Weekly Meal Plan

 

It's a Monday morning and I am sitting by the twinkle lights of our live Christmas tree, listening to the wind howl and the rain pitter patter on the windows while I make my meal plan for the week. Playing catch up on my blog (still), but here are some of the meals I cooked recently:

 

 

 

Sicilian Chicken Soup

[recipe from A Dash of Sanity]

 

 

 

This lovely meal is perfect for a cool fall or winter day. The spices are lovely, and a rotisserie chicken from the store works in a pinch if you are short on time. We love to top this dish off with our favorite croutons. If your child does not eat soups yet, this meal is hearty enough to serve vegetables and chicken without the broth. Thankfully Jack is finally starting to eat the entire soup!

 

 

Apple Muffins

[recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything]

 

A couple of weeks ago Jack was sick, suffering from HFMD. There were very few things he wanted to eat. He took comfort in wearing his IronMan costume and he specifically requested Apple Muffins to make him feel better. He was basically eating ice cream around the clock, so I was willing to make him any kind of real food. Thankfully I had apples in my fruit bowl! These muffins were quick to make. I left off the topping and they still tasted great. I had one very happy (and full) Ironman.

 

One-Pot Skillet Lasagna

[recipe from Menu Musings]

 

 

 

Traditional lasagna is a pain to make. That is why I have really embraced the idea of skillet lasagna. This dish is really hearty, with meat and extra vegetables snuck in. It definitely feeds a crowd and makes great leftovers.

 

 

 

Rosemary Orange Chicken with green beans and rice

[recipe from Damn Delicious]

 

 

This dish was so good. The blog Damn Delicious is quickly becoming my go-to for meal planning. The recipes never disappoint and they are always packed with serious flavor. If you haven't discovered this food blog, you need to! I do want to note that Daniel is not a fan of dark meat and has requested I make sure to include the white meat as well. I really liked the flavors of the dark meat – to each his own! 

 

 

 

Chili Cheese Biscuit Bake

[recipe from A Dash of Sanity]

 

 

 

This was a decent meal, but I don't think the biscuits fully cooked. Also, Daniel did not like the use of Italian sausage and Jack didn't really care for it. You win some, you lose some.

 

 

Broccoli, Cheese and Potato Soup

[recipe from Skinny Taste]

 

This was a crowd pleaser. Daniel does not like broccoli, but enough cheese will cure that! For the potatoes, I used leftover mashed potatoes. Since it was pureed, this was a great meal to serve to Isaac as well. Though, truth be told, every time we fed it to him he wound up covered in broccoli!

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup 

Recipe adapted from from SkinnyTaste {the SkinnyTaste version is probably a little healthier}
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup onion, chopped and sauteed in 2 tsp olive oil {I skipped this step}
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups low sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chipotle salsa
• 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 15 oz V8 tomato juice {the recipe actually calls for 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes, for some reason I was out of tomatoes, so I substituted V8 juice and it was great... in the future I might add tomatoes in addition to the V8}.
• 8 oz can whole kernel corn
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2 skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp ranch dressing {I used this as a thickener, I think sour cream, cream or milk would also work}
• shredded cheddar cheese {optional as topping}
• sour cream {optional as topping}

Directions:

• Put everything {except ranch dressing, cheese and sour cream} into a crock pot.
• Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.
• Remove chicken and shred with two forks. 
• Add chicken back into the soup.
• Stir in ranch dressing and allow to cook for an additional 15 minutes to thicken your soup.
• Serve in bowls and top with sour cream, cheese and Baked Corn Tortilla Chips.

Baked Corn Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

• Small Corn Tortillas
• Salt

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400º F.
• Cut tortillas into fourths and place on cookie sheets so that none are touching.
• Salt to taste.
• Bake for 10 minutes {turning chips over halfway through} or until golden brown and crispy on edges.
• Let chips set for 5 minutes to harden once you remove from oven.

Pizza and Games

When we have people over, I am most likely going to try out some new recipes and tonight was no exception. As the "social chair" of this household {Daniel's words} I had Daniel invite several of his co-workers over for a small dinner party. I thought homemade pizza and games would be a great way to end the week.

When planning the menu, I decided on spinach dip and bacon-wrapped jalapenos for appetizers.
 

Spinach Dip
Recipe from SkinnyTaste.com

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapenos
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Then I decided on BBQ Chicken, Supreme and Chicken Florentine pizza. All turned out great {even my store-bought crusts}. 

BBQ Chicken Pizza
Recipe from All Recipes 
 

Supreme Pizza
Recipe from All Recipes

 Chicken Flortentine Pizza
Recipe from Yummy Mummy

Finally there was the dessert: I tested a S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. These cookies were quite the mess to make, but tasted amazing. 

Gigantic S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from Picky Palate

In addition, we had chocolate cupcakes with home-made butter cream {thanks Anna} and pretzel-rolo-pecan bites {thanks Laura}. 

After dinner we played Cranium and the boys beat the girls {barely}. Then the girls dominated at Catch Phrase. Finally we played partner Nerts until we were all silly from exhaustion. It was a fun night overall.

I am tired and still need to pack as I am headed to Searcy for the week on a girls road trip with my sister and niece to visit my parents.