| Meal | Recipe | Groceries |
| Ranch marinated chicken, baked taters and green beans | 4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 packet ranch mix (dry) 3 T or a glug of olive oil 3 T Worcestershire sauce Place in a bag and marinate in fridge, turn Roast , grill or pan fry…your choice. Serve with baked potato and green beans. | Chicken breasts Ranch mix packets Worcestershire sauce Olive Oil Red potatoes Can of green beans |
| Crock pot southwestern chicken | 1 small bag frozen corn
1 can black beans
2 large frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 16-oz jar mild salsa
Layer in this order: corn, chicken,black beans rinsed, drained, salsa. Cook on high for 1 hr, low for 4 hrs. Shred chicken with forks. Serve with: shredded cheddar cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream
chopped cilantro
diced avocado
| Chicken 1 can black beans 1 small bag frozen corn 1 16oz jar salsa Tortilla chips Shredded cheese Sour cream Cilantro |
| Pulled BBQ pork and coke sandwiches | 1 pork roast without bone (shoulder perhaps) 2 bottles (small ones) Coca-cola (seriously) BBQ sauce of choice Put roast in crock pot, pour coke over it. Pour a generous amount of BBQ sauce over it. Cook all day on low. Add onions, salt, pepper or garlic if you’d like. Serve with buns and chips. | Shoulder roast of pork Bottles of coca-cola BBQ sauce of choice (I like cookies) Buns Chips |
| Zesty shrimp and pasta | 1 pkg linguine noodles cooked ¾ cup Italian dressing 1 small red onion chopped 1 jar artichoke hearts drained and chopped Parmesean cheese 1 1lb cooked and cleaned shrimp 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms Cook pasta according to pkg. In skillet combine dressing, artichokes, onion, mushrooms and shrimp. Toss until mushrooms are tender. Add to pasta. Sprinkle with parm. Cheese. | Linguine noodles 1 1lb frozen shrimp (cooked) Italian dressing 1 sm red onion Parmesan cheese Jar of artichoke hearts Pkg fresh mushrooms |
| Scrambled cheesy eggs, whole wheat toast, smoothies | Mix eggs and cheese in skillet, make scrambled eggs. Smoothies: vanilla or plain yogert, OJ, frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries, blend. | Vanilla yogert Eggs Cheese WW toast OJ Frozen fruit |
| Marinated salmon, wild rice | 4 small salmon filets Marinade in bag: 1 squirt lemon juice, dill, brown sugar, soy sauce, olive oil, salt, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Marinate all day. Grill or broil. Serve with wild rice. | Pkg frozen salmon filets Pkg Uncle Ben’s minute wild rice Marinade ingredients (if not in pantry) |
| Chicken Cheese and Spinach manicotti | 1 ½ cups finely chopped and cooked chicken Minced garlic (2 t) 1 pkg frozen spinach thawed, drained, chopped 2 C. cottage cheese 2 egg whites 10 manicotti shells cooked Mozarella cheese Jar of spaghetti sauce Oven: 350, Mix chicken, garlic, spinach, cottage cheese, egg whites and ½ c. mozzarella. Spoon into manicotti. Place in 13x9 sprayed pan, cover with spag. Sauce and remaining cheese. Bake for 25 minutes. | Chicken breasts Cottage cheese Minced garlic Eggs Manicotti shells Spaghetti sauce |
| Baked Lemon pasta (yummy, not lowfat) From Pioneer Woman | · 1 pound Thin Spaghetti · 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter · 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil · 2 cloves Garlic, Minced · 1 whole Lemon, Juiced And Zested · 2 cups Sour Cream · ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt, Or More To Taste · Plenty Of Grated Parmesan Cheese · Flat-leaf Parsley, Chopped Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley | 1 1lb thin spaghetti Butter Olive Oil Minced garlic Lemon Sour cream Parm. Cheese Parsley |
| Tuna Casserole, fruit and yogert | 375 for 40-45 min 1 pkg egg noodles cooked and drained 2 cans tuna drained ½ mayo (or light) ½ c. minced onion ¾ t. salt 1 c. milk 1 can cream of mushroom soup 2 c. mozzarella cheese shredded Combine noodles, tuna, mayo, onion and salt and set aside. In sauce pan melt cheese, soup and milk until smooth. Add to noodles. Place in greased 4 qt pan. Bake. | Egg Noodles Cream of mushroom soup Pkg Shredded Mozzarella Mayo Minced onion Milk 2 cans tuna |
| Cream wild rice and chicken soup, crusty bread | 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed. 2 cans cream of celery soup. 1 box uncle Ben’s long grain rice (original) Milk. Cook chicken, cube. Cook rice. Add chicken and rice and soup and then milk to desired consistency. Heat and eat. | Crusty bread loaf 2 cans cream of celery soup Chicken breasts Uncle Ben’s original wild rice Milk |
| Grilled club sandwiches, veggie slices | Sliced turkey (thin) sliced Ham (thin) Bacon (cooked) Mayo, tomato, lettuce, toast and swiss cheese. Toast bread, add mayo. Layer on lettuce, tomato and meats. Melt on cheese. | Whole wheat toast Mayo Sliced deli meat (turkey, ham) Bacon Lettuce Tomato Swiss cheese Carrot and celery slices Ranch for dipping |
| Greek Pasta Salad | 1 ½ C. penne pasta cooked ½ C. cubed cooked turkey or chicken 1 can sliced black olives ¼ c. chopped green pepper ¼ c. chopped red pepper ¼ crumbled feta cheese 1/3 c. Caesar salad dressing Crutons (if wanted) Cook pasta. Mix other ingredients except dressing. Add together and drizzle with dressing. Chill until eating. | Penne Pasta Can of sliced black olives Sweet red pepper Green pepper Feta cheese Caesar Salad dressing Crutons Chicken or turkey |
| Pizza Margherita | Crust: 3 t. active dry yeast, 1 c. warm water (not too hot) 2T olive oil, 1 t. sugar, 3 c. bread flour. Dissolve yeast in large mixing bowl with warm water. Add oil, sugar and 1 cup flour. Beat until smooth. Add in remaining flour. Turn on to floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic. Place in cooking sprayed bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hr. Punch dough down and divide in half. Transfer to two 14 inch pizza pans greased. Let rest for 10 more mins. Toppings: 2 cans diced tomatoes (drained) 20 fresh basil leaves, 8 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 t. dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste, 2 T olive oil. Place tomatoes on pizza crust, add other toppings and drizzle with oil. Cook at 450 for 15-20 mins. | Yeast packets Olive Oil Lg. bag shredded mozzarella cheese 2 cans diced tomatoes Bread flour Fresh basil leaves Oregano |
Bake at 450F for 5 full minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F and bake about another 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t over bake. The initial 5-minute baking at a high temperature will help them make a high dome. Shhh! That’s a bakery secret.
Call me crazy but I have a deep hatred for carpet. Especially dog worn kid tested nasty nasty carpet. So I pulled it out. I also have a bad habit of just starting projects on a whim.....like within five minutes of thinking of them. This time, I was pleasantly surprised at the shape the stairs were in. There was hard wood going all the way up. See all of those little nubs? Those my friends are staples. Lots and lots and lots of staples. They are also the reason why my hands are bleeding. The goal is simple 1. New paint for the living room and going up the stairs and 2. Either paint the stairs black and white (trust me on this) or rob a bank and get carpet again. The upstairs really needs new carpet because there is just a nice plywood sub floor in both bedrooms. If we happen to get carpet, the dogs will be banned from any carpeted room in the house. I did some measuring and we aren't looking at too much square footage, so maybe Santa will bring carpet to my house? Nothing fancy, just tough and stain resistant. The first step is to remove all 1,254 staples and tack strips....but not during nap time. 
Here is a photo of black and white painted stairs to give you an idea of what they look like. Loud, yes? Still better than carpet though. We'll see how long this project will take. Another goal is to get Lonnie a nice comfy couch to sleep on. Since he currently sleeps downstairs due to his amazingly loud snoring. Don't worry, our marriage is fine, we just can't sleep together right now or we will have to very grumpy people in the morning. I feel awful for him now though, he is sleeping on this very very old green couch that is probably from the 60's. It's so uncomfortable and it's hurting his back. I offer the bed to him and offer to wear earplugs (which don't work by the way) and he still sacrifices his sleep for me by sleeping on the couch. What a man. He deserves a nice couch. As my list of to-do's and dreams of new carpet, a couch and working dishwasher seem unattainable and unrealistic, I have to bring myself down to earth and remember that we can do one thing at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day. 
