Tasty Chicken Salad
4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
3 green onions sliced thinly
handful of pecans, chopped
craisins to taste (if desired)
2 or 3 celery stalks, chopped
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
3 Tbsp plain yogurt
Season with 1/4-1/2 tsp curry powder, salt and pepper.
You could just do the mayo and curry if you're not into the extras!
This is a pretty standard taco soup recipe, but I'm posting it for those following some of my other posts.
1lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
(brown those two in a skillet)
Add a packet of taco seasoning or make your own
(at this point you can put this and the following ingredients into a crock pot, or you can cook stove top)
Add:
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can hominy
1 can Ro-Tel (diced tomatoes with chiles)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
1 cup water
Let this simmer on the stove or in a crockpot for a while. It will taste great for a few days. Serve with many garnishes such as cheddar cheese, sour cream, chips, hot sauce, cilantro, or cornbread.
I didn't make a monthly meal plan in March on purpose. I had a lot of overflow from January and February that I hadn't gotten around to making, so I was loosely using those meals as guides.
In the meantime, I've come across a really neat website which has given me so many new ideas!! All this access to information is great and tiresome at the same time. I want to try new things, I try to fit them into my busy days, I compare them to other things I used to make and do.... sometimes "simpler" might be better! So here are a few new things I've tried that have also improved the supply and quality of food in my home.
* boil a couple of dozen eggs on a Sunday and keep in the fridge for snacks or breakfasts
* bake 8-10 chicken breasts plainly seasoned. shred 3-5 of them and make a chicken salad. slice the rest or cube and freeze or keep in fridge for casseroles, fajitas, or soups.
* make a pot of chili with 2lbs of beef. freeze half and keep the rest for lunches or dinners. this also works for taco soup for a variety.
* wash a few head of the romaine hearts, dry, and keep in ziploc to make salad prep easier. you could also slice up some veggies, just not too many in advance.
These few ideas helped me a lot in the last two weeks, and that along with some meal planning have kept things moving along smoothly. I might try to simplify the actual cooking for the month of May, so I will hopefully make a thoughtful post on that later on.
This is the great website from where I've gotten ideas, recipes, and inspiration! I follow her on facebook and love to see what she packs for her kids' lunches! I even bought some lunch boxes like the ones she uses because they're just too cool. This recipe for granola bars lasts very little here. Over half of it will disappear within 24 hours, masha'Allah, and the rest soon follows. I've made it 3 times just this month.
I hope I can pass along just some of this excitement in making food planning easier on those of us who are in the thick of it. My growing children need the benefit of wholesome foods, and of a good balance of protein vs. carbs. It takes planning and dedication, but I do believe it is very worth it!
Here we are again with the changing of seasons. It gets me every time. As if I weren't expecting it. As if it were a party I forgot I was going to, but somehow I arrived there and found myself not ready. Not ready, but I'm still glad I'm there, and not to worry, I can just be ready in a minute.
A new season comes and I wonder how I can let go of the way I've been living day in and day out for a whole new way. Will I get used to the longer days? Won't I miss the cozy, dark days I've grown accustomed to? After all, I had to get used to that a few months ago and feel quite happy about it right now. How can we shift our activities and routines suddenly?? I'm not ready! This means digging out different clothes, shoes, and accessories of all sorts. It means putting away the snow clothes, snow boots, gloves, and hats for wind breakers, gardening gloves, bike helmets, and flip flops. It means eating dinner when it is still light outside... heck, it means doing EVERYTHING when it is still light outside because by June, it will still be light at 9:30 at night!
After some reflecting, I was able to tie in to this cycle a different cycle. It's the cycle of prayer times in one day. Similar to the seasons, the times of prayer change with the amount of sunlight hitting the earth. So, in the shorter days of the year the prayer times are very close together. In the longer days of the year, the prayer times are very spread out. Just as I feel I'm not ready for spring, I feel like I'm not ready for the widely-spaced prayer times. I wonder how I can let go of the way I've been living day in and day out for a whole new way. Will I get used to the longer days? Won't I miss the cozy, dark days I've grown accustomed to? After all, I had to get used to that a few months ago and feel quite happy about it right now. How can we shift our prayer times so drastically??
But we do. The seasons change and the days change. And our routines and activities change. And this is a good thing. It makes us pay attention. Old routines need to catch up and adjust. Hopefully it's a chance to refresh, to ditch a bad habit, to start a good habit, or to just enjoy the variety that God has given us in bounty.
I think this kind of change is testimony to the fact that while humans are in need of change, we are also in need of rhythm. The seasons, mercifully, are only four, and they do cycle back. We can anticipate what is to come (rhythm), and we can benefit from its going (change).
Now let's hope I can wake up on time tomorrow since we moved the clocks forward!
