One of my 2014 goals is meal planning. I do not like to cook at all. I wish I liked it…it would make dinner time so much more enjoyable, but alas. My goal is to “cook” 6-7 times per week. This helps our budget A.LOT. I like to use the term “cooks” loosely because it could be one night we just have bean and cheese quesadillas…insert tortillas, shredded cheese, a can of black beans and salsa…not hard. When looking for recipes on Pinterest the word “easy” is always in my search bar…always. The easier the better. I’ve realized easy doesn’t always taste fantastic so when I find a recipe that’s easy and tastes delicious and is good for you it’s kind of a slam dunk.
My most favorite I’ve tried lately is this 5-Ingrediant Easy White Chicken Chili. It is sooooooo good. And it is sooooooo easy. Everyone ate it right up and it’s on my meal plan again for this week.
For the record, I did not make my own salsa verde, no way. I did however buy a jar. My friend Christy turned me onto this brand of salsas and they are hands down my total favorite now. I buy mine at Kroger. Delicious and easy.
I also revisited this Failproof-Easy-Delicious Chicken Noodle Soup (in a crockpot) recipe as well. Made it last night. Can’t wait to eat leftovers for lunch. And again with all the easiness. Totally my jam.
I’m also still doing my whole “no sweets during the week” and last night on FB a friend had re-posted this recipe for a healthy shake that claimed to taste just like a frosty. Ummmm, why would I not try to make it if it tasted just like a frosty and it was easy to make and healthy. Let me just say now, unless it is actually THE frosty from Wendy’s it is more than likely NOT going to taste like a frosty especially when it’s claimed as healthy. It was not good. And it did not taste like a frosty. No way. Not even. Never. I did however divide it out into 3 small jars for Harper, Hudson and Solomon’s snack this afternoon after school. Mark my words, because it looks like chocolate ice cream, they will eat it. I’ll report back.
Ingredients to the Shake That Does NOT Taste Like A Wendy’s Frosty: 1 cup almond milk, 1 very ripe banana, 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp. peanut butter or sunbutter, 1 tsp. honey and 1.5 cups ice. Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Oh and I added 1 Tbsp. chia seeds. Remember…I told you it was not good, but maybe your kiddos will dig it.
On a total different food note…Solomon’s birthday is fast approaching and he has decided he would like regular ole’ brownies for his birthday, but with cookie dough frosting. Hold the phone. That sounds amazing. So I did a little searching and after he viewed the pictures, he confirmed that this Cookie Dough Frosting was in fact the icing he wanted on his brownies for his birthday. I can’t wait to try it.
And if you really have a healthy frosty recipe, show a sister some love and share it…please!!!!! Anyone else have some good, easy and healthy recipes out there? I would love to hear about them.
Happy Tuesday.
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Laura, that recipe needs a bit more sweetness. Try adding one packet of Stevia/Truvia (a more natural sweetner). Then, to make it smooth and ice cream like, believe it or not, add 1/2 of an avocado. The entire texture will change and you will be amazed!
oops, forgot this part–I always blend the ice first to get it as fine as possible. Then, I add other ingredients.
You totally crack me up, I just live you and look forward to your posts. I prefer coconut milk, you could play with the ingredients a bit and try unsweetened vanilla coconut milk. Try almond or cashew butter they are less intense flavor wise.
Oops *love not live you…
I made this the other night. Delicious and so easy!
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pasta-tomato-basil-sauce-50400000132600/
Paulas potato soup. Easy easy, but you may want to double the recipehttp://www.raininghotcoupons.com/paula-deens-crock-pot-potato-soup-recipe/ (not my blog but it’s the recipe) I also add bacon bits (the real kind) it’s awesome I make it on the stove and always gets devoured by my picky husband and daughter. Hope you love it as much as we do!
Mexican Crock Pot dinner
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans
1 can Rotel Tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning mix
Mix all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high 3 – 4 hours. Serve over rice or in tortilla shells.
Orange chicken and rice~only 5 ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 jar of apricot preserves
1/2 bottle of Russian dressing
I packet of Lipton onion soup mix
Mix the apricot preserves, dressing and onion soup mix together. Pour on top of chicken in baking dish.
Cook with aluminum foul covering the chicken on 350 for 1 hour. When done, remove foil and let the chicken cook uncovered at 350 for 30 more minutes. EASY!
We usually eat with white rice.
Hey Laura! I’m not sure if you have ever heard of Emeals but it is a meal planning service… Dave Ramsey recommends it! We have used it for almost 3 yrs now and love it. They have meal plans that you can use with the store of your choice or with the type of meals you want to make… for example paleo and they even have a slow cooker meal plan that we recently switched to. I find that their classic meal plans are more kid friendly and we are always trying something new with it! It has saved us so much time and money so I just thought I’d share!
This is the easiest dinner and everyone loves it! So simple and all in one pan…can’t get better than that! Love you, love your blog!
easy chicken tacos
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 30 minutes
this dish is a cinch and comes together in a snap! great way to use leftover chicken and other toppings.
ingredients
recipe by kroger
1 rotisserie chicken, deboned and shredded
12 oz brown rice, cooked
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mexican cheese blend, shredded
1 can diced salsa style fire roasted tomatoes (i used a can of mexican style tomatoes with diced green chiles)
1 jar (16oz) verde enchilada sauce
1 pkg tortillas or crisp taco shells
sour cream *optional
instructions
preheat oven to 450. spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
mix all ingredients except tortillas and sour cream in a large bowl.
place in the baking dish
bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until bubbling. let stand 5 minutes. spoon into tortillas and top with sour cream etc.
Girl, me too! Mom of 3 (wife of 1), stay-at-home mama right now, and I can’t stand cooking. I want to, I TRY to, but I just don’t like it. Easy is the way to go. Let me tell you my very favorite meal. Pot roast in the crock pot!
So, get a roast. (I think chuck roast?) Put it in your crock pot. (Stay with me.) Pour on a packet of dry ranch seasoning. Pour on a packet of dry onion soup mix. Pour on a packet of dry brown gravy mix. Then pour a cup (or a cup and a half) of water over that. No need to even mix it up. (There is always dry powder still on my roast.) Set to low for 6-8 hours. (It’s usually around 6.5 hours for me.) Boom. Done. Amazing. Promise.
*Note: the recipe I found this from says to make the potatoes and carrots in the crock pot too. I tried it once and they were too mushy for my liking, so I make them separately. But they’re easy too! Throw some butter and water in a sauce pan and heat up the carrots and make roasted or mashed potatoes. Seriously – do it. It’s Sunday Dinner good.
We fell in love with this recipe for cookie dough frosting a while ago…it’s all that. Sweet. Salty. Just like cookie dough.
http://tidymom.net/2011/cookie-dough-cupcakes-with-cookie-dough-frosting-recipe/
An easy recipe I love that’s pretty healthy too.
Boil mini-potato-cheese pierogis (from the frozen section) as directed. Also be steaming a head of broccoli (fresh or frozen if you must). In a skillet heat a couple T. of olive oil and sauté some chopped walnuts and sweet onion if you like onion. When the broccoli and pierogis are al dente throw them into the walnuts and onions skillet. Sprinkle on red pepper flakes to taste (we like it hot) and toss to mix and coat everything well. You’re done! It’s fast and includes healthy things like broccoli, walnuts and olive oil and we happen to love the taste, maybe you will too. Btw this is what I call a one skillet dinner – I would serve nothing else with this as it contains protein, vegetables, grain (the pasta pierogis), etc. I guess you could do a side of fruit if you wanted to get fancy, but I love one skillet/pot dinners!