Meal Planning for the Busy Family

Meals and grocery list for the week! I'll order groceries soon too.  I'm trying to keep it simple this week. No recipes needed.  I will post this weekend what I do step by step.  The Turkey/cabbage stir fry is one of my new favorite recipes.  You can transform this into anything you want. I've added soy sauce and ginger for an Asian kick,  Italian seasonings for Italian, and Cumin/chili powder for a more Mexican flavor. It is also made quick and easy by using the pre-shredded cabbage/slaw mixes.  Anything where I don't  have to chop a lot is a win for me. Enjoy! Meal Plan Meal 1 – Turkey Cabbage Stir Fry Ground Turkey Cabbage - I will use pre-shredded lettuce to save time. Recipes needed: None This is quick and easy.  You will brown your turkey. Then add in Slaw, Can of diced Tomatoes (or two), a Tablespoon (or two) of Apple Cider Vinegar and spices.  I use Salt, pepper, Garlic Powder, onion powder, and either c...

Rain came so all our ballgames were canceled. This gave us more time to get some things completed around the house that we have been putting off. I have cleaned (ok mostly) the house and caught up on laundry and my husband got the garden planted! Can't wait for those fresh tomatoes to come in from the garden! I split the cooking across two days again so that I didn't have to do it all in one day. Day 1 - I cooked two of the meals.  They were the Paprika chicken and Rice bake and the Hamburger Steak. Recipes needed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/clairenolan/paprika-chicken-rice-bake?utm_term=.ac9kkWEox&bffbtasty&ref=bffbtasty#.vu5WWPOX5   I want to say, I am unsure if I will cook the paprika chicken again like this.  It turned out more greasy than I would want.  I am unsure if it is because I swapped out the white rice for brown rice but even then, do I want to eat rice that has soaked up grease?  They chicken was flavorful and ohh so juicy! But I'm t...

I have  compiled my meals and grocery list for the week.    No quantities are placed on the grocery list so that you can cater it to your needs. For example, I will double the recipe for the paprika chicken because I have 5 people to feed, and I want multiple meals to come out of it. I did not list a recipe for the hamburger steak with onions and mushrooms.  This is because I do not have one.  I will post what I do exactly but it’s pretty simple.  You season your ground beef and make into patties. You then place in a skillet and cook until done. See told you it was easy.  I will probably make myself some turkey burgers instead of using the ground beef, but this is because it fits more into my diet.  My husband and kids want regular hamburger steaks, so that’s what I’ll cook for them.  (I also have enough chicken and shrimp that I may not need to make me a separate meal. It depends on how much time I get) I did not list a b...

This weekend was busy, but I still had time to play around with a recipe.  I love breakfast casseroles.  I usually put them in muffin tins, but wanted to see if it was easier to make a large casserole and just cut it into portions.  It was. :) The casserole turned out so pretty it was almost to pretty to eat, but eat it I will!  The recipe is very versatile, so you can swap out the veggies to use what you have on hand as well as the meat.  I used turkey sausage, I believe you could  use almost anything - ham, pork sausage, bacon etc. This recipe does call for a lot of eggs, but if you want you can easily half this recipe. First you will brown your meat and place the sausage in the baking dish. You will then layer any vegetables you have on top of this.  For this one, I had baby spinach (picked fresh that day by me) and Roma tomatoes.  You could easily use peppers, zucchini, squash, and mushrooms (in case you are wanting some ideas for...

First, I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! Ours has been beyond blessed. We spent all day Saturday at the ball fields then today, our oldest two got baptized. My heart is so full right now! Since we were going to be busy, I split the meal prep into two days instead of all on one day. As it happens on most weekends, I ended up altering my original meal plan I had posted earlier.  I decided to not fix the rice with the taco salads.  I also added some roasted asparagus because my parents gave us some they had just picked out of their garden.  What is better than fresh?  Our grill is also out of commission so I made Sauteed Garlic Chicken.  That is one of the things I LOVE about cooking.  I can take each recipe and make it work for us. If you notice, I use parchment paper when cooking anything in the oven.  This is to save me time. The parchment paper keeps foods from sticking to my pan. It also keeps my pan from getting very dirty which ma...

I have compiled my meal plan and grocery list for the week!  I did not put quantities on the grocery list because this depends on how many servings you need.  I know I will make 8-10 servings of each meal, so I will need at least 4 lbs of Ground Turkey and 5 lbs of Chicken Breasts.  I'll also adjust the side dishes.  I will be buying 4lbs of Sweet Potatoes, and 2 heads of Broccoli.  So this can be altered to suit your needs. If you want to substitute ingredients do not feel obligated to follow this line for line!  For example, on the fish recipe, I do not want to use butter.  So, I will substitute this out for either coconut or olive oil. Or lets say I don't like broccoli but love mushrooms and asparagus.  Well, roast the heck out of your mushrooms and asparagus. :)  I have learned that recipes are very forgiving (Unless you are baking!!).  I substitute ingredients all the time. You may also be thinking, "What about the kids??" ...

The main thing that I have learned with Meal prepping is to PLAN PLAN PLAN. I start at the beginning of the week with 2 to 3 recipes I want to make.  I then plan some side dishes to go along with them. My husband and I have set goals for 2017 to get healthy, so the meals have to fit within our dietary guidelines.  He is Low/no carb and I want to eat more lean proteins as well as some complex carbs in the form of several small meals a day. With the kids, it just has to taste good!  The key here is to portion out your food after you make it.  To get the correct portion size on veggies and such this little tool is my best friend!  Get your tupperware bowls handy.  Then cook! You will then have ready made meals that the family can just take and heat up.  It makes it so easy after you get off work to then warm food up. No more asking "What are we having for supper?" And then driving through a window and picking it up for the family. T...