Week in review - #4

I hope you haven't all given up on me!  I have taken a break since Thanksgiving.  Not a planned break, but a break nonetheless.  Odd schedule, sick babies, crazy at work...you get it.  I'm hoping you've all tried some tips and tricks and / or have come up with some of your own.  I have to say one change we've made since I last posted was that we are starting to do some more bulk purchasing at Costco to help with budget and prep work.  It is GREAT!!!!  I will be completely honest.  I've just been lazy in starting to shop this way, to the tune of I'm sure a couple hundred extra dollars a month.  I don't want to think about how much money we've wasted and I'm not going to.  Moving forward...

I've tried a few new recipes over the last couple weeks and some have been winners.  I'm sure I'll share them sooner than later.  For when you find one that works, work it into the rotation is what I say.

This week has been much more on track than the last couple have been.  Here's what we've done this week:

Sunday - Parmesan crusted chicken with mom's mac and cheese

recipe - don't make fun, it's on the side of the Best Foods mayo jar.  Only Best Food is allowed in our house.  It's so easy and probably not good for you and we love it.

http://www.bestfoods.com/article/media/650196/?page=ParmesanCrustedChicken.aspx&gclid=CjwKEAiAk8qkBRDOqYediILQ5BMSJAB40A5UBYsXEmXhuCz8q6EM4RXySJvyWNzIzyHfbQS1rr6HeRoC3pTw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Mom's mac and cheese - just like my mama used to make

Ingredients:

• package macaroni elbow pasta
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/2 c flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 c cheddar cheese cubed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 (or so) thin slices of cheddar cheese

To Make:

• Boil pasta by directions on package, drain
• Make sauce by melting butter in a sauce pan, add flour to make paste, slowly add milk and whisk together.  Bring to a low boil and add cheese cubes.  Allow cheese to melt and bring back to a boil.  Sauce should start to thicken.  If it doesn't you can add some more flour mixed with milk until thickness you desire.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix sauce with noodles and place in baking dish.
• Add slices of cheese to the top
• Bake for approx 20 minutes on 350 degrees (or like I did this week just baked alongside the chicken, but for less time)...you just want the cheese to be starting to become golden and bubbly.

Monday - Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole

recipe - http://www.fullforkahead.com/2012/11/16/chicken-cordon-bleu-casserole/

Tips and tricks:  this recipe actually gives you some good tips for how to prep in advance.  I've found the one that works for us is that I make it in the morning and even bake it.  Once baked, you can cover and put in the fridge until that night.  All you need to do is pop it back in the oven and it's perfect in time for dinner.  I would serve with some sort of starch - potatoes, rice, or noodles.  It's kind of rich, but so good!

Tuesday - mmmm...we got to pick from leftovers (fend for yourself night)...we had mac and cheese (which in my mind is a dinner itself) or chicken cordon blue.  I'm not going to name names, but some of us had both.

Wednesday - Tiki Masala

Recipe - http://www.shopwell.com/safeway-select-simmer-sauce-tikka-masala/sauces-marinades/p/2113049500

Tips and tricks:  These are Safeway brand and I love them.  I don't follow the jar directions.  I just stick about 6 frozen chicken breast tenderloins or 2-3 large frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot and add 2 jars for 6-8 hours.  Hubby makes rice and it's ready to servce.  I like to top with some green onion.

Thursday - We had enough for leftovers, of course.

Friday - Daddy made breakfast :)

Well that was our week!  I'm not going to make promises to keep track for this week.  Sufficed to say that we are having some delicious dinners for Christmas!!!!!  I may post a couple favorites though.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Week in review - #3

Welcome to the end of the week.  Congratulations, you did it!!!  This is always when I feel torn.  I feel accomplished and proud that I was able to get food on the table each day, but realizing that it's time to come up with a new plan for the upcoming week.  Oh well!

This week was pretty simple, but nummy!  Or we thoughts so.

Sunday - Pizza on the way home (we seem to be doing pizza a lot lately), which is weird for us.  Don't judge!

Monday - Turkey Tacos
recipe, um...the back of the taco seasoning packet

Tips and tricks:  We do all our prep in advance, so it's fresh (at the beginning of the week) and ready.  Have your lettuce, onions, and tomatoes chopped.  Also, your cheese shredded if you don't shortcut and buy shredded.  Cook your meat in advance and have it ready to reheat that night.  The only thing left to "cook" is the refried beans.  This is a great recipe to practice the prep work and not have it take you all do.

Tuesday - Leftover tacos (we make plenty of meat to last 2 nights)

Wednesday - Nana Val's Lasagna
Recipe:  This is very special.  My mom is letting me share her Lasagna recipe with the variations I've made over the years.  Seriously, you don't understand how good this is.  I'll try to not leave out a crucial ingredient like my mom does (which I'm beginning to think is on purpose).  She is amazing and this was always a favorite growing up.  It's cheese (for remember, we love cheese).

Ingredients:

• Marinara sauce (2 jars of your favorite) - I like the tomato basil sauces for this recipe
• 1 lb of ground meat (we use turkey in our house, but my mom has been known to throw Italian sausage in)
• 1 C. Part skim ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 c. Shredded parmesan cheese
• 10 slices (approx.) provolone cheese
• 2 1/2 c. shredded Mozzarella
• 1 package uncooked lasagna noodles (you'll want to have enough for 2 layers in your pan) - I like the Barilla ones

Prep ingredients:

• Brown your meat on the stove.  Once brown, add your 2 jars of Marinara sauce and simmer until ready to assemble your lasagna.
• While meat is browning, you can prepare your cheese mixture.  In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, fresh parsley, and parmesan.

To assemble Lasagna:

• In a 9x13 pan, spread thin layer of marinara mixture.  Lay down a layer of noodles (uncooked), spread 1/2 of your cheese mixture (as prepared above), top with 1/2 of the provolone slices (spaced evenly - they will not cover the entire layer), sprinkle shredded mozzarella (about a cup) around the provolone slices, top with 1/2 of the marinara sauce left...repeat...noodles, balance of cheese mixture, balance of provolone, another cup of mozzarella, balance of marinara sauce.  Top with the rest of your mozzarella.

Bake about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tips and tricks:  I like to make this one on a Sunday and pop in the fridge to bake by Tuesday.  If I bake it on a Wednesday (like I did this last week), I'll pop it in the freezer on Sunday and pull it out to the fridge on Tuesday night.  It's perfectly ready by Wednesday night to bake in this case.  Also, I like to split the recipe, too.  This lasagna seriously lasts 3 nights if you need it to.  It's so much food, so sometimes I like to make two 8x8 lasagna's instead of one huge one.  I'll cook one during this week I make it and freeze the other for down the road.  I cover any casserole with foil and write the instructions on the foil for my husband / nanny.  Makes it pretty simple when it's time to bake.

Thursday and Friday - I'm not kidding this lasagna lasts 3 nights for us, so guess what we had the rest of the week.

Hope you're having fun cooking.  It's a great stress reliever, so get in the kitchen!

Catch up with you at the end of this next week!

Week in review - #2

Hello!  Hope some of you are feeling a little more in control of your dinner preparations.  Would love any updates on how you're doing at your own home.  This is a work in progress (as is life!) and we can all learn from each other.  I'm really enjoying sharing some of our meals and recipes with you.  Share yours, too!  We tried a couple new recipes this week and they were successful.  We have a rule in our house...we let mommy try a recipe at least one time.  We have had some duds, some revisions that need to me made, and some of the best meals we've ever had by following this rule.

Sunday - Crispy chicken in creamy italian sauce w/ bowtie pasta
new recipe from pinterest - http://jamiecooksitup.net/2011/04/crispy-chicken-with-creamy-italian-sauce-and-bowtie-pasta/

• We used Rigatoni instead of bowtie (My husband says Farfalle is to farfrilly.)

Tips and tricks:  This was soooooo..... good!  If cooking for more than 4 people, I would double the batch.  You'll want seconds.  Also, the sauce calls for 2 cans of cream of chicken soup and I probably would have just done one.  We don't cook with MSG, so we use an organic brand (Pacific), but Campbell's would be good if that's what you prefer.  So just a reminder, I picked up a pack of chicken (6 breasts) and used 3 for this recipe and 3 for prepping / freezing for later.

Monday - Carnitas tacos
http://www.fronterafiesta.com/store/seasoning-sauces/garlicky-carnitas-slow-cook-sauce/27-116
Served on tacos with BBQ Sauce (we love Sweet Baby Ray's), shredded cheese, green onions, cilantro, and sour cream

• You just need the sauce and a boneless pork shoulder roast

Tips and tricks:  First, we buy shredded cheese.  Let's face it, it is a massive time saver in the long run.  We love the Lucerne brand at our house and, like I've said before, we love cheese!  We go through a bag a week.  Just sayin'.  If you haven't given in yet, try it.  Second, I planned this meal for a Monday, so pre-chopped my veggies Sunday night.  I usually try to line up the recipes with fresh stuff closer to the first of the week.  Last, I am IN LOVE with these slow cooker sauces.  I just do my own thing with them though.  This one calls for searing and dutch oven, etc. but I just plop it in the crock pot on low in the morning with pork and sauce and it's perfect at the end of the work day.  Shred it with your forks and ready to serve.

Tuesday - Carnitas leftovers...the recipe makes a ton.

Wednesday - Chicken Parmesan Casserole
new recipe from Pinterest - http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2013/07/chicken-parmesan-casserole-recipe-an-easy-freezer-meal/

• We used our frozen chicken breasts (pre-cooked and pre-chopped)
• I bet the rest of the ingredients you already have in your cupboard

Tips and tricks:  This is the perfect example why frozen cooked chicken is so handy to have in the freezer.  I put my freezer bag of cooked (chopped) chicken in the fridge the night before and the next morning it was perfectly defrosted and ready to make this SUPER EASY casserole to be baked that night.  It seriously took me about 6 minutes to throw together.  So good with spaghetti noodles.  All hubby had to do was bake the casserole, then heat up noodles.  And done.  I will do this one again for sure.  And it really stretched.  One casserole fed us for 2 nights with 2nd helpings.  Kids loved it.

Thursday - The 2nd night of the Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Friday - Sorry, I was so darn tired this night that I admit it was what we call a "free for all" night.  Find something in the kitchen and eat it.  I guess we could call it "fend for yourself" night, too.  What did my babies eat, you ask?  Um, PB&J.  Just being honest.  It doesn't always look like Donna Reed lives here.  Ok, it never looks like that!

Saturday - Carnitas Nachos

• Cookie sheet or large casserole dish
• Spread favorite tortilla chips
• Layer with leftover carnitas (heat in microwave and mix with BBQ sauce), healthy amounts of cheese (remember we love that stuff), chopped white onion
• Bake in the oven at 350 for approx 10 minutes
• Remove when perfectly gooey and melted (maybe even a little crisp if you like it that way)
• Add fresh cut tomato, green onion, and sour cream

So that's what our week looked like.  I really want to hear if anything is working for all of you.  Keep me posted on your progress!  Happy cooking.

Week in review - #1

I've had a few ask when I'm going to actually post menus and recipes.  Well, here it goes.  This was a week when I was relieved and happy to have dinners ready to go.  The week started out normal, then we were hit with my grandpa passing away.  He was a great man and we'll miss him so much.  Even at the age of 94, he had the most wonderful sense of humor and spirit.  It's fitting that I pick up the blog though...he LOVED a good meal!  With the schedule kind of changing on us last minute, it was so helpful having the dinner plans not have to be something we arranged.

Here was the plan and we stuck to it this week.  I've listed the day and food with recipe reference for you in blue, tips and tricks for prep or planning in red, and any actual recipes in black (if not listed with an address).  Happy cooking!

Sunday - Chicken Stroganoff

recipe from one of my cook books, served with green beans and garlic bread.

• Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 med. yellow onion chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 med. red bell pepper choppped (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 12 oz. no-yolk egg noodles
• 3 c. cooked cubed chicken
• 1 c. nonfat sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

1. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.  Add onion and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.  Stir in mushrooms, bell pepper, and broth.  Cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender and liquid has evaporated, about 6-8 minutes.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions, but do not add salt.
3. Add chicken, sour cream, nutmeg, and black pepper to mixture in skillet.  Cook, stirring frequently, until heated through and mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.
4. Drain noodles in a colander and divide among bowls, spoon chicken mixture over noodles.  Serve immediately.

Tips and tricks:  About 1x monthly (on my Sunday prep day) I grill or bake 2 packs of chicken breasts, chop up, and freeze.  1 pack of Safeway's Eating Right packs carries 5 breasts.  2 packs will make 4 freezer bags of 3 cups of chicken.  I find most recipes call for 2-3 cups cooked chicken, so this usually lines up perfectly.  Another tip would be to buy 1 or 2 of the rotisserie chickens when they are on sale and pull the meat off to freeze that way.  In this case, 1 rotisserie chicken usually makes 1 freezer bag of 3 cups of chicken.

Monday - Leftovers, we mixed the noodles and sauce that was leftover and it was lovely the next day.

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowl

new recipe from pinterest:  http://www.number-2-pencil.com/2014/10/01/slow-cooker-chicken-burrito-bowl/

Served with fresh guacomole and tortilla chips, instead of sliced avacado

Tips and tricks:  I would have made this one on a Sunday in hindsight.  It's super simple, but did take a little work and some steps towards the end.  It was so good though, so worth it.  I have a great way of quickly shredding chicken, which was given to me by a neighbor.  Seriously, will change your life.  If you own a Kitchenaid (or similar style mixer), put the paddle attachment on and just drop your cooked chicken (still warm) in there.  Mix on a low setting, and in just a few seconds you'll have perfectly shredded chicken.  No need to have aching hands from using a fork anymore :)

Wednesday - Leftovers of chicken burrito bowl.  Hubby and kids at theirs in a tortilla as a burrito and loved it.

Thursday - Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs

Easy recipe ;)  Your favorite jarred marinara, frozen meatballs, and favorite spaghetti noodles

Served with green salad and garlic bread.

• In a crockpot put the marinara, a can of diced stewed tomatoes and meatballs on low.  I've had it simmering for 6-8 hours before and it works great.
• Salad can be thrown together just before serving
• Heat bread for 15 minutes on 300 degrees.

Tips and tricks:  I don't just use any frozen meatballs ;)  I make my own.  About 1x monthly I'll make a batch of meatballs (any recipe you like will do) and freeze them.  I bake about 30 meatballs on a Sunday afternoon and put about 15 in each frozen bag to use later in the month.  Also, for the garlic bread.  I make my own frozen garlic bread.  Just take a favorite loaf of rustic bakery bread from your local grocery store, slice, mix some garlic powder with butter and spread on each slice.  Wrap in foil and pop in the freezer for when you're ready.  I like to pull the bread out just the day before, so it's not a frozen block when I want to reheat it.

Friday - Baked spaghetti and meatballs

• Just take your spaghetti and sauce mixed together and put in a casserole dish.  Cover and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  I like to uncover and add parmesan or mozzarella to the top for the last 5 minutes.

Tips or tricks:  Maximize your time!  When you're putting your dinner away the night before, mix your casserole then and cover with foil with instructions for whomever may be popping in the oven written right on the foil.

Saturday - Pizza and movie night.  We aren't the only ones that do this, right?

Well, I'm not sure if that helps or not, but that's what we did this week in the Johnson house.  I'm excited to hear if any of these work for you all.  I've decided I'll post at the end of each what we did, so you can try it after we test it for you.  You're welcome!  Have a great week!!!

A week at a glance

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting down to make our menu, grocery list, and plan for the week.  It's become a habit and a time I actually enjoy.  I'm not kidding when I say this has been a mind set change.  Habits take time to form, so my encouragement is to start small and build up.

Funny though, habits are formed.  I sit down with my computer and my hubby casually in passing says, "What are we having for dinner this week?".  And I usually always respond with, "I'm not sure yet."  For it's a process, that's for sure.

I find I have naturally started to put meals into categories in my mind.  Fancy, guest, fancy guest (sorry, Friends reference).  My categories are usually as follows:

• Mommy needs to be home to cook it meal (this may be to try out a new recipe or do one that you know will take a little extra love (time)
• Crockpot meal (probably needs no explanation - I will say that I've been on a mission and have found some pretty great recipes)
• Casseroles / ready to go (these are prepped on the weekend)

I don't have them organized in any other place but my head, so don't be too impressed.  I may someday though put the recipes together like this just so it's even easier to pull from each week.

To find recipes in these categories, I'm sure you all already use the methods I do.  Old cookbooks, family favorites you already have, Pinterest (I'm publicly professing my love for Pinterest! www.pinterest.com), and some great recipe sites (like www.allrecipes.com, www.tasteofhome.com, etc.).

I really love recipes that don't have a ton of ready made stuff.  I figure if we are going to do all of this work, I want to know all that's going into the food.  Also, we have a few restrictions and your house most likely does, too.  You'll find my recipes won't have any MSG or fish at all.  But you will find that we love cheese and carbs!  Just the way this house rolls.  You can mix and match once you find recipes that work.  It really helps keeps the weeks fresh and new.

I'm not going to lie though, sometimes we'll have plans on a Sunday (which I try to keep at a minimum) and I won't have time to plan very well or even get to making a grocery list. Those weeks I just fall back on ones that I know really well and "wing it" (no not chicken wings) at the grocery store.  It's really my version of living on the edge.  Don't be jealous.  I'm wild!  When I wing it though, I still keep in mind my categories.

So this past week's menu looked like this:

• Saturday - Tortilla soup - new recipe so I wanted to try it out (tried the new Swanson's infused chicken broth)
• Sunday - Made a crockpot recipe that my mama gave me for Baked Potato topping (required me making a white sauce before putting in the crockpot and it was new so tried on a Sunday) - by the way - soo..... good!
• Monday - Leftover Tortilla soup with rice (really hearty dish, so stretched)
• Tuesday - Took the leftover sauce from the Baked Potato dish and mixed it with Penne pasta for a casserole ready to be heated that night by daddy.
• Wednesday - Leftovers of the pasta dish (see how I made one thing stretch to 3 days!)
• Thursday - Crockpot shredded beef (for tacos).  Nanny put it in the morning.  So easy, just a chuck roast with one of those Campbell's slow cooker packs (I am in love with those things).  I'll get a pic the next time we do one.
• Friday - Leftovers of the shredded beef tacos

I even have some more of the shredded beef and some potatoes, so I'll be baking the potatoes and heating up the shredded beef to top it.  Sounds nummy.

So that's kind of how a week looks for eating.  I'll be discussing each week, the prep work, etc. but hopefully this gives you a good idea of how thinking ahead can help you make your life easier in the long run.

Until the next time we meet!

Let's see...where to start?

Ok, I want to lower all of your expectations right away.  I don't really have it all figured out, but I am figuring out what's working for us.  What works for me, may not work for you.  But I'm a firm believer that you can pick and choose from other's experiences and maybe come up with your own way of doing things and this is a great case of that.  Some of you are stay-at-home mommies, so you will be able to do some of your prep work during nap time.  Some of you work full time like me, but have very different schedules than I do.  You get the point.  We're all different, but take what you want from my suggestions and, BY ALL MEANS, let me know if you think of something I don't.  Always open for suggestions.

I've been doing this for about 18 months now.  It really kicked into high gear when I went back to work after my baby, Cole, was born.  I was really struggling with how to manage meal time, especially since I get home pretty much after dinner time should be getting under way.  Coming home to grumpy boys is not the way to end an already long day, right?!  My mom introduced me to a local cook, Lisa, who was teaching a cooking class titled "meals in a week".  I went in hopes of finding some answers and really it changed my life.  I'm forever grateful to Lisa and her teachings.  It changed the way I looked at my week.

Ok, let's get to it.  Here's the jist of what we do (I'll get in to more details, of course!):

• Saturdays - I plan for what we want to eat for the week and do the grocery shopping (I hate that part)
• Sundays - prep / cooking day - this has turned in to a great time to plan to be home and be with the family
• I usually plan 2-3 real entrees for the week, taking leftovers into account and shaking it up throughout the week

Now the next part is key...delegate, delegate, delegate.  I'm just the planner.  I have a team to help execute.  This is where it may be different for you.  It's virtually impossible for me to be at home when dinner should be getting under way, so for us this is how the team thing works:

• I do the planning / shopping / some prep work
• Holly (THE MOST AMAZING NANNY EVERY) will do a couple things for us as instructed / needed.  She will tell you she's not even a cook, but she is a life saver!
• Daddy will put it in the oven or start the dinner before I get home

For example:  If we have tacos (easy, right?) - I'll do the shopping and cooking the meat, Holly will do the chopping so ingredients are fresh, and daddy will assemble.  That's a very simple example, but you get the idea.

I'll be sharing with all of you my actual menus and what should be prepped, frozen, etc.  I hope you find it useful.  More to come!

Welcome to the craziness that is dinner time at the Johnson's

I am not a trained chef like my mom, or an amazing cook like my dad, or even a domestic goddess (well, I might be that a little).  I'm a mom and a planner.  A working mom, who although I put in a full day at work, still needs to put food in the tummy's of my family every night.  Apparently, they need to eat.  I would be fine with a bowl of cereal for dinner, but I've come to accept the reality that Johnson boys need their meals...and I'm the one to make it happen.  But it takes a team of people, a lot of planning, a bit of creativity, and a dash of great timing.  This is dinner time at the Johnson's.

I've been told I should blog our plan of attack and methods to getting food on the table every night.  I have not perfected the process yet, but would love to lend any support or advice to other mom's or dad's in the world that could use a boost.  This is a tough job, but can be made just a little easier each week.

I went to a cooking class a couple years ago and it lit a fire in me.  Plan ahead and it'll take a HUGE load off the rest of the days of the week.  At first, it took a chunk of time even to plan but the more you do it the more you have tricks and menu ideas that come together easier and easier.  If I can do this, you can do this.

I would love for anyone to follow me and, if anything, just make me feel great about my meal planning :).  But, hopefully, you'll get something out of it, too!

Welcome to my blog.  I'm excited to take this journey with you.