Meal Planning, Part 2

Posted on March 25, 2020 by prairiemoonquilts in Recipes

Well, it’s been over 2 months of me doing all the cooking . . . and meal planning . . . and grocery shopping . . . and it’s actually working out OK. I’ve been choosing things that are relatively quick and simple to make, so that I’m not spending all my time in the kitchen. For some reason, we like eating 3 times a day!

I’d thought I’d pop in with some of the stuff I’ve been fixing, and give you links to some of the recipes I’ve tried lately. Turned out to be a really good thing that I started doing this — it’s made us much more prepared for sheltering in place these days. I shudder to think what we’d be eating if I’d let My Cowboy do the stocking up before we isolated ourselves!

For breakfast, I don’t go to a lot of trouble . . . usually. My Cowboy likes oatmeal, so he’ll eat oatmeal, and I like these, so I’ll have one with my coffee.

Not a big deal, breakfast. I also make a smoothie for myself occasionally (in my Magic Bullet), or a couple hard-boiled eggs (super simple).

But sometimes, I’ll fix something special on Sunday morning. I’ll make pancakes, and once in a great while, I make Cowboy Coffee Cake, or my favorite — this recipe from my friend, Karin: Honey Bun Cake. Both of these last us several days, so we can eek out nearly a week’s worth of breakfast pretty easy. But it’s a rare thing for me to spend much time on breakfast, and oatmeal is way better for My Cowboy than these things, so I don’t do this very often.

For lunch, we eat leftovers from dinner the night before, or we have something quick and easy like summer sausage with cheese and crackers. My Cowboy LOVES Pasta House Salad, so I’ll make him up a batch of it now and then. I can’t eat it, because the vinegar and red onions don’t agree with my tummy, so when he has that, I’ll eat cottage cheese or something else instead.

For dinners, I’ll link below some of the new recipes I’ve tried. I’ve also repeated some of the recipes I’ve mentioned before, so you can check out this category — RECIPES — or the Cookin’ page — to get more ideas, if you need them.

You may notice there are several Keto recipes in this bunch. I’m a protein person, so these are right up my alley, and since My Cowboy can’t have potatoes or tomatoes much, I’ve been trying new stuff. You’ll also notice that occasionally I will sneak in some potatoes and tomato sauce, but not too often. I’m not trying to be perfect. And it remains to be seen if we come out fatter or thinner during this new-recipe-sampling period of ours! Haha!

So here’s what I’ve tried:

This recipe, also from my friend, Karin: Hamburger Vegetable Soup. And I made it in the crockpot. Karin cooks all the time for lots of cowboys, so I use a lot of her recipes because they’re already cowboy-approved, so I’m usually pretty sure My Cowboy will like them (and this one recipe fed us several meals). So in addition to the two I’ve listed here, you can check out Karin’s blog for LOTS more great recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower w/Chili, Lime, & Browned Butter

Keto Pesto Chicken Casserole (this was really good, but not sure I’ll make it again because it was very rich, and My Cowboy’s tummy wasn’t too happy about that)

Keto Chicken Casserole (we liked this one better)

Keto Asian Stir-Fry (pretty good — much like the stir-fry I usually make, only mine has rice and this one doesn’t — plus mine has soy sauce and no vinegar, which I like better — so I may not make this one again, and just stick to my old standby recipe, since they’re so similar)

Easy Coleslaw Dressing (so I could use up my leftover cabbage)

Plus I’ve repeated some others that are our favorites, and done some simple meals like beans and cornbread, or baked potatoes in the crockpot.

I also want to try some of these sometime: Sheet Pan Dinners because I like the idea of everything in one pan, and just popping it in the oven.

I also make a real dessert about once a month, because that’s not something we need every day, whether we want to admit it or not. I had some extra apples on hand, so I made an apple pie. You can find my pie crust recipe HERE. I made Wonder Pie once, and I made a Miracle Cake so My Cowboy would have something to finish off his carton of ice cream with! I’ll post the Miracle Cake recipe sometime soon. Super easy, which is usually what I’m going for.

Desserts are few and far between here, so for snacking, My Cowboy likes plain ol’ popcorn, popped in the popcorn maker I bought him at Target a couple years ago because I forbid him to eat microwave popcorn — haha! (Someone has to save him from himself!)

So I hope this gives you some ideas for quick easy meals if you’re stuck in a rut, and want to try something new. And I might finally be getting the hang of meal prep, altho I still have a frozen pizza hidden in the freezer for those days when I forget to thaw out the meat!

Oh, and one more tip before I go . . .

I don’t have a dishwasher — have never had one — I do all my dishes by hand. Something I learned way back at my very first job as a waitress at the Sale Barn Cafe, is to put a capful of bleach into the dishwater. It helps disinfect everything, then you can also wipe down your countertops and appliances, and it keeps your dishcloth from getting that funky smell, too (and saves on using Clorox wipes for everything). I used to also wipe down my kids toys this way when they were babies. And right now, disinfecting everything seems to be a very important part of our lives.

And did you know?  . . . that there’s a certain order to washing your dishes by hand? I told this to My Cowboy, and I thought he was gonna fall over and bust a gut laughing at me; but it’s true, and here’s proof from Martha Stewart herself:

from marthastewart.com

Stay safe and healthy out there! I’m going on full Nanny Watch now, because the rest of the new goat babies are due any time! Yes, I’ll post pictures . . .

10 responses to “Meal Planning, Part 2”

  1. Kerry says:

    Nanny watch! Oooh lovely! Looking forward to little kids. We are expecting the sound of little webbed feet peepers in the next few days. Mummy Muscovy (Cooter) is getting a little cranky and probably can’t wait too! Role reversal here – husband does most of the cooking, although I do big batch sessions of curry and all sorts which get frozen. Challenge is not to waste any food – and we seem to have that well under control. Meanwhile I’m tending the veg plot and doing the animals. So quite fair if he’s doing cooking. Now if he could only do the cleaning!

  2. Angie in SoCal says:

    LOL, Kerry’s expecting a lot. The recipes sound yummy. Karen’s recipe sound like the one my daughter made and brought us servings. Hers was from the Pioneer Woman. Different but both the same yumminess. You and Mr. Cowboy stay safe, too. Blessings.

  3. Donna says:

    I was taught to wash dishes the Martha Stewart method before Martha Stewart was being paid to telling everyone how to do it. (She’s only a few years older than I.)

  4. Johnna Clarke says:

    I DID know how to wash dishes in proper order! My mom taught me! I was glad to read that we were right there along with Martha. Thanks for the tip about the bleach in the dishwater. We miss going to the Sale Barn on Sundays. Stay well!

  5. Shirley Guier says:

    Thanks! I’m always looking for recipes
    I did know about the order of washing dishes my hand. I’ve only had a dishwasher since my boys left home. I also learned it was easier for me to wash stuff as I was cooking.

  6. Judy S. says:

    Love the idea of those sheet pan dinners. I put one in my Pinterest recipes and looking forward to trying it.

  7. Tonia says:

    Glad to hear m you! I thought my “nanny” days would be over as soon as all four ewes had their lambs–then Ruby popped out 4! And one was a bit lazy–Mama Ruby loves her, but Lollipop wasn’t aggressive enough to get going-now we all 6 have bonded over bottle feeding her. Ruby comes to say hello and sniff me and make sure I am helping, and the sisters come to chat as well! Four ewes-11 lambs-three days! Whew I haven’t had a minute to sew. Can’t wait to try your recipes, we love to try new things. Hadn’t heard of sheet pan dinners so am looking forward to those. I don’t have a dishwasher and taught the kids “the right order” and “Inside – Outside- All around the top” for bowls, glasses and cups! Blessings all–Keep smiling!

  8. Marlene says:

    The stay-at-home orders have created a lot of challenges for us. Both the young man I house and cook for and I are high risk. So NO going out. Thankfully, I have a grandson who is quite happy to act as my delivery person. He stays safe in his car for pickup and goes no further than the front porch for delivery. Due to unforseen circumstances I am without an oven (argggg, I cook mostly from scratch and bake my own bread). My daughter jumped in w/an early b’day gift (3/30) a couple weeks ago and gave me a combo air fryer and instapot/pressure cooker. Admit, the first use took longer to figure out putting it together and pushing the correct buttons than the acutal cooking! But, it is being used. Discovered I can BAKE in it!! Yeah. Cooking is always a challenge as I am vegan and my friend is not. Welcoming the challenges as they are far better than the alternative. Stay safe and sanitized everyone.

  9. Candice says:

    Thanks for the recipes. We really need the comfort food!

  10. Jocelyn says:

    Thanks for sharing all the recipes. They sounds so yummy!

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