menu planning

I have a love-hate relationship with menu planning. Okay, it's a mostly hate relationship, but it must be done. If it's not done we eat out, we eat crap and spend money that could better be used in other areas.

I love the idea of linking up our weekly plans and sharing them with our friends to keep us accountable and give us ideas for future meals. Because I, for one, need both the accountability and ideas!

Here's our meal plan for this week in no particular order. I try to decide the night before what we're going to have the next day. If I forget then I pull from something easy on the list (example - the Cheese Ravioli Bake, because it's quick to make from frozen). Side dishes are listed in parentheses.

Country French Chicken & Veggies (garden salad)
Cheese Ravioli Bake (tomato ranch salad)
Shepherd's Pie (broccoli steamed for me and with sour cream sauce for the rest of the peeps)
Balsamic Pork Chops (rice pilaf & cantaloupe)
Taco Burgers (warm ranch potato salad)
Pizza Loaf (garden salad)
Grilled Turkey Tenderloin (green beans & baked cauliflower)

I will say that one thing I really need to start doing is planning breakfast and lunch. We always just wing it with those meals (leftovers, salad, sandwich for lunch and breakfast is quick with lots of options). If you have any ideas to help me get into a groove with those meals I'd love to hear them!

Now go visit the link-up over at Shrinking Jeans and see what everyone else is eating this week!

what's cookin

Menu planning is something I struggle with...figuring out what everyone's going to eat, making sure it's healthy, making sure everyone likes it (I won't fix 4 different meals for the 4 of us), having a little variety so meals don't get boring and actually going to the store and buying what I need - just thinking about it is exhausting. Obviously, if I were rich and famous (or just rich) I would hire a chef. Because that would be bliss, yo. But since I'm a work-at-home-mom with bills like everyone else, that isn't happening and it's left up to me to make sure my family eats right.

In an effort to share with anyone else struggling with What's for Dinner??? I decided to try and start sharing my menu plans as I get them ready. I'll make extra for leftovers so my weekly menu can actually stretch a little longer than that (i.e. don't look for a post on this every week...truth be told, I'll be lucky to remember to share this once a month).

So what's cookin this week?

• Lasagna with salad
• Italian Spinach and Chicken Skillet
• Savory Turkey Breast with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
• Garlic Lime Chicken and Pepper Squash Saute
• Taco Night!
• Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli
• Breakfast (this varies but can be eggs, omelets, waffles, etc.)

Tell me, what's cookin at your house this week?

Oh and if you have any favorite websites for quick, healthy, delicious meals send the links my way. Extra points for those that utilize a slow cooker.

recipe: lemon-glazed chicken

I'm always on the lookout for healthy yet delicious recipes. I don't remember when it was but Cool Running tweeted the link to a recipe for Fiery Lemon-Glazed Chicken. At the time I just sent the link to my email and forgot about it. I realized last night (when cleaning out my inbox) that I actually had everything on hand to make this so I made it for dinner tonight. I did modify it for what I had in my pantry so here's my version.

Lemon-Glazed Chicken
Serves: 4

1/2 cup brown rice bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey (the honey in my cupboard had hardened so I ended up using Lemon Creme Honey for Tea by Republic of Tea)
3-4 shakes Tabasco sauce
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

In a shallow dish combine the bread crumbs, garlic, salt and pepper and blend together. Dredge both sides of the chicken in the crumb mixture.

In a small bowl combine the lemon juice, honey and Tabasco. Set aside.

In a large non-stick pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken, cover and saute until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Add the lemon and honey glaze to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the glaze becomes syrupy. Return cooked chicken to pan, flipping the chicken once to coat with the glaze.

Remove from pan and serve.

If you try it let me know. We loved it and will definitely be having it again. The glaze is amazing and it took less than 30 minutes.

my schedule

Remember a few posts back when I was griping about how I couldn't get anything done and needed to find a way to schedule the necessary stuff without compromising my "me time", etc.? Well guess what? I has me a schedule! Woot!

Last night, after a really nice, relaxing Mother's Day (big thank you to my husband for giving me the best gift of all - sleep!) I sat down and figured out my daily schedule. It's somewhat flexbile but should still allow me to get what needs done most days. And right now that's better than what I was getting done - nothing. This has taken quite a weight off of my shoulders.

Next item to tackle that I'm struggling with? Meal planning.