Monday Menu Plan ....for Tuesday..

Ok - so I am a bit behind. I was going to stay up & post last night but I found a brief moment of time to spend with my hubby. So I took that instead. He's been so busy lately - to actually spend some time with him is rare. So onto my menu!! This week is pasta week. Eric will be working late 2 evenings this week & with my eldest working evening shift - pasta is an easy dinner for 2.

Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Crockpot Ravioli
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan
Thursday: Rachael Ray's Carbonara Recipe
Friday: Pizza

I am actually trying to use what I have in my pantry for these meals. Plus I am looking for a good veggie soup for the crockpot for next week. I have tons of frozen veggies that need to be used up before they have a higher ice to veggie ratio. So today is going to be spent scouring through my pantry to determine what I have on hand for next weeks meals. Wish me luck!!

Baking...Baking....Baking

I have been on a baking/cooking frenzy lately. Fall does this to me. I love when the air gets cool enough that you can actually bake in your kitchen without melting. Plus there is something about the scent of the crisp fall air that makes you want to bake.Apples, pumpkins, squash oh my!

Since I have been menu planning for the past month or so I have come across some wonderful recipes that I have been dying to try. I'm also following alot of "frugal/money saving" blogs that have given some great ideas for commercial foods that you can make at home. Breakfast, for instance, is the most trying meal for us. Eric usually stops at Wawa in the morning & gets a breakfast sandwich because he would rather sleep the extra 10 minutes than make a bowl of cereal. (I'm for that line of thinking too). So I went out & bought sausage rounds & 2 packages of Pillsbury biscuits. I had some eggs & cheese mini omelets from the Market Day fundraiser at my daughters school on hand too. I baked the biscuits & then assembled & froze them. Eric loved it!! And it came down to about 60 cents per sandwich.Though next time I will make the biscuits - just need to find a good recipe. And good ones - please leave a comment!!

I then made some Pumpkin waffles. I just love the website Smitten Kitchen. They have the most wonderful recipes and are in English. By that I mean - easy to read understand & uncomplicated. The pumkin waffles were a hit with Emily - who was my taste tester. They have a hint of pumpkiny-goodness without being over-powering which is what I was worried about. I couldn't imagine eating a waffle that tasted like a Pumpkin Latte. It was perfect. I made a batch & frozen them too. I recommend trying the recipe - Pumpkin waffles from Smitten Kitchen.

Another Smitten Kitchen favorite of mine is the Cold Brewed coffee. I've made this with pumpkin flavored coffee & it was terrific!! If you liked iced coffee - this is how you make it without it tasting bitter.

I also baked 2 dozen "Brain" cupcakes for Emily's Harvest Day for school. Nothing from scratch here. Just Duncan Hines Halloween mix (orange with brown swirl) & frosting that is piped on to look like a brain. I made 2 batches of buttercream frosting & they both turned out horrible!! I am suspecting it was because I used margerine & not butter. I ended up running to the store at 8pm to grab frosting. I was exhausted!!.

My last cooking job was Potato Chowder in the crockpot. This was wonderful. Here's the recipe - Slow Cooked Potato Chowder. 

 I made my chunks a bit small for easy eating and used shredded carrots.

I really liked this recipe. Tasty & filling . Though I added some Herbs De Provence for a little added flavor. In a way I was expecting a more creamy soup so I thickened it just a bit. But overall a nice filling meal on a chilly night. Too bad Eric does not like soups - I'd make this for dinner. I put a few servings in freezer bags & froze them. I love tossing stuff in the crockpot!!

Next topic....tea. I found a place to buy tea & I love it!! Have a great day!!

Menu Planning Monday

Okay here's is my first blog into menu planning. I've actually been planning for the past few weeks & it is working out great. It really is so convenient! I'm trying to following some guidelines from different blogs & I'm posting to the Organized Junkie to try & keep some accountability to myself (as well as get menu ideas). Geeky I know.

Monday: Fettuccine Alfredo w/Broccoli

Tuesday: Take-out Chicken

Wednesday: Crockpot Ravioli

Thursday: Tacos

Friday: Pizza (along with the homemade sauce)

Saturday: Leftovers

I also have Peanut Butter pie, pizza bread & Breakfast apple granola crisp on the menu for snacks/lunches & breakfasts. I'll try to rate the meals as I go also.

I made the pizza bread yesterday and was able to get 3 large loaves from the recipe. And it was fantastic!! The peanut butter pie was good too. Nice & fast dessert, though Eric would have liked the Oreo recipe instead. I'm going to make the Apple granola crisp this afternoon. I am excited about this one - I have been waiting to try something from this website, Smitten Kitchen. Every recipe I have seen here looks so easy and they have so many great recipes to boot!!



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Meal update....

The fettucini alfredo was very good, though I added more parmesan than it called for. The Take-Out Chicken did not go well - I used chicken breast instead of thighs. It was a bit tough. And the flavor was a bit spicy. Hubby was not crazy about it at all.

Now the Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp is awesome!!! Love it and highly recommend it.

Long but successful day!

It's been a whirlwind day of baking today. I was able to make about 4 dozen choc chip cookies, 3 rolls of pizza bread & dinner. I made Bruschetta chicken - very good & easy. More importantly my 7 year old ate it! The hamburger rolls I was making did not do so well- the dough "exploded" in my bread maker. I salvaged what I could so I'll find put how it did with Eric's lunch tomorrow.
Tomorrow I have a job interview *yikes!* and then I am going to make Breakfast Apple Crisp. It is from the Smitten Kitchen website (will get link later). Pretty excited about this one!!
Plus tomorrow is Meal Plan Monday. (That really needs an audio link to make it so so much cooler ha!)
Well off to read a bit. I've borrow this book twice & I am determined to finish it. It about the Centralia mine fire. Tragic thing - more bothersome if you came from coal mining area as I did in West. Pa & had a few members of my family that were miners. We're all now blood, guts & steel and so proud of it!!!
Night all~
-- Posted from my iPhone

Starting anew

Okay now. Got a new blog theme....check. Got ideas to blog about.....check. Have the motivation....check. Need to actually blog.......hmmm, ummm partial check?

I initially started this blog to talk about my running and so forth. Though this has gone by the wayside - both the running and the blogging. I'm more upset with the first one though. I keep making the same excuse that I do not have the time - but as you can see by this - I do. My youngest daughter starts school next week - 3 days for about 4 hours - so I am hoping to get out of the rut and just do it. Considering that I have been registered for the Philly Half next month I really need to get running. I hate the way I feel too. I feel old & creaky. Ugh and not to mention very, very jiggly.

So on top of that I have been meal planning too (need a better segue than that). Which I find has been very helpful in my day-to-day routine. Beginning this coming Monday I will be posting my meal plans too along with the recipes links in case you too (my 2 followers ha!) are interested. We shall see how this goes...wish me luck!!