menu time

Last week we didn't stick to a menu. Stu and I had planned on getting away the last half of the week and hitting the beach, so I didn't plan out our meals since we thought we'd only be here two nights. Well... we ended up having to stay in town (although we did make a little "stay-cation" out of it) and we just kind of went back to our old routine when it came back to meal time. OH MY GOSH I HATED IT. Not the stay-cation part, just the trying-to-plan-dinner-the-day-of-with-what-I-have-in-my-fridge-and-ripping-my-hair-out part... and to be honest, we ate out a lot more than ate in last week. I'm never going back! I love my meal plans!!! here's our plan for the week:

Monday: Stu made yummy baked Mac n' Cheese from scratch.... Oh sooooo good. I love him :)
Tuesday: Grilled Salmon Tacos with Mango Salsa (same recipe as the grilled shrimp tacos, just sub in the salmon!)

Wednesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice
Thursday: BYU is in the Sweet 16! We'll be eating pizza and other junk food while watching the Cougs beat Florida!
Friday: out

Saturday: Indian Fry bread (dinner AND dessert!)

Sunday: Family Dinner

YUM!

go cougs

one word:
JIMMER.

blame it all on my roots...

I have a confession. When I was nine, I had a crush on an older man. A much older man. His name, Garth Brooks. This love affair developed when I was young, I blame my dad and his love of country music... I carried this love into high school, even college, coming close to purchasing a 20x30 poster of the man for my bedroom. (I never did, more because I was worried that whoever (whomever?) I was rooming with would think I was creepy...) Anyway, you can imagine my joy when I found out he now has a show in Vegas!!! ...and the crushing sadness I felt when I found out tickets were $250. Darn. But I'm starting a Garth Fund, because I WILL see him in concert someday. Mark my words...

In the meantime, I'll just love on some Scotty McCreery...

Anyone else a little obsessed?

easy week

meal plan for this week:

Monday: Chicken Tostadas with Spanish Rice and Beans - I already have shredded chicken pre-made (I made extra when I was making my crockpot chili last week, and packaged it up for an easy meal later on!) so this recipe will take no time at all. I bought corn tortillas and will be crisping them in the oven with a slight olive oil rub, way healthier than buying tostada shells at the store (and less expensive!)
Tuesday: Grilled Pork Chops with Homemade Cinnamon Apple Sauce, roasted potatoes and green beans - remember the "buy one, get one free" deal on pork that I mentioned last week? Well the pork roast that I bought for last weeks sweet pork salad recipe, bought us some delicious chops that i will be grilling up this week! (stu loves me for this, he LOVES pork chops!) also I saw this recipe for homemade crockpot applesauce (so simple, and i love that it doesn't have to come from a jar) so i'll be trying that out. So excited!

Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken with Broccoli and Rice - The last two weeks, I haven't stuck to my Wednesday plan, because all I wanted was rice... Typically this is my long day at work, and I come home pretty beat and with an unsettled stomach (pregnancy drawback) so I figure I'll make a rice dish and see how it goes. And nothing is easier than this meal... chicken, teriyaki sauce, broccoli- DONE.
Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas (favorite recipe of all time, i'll get it posted so you can all enjoy its goodness)
Friday: out

Saturday: Crispy Wontons with Whole Wheat Noodle Stir Fry (meatless meal) - Stu and I made pork and veggie wontons together for our first Valentines Day (in), we had celebrated the Saturday before with a nice restaurant and then decided to stay in on the actual day with some good food and a great make-out movie. The food was awesome, and the kissing wasn't so bad either ;) Anyway, I think we'll do a veggie-tofu wonton this time, and also make up some cream cheese wontons with pineapple dipping sauce (knock-off of a RA favorite, SO GOOD) and kind of go off this recipe to get an idea. So inexpensive to make at home, and a really fun meal to make with your spouse. To this day, I still wonder if it was my cooking, or my kissing and charm that won Stu over...

Sunday: Family Dinner


This weeks grocery bill: $9.43

There wasn't a lot that needed to be purchased because we had a lot of this stuff at home, I just planned out our meals based on what we already had in the fridge/freezer- go figure! We were able to save too, because we knew what would be on sale from checking the ads that came out on Wednesday. Isn't that great?!! Now, I did spend about $45 at Costco last week on chicken, cereal, milk, eggs, CHEESE, etc. Our total grocery spending for all of February came out to be less than $120, which was probably my two-week spending average before... Seriously helping us save a TON. I didn't even feel guilty when I went on a girls trip to H&M last week :)

Oooh also, I wanted tell you all about Mint.com! There are so many free budgeting sites out there, but this is the BEST in my opinion. Especially if you have a smartphone, because it will send you updates on your spending and you can refer to it as many times as you want to see how you're doing to keep on track with your budget! We started doing this a year ago; we put all our information up, made up a rudimentary budget for different categories of spending (retail stores, groceries, gas...) and gauged our spending habits. You will get notifications (almost instantly to your phone) if you are over-spending in a certain category. *cough, cough* -retail... The best way to do it would be to look and see how much you have left in your budget for that category, and then spend accordingly, but sometimes it's more fun to be ignorant right? I'm getting better at it, and it definitely helps to keep a monthly budget. Try it out!!! It's so, so easy and helpful!

how have you been doing with your weekly meals??

shrimp tacos with mango salsa

Stu is obsessed with the seafood tacos at Tia Rosa's Taqueria, thank goodness it's just down the street! I love their bean burros, heaven knows I wouldn't make it through this pregnancy without them.. Anyway, the only problem with the tacos is that they are $4 each! They are worth the $4, trust me, but we decided to try our hand at duplicating their recipe for the shrimp tacos at a fraction of the cost. Stu says they were amazing, and pretty close the the original! He flatters me...

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

corn or flour tortillas
large peeled and de-veined shrimp (about 5-6 per taco, we both eat at least two tacos each)
1/2 one lemon, juiced
1 sweet bell pepper, sliced up into 1/2 inch lengths
red onion
1 clove crushed garlic
2 shakes of cayenne or roasted red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tbsp of teriyaki sauce
1 tsp of brown sugar
dash of s&p

Mango Salsa:
2 mangos
1 roma tomato
red onion (not too much, about half of the amount of tomato used)
small bunch of cilantro


1. Cut about 3 thin slices/rings from the red onion and combine it in a large bowl with the lemon juice, red peppers, garlic, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, and other seasonings. Let the shrimp marinate in this for at least 30mins. I let mine sit for a couple hours in the fridge while I ran errands, but I think 30mins is long enough. If you're working with frozen shrimp, thaw it out the night before or soak it in lukewarm water until thawed, before placing it in marinade.
2. Heat up your skillet or grill pan (we have a flat top grill pan I like to use since we can't have a grill at our apt) and coat with a little bit of olive oil. Remove shrimp and veggies from marinade and cook about 4mins on each side, until the shrimp is opaque and a good pink color. I like to leave mine on the grill pan a little longer to get nice grill marks on it, yummm.
3. While the shrimp is marinating, start on the mango salsa. Cut up the mango in 1/2 inch cubes, dice up the tomatoes, and also about two thin slices of red onion. You'll want just a little bit of onion, and in small pieces so it's not too overpowering in the salsa. Cut the stems off the cilantro and cut the leaves into smaller pieces. Mix everything together and let sit in the fridge, the more time it has to set, the tastier it will be.
4. When the shrimp is almost done, heat up your tortillas (especially if you're using corn tortillas). I will stick them in the microwave for ten seconds and keep them from drying out, by laying a damp paper towel on top of them until I'm ready to use them.
5. Assemble your taco, shrimp and veggies first and then scoop a big spoonful of the salsa on top.

That's it! Pretty easy and SO good! It's also great with grilled salmon, even chicken if you don't like seafood! We ended up making 5 tacos last time, and everything was served with black beans and cilantro-lime rice. We were stuffed! Cost-wise, it was cheaper than us buying two of the $4 tacos at Rosa's, so it was definitely worth it! My favorite part of eating at home is knowing exactly what's in your food. I don't know how may calories is in one of the Rosa's tacos, but I'll bet it's a bigger number than the calorie count of what we whipped up. Restaurant food almost always has hidden fats and sugars that we don't know about, so it's better to eat in when you can!

our fave pizza dough recipe

1 packet of active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp white sugar

(makes 2 good sized pies)

1. dissolve yeast into water in a small bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.
2. combine flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and yeast mixture in a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl) and stir well. (i use my kitchenaid and dough hook which seems to handle the job very well).
3. cover and let rise until the dough has grown to twice its size, about 30 mins.
4. turn the oven on to preheat to 450 degrees. if you're using a a pizza stone, stick this in the oven to heat up while the oven is preheating.
5. flour your counter and roll out the dough to desired shape (we usually end up making hearts) and place on your baking sheet or pizza stone and cover with desired toppings. I like to brush the edges with a little olive oil, i'm not sure if it makes much of a difference though... Cook for about 12 mins until crust is golden and a tad crispy on top.
6. wait (if you can...) about 3 minutes to cool and then enjoy! SO GOOD.

anyone have a good whole wheat recipe?

i'm moving.

sometimes i wish i lived in spain.
the architecture, the colors, the food...
but mostly,
for the mandatory siesta hour.
i love naps. nothing sounds better right now.