[menu plan] week of feb 07

i have a new favorite website. have you been to $5 Dinners? it's great. cheap, easy meals. and if you don't use their recipes, at least you'll get some ideas for what you want to make.

i've been really slacking in the meal planning department lately. and i'm sick of going to the store every day, not knowing what i'm going to make for dinner that night, and then buying something easy, not so healthy, and not so cheap. so i've made a weekly meal plan today, and will stop by the store on the way home today to get food for the whole week. i'm so excited.

here's the meals. i still have no idea what order i'm going to make them in, but i imagine things like the pilaf will wait til the end of the week, because it's not so much fresh produce in it. the ingredients can sit around for a little bit.


mushroom quinoa pilaf
sloppy joes with mac-n-cheese
croissant hot dogs with pasta salad
cashew chicken
tacos with mexican rice

homemade oatmeal packets

maybe it's a winter thing, maybe it's because of the convenience, but i'm really in love with instant oatmeal packets lately. well, good thing my wonderful mother-in-law brought us a few boxes of quaker... but we're almost out! well, my mom sent me some recipes for homemade oatmeal packets, and i figured it was finally time to make those. super convenient, nice to keep in my desk drawer for days when i forget breakfast, and healthy, this is the perfect breakfast.



here's the basic "recipe" for the bags:
using a 1/4 cup scoop, put 1.5 scoops of oatmeal into snack-size baggies.
add 1T ground up oatmeal (finely ground in the food processor)
add a pinch of salt, and about 1/2 T sugar

then, pick your flavor! the possibilities are endless. i made the following:

blueberries and cream:
about 2 dozen dried blueberries and 1T of non-dairy creamer

apples and cinnamon;
about 2T of chopped, dried apples, and some sprinkles of cinnamon

AND dessert oatmeal:
1T non-dairy creamer, 1.5T chocolate chips, and a touch of cinnamon

i can't wait to try these! you cook them just like you'll cook those store-bought oatmeal packets. add enough water to get it the thickness you want, and microwave for a few minutes. i'll let you know how they are, but you should try them also.

**EDIT**
i tried one today for the first time. in the words of tony the tiger, they're great! i added about a half cup of water (more of less depending on how you like the texture of your oatmeal), and it did need more sweetener. add a full tablespoon when you make them, or plan on seasoning it with sugar after you make it. i was surprised that it only needed to microwave it for about 2 minutes, seeing as i didn't use the quick-cook oats. what a convenient breakfast!

can't wait to use this!

for my birthday, husband got me this awesome cookbook.

i can't wait to use it. it shows pictures of every step of every recipe. so, there's no more wondering what the difference is between chop and dice. or trying to figure out whether they meant blended or pureed. it's all right there.

go get one for yourself.

dicing a tomato- sans gooey, messy seeds. yes, it's possible!

this is the COOLEST trick i have ever learned. as much as i cook, i am still a pretty novice slicer/dicer. i was reminded of it everytime i tried to dice a tomato. i was so messy about it, i even tried to use my handy dandy slicer dicer from williams sonoma (LOVE that thing) and that was even worse:
 
 

slicer-dicer. GREAT for peppers, onions, fruit, etc






slicer-dicer NOT great for tomatoes. especially whole ones.





 

  

so, imagine my joy when i learned this:

Step 1: get supplies: small knife, cutting board and tomato

Step 2: i like to cut the top off to see how far in i can cut without exploding the seed ball. you dont have to necessarily.

Step 3: use the knife and begin 'peeling' the skin off the tomato. like you would an apple. you can see where the skin hits the 'seed ball' try not to puncture the seed ball.



keep on peelin!



Step 5: peel all the way around the tomato- you will end up with a few different 'petals' for lack of a better description. (see next picture)

see the 'petals'? the thing in the middle is the ball of seeds. nicely contained, way less mess!

Step 6: throw away the seed ball, use a larger knife and dice up the petals!

VOILA! perfectly diced tomato, and WAY LESS MESS!

again, another life changer by erica. :)

chow!

my newest kitchen appliance

i feel like i've reached a new level of kitchening. seriously.

i cannot tell you how extremely jealous i am WAS of these people who do not need to cream butter and sugar together by hand. these people who do not need to knead their bread by hand. because they have...

a kitchenaid mixer.

i'd been talking with chris about getting one for a while. honest, i was hoping to get one for my birthday in january, but that would mean i'd go through yet another holiday season without one. i kept telling him it would be good for my RA, and that i would make all sorts of goodies for him if i had one...

well, i got one.

we found a killer sale at target, and by "we", i mean erica. obviously.

ps erica, many thanks for the text and for you driving to target again to get it for us.

anyways, it's red. and it's beautiful. and it fits perfectly. and matches my kitchen. and immediately after we unpacked it and cleaned it, i used it last night. i know i just made instant vanilla pudding, but i just *had* to use it!

i'm in love.

Drumroll please..............

i did it. i pulled an erin. following is my dinner menu de octobre.

(my printer therefore my scanner decided to malfunc, so you get a screenshot. kinda ghetto, i know. I will repost after fixing, promise. you may have to click on the image, then zoom for noowwww.)

DISCLAIMER: i reserve the right to switch, swap, omit, repeat, negate or ruin any of the listed meals.

i try to incorporate different meat/protein every day. i also try to include a veggie- but this depends on the produce selection at grocery time. or if i get to the farmers market.

i have decided to stick to my weekly grocery shopping for now (to be posted later). Babysteps. also, as i mentioned before- i haven't mastered the art of freezing....yet. most of my leftovers feed two lunches the next day. but, i'm willing to switch it up. not freezing makes for what seems like A LOT of work for dinner. but my meals are always fresh. i can only pull this off because i am unmarried and without child. i consider this my hobby- so if it's a super fancy meal, it consumes dinnertime AND hobby time.

most of these meals seem not super easy and time consuming. 85% of them aren't that bad. i pinky swear. as you can see, i plan on some grilling through the month, but am integrating the crockpot back in. both of which are hardly time consuming and easy clean up, which leads me to my next point:

i leave the clean up for he who gets such fancy meals during the week (you know who you are). if you are going to be making such tasty meals, i recommend you do the same. it's proven to be an excellent agreement, especially since the aforementioned 'he' doesn't really cook, unless you count brats, burgers and grilled chicken. in that order, every week.....yeah, no. but he is a really great cleaner-upper. especially since i am *THEE* messiest human on the face of the planet.

cheers.

oh, oh! OR as my friend jessica says:

chow. (perfect)

october's meal plan

i warned you that i'm the planner. you had no idea what you were getting into, did you?

 

here's my meal plan. for an ENTIRE MONTH (insert scary music here).

it was actually pretty easy. fo' shizz. i just made a list of meals that came to my head, and then plugged them into the calendar. and because i'm the planner, i even list what needs to be done to prep for the following day's meal. see, it's not just for my benefit this way. it's so that husband can prep for me. i'll post this on the fridge-- which means HE can prep for the following day. heck, if i'm busy with school or my second job, he can even cook dinner that night.

(the horror)

but seriously, he's a good cook. i admit, i plan my "easiest" meals on tuesdays and thursdays, but it's because i want to cook the fun stuff myself :-)