My big successes last week were the chicken vindaloo and the black bean soup (which I made again for lunch today). I haven’t posted the soup recipe because I’m trying to get it perfect. It’s pretty close, though! The pork chops didn’t happen because the meat looked off. (Why do I buy pork chops? We don’t even like them all that much.) Spaghetti and meatballs turned into chicken marsala on a whim, and it was so yummy. Laura devoured the chicken and mushrooms! The whole wheat buns were a huge disaster since I had the wrong type of flour. The backyard birds ate well that night! Luckily I had a package of store-bought buns handy. And shrimp skewers didn’t happen. Noah wanted cereal and the rest of us ate grilled chicken sandwiches.

On to this week. I’ve got a huge package of chicken drumsticks in the freezer so I think I’ll pull that out and make a big batch of stock. I’m looking forward to the short ribs, but I think I’m the only one! We have a lot going on this week, so my meals are pretty straightforward. I also did a little freezer cooking over the weekend so if necessary I can pull something out at a moment’s notice. But here’s what I’m thinking about:

Sunday: Pizza and salad
Monday: Cheese ravioli, marinara (from the freezer), salad
Tuesday: Taco ring (made with ground chicken) with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, pico de gallo and guacamole
Wednesday: Cabernet braised short ribs, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables
Thursday: Homemade chicken soup and sandwiches
Friday: Grilled turkey burgers, chips, cole slaw
Saturday: Not sure yet

Visit Organizing Junkie for more great meal plans.

Oh it’s been a while hasn’t it? I guess that’s my MO with this feature. My interest in posting weekly menus ebbs and flows. I always have something scribbled down, but for some reason when I post it on my blog I stick to the menu more often than not, so… here we go! I am back on Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. Friday I mixed up a batch of dough and Saturday we enjoyed it with grilled chicken salads when my friend was visiting. I think it will be perfect with the soup I’m planning for tonight.  (It’s going to be a chilly week.) I’m also making a big crock of applesauce today, and that will be perfect with Wednesday’s pork chops. Here’s what I’m thinking about:

Monday: Black bean soup (recipe to come), salad, bread

Tuesday: Slow cooker chicken vindaloo, rice

Wednesday:  Rosemary & garlic pork loin chops, applesauce, egg noodles, green beans

Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs with marinara (from the freezer), green salad, bread

Friday: Sloppy joes or pub burgers on whole wheat buns, baked french fries, cole slaw

Saturday: Cajun spiced grilled shrimp and scallop skewers (recipe to come) over rice pilaf, broccoli

Between the May issue of Everyday Food, the May issue of simple & delicious, and my new copycat cookbook, I have so many recipes I can’t wait to try. I needed the inspiration and I can’t wait to get cooking!

Visit Organizing Junkie for more great meal plans.

I was away all last week, totally overdoing the breads, pastas, and desserts. While I loved every minute of it, I now feel a little off considering I don’t usually eat like that on a normal basis. (And the scale tells me much the same — eek!). Since Drew wants to lose a few pounds, we decided to start South Beach Phase 1 on Monday. A few years ago I lost about 20 lbs. by following the program! This time I really just want to get rid of the sugar cravings and get myself back on track to healthy eating. I like to think of it as a pseudo cleanse (a carb cleanse that is — watch, now I’ll have all kinds of searches on colon cleanse reviews just because I typed the word “cleanse.”) At any rate, I know how hard it is to find South Beach menus, so I wanted to make a point of sharing mine. Breakfast is the most boring, but I’m going for simplicity. I’ll channel my creative energy into SB dinners. I remember that the first three days are hard, but they got easier after that. Having everything written down will no doubt help. So here we go, with Week 1.

Monday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with peanut butter
L: 15 bean soup, salad, SF jello
S: Turkey pepperoni, sliced green pepper, string cheese
D: Baked chicken oreganata, salad, steamed broccoli & cauliflower, vanilla ricotta creme

Tuesday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Walnuts
L: 15 bean soup, salad, SF jello
S: Cucumber slices with hummus
D: Turkey & bean chili, salad, cocoa ricotta creme

Wednesday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with neufchatel cheese
L: 15 bean soup, salad, SF jello
S: Ham slice and wrapped around string cheese, dipped in mustard
D: Chopped steak smothered with LF cheese, onions, and mushrooms; salad; broccoli, vanilla ricotta creme

Thursday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Walnuts
L: Turkey & bean chili (leftover), salad, SF jello
S: Turkey pepperoni, pepper slices, string cheese
D: Turkey cutlets, sauteed squash & zucchini, salad, cocoa ricotta creme

Friday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with peanut butter
L: Vegetable soup, tuna fish “wraps” (use lettuce leaf), SF jello
S: Hummus and cucumbers
D: Lemon-herb tilapia or cod with herbs, sauteed squash and zucchini, cole slaw, vanilla ricotta creme

Saturday:
B: Western omelettes (ham, pepper, onion, tomato), low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Ham & cheese roll-ups with mustard
L: Southwestern chicken salad (greens, beans, jalepeno, onion, green pepper, grilled chicken, black olives) with fresh salsa and LF ranch dip (LF sour cream + Hidden Valley ranch mix), SF jello
S: Walnuts
D: Grilled filet mignon, steamed asparagus, steakhouse salad, mocha ricotta creme

Sunday:
B: Microwave scrambled egg with 1 slice boiled ham, low-sodium V8 juice, coffee or tea
S: Celery sticks with neufchatel cheese
L: Cobb salad (greens, tomato, onion, hardboiled egg, grilled chicken, avacado, shredded cheddar, turkey bacon) w/ LF ranch dip, SF jello
S: Tomatoes and mozzarella with balsamic drizzle
D: Chicken curry over cauliflower “rice”, vanilla ricotta creme

Well, I started out with a rather ambitious list for my first “baking day” or “freezer cooking day” — however you wish to say it. I didn’t make every item I’d intended to, but I’m happy with the final result. For my final tally I ended up with:

• Chicken oreganata
• Pineapple lemon chicken
• 1 lb. turkey taco meat
• Italian dressing marinated chicken
• Cooked, shredded BBQ chicken
• Sausage, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches (x6)
• Shredded rotisserie chicken
• Baked oatmeal (6 portions)
• Applesauce (3 containers)
• Chicken stock

Now, I don’t actually have room in my freezer for the chicken stock, so I’ll be using it up this week. If I can rearrange my freezer I might make another batch. We’ll see about that though.

This was an interesting experiment for me. I’m not sure a designated “baking day” really works for me, but I think I will attempt to make a few extra things here and there when I have the time and ingredients and consistently fill my freezer with easy meals I can just toss in the oven or Crock Pot.

A few of you e-mailed me with a couple questions, so here are those answers:

Q: How do you make your French Toast sticks?

A: For the French toast sticks, all I do is make french toast my usual way and then I slice each piece into strips (a pizza cutter works great for this). Then I line them all up on a baking sheet and flash freeze them. Then I store them in a ziplock freezer bag.
Q: How do you make the breakfast sandwiches and how long do they last?
A: For the sandwiches I use a roll of turkey sausage (it comes packaged in a roll like Jimmy Dean sausage so it’s easy to make patties). I cook the sausage patties and let them cool. Then I use a muffin tin and crack an egg into each cup and
lightly scramble it, add salt and pepper and bake at 350 degrees until they are cooked. I pop them out and slice each egg cup in half (since they are a little smaller than the English muffins) and let them cool. Then I assemble  the sandwiches and wrap each one individually in foil and store in a freezer bag. To reheat, I just pop the sandwich (in the foil) in the toaster oven at  300-350 for about 20-30 min. You could also pull a sandwich out  and defrost it in the fridge overnight. You could also unwrap the sandwich and microwave it in a paper towel, but the toaster oven just works a little better for me. I am not sure how long they last because in our house it is not very long,
LOL! I think after 2 or 3 months they’d start to lose a little, but I only make 6 at a time.

Quite a few of you requested recipes, and I am happy to oblige. Here you go!

Baked Oatmeal

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup plain yogurt
fresh, dried, or frozen fruit of your choosing

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Combine the eggs, milk, butter, and yogurt in a separate bowl and then add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the fruit. Pour into a greased 8-inch square baking dish. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares.

TO FREEZE: After cutting into squares, either wrap squares individually with foil, or wrap as an 8×8 square in doubled foil. Place into freezer bag and label before freezing. To thaw, simply unwrap a square and pop it in the microwave. Serve with additional milk or yogurt if desired.

Chicken Oreganata*

3-4 chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch chunks
4-5 red potatoes, quartered
1 tomato, cut into eighths
1 medium onion, cut into medium chunks
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt, pepper
olive oil

Combine chicken and vegetables in a large bowl. Add oregano and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over mixture and stir to combine until all ingredients are coated. (I didn’t measure the olive oil, just added more as needed.) Place all into a freezer bag. Seal, label, and freeze.

TO SERVE: Thaw completely. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken and vegetables into a roasting pan or Pyrex baking dish. Cook for approx. 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

Pineapple Lemon Chicken*

2 chicken breast halves
10 oz. crushed pineapple (1/2 a 20 oz. can) + 1/4 cup reserved juice
1 small lemon, thinly sliced
1/8 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

Place chicken breasts in freezer bag. For marinade, in a large bowl combine pineapple juice, ketchup, honey Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and rosemary. Stir in crushed pineapple and lemon slices. Pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and freeze.

TO SERVE: Thaw completely. Drain chicken, reserving marinade. Grill, turning once and brushing with 1/4 cup reserved marinated, until chicken reaches 170 degrees and is no longer pink.

* These recipes are new to me and I haven’t tried them yet, so I really can’t vouch for how good they are. I adapted them from the book “Don’t Panic: More Dinner’s In The Freezer.”

Wow, I managed to accomplish a lot more than I thought I would today. The grocery store was a bit frustrating and I wasn’t sure this was the right day for it, but everything came around. I decided to switch up a few things. I opted to not make the Salisbury steaks because ground beef was a little to pricey this week. I also opted to cook and shred the BBQ chicken before freezing it instead of freezing it raw with the sauce.

So. Let’s talk about what I got done, shall we? In the freezer I currently have:

• Chicken oreganata
• Pineapple lemon chicken
• 1 lb. turkey taco meat
• Italian dressing marinated chicken
• Cooked, shredded BBQ chicken
• Sausage, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches (x6)

Right now I have applesauce cooking overnight in the Crock Pot, so that will be ready in the morning (my four-year-old is thrilled about this!). I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it or not, but they had apples on the discounted produce rack. So since they were the deal of the day, I knew I had to make applesauce with them. Tomorrow I’ll tackle the baked oatmeal, French toast sticks, apple handpies, and chicken stock. I might have to put off the pea soup; my freezer is looking a little packed already.

But now I’m off to wind down with a cup of tea and a paczki. I think I’ve earned it!