Menu Planning Sept 30 - Oct 5

As a working Mom it is hard to come up with healthy home cooked meals without getting into a rut. This week I started planning ahead and prepping my meals for the upcoming week on the weekend. Here is the dinner menu with recipes that I pulled together with the help of Pinterest. I found most of these recipes from KoJo Designs.

Let me know how you liked the recipes and if you changed anything up!

Chicken Posole
1 can (15 oz.) yellow or white hominy, drained
1 can (14.5 oz) Mexican-style diced tomatoes
1 can (10 oz.) mild green enchilada sauce
2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. cumin
1½ lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 3-4)
Chopped cilantro, optional
Lime wedges, optional
Tortilla chips, optional

In a 4 qt. slow cooker, combine the hominy, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, carrots, onions, garlic and cumin. Add the uncooked chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred. Stir chicken back into the slow cooker. Serve in bowls. Top with cilantro, if using. Serve with lime

Braised Peanut Chicken
IN THE BAG- 2 cups onions, 2 cups carrots, 2 cups zucchini, 1 red pepper, 1/2 t grated lime peel, 2 T lime juice, 2 T soy sauce, 2 T flour, 4 garlic cloves, 2 lbs. cubed boneless, skinless chicken breast.

TO COOK- Dump contents of bag in slow cooker. Cover with 3/4 cup chicken broth and 3 T peanut butter (whisked together). Cook on low for 5-6 hours. For the last five minutes, add in 1 can of coconut milk and 1 bag of frozen peas.

TO SERVE-  Garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Serve over rice.

Pineapple Pork
IN THE BAG- 1.5 lbs cubed Pork Loin or Tenderloin, 1/2 a red pepper, chopped, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar,1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, 3
Tablespoons corn starch. Mix well and freeze.

TO COOK- Thaw in the fridge. Place in slow cooker. Add one 20 oz can of crushed pineapple. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or LOW 7-9 hours.

TO SERVE- Serve with rice or couscous.

Coconut Chicken Curry
IN THE BAG- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2 lbs. of chopped butternut squash, 2 medium onions, chopped, 8 minced garlic cloves, 1 oz fresh ginger, 2 T curry powder,1 t ground coriander, 1 t ground cumin, coarse salt

TO COOK- Add the contents of the bag and a can of coconut milk to a slow cooker and cook on low all day. 25 minutes before serving, add another can of coconut milk and a bag of frozen peas.

TO SERVE- Garnish with chopped cashews and cilantro.

Beef Broccoli
IN THE BAG- Whisk together 1/4 cups beef broth, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 tablespoons white wine, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar. 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes. Add mixture plus one and a half pounds chuck steak, cut into strips, to a gallon sized freezer bag. Freeze cooked 2 cups brown rice and 1 cup broccoli florets in their own separate bags.

TO COOK- Thaw beef/marinade bag and rice, but not broccoli. Cook beef mixture in crock pot for 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. Add frozen broccoli for the last hour of cooking.

TO SERVE- Serve over warm brown rice and garnish with sesame seeds.

BBQ Chicken
IN THE BAG- 2 cups sweet potatoes, 2 cups red and green bell pepper, 1 cup carrots, 2 cups onion, 3 cups zucchini, 2 T flour, 1.5 lbs chicken, 2 cloves garlic, 1 t salt

TO COOK- Dump bag plus one bottle BBQ sauce into crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Spring Cleaning e-Books

Who doesn't love a good cleaning book? I like reading when I can get useful tips on ways I can effectively clean my house and keep it in order.  Clean Mama just shared an e-book deal that I couldn't pass up.  You will receive 5 cleaning e-books for $7.40. If you need a cleaning pick me up for Spring, you may want to check these out.  I just purchased them and think they will be a good read. Happy Cleaning!

*This deal is only good until Monday at 8am EST.

31 Days to Clean by Sarah Mae
Part cleaning handbook, part devotional, this ebook is not just about the how of cleaning, but about the why. In 31 Days to Clean, Sarah Mae provides you with two challenges each day — a Mary challenge to encourage and engage your heart and a Martha challenge with a specific cleaning task. At the end of 31 days, your house will be clean, and you’ll have a new perspective on housekeeping as well!

Simple Living by Lorilee Lippincott
Deal with tangible and intangible clutter in just 30 days with Simple Living, which will help you have a simpler and cleaner home…and keep it that way. Tackle thirty different clutter areas in under an hour a day and create drastic and permanent changes.

A Simply Homemade Clean by Lisa Barthuly
Rid your home of commercial, toxic products without the high price of all natural, organic products that line the shelf. Learn to make everything from your own laundry soap, to homemade dryer sheets, antibacterial spray cleaners, potpourri blends and fabric softeners!

Project Organize Your Entire Life by Stephanie Morgan
With a simple and customizable approach, Project Organize Your Entire Life helps you walk through your daily habits and weekly routines to conquer some of the biggest obstacles to living the simplified life you’re yearning for: decluttering, cleaning, organizing, meal planning and more.

Pulling Yourself Together by Becky of Clean Mama
In Pulling Yourself Together, Becky provides you with the tools to declutter and organize your home in the midst of a busy life, implement a cleaning routine that really works and strategies to continue with the perfected plan!

Smoothie Time!

As part of our clean eating lifestyle change, we fell in love with my parent's VitaMix.  They were nice enough to get us one of our own! I'm learning all about the new healthy recipes I can make with it.  One thing that I find especially great in the mornings is a smoothie! I LOVE the VitaMix compared to our Jack LaLanne Juicer because the clean up is MUCH easier and all the nutrients are kept in the smoothie. You can also add other great things like yogurt, water, milk, chia seeds, unsweetened coconut, etc. I've recently discovered Simple Green Smoothies. They give great tips on smoothies, nutrients and recipes. In April they are doing the 30-day Green Smoothie Challenge. They have an e-book you can purchase or you can sign up for their emails with tips and recipes as well.

I like fruits more than veggies so it's great to make a fruit smoothie but throw in greens that I won't even be able to taste but still get the benefit of it.

Below is the recipe I used Friday morning:

8-10 Strawberries
1 Banana
1 Orange
5-6 Romaine Leaves
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 cup Water

It was great and made enough for breakfast and snack.

Clean Eating

Since my daughter was born, 2 years ago, I have started to research ways I can feed her the most nutritious foods. Before that, it never occured to me that there is sugar added to almost anything made and how processed our foods our with chemicals. I kept her on breast milk until she was 14 months old, when she started solids I made everything from scratch so she wouldn't have anything out of jars. As she began to get older it started to get easier but I also started to slack a little. I always made sure her dairy products were organic. All in all I would say her diet was around 80% unprocessed. My husband and I on the other hand majorly slacked off in our food choices. About 3 weeks ago I discovered 100 Days of Real Food. Everything changed at that moment. I remembered what my goal was and not only do we need to eat healthy, but we do not need to eat many, if any processed foods. I've also purchased In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. I haven't gotten far into it yet, but I think it will have some interesting facts that will keep me motivated to eat the best quality food available. We are about 85% clean eaters now. Clean Eating is not eating any processed foods. You only eat fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, local organic meats, etc. We have also switched our dairy products to a great home delivery service from a local farm, Lakeview Farms.  Every Friday morning they deliver us fresh milk, eggs and cheese.  It takes time to switch over to clean eating, but I feel so much better. It is great when my daughter's favorite meal is a boiled egg, avocado, cheese, strawberries and hummus on a whole wheat pita!

I suggest starting with 100 Days of Real Food to find out more.  As I begin to read and research more, I will post my findings here so you can keep your family healthy! It's not just about how our bodies feel now, but how we will fight off disease and sickness later!

Pay It Forward This Christmas

 Help a family that is in need this Christmas!  Please take a moment to read her story, it is posted on this blog:

Pay it Forward - Husband Walks out on family

My challenge to all of you is this. Target has a coupon right now up on the website:

$10 gift card with $50 purchase

Go buy groceries, toilet paper, diapers whatever you need for your family, (or maybe some items for this woman's family) and send her the $10 FREE gift card that you get. You know we all go and drop $100 at Target once a week, its free money to give to a woman in need. The coupon expires this Saturday, so get to work.

If this story doesn't tug on your heart, there are a few others that will! Help one family in need this Christmas!

 

 *Please go visit the link above and email Mama Laughlin to get info on where to send the gift.

 

Thank you all in advance!

Toddler Trip Checklist

We were able to take a trip to Charleston, SC. This was the first trip we took with Q. I tried to remember everything we would need. At the very least I wanted to pack the important items because anything else could be bought.

One thing I would highly suggest is getting a high chair that connects to the table.  I got a great deal at a yard sale for one and we used it the entire time. It's great to use in restaurants as well as the house we stayed at. We clipped it over the placemat so she couldn't try to take that off either! It was perfect. I think she likes it just as much as we do because she is right at the table with us.

Items that I made sure I packed on our trip were:

• Diapers/Wipes/Diaper Cream/Changing Pad
• Clothes - plenty of extra
• Sleep sack or blankets
• Bathing Suit
• Water Diaper or Diaper Cover
• Water Shoes
• Suntan Lotion
• Shampoo/Soap/Washcloths/Toothpaste/Toothbrush
• Medicines/Thermometer
• Milk/Food/Snacks - I give Q mostly organic foods and lots of fresh veggies and fruit so we packed most of her food for the trip
• Sippy Cups/Spoons/Containers/Bibs/Bottle Brush
• Child proof items for doors, cabinets, etc.
• Beach towels
• Pack N Play
• Radio/Music for bedroom
• Night light
• Favorite blanket or stuffed animal
• Toys
• Stroller
• High Chair
• Car Entertainment - I generally do not let Q watch alot of TV, but I did download an episode of Sesame Street on my iPad so she could watch it near the end of the trip when she was sick of sitting in her seat.

Photo A Day July - Texture