The Return of Two Weeks of Meals

Alright, friends.  As life has slowed down,  I actually have time to post my meal plans again...and not a moment too soon,  as our little man is going to make his appearance in the next 7-8 weeks. Expect my next few meal plans to reflect that with some added freezer meals. I plan on making them to have on hand for 2 or 3 weeks after little man gets here.

I finally caved in and picked 7 themes to base meals around, however,  we have just been eating what sounds good and haven't necessarily had "themed" nights like Mexi Monday or Pizza Friday.

The themes are:
1. Sandwich/ wraps
2. Mexican Food
3. Pasta/Italian
4. Asian
5. Pizza
6. Salad/Soup/Grill
7. Slow cooker

Here are the meals we have brented having around my house:

1. Chicken Gyros - note that we eat ours with lettuce or spinach as well as the cucumbers and tomatoes in the wrap.

2. Baked Honey Lime Taquitos- I posted my Mashup for this recipe to a new Facebook group I started. If you would like to see it and want to join the group let me know.

3. Cajun Chicken Alfredo- this is a favorite in our house.  It's basically chicken Alfredo that we sprinkle diced tomatoes, green onions and Cajun seasoning on. I will be posting my recipe for Alfredo sauce in the next day or two. This one is great because if people don't like spice,  you can just serve them regular Alfredo.

4. Teriyaki Chicken Bowls- you can use the search bar on blogger to find my teriyaki sauce recipe and how we pull it together to a delicious bowl dinner.

5. Pizza Fondue- this one is awesome and can be carb free if you choose not to dip bread. I actually just make it with the cheese and pepperoni and slice up the veggies I would put on pizza to dip. I did have toasted bread available for my kids.

6. Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad Copycat - I like to bread my chicken in a lighter way. Simply let it soak in milk for 5 minutes,  toss it into flour seasoned to your liking and fry immediately until golden.  I also add mandarin oranges, as the recipe in the restaurant has mandarins if I remember correctly.  It's delicious no matter what.

7. Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala - this one is easy and great served over rice with your leftover pitas from the gyros. You can control the spice by buying mild salsa and you can also add just 1 tbs of curry at first THEN when you add the sour cream or Greek yogurt in the last 30 minutes you can add more if you feel like it needs more punch.

8. Ham and Cheese Tailgate Sandwiches- I generally do not purchase the "fancy" cream cheese the recipe calls for. I simply spread regular 1/3 less fat cream cheese and sprinkle it with onion powder.  I also don't add the Worcestershire sauce. I simply melt 1/2 cube of butter (it doesn't take the whole cube like the recipe says) pour that over the top and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese and onion powder.  These are DELICIOUS! They taste like Arby's ham and swiss melts.  You can also use any type of bread/rolls you want. I have tried it with regular rolls, bread, etc and it always comes out delicious.

9. Honey Chipotle chicken bowls- haven't tried this one yet, but it looks yummy and has enough elements my kids will like that I think they will eat it. I will keep you posted.

10. Grilled Hamburgers

11. General Tso Chicken and fried rice- search for my sweet and sour chicken recipe. Pull out what you need for your kids,  then add 1/2 to 1 tsp of chili paste (or more to taste) serve it over my fried rice recipe. HEAVEN!!!

12. Papa Murphy's Garlic Chicken  Pizza Copycat- I am making this tonight.  Hopefully,  I will have time to post it on the blog tomorrow!

13. Grilled Steak- if you want a steak that doesn't need sauce,  try sprinkling it with mesquite smoked sea salt, lemon pepper, and garlic powder. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes before throwing it on the grill.  It's the only way we cook steak now.

14. Slow cooker chicken gumbo

Happy eating!!!!