Back To School 2012

This is what "Back To School" looks like in my house...

I baked a "few" extra pancakes this morning for the kids to eat on throughout the week.

Clothes are out for the week, maybe not ironed but at least chosen.

A freezer full of dinners! I'm saving myself time and trouble.

Bags are packed and ready to go!

I am ready to get back in a routine. I've planned ahead so that this week will be smooth sailing. 

What's for Dinner?: Week 2

Well last weekend was spent painting inside the house. I was able to paint the bathroom, my bedroom, and trim and doors in the bathroom, hallway, my bedroom, and the kitchen. Mr. Shores was kind enough to paint the kitchen on Sunday.  This would have never been accomplished had my mother-in-law and sister-in-law begged to keep my children the entire weekend. I am so lucky to have them. They are actually my ex-in-laws but when it comes to divorce there are some people we choose to keep around and for good reason.

I have so many things left over in the freezer from the last time I cooked for the week that I really don’t need to do this but with school starting next week(eeeekkkkkk I’ll be student teaching) , I need to stock up to save myself trouble later.  Let’s get this thing stated…

Meal #1 Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf from What's Cookin, Chicago?

The children love the mini meatloaves but to save myself the trouble of baking a million mini loaves,  I’ll probably start making a big loaf that we can eat off of for a couple of nights. I’m also using ground turkey instead of ground chicken because I’m making a few meals for my husband’s Grandfather, we call him Grand, he detests chicken, something about having to eat it every day when he was in the Navy.

Make-ahead plan: You can top the meatloaf with pasta sauce before freezing and then bake from frozen, uncovered for 55-60 minutes on a baking sheet. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese. Place the meatloaf back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving/slicing. Garnish with parsley if desired. (Copied directly from What’s Cookin’ Chicago blog)

Meal #2 Baked Shrimp Scampi from What's Cookin, Chicago?

Carson LOVES shrimp. I’m hoping this will become a staple in our house just to get us away from always eating chicken and ground turkey.

Make-ahead plan: Arrange the shrimp in shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and towards the center of a disposable foil baking dish or better yet, a Glad Ovenware dish (which is what I used). Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread or scatter clumps of the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Cover (with a double sheet of foil if using a disposable foil dish or use the lid of the Glad Ovenware dish.) Label and freeze. To prepare, remove from freezer and allow to thaw. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute. Serve with lemon wedges. (Copied directly from What’s Cookin’ Chicago blog)

I am definitely going to invest in some Glad Ovenware dishes. They look nicer than  normal aluminum pans. http://www.glad.com/products/food-storage/containers/ovenware-8x8/ says that you can wash and reuse them as well!!!

Meal #3 Slow Cooker Pizza Bake Recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff

My children love spaghetti and they love pizza which makes this a natural selection, it’s just a different take on spaghetti and pizza.

Make-ahead plan: The directions say, “Cook on HIGH for 30 minutes and then LOW for 2 or 3 hours until the cheese melts.” You cook it in a crock pot so I won’t be able to just throw it in the crock pot and go, I’ll probably cook the night before I plan on serving it and then just heating it in the microwave for dinner. I do intend on combining all the ingredients then putting them in a bag to freeze before cooking, that way when I do want to make it I can throw it in the fridge to thaw one night, cook the next night while doing homework and bathing, and then serve the next.

Meal #4 Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff from Six Sisters' Stuff

Make-ahead plan: I’ll fully cook this, allow it to cool, and then divide into a few freezer bags. “Then thaw in the refrigerator (usually takes about a day) and reheat over medium-low heat in a saucepan on the stove.” (Copied from http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/10/slow-cooker-pizza-bake-recipe-freezer.html)

Meal #5 Mama Barbara’s Lasagna from Ring Around The Rosies

Make-ahead plan: Layer in 2 pans according to directions and freeze.

Cooking instructions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If thawed cook 1 hour, if frozen cook 1 ½ hours. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Meal #5 Pork and Veggies from This Lady's House

Make-ahead plan: In a large skillet brown pork over medium heat. Combine pork and remaining ingredients in a large ziptop bag, freeze. To serve: thaw contents of bag and place in a slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over hot rice. (Copied from the PDF instructions at http://dreamingofpoultry.com/content/8-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-0)

Meal #6 Mini Corn Dog Muffins from Ring Around The Rosies

I love having quick and easy meals for the children ready to throw in the microwave whenever possible.

Make-ahead plan: Bake, allow to cool, and freeze! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!

Meal #7 Seasoned Ground Meat from A Turtle's Life for Me

Make-ahead plan: Cook 2 lbs ground meat, onions, green peppers, and grated carrots together on the stove. Allow to cool and place in freezer bags. This meat can be used for tacos, spaghetti, and so many other things.

Grocery List can be found here.

What A Day!

The children went back to daycare today. I was so excited about all of the things that I would get done but now at the end of the day, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything. I did finish the enchiladas, cook the mashed potato patties, and baked some Hash Brown Egg White Nests for my breakfast this week but I wanted to tape off the kitchen, bathroom, and my room to be able to paint them. I also managed to make it to the gym twice today, where I burned 1100 calories (I know this because my Polar FT4 HRM told me.) I wish there were more hours in the day. I know that tomorrow won't be any better because Mr. Shores is off of work. Oh Well! Hopefully, I get my painting accomplished this week.

Dinner Week 1 Accomplished

So 4 1/2 hours later, I have 2 bags of Pineapple Chicken, 48 mini meatloaves, enough chicken nuggets for 2 dinners, 1 batch of garlic mashed potatoes, 2 bags of cauliflower, 2 servings of broccoli mac and cheese, and a chuck roast in the crock pot for creamy beef enchiladas. All of that equals 8 full meals!!!!! I also cleaned the kitchen, showered, packed a few 100 calorie snack packs for myself (I found the info here, another Pinterest link), and made a batch of sassy water (Pinterest again, here) and packed the children for their first day of daycare tomorrow. I am TIRED!

There are a few things that I would have done differently...

1. I would have started much earlier in the day. The roast would have been finished in time for me to prepare the creamy beef enchiladas and the mashed potatoes would have had time to cool and sit in the fridge for me to make leftover parmesan mashed potato patties.

2. I would have done more of the prep work before I started. I thought that I would save myself time if I tried to do it while something else was cooking.

Next time, I will be more prepared.

What's for Dinner?: Week 1

Okay, I'm jumping on the blog bandwagon. I'm also hoping that by adding "Week 1" to my meal plan for this week I'll stay motivated to create weeks 2 and 3 and so on.

I have two full weeks until school starts but I've decided that tomorrow will be day one of getting everyone back on a school schedule which means a ton of planning on my part TODAY! I am so thankful for Pinterest!

In the past I have compiled a weekly and a monthly meal plan so I thought that this blog about "Keeping Up With The Shores'" would be the perfect place to post what I will be cooking this week.

I really would like for my family to start eating clean, I know that Mr. Shores is completely against a healthy lifestyle but I can force these children to eat anything which means, I win!

NOTE: I am not a great cook nor do I create my own recipes, but I am a great recipe follower. Links for recipes will definitely be provided so the talented people receive their credit.

Meal #1
Cauliflower Crust Pizza from the blog Cook Lisa Cook

I love the idea of using cauliflower as a crust. I've secretly fed mashed cauliflower to Carson in the past and lied and said that it was mashed potatoes (sometimes lying to your children is acceptable, especially when it comes to their behalf).  My children "say" that they do not like pepperoni so I will add turkey crumbles instead of their usual hamburger crumbles. Don't forget to read the instructions for making cauli-rice. I figured that if I prep ahead then when I choose to cook this for dinner it should be easy, breezy.

Make-ahead plan: Chop cauliflower and bag it. Precook ground turkey.

Meal #2
Creamy Beef Enchiladas from the site Over The Big Moon

This recipe comes from Pam's post for making 10 freezer meals in 2 hours. If you tell me that I can make 10 meals in 2 hours, I'm in. I'm going to follow the recipe as is so that I can have that back up dinner in my freezer. This meal takes 45 minutes to bake from a frozen state.

Make-ahead plan: Prepare and freeze!

Meal #3
Pineapple Chicken also from Over The Big Moon

This recipe was part of the 10 freezer meals in 2 hours post too! I plan on serving it over cauli-rice instead of white rice. I'm going to be super sneaky with this cauli-rice, I'm going to try to use it in and with EVERYTHING! This recipe also adds a back up dinner in my freezer. This is a crock-pot meal, throw the contents of the bag in the crock-pot in the morning and you'll have dinner ready in the evening.

Make-ahead plan: Chop cauliflower and bag it. Prepare pineapple chicken and freeze.

Meal #4
Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets with Skinny Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese from skinnytaste

My children love these nuggets! They are easy to make and easy to freeze. I'm going to double the chicken nugget recipe and split the broccoli mac and cheese into two smaller plans so that I have a backup meal in my freezer.

Directly from skinnytaste:
To freeze - Follow the directions given to completion, baking the chicken nuggets. Allow them to cool and then transfer them to a cookie sheet or large surface covered in wax paper and flash freeze. Once they are mostly frozen (30 minutes to 1 hour), place them gently in a freezer bag and freeze. To serve: Place chicken nuggets on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until warmed through. OR microwave for 1-2 minutes until heated through.

Make-ahead plan: Cook nuggets as directed and freeze. Prepare mac and cheese according to instructions then freeze. I'm not baking this before freezing. I'll bake it at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes when I'm ready to serve it.

Meal #5
Petite Turkey Meatloaves with Leftover Parmesan Mashed Potato Patties from skinnytaste

These meatloaves are also a favorite of my children. I'm planning to double this recipe and flash freeze the meatloaves to have extras in the freezer. I don't have any leftover Parmesan Mashed Potatoes on hand so I have to make the full recipe (Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes) but I figure I come out ahead in the end because I have some extra to throw in the freezer. I doubled the ingredients for the patty recipe to reflect the fact that I was using a full recipe of leftover mashed potatoes.

Make-ahead plan: Cook as directed and freeze.

This should have us set for a week, I'm pretty big on leftovers being eaten.  I'm super excited that I'll also have some extra meals in my freezer.

Here is the Week 1 Grocery List. I have listed ALL of the ingredients that the recipes called for. There are a lot of items that I have on hand already but the list makes it easy to go through your cabinets and pantry to check off ingredients before you go to the grocery store. There is nothing worse than starting to cook and you're lacking an ingredient.

8/12/12 2:39pm I updated the grocery list to include whole wheat burrito size tortillas and 2 6oz cans of tomato paste. I took off 2 cans of tomato sauce. Once I was at the grocery store and read the enchilada sauce ingredients, I realized that it calls for tomato paste and not tomato sauce.

8/13/12 10:35am Ugh! The creamy enchilada recipe does not include cheese. Lesson learned, I should never assume all of the ingredients are listed in the ingredients section!