Prepping to meal plan

Getting ready to work on this week's meal plan.



Some of my favourite books on the shelf got pulled for this week:


We have company for the whole week! So I'm excited to actually cook... probably all new recipes too.. since I'll have extra hands with kids.

My meal planning is usually monthly, and my process is:

1. Decide if I'm working out of cookbooks or online (often I do a combo). I find I have all these books on the shelf though, and rarely use them... so I make an effort to use them almost every month.

2. Set everything on the table... and wait.... and wait... until all kids are sleeping, or otherwise busy (preschool, out with daddy, etc).

3. Start flipping through books until something catches my eye (or browsing recipes on pinterest, or my favourite food blogs).

4. I write a general list at first... just write down the recipes, where they were found, etc.

5. Start assigning recipes to days on the calendar (I generally use a full size calendar when doing it by month). As I assign, I know Tues/Thurs I have more time in the morning, so crockpot recipes I do those days, Saturday I know I never think about dinner til it's dinnertime... so something quick those nights, and so forth... (Also great to use a calendar, since you can see any other events you have those days, to accomodate what type of meal you'll want to do).

6. Also good to account for leftovers. I generally don't have leftover nights in my meal plan, since my husband takes them for lunches the next day. The exception is if we have a larger meal on a Thursday or Friday, I'll have left overs Saturday, since they won't be good for lunches the next week.

7. Hang it up! Blog it! :)

I never stress about my meal plan, I completely rearrange it as the month goes on.. sometimes things come up, and you need to postpone a meal for when you have more time... sometimes you get taken out for dinner, etc... rearrange, drop meals that the ingredients will keep with freezing. Meal planning is so stress free! I mean, we love looking at recipes, salivating over them anyway... this just gives you a 30-60 minute scheduled time to do so! :)

Off to tuck the little one in for nap, and send the bigger for quiet time. Will post tomorrow! :)

Happy Planning!

Meal Plan

Well it's meal plan time again.. but this month I'll be doing 1 week at a time. We have a busy month ahead, so not as much cooking planned.

This week it's just me and the kiddos... so it'll be super easy foods that they both love. Probably won't be many recipes attached to these, as they'll be pretty easy ones, and then I'll cook a "real" meal for Sunday for when the hubby returns.

Monday - quick bean burritos, salad
Tuesday - potato soup
Wednesday - hot dogs, salad
Thursday - stir fry, rice
Friday - green spaghetti
Saturday - homemade pizza
Sunday - ham, scalloped potatoes, veggies

It's an easy week for me :P Not very rewarding cooking for a toddler and a baby, so will just keep to simple ones they love.

The next week will be more fun, as we'll have out of town company! :)

Chicken Stuffing Bake

This recipe was a quick throw together meal we did in March (I'm really behind in blogging right now, lots of photos to work my way through and match recipes and reviews with).

Chicken Stuffing Bake



1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup skim milk
1 box stuffing (Stove Top)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups fresh broccoli, cooked
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese, divided (used Mozzarella and parmesan)

In a large bowl, mix soup and milk until blended. Add stuffing mix with contents of seasoning packet, chicken, broccoli, celery, and 1 cup cheese. Move to a greased 9x13 baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, at 375 F for 20 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

______________________________

We all enjoyed this meal. I expected as much though, as we all love broccoli, chicken and pretty much every ingredient. I did swap the swiss out, since I don't like swiss cheese, and neither does the toddler.



I have slacked lately in the kitchen. I didn't complete all my recipes in March.. and it' already halfway through April and I haven't made a meal plan (I aim to do that today). We were away for a little bit of April, and March and early April there was lots of sickness passing through our house, so I just didn't feel like cooking. We had lots of our old favourites for meals, and many quick meal nights (pasta, soup, chicken with sides). I'm ready to get back in the kitchen... so it's time to get back in gear. Hopefully we are a healthy bunch for the next few months!

Kitchen Tip

Here's another tip that I've been using for a while:

Source: thecraftymamablog.blogspot.com via Tamara on Pinterest

It really works. I just toss a marshmallow in my brown sugar and it's always soft! Best trick ever!

I had a brown sugar baby and either my sugar would get hard anyway, or it would get moldy. Ick. But the marshmallow has been the best thing ever for my brown sugar. I used to have to buy a new bag of sugar almost every time I wanted to make something... and now I use the full bag.

Best part... my daughter gets a tasty treat of a marshmallow when I put new sugar (and marshmallow) in the container (pretty soon I'll have to put 2 marshmallows in, just to make sure the girls aren't fighting over the marshmallow). :).

Matzo Ball Soup

This is a soup my mom always made after a turkey. She learned it from a friend of hers, once upon a time. We loved it in our house... and now my family loves it as well.



Matzo Ball Soup

3L Chicken or Turkey Broth (approximate)
4 Carrots, cut in thin sticks
2 Parsnips, cut in thin sticks
2 Celery Stalks, sliced cross-grain
2-3 cups chicken or turkey

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup Matzo Meal
1 tsp salt (or less.. if you want)
2 Tbsp soup stock or water


In a bowl blend the oil, eggs, Matzo meal and salt together. And soup stock/water and mix until uniform. Cover and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Throw the broth (homemade or store-bought) in the big pot with the carrots, parsnips, celery and chicken/turkey. Allow veggies to cook.

Bring soup to a boil, reduce to simmer, and form 1 inch balls of the matzo ball mixture and drop into the pot. Cover and let cook for 30-40 minutes.

Serve.. generally it works out to 1 matzo ball per bowl. In this house we tend to do 2, so I double the matzo ball part of the recipe.

______

We really enjoy this soup.. it's super easy to make with leftovers after a turkey dinner. This last time baby even got to enjoy the softened veggies and matzo balls and really enjoyed it (she was eating around the carrots to get the chunks of matzo ball though).

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Was looking for a peanut butter muffin recipe and came across this one from Lu.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins



1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, soften
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter, soften
2 eggs
3 large bananas, mashed
1 banana, sliced

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in peanut butter. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Then mix in mashed banana.

With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture until just combined.

Fill GREASED muffin cups 2/3 full. Top with a sliced banana. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.


-------
These were good, but not great. The taste of peanut butter wasn't much. Next time I'll double the peanut butter. I also won't be adding the slice of banana on top. It makes for a pretty muffin, but within an hour after baking, it turns brown and icky (and creates extra moisture in the container you package them in). Overall though, it was pretty tasty, just not fantastic.. I think the additional pb will make it extra tasty.... right now it tastes more just like a banana muffin, with the tiniest hint of peanut butter.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

I had some pumpkin to use up, and didn't have enough supplies for my pumpkin apple muffins, so I searched for a new recipe.

I found this one on Tasty Kitchen... called Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins



1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Butter
1 Egg
1 cup canned Pumpkin
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Milk

Topping:
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Butter, Melted

In a bowl mix dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, spice, salt).

In another bowl, cream together sugar, egg and butter. Add in pumpkin and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and milk to the other ingredients and beat well.

Spoon into GREASED muffin cups (2/3 full), and bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).

In a small bowl mix up sugar and spices. Melt butter in a separate bowl. When muffins have cooled enough to handle, dip in melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture.

The original recipe coated the entire muffin in sugar and butter, but I opted to just do the tops.. and it's plenty sweet enough.

________

These muffins were delicious. We all enjoyed them, but definitely a more dessert type muffin rather than a breakfast muffin. They are moist and light, and just the perfect amount of spices in there. Enjoy!