Menu: 10/30 - 11/5

Breakfast
Friday: Cereal or Oatmeal
Saturday: French Toast, Sausage
Sunday: Omlettes
Monday: Cereal or Oatmeal
Tuesday: Cereal or Oatmeal
Wednesday: Cereal or Oatmeal
Thursday: Cerealy or Oatmeal

Lunch
Friday: PB&J, Veggies and Dip
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Jelenpeno Poppers, Sandwiches
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: SmartOnes Meal, Veggies and Dip
Thursday: PB&J, Veggies and Dip

Dinner
Thursday: Soup, Salad, Grilled Cheese
Friday: FFY
Saturday: Out
Sunday: Jack Daniels Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Monday: Hamburger Pie, Salad
Tuesday: Tacos, Corn
Wednesday: Eggs, Sausage, Hashbrowns

Recipe: Chicken Cor Don Blue

Matt first decided he wanted me to make this when he saw it in his Men's Health magazine a few months ago. Since then, and with a few modifications, it has become a staple in our home. It is a dish that appears to be difficult but is really very simple and quite tasty.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

2 slices swiss cheese

2-4 slices ham

10-15 saltine crackers (you may substitute any breadcrumbs of your choice)

seasonings to taste

toothpicks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Pound chicken to about 1/4inch thickness

Season as desired

Layer chicken with swiss cheese and ham

Roll chicken up, securing with toothpicks

Cover chicken with crushed crackers or breadcrumbs (may be seasoned if desired)

Place in greased baking dish

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is done

Recipe: Oreo Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes last weekend for a party. Everyone raved about them. I modified them from a recipe for a Cookies and Cream Cake I found on Annie's Eats. I think they turned out pretty well. They are very moist and have a rich chocolates taste and a creamy frosting. Just like Oreos.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the icing:

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
10 Oreos, chopped

For the topping:

15 - 20 crushed Oreos

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in a muffin pan or grease the bottom of the pans.

Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans half full.

Bake 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

To make the icing, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat on low speed until all sugar is incorporated; increase speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in chopped cookie pieces with a rubber spatula.

Spread the icing on the tops of the cupcakes once they have been completely cooled. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into a bowl of crushed Oreos.

Source: Annie's Eats

Recipe: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

These babies broke in my brand new Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I love it and expect to up it very often!

Yes, I need to work on my decorating skills but these are so delicious that it doesn't even matter. They are very light and fluffy with a cake like texture. There is just a slight pumpkin taste. So slight that Matt ate two of them even though he "hates" pumpkin.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 14 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of b utter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

Bake 13-17 minutes. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze.

Glaze:
Ingredients:

1 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Adapted from: Allrecipes

Recipe: Slow Cooker Taco Soup

This soup is amazing and so simple. Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had so much left over that we sent some home with Matt's brother for him and his wife and we still have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

To keep it easy to assemble before work, I browned the ground beef and chopped the onion the night before. I put those two ingredients in the crock pot dish, covered it, and stuck it in the fridge until morning. Then when morning came all I had to do was dump all the canned items in a stir.

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 oz.) can chili beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, undrained

2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce*

1 (4 oz.) can diced green chile peppers

1 packet taco seasoning

Sour Cream

Taco Shells/Frito Chips

Shredded Taco Cheese

*If you like tomato chunks you can substitute 1 (8oz.) can tomato sauce plus 2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain.

Place ground beef, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, green chile peppers, and taco seasoning in slow cooker. Stir to blend and cook on Low for 8 hours.

Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream, taco cheese, and crumbled up taco shells.

Adapted from: Slow Cooker Taco Soup at allrecipes.com

Menu: 10/23 - 10/29

Breakfast:
Weekdays: Oatmeal, Cereal, or Waffles
Saturday: Out at Cracker Barrel
Sunday: Cinnamon Rolls

Lunch:
Thursday: PB&J, Peaches, String Cheese
Friday: PB&J, Banana, Veggies & Dip
Saturday: recovering from breakfast :)
Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Salad, String Cheese, Veggies & Dip
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Leftovers

Dinner:
Thursday: Sloppy Joes, Salad
Friday: Slow Cooker Taco Soup, Cornbread
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Grilled Pork Chops, Potato Packets, Broccoli
Monday: Chicken Cor Don Blue, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies
Tuesday: FFY
Wednesday: Beef Pasta Bake

Recipe: Banana Bread

We had two very ripe bananas sitting around. They were much too ripe for me to eat so I decided to make some banana bread. Problem. We don't have eggs and I really don't want to run to the store so I search allrecipes.com for a banana bread recipe sans eggs. I found a good one.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 - 3/4 cups milk
2 or 3 ripe bananas (more bananas equals more banana flavor)

Preheat oven to 325*
Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan
In an large bowl, cream and butter and sugar
Mix in milk
Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt
Blend in the bananas until smooth
Pour batter into prepared pan
Bake for 60 minutes or until knife inserted into center of loaf comes out clean
Cool in pan for 10 minutes then on wire rack until cooled

Recipe: Campbell's Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredient:
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I use broccoli)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375*
Stir soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper, and veggies in an 11x8in baking dish.
Top with chicken. Season as desired. Cover with foil.
Bake for 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the rise is tender. Top with cheese.
Let stand 10 minutes.
Stir rice before serving.

Menu: 10/16-10/22

Dinners:
Thursday: Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Friday: Pizza, Fries
Saturday: Out to eat with friends!
Sunday: Crock Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots, Crescent Rolls
Monday: Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole, Salad
Tuesday: Grilled Cheese, Soup, Salad
Wednesday: Steak, Potato Packets, Steamed Greens Beans

Lunches:
Thursday: Leftovers, Veggies and Dip
Friday: Out to lunch
Saturday: Odds and Ends
Sunday: Sandwiches and Salad
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: PB&J, Veggies and Dip, Apple

Breakfast:
Thursday: Oatmeal
Friday: Cold Cereal
Saturday: French Toast with Bananas
Sunday: Oatmeal
Monday: Cold Cereal
Tuesday: Oatmeal
Wednesday: Cold Cereal

Snacks:
Fruit
Granola
Pudding
Jell-o

Recipe: Mexican Chicken Skillet

Ingredients:
2 or 3 chicken breast halves, thawed
2 or 3 tbs vegetable/canola/ oil
small bag frozen sweet corn
one 15oz can black beans drained and rinsed
one jar salsa OR on can 14.5oz petite diced tomatoes
one 4oz can red of green chilies, diced (optional but yummy!)
chili powder to taste (I used one or two tablespoons)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat
Cook chicken breasts covered, about 4 minutes each side until no longer pink in the middle
Add remaining ingredients, cover and bring to boil stirring occasionally
Lower heat and cook until corn it hot (about 15 or 20 minutes give or take)

Serve with corn bread muffins and a dollop of sour cream if you so desire.

This makes an excellent leftover for take to work lunches!

Recipe: Beef Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups dry bow tie (or macaroni or mostaciolli) pasta
3/4 to 1 pound ground beef or turkey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*
Brown ground beef in skillet or large oven safe dutch oven, drain
While browning, cook pasta as directed on box
Mix spaghetti sauce, 1/2 cup cheese, and ground beef in skillet, heat until pasta is cooked
If using dutch oven, add pasta and top with a handful or two of cheese
If using skillet, combine skillet mixture and pasta in an oven safe baking dish (usually 9x13) and top with a handful or two of cheese
Bake for 20 minutes

Menu: 10/10 - 10/16

This week we only planned suppers. We are just back from our honeymoon so we will be winging it for breakfast and lunch until we have more time to plan.

Friday: Tacos and Corn
Saturday: Steak on the Grill, Salad with Oil and Vinegar, Potato and Onion Packets
Sunday: Grilled Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Stovetop Stuffing
Monday: Beef Pasta Bake, Green Beans
Tuesday: Fend For Yourself night (FFY)
Wednesday: Mexican Chicken Skillet, Cornbread Muffins
Thursday: Eggs, Bacon, Toast

How it works

I meal plan every week. My husband and I do our weekly grocery shopping on Thursday ($10 off day!). On Wednesdays we plan out our meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) for the next seven days, make a grocery list, and look for coupons. This helps us eat healthier, save money, and save time.

At first it was challenging but now that we've been doing it for a few months, we've gotten the hang of it and find it to be a fun thing to do together.

On this blog, I plan on posting our weekly menus, grocery lists, and how much we end up spending each week. I will also post recipes for items that we find to be incredibly delicious and easy to make.

Enjoy!