Whatcha Eatin'? January 16th Edition

Here is our menu for this week.  Hoping to share my BBQ Chicken and Cheesy Potatoes recipe later this week.

Sunday:  Tortellini, Salad, Corn, Garlic Bread

Monday:  Chili, Cheese & Crackers, Grapes

Tuesday:  BBQ Chicken, Cheesy Potatoes, Green Beans

Wednesday:  Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Rolls

Thursday:  Leftover Buffet...yummy, right?!

Friday: Pizza Tot Casserole, Salad  **New Recipe** 

Saturday:  Cheeseburgers, French Fries, Baked Beans, Cottage Cheese

What are you having this week?  Have any awesome, easy recipes you'd like to share?  I love trying out new recipes.  I am looking to build a great collection of 40-60 recipes so we don't have the same thing too often. 

Want to join in the menu planning fun?  Link up with me at Organizing Junkie's Blog. 

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!  I hope you have a great start to your week!  I am starting mine out with a nasty cold and 2 out of 3 kiddos with the same thing.  Little Bro has been complaining about his ears hurting, so I am assuming he has an ear infection that is accompanying his cold.  I thought I'd cheer him up with a chocolate donut today.  At least I got a smile out of him! Have a fabulous week! 

Taco Filled Pasta Shells

(sorry for the bad picture)

I told you that I would post this on Thursday...sorry, I lied.  So here it is!  We LOVED this recipe.  Every single one of us.  That rarely happens.  I did omit a few things for the boys to make it simple and they gobbled them up! 

Here is what you need:

Ingredients
•2 pounds ground beef

•2 envelopes taco seasoning

•1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed

•24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells

•1/4 cup butter, melted

•ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS (for each casserole):

•1 cup salsa

•1 cup taco sauce

•1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

•1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

•1-1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

•1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

•3 green onions, chopped

This is what you do:

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add taco seasoning; prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese; cook and stir for 5-10 minutes or until melted. Transfer to a bowl; chill for 1 hour.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Gently toss with butter. Fill each shell with about 3 tablespoons of meat mixture.

Now, the recipe says you can stop at this point and freeze half of them up to 3 months...but I continued on with the additional ingredients.  Next time, I will definitely freeze half the batch for later.

When you are ready to bake them do the following: 

To prepare remaining shells, spoon salsa into a greased 9-in. square baking dish. Top with stuffed shells and taco sauce. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheeses and chips. Bake 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Serve with sour cream and onions.

Then, enjoy!  We sure did...not once, but twice! 

***Note:  For the boys, we baked their shells separately and just topped them with cheese. 

****Another Note:  I got this from a Taste of Home cookbook that I received for Christmas. It just so happens that the lady who made up this recipe is from Roanoke, IL!  Small world.

Not Snow Much Fun!

There's nothing like the first official snow of winter.    Usually, I love watching it snow and pile up, but for some reason this year's first snow is just plain rotten.  I am going to blame it on all the beautiful springlike weather we have been having lately.  No matter how awful I thought it was, the boys, especially Big Brother, were thrilled to wake up and see the fluffy, white snow on the ground.  Immediately, they asked to go outside and play.  From the excitement in their voices, I knew that they wouldn't be taking no for an answer.  So after 30 minutes of pulling on snowpants, finding matching mittens, and lacing up boots, we were ready. 

Big Brother was still super excited! 

Little Bro, not so much!  You can't see the tears running down his face in this pic or hear his wailing.  It was evident...he did NOT like the cold wind or snow!

They only lasted literally ten minutes before coming in for some hot chocolate. 

Little Bro was much happier.

Sweet Baby Sis was fast asleep in her carseat the whole time. 

(We had gone to my parents house to play in the snow because they left for Florida today. I am just a tiny bit JEALOUS!)

Did you venture out in the snow yesterday?  I am secretly hoping that it melts soon so I don't have to make another trip out there to build a snowman or snow fort.  BRRR!  I can't handle the cold! 



Whatcha Eatin'? January 9th Edition

Well, I am back at it!  I took the entire month of December off and now I ready to get back to blogging and keeping my life in order!  One of my resolutions or goals for 2012 is to plan my menu weekly so that I can save money at the grocery store and save myself from frustration at home.  Also, I received a really great cookbook for Christmas with TONS of yummy recipes in it.  I will be trying one new recipe a week for 2012 in hopes to find 60 recipes that I can rotate so that we don't get stuck in a rut.  I will be designating Wednesdays for my new recipes, so stop back Thursday to see what we thought.  Here is what is planned for this week:

Sunday:  Steak on the grill, Baby Red Potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls (We couldn't pass up the chance to grill in January!) 

Monday:  Chicken Pot Pie, Cottage Cheese, Applesauce

Tuesday:  Broccoli Cheese Soup, Grilled Turkey Sandwiches

Wednesday:  Taco Filled Pasta Shells  

Thursday:  One Dish Chicken & Stuffing Dish, Mashed Potatoes, Corn

Friday: Dinner Out or Leftovers

Saturday:  Frozen Pizza or Cheeseburgers (depending on if hubby wants to grill them)

Did I mention that my hubby loves that I menu plan?  It means that he has warm meal ready when he comes home from work! 

Join me at Organizing Junkie's blog and link up your menu.  Or, leave a comment here and let me know what favorite recipes you are using this week!

THE RESULTS are In!

I have gotten many questions lately about the Baby Weight Loss Challenge that I was participating in.  Well...the results are in.  While I wasn't the "biggest" loser, I am still a LOSER!  I lost 25.5 lbs. and slimmed down 16 inches!  I will admit, that I am sure that I could have done better.   Unfortunately, I let myself have a few too many treats at the many Christmas parties that I attended.  However, I am very happy with my weightloss and plan to continue in 2012!   I am also very excited for my workout partner, the "other" Jodi, who won the challenge and 3 FREE months of training!  Here is the clip from WHOI's Good Company show. 

For those of you looking for a place to get started, I would HIGHLY recommend Training Domain to help you reach your weightloss goals!  Marnie is tough, but I would consider it a "tough love".  She really wants to help you reach your goals and she will keep you accountable.  Right now they have a new challenge and chance to win free training!   Learn more about the Get Fit Team Challenge and start your new year off right.  (If you do decide to join the challenge, tell Marnie or Mark that I sent ya!)

Private Selection Frozen Tasty Treats...Try them out!

We all know how crazy life can be especially during the holidays, so I jumped at the chance to get a break from cooking by trying out some fabolous frozen treats by Private Selection.  As a Bzz Agent, I was given three coupons to sample three products from Private Selection's new line of frozen foods.  For those of you who are not familiar with this brand, you can purchase this at your local Kroger. 

We had made the choice to stay in on New Year's Eve, so I thought that this would be the perfect night to try something new.  I was giving a coupon for 1 free appetizer, 1 free pizza, and 1 free dessert.  Since my whole family loves Mexican food, I decided that the Southwestern Style Chicken trumpets would be our pick for the appetizer.   Of course, the trumpets were not complete without a dollop of sour cream.  These were yummy...and did not last more than 2 minutes.  Literally.  We devoured them.  Thank goodness we had a delicious pepperoni pizza in the oven.  One thing we particulary liked about the pizza was the sweet sauce.  However, it was also on the small side and the thin, flaky crust got a little too done.  I was wishing that we would have been a bit more adventous and tried out one of the other combinations like the BBQ Chicken or the Margherita.  Finally, we finished off the night with a warm apple crisp from the oven topped with vanilla ice cream.  DELISH! 

The number one thing I enjoyed about these treats was the effortlessness!  (is that even a word?)  It was so simple which is what every busy mother needs.  Besides being easy, they were tasty!  One complaint that I have is the small sizes.  It says that it was meant for two people, but I could easily have devoured every single trumpet, the entire pizza, and both apple crisps.  Overall, I would purchase these again, IF there is a good sale on them and I have a coupon to match.  :-)