Weekend Meal Plan Complete!

These last couple weeks I have done a horrible job getting meals planned and groceries bought. Today I had to bite the bullet and make a plan for the weekend and go grocery shopping. Since a budget has been set for the most part and savings are a priority this trip took place at Aldi. The prices don't include things that I already had in the pantry.

Tonight is one of our favorites!

This is 20-Minute Sriracha Shrimp Ramen. This stuff is great and can be found over on the blog Baker by Nature. The total price of this meal is around $10 and could have been less if I hadn't been low on soy sauce.

Saturday is another pasta day. Honestly I have never been a really big pasta eater but since getting pregnant I want it all the time!

I am in love with all the different one pot pasta options. I haven't tried this one yet but this is Easy One Pot Pasta Puttanesca and it can be found at the blog Creative Juice. I got everything to make this one for $11. 

Finally on Sunday since we are finally supposed to start feeling the autumn weather I wanted to do another soup.

Now I haven't tried this one either but I'm a sucker for a crock pot meal on a Sunday. This one can be found at Carlsbad Cravings and is a Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff Soup. This soup was a little more expensive to shop for since it contains beef and came in at $14. 

While at the store I also picked up some snacks for the game tomorrow that cost about $7. There were also a few staples that we needed and they had pumpkins. We had to have a pumpkin! Over all the total for the weekend with tax came up to $54.60. Not bad for three dinners (which hopefully will provide some leftovers) and food for hosting the game.

It's a Keeper

I tried a wonderful recipe from Half Baked Harvest last night. Chris didn't even notice that it didn't have meat in it! It is really that good. I did cut down on the cheese quite a bit. We like cheese just not copious amounts of it all at once. I would be interested to try the recipe as written to see how cheesy it really is.

http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/One-Pan-Four-Cheese-Drunken-Sun-Dried-Tomato-and-Spinach-Pasta-Bake-1.jpg

That looks really good right? Next time I make it I am going to try out a couple of changes. First I am going to add some Italian sausage. I liked it without meat and so did Chris but I would be interested to see how it turned out with some sausage. Also I want to substitute half of the canned tomatoes for rotel tomatoes. The red pepper flakes in the recipe do add a little bite to the pasta but I would like a little bit more without having to add tons of red pepper flakes.

Pizza Night

Last night we had pizza night. At our house we love pizza...well at least The Pessimist and I do. The Optimist not so much but he will eat it. No ordinary pizza would do and I didn't want to heat up the house so we went for the grill. I have never grilled pizza before last night but I have to say it went really well. 

Again I really have to figure out how to take better pictures! Anyway this is a nice pepperoni pizza with mozzarella, basil, and sun dried tomatoes. This one was The Optimist's and I have to say, I had a bite, and it was very good. The grill made a very crunchy crust even though it was a pretty thick piece of bread. I use this recipe for the crust because it is made with self-rising flour and there is no rising time. Doing it this way allows for less work and planning.

For me, I made a pizza with basil pesto for the sauce, with heirloom grape and cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella. This thing was the bomb. It was so good I can't even get started or I won't stop but the heirloom tomatoes were the best part. The CSA basket this week came with a bunch of basil in it so I whipped up the pesto while I was waiting for the grill to heat up. Fresh pesto is the best.

The Pessimist only likes cheese pizza and I think we have all seen a cheese pizza before so no photo's of that one but he did like them and actually ate two. Which says a lot. That guy is about to hit a major growth spurt because he eats about twice as much as he did a month ago!

What's Not to Love About Summer Veggies

I made this Summer Veggie Casserole a couple nights ago. It was awesome. In fact we have eaten it two days in a row now. It's just that good. Of course I made a few changes to the recipe but only because of what I had on hand. First I replaced the ricotta cheese with blue cheese. Excellent choice if I do say so myself. I also eliminated the bread crumbs and just gave the casserole a Parmesan cheese crust on top. the veggies that I used were all from the CSA that I am a member of and the basil came from my own herb garden. I will most certainly be making this one again.

I See These in My Future

3 Ingredient Coconut Oil Buscuits

I saw all of these recipes on Pinterest and am going to link to the original post. These biscuits are calling my name in the morning. I've been eating English muffins every morning and I'm ready for a change. Plus I would much rather make my own bread than eat store bought English muffins for my breakfast sandwiches. I can't wait to see how they work out!

Tuna Stuffed Avocado

This tuna stuffed avocado will be one of my lunch choices next week.

Homemade Falafel

I've been wanting to make my own falafel for a long time but kept finding recipes that were made with chickpea flour instead of actual chickpeas. I know traditionally they are made with chickpea flour but I just kept thinking that I wanted to make them with the actual beans. Anyway, this recipe was exactly what I have been looking for.

Recipes I'm Loving this Week

Tuscan Chicken Skillet

The Wanderlust Kitchen

I adapted this recipe from The Wanderlust Kitchen. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it. Here is the recipe with my changes.

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 lb chicken breast tenderloins

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

12oz mushrooms, sliced

2/3 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes

basil for garnish

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat in a cast iron skillet. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken from pan.

2. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Add onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and sundried tomatoes. Cook those puppies for about 1 minute and then add the mushrooms. 

3. When mushrooms start to cook down add the diced tomatoes and place the chicken back in the pan. Cook for another 5-6 minutes until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened just a bit.

Enjoy because this stuff is good. The sundried tomatoes are what really make my mouth happy. I eliminated the cannelini beans that were in the original recipe because one of us doesn't like beans and substituted some of the spices for Italian seasoning since that is what I had on hand. Also a couple changes to the cooking method so check out the original recipe.

Homemade Garlic Knots

Not really the best picture ever but check these puppies out. They were so good and super easy. I found the recipe at The Recipe Critic. I was in charge of bring bread to dinner last night for my class and these were my choice.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. yeast
• 3½ cups flour
• 1 tsp Salt

Garlic spread:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese, shredded
• drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil

1.  Mix warm water, sugar and yeast together.  Let that sit for 5 minutes.  
2. Add flour and salt to the water, sugar, and yeast.  Mix this until smooth and let it raise for 10 minutes.  I used my kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook and it was so easy and worked great!

3.  On a floured surface, roll your dough out about 1/2 inch thick.  I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough in half and then in strips (about 8-10 inches) for the garlic knots.  

4.  Roll the strips in your hands to look like ropes and then tie in knots.  

5.  Place the knots on a greased baking sheet and allow them to rise for another 10 minutes.

6.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.  

7.  While they are baking melt the butter and mix with garlic powder, parsley, Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.  As soon as the garlic knots come out of the oven, brush the tops with the butter garlic mixture.  

The only thing I added to this recipe was the Parmesan cheese. Get the good stuff it makes them super delish.