Monday, February 7, 2011

Dinner with the Haitsma's...by popular demand :)

Easy-ish meals:
taco rice (this is just hamburger with tomato soup mixed with taco seasoning over rice, super easy and super yummy!)
spaghetti
hamburger helper (healthy, I know)
soup and sandwiches (I LOVE my friend Shelley's soup from the soup company, the beef barley with dumplings is incredible!!! facebook: "The Soup Company"; and tuna sandwiches are loved the most in our house)
potsickers and rice(we buy these from costco in bulk, they are my kids faves)
thai chkn and rice(pan-fry chkn, add costco's sweet chili sauce, and chow-mein noodles, eat over rice; a friend of mine adds coconut milk to her rice, but I haven't tried it yet)
chicken ceaser salad
tacos
potatoes and chili or pan-fried chicken with seasoning (always a fave)
meatloaf and potatoes(I make mini-meatloafs in muffin tins because they are awesome! This is also super easy to freeze and eat later, I add BBQ sauce and a slice of cheese on top)
pizza
chili cheese fries
perogies
fried and chicken strips  (okay, okay....I never said it was all healthy, ha ha...I try and only eat one of the easy-junk meals a week, ex. pizza)

a little trickier (well, more time-consuming):
cafe rio(http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html ...pretty tricky, but yummy, and once I make it I usually freeze half for anotherr dinner, including the geern sauce, it freezes well. I buy the pork rind from costoc, which are super cheap...i saw them today for $13.00!! Which is crazy, because its boneless, and there is a TON of meat there...can you tell I love love love costco??)
sheperds pie ( I kind of just use whatever for this, not usually a set recipe)
apple chicken salad with baby greens (found this recipe through pampered chef, but you could probably google a similar one)
chicken tex mex and rice ( I just googled a recipe for this, something like this would work well, and its a GREAT slowcooker meal... http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-tex-mex-chicken-107258.aspx)
mexican pizza ( I layer tortilla shells with hamburger mixed with beans, salsa(sometimes mixed with ranch or something), peppers and onions, and cheese)
fettucine alfredo
hawaiian meatballs (this is from my sister-in-law katie, so I haven't made it yet, so norecipe to share, sorry!)

I buy my hamburger in bulk from costco, and make the mini-meatloafs to freeze. If I'm really on the ball I'll fry up the rest of the beef, divide it and freeze it...but if not, I just divide the uncooked meat into smaller ziploc baggies.

 I usually make the easy meals a few times throughout the month,  and the more difficult ones only once
The ones my kids and hubby REALLY love, usually get in there weekly. I have a white-erase calendar that I stick to the fridge, so everyone knows whats for dinner. This works especially well when having exchange students, because then they can write if they'll be home for dinner or not. 
I find that meal-planning like this makes it SO much easier to shop (which I do weekly, once I write out my list from the meal plan) it also tends to save money at the grocery store, when your not buying aimless food. 
Anyways, I hoped this helped some of you!!

2 comments:

  1. Great ideas! I should probably slow down on crafting and do some meal planning....

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  2. I've been doing both all week long..and its getting a little hectic, valentines day crafts are so fun though!

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