Menu planning has saved my life!

So I have to tell you that since I've been planning my meals over the last month, I've had a lot of fun!!  I've made a lot of new recipes.  Actually, most of the stuff I've been making is new.  We've hardly had a repeat meal in the last four weeks, unless we had leftovers, save for the Italian Sub Soup which we are obsessed with.  I wanted to share our favorites!!  There are links to all the recipes to give the wonderful chefs credit.  Thank you for making my life easier and fun.  Yes, I did this with a full time job, a busy teenager, and a husband that works nights.  I buy everything ahead of time.  I prep at night when I can.  I stress less about the 'what's for dinner' question every day, and I know we are eating just a tad bit healthier {except for the night I made buttermilk fried chicken.  Sidebar:  I'm not great at frying things and I am ok with that!}

First up is Coq au Riesling found here, by way of Edie.  This was delicious!!  Since Edie was the one that got me started on the meal planning with her October menu planning and her menu planning for busy moms posts, quite a few of the recipes come from her website, or by way of her website.  Thank you, Edie!

Next idea that was so yummy was based on one of Edie's meals in her plan; a type of Frittata with lots of veggies in it.  She doesn't have a recipe posted but this is one of those basic things.  Just sauté a few veggies in a pan, use meat and cheese if you wish, whisk some eggs and pour them in the pan, making sure you lift them and get the raw egg underneath to cook.  This takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes until it looks mostly done, then you cover it with cheese, throw it in the oven and bake until bubbly. I did try her Honey Wheat Bread.  Delightful and easy meal, and we ate the frittata for days!

This next recipe wasn't a meal, but too pretty to pass up.  These were really tasty, but so sweet.  I think next time I'll tweak the recipe a bit for my taste.  Or maybe I made them wrong.  Either way, Ashley loved them, and there are so many ways you can dress these up.  I used a circle cutter instead of a rectangle, but I want the rectangle cutter for next time.  The recipe is from the beloved Pioneer Woman.

This soup is also Pioneer Woman.  This.was.so.very.good!  This is the closest I have gotten to Panera's B&C soup.  Sidebar: this makes a lot of soup!!  I froze two Bland family 'mealfuls' of this!!!  I'll get two more dinners out of it.

Oh yum.  I want some again!

I love the idea of homemade pizza night.  I've never mastered the 'perfect' crust.  But this crust is very near perfection!    Plus, Edie's not lying about the Honey Garlic Pizza being the best thing you have ever tasted.  She's totally right.  I ate it all.  Not all at once.  But I did eat it all!

Dave is more of a meat-and-veggie-pizza type of guy, so here is his.  I used fresh mozzarella for both.

These Cinnamon Rolls got a lot of attention on Facebook.  Also a Pioneer Woman recipe.  You'll be the  BFF of the century if you give these to them.  This batch made 6 foil pans full of these babies.

Cinnamon and sugar goodness.  Or evil?  I can't tell the difference...

You do this rolling process twice.  Then you cut the individual rolls.  It makes a ton!

We gave a pan to my mom and dad, and a pan to my brother and sister-in-law and we have 4 pans to ourselves.  I kept one out to eat, and froze the other 3 for the future.   Which happens to be today when Dave said he wanted one more defrosted, because we finished the first one already;)

Oh and I've share this recipe before.  Italian Sub Soup.  If I didn't convince you before, maybe I will now.  It's so very good.  We had all this leftover ham and salami and pepperoni from other recipes and as I was cleaning out my fridge this weekend I thought..."OH!  I have all of the ingredients for that lovely soup!!  Joy!!"  So the soup was made again, and eaten for dinner last night.  And all were happy:)

These are just some of the highlights.  Over the month of October, I cooked way more than I ever have.  That is including being totally sick and not cooking for 3 days, and also being out of town in Disney.  It also includes me being totally stressed out all month.  All of us in education are stressed, but I still have to get dinner on the table and my meal plan on my Google Cal is a total lifesaver.

We went out or ordered out almost 50% less than other months.  I'm ashamed to say how much we go out to eat.  It's so bad!  We love to go out to eat, but we are trying to be healthier and smarter with money {so we can go to Disney much more...and Europe...and Hawaii...and save for a house in Florida...and Italy...and have more kids...and sent them all to college...wait, what was I talking about??}  Oh right, menu planning has helped me a lot.  And yes, I am copy catting other recipes, and one day I'll put my own spin on all of them, but right now I am content with being taught, with trying new things, learning how to cook new things {again, I don't think I'll ever master fried chicken...I just can't do it right!} and journeying through a personal culinary revolution.

I love to cook.  LOVE it.  I'll never be great, or gourmet, but that won't keep me from trying.  I'm so inspired by these cooks {I have almost every PW episode on DVR} and I enjoy learning from them.  So thank you Ree, and thank you Edie, and thank you Bobby and Ina and Frances and Mom and all the other wonderful chefs out there.  You keep boring, normal cooks like me on their toes:)

Cooking anything new lately?

Stock it up!

Hello!  I decided to try this whole "stocking the freezer" thing.  You know, so that when there are days where I am pulling my hair out and people are driving me crazy and our funds are low and energy is nonexistent...I can still put dinner on the table.  Not that those things ever happen to us.  No, never...

*wink*

So the best way to start the whole process of stocking up?  Cleaning out and grocery shopping.  See exhibit A.

This next picture is exhibit A, if you didn't get that!

On the right of exhibit A, you will see a stocked up fridge.  Last weekend I bought lots of meat, it was actually all chicken because chicken breast was on sale at Safeway for $1.77 per pound which I think is pretty good, but tell me if I am wrong.  I try to get the good prices, but sometimes I can't remember or don't know what the regular prices are.  $1.77 per pound at Safeway was better than the usual $1.88 at ShopRite or Wegmans.  So I went for it.  Plus I bought chicken thighs for less than that, although right now I can't remember the price.  Helpful, right?  I actually made 7 meals out of this batch of chicken!

Anyways on the left of exhibit A you will see a stocked up freezer.  But instead of stocked up, substitute jammed with useless things that need to be thrown away or figured out.  Basically just thrown away.  So I got busy cleaning and sorting and ended up with Exhibit B...

This next picture is B.  You get the point.  Sorry;)

It doesn't really look like it, but it's cleaned out and has way more room for stacking some meals.  I also had to do the dishes to get ready for a few hours of cooking.  That was fun!  But finally, I was ready.  I started by cutting up and separating all that chicken.

Chicken cutting party!!  Want to come?

Next, after all the chicken was cut up or poaching (boiling in water) I started assembling the meals.  First on the list was to assemble Honey Sesame Chicken and Teriyaki Chicken.  I found both on this website, which {by the way} lists a slew of healthy, paleo-ish type meals {meaning they can totally be Paleo adaptable if you wish}  We don't stick to the Paleo diet, but we {ahem, I} am trying to make healthier meals here and here, without lots of carbs or extra junk involved.  Sometimes it works, sometimes {like tonight when I made cinnamon rolls} it doesn't.  I digress...

I chopped all the veggies and got all the sauces together, and afterwards I had these...

Two Teriyaki Chicken meals and one Honey Sesame {you could double one or both for more meals, but I am a newbie at this so I just stuck to the recipe} all ready for the freezer.  For both of these you can defrost overnight or in the morning {this is lovely for marinating all that meat too!} and then stick them in the slow cooker on high for a few hours, or low for slower cooking time, whatever floats your boat!

Then, things got really crazy.  I decided to make a few Pot Pies to put in the freezer too.  The great thing about these is that they are already cooked.  Just defrost and stick in the oven to warm up again.  The recipe is from Pioneer Woman, because she's my fave;)  Click here to see it.

First you need to boil some chicken {I used some breast meat and some thigh meat} for 30 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.  Then, shred it all to pieces.  I used my trusty Kitchen Aid, Poppy, for this.  Yes she has a name, she is that important to me!

Then, chop all the veggies and follow the directions of the lovely P Dub...

As your pot pie is cooking, you'll need to make two pie crusts.  Or used store bought.  Either way, you'll need them.  Because when you are done, you'll have this...

Two yummy pot pie innards.  Using the term innards really helps get your appetite up, doesn't it?

Then, lay the pie crusts over the innards.  It looks so pretty and yummy!  I had a hard time not eating them right away!

This made two pot pies, which I wrapped up with press and seal and then foil, and then wrote the directions on.  Just in case I have a stroke between now and then!

I also saved some of the poached, shredded chicken to make Chicken Squares one night, and then I made chicken salad with the rest.

So now...my freezer is stocked up with a few meals for those hectic days.  I also made a spaghetti sauce but forgot to take a picture.  I'm not all that great at food blogging;)  But for that, the method is the same.  Defrost overnight or for a few hours in the morning and then you can either throw it in the slow cooker or in a stock pot and cook low and slow.  Cook some noodles, and you have yourself a lovely pasta dinner without much hassle.

Oh and if you look carefully, on the door you can see some wraps.  I love breakfast wraps from Dunkin Donuts but it's sort of pricey to eat breakfast "out" a lot so I decided to recreate them at home and freeze.  So easy!  You cook some eggs {I did them over hard, no runny for these} and some bacon.  Then, you lay out a small tortilla, add a slice of American cheese, a piece of bacon, and an egg.  Flip the tortilla sides up to form sort of a breakfast taco.  I wrapped mine with press and seal because it's sturdy and helps keep the form.

To heat up, I unwrap it and then re wrap in a paper towel and defrost for a few minutes then heat up for a minute in the microwave.  There...an easy and cheap breakfast that I can have at home, or on the way to work.  I made a batch of a dozen of these last weekend and thought they would last a week or two...until my husband discovered them and helped me eat them.  I have to make more tomorrow;)

There's something about having a freezer stocked with meals that makes me feel ahead in life.  Too bad I am totally not!!  But, it's the feeling that counts, right?

Enjoy!

Grim grinning Blands come out to socialize!

Do you know that song?  It's a Disney one, of course!  It is from the Haunted Mansion:)

We LOVE Halloween around here.  Well, we actually love all holidays, it gives us a chance to celebrate life and spend time together and we are crazy about that stuff.  Dave & I have been ready for Halloween ever since our adults-only trip to Disney a few weeks ago, where we attended our first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party.  Man on man was it fun!  Just look at those smiles...

We didn't dress up, but we did buy the party-goer-only tee shirt for 2013.  I would have dressed up, but Dave felt silly doing so since we didn't have Ashley with us.  I guess we would have look like two adult dorks all dressed up at Magic Kingdom.  Except everyone else did it;)  

When we got home, I meant to decorate for Halloween right away, but we only got around to it this past Sunday.  Better late than never, right?  We strung up our lights and such...

We positioned our tombstones and hung the spider webs {sans spiders, Tina does.not.like spiders!} and these cute little signs from the ONE SPOT at Target that say "Eat Locals" and "Bummer" with a little girl whose candy bag ripped.  They crack me up every time I see them!

Can you believe our flowers are still in bloom?  I must say, I love perennials.  I'm never going back.  Those babies are tough and they last AND they come back!

Here is a non-crooked pic of the house, all spooked up.  I need a better camera, I tell you!

The lights look awesome at night...see?

SPOOKY!!  I enjoy how the tombstones cast creepy shadows on our front deck fence.  Awesome effect.

So then last night we went out to get our pumpkins for our yearly tradition of carving.  We love to go to the corn maze too, but this year AND last year we haven't been able to make it work:/  We are too busy, there is way too much going on!

Ashley is hard at work on hers.  I got all our templates from here.  Yes, they are all Disney ones.  We really love Disney.  No, really.  We are planning our spring break trip.  It's NOT soon enough?  Get it?  I.must.have.Disney!!!  We are going to end up moving there soon.  Sooner than soon.  Just you wait!

My pumpkin is Rapunzel of course, because Tangled is actually one of my favorite movies.  I know, you don't have to tell me that I am so weird.  I already know it.  Thanks;)

Dave said, "Take my picture!  I'm working very hard here!!!" and he was, it took him an hour to do his!

There is mine all lit up, I really love how it turned out!

Ashley did Mike W from Monsters, Inc.  Isn't he cute?

Dave did a vampire Mickey.  We love vampires over here too.  Especially the sparkly kind;)

I love our little carving tradition.  We've been doing this for years, ever since Dave & I started dating so I believe this makes these our 7th pumpkins together?  Crazy...

Ashley has a Trunk or Treat event with the youth group at Mountain tonight.  She is going as Boo from Monsters, Inc (yes...a Disney character!) isn't she so cute?  Way too grown up in my opinion.  It needs to stop!

We are still debating on what to do for Halloween.  We told Ashley she can have some friends over to dress up and hand out candy and go get candy and probably watch a scary movie.  They want to watch the Conjuring.  I'm scared just thinking about it.  Dave told me yesterday he wants to dress up, and I am totally down with that but don't want to spend any money.  So we will see what happens!

Does your family have any fun Fall traditions?  What are you doing for Halloween?

Pumpkins, pots and posies

Ok yes, I've been a little quiet this week.  It may be because the week started out AWESOME in Disney World.  It also may be because I was deathly ill for the rest of the week.  But let's not get hung up on those details;)

A few weeks ago I wanted to jazz up the deck in a fallish way, so I bought some flowers...

Aren't they pretty?  I know I know, they are not posies.  The title just worked, ok? Also, there was a project that involved this... 

I have all these plastic flower pots, and they were all different colors.  Kind of annoying.  So you know me, I broke out the spray paint and voila!  They are all the same color!

Sorry the pics were taken at dusk, so they aren't great.

Since these are outdoor items, and will weather the weather {haha} I wanted to put a protective coating on them.  So I sprayed them with this.  I had this already.  But, I had to go out for more Aubergine purple spray paint.  Dang it!

I wanted to make stands out of these, so I flipped one over and glued it to the bottom of another one.  They make a great stand.  Love it!  Then I planted the mums.  Again, sorry about the dark pics.

Ah yes, the pumpkins!!!  I was on a roll that night, so I dove right into another project.  I thought it would be fun to paint a few pumpkins that I picked up at Home D when I had to go get the other can of spray paint;)

I used these fun sponge brushes that I had laying around.  They are perfect for making polka dots!!  It was so fun and easy!!

For the other one, I did a free hand chevron zig zag type deal.  It was a white pumpkin and I used some pretty blue paint from Ashley's room redo.  So sweet!

Here is a better pic of some of the flowers and the pumpkins.  It's a fun fall update that makes me smile every time I walk outside.

I'm not sure if our Halloween decor will make it up this year.  It's made it out of the attic, but that's as far as it goes!

How are you decorating for fall?