Menu Monday Oct. 24

I spent roughly $50 on groceries this week, partly because I had $10 in coupons, but that is the least I have spent on groceries in a LONG time.  I'm very proud of myself, thankyouverymuch.

Here is what's on tap for the next two weeks:

Tues. 10/25: Jiffy Jambalaya Remember I wanted to make my own jambalaya?  This will be my first go at it, so hopefully it is delicious.

Wed. 10/26: Santa Fe Enchilada Bake This is something I've made before.  it's easy and with the right subs (whole grain tortillas, low fat cheese and fat free sour cream), it's not too heavy on calories.

Fri. 10/28: Burgers.

Sat. 10/29: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches I'm a sucker for buffalo chicken.

Sun. 10/30: Baked Ziti.  AKA "Throw some noodles, sauce, and cheese in a casserole dish and bake."

Tues. 11/1: Grilled cheese.  Do you really need a recipe?

Wed. 11/2: Pizza.  I use this recipe for the crust.  I half the ingredients, though, since I'm only making it for the two of us.  And I don't like super duper thick pizza which is what would happen if I used the whole recipe for one pizza.  here is what it looked like last time I made it.  Depending on when in the rotation it's on the menu, I'll have green pepper and onion on there in addition to pepperoni.

Fri. 11/4: Tacos.  J's favorite.  I use a seasoning mix found here.

What all are you having the next few weeks??  Let me know in the comments.

Don't forget that you can check out my food board on Pinterest!

Menu Monday

It's been a while since I've posted.  It's been crazy, too, but I'll get to that in another post.

For a few months, J and I have been menu planning every two weeks.  It really helps when I'm grocery shopping because I know exactly what I have to get, and it helps at home with the "what are we going to eat?" question because I know ahead of time when I need to pull out hamburger meat or chicken breasts or what have you.  Woo hoo!  SO here is what's on tap for the next 2 weeks:

Mon. Oct. 10: We had a meeting at church and dinner was provided.

Tues. Oct. 11: Jambalaya.  We currently use the Zattarain's box and toss in some smoked sausage.  I eventually would like to find my own recipe because the boxed mixes are so high in sodium.  I'm looking for a good one.  If you know of one, leave me a note in the comments.

Wed. Oct. 12: Chicken and Dumplings.  This is a new recipe and I'm kind of excited about it because it seems so easy.  It's from a cookbook I have in my kitchen, so I can't link to it, unfortunately.  It's your basic chicken, celery, carrots, and biscuits recipe. The particular recipe I used was great, but I misunderstood the directions for adding the biscuits and added the whole can thing.  Which meant it was more like dumplings with chicken and veggies.  Oops.  It was yum, though, so I will make it again but alter the amount of biscuits I use.

Thurs. Oct. 13: I have praise band rehearsal every Thursday night and I go straight to church from work so J is on his own every week.

Fri. Oct. 14: We have a youth event so I won't have to cook.  Woo hoo!

Sat. Oct. 15: Chicken Enchilada Pasta.  This is also a new recipe, and oh my goodness it looks delicious!  It WAS delicious, but it was also SPICY.  Will make again but J couldn't handle the heat (I thought it was great) so I need to tone it down a bit.

Sun. Oct. 16: We'll probably just do tacos, though I'm thinking about making Chicken Taco Chili.  This is a monthly dish at our house when the weather is cooler.  So delish and so easy. This didn't happen because we went to my father in law's for dinner.

Mon. Oct. 17: Youth night.  Probably leftovers.

Tues. Oct. 18: Sloppy Joes.  Tuesdays are my gym night, so I try and do something I can whip up easily when I get home since J won't cook. I don't remember what we did but it wasn't this.

Wed. Oct. 19: Orange Chicken/General Tso's Chicken.  I found this orange chicken recipe that I might try, but we're not huge orange chicken fans.  I'd rather make a General Tso's recipe using this recipe to bake the chicken instead of frying it.  In all reality I wish I could figure out where the picture below came from.  It popped up on my Pinterest feed and its source says "Pinterest for iPhone."  Thanks.  That's a lot of help. I ended up making the chicken and dumplings this particular night, so I can't report about the Chinese recipe...

Thurs. Oct. 20: Jenny's rehearsal, so we're off the hook there.  The weekend of the 22nd is my last full, busy weekend and then I can RELAX.  Hallelujah!

You can follow my recipe board on Pinterest.

Yum!

For dinner last night, I made an incredibly easy recipe that I wanted to pass on.  You can find the original recipe here, but I honestly altered it a little bit based on some of the reviews, so here is my recipe, with added or altered stuff in blue:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 3/4 pound cubed skinless, boneless chicken breast meat
• 1/2 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (8.75 ounce) can sweet corn, drained
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 can of green chiles
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese
• 1 1/2 cups crushed plain tortilla chips

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute onion and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken, taco seasoning, beans, corn, salsa, and chiles. Cover skillet and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Transfer chicken mixture to a 9x9 inch baking dish. Top with 1/2 cup of the cheese
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup cheese and tortilla chips and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I actually didn't use a can of corn.  I used about a cup of frozen corn instead and it made it really watery, so I would make sure to actually use a can of corn or cook some frozen corn first.

J and I LOVED this.  It's definitely in our rotation and it made enough that more than half was leftover (I'm going to have some for lunches this week) once we had our fill.

(Sidenote... Paulie LOVES chicken.  We don't eat at our kitchen table, we eat on the couch -- bad habit I know -- and Paulie jumped up and sat staring at both of us like, "I smell chicken.  Gimme some chicken!"  Such a sweet boy.)

Cooking

I've never been much of a cook. I am too afraid that I'll burn/overseason/undercook whatever I'm making and waste all that food. I really need to take some lessons with more experienced cooks, like G at church whose food is DELISH. As a result, we have the same things over and over again.

Here are some staples in our house:
-Tacos
-Sloppy Joes
-Jambalaya
-Burgers and homemade fries
-Zesty BBQ Chicken

I've started to explore other things to make, especially those on SkinnyTaste.com. Gina takes classic recipes and finds a healthier way to make them. She posts all nutrition info, including Weight Watchers points (old and new). About a week and a half ago, I bit the bullet:

That is "Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili" (image from the website). I made it a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING. Last time I made it I only used half a can of kidney beans because I am not a bean person, and because I was making it for 2 people. I also only used one can of diced tomatoes. And I didn't have any cumin or cilantro and I didn't add chili peppers. It was plenty spicy, though, because the only taco seasoning I had in the house was the hot and spicy blend by Old El Paso. I ate it alone and with macaroni noodles, fresh out of the crock pot, and as leftovers. No matter when you make or eat this, it's wonderful. I'm making it again today and again for our church's chili supper in about 3 weeks.

The fact that we both enjoyed this (and I would say I can be fairly picky) means it's made its way into our meal rotation, and that I'm more interested in trying new recipes. I have a few more that are on my list to try:

Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Chicken Enchiladas
Lighter Macaroni and Cheese (mostly because J LOVES his mom's mac & cheese but I'm not a big fan)
Skinny Sloppy Joes
Baked Ziti with Spinach
Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Frieds

Tonight's Dinner

So last night I was trying to think of what to cook for dinner. I am NOT adventurous and have little experience with cooking anything that isn't out of a box, so I can't just say, "Oh we have X, Y, and Z... Let's make A!" Nope, doesn't work that way. As a result, J and I eat a LOT of pasta, taco salad, and baked chicken. Said baked chicken is usually marinated in Italian dressing (we tried a lemon pepper marinade once and it bubble over the sides of the pan I was using and I had to scrape it off the next day because my oven would smoke when I turned it on). Or we grill it, either with Italian dressing or BBQ sauce.

Last night I knew I wanted to try SOMETHING a little different. We have no pork or beef, so it chicken it was... but WHAT? HOW? I logged on to allrecipes.com and typed in chicken and slow cooker and, of course a bajillion recipes came up, but then I found this one:

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

Best of all? I already had EVERY SINGLE ingredient (which doesn't happen often in my hosue because, like I said, I'm not a cook). So I hoped and prayed that J would put the chicken I pulled out and the sauce I made into the crock pot before leaving for work, and that my crock pot wouldn't burn it before I got home.

Verdict: Amazing. Incredibly simple, and completely delicious. This will probably become a staple in our menu. I love the feeling of success I have now that I've taken that first leap and made something off of the internet. Because, honestly? It's not liek I burn water or anything, but I'm so uneasy about cooking in general that it freaks me out if I'm not using a box or something from a jar. OR popping something in the oven out of the freezer. But I'm sure to cook much more often now that A) My first foray has been successful, and B) I almost have all of my weeknights back.