Menu Plan Monday: 8/4/2014

I just looked back and realized that I have not posted a new menu plan since January!?! I honestly could not believe it had been that long, but then again the last post I posted was back in February. Anyways, I have to come find out that a lot of people really enjoy my menu plans. Even when I was not blogging, people would constantly visit my menu plans and pin them, as well. So by popular demand, I'll be keeping up with these menu plans!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Pad Thai with Chicken

We loooove Thai food and this is one of Isaac's favorite dishes!

Tuesday: Chicken Tikka Masala

Oh, did I mention that Isaac and I loooove Indian food, as well, and this is one our favorite Indian dishes!

Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Verde Enchiladas
I've made these once and I need to see if we actually liked them. As far as I remember, we definitely liked them, but we shall see.

Thursday: Sesame Chicken

Again testing to see if we like this dish, but like before I do believe we did like it.

Friday: White Pizza with Chicken

Oh man do we love some homemade pizza! Can't wait for this one!

Saturday and Sunday: Sausage and Veggie Scramble

Most weekends we just go with the flow and choose what we feel like eating. Every once in awhile I'll plan a breakfast or lunch and this weekend I plan on making this delicious scramble! It's sooo tasty and quite healthy.

Have no clue what menu planning is or need to find more recipes!? Check out OrgJunkie for some great tips and inspiration!

What do you plan on cooking this week?

Menu Plan Monday: 1/20/2014

Another week is upon us friends. My routine got all messed up last week, but it was for a good reason. I took my first review class for my nursing boards that I will be taking soon! Super excited about that! Anyways, I'm slowly getting back into the routine today.

What We Actually Ate!?

YES! Another week down and I made every single meal I planned last week! I seriously do believe the whole picture thing helps keep me accountable. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, I'll explain. Each night I post a picture collage on Instagram of what I planned for us to eat and what we actually ate!? I'm just keeping myself accountable to my meal plan and it's working! Here's last week pictures:

If you would like to start keeping yourself accountable, too, join along in What We Actually Ate!? Just post your pictures to Instagram using the hashtag #wwaa. I always love looking at pictures of food!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Spicy Blackened Chicken & Baked Fries

Well I had planned on making this for dinner, but earlier today my husband asked if we wanted to go out to dinner with friends instead and I said sure! So this will be used next week.

Tuesday: 3 Course Valentines Dinner for Two

I'm testing out my recipes for an upcoming post! I'm really excited about this one and can't wait to share it with you!

Wednesday: Chicken & Sesame Stir-Fry

An easy recipe that I haven't made in a really long time.

Thursday: *New Recipe* Healthier Chicken Tostadas

These just look so yummy!

Friday-Sunday: As always we just go with the flow and figure our meals out on the go.

Need tips on menu planning!? Check out OrgJunkie for more tips, tricks, and recipe ideas!

What are you planning on cooking this week?

Menu Plan Monday: 1/13/2014

Whoo hoo!!! I made every single meal I planned last week! Trust me I am happy because this my friends has not happened in a really long time. Honestly, I do believe the whole What We Actually Ate!? kept me more accountable. If you don't know what the heck What We Actually Ate!? is, it's ok. I started this series last week in order to keep myself more accountable to my menu plan. Essentially, I have a picture of what I planned to eat and then what we actually ate. Here are the pictures from last week:

As you can see I made it all! If you would like to join me in What We Actually Ate!? just post your pictures on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #wwaa. I would love to see what you eat even if you didn't cook it yourself! Alright let's see what I have planned to cook up this week.

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: *New Recipe* White Pizza with Chicken & Homemade Pizza Dough

Super excited to try this out mainly because I'm excited to make the dough!

Tuesday: Lemon Chicken & Broccoli

Nice, light, and healthy!

Wednesday: Healthy Pasta with Chicken & Veggies

Another healthy dish for the week!

Thursday: *New Recipe* Healthy Mongolian Beef

Friday-Sunday: Whatever we feel like! I usually do not plan for these days since we like to go out on the weekend.

As you can see most of the recipes have a theme.... HEALTHY! My husband and I are going to start counting calories. We did this awhile back just to adjust our eating habits and it worked really well. We did it for so long that we started eating fewer calories naturally without having to count every single one. Well, we feel like we need to check back in and make sure we are still eating the same way. No goals to lose weight, but if it happens, it happens. Want more tips on menu planning!? Check out OrgJunkie.com for some great ideas!

Do you have any healthy eating habits?

Menu Plan Monday: 01/06/2014

It's the first Menu Plan Monday of 2014!!! I've been hearing a lot of other bloggers and just people in general that want to make more meals at home. Well my friends menu planning is where you can start to help accomplish that goal. Before I left on my hiatus from blogging, I was giving tips to help with menu planning. You can find these tips here: Tip #1, Tip #2, and Tip #3.

To keep myself accountable to actually make the meals I plan, I'm going to start a new series called What we ACTUALLY ate!? or WWAA for short. Each night that I have a meal planned, I will post a picture on Instagram and Facebook showing what I planned and then what we actually ate. I would love it if you joined me in this series, as well. You can post the pictures to the Facebook page or on Instagram using the hashtag #wwaa.

I'm hoping this series will keep me accountable on making the meals I planned and bought for the week. I know there will be days weeks where the Jack-in-the-Box guy has become my best friend, but I also know hope the majority of the weeks my new best friend will be my kitchen. So, here's to making our kitchen our friend instead of that drive thru person!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Yellow Curry with Chicken

This is one our favorite Thai dishes!

Tuesday: Breaded Baked Chicken

My first little ole' recipe on the blog and it's still a favorite.

Wednesday: Tomatillo Salsa Steaks & Baked Fries

Thursday: *New Recipe* Chicken & Jalapeno Pasta

Friday-Sunday: Good question!? We usually eat out or just wing it!

Have no clue about menu planning? It's ok head on over to OrgJunkie.com for more tips and info on menu planning. Remember to join me in WWAA and post your pictures on Facebook or Instagram. 

What are you cooking this week?

Menu Plan Monday: 10/7/2013

Ok, it's the end of the day. You just worked your butt off for 8 hours or possibly even more. You are beat tired. Then all of sudden your stomach grumbles with such a ferocity that it could scare a small child. You need food... NOW! Ugh, you know there is nothing at home to cook, but yet you really don't want to have another drive-thru party. What to do? You are starving, dead tired, have no food at home, and you don't want another processed "chicken" sandwich for dinner.

Ok, so I didn't have a drive-thru party, but instead one night we ate at our favorite sushi place. Yes, it's better than fast food, but come on the whole point of menu planning is to actually follow your plan! Oh, well hopefully I'll do better this week. Alright, let's get on to this week's tip!

Meal Planning Tip #3

The past two weeks I've been giving tips on how to meal plan. Here is Tip #1 and Tip #2. Alright now you've collected your recipes and hopefully they are organized and more manageable now. The next step is to sit down, pick out the recipes you want to cook for the week, and make your grocery list.

When choosing your recipes, just keep in mind how busy you'll be on days. I mean come on, we all know that if we have busy work days, we are NOT going to come home and cook. So pick out easy and quick recipes for those nights. Or heck, if you really don't like cooking, pick these recipes each night of the week!

Once, you've chosen your recipes now you need to make your grocery list. I mentioned the amazing site Cozi last week for organizing your recipes. I love it for that, but I REALLY love it for making my shopping list. I click on a recipe and then I'm able to add all the ingredients from that recipe to a shopping list. Best thing is that Cozi has an app for your phone where you can access your shopping list! It honestly just makes making a grocery list soooo much easier. Other ways to make a grocery list is to either write or type it out. Just make sure you don't forget the list!

Making the grocery list gives me the confidence that later on during the week when I go to cook something, I will have everything I need. It also prevents those extra side trips to the grocery store that can add up! I have one last tip for next week so make sure to come back!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

Since we ate sushi last week, I didn't get a chance to work on this recipe. Just perfecting this recipe before I decide to put up on here.

Tuesday: In-N-Out

Wednesday: Tomatillo Salsa Steaks & Baked Fries

I did make this last week, but now I'm gonna make it and take pictures for the blog!

Thursday: Chicken Picatta Pasta

New recipe!

Friday - Sunday: I don't plan for these days because we just plan on the go.

Have no clue about menu planning? It's ok head on over to OrgJunkie.com for more tips and info on menu planning. If you cook something this week, take a picture and post using #tablefortwoplease. What are you cooking this week?

Menu Plan Monday: 9/30/2013

Ok, it's the end of the day. You just worked your butt off for 8 hours or possibly even more. You are beat tired. Then all of sudden your stomach grumbles with such a ferocity that it could scare a small child. You need food... NOW! Ugh, you know there is nothing at home to cook, but yet you really don't want to have another drive-thru party. What to do? You are starving, dead tired, have no food at home, and you don't want another processed "chicken" sandwich for dinner.

GUILTY.... I totally had my own little drive-thru party last week. Yea, I was tired and did not feel like cooking. Plus Jack-in-the-Box was conveniently on the way home. Oh, well like I said it happens. The hard part is moving on and trying your best to not let it happen again.

Last week, I started sharing my meal planning tips and now I'll give you another tip to help.

Meal Planning Tip #2

So last week I told you to go out and collect recipes. Now, you have all these recipes, but what the heck do you do with them!? To make meal planning easier and quicker you need to organize your recipes. There are many different ways to do this, but a couple of my favorites are binders and the amazing site Cozi. If you need ideas on binders, I suggest you search recipe binders on Pinterest. 

Ok, so how do I use Cozi? Cozi has many different functions, but the one I use the most is the recipe box. I am able to store all my recipes here online and can even put a link in so I can go back to the original recipe site. I then print my recipes and keep them in a folder for easy access. It's easy and it works for me.

The big key is to just find what works for you. There are many different ways to organize your recipes and you just have to find a way that makes sense to you. Trust me it may seem tedious and unimportant, but having your recipes organized makes meal planning so easy. I'll give you another tip on that next week!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Sesame Chicken

This is a new recipe that I did not make last week. So we will see how it turns out!

Tuesday: IN-N-OUT

Per usual

Wednesday: Tomatillo Salsa Steaks

I made these once and they were great! 

Thursday: Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is a recipe I'm working on for the blog. It will be coming soon!

Friday-Sunday: No plans

Most weekends we just wing it and eat what we like. It's nice and allows me to keep to my meal plan during the week.

Have no clue about menu planning? It's ok head on over to OrgJunkie.com for more tips and info on menu planning. If you cook something this week, take a picture and post using #tablefortwoplease. What are you cooking this week?

Menu Plan Monday: 9/16/2013

I would say last week was a pretty good cooking week. I mean honestly I did not have much planned, but I still cooked the majority of it. How did your cooking go last week?

Weekly Highs & Lows:

Lows: I honestly think it was a pretty good week. I mean we did eat out a lot, but I already knew that was going to happen. I only missed one meal and that was dinner last night because we had our "lunch" around 5. So we really weren't hungry later on.

Highs: The fact that I cooked! It's been really hot here in California so I've just been too tired to even turn on a stove plus the heat is ridiculous. We only had two meals so I really can't pick our favorite for last week.

Weekly Meal Plan:

Monday: We are going to go out with some friends for dinner!

Tuesday: Like I said last week, this is our new day for our weekly grocery shop. When we do our grocery shop, we usually eat at IN-N-OUT.

Wednesday: Chicken and Vegetable Enchiladas

The original recipe is just a simple veggie enchilada, but we love our animal protein in this family. So I'm going to add the chicken from my Chicken Tacos in the Crockpot. You also may notice that I made this dish last week as well. I was testing this recipe out for the blog so now this week I will shoot the pictures for it!

Thursday: Chicken and Peanut Noodles

New recipe! Always got to try something new each week!

Friday-Sunday: DISNEYLAND!!!

We are off to Disneyland for the weekend! We love this place so much and it's close enough that we go at least once a month. Can't wait to eat all the food I crave from there all the time!

Have no clue about menu planning? It's ok head on over to OrgJunkie.com for more tips and info on menu planning. If you cook something this week, take a picture and post using #tablefortwoplease. What are you cooking this week?