This week was pretty good as far as meal planning because we didn’t have to buy anything extra for the recipes. It was all stuff we were already stocked with, so it made everything much more perfect!
Monday we indulged in Chicken Piccata…
It is a healthy recipe, but it did not lack in flavor at all! In fact, Ben loved it so much he was licking the spoon that was in the pan, since the sauce went by fast. I paired ours with whole wheat spaghetti and it really made a nice dish. Ben said this was his favorite by far. I didn’t know what chicken scaloppini was so I just used our chicken breast and cut them in half, so they would be thinner pieces. Ben comes home and informs me that scaloppini was chicken pounded thin. I will be sure to try that next time.
Tuesday was for Apple-Honey Chicken…
I used some drumsticks for the girls, but used mostly chicken breasts. If you like sweet and sour type foods, you will like this recipe. It definitely has tang and zing! The frustrating part, which thankfully one of you warned me about, was that the sauce never really went syrupy. I had to add about 2 tbsp of flour to about a 1/4 cup of apple juice and then mixed that in the sauce while it was simmering and that helped a lot. It took me about 30 minutes to get the sauce to thicken. I liked this dish, but it won’t go on the must-make-again-soon list.
Meals have taken about 30-40 minutes to cook and I cook enough to have leftovers on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We haven’t been able to plan for our vegetable dishes that well, but we do have canned beets, canned artichokes, and other canned veggies on hand to eat along our meals. We try to make sure our meals include some veggies. When the craziness of my sister’s wedding is done, we will get better at including planned veggie dishes. I noticed that the girls have been really enjoying the meals. They pretty much devour their food on the plate. I am glad they are really liking the meals too!
Next week we will be recuperating from my sister’s wedding and will have family in town, so not sure what our dinners will look like as we will likely be meeting up with family. We will go super simple on our meals and I am just going to try out one new dish and cook one of the new recipes we just tried.
Week of 2/5 – 2/9:
Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs (though, we likely won’t be eating at home)
Tuesday: One of our Trader Joe’s dinners
Wednesday: Citrus Soy Squid on Buckwheat Noodles (Ben bought some frozen squid on sale, so I thought this might be a good time to try it.)
Thursday: Chicken Piccata (since Ben loved this so much)
Friday: Pizza or something super easy
Thursday: Chicken Piccata (since Ben loved this so much)
Friday: Pizza or something super easy
If you are joining along, how is your meal planning going? Also, please share with me your favorite recipes. I would love to possibly try them!
I know this is a stretch…buuuut, can you come over and cook for me? My tummy and I will be ever so grateful!
xoxo, Jjanga
http://www.sayhelloandsmile.blogspot.com
looks tasty!
at the moment we love cream soups with gommasio (roasted, chopped seeds with salt) and a lot of parmesan (permiggiano)
ok, YUM! You all eat SO well! 🙂
One thing is for sure …I am completely lost without my meal plan!
That apple honey chicken looks so delicious. xo, rv
http://aneclecticheap.blogspot.com/
we meal plan + participate in a monthly freezer swap! it's amazing how much easier life is when you're not scrambling each afternoon to come up w/ a dinner plan + making a trip to the store every single night of the week. yay for prepared living!
OoooOO I LOVE IT!!! I made dinner the other week and I used this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pesto-pasta-with-chicken/detail.aspx SUPER EASY and super YUMMY!!! My favorite part of the dish was the sun-dried tomatoes. Let me know if you give it a try sometime. =)
I have never commented before – on anything! I love your blog and appreciate your passion and longing to be a wonderful mother to your girls. Some moms are trying to find a way out – you seem to always be looking for ways to stay in and to do it with as much grace and love as God provides you. I have three young children myself and know that the days can be long! First I want to share the sweetest book with you written by mom of 5. Christian mom with such a wise perspective to parenting. Check it out!! I promise you will not be disappointed. “loving the little years” by Rachel Jankovic. Secondly – I love your meal planning adventure!! I tried the week by week planning with meals assigned to certain days – uhh not always in the mood for it when the day came. Now I come up with 10 meals and shop for those ten meals every two weeks. I write a list on the fridge of the complete meals I have bought for and my husband and I have the freedom to choose what we make based on the pace of the day! Crazy days – Trader Joes stir fry or tacos – good days – Thai food, fish tacos, grilled pork loin and roasted chicken…. It has worked out so much better. There are so many recipes I could share with you based on what I see you guys eating – pinterest has been sooo useful in recipe hunting because usually the best meals from the blogs are the ones that get posted. Anyways… i have gabbed on and on – maybe I should stick to no commenting again – see what happens?
I'm a newly wed and going through the whole meal planning thing as well(getting it mostly from the food network – healthy choices for week nights), but I'm not really there yet! i tend to forget to buy things I need so end up going back to the market everyday haha I'm hoping this gets better.
The apple honey chicken looks great! I figured you could use a spoonful of corn starch, that always does the trick to thicken any sauce (mixed first in cold liquid, then pour it while the sauce is simmering)
my two cents, love your blog! <3
apple honey chicken?!?! i'm bout to lick my screen right now coz it looks SO DARN YUMMYYYYY.
i wish i could go over for dinner! 😀
Oh, Chicken Picatta. I seriously love that dish. I had never had it until our oh so lovely neighbors made it for dinner for us one night. Since then I've made it quite a few times, and it is super easy to make!
We pair ours with white rice, avacado, and arugula, so yum. I've never tried pasta with it, I'll have to try that soon!
xo, Meghan
ahoynative.blogspot.com