dinner Archives - Life's Tidbits

22Jul 2015

Meal Planning – Week 2

I’m happy to report meal planning is going pretty well! I enjoy sitting down with my list of recipes, thinking about the week ahead and writing out what to cook each night. The recipes chosen are then translated into a shopping list to which I add breakfast, lunch and snack items. Luckily lunch usually consists of leftover dinners, which makes it easier. The project manager in me loves the process of making a plan and executing sed plan.

Week two was a success though I still seem to slightly over buy somethings and under buy others. I’m starting to think meal planning for Jellybean needs to go beyond dinner, as many of the foods we don’t have enough of are for her. Raspberries/blackberries/blueberries, in particular, are consumed at a remarkable rate.

Here’s what we’ve been munching on lately …

Dinners for Week 2:

Grilled Lemon Dijon Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower and Baked Oven Fries … the oven fries are AMAZING. You must try them, Mkay?! I seriously want to eat them everyday all day long.
Brisket with carrots and potatoes … one of my favorite holiday recipes that I occasionally make on non-holiday weekends. One of these days I hope to share the recipe with you!
Saucy Chicken with Rice … super easy and perfect for a week night.
Homemade Pizza … I’ve been dying to make homemade pizza crust for a while now. The last time I tried to make it the yeast had expired – FAIL – this time I was properly equipped with non-expired yeast!
Lemon Almond Chicken Salad with Biscuits … I may or may not have been out of bread and way too lazy to venture to the store so I decided to just throw some frozen biscuits in the oven. They were delish and it was kind of like having a deconstructed sandwich :)
Out to Dinner x2 … While the goal is to only order in or go out once a week, however this particular week was special. My parents were in town over the weekend visiting & my girlfriends and I did a little girls night out. So my once a week only is more like a guideline, not a rule {wink, wink}.

I made two new recipes this week! I am glad they were both a hit so they can be added to the queue of dinner options. It is always disappointing when a recipe looks delicious and then is just so-so or worse not yummy at all.

Goals for next week: try another new recipe (or two!) and try to use more of what’s already in the house.

What have you been making for dinner lately {please add links in the comments!}? Any tips for meal planning?

30Jun 2015

Meal Planning – Week 1

by Nicole ⋅ Leave a Comment

In my mid 20’s I went from being someone who went to the grocery store once a week to someone who went almost daily. It helped Safeway was literally a 3 minute walk from my apartment. I didn’t pre-plan meals in anyway shape or form. On my way home from work I would decide what I wanted to make for dinner and head to the store for the ingredients.

When we purchased our condo, the number of times I went food shopping drastically decreased. We were no longer within walking distance of a grocery store, which meant I started to go every couple of days on my way home from work. I slowly started to think about meals in 2-3 day increments.

Enter newborn baby. I was exhausted, often un-showered (SHHH don’t tell) and barely had time for a bathroom break, let alone cook or go food shopping multiple times a week. Not to mention the logistics involved in going to the store with a newborn baby in-tow! Store runs became almost nonexistent and the number of nights we were ordering in steadily inclined.

Let me be honest…cooking is way healthier AND less expensive than ordering in. Plus, there is the added bonus that I really do LOVE to cook! Once I went back at work full time and ‘adjusted’ to our new schedule, I started making a conscious effort to cook more often.

I go food shopping once … max twice … a week now. It has been an interesting transition since I wasn’t giving much forethought to our meals. With no plan in place, I’ve been working with what we’ve got in the house. It didn’t take long to realize we were going to live off chicken/rice and pasta/meat sauce if I don’t start planning ahead.

So, a couple of weeks ago I made a decision to start meal planning. I took out pen and paper and actually wrote down what I was going to make each night for dinner. I gave myself one ‘order in’ night … I need{ed} to be realistic and not to bite off more than I can chew!

First thing I did was write out a FULL list of our go-to recipes. Though I would like to get a mix of old and new dinner menus I figured it was probably best to start with what I know we like and go from there. I decided to make a list of what to cook for dinner throughout the week and determine what we would eat when later. The one caveat to this is recipes that were more time intensive I planned on conquering over the weekend.

Dinner Choices for Meal Planning Week 1!

Smoky Southwestern Tilapia with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
Hamburger Casserole
Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers (substituted with ground turkey and mozzarella cheese – was totally delish!)
Baked Honey Cajan Shrimp with white rice and steamed green beans
Chicken Pesto Pasta
Order In!

Overall week 1 went really well! It was so nice to have everything on hand and the recipes preselected. The other great thing about meal planning was there were plenty of leftovers for lunch each day. Similar to my order in one night I gave myself a couple of days for going out to lunch with coworkers. This was partially because I like going out to eat and be social, as well as to give myself an out when I needed to change things up.

Do I have any changes and/or goals for week 2 of meal planning? Well, thank you for asking … because I do plan to make a few changes! I need to not only meal plan for my husband and me, but for little Jellybean too. Cook more meals over the weekend to save additional time during the week (make the freezer my friend hahaha). Also, I would like to challenge myself to use more of what’s already in my pantry and refrigerator. Doing so will take more planning/research, but I feel it will be useful in expanding my recipe ‘portfolio’ as well as saving a little extra mulla!!

Do you meal plan? Any tips or tricks you can share?

I would love to hear your EASY and favorite week night recipe!

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

24Mar 2015

{Recipe} Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

by Nicole ⋅ Leave a Comment

Sometimes it’s a little tricky finding recipes that are both adult and kid friendly. Over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to add more food variety to Jellybean’s diet. Which seems to mean we all need to eat the same thing for dinner at least a few nights a week. Hamburger casserole and lemon chicken stew have been my go to family dinner recipes over the past few weeks and while they make great lunch we just need some new recipes in the mix.

Enter Pinterest – side note I think there’s a possibility Pinterest will replace Googling at least in some cases – and with a few clicks I found some great chicken and broccoli casserole dishes. I made a few modifications to this recipe and voila a delicious family friendly dinner!

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole Recipe

1 Tbls Coconut Oil (or vege or olive oil)
1 lb Chicken Breasts – cubed/bitesize
2-3 Cups Fresh Broccoli – chopped/bitesize
1 Small Onion Diced
1 tsp poultry seasoning
Salt & Pepper – to taste
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
3 Tbls Mayonnaise
1/4 cup water
1 and 1/2 Cups Shredded White Cheddar Cheese
1 cup raw white rice (cooked)

Cook the rice per the instructions on the box. I like to substitute the water for chicken broth to add a little extra flavor!

Meanwhile in a large skillet or dutch over add oil, chicken, broccoli, onion, poultry seasoning and salt/pepper. Cook over medium heat until the chicken is done.

Add in the soup, mayo and water gently mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rice. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Makes about 6 servings.

I think Jellybean was a little puzzled as to why I was being such a paparazzi while she ate her dinner!

This recipe is pretty delicious and the whole family approved…yay! I’m happy to have one new recipe, but I would love to add at least another 3-5 new {easy} dinners into our rotation.

What are your go to family friendly recipes that toddlers love?

27Jan 2015

Recipe: Hamburger Casserole

by Nicole ⋅ Leave a Comment

Do you have a dish that reminds you of your childhood? For me, it is totally hamburger casserole. I remember hating the peas and pushing them aside, but absolutely loving the hamburger/rice part of the meal. I am not sure where my mother got the recipe from. Regardless, it was a go to dinner growing up and makes almost weekly appearances in my house today. The only change I’ve made from my mother’s recipe is to substitute green beans for the peas.

Another bonus about this recipe … Jellybean LOVES it and it’s easy to whip up even after a long day!!

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
1 pkg Onion Gray
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/3 cup Rice
1 1/2 cups water
Frozen Green Beans (1 1/2 cups) or Peas (10 oz)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Season beef with salt and pepper and brown in a pan over medium heat. Drain the excess fat. Add onion gray mix, garlic powder, rice and water. Stir ingredients together and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice is fully tender. Stir occasionally so the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Meanwhile, defrost peas or green beans per the directions on the package. Add the peas or green beans to the mixture and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately.

The one tip I have about this recipe is to buy A LOT of the onion gravy when it goes on sale. It’s on the pricier side, however totally worth it … my and Jellybean’s humble opinion.

What dish reminds your of your childhood?

Happy Cooking!

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12Aug 2014

{Recipe} Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Turkey

by Nicole ⋅ 1 Comment

Growing up green beans were always called string beans in my house. Or at least that’s what I think they were called as each time I go to say green beans my brain desperately wants to say string bean. STRING BEANS, STRING BEANS, STRING BEANS! Okay I think I got it out of my system. =)

Oddly enough I have a few fond memories of cooking with string green beans. I’m standing in the kitchen next to my grandmother (or mother) snapping off the ends of the green beans and eating a few along the way! Green beans are one of those things I can eat cooked or raw.

But back to the recipe …

Do you ever have one of those days where you defrost meat and then none of your go-to recipes sound appealing? I’ve been having that happen to me frequently as of late. The other week I decided to defrost some ground turkey for dinner. Shepard’s pie, taco salad, turkey meatballs and a few of my other easy recipes felt just well ‘over-done’ … get it?! I’m so funny – well probably not, but I couldn’t help myself.

So yeah, anyways, it was time for something new, easy and healthy! I was browsing Pinterest while contemplating dinner. After doing a quick search-a-roo on ground turkey I had a few contenders. The husband and I really enjoyed this new meal. One of the best parts … it’s a ONE pot meal so relatively easy cleanup.

Recipe inspired by The Lemon Bowl

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
4 garlic cloves – grated
2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tbs fresh grated ginger)
1 lb green beans – trimmed
½ cup chicken broth
1 tbs corn starch
3 tbs soy sauce – low sodium
2 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs chili sauce (more or less to taste)
½ tbs sesame oil

Instructions
Serving Size – 4

Pre-heat a large wok or frying pan over high heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add the ground turkey, garlic and ginger. Break up the turkey and cook until browned.

In a small bowl, whisk together chicken broth, corn starch, soy, rice vinegar and chili garlic paste.

Once the turkey is browned, add in green beans and broth/soy mixture. Cover and let simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally so the sauce doesn’t burn. Add in the sesame oil. Cook an additional minute or two then serve.

Serve with Israeli couscous or rice.

This recipe has definitely grabbed a spot in our dinner rotation! What’s an easy recipe you are digging lately?

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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Tag Archives: Dinner

Meal Planning – Week 2

Meal Planning – Week 1

{Recipe} Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

Recipe: Hamburger Casserole

{Recipe} Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Turkey

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