Meal Planning

littleredfish · August 2014

So I finally got sick of just grocery shopping for whatever I felt like at that moment with no real direction, and then getting home and trying to make meals with the "stuff" I bought and wondering why I wasn't eating healthy meals. This week I tried actually sitting down on my day off and making a list of MEALS I wanted to try and the ingredients I needed made up the bulk of my grocery list. Turns out to A) not be that hard to stick to, not be any more expensive that what I was doing before and C) that I can actually cook when I really want to. Made sweet and sour chicken, honey glazed pork chops and chicken and biscuits among more basic meals this week. Nothing fancy; I'm not suddenly Gordon Ramsay or something, but it was really good if I do say so myself. DD still seems to have elected to be a vegetarian and refuses to eat the meat, but that's a different issue.

Lets share our quick and delicious recipes. I need more ideas. I got a bunch from this site, and they've been really good so far.
https://www.blissfulanddomesticrecipes.com/p/dinner.html?spref=pi

littleredfish · August 2014

Ooooh. The enchiladas sound amaaazing.

MelissaMiso · August 2014

I wish I could be that motivated to actually pre-plan meals. As for recipes, I love picking a single ingredient (usually a vegetable as we're vegetarians) and put it in the search on vegweb.com and see what recipes come up.

littleredfish · August 2014

I made corn dog muffins last night (obviously not healthy, but DD loves them as a "treat"). Tonight will be twice baked potatoes and steak since I just cleaned the grill today. Then we're getting together with friends tomorrow and i'm bringing a garden salad with cashews and cranberries with my moms homemade vinegrette (which I wish I knew how to make). Then my week will be tortellini, Hawaiian chicken legs, then puffy pizza.

Twice baked potatoes: bake potatoes as you would for baked potatoes but take out about 10-15 minutes early. Scoop out the insides and mash together the potato, a generous scoop of mayo or sour cream, add your choice of extras - I like bacon bits. Mix together a scoop back into the skins (I use a muffin tin or deeper glass dish to keep them standing up), bake for additional 20 mins and if you like cheese sprinkle some on to melt in the last 5-10mins.

Puffy pizza: Never had this yet, but it's a recipe I pinned on pinterest and want to try it. https://kim-thislittlelifeofmine.blogspot.ca/2012/01/bubble-up-pizza.html

ELF4321 · August 2014

I have been trying to meal plan the past few weeks, but it's complicated because I am a vegetarian, DH is not, and DD is hit-or-miss whether she'll eat meat. DH also runs late often and I never know if he's going to be on time. I did find a crockpot recipe that DD and DH both liked.

Apricot chicken -- 4 frozen chicken breasts, 1/2 cup apricot preserves, 1/4 cup French or Russian salad dressing, 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1/2 packet of dry onion soup mix. Toss it all on low for 5-6 hours (if it will cook longer than that, I'd recommend adding some broth since the chicken tends to dry out at the longer end of the cooking time).

We all also like peanut butter noodles, though it's more effort than I usually do on a weeknight:

Cook spaghetti, fettucine, whatever similar noodle you have. While the pasta is cooking, saute 1/2 to 2/3 cup each chopped carrots and celery (about 1/2 inch thick pieces) with the sliced white parts from a bunch of scallions.

Mix the sauce up separately while veggies are cooking: 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar.

When the veggies are softened, reduce heat to low, add 2-3 tsp minced ginger and saute 2-3 minutes. Then add sauce and drained pasta. You could also saute diced chicken or tofu to add into this for more protein.

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