Whoa, whoa, I gotta go back to school again...

Well, here we are at the end of summer.  Also, when did the end of summer start to coincide with the first week in August?  That's nuts!  While I'm a little late in the month to get this monthly meal planning post up, I have a good excuse.  My family and I spent a few days exploring a beach town in Michigan, and I can say with some certainty - I have found one of my new favorite places in the world.

Amen.

Despite being on vacation, I did still do a little bit of meal planning.  We had rental house with a fully equipped kitchen, so one of our first stops was to the grocery store so we could get some ingredients for what ended up being some truly delicious summer meals.  My husband has a new-found love for charcoal grilling and I have a new-found love for not eating in a restaurant every night on a vacation.

Given that I still have a week and a half before I have to report back to work for our next school year, I'm hoping to share some great recipe reviews soon and perhaps a NMOTB post that has nothing to do with food.  (But, no promises, I always fail when I make grand plans like this.)

But, let's get on with what you're really here for - a MENU!  (New recipes that I'll be trying for the month are denoted with a "*."  I'll try to come back here on the blog to review them, but you can also look for short commentary on my Tried It! board on Pinterest.  (I'm currently rebuilding this board after the loss of my beloved I Made This board was lost in an interweb black hole, but there's some good stuff on there already.)

Love the question marks.  Somedays that's all you got.

{August 2014}

Friday, August 1 - {No meal plan - we had dinner with friends instead of eating in!}

Saturday, August 2 - {No meal plan - first night in Michigan and went out for some YUMMY Italian!}

Sunday, August 3 - Grilled Burgers; Tator Tots; Salad

Monday, August 4 - Grilled Chicken (Garlic Herb Marinade); Grilled Corn; Pasta Salad; Green Salad

Tuesday, August 5 - {No meal plan - spent our last night in Michigan enjoying some delightful Mexican food and sangria}

Wednesday, August 6 - {No meal plan - I got home to discover our cupboards mostly bare.  We ordered in.}

Thursday, August 7 - Breaded Pork Chops; Sauteed Asparagus; Cous Cous

Friday, August 8 - Seared Chicken with Avocado*; Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

Saturday, August 9 - {No meal plan.}

Sunday, August 10 - {No meal plan.}

Monday, August 11 - {No meal plan.}

Tuesday, August 12 - {No meal plan.}

Wednesday, August 13 - {No meal plan.}

Thursday, August 14 - {No meal plan. August is so easy!}

Friday, August 15 - Grilled Italian Sausage with Marinara; One-Pan Fettuccine; Salad

Saturday, August 16 - "Ribs a la My Husband" (Don't ask me what he does, but whatever it is, it tastes like MAGIC); Potato Salad (I'm going to try to steal my mom's recipe from her); Grilled Corn (Gotta have as much as we can before the farmer's market is out!)

Sunday, August 17 - One Pot Zucchini Mushroom Pasta* (Love these easy peasy wonderpot meals!); Salad

Monday, August 18 - Cilantro Lime Chicken Pasta

Tuesday, August 19 - Slow Cooker Minestrone*; Parmesan and Sour Cream Bread*

Wednesday, August 20 - PF Chang's Copy Cat Lettuce Wraps*; Chow Mein*

Thursday, August 21 - Lemon Caper Chicken with Cous Cous; Steamed Asparagus; Salad

Friday, August 22 - Grilled Pizza* (My husband and I have been talking about doing this forever so we're finally going to try it!  Fingers crossed that it doesn't become a disaster!)

Saturday, August 23 - Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes & Artichokes*; Salad (This recipe was on the back of the orzo box I bought for another recipe last month - looks so good, I thought we'd try it!)

Sunday, August 24 - Kielbasa & Potato Hash*; Sauteed Zucchini

Monday, August 25 - Beef Stew; Bread; Salad (This will be our first day with school back in session. Growing up, my mom ALWAYS made beef stew on our first day of school.  So, though it may be a little warm to be enjoying a hearty meal like beef stew, I always really enjoyed that tradition.)

Tuesday, August 26 - Chipotle Bowls

Wednesday, August 27 - Chicken Parmigiana; Pesto Pasta; Salad

Thursday, August 28 - Roasted Chicken and Vegetables; Egg Noodles; Salad (My mother-in-law made this dish for us when we visited once and it was very tasty!  I asked her for her secret and it turns out it just came from the back of the box.  That's two recipes this month.  The back of the box is a great place to look for inspiration!!)

Friday, August 29 - A new grocery store just opened near us and they have a great deli counter where you can get some GORGEOUS meals.  We used to have a grocery store like this near us in St. Louis and we would have at least a meal a month which we just picked up on the way home.  So glad we're able to do this again with this new awesome store!

Saturday, August 30 - Salsa Chicken; Cilantro Lime Rice; Corn

Sunday, August 31 - Chicken Piccata*; Angel Hair Pasta; Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Messing around the kitchen like a busy bee...

Today, I'm excited to present to you the first recipe I ever developed completely on my own.  It used to be one of the few things I could successfully cook in the kitchen.  We had it the other night as part of our meal plan and we realized it had been over a year since the last time we had it.  That seems impossible since we used to have it weekly.  I typed it up once so I wouldn't forget what I did, and now the page looks like this:

You know you love a recipe when it looks like this.
Also, you know that I choose to stick my lemon stickers on my recipe instead of walking to the garbage.

My husband and I are HUGE fans of the flavor of all lemon.  I like lemon as a seasoning more than I like salt.  And I LOVE salt.

Beauties.

If you love lemon, you're going to love this recipe as well.  So, gather your ingredients and get ready...


{Lemon Caper Chicken & Cous Cous}

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 tsp. of minced garlic
1 cup of chicken broth (I used free-range, low sodium this time.  It was great!)
1/2 cup of white wine (May omit entirely or sub more chicken broth, I've done both.)
1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 cup of sliced green onion (The amount doesn't really matter here.  Just eyeball it.)
1 package of Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Cous Cous (I mine from Aldi and it's awesome.)
1 tablespoon of capers (coarsely chopped)
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

- Heat olive oil & garlic in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken; saute until golden and no longer pink inside.

- Use the time it takes to cook the chicken to prepare your other ingredients.

Delicious capers ready to be chopped.

- When chicken is no longer pink, add broth, lemon juice, capers, white wine, green onion, and the contents of the spice sack that comes with the cous cous to your skillet.  Stir that mixture together and bring it to a boil.

- Once you've got a good boil going, stir in your cous cous, cover, and remove the skillet from heat.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.

It will look a little soupy at first and that's okay.  It really will only take 5 minutes to absorb.  Cooking magic.

- Toss your cous cous mixture with a fork and serve in bowls.  We love this with steamed asparagus on the side.  It tastes even more delicious as leftovers the next day.

Yeah, buddy.

Enjoy!  If you try it out, make sure you let me know what you think!

A veritable smorgasbord...

October is here!  My favorite month of the year.  Such a favorite that I chose it for my own wedding (FIVE years on Friday! Where does the time go?)  This past weekend we were out of town for my husband's sister's wedding, so I had no time for grocery shopping or meal planning.  And when I went to my "On Deck" list it only had one item on it.  Whoops.  So, needless to say, I had to spend several hours both on the drive back and once we got home building a list for this month's meals.  I was feeling quite uninspired, to tell the truth.  Maybe because I feel like every October meal must consist of some combination of pumpkin/apple/cinnamon with a side of chili?

You'll notice a few repeats from last month which is simply because we definitely did some switching around with the meal plan for September.  That's okay.  Flexibility is an important part of meal planning and I feel as though we did do a nice job of shifting when it became necessary.  (There's also repeats because some of the recipes are just THAT good.)

So, here you go!  And please, whether you do it here in the comment section, on Facebook, or on your own blog, PLEASE share recipes and meal plans with me!  I am ALWAYS looking for suggestions and inspiration.  And, remember to keep checking back as I will be reviewing new recipes we try throughout the month (the ones you see with a "*") and sharing some of our own NMOTB family favorites!  You should also follow my boards on Pinterest.  Just because.

{October 2013}

Tuesday, October 1 - Hamburger Casserole; (A simple family recipe that involves cream of celery soup, pasta, ground beef, and cheese - I'll share the recipe here later this month.  It's really no big thing, but it is definitely go-to comfort food mostly because it reminds me of home); Bagged Salad

Wednesday, October 2 - Salsa Chicken; Cilantro Lime Brown Rice; Corn (I know there are a lot of similar recipes for this crock pot recipe floating around on Pinterest, but I promise, this is the good one!  Our entire family loves this.  We usually serve it in whole wheat tortillas.)

Chicken Parmigiana

Thursday, October 3 - Chicken Parmigiana; Pesto Penne; Peas (Okay, this is actually the best recipe on. the. planet.  I do a few things differently and I'll be sharing them later on, so definitely check back.  You will not believe how good this is.)

Friday, October 4 - Our FIFTH Anniversary.  I don't know what the hubs has planned, but mama's not cooking!

Saturday, October 5 - World's Best Chicken; Smashed Potatoes*; Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Sunday, October 6 - Italian Roast; (This recipe will die with me.  Seriously.  I've had monetary offers for it.  Nope.  My mom shared it with one person one time and it practically went viral.  The good news is, we are always happy to have guests over to enjoy it!) Fettucini Alfredo

Monday, October 7 - Orzo Salad with Rotisserie Chicken* {Click here for recipe review.}

Tuesday, October 8 - Breaded Pork Chops; Roasted Acorn Squash; Spaghetti with Spinach, Garlic, and Lemon

Wednesday, October 9 - Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff; (Trust me when I say that this recipe is delish even though it looks like it is gross and basically goes against every warning I've ever given about processed foods); Whole Wheat Noodles; Roasted Broccoli

Thursday, October 10 - Stuffed Peppers; Bread (I will be sharing my take on this popular recipe later on in the month.  Definitely a favorite around here.)

Friday, October 11 - Order Pizza!

Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

Saturday, October 12 - Grilled Chicken with Avocado Lime Sauce; (I could drink this stuff) Quinoa with Corn and Scallions

Sunday, October 13 - Beef Vegetable Soup; (I think we are going to try out my husband's mom's recipe!  It's one of his favorites and sounds perfect for a delicious fall meal.) Bread

Monday, October 14 - Lemon Chicken Cous Cous; (My own recipe.  I'm so proud of it!  Check back because I will definitely share it here!) Steamed Asparagus; Bagged Salad

Tuesday, October 15 - Chicken Crescents; Brown Rice; Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday, October 16 - Tilapia; Roasted Zucchini; Parmesan Garlic Quinoa* {Click here for recipe review.}

Thursday, October 17 - Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce* {Click here for recipe review.}

Friday, October 18 - Beef Tacos; Rice  (Some day I plan to try making my own taco seasoning, so if I do that this month, I will try it out here.  If I don't, no judgment please.  I kind of sort of love that sodium-filled goodness.)

Saturday, October 19 - Pork Tenderloin with Carrots & Potatoes (A long time ago we used to make something like this in the crock pot and it was perfect for taking to someone who had just had a baby or who needed a warm meal following a surgery/illness.  Unfortunately, neither of us can remember exactly what we did.  So, we're going to try to figure it out and if we do, I will definitely share it here!)

Sunday, October 20 - Braised Short Ribs; (We did not have these last month and it's one of my favorite things we have, so of course it went back on the menu!); Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Monday, October 21 - Cilantro Lime Chicken Pasta (A repeat because we loved it so much.)

Tuesday, October 22 - Pumpkin Butternut Squash Soup*; Bread (Could this BE anymore fall?) {Click here for recipe review.}

Wednesday, October 23 - Chicken Caesar Salad; Bread

Thursday, October 24 - Shrimp Scampi with Linguine; Salad (Still scouting recipes for this one.  Any ideas?)

Friday, October 25 - Homemade Pizza; Salad

Saturday, October 26 - Panko Parmesan Chicken*; Carrots (I got the recipe on the back of a box of Italian Panko, so I'll share how it goes on the blog later this month!  I'll probably will do some cous cous, rice, or pasta of sorts with this, but I haven't really figured it out yet.) {Click here for recipe review.}

Sunday, October 27 - Spaghetti; Salad (This is my husband's grandmother's recipe and she passed it down to his mother, so he grew up having it about once a week.  The way this sauce smells when you walk into a house is basically the reason I married my husband.  When he finally taught me how to make it, I knew he wanted to marry me!  But, obviously - we don't hand this recipe out.  That's a big no no.)

Monday, October 28 - Easy Lemon Chicken* (Still trying to figure out some sides.)

Tuesday, October 29 - Spicy Thai Noodles* with Mongolian Beef* {Click here for recipe review.}

Wednesday, October 30 - Pizzadillas (Didn't get to this one last month, so we stuck it back on there!)

Thursday, October 31 - Chili (This is a long standing tradition for our Halloween night meal.  It's so easy to grab a bowl in between trick or treaters and taking out The Incredible Hulk to do his rounds.  Finish it off with a pumpkin beer and you have yourself a Happy Halloween!)

Messing with the flavor...

Can anyone else believe it is September already?  I thought my summer break just started!

The great thing about September is that you can serve up some delicious meals in the crock pot which give you a nice taste of fall, but it is still warm enough outside that you're able to cook on the grill.  My husband is our grill chef, so I'm usually okay with sending him outside no matter what it is like outside, but you may not be so lucky! :)

I've been asked by countless friends to share my meal plans for every month.  Please keep in mind that although I do attempt to make our meal lists balanced and budgeted, that there will always be tweaks along the way both for my family and for yours to make it successful.  I'm sharing recipes (both old and new) that I'm using this month and I will make sure to do a round-up at the end of the month on how I felt some of the new recipes turned out.  I'll also do at least one tutorial a month on a recipe that we've developed ourselves (or one that we have tweaked from a Pinterest recipe to fit our needs.)

Keep in mind that some days I won't be cooking, so there I've usually just listed "No meal plan."  We end up eating leftovers, making sandwiches, grabbing a bite out to eat, or eating at someone else's house on those nights.  If we bring a dish to someone's house, I will share that recipe as well.  You can never have enough of those, can you?

So, here is September.  Click on the links for recipes (or pictures where appropriate!)  If a recipe isn't available, I will likely be sharing it on the blog soon.  Please let me know if you see any broken/dead links.  I will do my best to fix them ASAP.  New recipes are denoted with a star (*)!

{September 2013}

Sunday, September 1 - Hamburger Soup; French Bread with Honey Butter

Monday, September 2 - Chipotle Bowls 

Tuesday, September 3 - Homemade Pizza (We just make crust using the recipe on the back of the pizza yeast package, throw together a quick marinara, and top it with our favorites.  Don't be afraid to just go Boboli - love that stuff - or make one of those awesome looking Cauliflower Pizza Crusts.  It's all yummy in the world of pizza.

Wednesday, September 4 - Pulled Pork Tenderloin, Oven Roasted Corn, Tator Tots (Who doesn't love a good tot?)

Oven Roasted Corn

Thursday, September 5 - Broccoli Cheddar Soup*, Fresh Bread (probably grab some from Bread Co.), Bagged Salad (So easy, our favorite brand is the Marketside from Walmart - what's yours?) {Click here for recipe review.}

Friday, September 6 - Cilantro Lime Pasta Salad with Chicken* (The key to this being a "Friday meal" is that it's one simple dish.  You don't want a meal with a ton of components to make clean up in the kitchen easy so you can start the weekend out right!  We also love to utilize our grill as much as possible to relegate the mess to out of the house!) {Click here for recipe review.}

Saturday, September 7 - Bruschetta Chicken Bake, Bagged Salad (Not going to lie, there is a lot of processed food in this recipe, but it is a family favorite and is SO easy.  We only have this a few times a year to avoid the high sodium.  Then again, I did just wax poetic on the concept of Tator Tots.)

Sunday, September 8 - Braised Short Ribs, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli (The short ribs recipe is actually my husband's and even I don't know how to make it entirely.  I asked him to share it with me and he literally said, "Wait, why?"  I said, "Oh, I want to post the recipe for my blog readers" and he said, "Ohhhh, no no no no.  No. Way."  So, I linked to one I found on Pinterest and hope that some day I will be lucky enough to know how to make the blessed recipe.  Good thing he still lets me eat it!  It really is the best thing ever.)

Monday, September 9 - Baked Artichoke Chicken*, Steamed Asparagus, Brown Rice {Click here for recipe review.}

Tuesday, September 10 - Pizza Soup*, French Bread, Bagged Caesar Salad {Click here for recipe review.}

Wednesday, September 11 - Grilled Pork Chops, Garlic Roasted Zucchini, Whole Wheat Spaghetti Cacio e pepe {Click here for recipe review.}

Cacio e pepe

Thursday, September 12 - Grilled Street Corn Salad with Cilantro Butter Shrimp* {We ended up subbing with this recipe because I overestimated my ability to make this on a week night.}

Friday, September 13 - Sloppy Joes, Chips, Cole Slaw (Our Sloppy Joes are a family recipe, so we do not make them from a can. I'll share it here if I can get permission. You can make your family's favorite recipe.)

Saturday, September 14 - Game Night (No meal plan.)

Sunday, September 15 - Smoked Sausage Pasta* {Click here for recipe review.}

Monday, September 16 - Leftovers! (No meal plan.)

Tuesday, September 17 - Chicken Quesadillas, Amanda's Famous Guacamole (I couldn't share this recipe even if I wanted to.  I know it like the back of my hand and base my measurements on a feeling more than an actual recipe.  It's intense.), Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

Wednesday, September 18 - Crock Pot "Fried" Rice*, Bagged Asian Salad {Click here for recipe review.}

Thursday, September 19 - Shake N Bake Pork Chops, Roasted Acorn Squash (Recipe to come!), Bagged Salad

Friday, September 20 - Hamburgers (In order to share this recipe, I would have to also share my husband who is a wizard on the grill and you can't have him because he makes the best hamburgers. in. the. world!) Potato Wedges, Cole Slaw

Potato Wedges

Saturday, September 21 - Lemon Chicken Bruschetta Pasta*; Bagged Caesar Salad; French Bread {Click here for recipe review.}

Sunday, September 22 - Chili (Make your own recipe and serve it with all of the fun fixings - cheese, onion, Fritos, elbow macaroni, etc!)

Monday, September 23 - Leftovers (No meal plan.)

Tuesday, September 24 - Pizzadillas; Bagged Caesar Salad

Pizzadilla

Wednesday, September 25 - Chicken Caesar Sandwiches on Ciabatta, Chips

Thursday, September 26 - World's Best Chicken; Sauteed Green Beans, Smashed Potatoes*

Friday, September 27 - No meal plan.

Saturday, September 28 - No meal plan.

Sunday, September 29 - No meal plan.

Monday, September 30 - Chicken Stroganov, Whole Wheat Egg Noodles, Oven Roasted Broccoli