Focusing on Food

I'm BACK!
I think. . .

We've got a borrowed CPU with most of my files loaded up on it. It's not the ideal situation, but it is so much better than nothing. Having to use a computer in ONE LOCATION feels so very old school. I keep imagining myself as a caveman resigned to only hack out my stick men inside on the cave walls. At least I'm 'drawing' again though!

I'm going to attempt to not overload this post with too much at one time. Today will just be about food and my menu for the week.

Pat and I are really going to start making an attempt to eat better. Unfortunately, that means most of my favorite recipes will be disappearing from my menus. I know it's a good thing, but I do love my cheese. . . and cream. . .and BUTTER!!! Of course, I won't be dropping these items completely at once, but we're definitely working toward some healthier choices. With that said, here's this week's meal plan for Menu Plan Monday:

Breakfasts: Cereal/oatmeal, cinnamon sugar croissants, raspberry parfaits, peanut butter toast, eggs w/toast & bacon, whole wheat blueberry waffles

Lunches: Turkey sandwiches, tuna noodles, chicken pitas w/veggies, soup and warm pita wedges, PB&J, leftovers, salad w/chicken or turkey

Dinners: 

Steak w/sweet potatoes & broccoli

Crockpot chicken, yellow rice, green beans

Ministrone Soup w/crackers

Grilled shrimp, boiled red potatoes, roasted carrots

Maple mustard chicken thighs, mashed cauliflower, peas

I'm definitely a newbie to the whole eating healthier thing so I'm looking for some other great menu ideas. I know the extensive list of other Menu Plan Monday participants at I'm an Organizing Junkie will have some tasty, but healthier food suggestions.

If you've got a recipe or even a tip or two on eating better, please share!!!

While I've been out of the loop the past few weeks I've still made attempts to plan our meals to a certain extent. Without my computer, I couldn't access most of my recipes. However, there was still Pintrest and all those delicious-looking foods I'd pinned. As such, I did try a few new recipes that I thought I'd review for you here.

1. Penne a la Betsy! from the Pioneer Woman. I'm sad to say, but it's a lot of her recipes that will be leaving my lists as we move toward more conscious eating habits. . . . sigh. . .anyway.

Like all of Ree's recipes,this was DELICIOUS! I regret not having the fresh herbs (I used dried instead) as that really would have out it over the top. It was a subtle dish with no outstanding flavors, but really was yummy.

2. Southern Chicken and Corn Chowder from Add a Pinch was super tasty.

Let me admit that the recipe said to roughly chop the veggies and I did. I regret that. I should have chopped them just a little finer as it was a bit too chunky for my tastes. As well, the soup was a tad thinner than I had anticipated. I'll add some cornstarch to it next time to fix that up. Yes, I said next time! We will most likely repeat this recipe in the future. That's definitely a good thing!

3. Baked Black Bean Taquitos from Naturally Ella were right up my alley.

I liked that this was a vegetarian meal that I could kinda quickly pull together for our lunch. However, things went a little awry for me when it came to the corn tortillas. The directions said to dip them in a pot of boiling water (turned off) for a few seconds before adding the filling. As soon as my tortillas touched that water, they disintegrated into it!! So, I went without the water bath for them. Yet, when I rolled them they split. By the time they came out of the oven, they had ALL split on the sides and were more like black bean quesidillas. I'm sure this just had to do with the type of tortillas I bought and with my lack of experience with corn ones. No matter the cause, they were still pretty darn yummy. I will most likely repeat this recipe, but I need to figure out what I did wrong with the tortillas. If I can't I'll still probably make the filling again and use it in another way!

I also had these Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on the menu, but never actually got around to making them. I still have all the ingredients, but with our new perspective I didn't include them in this week's plan. If we decide we want something naughty I may make them yet.

I can't believe it's taken me ALL MORNING to get this post written. I'm so out of practice. I've got a ton of tasks that I want to catch up on so I better get to it.

Again, if you've got any healthy recipes/suggestions I've LOVE to hear them!