Noms 02.11.2013

The last meal plan Josh and I made didn’t go as well as we originally thought. We ended up running super low on ingredients for full meals before the end of last week. But I feel like this week went a little better.

Also, I totally forgot to make any of the snacks I planned, so some of them are going back on the list this week.

Here are some of the meals we have planned for the next two weeks:

The Meals:

• Pizza
• Eggs and Pancakes
• Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast Dinner
• Slow Cooked Brunswick Stew
• Baked Chicken Tenders
• Cheeseburger Pasta
• Create-Your-Own Nachos

The Sides:

• Garlic Fries
• Spanish Rice
• Cornbread

The Snacks:

• Snacky Black Beans
• Veggies
• Fruit

Notes on the past two weeks:

The crepes were just awesome and so easy to make. I tried them with spinach, mushrooms and honey goat cheese but wasn’t a huge fan. Josh loved filling them with chicken and topping them with sugar-free syrup. I ate the leftovers plain, some of them cold. (It’s my favorite way to eat leftover pancakes too.) I’m a total weirdo. I know.

The cowboy pot roast didn’t happen. The night I wanted to make that for dinner, we ended up eating chicken tortilla soup instead, which was delish. Josh looooved it (it’s his favorite canned soup, so of course I had to try it homemade), so I’ll probably make it again soon. While I definitely recommend making this, I’d suggest prepping everything the night before; doing that saved my night.

And the lemony tuna and olive oil pasta was okay. I liked the taste, but it was pretty dry. And Josh tried his best to eat it, but he couldn’t even finish a serving of it. And it was a lot more effort than I expected. So that’s probably not happening again.

Keep an eye on Instagram for photo updates of the meals I have planned!

Meal Planning 101

Last night, as Josh and I sat down to eat dinner at 8:30 (for a meal I promised would be ready by 7 p.m.), I realized I still don’t have this meal planning down pat. It was kind of a bummer, considering how successful I thought we had been over the weekend.

So, I guess needless to say, I learned some things about meal planning that I probably should have already known. Sometimes I don’t use my brain (clearly).

1. Read instructions thoroughly before deciding to make something.
2. Make sure you have all the ingredients (this means grabbing them at the grocery store during your regular shopping trip if you don’t have it at home).
3. No, seriously, read all the damn instructions.

No-brainers, right? I thought so too.

Until Tuesday night, when I was about to start prepping the pot roast I had planned for Wednesday’s dinner. I found a recipe that calls for eye of round roast (something I don’t eat, since I stick to seafood and poultry for my meats), and thought I’ll just sub in chicken! Wrong.

As I read over the recipe, I realized most of the six-plus hours the meal would spend in the slow cooker had nothing to do with any of the beans or veggies and everything to do with the meat. I worried that leaving only chicken (tenderloins, at that!) in the slow cooker for six hours, I’d end up with ash in the slow cooker–or maybe even a house fire.

I looked over the recipe again to see if I could alter it some more (maybe dump in everything at once?), but I realized many of the ingredients just wouldn’t taste as good with chicken as they would with beef.

To Google I went. I decided to ditch the Cowboy Pot Roast and search for a chicken pot roast. I found this, and decided that’s what we’d have instead. I skimmed the ingredients and… nope. We didn’t have everything. (Seriously, potatoes were the big missing ingredient–well besides gravy–and we usually have potatoes.) It was starting to look like dinner would be a bust.

In the end, I decided to move around some of the meals we had planned for next week. So, instead of pot roast, we had Chicken Tortilla Soup. (I was only missing cornmeal, which Josh was kind enough to pick up on his way home from work.)

I guess it’s worth mentioning here that this was supposed to be a blog post for last night, and the story was supposed to end there. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Probably because dinner took 2 1/2 hours (that time includes the tantrum I threw like a child, along with lots of pouting). Oh, and maybe a little because I didn’t read the friggin’ directions.

When I decided on Tuesday night that the soup would be Wednesday’s dinner, I thought I had thoroughly read the directions. Again, I was so wrong. I had it stuck in my head that–other than chopping veggies, measuring spices and cooking the chicken–dinner would only take 45 minutes to cook. I guess I missed the part where I add a teensy bit of cornmeal and let it simmer for another 30. (I was  glad I had prepped everything the night before when I realized how long dinner would actually take!)

It actually wasn’t too bad, though. The extra 30 minutes gave me enough time to make a pan of cornbread to go with the soup!

Anyway, the point is to know what you have in your fridge/pantry and fully read the recipe before you decide to start prepping a meal at 9 p.m. (and before you start cooking it). It’s probably also worth keeping potatoes on hand, since you never know when you’ll need them.

{infatuation friday}

12.7.12

1. Christmas Countdown. So, I’m kind of feeling a Christmas countdown coming on. Maybe via Instagram  or Twitter; just a fun daily update to get ya pumped for Christmas. It would start at the end of next week. Let me know in the comments if you would be interested in seeing something like that!
2. 12 Days of Giving. I don’t know how this has gone over my head for the past few days, but Starbucks is currently hosting their annual 12 Days of Giving. Coupon Pro Blog has each daily item listed, so you’ll know when to look for discounts on the things you want.
3. Blood Bricks. I usually don’t share things from work here because, let’s be honest, construction equipment has nothing to do with this blog. Buuut… today we have something really strange and interesting on the website: bricks made from cow blood. Yeah, you read that right. Gross, I know. But you totally want to read about it.
4. Brunswick Stew. For the first time ever, I made Brunswick stew last night. I take a lot of pride in this because 1) I took a couple of ideas to create my own recipe, and 2) Josh loved it! He went back for second and thirds and maybe even fourths (I don’t know, he acted like he ate half the batch). Plus, it was the first time I’d used my slow cooker since we moved. It was so nice to come home and smell dinner already cooking.
5. Grown Up Hot Chocolate. I’m kind of really excited because I’ll finally have the chance to make this over the weekend. I’ve honestly wanted to make some Grown Up Hot Chocolate for more than a year. Now, if I could find an excuse for S’moretini Shooters…
6. Christmas Cards. I hope to make my Christmas cards this weekend. I’m super excited because I don’t think I’ve ever done this (I usually just buy a box of generic Christmas cards to send). I’m 99 percent sure I know what I’m going to make. I have big plans, y’all–big plans. If you need some Christmas card inspiration, check out my Festivus board.
7. Santa Tracker. As a kid, one of my favorite Christmas traditions was to watch the news track Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve. So. Stinkin’. Cool. What with all the new social sites popping up, NORAD has really amped up this whole Santa-tracking thing. You can find NORAD Santa Tracker on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The team even has an app (available through iTunes, Google Play and Windows). For more fun facts about NORAD Santa Tracker, visit AL.com.
8. Cookies. I’m making more cookies this weekend, and they definitely will not be spritz. I still haven’t decided exactly what I’ll do, but I guess I’ll figure it out while I’m shopping tonight. Anyway, look for photos of the cookies (and others!) on Instagram tomorrow night.
9. Meal Planning. Josh and I started really dedicating to meal planning this week, and it’s totally working for us! I’ve only had to go out once this week, and that’s only because I didn’t have time to go home until well after dinner. But the Brunswick stew? Totally planned it, like, last week. And we even have meals planned for next week too. This has definitely relieved some stress. Next thing to tackle: organizing household chores.
10. Slow Cooking. I’ve been a bit obsessed with the idea of slow cooking lately. Dinner is ready when I get home? Yes, please! I’ve been trying to hold back on choosing too many slow cooker recipes for our meal plans because most of my favorites are soups, stews or chilis. However, in my recent obsession, I’ve been learning a lot about slow cooking–like these seven tips for slow cooking in a crock pot. By the way, if anyone wants to buy me that Crock Pot Smart-Pot mentioned at the end, by all means, feel free to send it to me.

Have any ideas for this weekly post? Send them to me via email or Facebook. Don’t forget to follow me around the web for updates you won’t see here!