Welcome! So we will see how this goes :)

Hi everyone, or maybe just Marlou :) I have been asked to create a blog to post my weekly meal list and shopping list to go with it. I am going to try my best to keep up on it, but we will see how easy this will be with two little kids. The basic idea is I am going to post what I am cooking for dinner this week as well as what you need to buy at the store for those meals. Feel free to pick and choose from whatever you would like depending on your family's preferences or following my cooking for the week. I try to cook somewhat healthy, but do not hesitate to cook some comfort food as well. I enjoy cooking and try to stay on a budget too. If this sounds like something you would like to do, feel free to follow me. I would also LOVE input and feel free to leave any ideas you may have for meals, or meals that you love to eat too. I am always open for new ideas. Just a forewarning: I do not come up with my own meals. I am really good at following recipes, but not so good at coming up with my own recipes. I will usually post links to the recipes or type it out for you. Just a little background on myself, I am a full time mom, part time RN and like to cook. I have a three year old and a 7 month old. My husband is not picky (minus tomatoes and mushrooms) so I try to cook a variety of things. That being said, I do have a picky 3 year old, so I do try to cook things that can be made into kid friendly as well. Many times I use the same ingredients in two different meals for the week to save money too. I usually cook things that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. I cook 6 days a week, but will only be posting 5 days here just for easy purposes. Well, I think that is it for now. Please let me know what you all think and if you have any ideas for improvement. Lorisa :)

Monday- Chicken noodle soup and cornbread

Tuesday- Honey Peanut chicken with brown rice and green beans

Wednesday- BLAT's with baked beans

Thursday- Thai peanut noodle salad

Friday- Artichoke stuffed chicken

Also, I make breakfast for dinner every Sat. night so this week I am making a Frittata. Not sure which one yet though. Below are the recipes and shopping list:

Chicken noodle soup

1-2 tblsp. butter

1/2 onion

3-4 stocks of celery

4-5 chicken tenderloins

8 cups chicken broth'

1/8 tsp. pepper

8 ounces egg noodles

2 carrots chopped

• Melt butter in a skillet, saute onion, celery until translucent about 10 minutes
• In a pot, bring chicken broth, chicken (fresh or frozen), and carrots to a boil
• Add pepper and noodles and return to a boil
• take chicken out and shred or slice once cooked.
• Reduce heat to medium until noodles are soft, replace chicken
• Serve with cornbread and honey butter

Honey Peanut chicken

Here is the link to the recipe, btw, I LOVE this site: Warning- this requires a 1-2 hour marinade!

http://frugalfoodiefamily.com/2011/06/22/honey-peanut-chicken/

BLAT's

So this is pretty self explanatory,

• Sourdough bread
• turkey or regular bacon (I used turkey)
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Avocado

Serve with cheese and mayo if desired. I usually serve this with baked beans too.

Thai peanut noodle salad

For those of you who know me, know I am obsessed with Our Best Bites, so you will be seeing a lot of recipes from there and here is one of my favorites. Instead of making my own recipe, I buy the Thai peanut dressing form TJ's and add honey and lime to it.

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/07/thai-peanut-noodle-salad/

Artichoke/Ricotta Stuffed Chicken

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ricotta-and-artichoke-stuffed-chicken-breasts/detail.aspx

• I would recommend stirring in some fresh Parmesan cheese and season the chicken as well
• Serve this with whatever you like, I usually do rice and salad.

Shopping list:

• onion
• celery
• chicken breasts (2 or more for the stuffed chicken dep. on your need)
• 8 cups chicken broth
• egg noodles
• sourdough bread
• artichoke hearts marinated
• chicken tenderloins (frozen or fresh)
• lettuce
• yellow pepper
• red onion
• cabbage or broccoli slaw
• Thai peanut dressing from TJ's (or make your own from the recipe)
• avocado
• turkey bacon
• tomatoes
• honey roasted peanuts
• linguine noodles

Ok, there it is, my first post. PLEASE let me know what you think, or if this is helpful to you.