Meal Planning

I finally had some quiet time to sit down and blog and plan out my menus for next week.  But then I looked at my calendar and realized that the hubby and Mas are going to Utah for half the week, so I might not want to cook for just Mads and I.  Luckily, there isn't much grocery shopping needed so I can use stuff I already have at home (I love it when that happens).  I'm hoping it can make the 5 meals & leftovers last for 2 weeks of dinners.

Here is what's on the agenda (almost all were found on Pinterest):
Creamy Spinach Tomato Tortellini - made this a couple weeks ago and Madison asked for it again.  Already posted the recipe on the blog.
Easy Ranch Parmesan Chicken
All American Skillet Goulash
Chicken Enchiladas - family recipe (I'll post later)
Orange Chicken (w/ brown rice)
Baked Chicken Fajitas - I made these a couple weeks ago and they were a HUGE hit!  Already posted the recipe on the blog.

Baked Chicken Fajitas

A week ago my sister shared these on facebook, and after looking at the recipe I was sold.  A mostly clean dinner that's incredibly easy.  PERFECT!  I found this recipe here...

Ingredients

• 10 to 12 chicken tenders or 3 to 4 chicken breast, thawed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, washed and sliced into thin strips
• 1 green bell pepper, washed and sliced into thin strips
• 1 small sweet onion, sliced into thin strips
• 1 can (15 oz) organic diced tomatoes, drained

Instructions

Combine lime juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper and pour over chicken in an airtight container. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. For best results, marinade for 2 hours rotating the container every 30 minutes to coat each chicken piece in marinade.  Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly spray 9x13 baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine bell peppers, onions, and diced tomatoes. Pour chicken and marinade over and stir well. Pour contents into baking dish.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Serve on warmed tortillas with fresh salsa. 

My family (and niece that ate over) LOVED these.  And I was surprised by how easy they were.  I will definitely be making them again.  I was wishing I had some guacamole to put on top.  And just make sure to drain them a little when you are spooning them into the tortilla.  My mixture was pretty runny. 

When I put the excess in a Tupperware, my husband mentioned that the leftovers would be really good on rice.  So if you made these and were out of tortillas, you could definitely eat it on a big pile of brown rice.

I also made a peach cobbler from a recipe I found in my new ward cookbook.  We haven't eaten it yet, since I'm waiting for hubby to get home from a church meeting.  But, if we enjoy it, I'll share the recipe tomorrow.

Creamy Spinach Tomato Tortellini

After taking Monkey 1 to to the dentist today to get some cavities filled, she was told to eat only liquids.  So I decided to try out the Creamy Spinach Tomato Tortellini recipe I found on pinterest.  I figured I could cut it small enough for her to eat or 'gum' enough to swallow.  Monkey 2 is so dang picky he wouldn't even try them, but the rest of us loved it.  I thought it was a fairly easy recipe, comes together pretty quickly.  The only downfall is everything has to be done really quickly.  You are stirring practically the whole time and that makes it hard if you don't have the stuff ready when you are making it.  I will definitely be making this again.  The only thing I did differently is I didn't have any plain diced tomatoes, only diced tomatoes with chiles(and it gave the pasta a little kick) (I really liked the change...as did the hubby)

Creamy Spinach Tomato Tortellini

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 5 - 1 cup servings

Ingredients

• 1 (20 oz) pkg three cheese tortellini (preferably the refrigerated kind)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 2%, anything but skim works fine)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 1/2 cups (packed) chopped fresh spinach
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 2 tsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1/2 tsp dry)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 Tbsp finely shredded parmesan, plus more for serving
• Red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)

Directions

• Cook tortellini according to directions listed on package.
• Meanwhile, in a large and deep skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds, then add flour and onion powder and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. While whisking, slowly pour in milk and cream, then whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to simmer, then add tomatoes, spinach, basil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook several minutes longer until sauce has thickened and spinach has wilted. Add parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat.
• Toss prepared and drained tortellini into sauce mixture (note that as the pasta rests, the sauce will seem thicker and it will sort of soak into the noodles. So, if you won't be serving it for 10 minutes or so you can stir in some pasta water, milk or cream to thin it out if desired). Serve warm sprinkled with additional parmesan cheese if desired and optional red pepper flakes.

Recipe Source: adapted with some changes from Cooking Classy

Menu Planning

Last week I decided I really needed to sit down and plan meals.  So I opened up an excel sheet and made my own planning spreadsheet.  I included the meal, where to find it (pinterest, blog, etc), all the ingredients, and then the ingredients that I needed to buy.  It definitely made grocery shopping a lot easier.  And you can also plan according to stuff you'll have left over (i.e. leftover green bell peppers, ground beef, etc).

I will be posting some of the recipes as I make them and giving mine and my families 2 cents about it.

The meals this week will be:

Baked Chicken Fajitas
Lasagna (family recipe)
Easy Ranch Parmesan Chicken
Creamy Spinach Tomato Tortellini
Taco Casserole