Meal Planning & Meal Review

Good afternoon & happy Monday!! It is supposed to rain almost all week here and I am not looking forward to that. I AM looking forward to Thanksgiving with the family & getting to see my sister who will be home from college. Oh - and some Black Friday shopping!!

Well last week I finally made the Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and it was very tasty. The boyfriend said the sauce was 'AH-mazing!' and he polished off any traces of leftovers. It was a very easy recipe to make. The thing that took the longest to prep/cook was the chicken. I made some Zatarain's garlic rice with it because we didn't have any egg noodles and I have a feeling the noodles would have been very good under the sauce.

So I didn't get to make the Shrimp fried rice because I pulled the bag of frozen veggies I was going to use from the freezer to realize that this bag included pasta in it. No good. I went to the store yesterday and found a couple bags of veggies that could be used in a stir fry.

So that leads me to:

This week's meal plan - -

Last night (Sunday) - I made a very gourmet dinner of Sloppy Joe's (which was very tasty!)
Monday - I WILL make the Shrimp Fried Rice
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - leftovers or possibly french fries & hotdogs (again - SO gourmet!)
Thursday - Thanksgiving!! I am going to make Snickers Salad which I found on Pinterest here
Friday - ?? I'll be at my parent's house so they are in charge of feeding me!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Dinners & a Craft Project

Good morning!

This weekend was beautiful in the Shenandoah Valley & I went wine tasting with the girls on Saturday and worked out in the yard Sunday. It was a great weekend.

Late last week I got to working on my sisters Christmas present and I finished it up Friday night. I pulled some inspiration from Pinterest & Design Sponge and decided to make Steph one of these postcard calendar journals.

Here's how it turned out:



Sorry for the glare on the desk. I think it looks really cute. I ordered the ceramic berry basket from Sur la Table, I used scrapbook paper instead of postcards & I bought the date stamper & index cards. This really only took me about an hour and a half to make total and I think Steph will really enjoy it over the years.

As for the Secret Santa present - I decided to go with the cards and have already cut out her initial from scrap book paper & I have cream card stock that I'll attach the initial to. I will also make envelopes (or try!) to put with the cards.

As for meals - -

Monday I had leftovers

Tuesday was my birthday so I had a large, awesome lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with the family and then decided I wanted something smaller for dinner so we headed to Chipotle then met up with a friend at Sweet Frogs (frozen yogurt place where you add all the toppings you want & then you pay by the ounce) for dessert.

Wednesday - - I can not for the life of me remember what I ate for dinner...

Thursday, I ate Chipolte for lunch (yes, again, I love Chipotle) with my dad and then I had a gluten-free crab cake with Alfredo sauce and spaghetti noodles. These crab cakes were ones my dad bought (he said at Bloom) and they were delicious. I had never had crab cakes but I will be on the look out for these again. I will look up the name of the company soon and let you know.

Friday, I finally made the Corn-Bread topped Sausage Pie and it was very tasty. It was actually a very fast meal to make and I have to say that it actually tasted better as left overs.

For this week's meals:

Monday - Lasagna
Tuesday - leftovers (Corn-bread topped sausage pie & lasagna)
Wednesday - Shrimp stir fry (I have the recipe for the stir-fry sauce but I forgot to bring it to work today)
Thursday - Chicken with Sun-dried Tomatoes (that I haven't gotten to make from last week)
Friday - leftovers

I went ahead and made the lasagna yesterday afternoon since it takes awhile to prepare & I have a meeting tonight & won't get home until close to 8.

The lasagna had no recipe as I just adjust, etc as needed, but here's what I used:

2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1&1/2 large containers of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
parsley & basil
1 large can tomato sauce
2 small cans diced tomatoes
1 large Ball jar of tomato sauce (canned earlier in the summer - you can substitute another small can of diced tomatoes & tomato sauce & thrown in some herbs)
2 containers of mushrooms - sauteed
2 small packages of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package gluten-free lasagna noodles
1 box of no-boiling required 'regular' lasagna noodles

I cooked the gluten-free noodles as directed.
Brown the meat, onions & garlic together and then drain and set aside.
Saute the mushrooms with a little garlic powder, minced, dried onions, & a dash or two of red-pepper flakes.
Mix together 1 container of ricotta with 1 egg, some parsley, and basil.
Mix together the tomato sauces & diced tomatoes.
Pull out your mozzarella cheese.

Once noodles are cooked, lay one layer of them in one greased/sprayed casserole pan. Sprinkle a bit of the meat on top of this, add some sauce, some of the mushrooms, spread the ricotta mixture on top, and sprinkle some cheese.

Repeat this process with the 'regular' noodles.
Repeat process again with the gluten-free noodles & again with the 'regular' noodles.

I ended with a layer of noodles, sauce, and then just mozzarella cheese as the last layer.

I have not tasted this yet, but my boyfriend said it tasted very good.

Hopefully I'll be back later this week with some finished cards for my Secret Santa!

Meal Reviews, Menu Planning & a little crafts

Good morning! This weekend was very hectic as my 'in-laws' (I'm not yet engaged or married - but having dated someone for 5 years, I think I can call them in-laws) were in town so it was a lot of running around and hanging out.

Catching up on last weeks meals:

The Balsamic Pork Cutlets were uber tasty. The 'sauce' or 'gravy' that was made out of the vinegar, onions, etc was soo good. I made mashed potatoes as a side & all I wanted to do was pour that sauce over the mashed potatoes and have that as a meal.

As for the Chili - I didn't remember to write everything down as I was doing it - but here is what I remember using to make it.

3 lbs ground beef
2 large onions - chopped

Brown your ground beef & onion. Drain & set aside.
Add to the ground beef:

1 large can of whole tomatoes - chopped
1 large + 2 small cans of diced tomatoes
~ 4-6 tbsp chili powder (I added about 3 at the beginning & kept tasting while it was simmering & adding more)
2 tbsp garlic powder
1-1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes

I brought this to a simmer & just let it cook for about an hour - stirring & tasting to see if I needed to add more chili powder.

At this point - I split my pot in about half (my boyfriend is not a fan of beans) and I added 1/2 a large can of kidney beans to one half of the chili & left the other chili to simmer. I cooked the portion with beans for another 15-20 minutes to get the beans tender.

Then I added cheese & sour cream & it tasted fantastic. Personally, I think I still could have added a little more chili powder and/or red pepper flakes, but it was still good.

I made the Mushroom Fusilli w. Garlic Breadcrumbs on Saturday night while everyone was home & it was a very fast meal to make. Of course, I made two pastas (one regular & one gluten-free) and so I had to split the sauce made from the cream in two. I think in the future, if I make this again - I'll double the amount of cream because the pasta was a little dry, especially with the breadcrumbs on top. I still think it was a very tasty meal.

As for this week:

Monday/Tonight is left over pasta

Tuesday was supposed to be Corn Bread-Topped Sausage Pie from my Betty Crocker cookbook but since it's my birthday, I think we may go out and I'll make this Wednesday.

Thursday is Chicken w. Sun-Dried Tomatoes from a Campbell's Soup ad

I still haven't made the toast with asparagus, ricotta & egg yet - but I really need to use the asparagus that I have so I hope that will happen this week.

I believe the rest of the week will be left overs (if we have any...).


Craft help needed!!

We are doing secret santa again for book club & I need to determine if I should make one of the three of the below objects:



The flower wreath & cone are found at Home Decorator's magazine & I found the monogram note cards on Etsy, but I saw a tutorial for them in Real Simple.

What should I do?!?

Thanks!! Rachel

Week 2: Menu Planning

Hello all!

Last night, I sat down while watching The Strangers (strangely - love this movie!) and worked on figuring out what I would make this week. I knew I needed to use the produce I bought last week that I didn't use all of and I knew that I was on a tight budget, so I didn't want to spend too much at the store.

Monday: leftovers (Chicken & Tortilla Soup and Chicken & Corn Chowder)

Tuesday: Balsamic Pork Cutlets from Family Circle - here
I only needed to purchase a bell pepper & a can of mushrooms for this one so it was a winner. Plus - I'm getting tired of chicken & ground beef.

Wednesday: Chili - my own recipe, which I'll try to make note of and post on here. It seems to vary.
I only needed to buy canned tomatoes & kidney beans for this.

Thursday: Mushroom Fusilli w. Garlic Breadcrumbs from Rachael Ray - here
I only needed to buy some fresh mushrooms for this one (which I just realized I didn't do!! Oh well, to the store I go before Thursday!)

Some time this week, maybe one of the 'leftover' nights, I'm going to make this Ricotta Toasts with Asparagus and Poached Eggs from Rachael Ray. I have a huge amount of asparagus to use, some extra ricotta, and I'm not sure why I am fascinated with recipes that have poached eggs in them, but I will probably make that a fried egg.

Til next time!! Rachel

The rest of the meals

Thursday's Risotto with Shrimp & Peas was very, very tasty. Risotto is not as scary to make as I anticipated. It does require you to be at the stove the entire time the rice is cooking - but with a good book or someone to talk to - that was no problemo.

I made the Chicken & Tortilla Soup starting on Saturday morning - but as you may have heard, we got snow. In October. Strange. Well - it was the very heavy, wet snow that causes power to go out - yay! So while in the middle of finishing up the soup - I lost power and then we had to go out for lunch.
But I DID finish the soup later that day and I have to say - it was a little bland. I think it needed some more salt & pepper and definitely a little more spice. It look awhile to work with the chicken and I noticed that the recipe wants you to use a whole chicken & then cut it in to 8 pieces. Well let's just say - that terrified me a little & I don't own a cleaver - so I just cooked the whole thing, let it cool, and then pulled the meat from the bones.

I made the Grits & Eggs with Salsa on Sunday for brunch for myself & it was rather tasty. I did NOT poach the eggs - we tried & it ended up more as an ode to egg drop soup so we pulled the partially cooked egg out of the water & fried it. =) This meal was very hearty & I wasn't hungry until late last night.

I did NOT make the Fusilli with Kale & sausage because I am without an oven - the heating element on the bottom has literally broken in to pieces. I am working on ordering a new heating element but it hasn't happened yet. I tried to find recipes that did not call for the oven but I missed the line that said you had to 'crisp' your kale in the oven. Whoops!

Another post coming shortly with this weeks meals!

Menu Planning: A believer!

Good morning all!

The other day I finally finished going through almost a years worth of magazines (Real Simple, Rachael Ray, & Better Homes and Gardens) and pulling out recipes I liked, things that inspired me, tips, etc.

I have to say - I am very tired of trying to decide what to make for dinner when I get home at 6 or 6:30 and I have been in a bit of a rut & am very tired of eating the same 4 things every night. So when I found a 'Weekday Meal Plan & Shopping List' in the January 2011 edition of Real Simple, I copied it & decided to pull some recipes out of the stack of magazine pages that sounded good to me.

So I pulled 6 recipes from my stack of at least a 100 and started by deciding what I wanted to eat that night (this was Tuesday) and worked out from there.

Tuesday was:
Fancy Sweet Sausage & Apple Hash w. Calvados from Rachael Ray - here
This tasted SOO good. It reminded me a bit of Thanksgiving, maybe it was because of the apples and sausage - but it was still very tasty. I did not use the Apple Brandy and could not find a good substitute in my house to de-glaze the pan - but I would liked to have used apple juice.

Wednesday was:
Spicy-Chicken Corn Chowder from Better Homes & Gardens - here
This also tasted amazing!! I made a few adjustments with the recipe - - I was lazy & didn't fry any bacon, but it would have been great on top of the chowder. I used gluten-free flour instead & it tasted great but it probably wasn't as thick as if I had used a 'regular' flour. I used canned corn as it isn't really a great time for fresh corn. I had no cayenne pepper so instead used red pepper flakes & they didn't make it very spicy - I may have needed to use more. I had no bay leaves so I omitted that. Let's just say - this recipe takes a good while to make - but I think it's worth the effort!!

Thursday is (supposed to be):
Fusilli with Crispy Kale & Ricotta from Rachael Ray - here
but I think I may switch it with the meal I was going to make for Friday. Rob will actually be home tonight & I'm not sure how he will feel about eating kale (what he calls - Seaweed).

Friday is (supposed to be):
Risotto with Shrimp & Peas from Rachael Ray - here
I will make Fusilli w. Crispy Kale & Ricotta on Friday instead since I'll be home alone!

Saturday is:
Chicken and Tortilla Soup from Better Homes & Gardens - here
My plan is to start this soup on Friday night or Saturday morning since the whole (yikes!!) chicken needs to cook for 1-1/2 hours.

Sunday is:
Poached Eggs & Salsa Over Cheesy Grits from Rachael Ray - here
This meal seems easy enough for a Sunday morning - my only hold up is: I've never poached an egg. How do I do this?!!? Will I like poached eggs if I prefer my eggs to not be runny??

I'll let you know how the rest of the meals turn out in a follow up post. I realize that this is my first attempt at menu planning but it seems to me to be a life saver. I went grocery shopping Tuesday night and got the ingredients for the following week & then when I get home from work - I know that I already have everything I need to make a great meal - AND the meal is already picked out for me!! I hope I can keep up with this. I think I'll sit down every Sunday & plan the week out and hopefully go grocery shopping. Although - I did just think of a draw back - I spent a larger chunk of change on one week of meals that I normally like to, so if I do this every week - I'm looking at spending about $400 / month on meals for 2 people. This just seems ridiculous. I guess I'll have to arrange my following meals on ingredients I've bought for previous meals that I have left over.

Sorry for the rambling!!

Here is a copy of the menu planning grid from Real Simple. 'Til next time!!! - Rachel

creative artwork

while my days at work often become increasing light on the 'work' spectrum - it surely allows for more time for blog surfing. a favorite site of mine is 'Knock Off Decor' because it's a great place to look for inspiration & see what everyone else is able to create based on their inspiration.

today while i was there taking a peek around (hadn't visited in a while so i had a little catching up to do) - i saw a post about a piece of art that was created based on a canvas from World Market.

here's the LONNG back-story:
not long ago, i moved offices and now i have my own office at work. the walls are cream colored & the office lighting is terrible. with the help of a desk & floor lamp, the lighting became less of a problem but i soon realized that the walls were just too dull & needed a bit of color. enter: 'cheap piece of art' that i 'created'. i went online to allposters.com & found a poster that i liked for about $6 + shipping. i then went to Michaels and hunted for a canvas in the same size. this is where it gets a little pricey. the canvas that was the same size as my poster (something like 24"x36") was $25 - buuut they were having a sale - buy one get one free of equal or lesser value. so i picked up an 11" x 16" canvas for 'free' & it's been sitting in my craft room waiting to be used.

once i had purchased the larger canvas & had received the poster in the mail - i set out to spray adhesive it down to the canvas & mod podge the poster to give it a 'painting' feel. i think it worked beautifully - minus the fact that the spray adhesive was very hard to deal with and even though the poster originally was lined up perfectly, by the time i got to the other side of the canvas, the poster was slightly skewed. oh well. i saw this idea on Young House Life's blog & fell in love.



please excuse the poor, poor picture quality as my cell phone doesn't make for the best camera.

that being said - the poster-on-canvas looks great in my office & most people that drop in say that it looks like a painting.

so - - back to the purpose of this post - i think i've found a purpose for that lonely, left-over, 'free' canvas.

see what was done by 'two girls being crafty' :


i love this piece. i think i'd like to do something similar & hang it above my bed or possibly in the guest room.

look out canvas - your time being blank is drawing to a close.