Get Your Beef On: It's a Giveaway!

There's a running joke in our family; whenever my mom and I are out dining somewhere together and someone politely asks "is there anything you don't eat?" we both laugh and say "unfortunately, no!" It's true - we love food. And that love includes beef. Some of my favorite foods are beef dishes: steak frites, minute steak, hamburgers, spaghetti bolognese, french onion soup {with beef stock}, did I mention hamburgers?? I'm a firm believer that while chicken, fish and pork are all great sources of protein, nothing compares to beef.

I have a diverse background. My parents are from the Caribbean and I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec and Miami, Florida. The combination of experiences led me to appreciate an array of foods, including some to-die-for beef dishes. Here are some of my all-time faves:

photo credit: apt316.ca

Beef Roti

Roti is a traditional Trinidadian dish, made with your choice of meat, potatoes and curry wrapped in a light pastry dough, after which the dish is named. The original recipe is, of course, made with chunks of beef (or goat). My memories of this dish range from tagging along with my Dad to his favorite roti shop in Miami, to hanging out with friends and listening to the latest soca jam in front of the best roti shop in Montreal. Both scenarios ended the same way: with me licking the curry off of my fingers after devouring a hot beef roti. To this day, when my sister and I reminisce about our favorite foods, roti is probably the first one that comes to mind.

Also from my "Growing Up Caribbean Files:" Beef Patties, Beef Pelau, and Oh Lord, Vaca Frita! I could eat this EVERY DAY.

Steak Frites

This past Saturday, I met with my Junior League group for lunch at a french restaurant. Well, I skipped breakfast (a no-no, I know) because I just knew what I was going to order before I even stepped foot inside the place: Steak Frites. Done right, this dish takes no prisoners. A perfectly cooked cut of steak, prepared with a choice of sauce (from butter to bernaise to red wine to blue cheese) and topped with crispy fries. Delicieuse! As a matter of fact, I was several bites into my steak before I remembered to take a picture for this post! LOL.

Other notables from my days in Montreal: Poutine {made with beef stock}, Smoked Meat Sandwiches, and Tortiere {French-Canadian meat pie}.

So you see, beef has been an integral part of my upbringing and I try to continue to expose my family to tasty beef recipes. Make sure to check my "What's for Dinner" menu plan on our sidebar for ideas every now and then.

Now it's your turn!

In celebration of "I Heart Beef Month," you can enter to win a $100 gift card to Omaha Steaks! {Can't you just hear Kelly Ripa's voice in the back of your head?} All you have to do is the following:

1. Visit the Beef, It's What's for Dinner website. It's chock-full of helpful preparation tips, meal ideas and even video demos on how you can get your beef on.

2. Share your favorite memories of making everyday occasions special with beef. The person who leaves the most heartfelt and fun comment wins. Please include in your comment something that you found helpful on the BIWFD website.

3. Tweet this post using the #IHeartBeef hashtag.

4. Follow this blog {check out the Followers widget on our sidebar}.

But wait! There's more. Chef David Zino, executive chef of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association will be answering your questions about beef preparation and cooking. If you have a question for an expert, now's your chance. Just leave it in the comments and I'll submit it on your behalf or you can post them here.

Bon Appetit!

FYI: I wrote this review while working on a "I Heart Beef" campaign with TheMotherhood.com on behalf of The National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Hello? Yes, I'd Like to Order Takeout

So I'm sitting in the hair salon under the dryer (yes, they have wifi, woot!!) trying to plan my dinner menu for the week so that I can hit the grocery store as soon as I duck out of here. I realized that coming up with meal ideas is becoming increasingly challenging with my fabulous Party of 5. Consider all of "dietary restrictions" I have to work around:

Hubby: Dislikes onions (hello?? I don't get it), peppers, mushrooms, spicy foods. Oh and doesn't like leftovers. (No comment).

Chatterbox: Barely eats anything; Dislikes cheese; Only wants "crabs and ribs"; Has 3 loose teeth, which knocks most proteins - including, incidentally crabs and ribs - and breads, etc. out of the running.

Giggles: Is my prize eater. She is not picky, always hungry (but if she had her way, we'd have spaghetti or rice every day).

L'il Buddy: Is 20 months. The palette? Not-so-developed. At least at the moment he and Chatterbox are on the same page with respect to what they can chew. Also has a tendency to fling his (suctioned) bowl all over the place, dangerously near my brand new ivory silk drapes. So red spaghetti sauce? No sir. Sorry Giggles.

Sigh. As for me, I am on my never-ending path to lose weight, so carbs and rich foods aren't ideal for me.

WHAT TO MAKE?? Ah yes, reservations.

Review: Simply enjoyable!

I'm home a little earlier during the summer months and that means that I'm more or less responsible for making dinner. I used to cook up a storm in my younger days, mostly Trinidadian food, but for one reason or another, I just don't have the interest or the time to make a real meal often.

Although I'm home fairly early and my days are not that stressful right now, I just don't have the energy to cook. So, I've been relying on frozen meals. I know, I know, that's not the healthiest choice that I could make but in my little part of the universe, I think a frozen pasta and vegetable meal far outbeats fast food!

To that end, I want to share with you that I absolutely love a brand that is sold at Giant Grocery Stores in the DC area (I'm not sure whether it's sold in other stores, but this is where we get it) and it's called "Simply Enjoy". The brand name encapsulates the experience. Their offerings are elegant, simple and tasty. I have had mushroom risotto, rice veggie scallops medley and a vegetable offering that were simply delightful.

I don't know how much sodium, fat or calories are in these meals, but I do know that they taste good (you might be able to pass them off as your own), they're easy and it's quick. Next time you go to the grocery look for them and buy an offering or two and let me know what you think.

P.S. I am in love with Golden Oreo cookies - have you tried them as yet? I could eat an entire package in one sitting.

BTW, This is not a sponsored or paid review; nor did I receive any of the items for free or at the behest of a marketer or company. Just a tip from one mama to another.

Friday Rundown

• I'm so glad it's Friday. I'm beat! Not that the weekend will be spent lying around the house - it never is - but at least I won't have to go to work.

• Tonight I'm going to a DC Metro Moms Blog event sponsored by the Chevy Traverse -- I'm sooo excited. Should be a blast.
  


• Tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, we're taking the kids apple picking. I haven't been since I was a kid so I'm looking forward to it. Chatterbox has already decided that she wants to make an apple pie. I want to try my hand at apple crisp and apple fritters. Oh, and I can't forget caramel apples.
  


• The guy who hands out the morning paper at the Metro each day always gives me a chuckle. Everyday, without fail, he says: "You're looking gorgeous today, Miss!" I mentioned it to hubby who of course said "Yeah, but how many teeth does he have?" Well, if you must know, he has 4. But really, that is besides the point.
  


• Some fall/winter shopping is definitely in order. I desperately need new everything. Comfy winter boots, tall boots, a leather jacket, a winter coat, a tote bag for commuting, rainboots, shoes for work...I need it all.
  


• I need to come up with a fundraising idea for the girls' school. The goal of the Parents Committee is to build them a small playground in the spring. Any suggestions?
  


• I also need to decide whether I'm going to subject myself to taking the girls to Disney on Ice next month. Of course I haven't even mentioned it to them because if I did, I would never hear the end of it. I'm still on the fence.

What's on tap for your weekend?

A Manly Man

So last night we had tomato basil soup and cheesy garlic bread for dinner. A perfectly fine (and quick) meal for a chilly fall evening, if you ask me. And, to my surprise, the kids loved it! I mean they sat down and ate their entire meals without a peep (ok, maybe one or two peeps, but not the usual 450). Anyway, while I am heating up the soup on the stove, hubby comes into the kitchen, takes one look at the pot and says: "Are you gonna put anything in that?" Meaning meat. In his mind, no meal is complete without some good old carne . Pizza? Needs sausage and pepperoni. BLT sandwich? Needs turkey or ham. Fettucini Alfredo? Needs chicken. Are you getting the picture?

But the poor dear "toughed it out" last night and ate a vegetarian meal with no complaints. Though he did say: "This would be great with some sausage in it..." and "Imagine how this would taste with pieces of lobster!"

My hubby -- truly a manly man.

Tonight we're having beef.

That's What Friends Are For

The only thing worse than having a stomach virus is taking care of a toddler with a stomach virus.

You do not want to hear the details. Trust me.

Instead I will post a couple of my favorite freeze-ahead recipes for my friend Jenibeans who is having her fifth baby in less than 6 weeks! Really, she deserves more than a measly recipe or two - more like a YACHT or some such lavish gift. But, in the interest of making life a smidge easier for her family when the baby arrives, here goes...

Fergie's Famous Taco Casserole

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (or beef, but turkey is leaner)
1 can black beans
1 can corn kernels
1 can diced tomatoes (I like the Italian ones)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
1 packet taco seasoning (I like McCormick's)
A few tortilla chips

yellow rice (I like Goya's)

Instructions:
Brown the meat. Drain if necessary. Stir in taco seasoning. Add beans, corn and tomatoes (you can also add any other veggie that your family likes) and combine. Transfer to casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips. Bake at 4oo degrees for 20 minutes (or until top is golden and cheese is melted). Serve with yellow rice.

*Freeze-Ahead Tip: I would prepare the casserole up until the veggies and freeze it. Whenever you're ready to eat it, let it defrost, add the cheese and tortilla chips and bake.

AllRecipe.com's Chicken Florentine Casserole
My family just loved this dish. And I imagine it would freeze well.

McCormick's Chili
Just follow the directions on the packet. Add a side of rice or even just some Tostitos and it's a wrap. This is one of my old faithfuls. Freezes beautifully.

Finally, I found this post from a while back when I made a week's worth of freeze-ahead meals. If you like the sound of any of the dishes, just let me know and I'll email you the recipes.

And now back to our regularly scheduled vomiting programming.

Wasn't that lovely? A post discussing both stomach viruses and dinner recipes. CLASSY.

Gosh I Have Good Taste

So I'm watching Episode 5 of my beloved Top Chef - Miami last night and imagine my surprise when Padma announces that the guest judge for the contestants' pastry challenge is Maria Frumkin - the very woman who made my wedding cake! So I elbow hubby and exclaim, "hey! remember Maria? She did our cake!" And of course he has absolutely no recollection of the woman. Even though we drove an hour and a half to her cafe in Miami, had lunch with her, and did an entire cake tasting. At which he adamantly chose the banana filling. A choice to which I conceded because, after all, marriage is all about compromise, right? So why not get a head start? But I digress.

But really, he even completely drove by Chatterbox's school this morning when dropping off her school forms and had to call me to remind him where the building was, so why on earth would he recall meeting an Argentinian pastry chef 5 years ago. It wouldn't be natural.

And since we're talking about food and chefs and whatnot, I forgot to tell y'all that I saw Govind Armstrong while we were in New Orleans. And if you have no idea who Govind Armstrong is, you betta' ask somebody.

I dragged hubby into Sucre on Magazine Street because I'm a sucker for anything pastry-sweet-boutique related and even from outside, the place looked fabulous. As soon as I stepped foot in the door, there he was. In all of his beautiful skin and hair glory. I froze. It was pathetic! I totally was starstruck by a chef. A chef for pete's sake. And it's not even like it was Rachael Ray (I know I know, she's not a "chef") or Emeril who are clearly big celebs. Of course, I didn't say hi or anything but instead tried to act very nonchalant and very cosmopolitan and pretended to inspect the confections for the proper consistency of the marzipan and the like, because HELLO! that's what real chefs do.

And then we left. Hubby kept trying to convince me to take a picture of Chef Armstrong with my camera phone but I refused. After all, I am not some crazy-fan-chef-stalker-chick. Right? Right??

Though he kinda makes it hard not to be.

Not That I Would Be Able to Chew This Right Now

My mouth is on fire, so this post will be brief...

Today is the "Main Dish Recipe Swap" on Tales From the Scales.

Here's my summery lowfat dish:

Chicken Ceasar Wraps

Ingredients:
Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
Grilled chicken breast, cut into strips
Fat-free Ceasar dressing
Turkey bacon, fried crispy and broken into bits
Fresh veggies of choice (bell pepper strips, shredded carrots, halved cherry tomatoes)
Whole wheat tortilla wraps (or you can use spinach or tomato...)
Fresh, grated parmesean cheese

Directions:
In a large bowl, toss lettuce, dressing, bacon bits, cheese and veggies (if desired). Top tortillas with a generous portion of salad mixture. Top with chicken. Fold in edges and roll tortilla to form wraps. Cut in half and serve!

How easy was that? You can even use prepared chicken strips like Perdue ShortCuts to save time. If you're feeling Giada-like, you can make your own ceasar dressing (olive oil, garlic, an egg, lemon, Worcestershire Sauce), just make sure to go easy on the EVOO.

[I like to serve them with oven-baked fries: slice peeled red bliss potatoes, toss in EVOO, sprinkle with Kosher salt, bake at 425, turning fries occasionally, until golden]

Great for a picnic and the kids like 'em too!

"Crud" Just Doesn't Cut It

I know I said I was gonna post pics of our trip today but I never got around to uploading them last night and here's why:

We have a breakfast table with stools in our kitchen and Chatterbox's latest obsession is sitting on the stools. Of course they are high and not made for TODDLERS but, in order to minimize the whining-pleading-begging, I let her sit on one every now and then. So yesterday evening she was sitting on the stool finishing her grapes and I said "Ok! It's bathtime. Let's go..." And went to lift her up off of the stool. Well, she had her legs wrapped around the stool so that she didn't fall while sitting on it, and when I lifted her up she didn't let go of the stool right away and so once she did, it fell over. Onto.My.Foot.

Oh the pain.

No, seriously. It really hurt! I was immediately debilitated and fell to the floor clutching my big toe and trying not to cry because I didn't want to upset the girls. I also didn't want to curse like I wanted to so instead I screamed "Aw Crud!!" [Which we got from Auntie Fe and her kids] And let me just say that screaming "Aw Crud!!" does not give you the same sense of satisfaction as some of those other four-letter words. Chatterbox kept asking if I wanted a Band-Aid. Giggles was staring at me, not sure how to react. I was writhing on the floor. Hubby was out playing basketball so I had to just suck it up. For the rest of the evening I limped around doing the bedtime routine and once everyone was asleep, I finally collapsed into bed and propped my foot up on a pillow and watched 1/2 of American Dreamz, which is quite possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. We expect better from you, Hugh. Oh yes, we do.

When hubby got home I told him "I think my toe is broken." And he proceeded to play doctor and prepare me an ice pack, Ace bandage wrap and he even offered to clean up the dinner mess in the kitchen so that I wouldn't have to get up. Note to self: Act injured more often.

Anyway, my toe still hurts this morning and I had the worst time finding shoes that I could actually wear to work that wouldn't be excrutiatingly painful. Somehow, I don't think I could have gotten away with wearing my Nike flip flops. I've decided that if it still hurts by the end of the day, I'll go to the ER to see if it's actually broken.

And that was my evening in a nutshell. And the reason why I never got around to uploading our photos.
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One more totally unrelated thing:

The dinner I made last night was delish! It was the Mexican Black Bean Lasgana from Menus4Moms. Sounded kinda strange but it turned out great. And grocery shopping for the week was a breeze because they actually send you the grocery list. Love it!

Works for Me Wednesday: Baking Cupcakes

While baking one day, I discovered that Chatterbox's toy kitchen ladle was the perfect size for filling the molds in my cupcake tin. No more overflowing, messy molds! I've been using it ever since. With her permission, of course.

Check out Rocks In My Dryer for more tips...

Ayudame

I am so sick of making the same meals for dinner over and over. I mean how many times can one family eat spaghetti and tacos in a month? Do y'all have any quick and easy recipes? Help a mother out.


Oh, and I don't have a crockpot (I know. Hubby thinks it'll burn down the house if it's on all day), so no crockpot recipes, m'kay?

Wordless Wednesday: Bagel Bites Gone Wrong

The "crisping tray"? It's a setup.

For more Wordless Wednesdays, go here.

Works for Me Wednesday: Taco Casserole

Every time I make this my family gobbles it up, and a friend who I made this for 2 months ago when she had her baby asked me for the recipe last week, so I thought I'd share...

Fergie's Famous Taco Casserole

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (or beef, but turkey is leaner)
1 can black beans
1 can corn kernels
1 can diced tomatoes (I like the Italian ones)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
1 packet taco seasoning (I like McCormick's)
A few tortilla chips

yellow rice (I like Goya's)

Instructions:
Brown the meat. Drain if necessary. Stir in taco seasoning. Add beans, corn and tomatoes (you can also add any other veggie that your family likes) and combine. Transfer to casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips. Bake at 4oo degrees for 20 minutes (or until top is golden and cheese is melted). Serve with yellow rice.

Ta da! Easy, yummy and most importantly, contains veggies. What more could you ask for?

For more WFMWs, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Keepin' It Simple

I've been reading a bunch of mommy-blogs this week and hearing about everyone's extravangant Easter plans. Well, I am tickled pink to say that this is going to be a stress-free holiday for the Fergies. And I'm excited about it. [Remember MamaLaw #2?] Don't get me wrong, it will still be tons of fun for the girls, but no not much extra work for mom. Tomorrow the girls have been invited to an outdoor Easter Egg Hunt which should be fun, snow flurries and all (gah!), and then Sunday we'll have our own egg hunt at home and then after church, I'm making a an easy but yummy Easter dinner of Salad, Rolls, Paella and Cake. That's it. That's all. And of course Auntie Lisa is town so the girls may as well be at DisneyWorld.

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a very happy Easter. And minimal stress! After all, that's not what this holiday is all about, is it?

It's all about the Cadbury creme eggs. Obviously.

Happy Monday

Hope everybody had a good weekend!

I don't know what it is but I just feel so blessed today. Maybe it has something to do with the change in the weather (hooray!). Really, Jen's quote best captures my mood today: "My hands are full, but so is my heart." Ain't that the truth?

Our weekend was lovely. A quiet Friday evening (during which I fell asleep about 20 minutes into V for Vendetta) - what a sorry date I was. On Saturday hubby and I snuck away for a few hours to attend the "Valentine's in March" couple's dinner hosted by my church. It was so lovely! Great atmosphere, beautiful decorations, delicious food and lively conversation. Then on Sunday I took Oldest to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese after church. Can I just say how much I dislike that place? It's torture. It's loud, messy, disorganized, the kids are afraid of Chuck E., the salad bar always looks picked over. What. Is. The. Point? But I digress...Even though Oldest came down with a fever last night (probably from being in that germ-infested sinkhole) we still had a nice and restful weekend.

Here's what we're lookin' like for the week:

Monday:
Grilled Pork Chops and Spanish Rice. Hubby made the pork chops so knowing that Mommy doesn't have to cook tonight makes them taste that much better!

Tuesday:
Chicken Florentine Casserole with Rice

Wednesday:
Leftovers

Thursday:
Lasagna with Garlic Bread

Friday:
Leftovers

See my new "Mommy's-Only-Cooking-Twice-During-The-Week-Plan?" It's been working out great. Definitely relieving some of the after work stress. I highly recommend it :-)

For more stress-free menus visit Org Junkie!

Works for Me Wednesday: Kitchen Edition

This week Shannon is hosting the Kitchen Edition of WFMW. Go on over and check out everyone's kitchen tips. There are some excellent ones!

So I'm probably the only mom whose child(ren) hang onto her legs while she's trying to do anything remotely productive while in the kitchen, right? That's what I thought. Back when Oldest was around 15 months or so I was desperate for something to keep her busy long enough for me to throw a skillet of meat sauce together and get the noodles boiling (which I can now do in less than 4 minutes, thankyouverymuch). She just loved opening cabinets and pulling the entire contents out for Mommy to grumble about and throw back in. Then one day it dawned on me to let her play in the "tupperware" cabinet as long as she liked. Very quickly, this became "Oldest's Cabinet." Playing with the plasticware would keep her busy for at least 15 minutes, if not longer and I would be able to make dinner without having her glued to my shins. Yes, she made a big mess but after she went to sleep, I'd stack all of the containers back in the cabinet (and it really only took maybe 2 minutes) and it would be all ready for the next evening.

Besides giving me some breathing room to make dinner, letting her play freely in the cabinet also had a couple of other advantages: She became only interested in "her" cabinet and left all of the other ones alone (hooray!). And it was very liberating (heh) to make the decision to only pick up the containers once a day, as opposed to getting in a tizzy, telling her "no" and constantly putting everything back multiple times a day. And, she learned how to stack the various sizes of bowls and things so well that now that she's 2, when I empty the dishwasher, I just hand her the containers and she puts it all "neatly" away by herself. And finally, the "mystery and intrigue" of the kitchen cabinet wore off after a few months and she doesn't even mess with the cabinet anymore. So, if you have little ones, you should try my cabinet approach.

Bonus Tip: My hubby says I'm a magician when it comes to finding something to eat in the refrigerator when it seems like there's "nothing" there. [I totally get this talent from my mom] So I thought I'd share some quick "We have nothing to eat!" recipes.

Bagel Pizzas:
Top half a bagel with tomato sauce (we seem to always have some in a jar), Italian seasoning and shredded cheese (we always seem to have this around too). Broil for 5 minutes. ta da!

Easy Nachos:
Top nacho chips with salsa (also a staple) and shredded cheese. Microwave for 1 minute. ta da! You can also throw on any leftover meat that you may have (chicken or ground beef, etc.) for a more filling snack. You can also use quesadillas instead of the chips if you have those on hand.

Chicken Noodle Soup:
Boil pasta (pretty much any kind will do). Add pasta to a pot of chicken broth. Add whatever veggies you have lying around (fresh or frozen). If you have leftover chicken, throw that in too. Season to taste. ta da!

Works for me!

*UPDATED* Go Shorty, It's Ya Birthday...

Speaking of birthdays.... I can hardly believe it, but Youngest's 1st birthday is on Monday. Where did the time go? Hubby commented that she was definitely growing up this morning when she bent her arm so that she could put it in the sleeve of her shirt this morning while he was getting her dressed. She knows what to do! Oh how I'll miss the days of her lying calm and still as I was getting her dressed! (Remember those?)

This weekend promises to be bunches of fun. Grandma D and Auntie L are flying in today for Youngest's birthday party and baby dedication. This year, instead of ordering a birthday cake like I normally do, we are taking on the challenge of making our own cake with the professional guidance of M-Diddy. [Who?] Take a close look at the picture of what the cake is supposed to look like...

I'll put up our creation this weekend and you can tell me how we did. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Omigoodnes, my baby's all grown up. Well, ok, not really.
But she's ONE!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Alrighty, here we go....check out the cake that my mom so lovingly made (I helped!) and it tasted delicious too - she even had suggestions that she sell her butter icing. The trickiest part was to try to make all of the "blocks" level - it's harder than you might think! And we used homemade icing instead of fondant so our cake wasn't as neat as Martha's, but all in all we did good!!

Menu Plan Monday

Wasn't 24 crazy?

I almost forgot to put up this week's menu today (whenever it's a holiday, my schedule gets all thrown off...)

Here goes:

Monday - Today we ate at the Cheesecake Factory for (almost) free since I signed us up for this! It was yummy. But I do have a touch of indigestion. Yech.

Tuesday - Chicken Scampi. Always a hit.

Wednesday - Pork Fried Rice. We never got to it last week.

Thursday - Leftovers.

Friday - Hamburgers and Roasted Red Potatoes.

Make sure to check out Org Junkie for her great slow cooker recipes and other tasty menus!

Friday Freedom

I'm not sure how we start our own meme but I want to share my hopes and dreams for the weekend as it is finally "freedom" Friday.

1. I hope that this weekend I will finally get some sleep. I worked a 14-hour day yesterday and although I'm not as exhausted as I thought I would be, I'm still pretty tired. I want to go back to the good old days of sleeping in until 10am.... oh how I love those days!

2. I want to get my hair done. You guys have heard me talk about getting my hair done for months now. Let me assure you that my hair has been in a ponytail for about 5 months straight. It's absolutely terrible and I'm assamed of myself. So, it's not a joke and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I need to get my hair done.

3. I want to clean my house -- really clean my house. Not the superficial kind of cleaning that ends up being messy again on Monday, but a really good cleaning. I feel like my house has been a state of disarray ever since I went back out to work and although I try on the weekends, it just isn't good enough.

4. I want to do some community cooking again. That exercise was the best idea ever. I still have 2 dishes in the freezer, but I want to get it together again so I don't end up in the confused state during the week, with DD hanging on to my leg, as I look into the fridge/cabinet trying to figure out what in the world to cook ... again.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was wonderful! Now that we've eaten all but one of our freeze-ahead meals, it's back to the drawing board (or cutting board, as it were). So this week involves several easy favorites.

Monday - Free-for-All/Refrigerator Cleanout Day. We still have leftover Mango Curry, Superbowl Sunday Chili and the ever-present Chicken Tenders. I'm eating the last of the Chicken Cacciatore for lunch today.

Tuesday - Soft Tacos with Black Beans & Rice

Wednesday - Four Cheese Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce, Garlic Bread

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Thai Shrimp and Jasmine Rice (we never got to it last week)

Saturday - Tomato Basil Bisque and Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Sunday - Some type of chicken dish. I'm waiting for inspiration!

Have a great week

For more menus, recipes and cooking tips visit the Org Junkie!