Our Meals

The month doesn't surprise. It's busy here as always, but at least it's not in a bad way. I began a series of classes last Monday, training for a volunteer position with the County that I've been interested in since October. For the next five weeks I'll be in classes for two hours Monday and Wednesday night and roughly seven hours on Saturday. Classes are draining, not only because of the hours but the topics as well. I'll save that for another time. I don't start school until the beginning of March so I won't be on overload for some time.

Last week I tried several new recipes.

Meal Plan - January 18 - 24

• Empanadas with Cheese Sauce
• Chicken Tostadas with Avocado Salsa
• Garlicky Potatoes and Sausage
• From Scratch Mac N Cheese with Cauliflower and Chicken Sausages
• Chicken Burrito Bake

We had two convenience food nights so I didn't make two of the dinners I'd planned; they have been moved to this coming week.

Meal Plan - January 25 - 31

• Potato Soup - I made this today, yum!
• Spaghetti Carbonara
• Chicken Fried Steak - still have not pulled these out of the deep-freeze!
• Buffalo Chicken Fingers
• Chicken In The Chips
• Chicken Tostadas with Avocado Salsa and Homemade Refried Black Beans - Encore!

The two cookbooks and website that are feeding us right now are Dinner Doctor, Desperation Dinners (my new addition) and Everyday with Rachael Ray. Without them we'd be eating Mac N Cheese out of a box and Hamburger Helper. Don't get me wrong, I like a box of the orange stuff every now and then and Hamburger Helper is quick but we've reached that point in our lives where we'd rather eat real food on a daily basis. I don't make everything from scratch mind you. My refried black beans are out of a can because that sort of planning doesn't really happen in my house. Half the main dish recipes in Desperation Dinners begin with frozen chicken or ground beef! That's my kind of cookbook.

I've also discovered my awesome stick blender again. Some time back my Magic Bullet died. It didn't actually die though - it broke. The little gear on top of the base - THAT'S MADE OUT OF SOME SORT OF ACRYLIC - broke. It was a very sad day here as we don't own a blender or food processor. Let's just say that I was angry as my previous Magic Bullet died/broke in the very same fashion and Homeland Housewares doesn't sell replacement parts. Any-who... the stick blender I got for Christmas last year has become very handy while I try to decide on the best product to replace my beloved bullet. You can stick that thing in soups, mash beans and potatoes, make smoothies and shakes - nearly any task that a blender can accomplish, a stick blender can do... except crush ice, don't try that. So while I obsess over which kitchen appliance I'll be dropping $100 on next, my $15 stick blender is chugging along making my kitchen existence tolerable.