Meal Plan Monday

Hello friends!

I don't know about you, but I find the start of the new school year is almost like New Year's Day - a chance to start fresh and try new things!

You may have noticed that I took a bit of a blogging break over the summer - Scrumptious Sunday went on vacation (but it's back now!) - and I spent some time thinking about what I'd like to add to my blog that I think you would find helpful.

Anyone who knows me know that I'm a wee bit organized...I find being organized makes life so much simpler, and much less stressful!  One of the biggest organizational changes that I've implemented in the last few years is MEAL PLANNING.  Trust me, if you don't make a meal plan, you should, and you will love me for telling you to do so.  My husband tells me how much he appreciates meal planning - he is usually home from work first, which means he starts / cooks many work night meals - and all he needs to do is look and the calendar and see what the plan is for the day.  Everything he needs for the meal is available in our kitchen - makes everything so easy.

How do I do it?  I make a weekly plan.  Every Sunday morning I do a fridge purge, a pantry check, and I check the grocery flyers.  From there I plan our meals for the week, based on what we have on hand (either fresh, frozen or in the pantry), what is on sale or in season, what I have coupons for, and even what the weather is like (for example - I don't make stew in July, but certainly do in November!).  I also like to make a "big dinner" on Sundays so that we have leftovers for Mondays (Mondays tend to be busy with extra-curricular activities).

Hopefully this new weekly feature will help you with your meal planning and grocery shopping - and where possible I will also include links to recipes!

Here is this week's meal plan:

Sunday - Rosemary Pepper Crusted Roast, Yorkshire Pudding, Roasted Carrots, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Peach Crisp (Dessert)

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday  Savoury Fish

Wednesday - Spaghetti with Homemade Meat, Tomato & Veggie Sauce, Salad

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - BBQ Chicken, Smashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Salad

Enjoy!

Lunches Our Kids Love

I am not much of the ranting type here on Addicted to Recipes, but today, I have to rant a little.  Recently I have been seeing kids lunch ideas being shared that contain primarily packaged foods.  Great concept - create a "pick and choose your lunch" system for the kids - encourage them to decide what they want in their daily lunch (based on the food that Mom and Dad have pre-selected) - let them take ownership of their lunch, and silver lining - a better chance that they will eat their lunches too (less waste!), BUT does a kid's lunch need to contain SO MUCH pre-packaged food? And what about reusable containers?  Bento lunches are hot these days...can't we do something that's maybe a little (or a lot) healthier in more ways than one?

Now don't get me wrong, my kids eat packaged food from time to time.  It happens, and I'm OK with that.  But not everyday.  I'm not perfect when it comes to eating habits, but I do my best to provide as many healthy choices for my family as I can. 

On that note, here is how the lunches are being created in our house this week:

The reusable plastic containers are in portion sizes (1 cup, 1/2 cup).  I take time on Sundays to wash and prep the fruit and vegetables, hard boil eggs, slice cheese, and bake a fresh batch of muffins.  When these run out during the week, I replenish with new choices.  Yes, it takes a little bit of time compared to grabbing a "packaged something or other" out of the cupboard, but my kids are worth it.

This week's choices were:
- Snap Peas / Carrots / Red and Yellow Peppers / Avocados
- Blueberries / Grapes / Plums / Nectarines / Bananas
- Yogurt
- Cheese / Hard Boiled Eggs
- Homemade Morning Glory Muffins
- Choice of Sandwich or Wrap
- Water (mandatory!)

I am sure that there will be many out there that disagree with my selections for my kids' lunches, but I am hoping that some of you will be inspired and will see that having healthier choices that your kids will like IS POSSIBLE..that it doesn't take much time to do (and depending on the age of your kids, they could also help prep - great bonding time and learning time)...and is affordable too!

New From Kellogg's Canada! (and Giveaway!)

Recently we received samples of the new products that Kellogg's has introduced:

Special K Popcorn Chips
These new popcorn chips are lightly seasoned and will satisfy any movie-theatre popcorn cravings you may have.  With only 80 calories for 20 chips, the chips will help you stay on track.  The chips come in two flavours, Butter and Sweet & Salty.

All-Bran Blueberry Brown Sugar Flavour Cereal Bars
These 30g / 130 calorie bars contain blueberry-infused cranberries and brown sugar.  They are a high source of fibre, contain natural wheat bran fibre, are trans fat free and low in saturated fat!

Vector Protein Chewy Bars
The new Vector Protein Chewy Bars are a tasty combination of nuts and chocolate.  They are available in two flavours - Peanut and Mixed Nut - and have 11g of protein and 5g if fibre per bar!

VERDICT:
The Vector bars have already made their way into my secret snack stash at work.  I like these bars better than most that I have tried - and they make a perfect 3 pm snack for me.  The popcorn chips disappeared into the "man cave"...I may never get to taste them!  I'm looking forward to the cereal bars - but am saving them for one of those sure-to-happen hectic mornings when Mama doesn't get a bite to eat before getting the kids out the door to school and daycare on time.

Guess what?!  You have a chance to WIN free product coupons (FPC's) for full-sized boxes of EACH of the new products!  Enter via the Rafflecopter below!





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scrumptious Sunday is BACK!

Hello friends!  After a summer break from Scrumptious Sunday here at Addicted to Recipes, it's time to launch the party again!  

The party rules are simple:

1) I would love for you to follow Addicted to Recipes on Facebook or Bloglovin' or Twitter - whichever you prefer!

2) I would also love for you to please add my button or page link to your blog, post or party page. You can find it under "Buttons" - thank you!

3) Please visit a few other recipe submissions and leave some comment love!

Scrumptious Sunday #70 is now LIVE - head on over HERE to share your recipes!

Recipe Recap #31

Welcome to this week's Recipe Recap!  Today I am looking back at the recipes I shared the week of September 1 - 7, 2012.  As always, if you click the recipe title, it will take you to the original post.  I hope you enjoy!

Feta Stuffed Chicken

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares

Baked Zucchini Fries

It's zucchini season...I don't know about you, but I am seeing zucchini all around these days.  I needed to find a new recipe for Addicted to Recipes, so I took to Pinterest, and found this recipe from Budget Bytes.

1 medium sized zucchini 

1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup panko
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 425.

Take your zucchini, wash and dry it.  Slice off ends, cut the zucchini in half, and slice into generous, but not too thick "fries" (about 1/2" thick). 

Take three bowls, one for flour, one for eggs, and one for a mix of the panko, parmesan cheese, salt and Italian seasoning.

Line up your bowls (flour, egg, panko).  Take your zucchini and piece by piece dip into each bowl (coat with flour, dip with egg, coat with panko).  Place on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper).  Continue through all of the slices of zucchini.

Bake the zucchini for 15 minutes, or until they start to brown.

VERDICT:
These certainly were tasty, and a nice change to regular fries.  However, I would add a little more kick to the seasoning.  Maybe some of that Cajun spice :-)

Keep Calm and Cook On - Apples

Welcome to the September edition of Keep Calm and Cook On!  This month we are all back hitting the books (or our kids are!) and it's apple season...seems fitting to me that the theme for this month's Keep Calm and Cook On be APPLES!

Not a lot of rules for this party....just be sure your recipe contains the key ingredient, and please visit other entries!  I will feature 3 recipes at the end of the month.

Thanks for playing along!