For The Sake of Cake

Last Friday, I started flipping through a few of my cookbooks. I was looking for some sort of recipe inspiration, as I always like to try 1 or 2 new recipes per week. I saw “Vegetable Quesadillas,” but didn’t look too closely at the recipe. It sounded easy enough, so I thought about what flavors might go well together and picked up the necessary ingredients at the grocery store.

This meal ended up being pretty cost effective. I usually have tortillas on-hand—Mexican is a popular cuisine in our household—and I chose to keep things simple with only 4 vegetables.

I think this particular flavor combination really works, but of course this recipe is totally customizable. You can use whichever veggies you like best! Also, if you’re one of those amazing people who are on top of things enough to do meal prep on the weekend, this meal could come together in no more than 10 minutes!

I don’t know why I don’t break out my panini press more often. It’s such a handy appliance! I’m thinking I might need to work on a new sandwich combo for next week… something with brie and apple—yes, definitely!

What veggies would you include in a vegetable quesadilla? Do you have a panini press? Any favorite sandwiches?

Hello and welcome to the start of a new week!

It’s unusual to be hearing from me during the day, no? Shockingly, I had a few extra minutes on Sunday night, so I typed up my meal plan post for today. I’m starting off this week on top of things.

Before I share this week’s meal plan, I want to comment on a meal I mentioned in this post – Slow Cooked Angel Chicken. Well, I didn’t end up trying this recipe until this past week, but it was definitely a winner. Chris couldn’t stop raving about it either! If you’re looking for a new chicken-based recipe, I’d definitely give it a try. (Oh, and just a note… I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs to help prevent them from drying out while in the slow cooker all day. Worked like a charm!)

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Vegetable Quesadillas

I was inspired to create my own recipe for veggie quesadillas after seeing a “model” recipe in one of my cookbooks. If my flavor combination turns out okay, I’ll definitely be sharing this recipe some time this week!

Chicken Parm

While I was creating a Pinterest board with some of my favorite blog recipes, I was reminded of my recipe for Skinny Chicken Parm Bake.

I feel like I always get caught up wanting to try new recipes, that I often forget about “old stand-bys.” I plan on making spaghetti with this dish to round out the meal.

Meatball Subs

I had been craving some sort of sub lately and decided meatball would be the easiest way to go. I love Cooked Perfect meatballs and my grocery store always seems to have a pretty good deal on them, making this an affordable meal option.

I didn’t really know what to make as a side dish, so I went with one of my favorite veggies—green beans. Kind of a random combo, but at least I’ll be getting some vegetables in!

What’s on your menu this week?

Hi there! How has your weekend/Sunday been? I had a great time at my friend Emily’s bridal shower yesterday, but my Sunday has been same ol’, same ol’.

I was in a rush to meal plan/get my grocery list together this afternoon, so this week’s meals are filled with old stand-bys (+ one new recipe!).

Monday – Black bean enchiladas

These enchiladas are so easy to make and that’s a priority for me on a Monday night when I’m usually frazzled/exhausted. I plan on serving the enchiladas on top of brown rice and adding avocado (yum!) + plain Chobani as toppings.

Tuesday – Out to eat!

I’m actually meeting a friend for dinner Tuesday night, so no meal planning was necessary.

Wednesday – BBQ pulled pork sandwiches

I came across a package of sandwich buns I had thrown in the freezer, and figured this would be a yummy – and simple – way to use them up. I bought green beans to make with these, and I’m sure I’ll rummage up something else, too. (In case it isn’t evident, I have green beans as a side at least once every week.)

Thursday – Slow-Cooker Honey BBQ Drumsticks

I’ve recently become obsessed with Nikki’s blog. Seriously, I usually pin every single post/recipe she publishes!

This recipe only requires three ingredients + a slow-cooker… now we’re talking!

I was blanking when trying to think of what I could have with this, so I just picked up some lettuce and plan to make a side salad.

Friday will be leftovers, Saturday will likely be pizza night, and Sunday is, of course, Easter!

Do you have a go-to blog for recipes? I’d love to check out some new sites! Feel free to leave links!

Hello, hello!

This weekend went too fast. I was 99% sure I was going to have time to write my Disney Princess recap, and it just didn’t happen! I’m really hoping I get to it tomorrow after school; it’s on the way soon.

Going along with the theme of being short on time, I meal planned at lightning speed this week. I always ask Chris if he’s craving anything in particular and this week he didn’t have any ideas. Since I needed to come up with my grocery list in a hurry (I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to power through a looong to do list all day!), I didn’t have time to peruse Pinterest/blogs/saved emails like I usually do. I went with whatever easy meals came to mind!

Monday – Sloppy joes on whole wheat buns with Alexia fries

Tuesday – Tilapia with spinach and celery/parsnip puree

I’m modeling this meal off of this recipe, but substituting tilapia for the striped bass (I couldn’t find any at the store). I’m also making it with farro instead of barley.

Wednesday – Slow cooker creamy beef stroganoff

I’m 99.9% sure I’ve made this before, or else it was a very similar recipe. Chris and I both enjoyed it (it’s super creamy and delicious!), and slow cooker recipes are always the best for a hectic week.

Thursday – I’ll likely pick up Subway or a yummy wrap from my gym.

Friday – Leftovers

Saturday/Sunday – Take-out (pizza!) or dinner out

What’s on your meal plan this week? Are you trying any new recipes? Might I suggest spinach, mushroom, and feta quiche?

Hello everyone and happy halfway through the week!

I haven’t participated in What I Ate Wednesday in a few weeks, so I figured I’d jump back on the bandwagon! Thanks to Jenn for hosting! (Oh, and these are actually Tuesday’s eats.)

Breakfast – Overnight oats + coffee

So even though I haven’t participated in WIAW lately, my breakfasts haven’t changed much!

My oatmeal included:

• About 1/2 c. oats (I don’t measure anymore!)
• About 1/2 c. skim milk
• 2 heaping tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
• NuNaturals vanilla Stevia

In the morning I added peanut butter, a few mini chocolate chips, and a drizzle of honey. Gimme the sugar.

Lunch – Shrimp with brown rice, banana Chobani, yogurt-covered raisins

I made this for dinner Monday night, so I packed up some leftovers for Tuesday’s lunch. The Cho’ is nothing out of the ordinary; I eat one with lunch every day.

The yogurt-covered raisins were a “splurge” at Target this week. Chris and I debated buying them for a few minutes before ultimately tossing them into our cart. Side note: you can tell you’ve hit a new low of lameness when buying yogurt-covered raisins warrants a discussion.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t really a fan. They were almost too sweet for me, and that’s really saying something! I haven’t gone back for another box since.

PM Snack – Designer Whey protein bar

Recently, I was sent a variety of Designer Whey protein products to sample and so far I haven’t had anything that wasn’t delicious! This is their triple chocolate bar – which was great! – but I think I preferred the peanut butter flavored bar I had on Monday. Seriously, sooo good!

Dinner – Chicken quesadilla + Tostitos Scoops

If you’re wondering if the chips were really necessary in addition to a giant tortilla, the answer is “yes.”

To make these quesadillas, I first prepped some chicken in the crock pot. I combined about 1 lb. of chicken breasts + 1 can low-sodium chicken stock + salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of taco seasoning and let it cook on low for 8 hours. Then, I layered salsa, chicken, and cheese on a tortilla and grilled it on our panini press. Simple and quick!

Dessert – A small bowl of (unpictured) ice cream

Chris determined it was imperative for us to get ice cream at the grocery store on Sunday. And I’d really like to thank him, considering I’ve been the one shoveling it in all week!

How often do you eat ice cream in the winter? Earlier in our relationship, Chris just couldn’t wrap his head around ice cream in the winter (or at least eating it as frequently as I do). I say, give me a blanket and bring it on.

Good morning!

I know you’re not used to hearing from me in the morning, but I realized that I never shared my meal plan for this week and I’ve got this weird thing about needing to be consistent. ::cough cough:: TYPE A ::cough::cough::

Here’s what’s on the dinner menu in our house this week:

• Monday – I loved this recipe so much when I made it the first time that I made it for dinner again last night! I served it with brown rice, a salad, and a dinner roll.
• Tuesday – I’m not following any particular “recipe” for these quesadillas. I just plan on cooking chicken in the crockpot during the day, shredding it, and then adding in whatever other random ingredients I’ve got on-hand before grilling the entire thing.
• Wednesday – I must have been in the mood for Mexican when I was meal planning this week! Taco salads used to be a staple in our house but we haven’t had them in a while. I plan on cooking ground beef with taco seasoning, then mixing the meat with shredded lettuce and toppings such as salsa, plain Greek yogurt, and shredded cheese. (I’ve also made vegetarian taco salads before by subbing beans for the ground beef.)
• Thursday – I plan on stopping at Subway for dinner because I’ve got parent/teacher conferences from 6:00PM – 9:00PM. Woof.
• Friday – Same as always! Leftovers or whatever other quick meal I can scrounge up. (Or maybe I’ll impress myself like this past week!)
• Saturday – Chris and I will either have our weekly pizza night or go out to eat. We’ve got lots of restaurant gift cards, but I’ve also been super swamped with work these past few weeks/weekends. With my impending trip to Florida, I really need to buckle down and get a bunch of loose ends tied up. Pizza night is usually a-okay with both of us though!

What’s on your meal plan this week? Are you trying any new recipes?

We’ve all been there.

Hunger strikes and you need to get something in front of you… fast.

A few years back – during my college years and again when I lived on my own – frozen dinners were a staple of mine.

Since then, I’ve come to enjoy cooking and try to prepare my own meals as often as possible.

In Wednesday’s post, I alluded to the fact that this past week was just off. It was difficult to muster up the energy for much, let alone cooking an elaborate dinner.

My solution? A new-to-me product from the Lean Cuisine Culinary Collection.

The Lean Cuisine brand has been around forever, but they’ve recently debuted some new products.

The Culinary Collection line was created with the help of 5 well-known chefs and aims to add bolder, more exciting flavors to the traditional frozen meal.

When choosing which variety I wanted to try, the chicken carbonara jumped out to me immediately. Chicken, pasta, asparagus, and a cream sauce with bacon? Yes, please.

Here’s a peek at the nutritional stats:

I heated up this meal after getting home from the gym a little later than usual last night. Three minutes in the microwave, and I had a delicious meal ready and waiting for me!

I was so pleasantly surprised! The flavor was great, and the sauce tasted like a real, restaurant-style cream sauce. While the bacon pieces were few and far between, I didn’t miss them too much because the bacon flavor was definitely still there!

My biggest complaint about most frozen meals is that they don’t fill me up. I had just finished working out and this meal, along with a dinner roll, left me feeling totally satisfied. (Side note: the roll was essential in scooping up every last bit of the sauce.)

I definitely plan on picking up a few more varieties and giving some of the other meals a try. They’re great to have on-hand and cheaper than picking up take-out in a pinch!

How often to you rely on frozen meals? Do you have a favorite?

I have partnered with Lean Cuisine through DailyBuzz Food to help promote their new line of Chef’s Pick products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Lean Cuisine!

Hello, hello!

I wanted to get around to blogging last night but Chris texted me saying he woke up late and didn’t have time to pack anything for his breaks at work. He typically works an hour or two of overtime each night, so I couldn’t let him go hungry. Stewie and I made an evening drive to his work (which took about an hour round-trip) to drop off some grub, and promptly passed out once we got home.

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You guys are going to love this recipe! I know so many of you are slow cooker fanatics – like me! – and this takes no more than 5 minutes to prep. All you’ve got to do is wait patiently for 8 hours – or put in a hard day’s work – and dinner is ready to go.

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 1 15 oz. can chili beans
• 1 15 oz. can white beans (rinsed/drained)
• 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 15 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Place ground chicken in slow cooker and break up as much as possible.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix.
• Cook on low for 8 hours.

My favorite thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to cook/brown the chicken ahead of time; that is my #1 pet peeve about some slow cooker recipes. I’m using my slow cooker when I want to be lazy about cooking and the fewer steps, the better! This would also be a great set-it-and-forget-it menu item for Super Bowl Sunday.

I highly suggest topping the chili with avocado and shredded cheese (plain Greek yogurt would be good, too). Just one bowl of this stuff and I was, well… stuffed. We had tons of leftovers, too. (I made sure they were easy to grab on the run so I didn’t have to make another trip to Chris’s work tonight! )

Do you have a favorite chili recipe? Slow cooker or otherwise!

Good morning!

Are you surprised to be hearing from me bright and early? I am usually a nighttime blogger.

A few weeks ago, I posted my meal plan on Instagram and got a few responses asking me to share my plan here on the blog. I loved the idea; I have no clue why it took me so long to follow through with it!

Each week (hopefully Sunday night or Monday morning), I’ll share with you all my meal plan for the week. I’m sure you’ll quickly notice a pattern… Monday-Wednesday, I’ll be cooking; Thursday I’ll usually be picking up something quick; Friday will usually be leftovers (or whatever I can scrounge up); and the weekend is totally up in the air (hence why I omitted Sunday altogether!).

I’ll also link to the recipes (when applicable) so you can cook along with me if something appeals to you!

Monday

• Crock pot mac ‘n’ cheese – This is a new-to-me recipe that my mom e-mailed to me, so unfortunately, I can’t link to it. I do promise to share it if it’s a hit, though!

Tuesday

• The Best Pot Roast… Ever! – I’ve had this pinned for a while now, and I’m finally going to see if it lives up to the hype. I plan on having green beans and sweet potatoes as side dishes.

Wednesday

• Garlicky Baked Shrimp – I already plan on making a few substitutions – probably making it a bit less garlicky – but I chose this recipe for its simplicity. Brown rice and corn will be served on the side.

What’s on YOUR meal plan this week? Are you trying anything new?

I finally have a new recipe to share this evening; I feel like it has been an eternity.

I’ve been relying (heavily) on my slow cooker lately. By the time I get home from work and the gym, I definitely don’t feel like putting a lot of effort into making dinner. I’m thinking some of you may be in the same boat?

This meal required little prep work the night before (all I had to do was chop an onion), came together quickly in the morning (or at least I think so since Chris actually put all the ingredients in!), and was super tasty (and husband-approved).

My recipe was inspired by this recipe from Kraft.

Of course I added a little extra BBQ sauce on top… no such thing as too much of that stuff.

So simple, right?!

I’m a huge fan of the BBQ/pineapple flavor combo, and I have a feeling this recipe might become a staple in our house.

How often do you use your slow cooker? I used mine twice this week! Once for this recipe and the other time was to try out Katie’s balsamic chicken (also good!).