Grocery shopping time

I desperately need to restock the pantry and get back into my bulk shopping trips (which will be SO much easier with Linds in preschool and only having to take Luke with me!). There were some great meat deals at Giant and Acme over the next day or two, so I'll probably have to schlep them both with me - but they shouldn't take long, so no big deal. I made my meal list, so here's what we'll be eating over the next two weeks (and after looking back over it, I must be craving Mexican and potatoes?!):

• Mixed-up Enchiladas (a super easy under 30-minute meal that I'm making for September's Munchin Mamas meeting...the theme? Under 30 minute meals. I'm stoked to get some new quick recipes to put on the roster.)
• Blue cheese beef tenderloin, roasted garlic red potatoes and green beans
• Slow cooker whole chicken (I've never cooked an entire chicken myself, so this should be fun), jasmine rice and braised carrots
• Crab cakes, mashed potatoes and corn
• Chicken fajitas and black beans
• Chicken enchiladas (these Velveeta/cream cheese things that I'm not too fond of, but the boy begs for it, so I relent once or twice a year)
• Beer-glazed ham, au gratin potatoes and peas
• Baked potato soup and rosemary bread
• Tortellini and salad (and probably some of the leftover rosemary bread)
• BFD (breakfast for dinner!) - eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, etc.

Seriously slacking here!

Okay, so I admit it - I've been slacking BIG time on my posts! Summer is just way too busy. I did a lot of stuff last week that I've posted before, so I'm starting fresh. I need to grocery shop, so I think I'll just list what I'm planning to make this week and start fresh. I'm going to try to start shopping for one week at a time (5 meals) because I've noticed I'm throwing away too much food. We need to be better at eating leftovers, using up what we have already stocked up, and getting to the produce before it spoils. Here's what's on the list:

• Garlic rosemary chicken, rice and carrots
• Aloha chicken kebabs with corn on the cob
• Taco salad (made with turkey meat)
• Pork chops, roasted red garlic potatoes and homemade applesauce
• Baked potato pizzas and salad (for Friday when our good friends come to visit from Minnesota!)

Grocery shopping is planned for tomorrow night!

Grocery shopping tomorrow!

When I grocery shop, I usually plan out for 10 meals...it's always easier for me to have enough stuff on hand rather than running back and forth to the store a few times a week. I always go back to stock up on the produce in between, but I just love having my cupboards fully stocked. Here are the 10 meals I'm planning for:

• Slow cooker ribs & corn on the cob
• Stromboli with broccoli & cheese
• Sesame chicken with lo mein & green beans
• Turkey & hash brown bake
• Buffalo chicken salad
• Bacon-wrapped hamburgers & baked beans
• Jambalaya
• Grilled marinated chicken, baked potatoes & apple sauce
• Shrimp scampi over linguine & salad
• French dip sandwiches & french fries

Hopefully it'll be a good two weeks of food! Wish me luck :)

Apr. 19 - Chicken roll-ups

Finally went grocery shopping again!! It's been since March 24?!? I loooove how I can stretch out "major grocery shopping" trips to once a month. This stockpiling this is GREAT, though we still run weekly for fresh fruits and veggies (and sometimes milk, although no one drinks it in the house...just used for cooking, cereal, etc.).

Since we have food again, I decided to cook up a "meat and potatoes" dinner. I made these creamy stuffed chicken roll-ups, roasted garlic red potatoes and asparagus. It turned out really deliciously! Everyone scarfed down the potatoes (they're a huge hit in our house), the asparagus was enjoyed by all (even Linds ate two full spears), and the chicken turned out well. It was a tasty meal! The asparagus was easy - just drizzled olive oil and salt and pepper over top and seared on the stove. Here are the other two recipes.

Creamy Stuffed Chicken Roll-ups
Ingredients
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, softened (I used fat-free)
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays - yum!)
3 Tbsp. apricot preserves (can't even taste it in this recipe)
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce
4 slices bacon, cooked, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375ºF. 
2. Pound chicken to 1/4-inch thickness; place, top-sides down, on work surface. Mix cream cheese, onions, parsley and garlic; spread down centers of chicken breasts. Roll up, starting at one short end of each. Place, seam-sides down, in single layer in shallow pan. 
3. Mix barbecue sauce, preserves and hot pepper sauce; brush 1/4 cup evenly onto chicken. 
4. Bake 35 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF), brushing with remaining barbecue sauce mixture the last 5 min. 
5. Top with bacon.

Roasted Garlic Red Potatoes
Ingredients
2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup butter, melted (I used low-fat)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
2. Place potatoes in an 8x8 inch baking dish. 
3. In a small bowl combine melted butter, garlic, salt and lemon juice; pour over potatoes and stir to coat. 
4. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for at least 60 minutes (often a little longer).

The prep time on this stuff wasn't too bad - only about 20 minutes for both, but the cook time is what kills it. Definitely give yourself about 90 minutes prior to dinner for the potatoes (they are so worth it!), and then make the chicken while your potatoes are cooking already. If your potatoes still aren't done by dinner time, just nuke 'em for a few minutes in the microwave. They still taste good and it shortens the cook time. Enjoy!

My love affair with Wegmans

Tuesday was grocery shopping night! I usually go as soon as the boy gets home so I can take my time, meandering through the aisles, looking for all sorts of treasures that unfold in Wegmans. Of course last night he didn't get home until well past 7:00, and I had to stop at BJs, but that was okay - I was kid-free and nothing important to rush home to.

There's just something calming about having a cup of hot decaf tea, my shopping list, and a world of products to explore (half of which I don't even know what they are?!). The international section fascinates me - all sorts of authentic Japanese, Mexican, and French (amongst many other cultures') products. I'm still not ready to buy much of anything in that aisle, but by the end of this year, I will work myself up to it! The cheese department is another one that intrigues me...I've always wanted to be a cheese connoisseur, so I try to pick up a new cheese each time to try out (of course I forgot yesterday). On top of the food, they have aisle upon aisle of fun little holiday items, cookware, dishes, kitchen supplies, etc.

And their latest addition - a beer section - just makes this perhaps the greatest store ever! Now I can grab my beer when I get my groceries and avoid another stop. I did learn, however, that you cannot walk around the store with an open beer (no, I didn't try - but I was curious and had to ask!).

As if this place couldn't get any better, their staff is just the most amazing group of people. I couldn't find stew meat except for in their club savings section, so the butcher separated it, repackaged and re-priced it so that I didn't have to buy 6 lbs. of beef cubes. Then, as I'm walking toward a register, opting for the line with only one woman ahead of me who was already being checked out, an employee comes running over and opens an aisle to check me out. Seriously? I was only going to wait in line for another couple minutes, but he made sure I could be helped immediately. On top of all of that, they have their "Helping Hands" who will walk your cart to your car and load your groceries for you!

I didn't think I could go on this long about my love affair with Wegmans, but here we are. Some women get their hair or nails done to de-stress...me? No, I go grocery shopping!

Feb. 24 - Kraft Mac-n-Cheese

I know two good meals in a row was too good to be true! I so was not in the mood to cook last night, and with the impending snow storm, I needed to get to the grocery store for (of course) milk and some other minor necessities. I figured, what the heck? Might as well do up a couple boxes of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese! After I got home, I snacked on some "grown-up" food that I picked up at Giant (didn't even bother going out to Wegmans): Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits topped with Gouda cheese. YUM!

Jan. 24 - Kraft Mac-n-Cheese

It was a SUPER lazy day - I'm talking, stay-in-your-PJs, watch movies, do absolutely nothing lazy day. Linds let us sleep (and stayed asleep herself!) until almost 10 a.m., and then we watched Finding Nemo...so by about 3:00 I realized I hadn't eaten anything, nor had she, aside from the waffle for breakfast. We ended up making a "lupper" and had none other than Kraft macaroni and cheese. And as crazy as it sounds, it tasted GOOD! I need to go grocery shopping this week (I'm thinking Thursday), so I'm going to start making a list of meals tomorrow. Any suggestions? Leave a comment with some ideas!

January 5 - I *finally* went grocery shopping!

It was leftovers AGAIN today. So, I bit the bullet, put Linds to bed early, downloaded an episode of Preston & Steve to my phone to listen to, bought a decaf coffee, and went to Wegmans around 8:00 tonight. It's a bitch going out that late, but the fact that the snobby Main Line customers aren't there (hell, NO ONE is there!) makes it tolerable...and not having the kids there with me makes it even more tolerable! Bought my usual 10 meals worth of items (I menu plan for 10 meals which lasts us at least 2 or 3 weeks at a time) and then the obligatory breakfast and lunch items and it only came to $137 (used $7 worth of coupons - yay!).

I'm pretty excited about what we'll be eating (baked potato pizza, chili, mixed-up enchiladas, chicken & dumplings, and pasta primavera, just to name a few!). Tomorrow I'll be doing the baked potato pizza for both myself and a friend who recently had a baby.

On the Luke front, the kid housed some serious solid food today! He ate a 1/2 Gerber container of green beans and another 1/2 container of pears. I bought 16 jars of Beech Nut 2nd stage food, too, that I hope he'll enjoy (nothing with rice or peaches), as well as some Gerber puffs (sweet potato flavor that he ate three of tonight and managed to get down). He's still not nursing, but he's eating almost 5 ounces at a time?!? I pumped just enough today to cover his milk habit. I tried nursing a few times with him, but nothing came about of it - just refused altogether. I'm trying hard not to get discouraged or frustrated, but honestly, it isn't easy. Any and all encouragement or advice is welcome right now!