Saturday, June 29, 2013

July Meal Planning


7/1 Mon- Team Meeting - Chicken & Dumplings
7/2 Tues- Steak Fajita Quesadillas
7/3 Wed- God & Country Festival - Pizza
7/4 Thurs- 4th of July BBQ @Palmers - Triple Chocolate MnM Cookies, Fire-CRACKers
7/5 Fri-  Smoked Sausage, CotC & Ranch Chicken Cutlets over Green Salad
7/6 Sat-  OUT to Famous Daves
7/7 Sun- Fish & Chips
7/8 Mon- Team Meeting - Fajita Burritos
7/9 Tues- Cajun Chicken Pasta
7/10 Wed- Leftovers
7/11 Thurs- Dirty Rice
7/12 Fri- Settlers Park Movie Night- Ice Age Continental Drift- Leftovers
7/13 Sat- Event @ Karcher Mall 8A-8P
7/14 Sun- BBQ after Church- Chicken Quarters, CotC, Veggies, Beignets
7/15 Mon- Team Meeting - Corn Dog Muffins & Green Salad
7/16 Tues- Freezer Pizza
7/17 Wed- Tamale Pie
7/18 Thurs- Horseradish Panko Crusted Cod, Coleslaw, CotC & Pasta Shells
7/19 Fri-  Settlers Park Movie Night-The LoraxSpaghetti & Meatballs,
7/20 Sat- Leftovers, Crinkle Cookies
7/21 Sun- BBQ after Church- Steak, Grilled Veggies, Garlic Roll-Ups, Orzo Salad & 3 Berry Bread
7/22 Mon- Team Meeting - BBQ Drumsticks, Scalloped Potatoes & Salad
7/23 Tues- Leftovers
7/24 Wed-  Breakfast- Pancakes, Bacon & Eggs
7/25 Thurs- Butterfly Shrimp, Fish Sticks & French Fries + Salad
7/26 Fri-  Settlers Park Movie Night- Wreck it Ralph- Out to Sonic
7/27 Sat- Canyon County Fair 
7/28 Sun- Southwest Frito Salad
7/29 Mon- Team Meeting- Chicken Tacos
7/30 Tues- Mustgo
7/31 Wed- Pot Roast Burgers, Scalloped Potatoes & Veggies


6 MORE months of meal planning below :)

June 2013 Dinners
May 2013 Dinners
April 2013 Dinners
March 2013 Dinners
February 2013 Dinners
January 2013 Dinners

Monday, June 24, 2013

Healthified Crockpot Lasagna



Lasagna is the BOMB.  Yeah.  I said bomb. Seriously though.... I grew up with an 100% Italian Father "Mio Padre" and the VERY first thing my Mother taught me to make when I was a child, was Lasagna......  the real way!  She was pregnant with my sister (I was 8) and she said that she wanted me to make it for her when she came home from the hospital with the baby.   Um... HOLY TASK!  If anyone has ever made homemade Lasagna.... not only does it seems to cost $30-$40 for a pan, its sooooooo time consuming that I often find myself reaching for that Stouffers Freezer Party Tray..... *I realize thats a sin, but it's good...

So ANYWHO.... Here's my 'healthified' take on 'REAL' Lasagna.... oh.... and its in the CROCKPOT!

Ingredients:
1 lb chub Ground Turkey
1 package of Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles
1 16 oz container of Cottage Cheese
2 Jars of Red Sauce (or 40 oz homemade gravy)
2 bags of fresh spinach leaves
4-6 cups of Shredded Mozzerella/Blend
Minced Garlic
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Salt



PRE ASSEMBLY:

  • Brown the Ground Turkey with 2 tsp Italian Seasoning & 1 tsp Garlic Salt.  Set aside

  • Boil the Noodles with about 2 tbsp Oil in the water to keep from sticking together.
  • 'Strain' the container of Cottage Cheese to remove most the liquid.
  • Puree the Strained Cottage Cheese with 1 tbsp Minced Garlic & 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning in a food processor.









Now it's time to ASSEMBLE!

  • Put about 1/2 jar or about 2 cups red sauce on the bottom of the Crockpot.
  • Strategically place noodles over the sauce, careful not to let them climb up the sides. (I actually used scissors to make my noodles a little friendlier shaped.)
  • Start your layers on top of first noodles:
    • Cottage Cheese directly on Noodles
    • Cover with a Layer of Raw Spinach
    • More Noodles
    • Meat
    • Sauce
    • Shredded Cheese
    • Noodles
    • Cottage Cheese
    • Spinach
    • Noodles
    • Meat
    • Sauce
    • Noodles
    • Cottage Cheese
    • Spinach
    • Noodles
    • Cheese
    • Sauce (at this point, make sure to get the sauce ALL over & around the top of the lasagna
    • a bit of shredded cheese





Crock on 'Keep Warm' for 6-8 hours.
Add about 2 cups more cheese to the top.
Crank up to 'Low' setting for about an half an hour.
Take Lid off/ Turn off and let 'set' for about 10 minutes.

Serve :)


Friday, June 14, 2013

A Giveaway In Honor of 55,000 visits!

I am uber humbled that my blog has received 55,000 visits!!!

In honor of this astounding number, I'd like to do a giveaway!!!


Raise your hand if you 'Liked my Facebook Fan Page'







Do you:
  • Like makeup?
  • Refuse to put chemicals, fillers or unnecessary products on your body?
  • Love FREE stuff

Younique is for you!


Here  are a couple images to get your mind 'thinking'.




HERE'S THE GIVEAWAY:

'Like' my fanpage here

Comment on this post that you have done it and what your favorite mineral pigment color is.

When my fanpage reaches 200 likes, I will pick a random winner!

If you Join my Team (and let me know you saw it here)........  I will give you a FULL book of my personal marketing materials + a (made by me) lip gloss & nail polish.  Contact me for more info, or go to www.getfiberlashed.com and click on 'Join my team'.

You're gonna love this stuff!

And READY?...........GO!


Monday, June 10, 2013

Basil Lime Chicken




I saw this idea blogged somewhere off my 'foodie' group on Facebook.  I checked it out and it looked delicious yet when I was ready to make it, I didn't have the recipe captured so I had to go from memory :(

So in essence, I found this recipe elsewhere, but I have no idea if I remembered all the ingredients or added any of my own so....

Nonetheless, this was THE BOMB!

*Note: When Marinating Meat, I personally feel like the smaller the pieces are, the better it is marinated.  Same goes for when seasoning large pieces of meat, I always 'stab' in several places and put whole garlic cloves inside.

So....
Place amount of chicken tenders (see above note) you want to make in a gallon sized Ziploc bag.



Make your Marinade & Sauce at same time (Mostly the same ingredients)

In larger Pyrex (Marinade)
1/3 C Olive Oil
Zest & Juice from 1 Lime
about 3 tbsp more Lime Juice
3 Green Onions Chopped
2 tsp minced Garlic
3 tbsp Worscheshire
3 tbsp Soy Sauce
3 tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard
1 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning





For the Sauce (In Tupperware):

2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Basil
Zest & Juice of 1 lime
(Place all lime rinds in the marinade bowl)
3 green onions, finely sliced
1 tsp minced garlic

This will go over the chicken after it is cooked.

Cook on the BBQ and  then toss in sauce.

Teriyaki Beef Kabobs

Two things contributed to the success of this meal:

First: $1 Pineapple (Supppa Sale!) I wanted to buy 10, but was able to convince the hubs that we would use 5, and guess what.... I cut up and used up 3 whole pineapples this evening! Perfectly ripe.. (Click here to see how to tell if a Pineapple is ripe yet.)

Second: (And no, I'm not being paid to endorse this) The Jack Daniels Honey Teriyaki Marinade in a Bag.  Freaking delicious!  I need to run out and buy another bag IMMEDIATELY!


Prep everything:

First, I used about 2 lbs (should have used 4) Tri Tip steaks cut into about 1 1/2" chunks.

Throw in the marinade bag and let sit for a few hours.

At the same 'hour' you marinate the meat, you also want to put your wood skewers in water to soak. (So you don't catch them on fire.)

Cut the following into LARGE Pieces:
2 Green Peppers
1 Orange & 1 Yellow Pepper
1 large Red Onion
2 Cored Pineapples
20-30 Button Mushrooms (whole)


When ready to assemble, Take a skewer and (this is my 'best-efforts' conclusion for the order of placement)
put in the following order:

Onion
Green Pepper
Mushroom
Meat
Pineapple
Onion
Orange Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Meat
Pineapple
Onion
Mushroom
Green Pepper
Onion

If you are magic enough to get more on the skewer, we definitely needed more meat and the mushrooms were really good too.


Hand off to your husband to grill.

Enjoy!



*** Note: If you have OCD, assemble these by yourself.




April Fools Dinner & Dessert

Just for fun, I did a 'mix n unmatch' dinner for April Fools.... Yeah, yeah... I know I'm WAY late posting this.....

Tater Tot Casserole 'Cupcakes' *sub mashed taters :)


Make a batter of:

1 lb ground turkey
1 can green beans
1 cup shredded cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Tony's seasoning
1 tbsp Chia seeds
1 tbsp Parsley Flakes


Line a muffin tin and scoop packed mixture into cups.
Bake at 350 for about 30 mins.

When done, put instant mashed potatoes on top with some more shredded cheese and 'broil' for about 10 mins.











And.... on to 'Dessert'


Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake 'Tacos'

You need:

Corn tortillas
Olive Oil (For flash frying the shells
Cinnamon Sugar Blend
Strawberries (cut small)
Chocolate Chips
Whipped Topping






Fry the tortillas on both sides (in heated oil) then flip onto paper towel to 'drain'.  Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar, and place in taco holder to keep shape.  While still warm, add chocolate chips to bottom of shell.

When ready to serve, put ample amount of cut strawberries in shell and top with whipped cream.

Um. Yum.

Beer Battered Fish & Homemade Corn Fritters




I'm just going to start off by saying that I will not divulge the type of fish I used here.  I'm ashamed of it.  It isn't Halibut and that's pretty much all you need to know.  It tasted OK, but I'm going to REALLY suggest that if you beer batter & deep fry fish, you either use #1: Halibut, #2: Cod, #3: Mahi Mahi

****Another tidbit....... Frying two different items for the same meal is a #1: A HUGE PIA, and #2: A Heartattack waiting to happen.  I don't recommend it.

With that said.....


Beer Battered Fish

Get yourself a 'Fish Batter Kit' and the cheapest beer you can find. (We used Keystone).  Follow the directions on the package for 'Beer Batter.'

Cut your white fish into chunks

Make the batter

Put the chunks of fish into the batter

Get your oil HOT

With a fork, get a piece of fish out of the batter and place gently into the oil.  Let fry about 3-4 minutes, flip, let fry another couple minutes (until browned) and then drain on paper towels.

Subtly sprinkle with Garlic Salt

Serve with Tartar or put in tacos.









Corn Fritters with Cinnamon Honey Butter

First, make up the butter:

1/4- 1/3 cup butter (room temperature)
about 2 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Mix & mash with fork.  Set aside.


Next, get about 3" of oil HOT in a pot.
You are going to need a 'scoop' and tongs.

To make the batter, add the following (in this order) to your mixer:

1 cup Cornmeal
1 1/2 Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 C Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 C Milk
2 large eggs
1/4 C softened butter
1 can (15ish oz) whole kernel corn, drained






Using small to medium scoop, drop scoops of batter into hot oil.  Watch and flip using tongs when necessary.

Drain on paper towels.


This makes A LOT..... like 3-4 dozen fritters.  I took the 20+ leftover fritters and put them in the freezer. 

I will throw them in the oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes when ready to consume. :)

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

June 2013 Dinners

This is how I plan my meals (as you can see, sometimes according to what activities, holidays or events are happening as well)  It makes life sooooo much easier to know how much meat of each kind you will need for the meals all month long!

A lot of times, I vary the veggies or sides depending on what produce I get from Bountiful Baskets or Boise Milk, or what is on sale.


6/1 Sat- Out to Flying Pie
6/2 Sun- Zuppa Toscana Soup
6/3 Mon- Team Meeting 'Banzai' Burgers, CotC & Glazed Carrots
6/4 Tues- Beer Battered White Fish, Corn Fritters & Green Beans
6/5 Wed- Freezer Pizza
6/6 Thurs- Swedish Meatballs over Noodles & Salad
6/7 Fri- (Settlers Park Movie Night-THE PARENT TRAP)
6/8 Sat- Teriyaki Beef Kabobs, Grilled & Fresh Pineapple, CotC & Potato Salad
6/9 Sun- Basil Lime Chicken, Green Salad & leftover sides
6/10 Mon- Team Meeting - Italian Orzo Skillet & Garlic Bread
6/11 Tues- (Notary Clinic late) - Short Ribs, Rice, Green Beans & Fresh Pineapple
6/12 Wed- BLTA Croissants & Oven Fries
6/13 Thurs- Shrimp Skewers, Grilled Pineapple, Baked Beans & Pasta Salad
6/14 Fri- Mac n' Cheese with Cauliflower & Cinnamon Toast
6/15 Sat- Garage Sale @ Smiths- AM/ Car Show @ Church- Afternoon /Amanda's Baby   
Shower in Caldwell-  OUT to Flying Pie
6/16 Sun- Fathers Day- Shawna's BC sauce over Filet, Scalloped Potatoes, Corn & Salad
6/17 Mon- Tacos, Bean Burritos & Spanish Rice
6/18 Tues- Meridian Dairy Days Princess Pageant- Papa Murphys
6/19 Wed- Teriyaki Chicken Noodles & Peas
6/20 Thurs- Fish Sticks & Potato Wedges
6/21 Fri- Teriyaki Beef Kabobs, Baked Beans, Potato & Macaroni Salads
6/22 Sat- Mustgo
6/23 Sun- Ty's 1st Trip to the Theater (Monsters University) Crockpot Spinach Lasagna & GB
6/24 Mon- Grilled Cheese & Soup
6/25 Tues- BBQ Chicken Tenders, Baked Beans, Potato & Macaroni Salads
6/26 Wed- Burgers/leftover sides
6/27 Thurs- Turkey Chili Baked Potatoes, Chips & Cheese  
6/28 Fri- (Settlers Park Movie Night- RIO- TOO HOT!)- McD's
6/29 Sat- BBQ @ Mike's 
6/30 Sun- Mom's 60th BIRTHDAY! - Steak, Steamed Cauliflower/Broccoli, Parm Pasta & Cheesy GB

5 MORE Months worth of meal planning below :)

May 2013 Dinners
April 2013 Dinners
March 2013 Dinners
February 2013 Dinners
January 2013 Dinners