My Make Ahead Meals

Shutting down this blog

2011-10-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

I've decided to shut down this blog and move back over to my other blog, Living the Life.

I have a few reasons for this - first of all, I'm not posting on either often enough to justify having two blogs going. Second, my work schedule has changed and I now only have to do make-ahead two nights a week, instead of five (yee haw!). So, instead of coming up with creative dishes that can be made in the morning and cooked in the evening, I'm scrambling to reacquaint myself with skillet meals, grilling, and other wonderful methods of food preparation that I've been missing for the last two and a half years!

I'll slowly be transferring the recipes here over to Living the Life, and then I will delete this blog. Please drop by for a visit over there!

Menu Plan October 3 - 7

2011-10-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've had my act together enough to post a menu. Doesn't mean I haven't had one (though I haven't always, to be sure!), I just haven't posted. Since last I posted, my work schedule has changed a bit, and I now get home at 5:30 two to three days a week, which means I now have to work both quick meals and make-ahead into my schedule. Tricky business!

Here's the plan for this week:

Monday: lasagna (half beef, half eggplant from the CSA box)
Tuesday: broccoli cheese soup, salad, bread
Wednesday: Ham and broccoli calzones
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: potstickers

Make it a great one, everybody!

Black Bean Soup

2011-07-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Friend of mine was telling me a story about her hubby's misadventures with some black bean soup the other day. A few days later it was raining, and I didn't feel like cooking, so I decided to make some of my own. This is the recipe I started with, then tweaked it based on personal taste and what I keep in my pantry. You know, I honestly don't know why I bother buying cookbooks, since the food we eat never resembles the original recipe! Inspiration, I suppose...

I often will cook a bag of dried beans, then freeze it in two-cup portions with some of the cooking water ladled over the top to prevent freezer burn. Super easy, and super cheap. This recipe is based on that. You could use canned beans just as easily, as called for in the original recipe.

4 cups cooked black beans, with cooking water
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 t. Italian seasoning
1 t. ground black pepper
2 t. salt, more to taste if needed
2 cups chicken broth
2 T. taco sauce (as suggested in the original recipe, I used two packets of mild Taco Bell sauce. Probably wasn't quite two tablespoons, I could have used one or two more.)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 broccoli stalk, peeled and chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped

Put all ingredients into a 4- or 5-quart crock pot. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours. Before serving, ladle half of the soup out into a blender. Put the lid on, COVER WITH A TOWEL (this is very important to keep you from getting burned), and blend until smooth. Pour back into the crock pot and stir.

Serve with cornbread on the side.

Makes 4 servings (three if you're feeding this to a bean-loving toddler like mine!).

Menu Plan July 18 - 21

2011-07-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted a menu in a long, long time. Truth be told, I lost all inspiration and I'm not exactly sure what we've been eating for the last couple of months! I've just finished cleaning and reorganizing the pantry, however, so it's time to get back on track (now that I know what's actually in there).

Here's what's on tap for this week:

Monday: meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes, green beans from our CSA box
Tuesday: manicotti (I use this recipe from the back of the Ronzoni manicotti box and add some cooked ground beef), green salad, and cheesecake (happy 8th anniversary to us!)
Wednesday: Baked chicken with roasted broccoli and cauliflower
Thursday: Kielbasa and kidney beans

Friday we're eating dinner out.

Have a great week, everyone!

CSA Adventures, week 4 and 5

2011-07-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I wasn't into dealing with fresh produce last week, so some of it is still sitting in my fridge (which also explains why I haven't blogged about it)! Here's what I got...

Broccoli: went into a DELICIOUS pot of black bean soup (I started with this recipe, but made quite a few changes along the way).

Zucchini: went into some gorgeous looking sausage and cheese calzones, which we couldn't eat because hubby accidentally baked them with the plastic wrap still on (one of the hazards of make-ahead dinner, LOL!).

Green onion: I remember chopping these, but can I remember what I put them in? Of course not...

Snow peas: Still in the fridge

Radishes: Still in the fridge

Cherries: Almost all eaten.

This week, my CSA buddy is out of town, so I got the whole box to myself. I got:

Broccoli and cauliflower: I'm going to try roasting this.

Zucchini: I'll probably grill it, but the zucchini in my garden is finally starting to come on, so at some point I'm going to start shredding and freezing it (for bread, muffins, etc).

Green beans: Steamed all the way, baby!

Sugar Daddy Peas: I thought these were sugar SNAP peas, so I sat down this morning to shell them. Well, the peas were DINKY, and the pods wouldn't budge since there weren't any strings! I finally looked at the list again, saw what they actually are, and googled them since I've never heard of them before. We'll most likely be steaming them and eating them whole.

Raspberries: I absolutely LOVE the flavor of raspberries, but I have issues with my teeth and the seeds, so I don't eat them very often. So I decided to make puree and freeze it, for sauces or Italian sodas or whatever. Did that this morning. Then I ran across this recipe, and now I'm kicking myself for pureeing them all because those sound AMAZING! I've bookmarked it so, come this fall when my own raspberries come on (we have a few but not enough to cook with right now), I can give it a try.

CSA adventures, week 3

2011-07-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

This week's box had asparagus, zucchini, green onions, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and cherries. My friend took the cabbage, since she needed to make coleslaw for a crowd, as well as the lettuce because my garden is more than covering our needs right now.

I bought extra asparagus and pickled it all last night. I've never made pickles of any kind before, let alone something as exotic as asparagus, so we'll see how it goes. I have to let it sit at least a month before I can try it, so I'll keep you posted!

The trimmings of the asparagus and the spinach went into a delightful pasta dinner last night which also included, among other ingredients, fresh basil, Italian sausage, fontina cheese, garlic, and cream. It was EXCELLENT.

The green onions have gone into many things, including spinach dip and bean dip for our 4th of July gathering.

I sauteed the zucchini in olive oil and served it as a side dish. Normally I like my zucchini grilled, but since both of our propane cans are empty and we haven't taken the time to get them filled, that was not an option.

We're still eating the cherries. Love them!

So far, our boxes have been pretty mainstream, and haven't really had any "out there" ingredients that I've had to wrangle with. In a way, this is good, because it helps to ensure that we actually eat what we're buying. On the other hand, I haven't done much experimenting, either, which I definitely think would be a great deal of fun. We'll see what the rest of the season holds...

CSA adventures, week 2

2011-06-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

This week's CSA box had:

Asparagus
Bok choy
Cabbage
Green onion
Beets
Cherries
Strawberries

Haven't used the asparagus yet. I keep thinking I should buy more and pickle it, but I haven't followed through. I'd love to start experimenting with pickling - there is such a fabulous range of flavors with different pickled vegetables. I just haven't had the time or the produce!

The bok choy and cabbage went into a delicious stir fry side dish tonight, along with an organic zucchini from the grocery store, some garlic scapes from my garden, a bit of fresh ginger, and some salt and pepper. We had that along with our bulgogi and sesame rice. One of my favorite meals, and hubby even said the vegetables were good - a rare compliment for a veggie side!

I've been using the green onions here and there. Some went in the bulgogi, some have gone in a salad. Usually at this time of year I'm putting chives in everything while I wait for the green onions in my garden to grow enough to use (why buy produce when I can improvise with something from the yard, right?), so it's nice to have a change!

I haven't used the beets yet - I only got a couple once my friend and I split the bunch, so I need to pull some from my garden and then I'm planning to roast them. Love roasted beets!

We're eating the cherries. LOVE that it's cherry season again!

My daughter ate the strawberries with her breakfast over the last few days. She can't get enough!

We find out on Thursday what our box will have on Friday. Can't wait to see what's on tap for next week! I'll try to start taking some pictures, too - everything has been picked within two days, and they clean it up nicely for us, so it's all bright, crisp and GORGEOUS.

CSA adventures, week 1

2011-06-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to subscribe to a CSA this year. If you're not familiar, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, you buy a share in a farm and get a box of produce each week in exchange. I've been toying with the idea for a couple of years, and when a friend offered to split a share so neither of us would be overwhelmed, I jumped at the chance.

The trick, of course, is working it into your meal plans. Week one, I received:

Asparagus
Collards
Rhubarb
Parsley
Strawberries

There were also two gorgeous heads of leaf lettuce, but since I have lettuce taking over the garden, I let my friend take those.

When it comes to asparagus, my husband is pretty set in his ways (actually, my husband is pretty set in his ways about most things, but once in a while, I can slip something new to him and he'll eat it. He won't always eat it twice, but he'll almost always eat it once!). He wants it either roasted or grilled. So I drizzled it with olive oil, sprinkled it with kosher salt, and grilled it on a night when I was making grilled chicken.

The collards came with a grilling recipe, but I didn't have all the ingredients on hand. So I went googling and came up with this recipe for creamed collards. I knew hubby wouldn't want it, and there wasn't much since I'd split the bunch with my friend, so I made it for lunch. I didn't have cream, so I used half and half. It was divine! My daughter wouldn't eat it, but I happily ate her share. And the leftovers were excellent cold, I have to say.

The rhubarb and strawberries are living in my freezer, waiting for the right opportunity (we're getting a ton of strawberries off of our plants right now, so we have plenty to eat fresh).

I've used the parsley in a few things - mixed some into a boxed couscous mix, put some in salad, things like that. I'm probably going to just chop the rest and freeze it in ice cubes for use in recipes later on. It was quite a bit of parsley. I should make tabbouleh, but I think I'm the only person who would eat it!

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the summer has in store!

Menu Plan May 9 - 12

2011-05-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Life is getting busy again, so I need to get back on the menu-planning bandwagon. I also need to get back on the budget-tracking bandwagon, but that's a post for another day. And another blog! Here's what's on tap for this week:

Monday: hamburger casserole
Tuesday: baked chicken
Wednesday: ravioli alfredo
Thursday: pulled pork sandwiches (going to cook the meat in the crock pot)
Friday we have plans, so I don't have to cook!

Have a great week!

After dinner mints

2011-04-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

This was my grandma's recipe, and I just discovered that my recipe card has been just about destroyed, so I thought I'd better transfer it to something more permanent. I make these for Christmas, and color them red and green.

1 egg white
1 T. cream
1 t. vanilla
3 - 6 drops oil flavoring (I use 1/2 t. peppermint extract)
food coloring
1 box powdered sugar, plus additional for pressing
1 heaping t. soft butter

Combine egg white, cream, vanilla, flavoring, and color; stir well. Add sugar all at once, mixing thoroughly. Add additional sugar and the butter if necessary to get a thick enough consistency to roll.

Roll into firm, small (about 3/4 inch) balls. Arrange on wax paper; press each ball with tines of a fork dipped in powdered sugar. Let stand overnight to form a crust.

Pack in tins with wax paper between each layer. May be frozen and kept several months.

Menu Plan February 7 - 11

2011-02-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

It's a pretty boring food week at my house. I'm still getting used to working my second job (five or seven hours a week isn't much, but since I don't work it till after everyone is in bed, it pretty much eats up any time I have for doing extra things around the house), so I'm making easy plans this week.

Monday: Bulgogi and sesame rice
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Pork chops (haven't figured out just how I'm fixing them yet)
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Pineapple chicken

Have a great week, everyone! And remember to visit orgjunkie.com for tons of great menu planning ideas!

Menu Plan January 30 - February 4

2011-01-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

Another week, another menu! We did pretty well last week, except for one night when hubby forgot to put the casserole in the oven, so we made a run for the border...Taco Bell is the only restaurant my daughter asks for by name. She loves their potato tacos! I should figure out what's in the sauce because those would be so easy to make at home...

This week is shaping up to be a pretty busy one. I have meetings for work two mornings (fortunately one of them is for my regular job, which means I get to come home early that day), and we are rejoicing in the return of story time (at the library) after a two-month holiday hiatus, but that all means less time for me to make dinners in the mornings.

So here's what's on tap for this week!

Sunday: Hamburgers and oven fries
Monday: Chili dogs
Tuesday: Bean and rice enchiladas (using the leftover Spanish rice and beans from last week)
Wednesday: Pineapple chicken
Thursday: Cranberry pork tenderloin
Friday: Chicken paprikash over noodles

That's it for this week! And remember to always visit menu plan Monday at orgjunkie.com to see what everyone else is eating!

Must try to recreate these!

2011-01-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

Today my daughter and I were cruising the aisles at Whole Foods, and I thought I'd try something new for lunch. In the frozen food aisle, my eye landed on a box of Dr. Praeger's Kids All Natural Broccoli Littles. They were on sale, so I picked them up and took a look. Hmm...looked like they were basically tater tots with broccoli mixed in. Sounded tasty! So, I tossed the box in my cart and headed for the checkout line.

I got them home and popped them in the oven (super quick, super simple - you just broil them for eight minutes on a side). I tasted one when they were done and was very surprised - they were delicious! I've been burned by frozen kid's food so many times...like all those chicken nuggets out there that don't seem to have an ounce of chicken in them! But these were great - basically they tasted like tater tots with broccoli mixed in. My daughter loved them, too (I had to laugh as she gleefully bit the head off of a teddy bear...). And I suddenly thought to myself, I could totally make these!

So here's the ingredient list: Broccoli, potatoes, onions, egg whites, potato flakes, expeller pressed canola oil, arrowroot, salt, and garlic. It surprises me that broccoli is the first ingredient, because it seems like there is a lot more potato than broccoli in there, but maybe they blended it together.

Anyway, next time I have a free afternoon and am in the mood to experiment, I'm going to try to recreate these. They were cut into fun little shapes - stars, dinosaurs, teddy bears...but I can use little cookie cutters for that.

Once I've had a chance to play around with it, I'll report back!

Menu Plan January 23 - 28

2011-01-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

Last week's menu didn't go quite as planned. I am happy to report that I did FINALLY make the chicken and dumplings, which has been appearing on the menu for months now, but somehow never made it to the table. It's an extremely time-consuming dish (takes about three hours if I start with a whole chicken), which probably explains that!

Thursday we were supposed to have bean and rice casserole, but I needed to make it Wednesday night and completely forgot, so we had leftover meatloaf instead. Friday we were supposed to have jambalaya, but I just didn't feel like it, so we had kielbasa and cabbage.

Sometimes I look at our menu and marvel at how little processed food we eat these days. Other than the occasional ingredient such as a can of soup or veggies, most of what I cook is from scratch. Don't get me wrong, we're not gung ho real foodies, additive- and dye-free or anything like that, and we still eat boxed macaroni and cheese for lunch sometimes (almost always Annie's) but it's been a loooooong time since I broke open a box of Hamburger Helper or those horrible all-in-one boxed meals I used to make after a long day at work. Our schedule just isn't conducive to convenience like that these days. I think we're better off because of it.

Anyway, here's what's on tap for this week.

Sunday: We went out to Chevy's (loving their cheap guacamole Sundays!)
Monday: Buttermilk Chicken
Tuesday: hamburger casserole
Wednesday: chicken enchiladas
Thursday: spaghetti
Friday: bean/rice casserole (the one I didn't make last week!).

Hope everyone has a great week! And don't forget to visit Menu Plan Mondays at orgjunkie.com for tons of fabulous menu ideas from families all over the world!

Buttermilk Chicken, Revisited

2011-01-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

Buttermilk chicken is one of my favorite recipes EVER. But, the dredging and two-step cooking process don't lend themselves at all to my make-ahead needs. And, I'm trying to reduce my dependence on the dreaded "cream of crap" canned soups. So, I decided it was time for a make-ahead makeover.

Buttermilk Chicken - the Make Ahead Version
serves three

3 T. butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms*
3 T. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 t. ground red pepper
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. paprika
6 chicken tenderloins
hot cooked egg noodles

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sliced mushrooms, sauteing until the onions are soft. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, two minutes. Add milk, buttermilk, and spices, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and bubbles.

Lay chicken tenderloins in an 8x8 pan. Pour the sauce over the top. If you're making it ahead, stop here and put the mixture in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over noodles.

*Mushroom tip: If you find the containers of sliced mushrooms on manager's special (meaning they're about to expire), buy all you can. Saute them in butter and then freeze them in one-cup portions, which are perfect for recipes such as this one.

Recipe Reviews - Breakfast, Dinner and Dessert!

2011-01-23T16:07:00.000-08:00

I have three recipes to review this week. Only two of them qualifies as "make ahead", but the third is so simple that it comes together in the amount of time it takes to boil a pot of spaghetti.

Breakfast
On Monday, a friend of mine came over for brunch. She's fairly gluten free, and my breakfast/brunch fair usually leans heavily toward the bread end of the spectrum, so I was on the lookout for something that would suit my carb addiction and her need to avoid wheat. I stumbled across this amazing collection of recipes from Bed and Breakfasts across North America.

After scrolling through the list of breakfast and brunch recipes, I decided baked oatmeal was just the thing we needed. I have another baked oatmeal recipe, but it always comes out heavy and gummy, so I thought I'd try something new. I chose this recipe because I had everything on hand and I liked the addition of fruit.

I am, at heart, a recipe changer. There are very few recipes I don't tweak - sometime I'll tweak right out of the gate, other times I wait till my second time and then start changing things. I tweaked from the get-go on this one, but only a minor one. I used pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon. Other than that, I kept this as it is. And it was wonderful! It wasn't dense at all - quite fluffy, actually. I had to serve it with a spoon, so it was more like oatmeal than oatmeal cake, as some of them are. Just the right amount of sweetness, and I loved the crunch of the apple. I'll definitely make it again!

Make Ahead Tip: mix this together the night before and then just pop it in the oven half an hour before you want to eat.

Dinner

Cooking During Stolen Moments is one of my favorite blogs ever. She is very creative with her recipes, and, like me, she likes to do things ahead of time. I've made several things from her site, and she's never steered me wrong, so when I ran across a link to her Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti recipe, I knew I had to try it. I LOVE buffalo chicken! And, of course, any recipe that calls for a cup of ranch dressing can't be all bad, right?

I could tell from the recipe that this would be a quick fix, so I didn't make it until I got home from work. I used pre-cooked chicken, so it went even faster (whenever I roast a chicken I shred the leftover meat and put it in the freezer in two-cup servings, so they're ready for quick casseroles and other dishes). I put the pasta water on to boil, got the other ingredients out, and went to work. By the time the pasta was cooked the sauce was ready, so the whole thing took about 20 minutes from start to table.

This was, in a word, delicious. Definitely not something you'd want to eat every day - it's very rich, in flavor and in calories. But for a once in a while, I-just-need-something-creamy-with-some-kick kind of day, it fits the bill perfectly. It had just the right level of heat (I used Frank's Red Hot Sauce). My two-year-old couldn't get enough of it - I think if I'd let her she would have eaten the whole pan of sauce before the pasta was even done!

Since I'm never happy to leave something well-enough alone, next time I'm going to try this as a baked casserole, with something crunchy on top (French fried onions, maybe, or panko) for a little extra texture. But it's definitely repeat-worthy!

Dessert

This week I made Caramel Custard for the second time. I got a brulee torch for Christmas and hadn't tried it out yet, and this fit the bill perfectly.

I'm not normally a fan of custard. Something about the texture really bothers me. But I love creme brulee, and I love this. I made it with organic evaporated cane juice instead of the white sugar, which gives it a little extra depth of flavor. It is rich, creamy, and just a little bit is quite satisfying. The crunch and deep flavor of the melted brown sugar is really fantastic, too. I can see myself making this one over, and over, and over...

Menu Plan January 16 - 21

2011-01-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

Here's the plan for this week...

Sunday: chicken fried steak
Monday: chicken and dumplings (I use the Cook's Illustrated recipe - if you happen to be a member of their website, it's the February 2005 version)
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: Buffalo chicken spaghetti (we haven't ever had this, but it sounds AMAZING!)
Thursday: Spanish rice casserole (I'm going to make this one meatless by adding extra beans in place of the turkey)
Friday: Jambalaya (made from the Zatarains mix)

Have a great week! And remember to go to orgjunkie.com for tons of great menu ideas!

Making things stretch

2011-01-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are, halfway through the month, and I have already overspent my grocery budget. Trust me, this should not surprise anyone. I am the WORST when it comes to grocery shopping - I want what I want, and the list is more of a jumping off place than anything else. I'm really trying to give the budget some renewed focus, though, so I pretty much need to just stick with buying the essentials till February.

Fortunately, this should be fairly easy. I did a big grocery shop today, and tonight I sat down and made a list of two weeks' worth of weeknight meals, and I have plenty of food on hand to cover the weekends, too - I was just focused on the weeknights for now.

My goal is to get through the rest of the month only buying milk and a bag of salad. Here are a few things I intend to do to help make that happen:

- bake bread for my daughter and I to eat (we have a loaf of bread in the freezer for hubby's lunches - he won't eat homemade bread).

- make a batch of cheese crackers for snacking (the white cheddar Wheat Thins are VERY popular around here - we go through about two boxes a week and we're currently almost out). I have a couple of recipes I can try out, and I've been telling Caitlyn that we'd do this for a while now, anyway.

- make homemade tortillas for our chicken enchiladas

- for breakfast, instead of our usual almost-daily yogurt and cereal, we can have oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, muffins,etc.

- for lunch, instead of our usual lunch meat, cheese, and crackers or bread, we can have leftovers, soup (from a can or homemade), lentil-rice balls, or quesadillas (once I make the tortillas, of course!).

Those are just a few ideas to start out with. I'm sure I'll come up with others as I think about it. We'll still be over budget, but I'm hoping to minimize the damage as much as possible!

Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup

2011-01-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

I made this up as a I went along this morning. It turned out REALLY well, so I'd better get it written down while it's still fresh in my mind! My hubby said he wished it was a little thicker, so next time I'll thicken it with a little cornstarch, but on the whole it was great.

2 c. cooked ham, cubed
3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream (evaporated milk would work well, too - I just had the cream on hand)

Place all but the cheese and cream in a three-quart slow cooker. Add water just to cover. Cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Using a potato masher, mash the soup to thicken slightly (don't do too much or your ham chunks will completely disintegrate). Stir in cheese and cream. Let cook 15 more minutes and serve.

We ate this with rolls and a green salad. Very simple, very good!

Pineapple Chicken

2011-01-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of those go-to recipes when I am short on time but still want to put together something that feels like a "real" meal. The original recipe called for melted butter, too, but I quit using it and don't miss it at all. The pineapple helps tenderize the chicken and keeps it nice and juicy!

This feeds my family of two plus a toddler for one meal - increase the amount of chicken as needed (and you can add a second can of pineapple if you're cooking for a crowd and need to stretch the sauce)

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, with juice
1/4 c. spicy brown mustard
1/4 c. chicken broth or white wine (I always use rice cooking wine, just because I always have a bottle open in my fridge)
1/4 c. honey
6 chicken tenderloins

Mix the first four ingredients in a small bowl. Lay chicken in a 8x8x2 baking dish, and pour sauce over the top.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Menu Plan January 9 - 14

2011-01-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to report that we did pretty well on our meal plan last week. Monday was the last day of our vacation, so we ended up going out for dinner. That meant that I didn't have time to make chicken and dumplings (I like to make it from scratch, which is quite the production using the recipe I use). So we had a roasted chicken instead, and didn't have the chicken paprikash.

I did make it to the butcher's, so we're stocked up on meat for the rest of the month. I accidentally bought three pounds of "bacon hamburger", their name for ground pork, instead of regular hamburger, so I have a little more flexibility in our meat selection. I already made a pound into breakfast sausage, using this recipe. It turned out wonderfully! Love that it has so few ingredients and I know exactly what's going into it. I'm looking forward to trying out some other recipes from that site, too.

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday: Pad Thai
Monday: Pineapple Chicken
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Potato and ham soup - or maybe scalloped potatoes and ham. We'll see what I feel like making...
Thursday: Meatloaf
Friday: Something involving kielbasa...I need to explore some recipes. Anyone have a suggestion?

Have a great week - and remember to visit orgjunkie.com every Monday for hundreds of fabulous menus!

Menu Plan January 2 - 7

2011-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been a loooooong time since I posted a menu. Bad Karen! But you can look forward to many menus to come, because I just signed a contract to take on a second, work at home, job, so now I'll need to be even more organized than ever. It's not a big job, just five to seven hours a week, but that cuts right into my home time so I have to be better.

That said, here's the plan for this week:

Sunday: We had taco salad

Today: Chicken and Dumplings

Tuesday: Stuffed peppers

Wednesday: Chicken Paprikash over baked potatoes

Thursday: Baked pork chops and parmesan noodles, if I get to the meat market. Otherwise, spaghetti.

Friday: Tuna casserole

Have a great week, everyone! And go to orgjunkie.com for tons of great menu ideas!

Pizza Dip

2011-01-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Someone posted this recipe on a forum I frequent. I'm completely unable to leave a recipe well enough alone, so I made a few modifications. The result? Spectacular.

Pizza Dip
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
8 oz ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded cheese, divided (I used a mixture of mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan)
small can sliced black olives
4 oz. pepperoni (half of a pillow pack), chopped
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. minced onion

Feel free to add whatever other pizza toppings you like.

Prehead the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 1-quart baking dish. Set aside one cup of the shredded cheese mixture.

Mix all remaining ingredients together, and put into the prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Serve on sliced baguettes or sturdy crackers.

Leftovers are great spread on bread and then broiled - voila! Instant pizza bread.

Menu Plan October 10 - 16

2010-10-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm doing everything in my power to stay under our grocery budget for the first half of October. I have $1.13 left. All we bought this week was milk, yogurt, produce and ice cream. If I can stay out of the grocery store for the rest of this week, it'll be my first time EVER staying under budget on groceries.

So, we're basically having an "eat what's in the freezer/pantry" week. Fortunately, our freezers and pantry are about as well stocked as it gets, so this isn't really a challenge for me. The bigger challenge will come after I've been sticking to the budget for a while and the freezer and pantry are no longer jam-packed full!

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday: Creamed tuna on biscuits

Monday: Chorizo black bean soup

Tuesday: Cordon bleu casserole (this recipe, served with noodles)

Wednesday: Jambalaya with kielbasa (from a box, though I'm thinking about trying to bake it instead of stove-top, so it'll be more make-ahead. I'll let you know how it goes)

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Chicken paprikash over baked potatoes

Saturday: We'll be out of town for a birthday party that day, so we'll grab dinner on the road.

Have a great week!

Black Bean Chilaquile Casserole

2010-10-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

Another Friday, another meatless meal. The part of me that grew up Catholic finds it kind of ironic that our meatless meals always seem to land on Friday. Guess it's in my genes...

The original recipe for this dish came from the book Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. I modified it to spice it up a bit, use pantry staples instead of fresh produce, and, well, fatten it up simply because I didn't have the fat-free/low-fat ingredients on hand.

10 small corn tortillas
oil for frying
1 T. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 15-ounce can whole kernal corn, drained
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. salt
black pepper, to taste
8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups salsa, plus extra for serving
sour cream

In a small skillet, heat one inch of oil over medium heat until shimmering. Fry tortillas, one at a time, until crisp and light brown. Drain on paper towels.

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, and jalapeno in olive oil until onions are soft. Add tomatoes, corn, beans, spinach, lime juice, salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes or until thickened.

Crush tortillas and spread half of them in the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan. Pour vegetable mixture over, then spread half the salsa and half the cheese over the top. Top with remaining tortillas, then spread remaining salsa and cheese over.

Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream and salsa.

Turkey Tenderloin in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

2010-09-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

I got a great deal on turkey tenderloin at the grocery store this week. It was one of those orange tag markdowns, where the meat is about to hit its expiration date. That's a great way to pick up spendier cuts of meat that you might not normally buy - they're usually marked down 40 - 50 percent. Just make sure you use or freeze the meat that day, or you negate all that savings!

I made this with a can of cream of mushroom soup because I had some on hand, but it would be equally tasty and healthier (and not much more time consuming) to whip up a batch of white sauce instead. If you do this, omit the milk from the recipe.

Serves 4 - 6

2 turkey tenderloins
1 T. butter
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t. celery seed
1 t. dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Place turkey in an 8x8 baking dish (I cut them each into three chunks first).

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Saute until the onions are soft. Add soup, milk, and seasonings, stirring to combine. Stir until the soup is smooth. Pour over the top of the turkey.

When ready to cook: Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until turkey is cooked through. Serve over cooked pasta.

Menu Plan Sept. 27 - Oct 1

2010-09-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

I do, in fact, have a menu plan this week, I just haven't posted it yet!

Monday, we ended up with leftovers because - get this - I FORGOT to make dinner! Craziness, I tell you!

Tuesday, we had turkey tenderloin baked in creamy mushroom sauce.

Wednesday, we had lemon chicken.

Tonight, it's baked chicken taquitoes (this is my new favorite recipe!).

Friday, it's meatless night, and I have no idea what that will be yet, but I'd better get on it!

Gotta go post a couple of recipes from this list or I'll never remember what they were later. Have a great week!

Black Bean Lasagna

2010-09-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

We're trying something new in our house - meatless meals once a week. This is mainly for budget reasons, but we also eat (in my opinion) far more meat than necessary. This was good, but my husband told me I'm only allowed to make it again if I promise to never, ever refer to it as lasagna. In his mind, lasagna is Italian, and this is definitely not Italian! I think I'm supposed to call it "Layered Mexican Casserole".

I actually made this with no-boil noodles, because that's what I had in the pantry, but it came out a little dry so next time I'll definitely use regular noodles And the leftovers were even better than the initial dish, after the flavors had had a chance to meld.

Serves 4

6 lasagna noodles
1 15-ounce can black beans
1 T. canola or olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
2 t. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1 cup cottage cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream, plus extra for serving
salsa

Boil the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute the onions, peppers, and garlic in the oil until the onions are soft. Add the beans, lightly mashing them with a fork. Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings.

In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, and 1/4 cup sour cream.

Lay two noodles in the bottom of a greased 8x8 casserole dish. Spread 1/3 of the bean mixture over the noodles, then spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture over that. Repeat layers again, and then a third time, stopping at the bean mixture. Save the rest of the cheese mixture for after baking. If baking later, cover and refrigerate or freeze at this point.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from oven and spread remaining cheese mixture on top. Let stand 10 - 15 minutes, and serve with salsa and sour cream on top.

Menu Plan September 19-23

2010-09-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't planned a menu for a while, but it's not like I don't need one! We recently revised our budget and eliminated restaurants completely, so organization is paramount at the moment.

Here's the plan for this week:

Tonight, I made buttermilk chicken, with mashed potatoes and sauteed summer squash. One of my favorite meals ever, and yes, it can be made ahead (but I didn't). I'll post instructions soon!

Tomorrow, we'll be having cranberry pork chops. How have I never posted this recipe on either blog? Must remedy that...

Wednesday, teriyaki chicken.

Thursday, something meatless. Hubby has promised we can start having meatless meals once a week to save money. I'm not sure what yet, I need to do some recipe hunting!

Friday, we're babysitting our nieces and nephews, so I think we'll just be picking up a pizza or making something super quick at their house.

Pad Thai, make ahead version

2010-08-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

For tonight's dinner, I'm making Pad Thai. This isn't exactly what you'd call a make ahead dish, but I'm prepping it ahead of time to minimize the time needed to finish the meal.

Day before yesterday, I pre-cooked the chicken. I got a screaming deal on chicken tenders that were rapidly approaching their sell-by date, so I chopped and sauteed the whole bunch, then divided it into meal-size bags for the freezer. I just need to pull out a bag a defrost it, and it'll be good to go. I made a double-batch of sauce last time, so I pulled it out of the freezer last night and put it in the fridge to thaw. This morning, I will chop and refrigerate the scallions and garlic, as well as blanching the bean sprouts. The noodles will soak in cold water for the day, and will hopefully be ready by dinner time.

When I get home, all I'll need to do is heat up my stir fry pan and quickly cook it. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, tops. Good to go!

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

2010-08-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

I must admit that, since hubby got all wrapped up in a project and forgot to put it in the oven for dinner, this recipe is, at this moment, untested. So I may come back and edit it tomorrow. We shall see...

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

2 T. olive oil
2 ribs celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
8 ounces dry spaghetti, broken in thirds
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup white wine (could substitute milk)
2 cups cooked chicken (I used ground)
1 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. season salt
2 c. grated cheddar cheese, divided

In a skillet over medium heat, saute the celery, onions, and bell peppers in the olive oil until onions are translucent, about five minutes. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions, leaving it a little more al dente than usual.

In a large bowl, combine next 7 ingredients (cream cheese through season salt). Add vegetable mixture once it has finished cooking. Stir in one cup of cheese. Finally, mix in the spaghetti once it is cooked.

Pour mixture into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 - 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Vegetable stew with chickpeas

2010-07-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

This is one of those awesome meals for make-ahead, because it tastes better the longer it sits. I found the original recipe in Organic Gardening magazine, and tweaked it a bit to use what I had on hand. That recipe suggested that it be served over bulgur or couscous, but I liked it on its own with just some good bread and butter on the side. Next time, I'm going to try it with white beans instead of chickpeas, because I prefer those and think their creaminess will go well with the vegetable textures.

Note that this is not someting I would serve to my picky eater - I made it because it sounded good to me, and will eat it for lunch for a few days. It is VERY filling!

1 medium eggplant, cut in 1-inch chunks
4 T. olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1 bell pepper (I used orange), cut into wedges
2 small zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. turmeric
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 T. tomato paste (I used ketchup because I didn't have any tomato paste - turned out just fine)
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 c. water
handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
dash hot sauce, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large, nonstick deep-sided skillet or Dutch oven (I used my cast-iron chicken fryer), cook the eggplant in 1/2 of the olive oil over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown on all sides, 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Put the rest of the oil in the pan, and cook onion, pepper, and zucchini until just starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the paprika, turmeric, and garlic and cook an additional minute or two. Add tomato paste and water, scraping the bottom of the pan to mix up the caramelized bits. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, and eggplant, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro, parsley, and hot sauce just before serving.

Summertime

2010-07-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

Summer is the worst time in the realm of make-ahead meals. The concept of make ahead lends itself beautifully to casseroles, roasts, and other heavier, comfort-type foods, not the lighter, quicker-cooked fare that is desired in hot weather. Who wants to turn on an oven when it's 95 degrees outside, even if the house IS air conditioned???

It's during heat waves like the one we're having now that our menus get pretty boring. This week, I've been lucky to have some leftovers from our 4th of July weekend of play that have gotten me through. Tonight we had our old standby, taco salad. I know that there will be a few times in the coming months that I'll be able to get away with a dinner salad, or a chicken pasta salad, but with my picky eater, not every week!

So, it's time to pull out the cookbooks and last year's summer menus to figure out what we'll be eating in the coming weeks. We're fortunate to have a great garden this year, so fresh produce is right at hand.

Stay tuned for details - and I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any!

Menu plan July 5 - 9

2010-07-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Another week, another menu...this week we're able to take advantage of some leftovers we brought home from our 4th of July weekend at my sister-in-law's house. We camped out in their barn and didn't eat everything we brought, which is very helpful when you're tired and not really feeling like menu planning!

Monday, we had grilled steak, corn, and chard. Since it was a holiday I was able to cook at dinner time!

Tonight, we'll have burgers (leftover, just heat and eat) and potato salad

Tomorrow, we'll have fried ham and baked potatoes (not make ahead, but the ham slices I bought will fry up in about five minutes once the skillet is hot)

Thursday, we may finally eat that turkey I've had on the menu for several weeks!

Friday, we'll have taco salad.

Have a great week! Don't forget to check out orgjunkie.com for tons of awesome menus!

Stuffed Peppers

2010-07-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

Stuffed peppers are a great make-ahead. Everything can be cooked and assembled ahead of time, then put in the fridge until it's time to pop them in the oven to heat through. I've heard you can easily make them in a crock pot or pressure cooker, too, though I've never tried it because it's not something I've ever needed to do.

This is also a great "make it once, eat it twice" (MIOEIT) meal -you can make a double batch of filling and put the extra in the freezer. The next time you want to eat it, just thaw the filling, clean and parboil your peppers, shred some cheese, and voila! Stuffed peppers ready for baking in about 15 minutes.

Stuffed Peppers
serves 4

4 green bell peppers (you want decent size ones that can stand up straight)
1 pound ground beef
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cups cooked rice (I prefer brown, but white works, and even Minute Rice will do)
2 cans condensed tomato soup (like Campbell's)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers. Remove seeds and as much of the ribs as you can with your fingers. Rinse well.

2. In a large pot, bring enough water to a boil to cover the peppers. Add 1 tablespoon salt; when dissolved, add peppers. Boil for four minutes. Remove with tongs, taking care not to tear or puncture them (careful! They'll be full of hot water, drain them carefully!). Place them in an 8x8x2 baking dish.

3. Brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. Drain the fat off the beef. Add rice, soup, and salt and pepper to taste. It should be fairly loose, but not too soupy. If it's too soupy, you can add more rice or spoon some of the soup out.

4. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add one cup of cheese and stir until melted.

5. Spoon the mixture into the peppers. Top with remaining cheese. Refrigerate.

6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Immediately put peppers in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes.

Note: If you're baking them right away, you only need to bake about 30 minutes, since the filling will already be hot.

Menu Plan June 28 - July 2

2010-06-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit slow getting going this week but I do, in fact, have a menu plan! Yay!

Monday, we had leftover pizza and salad.

Tonight, we had grilled chicken and creamed peas and potatoes. I don't usually grill on weeknights, but there wasn't any room in my fridge for a pan of chicken to be put in the oven, so we improvised. Oh, and the peas and potatoes were from our garden. AWESOME.

Tomorrow night, we're having spaghetti.

Thursday night, we're having baked turkey cutlets. I just need to figure out what I'm going to do to them to give them some flavor!

Friday doesn't need to be make-ahead, since we're both taking the day off, so it'll probably be jambalaya or tuna helper. We'll see.

Have a great week everyone! And don't forget to visit orgjunkie.com for Menu Plan Monday each week!

Dinner Salad

2010-06-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

Entree salads are a great make-ahead meal. All of the components can be prepped and stashed in the fridge for a quick dinner on the go. Here's what we had tonight (utilizing leftover fajita meat).

Grilled flank steak or grilled chicken (diner's choice)
Tossed salad
Chopped hard boiled egg
Shredded cheese
Homemade croutons
Choice of salad dressing

Quick, easy, and delicious!

Menu Plan June 21 - 25

2010-06-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

We pretty much failed at our menu plan last week. I can't remember what happened, exactly (other than I forgot to thaw out the Cornish game hens, I do remember that), but we ended up getting take out twice. Twice! Shocking.

Anyway, on to a new week. We had my family over on Saturday for a Father's Day dinner, and I grilled enough fajitas for about 40 people (there were 13 of us, including all the kids). So we're having lots of leftovers this week, and it's time to get creative! Here's the plan:

Tonight: we had leftover fajitas.
Tomorrow: Stuffed peppers
Wednesday: Sausage and pepper penne (this will use our leftover peppers and onions. I just have to figure out how to make this a make-ahead - I'll let you know!)
Thursday: salad topped with our choice of chicken or steak (using the leftover fajita meat)
Friday: Spaghetti

Should be a good week! Remember, for tons of menu ideas each week, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

Recipe Review - Cucumber Fennel Salad

2010-06-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

I made this to go with our dinner tonight (we were supposed to have the Cornish game hens, but I forgot to thaw them, so we had lemon pepper chicken instead). I planted fennel in the garden for the first time, and I've never even really had it before, so I was on the lookout for a recipe and this sounded good. Kind of a take-off on the cucumber salad I make every summer, which has vinegar and celery seed (and no fennel) instead of the lemon and dill that this recipe has.

It was really good! I think I'll use a little more lemon next time, but it had a very light and fresh flavor. The dill was a nice touch. My onion was a little too powerful, so I avoided most of that (next time I'll try chives or scallions instead), but on the whole I thought it was good and will definitely make it again.

It was a great recipe for a make ahead meal, because sitting all day gave the flavors extra time to meld. I give it four stars!

Taco Salad

2010-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

First of all, an aside. I think I figured out how I overcooked the Pad Thai noodles - I soaked them in boiling water instead of hot tap water. Silly me! Won't make that mistake again - they were really mushy!

And now, on to today's recipe. Taco salad is a great make-ahead, because all the cooking and chopping can be done and stored in the fridge until dinner time. I usually cook the meat and add the water and taco seasonings, but don't cook it all the way down to the point that I would if I was going to eat it right away - I leave it a little runny. Then, when it's dinner time, I just pull it out of the refrigerator, put it in the microwave for a few minutes, and it gets nice and steamy hot.

Our taco salads are pretty simple. They include:

taco meat
iceberg lettuce
avocado
sliced olives
shredded cheese
chopped green onions or chives (we have a massive chive plant in the herb garden so I use that most of the time)
sour cream
taco sauce or salsa
Doritos

Most of the time, I just use Law ry's taco seasoning packets when I cook the meat. It has quite a bit of sodium in it, though, so when I'm organized and take the time to put it together, I like to mix up a couple of batches of this seasoning mix to have on hand:

Taco Mix Seasoning Packets
Makes enough for one pound of meat

2 tsp. minced onion
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional, if you like more heat)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin

Mix well in a small bowl. Add to cooked meat with 1/2 cup water and cook until thickened.

Menu plan June 13 - 18

2010-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is a really busy week for us, so I'm going to have to rely on some super-quick meals for most of it.

Last night, I made Pad Thai. I overcooked the noodles somehow (never had that happen before!), but other than that, it was great!

Tonight, we're having taco salad.

Tomorrow, it'll be crock pot roast beef.

Wednesday, roasted Cornish game hens.

Thursday, should be leftover night but we'll see if we have any!

Friday, lemon pepper chicken.

Enjoy your week!

For tons of great menu ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

How it works

2010-06-11T22:28:00.001-07:00

Here's a typical weekday, which illustrates how I ended up with the "make ahead meals" concept. My daughter and I get up around 7:00. We eat breakfast around 8:00, finishing around 8:45 or so. Shortly after that, I go into the kitchen to make dinner. Sometimes it's a casserole, sometimes it's a hunk of meat or a soup in the crock pot, and sometimes, if I literally have five minutes to throw it together, it's chicken with some bottled marinade thrown over the top.

I've been doing this for about 15 months now, and it still seems a little odd to be making dinner at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m., but I'm sure it will eventually feel perfectly normal! I put whatever I've made in the fridge or the crock pot and write baking instructions (if necessary) on a white board that is hanging on the fridge.

After lunch, I go to work and my husband is home with our daughter. At the appointed time, he puts whatever it is in the oven. He doesn't preheat and he doesn't let the Pyrex sit out of the fridge for a while to take the chill off, and everything always turns out just fine.

When I get home, I change my clothes, fix whatever sides we're having (more about that later), and then we eat. Usually we're sitting down to dinner within 15 minutes of my coming in the door.

Once in a while, he gets distracted and forgets to put dinner in the oven. For these occasions, I keep some super-quick convenience foods on hand, such as potstickers or those really nice frozen pasta meals you can get in the grocery stores now. Sometimes we eat those. Sometimes I just make a run to Burger King or Taco Bell. Depends on how we feel and what the budget looks like.

I have to say, sometimes I miss grilling, sauteeing, and skillet meals, but I save those for the weekend so they aren't lost all together!

Apricot Chicken

2010-06-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

The first time I saw the recipe for Apricot Chicken, I thought it sounded like the most disgusting thing a person could ever eat. Probably doesn't help that I don't care for apricots! For some reason, though, I had all the ingredients in the house, so one day I gave it a shot. Delicious!

The really nice thing about cooking in the morning and eating in the evening is that your meat has extra marinating time. This usually makes everything taste better.

Apricot Chicken
Serves 4

1/2 package dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup apricot preserves (I like to use the all-fruit variety)
1/2 - 1 cup Russian salad dressing (depending on how saucy you like your chicken)
8 - 12 chicken tenderloins

In a small bowl, mix soup mix, apricot preserves, and salad dressing. Place chicken tenders in a glass baking dish, and pour soup mixture over the top, thoroughly coating each piece. Refrigerate until cooking time.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve with your favorite sides (as you can see, we had this with roasted red potatoes and salad).

Welcome!

2010-06-10T22:47:00.001-07:00

Hello! Welcome to "My Make Ahead Meals"! Stupid title, but you get the idea. My name is Karen. I'm wife to a picky eater and mom to a toddler who will eat just about anything I throw at her, as long as it isn't meat (and I will be enormously grateful for her non-pickiness for as long as it lasts).

I started this blog because I refuse to believe that I'm the only home cook in the world who has this issue - I make dinner around 10:00 every morning, and then we eat it around 7:00 every evening. See, it's like this - my husband works mornings/early afternoons, and I work late afternoons (that way one or the other of us is always home with our daughter. A beautiful schedule if you can't swing life on one income). I get home an hour and a half before he goes to bed, so dinner pretty much has to be on the table when I walk through the door. And he doesn't cook.

So this blog will serve two purposes: first, to give me a single place to keep all of my recipes and menu plans that are specifically centered around make-ahead cooking (my other blog, Living the Life, has lots of recipes but they aren't necessarily make-ahead friendly). Second, to provide you, my readers, with tips, tricks, recipe reviews, and other helpful information gleaned from my experiences.

This isn't a freezer cooking blog. I'd love to do once a month-type freezer cooking, but I'm pretty compulsive at the grocery store, so my freezers are generally packed full. I do, however, subscribe to the "cook it once, eat it twice" philosophy of life, and I'll note in the recipes where this is easily done.

This isn't a crockpot cooking blog. I love my crockpots, don't get me wrong (I have three), but for us, they are only suitable for certain applications.

This isn't a diet blog. Some of my recipes are very healthy, some are very, very fattening. Most fall somewhere in the middle.

This is simply a journal and a journey through nightly dinners at my house. I hope you enjoy.