashed potatoes I had from the end of last week.  Everyone was happy (although I have to take the breading off of the fish for Evan - he's an odd kid).

Since I had the beef for the Chili-Mac Casserole* defrosted I figured I would make it tonight.  And it was good.  I mean it was really really good.  I know it sounds weird but I really love Chili-Mac.  I first discovered it in college.  When I graduated high school my mom gave me my first cookbook, the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook that every single person should get before they go to college (mine came in a three-ring binder which is awesome if you can find it because I can pull out a page at a time when I'm cooking and not have to deal with the whole book).  In this cookbook I learned about all kinds of food I'd never seen (growing up every dinner was pretty much a protein, vegetable, and starch so Chili-Mac wasn't on the menu).  I came across Chili-Mac one night and I was like, "Okay, I love ground beef... I love macaroni... I love kidney beans... score."  And it was a score.  And this casserole just takes it one step further.

Evan feels the same way about Chili-Mac and he scarfed down tonight's dinner.  Brian, however, was a different story.  He came home late so he didn't eat with me and Evan**.  And his response was, "What's for dinner tomorrow night because I would like it to be something I want to eat."  Now, in defense of Chili-Mac, there are some confounders here:

1. Brian doesn't like beans (I know, he's a freak).  And even though he has liked Chili-Mac in the past, his serving tonight had a lot of beans.
2. Brian is stressed at work right now and when Brian is stressed he wants to eat the food of his childhood (chicken parm, big bowl of pasta and meatballs, braciola - for those non-Italians reading this you can get a description here, and other food heavy in red sauce).

Because of these confounders the Chili-Mac probably didn't stand a chance.  Poor little Chili-Mac.  But that just means more for me and Evan!  The dish make a lot so I put some in the fridge to give to Evan for lunch after school on Thursday and I froze the remainder in 2 portions for Evan and I to eat on nights when Brian is out or working late. 

Recipe: Chili-Mac Casserole
Ratings: Evan (I'm pretty sure I could give this a Brian but I'm not gonna push it... I do however plan on making it again so we will see how he reacts)
Future Recommendations: For the casserole, the only thing I would change is I would put less cheese on top at the end.  I know this sounds crazy since I LOVE cheese... but it overpowered the casserole.  For sides (I was going to have a salad but it never happened... you know how much work is involved with opening a bag of salad, putting it in a bowl, and adding dressing... come on) I would make sure to have that salad and I also think it needed something solid, like a corn bread... yummy Jiffy corn bread would do.


*This recipe calls for a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes.  Turns out I didn't have diced tomatoes but I had whole plum tomatoes without the skin so I just cut them up.  It turned out really good and now I don't even want to use the diced tomatoes.  Also, I know that store brand is cheaper (I use them sometimes) but when you are going to actually taste the tomatoes you must use a quality canned tomato.  I use Muir Glen and highly recommend it.

**Cooking without Brian to distract the kids is always an adventure.  Check out what we were doing here.

Meal Plan Week of September 18 - 25

There are definitely some good stories from last week (and some good recipes) that I need to share with you at some point but let's look forward at the moment and I'll return to them when I'm having a no-cooking day or heating something up from Trader Joe's.

So, here is my meal plan for this week's dinners:

Sunday: Butternut squash ravioli from the Farmer's market (as yummy as always) with butter and parmesan, some chicken tenders that I simply sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then grilled on my grill pan as a simple side for the ravioli.  I didn't have a vegetable because the butternut squash in the ravioli counts... no?

Monday: Chili Mac Casserole with a salad... I currently have a lot of ground beef in my freezer and wanted something a little heavier since the weather is starting to get cooler

Tuesday: Trader Joe's Santa Maria Tri-Tip Roast, Roasted Brussel sprouts (if you haven't had them they are like candy... I kid you not), and mashed potatoes

Wednesday: I was going to make Pasta with Shrimp but when I went to Trader Joe's today I couldn't find any cooked shrimp so instead I picked up the frozen Breaded Tilapia which I'll make with corn salsa, tartar sauce, peas, and any leftover mashed potatoes

Thursday: The BEST sloppy joe's you will ever have (I kid you not), fries, and carrot sticks

Friday: Brian and I are going to see Wicked and will probably go out to eat.  I'll have the sitter heat up something from Trader Joe's for Evan and her (I did a big run this weekend).

Saturday: Bonus day... which means I haven't planned anything so I will have to figure it out as it gets closer.

I'll let you know how everything turns out.  But in the meantime... I thought you might enjoy a photo of what happens to my oven mitts if I leave them too close to the edge of the counter:

Umm... Sorry

So... a few days ago I accidentally deleted this blog.  I went to restore it and then Chloe started crying.  I had settled her down and then Evan stole a soda can off the counter and poured the soda all over the floor.  After I cleaned that up Chloe's diaper (and her outfit) needed to be changed and then I was upstairs and got distracted by a diaper genie that needed to be changed, kitty litter that needed to be cleaned, and you know how the story goes.

Then my sister emailed me asking about this blog today and reminded me that I had to restore it.

I'll post again tonight and will try to be more consistent... and not delete the dang thing again.

Sunday Night - Using Up Walnuts

Last week, when I did my great pantry organization, I found that my giant bag of walnuts was about to expire.  I hate wasting food... seriously.  So the fact that the walnuts were going bad really annoyed me.  I felt they had to be used.  So, for dinner last night I made walnut crusted baked chicken (which was exactly what I was supposed to make according to my meal plan).  I did make some adjustments to the recipe based on what I had on hand in the house:

• I didn't pulse my walnuts too small since I wanted to see and feel the crunch (see my future recommendations on this one).
• I used panko breadcrumbs instead of regular bread crumbs.
• I used 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts that I cut up into 4-6 oz pieces (because the breasts are entirely too big nowadays - as opposed to when I cooked back in olden-times - for one serving).
• I only cooked the breasts for 25 minutes.
• I didn't make her sauce, instead I used Cardini's honey mustard dressing (that I also found out was about to expire soon).  It is more mustard than honey and for Evan and I was a good dipping sauce (Brian didn't want any sauce and the chicken didn't need it but I liked it).

As sides I had a salad (same balsamic vinegar dressing as last night) and homemade ravioli... that I didn't make.  Every Sunday we go to the Grant Park Farmer's Market and buy ravioli from the pasta guy (he has a name it's just escaping me right now).  This past Sunday we got to the market late (around 11:30 am) so I literally got his last 4 bags - 1 bag of spinach and ricotta, and 3 bags of arugula and goat cheese.  I just dress the ravioli lightly in a butter and parmesan sauce.. yummy.

I would say this was a highly satisfying meal that everyone enjoyed.

Recipe: Modified Walnut Crusted Baked Chicken
Rating: Brian (even though we all agreed this wasn't our favorite flavor of ravioli - mine is mushroom and Brian's is butternut squash - we did eat every last piece)
Future Recommendations: I think I have mustard on the brain recently because I think this would be very good if instead of dipping the chicken in eggs I dipped it in the honey mustard dressing and then the walnut mixture.  And I will definitely pulse the walnuts more next time... too big and they burnt.

PS - I'm working on remembering to take pictures of the food so I can post them.  I'm also working on remembering my anniversary, where I put the car keys, and to always close the garage door so you see where the pictures are on my list.

Saturday Night Dinner - Frozen Chicken Burgers

Ladies and gentlemen, this could be the beginning of something amazing... last night, I actually cooked what I had planned to cook.  We had Trader Joe's grilled chicken burgers:

 with all the fixin's and a salad with Trader Joe's Fat Free Balsamic Vinegar.  We had some mixed reviews so let me get to it.

First off... the burgers do not look like the picture.  I know you are completely shocked, but it's true.  Secondly, the directions say to place the frozen patties on the plate, cover with plastic, and cook for 2 minutes.  Not so much.  I cooked them for 2 minutes... then 2 minutes more... then took off the plastic and cooked them for 2 more minutes (which worked but I lost a whole lot of juice this way and almost spilled it all on me as I took the plate out of the microwave). 

Thirdly, for chicken burgers they were very flavorful and juicy (at least according to me).  I'm not normally a fan of chicken burgers (the consistency and lack of flavor get to me) but 99% of the items I've tried at Trader Joe's were amazing (you know who you are 1%... I'm not pointing fingers but if I did I'd point them at the dry gnocchi pasta) so I was willing to give it a go.  I ate my burger on a white bun (couldn't do whole wheat which sometimes gets really dry with a chicken burger) with red onion (absolutely necessary on a chicken burger), tomato, lettuce, ketchup, and mayo.  Even though I had all these other flavors I could still taste the chicken burger and it tasted good.  I'm thinking a southwestern version of the burger, maybe with avocado, barbecue sauce, and jack cheese, would be awesome too.  It was still a chicken burger consistency but I didn't mind that too much.

Now on to the others in my family.  Evan ate the entire bun (dipped in ketchup... he also dipped his cucumber pieces in ketchup... eww) and then ventured on to the burger.  He didn't scarf it down but he ate about half of what I gave him (1/2 a patty) and didn't spit any out.  Brian however, was not the same.  He let me know before dinner that he doesn't like chicken burgers but I ignored him for 2 reasons, 1) that was all I had for dinner, and 2) he often tells me he doesn't like things and then ends up liking it (think couscous).  Well... Brian doesn't like chicken burgers... not even Trader Joe's chicken burgers.  He said he couldn't eat it because of the consistency.  I think he ate a lettuce and tomato sandwich for dinner and had some frozen waffles later on.

Recipe: Trader Joe's Grilled Chicken Burgers
Rating: Ellen (I can't give this an "Evan" since he wasn't enthusiastic about the burgers)
Future Recommendations: This might have to be something I make when Brian is out of town and Evan has something else to eat.  I want to try other flavors on the burger but I know I'm the only one who is thinking like that.

This Past Week

My meal plans start on Sundays so that will be the first time I will be able to post something with a full recipe, review, and picture.  But I thought I could start you out with a review of this past week (or of what I remember about this past week... sometimes the week gets so chaotic that what we ate becomes a bit blurry).

Monday
On Monday my meal plan called for Pulled Pork.  I defrosted my pork tenderloin the night before and put it in the slow cooker at 10:00 am so that it would be ready for our 6:00 pm dinner.  Around 2:00 pm I smelled burning from the crock pot but chose to ignore it because, you know, I was following the recipe.  Finally, around 3:00 pm, I couldn't ignore the smell any longer and looked into the slow cooker.  What I saw was a charred pork tenderloin about half of its original size and black crystallized barbecue sauce.  I decided to turn the crock pot off (and cut my losses) and as I pushed the "off" button I saw what had happened.

Apparently (and I'm going to say that my uninvited sous chef - my son - whose true goal is to grab as many things as possible off the counter) when I went to turn on the crock pot instead of cooking the pork tenderloin on low for 8 hours, I cooked it on high for 6 hours.  So I completely scorched it... but it turns out I only scorched the outside of the tenderloin.

For dinner I had to think on my feet.  I had some meatballs in the freezer (I had made meatball subs the night before) so I made pasta with meatballs.  I fed that to my husband and gave my son a meatball and some pulled pork.  For me, I ate the pulled pork with red onions (I scraped off the char) and I think it was delicious!  My son liked it as well.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Red Onions, and Pasta and meatballs (I'll have to share my meatball recipe at a later date)
Rating: Evan (I can't give it a "Brian" because due to the cooking)
Future Recommendations: Cook it low and slow as it is called for and add more barbecue sauce to the pot



Tuesday
My Tuesday meal plan was a slow cooker chicken parmesan because my husband had been begging for chicken parmesan (he doesn't understand how I can only eat certain foods in certain weathers and chicken parm is definitely a winter meal to me).  However, my crock pot was still caked on with crystallized barbecue sauce (which would actually end up being the end of that crock pot) so I had to modify my plans.

Instead I made an oven baked lighter version of chicken parmesan and it was well worth it.  For me, since I'm still trying to lose my baby weight from my daughter AND my son, I had one serving and some salad.  My son had the chicken parmesan and cucumber.  My husband had the chicken parmesan, salad, and leftover pasta (without the meatballs).

Recipe: Baked Chicken Parmesan
Rating: Brian - it was rave reviews from everyone
Future Recommendations: There is nothing I would change from this recipe



Wednesday
My meal plan called for BBQ Chicken Fingers (recipe from an online e-book so I can't really share).  Then Brian told me he was going to be out of town and I don't do a full cooking gig when he is out of town.  Thankfully I had to go to Trader Joe's (one of my favorite places in the world) to get a snack for my son's pre-school class (I need something gluten-free and Trader Joe's has some good snack and since I had already brought in almond butter hummus with crudite, I wanted something pre-packaged) and decide to pick up something for dinner.

Evan and I ate chicken and cheese tamales with creamed corn and roasted red pepper soup.  We loved the tamales and Evan loved the soup but it actually wasn't my favorite (the Creamy Tomato soup and the Butternut soup at Trader Joe's are to die for) but it was still good.

Recipe: Trader Joe's Pre-made Tamales and soup
Rating: Evan (even though I didn't love it he sure did)
Future Recommendations: I would get the tamales again but I'd try a different soup


Thursday
On Thursday I was going to use the ribs I got on sale at Publix and make Crock pot Country Ribs (apparently I was having a crockpot week).  But, as you recall, no crock pot.  So, I had to completely change my plans.  Additionally, Thursday morning, while my son was at preschool, I cleaned out my pantry (thus the organization you saw in my photo) so I wanted to use something I had found in there.

I decided to defrost some chicken breasts and make Two Mustard Chicken, broccoli, sauteed baby portabella mushrooms (about to go bad in my fridge), and Near East mushroom couscous.  I've made this chicken recipe a lot - it's easy and flavorful.  I usually use whatever mustard I have on hand, in this case it was country dijon and Trader Joe's sweet and hot mustard, and I've even made it with just one type of hearty mustard.  It always pleases and it is one of my son's favorites.

Additionally I learned two things at this meal: 1) Evan L-O-V-E-S couscous and ate all of his up with seconds, 2) Brian, who swore to me he didn't like couscous, actually likes couscous.  I like the Near East products a lot. For a boxed product I think they still taste good, especially if you are new to couscous and aren't sure how to cook it or what flavors to pair with it.

Recipe: Two Mustard Chicken
Rating: Brian (everyone ate this up)
Future Recommendations: I loved the Trader Joe's sweet and hot mustard in this and will definitely use it again


Friday
And here is a total fail as a meal.  I was going to make Pasta with Creamy Walnut sauce (which is a weight watchers recipe so I can't share it with you unless you are a member) because when I organized my pantry I found out my walnuts were going to expire soon but Evan woke up at 4:00 am, didn't go back to sleep until 4:30 am and then woke up again at 5:30 am so there was going to be no cooking.  Instead, we all ate something bad and barely nutritious.

Ellen: Trader Joe's chicken tamale with some leftover Bush's baked beans
Brian: 3 Perdue breaded chicken patties, Kraft mac and cheese, leftover Bush's baked beans
Evan: Frozen mac and cheese meal for kids with corn and a brownie

And, each of us cleaned our plates.  Don't judge me... I know you don't feed your family a balanced meal every night.  Sh*t happens people. 

Saturday
I plan on "cooking" chicken burgers from Trader Joe's that I have in my freezer.  I'll let you know what I really cook and how it tastes.

Welcome

My name is Ellen and I’m mom to 2 small children (both under 2 years old… not planned so well but that is an entirely different story).  Mostly my life is organized chaos.  What do I mean by this? Well…

Here is a picture of my kitchen: (if you click on the photos they will open larger)

And here is a picture of my food pantry (and in case you’re wondering I have the contents of the top 2 shelves in an Excel spreadsheet on my computer):

And here is the reason my bottom two shelves are such chaos:

That pretty much sums me up.  And out of all this organized chaos comes raising children, laundry, cleaning, cooking, and all the other chores of a stay-at-home-mom.  But, mostly I’m cooking.  I make breakfast for 3 people, lunch for 2, and dinner for 3 (one child still doesn’t eat solid food).  And I try (and usually fail) to do all of this on a budget.

In my constant quest to be more organized I jumped on the bandwagon of the meal planning craze.  Every Thursday or Friday I diligently sit down, write out my meal plan based on what is in my pantry/fridge/freezer and what is on sale.  On the weekend I go to the grocery (hopefully without kids… my one big-girl outing for the week) and then during the week I typically ignore my meal plan and make something on a whim (but still using the ingredients).

I accomplish this switcheroo because I have an obscene amount of cookbooks (in print… yes, some people still have actual books with recipes), I follow about a thousand cooking blogs, and I’m constantly searching for new recipes.  Some of my meals are an immediate hit, and some are miserable flops.

So, to make me feel less of an organizational failure at meal planning, I thought I would use my experiences for your pleasure for a few different reasons:

1.       To share with you some good recipes,

2.       To warn you of some not-so good recipes,

3.       To give you the reviews of my entire family,

4.       And to make you feel better about your life.

I can’t be the only one out there who can’t stick to a simple meal plan so join me in my chaos.