May's Big Cooking Day

Since last month's meal plan was such a success (we didn't go out to eat once and never ordered take out) I decided to do everything on my own this time. I chose recipes that I thought our family would like and I also added some sides and breakfast items this time. I cooked most of this on Saturday and a little more on Sunday. I tried to make sure that each meal would make enough for a dinner and for lunches the next day.

I thought it would be nice to share the links to the recipes I used and to also add comments about each of them. Each month I will comment on which meals worked out and which ones didn't.

I'm on my second month and I am happy to report that it's been fun and we've enjoyed trying new recipes. Charlie doesn't always eat the new food but that's no surprise because he's always been a picky eater. I did recently find out that both of the older boys really like Spanish Rice!

Breakfast:

• French Toast Sticks - I made this recipe without the butter and not so much sugar. Charlie ate two of them without any syrup and he really liked them.


• Blueberry Pancakes - I used the pancake mix from a box I had in the pantry and added vanilla and blueberries.

Lunch:

• Chicken Salad

Dinner:

• Pork Loin - We bought a large piece and cut it up into 3 separate pieces and froze them. Mike will grill them with his seasonings when the time comes and each piece will be enough for dinner and lunch the next day.
• Turkey Meatballs - We tasted these after they came out of the oven and they tasted very good and were moist.
• Chicken Spaghetti
• Oven baked Potato Wedges - I got the instructions from a very helpful and informative article that explains how to cook, freeze and reheat any type of potato.
• Applesauce - I used Rome apples, added a bit of cinnamon and no sugar. It turned out great. The baby liked it! The other boys haven't tried it yet.
• Pulled Pork - this was really simple to make and turned out very tasty. I'll definitely be making this again.
• Stir-Fry Chicken With Garlic Sauce
• Baked Chicken Fingers - I used this recipe but I did not bake the chicken fingers, instead I flash froze them then put them in Ziploc bags. On baking day I'll put them in the oven at 425 for 18-20 minutes.
  

The meals we liked from last month:
These are the original recipes, but they were adjusted a bit because they were all frozen and cooked later.

• Slow Cooker Chicken in Mushroom Sherry Sauce - I ended up mixing everything together in a Ziploc bag and placing it in the freezer. I thawed it out the night before then baked it in the oven. I served it over egg noodles and it was good.


• Buffalo Chicken Fajitas - For this I combined the cut up chicken and sauce in one bag and the veggies in the other bag and put them in the freezer. I only thawed out the chicken and sauce the night before (kept the veggies frozen.) Then on the day of cooking I cooked the chicken and sauce in one pan and the frozen veggies in the other. When both were cooked I added them together and topped it with the blue cheese.


• Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls - I assembled these then put them in Ziploc bags and froze. The day of cooking I followed the regular baking instructions. I really liked these a lot and would definitely make them again.