Easy Baked Ziti

I love the baked ziti recipe that I got from my mom, but it can truly feed a crowd of 8 to 10. I am not up for that kind of recipe on a Sunday night for the four of us. I found this easy recipe that the girls really enjoyed. They liked it so much that they are taking it to school for lunch tomorrow.

If you are interested in feeding a crowd, see this recipe: http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/12/baked-ziti.html

Ingredients:
• 1 box Ziti or Rigatoni noodles
• 1 Can Del Monte Traditional Sauce (or your own recipe)
• 1 Ricotta Cheese (16 oz)
• 2 tablespoons. Lawry's Seasoned Salt (or more for your taste)
• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
Cook ziti according to directions. Put in 9" X 13" pan. Mix in Ricotta cheese and seasoned salt. Mix in Mozzarella cheese. Pour sauce over top. Bake in 350° oven for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, serve. Delicious!

April Meal Planning

I can't believe we are to the fourth month of 2o11! We have 9 weeks of school left, and we are starting to plan the summer. The sun is starting to come out, and just like the plants, I feel like I am coming out of hibernation. I have been reading cookbooks, blogs, and watching cooking shows. I am ready to experiment in the kitchen again. You will see that many of my recipes this time are new. I am also trying to get back to one vegetarian meal a week. I strayed a bit in the fall, I find it so much easier to go vegetarian when the food veggies are fresher. I will be posting the recipes through the week, as I try the new things.


Gordon Meals April 2011 -

Dinner Tool

I was introduced to a cool website this week called

www.dinnertool.com

It is a website that helps meal planning and assists in making the lists for grocery store. It is very cool! I can see using it to get started with your own meal planning. The folks at Dinner Tool approached us about linking to their website. They had found ours, liked it, and wanted to use it as a link from theirs. It looks like a great deal for both of us. :) Take some time to check it out!

You can see Two Sisters and Friends with this link:

http://www.dinnertool.co m/page/friends

March Meal Planning

Better late than never....

this month as been a week by week survival! I have finally finished the planning for this month. Enjoy!


March Meal Planning -

February Meal Planning

I can't believe another month has passed. I am hoping to blog a little better this month. I changed things just a bit in this month's planning. I have reduced it to five meals a week instead of six. We still eat in six nights a week, but I have a couple of things put back for quick fixes or leftovers for a night. We have enjoyed the meals together this month. After the busy month of December, it has been nice to have things getting back to normal. The test will be continuing it another month.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/70948616/Gordon-Meal-Planning-February-2011

Meal Planning, January 2011

Here is plan for the Gordon Family's Meals for January 2011

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/68192763/Gordon-Meal-Planning-January-2011

Meal Planning- A How to Guide for Busy Families

Welcome to 2011. I am welcoming in new year with open arms. I sat down the other day with a new calendar with the hopes of planning out a couple of weeks of January. I know that once school starts back, the family will be off and running. I also found out toward the end of last year, that I don't plan my meals, we don't eat as well during the week. I sat down with the calendar, and I was able to easily sketch out a month's worth of meals. I surprised myself. Now, I will see how much things change during the month. Right now I am planning on the family eating in at 6 nights a week. That will be a challenge. However, after the holiday, we need to eat in. If you start meal planning this year, try to keep some things in mind as you plan.

1. Start with planning a week at a time. Don't try a month to begin with. A week is plenty.

2. Make a grocery list on the weekend, shop and get all you need for the week, and then group your ingredients together in the pantry and fridge. It helps me stay organized.

3. Use the weekend (or evenings if you would rather) to pre-prep what you can for the week. My Thursday meal will almost always be made on Sunday.

4. After dinner each night, pull out what you need for the next night. I don't know how many times I have forgotten to pull meat out for the next day, because I forgot to plan ahead a bit.

5. Look at your schedule:

Gordon Schedule

• Sunday: Homecooked Meal Night: I love trying new recipes and cooking a big dinner. This is a tradition that Clay brought from his house growing up. I have grown to love it. I try a lot of new recipes on Sunday afternoons.


• Monday: Dance until 6:30 (Crockpot works best- girls are HUNGRY with they get home)


• Tuesday: Home around 4:15- I enjoy cooking, but nothing to intricate


• Wednesday: All home around 6. We are coming from two different places and activities with the kids.


• Thursday: I'm a tired. . . so this is a night were I want something prepared and ready to go in the oven.


• Friday/ Saturday: I will cook one of the two nights. Meal is planned for one or the other, but the other night will be to eat out.

So, knowing that - here is what I have figured out for us:

• Sunday- cooking a big meal


• Monday- Crockpot Night


• Tuesday- Cook, but low maintenance


• Wednesday- Crockpot, or Sandwiches


• Thursday- Make-Ahead Meal (made on the weekend)


• Friday/ Saturday- Family Favorites

5. Post your schedule on the fridge. I use a calendar. I try to make notes as the week goes on so I can see what works and what doesn't.

Here is a template for the year:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/68192762/January-2011

Birthday Bash 2011

Well, today the girls will have their 6th and 8th Birthdays. It is hard to believe that they are getting that big. As we do every year, we will have a birthday party with the family for them. I thought this was the year I was going to order pizza and be done with it, but the other night Clay asked them what they wanted for their birthday dinner. When they made their request, it seemed reasonable. So, here is this year's menu. I'll have to post a picture of the cake later.



Grilled Chicken Breast (marinated in Italian Dressing) and BBQ Chicken Legs

Crock-pot Mac and Cheese
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/04/crock-pot-mac-and-cheese.html

Green Beans
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2008/11/gordon-greenbeans.html

Rudolph Cake

Cooking Class 2

Last weekend, I had the second cooking class at church. There were ten ladies, and one brave gentleman. We had a great time! The theme last week was homemade comfort food. So, here are recipes for this time:

Homemade Meatloaf
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/01/easy-meat-loaf.html

Homemade Chicken Nuggets
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/03/homemade-chicken-tenders-via-jamie.html

Teryaki Meatballs with Pineapple
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/teriyaki-turkey-meatballs.html

Twice Baked Potato
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/04/nanas-twice-baked-potatoes.html

Foil Wrapped Veggies
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/10/foil-wrapped-veggies.html

Season of Soups

Fall is here! I am trilled that we are coming on a cold season. It is the season of soups. To jump start the season, here are some our favorites to try this year.

Potato Leek Soup
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2008/12/potato-leek-soup.html

Taco Soup
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/04/taco-soup.html

Cream of Tomato Soup
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/12/cream-of-tomato-soup.html

Meatball Dump Soup
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/07/meatball-dump-soup.html

Short Rib Stew
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/02/short-rib-stew.html

Meal Planning September 19- 25

Well, I am back to to planning. In fact, after a month off of my meticulous planning, I was able to sit down today and plan out the next month. I planned five nights a week for the next four weeks. There was a feeling of relief as I did it. I also plan to do one new recipe a week this month. It doesn't seem so daunting to do one a week.

Sunday Night:
Shredded chicken and black bean burritos with homemade salsa, topped with green onions, diced tomatoes, and black olives.

Monday Night:
Crockpot Roast Beef with new potatoes and carrots
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/01/crock-pot-roast.html

Tuesday Night: (Meatless)
Egg and Cheese Frittata
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/easy-frittata.html

Wednesday Night:
Chicken Pot Pie
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/09/chicken-pot-pie-sandra-lee-version.html

Thursday Night:
Mexican Casserole
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/ground-beef-enchilada-casserole.html

Cooking Class

Hey everyone-

I took a hiatus with the start of school. I have not gotten into the swing of things again with the start of school. I am patiently waiting for things to settle in, and it just hasn't happened yet. I started a new project today at church, too. I volunteered to teach a cooking class once a month. We ended up with 13 ladies, and one brave man. We made 7 different recipes tonight in a 2 1/2 hour time frame. It was chaotic and a hell of a lot of fun. Our theme tonight was "Take -Out Recipes" They were things we eat out, but are easy to make at home. Below are all the things we made tonight.


Chinese Take-Out

Chicken Fried Rice (1 serving)
• 1 cup of fresh frozen peas, defrosted
• 3 T of peanut oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 T of minced garlic
• 3 to 4 cups of cooked rice
• 1 cup of cooked chicken, diced
• 1/4 cup of cooking sherry or white wine
• 2 T of soy sauce
• 1 T of sesame oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of mince scallion (optional)
1. Put 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. A minute later, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to brown, five to ten minutes later. Lower the heat if needed. Using a slotted spoon, take the onions out and transfer them into a bowl.
2. Add the peas to the skillet for a minute or two, or until hot. Add them to the bowl.
3. Put the remaining oil in the skillet, followed by the garlic. About 15 seconds later, begin to add the rice, a bit at at time, breaking up any clumps and tossing it with the oil.
4. Return the onion and the peas to the rice. Add the wine and cook, stirring for about a minute. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil, and chicken, then taste and add salt and pepper.
5. Turn off the heat, stir in the scallion, and serve.
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Baked Vegetarian Egg Rolls (3 servings)
2 T of vegetable oil
1 T of sugar
3 T of Soy sauce
2 T of white wine or cooking Sherry
1 14 oz. block of firm tofu
1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup shredded carrots
1 bunch of green onions chopped
16 oz of shredded cabbage
1 package of egg roll wraps

Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add tofu and carrots; cook 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons soy sauce, cooking sherry and sugar, and pepper to taste. Then, stir in cabbage mixture and let reduce for 2 minutes. Cover and chill 15 minutes.

Place 1 egg roll wrapper at a time onto work surface with 1 corner pointing toward you (wrapper should look like a diamond). Fold lower corner of egg roll wrapper over filling. Fold in corners.

Moisten top corner of wrapper with water; roll up jelly-roll fashion. Repeat procedure with remaining wrappers, tofu filling, and water.

Lightly coat egg rolls with cooking spray, and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Turn egg rolls over half way through cooking process.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pizza Take- Out

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe (2 servings)

• 1 package active dry yeast (2 teaspoons)
• 1 cup warm water (105° to 115°, no more)
• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little for coating

How to make pizza dough from scratch:
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside and follow the instructions below for the method you choose.

By hand: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the olive oil and yeast mixture into it. Stir until it begins to form a ball, then turn it out onto a clean, floured surface and knead for about 4 or 5 minutes.

In a mixer: Using a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the liquid ingredients and mix on low until the dough begins to clump around the dough hook. Remove and knead as above.
Whichever method and pizza dough recipe you've chosen, your pizza dough should be a smooth, elastic ball.

2. Lightly oil the ball and the inside of a large glass bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. For better crust, punch down the dough, reshape into a ball and let it rise again. You can refrigerate or freeze the dough at this point.

3. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, about 12 ounces each. Roll each portion into a ball, then, working on a lightly floured surface, stretch the dough and work it with your fingers or a rolling pin to form an 12- to 16-inch circle. (Let your guests prepare their own.) The outer edge of the circle should be a little thicker than the body, forming a rim. Add toppings.

4. Transfer to a pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake in a 500° pre-heated oven until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted, 10 to 13 minutes, or perhaps a little longer if your oven does not reach 500°.

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Pizza Sauce (3)

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Up to 1 cup of water, depending on desired thickness

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen, once cooled.

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Mexican Take-Out

Salsa (2 servings)

Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cans canned tomatoes with juice
• 3 fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 lime, juice of
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions
1. Mix ingredients together for a chunky salsa or blender for just a few seconds for chunky salsa or a bit longer for a smoother texture
Tortilla Chips
Ingredients
• Twelve 6-inch corn tortillas (preferably white)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Fine salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush both sides of the tortillas with the oil. Stack the tortillas and cut the pile into sixths to make chips. Spread the chips out in a single layer on two large baking sheets and season with salt. Bake until golden brown and crisp, rotating the baking sheets once, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve.

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Top It Off with Dessert
http://www.creativehomemaking.com/cooking/apple-turnovers.shtml

Mini Apple Turnovers
If you are looking for a smaller alternative of a great apple pastry either for a small snack, for finger food or to make for your children one snack that won't disappoint are Mini Apple Turnovers. Mini Apple Turnovers are made similar to traditional turnovers, except they are about half the size. Great for almost any time of the day, these mini treats are easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 large pastry sheet
2 large apples, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, etc
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Optional toppings, limited only by your imagination: powdered sugar, walnuts, chocolate syrup

Directions:
Lay out large pastry sheet and slice into 8 equal sized sections. Slice the two apples into thin slices in a bowl. Mix with sugar and cinnamon. Next spread the apples, cinnamon and sugar at the center of each pastry sheet. With a brush, wet the edges of the pastry dough and press them closed, leaving small pockets for the filling.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the turnovers in the oven; cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and decorate with powdered sugar, walnuts or chocolate syrup if you wish. This recipe yields eight servings.
Apple Turnovers are very versatile. They can be served as a breakfast pastry, an afternoon snack, or a dinner dessert. You can add an unlimited amount of ingredients to them to vary the taste ever so slightly. Some options include honey, cinnamon and nutmeg, black and blue berries, sliced strawberries, serve ala mode (with a scoop of your favorite ice cream), served with fresh whipped cream, granola, etc. There are numerous ways to serve up this dish; you will find that your family will appreciate this simple recipe almost every week of the year.

Meal Planning Week of July 24- July 30

I hope everyone has had a great couple of weeks. We spent last week on vacation. We had a great time on what I am calling our "Gulf Tour 2010." I will write about that later this week. The one sad note for when we returned however, was we lost everything in our deep freeze this week. Sometime during the week the electricity went off, and for some reason the freezer outlet did not reset. BOOOOOO! It was the one thing I didn't ask our house sitter to check- I will from now on! I will be emptying it out tomorrow- right before the garbage truck comes. I refroze everything, because I didn't want to deal with the mess. I will throw it out frozen. Back to meal planning. However, I actually enjoyed my meal planning this week. It was nice to have had a break. I went to the store shopped and shopped for week. I came home and cooked a couple of the meals, and put one in the freezer. So, time to start again.

Saturday Night Rotisserie Chicken with rice, sauteed green beans, and salad.

Nice comforting meal to come home to. The chicken was already cooked, everything else was on hand. Took a few minutes to prepare.

Sunday Night Breakfast for Dinner Frittata with biscuits, and fruit cocktail
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/easy-frittata.html


Monday Night Meatless Monday Vegetable Lo Mein and Egg Rolls
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/04/baked-egg-rolls.html
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/lo-mein-noodles.html


Tuesday Night Meatloaf with mac and cheese and fresh steamed broccoli
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/01/easy-meat-loaf.html


Wednesday Night Turkey Noodle Casserole* with sauteed onion, squash and zucchini
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/turkey-noodle-casserole.html



Thursday Night Apricot Chicken* on rice with green beans
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2008/12/jason-pineapple-chicken.html


Friday Night Grilled Chicken with Yard Salad
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/yard-salad.html

*put one in the freezer

Meal Planning July 11-15

Well, our trip to Houston is over. I don't know about you, but after a vacation it is almost comforting to me to get back into the normal routine of things. That being said, as of this morning there was no milk, or meat, or much of anything in the house. So, after a bit of meal planning the girls and I headed off to Kroger. That in itself is stressful. There is only so many times I can handle saying. . . "No, we are not getting that." But, it is done now, and I can sit down to look at the week of meals.

Sunday Night Pasta and Red Sauce
We got into Fort Smith about 7:30 from Houston, and mom pulled out a box of pasta and sauce. It was a great way end to the day. She used the new line from Giada that you can find at Target. It was really tasty.

Monday Night Pizza- cheese and hamburger
I would call it comfort food after a long trip. :)

Tuesday Night Pork Tenderloin, fresh green beans, sauteed okra and tomatoes, rice, and bread (frozen bread dough from Kroger)
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/04/pork-tenderloin-marinade.html

http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/03/sauted-okra-and-tomatoes.html


Wednesday Night Enchilada Casserole (straight from the freezer) with refried beans and corn on the cob
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/ground-beef-enchilada-casserole.html


Thrusday Night Grown-ups Out (both girls are going to a sleepover- Bless you, Tricia)

Friday Night Panko Breaded Tilapia, squash, and Couscous
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/ingredients-4-fish-planks-usually.html


Saturday Night Crockpot Chicken with carrots and onions - Left overs: chicken salad
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/12/crockpot-chicken-1000-meal.html

Vacation Meals by Tracie

We went to Houston this last weekend to visit my sister Tracie. There is nothing better, to me, than to be on vacation and still get home cooked meals. That is exactly what Tracie provided. Tracie, however, did not like the pressure of my post from last week, when I said I would post meals this week. :) So here is a rundown of what we had while in Houston. If you end up entertaining for a long weekend, this would be a perfect menu.

Thursday Night- sandwiches on the road

Friday Night Grilled Chicken, Fresh Bread, Grilled Corn on the Cob, and Fresh Green beans. (Great, huh?)
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/05/joes-grilled-corn-on-cob.html

Saturday Night Chicken and Beef Enchiladas
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/01/beef-enchiladas.html

Meal Planning for July 4-8

Well, I am behind again. :) I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend of the 4th with their families. I know we did, and we ate too much too! So, this week we are a looking at the basics of cooking. Healthy, without a lot of extra. I ordered from the Conway Locally Grown this week. I have new potatoes, squash, cucumbers, banana peppers, corn, cheese, and eggs. I want to use the ingredients in the meals this week to get the most out of the order. Enjoy a great week!


Sunday Night
Hamburgers, Baked Beans and Potato Salad (with the in-laws)

Monday Night
Veggie and Cheese Stromboli with sauteed vegetables and blueberry cobbler
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/07/stromboli.html


Tuesday Night
Grilled Chicken with Couscous and Sauteed Vegetables (left overs from Sunday night)

Wednesday Night
Curry Chicken with New Potatoes and Boiled Egg (left over chicken from Tuesday)
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/04/daag-curry-base.html

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday My parents, girls, and I are headed to Houston to visit Tracie and Joe. Cooking will fall to the other sister. Ha ha ha. But really, I will add what we cook down there later. We will have mom and daughters together to cook for a non-holiday. It should be fun!

Meal Planning June 27- July 2

Well, hopefully this week is going to cool down a bit. The heat is ridiculous this summer- and it does not help in the kitchen either. I am also working on eating more lunches here at home during the week. I am not a big fan of sandwiches, so making lunches is not one of my favorite things to do. I am trying to have fresh fruit and other items to make the meals not as predictable. So I am hoping to do better this week. I am also packing lunches for Hannah this week as she goes to a day camp, so I might even pack Elizabeth and I a lunch at the start of the day with hers. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sunday Night: Enchilada Casserole * Freezer Casserole
Served with fresh peaches and refried beans (or Mexican Mashed Potatoes as Hannah called them)
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/ground-beef-enchilada-casserole.html


Monday Night: Turkey Kabobs served overrice with fresh corn
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/teriyaki-turkey-meatballs.html

Tuesday Night: Creole Casserole
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/chicken-creole.html

Wednesday Night: Chipolte Burgers with squash
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/chipolte-burgers.html

Thursday Night: Chicken with couscous and fresh beans

Friday Night: Out. . . after cooking all week. . . we are going out!

Cooking with Friends

I have found with talking with friends that cooking for us during the week is stressful (go figure). There are certain nights that we have to be out, or have very little prep time. One thing I have been doing the last month is cooking with friends. . . or casserole trading. The idea is simple: you cook one recipe two times and trade it with a friend. This is a great way to have those meals ready to go on those busy nights. You each have dinner for the family with half of the work. If you have three friends- you make it three times- and trade.

Some things I have learned so far:
1. If a casserole is meant to go in a 9x13 pan, it is about double what a family of four will eat. So, I would suggest making the same recipe, but dividing it in to 2 8x8 pans (standard cake pan). Two meals for the price of one.

2. Look at cost of the recipe before you begin. If it involves a lot of cheese or meat, it can add up quickly.

3. If you are cooking with a larger group, like a group of five or more, try to find a large kitchen to cook in. I had a group of friends cook together at our church. It was wonderful to spread out!

4. Find out allergies- peanuts and seafood are not uncommon in our little groups We have one family friend who is allergic to bananas. Same with spicy foods. . . discuss with your friend before.

5. Go for a test run first. When I am trying new recipes, I am now thinking about- would it freeze well, will kids like it, what is going to be the best way to store it, etc.

Here is the recipe trade I did today (recipes will follow):

Andrea
Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs
Beef Enchilada Casserole

Kelli
Old World Manicotti with Spinich
Chicken Spaghetti

Meal Planning for June 20- June 26

Okay- well, I totally fell apart with my meal planning the last three weeks. First of all, I had the last week of school. Then, the week of training after school. Finally, the first week of vacation. Each week I was burnt out of planning, and I found some new way to wing it. The meals were not as good, the freezer is empty (almost), and I felt like I was piecing things together the whole time. All in all. . . I did nothing to help me. :) So, today I am back in the grind. I feel better going in to the week with a plan. Yes, I am a a bit OCD. So, I am back on track. I have so many things to post; events, meals, parties, darn good recipes. Right now I will start with this week's planning and build from there.

Sunday Night: Grilled Steak with baked sweet potatoes, and grilled eggplant.

Monday Night: Chicken Spaghetti (freezer meal)*
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-spaghetti.html



Tuesday Night: Stuffed Bell Peppers
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/06/stuffed-bell-peppers.html


Wednesday Night: Old World Manicotti with Spinach*
While making the recipe I added 2 cups of frozen spinach to the cheese mixture.
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2009/01/old-world-manicotti.html


Thursday Night: Church

Friday Night: Dinner out

Saturday Night: Anniversary Dinner Out (almost a month late)
*meal trade with a friend

Meal Planning May 23 to May 29

Here I am getting ready for another week, and I have nine days of school left for this school year. As exciting as that is, it means the next two weeks will be hectic and tiring. As much as I don’t want to plan tonight, I know it is necessary to keep us from the drive-through lane. I also have no dinners provided on Wednesday, since that has ended for the summer. This is the time of year that I want to relax, but I know I can make it another 9 days. Today I got together with some girls from my Sunday school class for a “casserole shower” for one of our members who is counting the days down to twins. We all came home with 6 meals for the freezer. I will write more about it later, but I can’t stress how excited I am to have some new things in the freezer.

Sunday Night: Tricia’s Famous Lasagna (One of my children’s favorites)
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2008/12/tricia-lasagna.html

Meatless Monday Night: Fried Rice with Tofu Egg Rolls (from the freezer)
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/04/baked-egg-rolls.html
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/02/fried-rice-with-egg-meatless-monday.html

Tuesday Night: Pork Tenderloin in the crockpot with potatoes and fresh vegetables
http://twosistersandfriends.blogspot.com/2010/04/pork-tenderloin-marinade.html




Wednesday Night: Cranberry Chicken Casserole (from the freezer) with peas from the freezer (Casserole Recipe Coming Soon)



Thursday Night: Pork Tenderloin Rice Bowls (rice, black beans, pico de gallo or salsa, cheese, topped with leftover pork tenderloin



Friday Night: Out

Saturday Night: Cooking Out for the Holiday Weekend