10 Ways to Get out of a Dinner Rut :: Part 2

Today's post is part 2 of the 2-part series "10 Ways to Get out of a Dinner Rut." If you missed part 1, click here!

 

 6 :: Keep a Dinner Diary

This may sound a little funny, but it's an incredibly simple way to document not only what you have for dinner every night, but also to make notes on how you'd change the recipe next time or how your family enjoyed the meal. After a few weeks of documenting, your dinner diary will be a great resource for getting out of a dinner rut! (My dinner diary is pictured above picture)

7 :: Get Your Hands on a New Cookbook

I absolutely love cookbooks. I'm not a collector, but I would say that I have a fairly large cookbook collection going right now. The best part is that over 80 percent of my cookbooks were either free or really cheap! I love stopping by thrift stores or flea markets to hunt for unique cookbooks when I'm in need of a little inspiration. I'm also a Kindle owner, which means I have tons of free cookbooks at my fingertips. By searching Amazon's kindle library for "cooking" and then sorting your results using the "Price: Low to High" tag, you'll discover many new and interesting cookbooks that you can download with no cost to you. Now there's some inspiration! 

8 ::  Peruse Pinterest Boards

My friend Emily over at the Louisiana Bride blog did an awesome post a few weeks ago about using Pinterest to stay out of a meal planning rut. She does a great job explaining the in's and out's of using Pinterest to meal plan, so head over take a read!

9 :: Search a Hashtag on Instagram

My favorite social media outlet is Instagram. I'm a highly visual person so it didn't take long for me to dive in and begin documenting my life in pictures. When I started Weight Watchers last year I began using Instagram to take photos of what I was putting into my mouth as a way to track my points (sort of like a visual food diary!). Well, it turns out that I'm not the only one who loves Instagramming food! By using the Instagram "explore" menu, you can search hashtags (words or  phrases prefixed with the symbol #). My favorite ones to search are #weightwatchers, #dinnerisserved, and #favoritemeal. I can always gather interesting meal ideas with a quick search on Instagram!

10 :: Make Friends on the Plan to Eat Website

Several months ago I heard about the Plan to Eat website via Kat Lee of the Inspired to Action blog. Plan to Eat is a meal planning service that allows you to input or import your recipes, drag and drop recipes into a menu planner, access an automated shopping list based on your menu plan, and share recipes and menu plans with friends. Take a tour of the website here. When Kat announced that she would be hosting a Meal Planning Boot Camp to show how she uses the Plan to Eat website to meal plan in just 5 minutes (or less) each week, I decided to sign up for the free 30-day trial to see if it was something that would work for me. I fell in love with the service and have been using it ever since. I've befriended 58 folks on the website so far, which means that I have access to all of their recipes and menu plans. Plan to Eat saves me tons of time and keeps me motivated to feed my family well. I highly recommend the service!



 

10 Ways to Get out of a Dinner Rut :: Part 1

"What's for dinner?" I have a love-hate relationship with that question. On the one hand I enjoy cooking and feeding delicious meals to my family, but on the other hand, I often find myself at a loss for what to cook. Sometimes it feels like we eat the same things over and over and over again, which can be boring and uninspiring. When I feel uninspired it's hard to find the motivation to cook. This often leads to unnecessary trips through the drive through, which can be bad for the budget and the diet. When I see myself heading for a rut, there are several things that help to rekindle my excitement for menu planning, cooking, and serving delicious meals to my family. I hope you find these helpful to.

 1 :: Make a List of Family Favorites 

Start with the meals that you and your family actually like. Have everyone in the family give a list of at least three meals that they would like to see on a regular dinner rotation. Keep that list handy and add to it as new favorites arise. When you're planning your weekly menu. consult the list for ideas. I try to pick at least one family favorite every week. Seeing my family members excited about "what's for dinner" makes all my effort in the kitchen worthwhile.

2 :: Browse your Favorite Restaurant Menus

 

This is one of my favorite ways to gather new dinner ideas. Think about your family's favorite restaurants. Visit the websites of those restaurants and locate their online menus (most will have them available). Look through to see if anything sounds appealing. Once you've gathered some ideas, search online to see if you can find Copycat recipes or healthier versions of the recipes. With all of the food blogs and recipe sites available online, it's likely that you will have no trouble finding recipes comparable to your restaurant favorites.

3 :: Visit Visual Food Websites

 

I think the saying is true, "You eat with your eyes first." Beautiful pictures of food can spark cravings like nothing else.  Websites like Tastespotting, Foodgawker, and Healthy Aperture offer ever-growing collections of the best food photography from around the web, updated daily. Clicking the photos on any of the websites mentioned above will take you directly to the blog post or website where the recipe for that particular food is located. It's like a virtual buffet for your eyes!

4 :: Make a Desperate Plea on Facebook

 

This is probably the easiest way to get a flood of dinner ideas headed your way. People, in general, love to be helpful and give advice. A simple status update requesting new and exciting dinner ideas/recipes is a surefire way to get out of a dinner rut!

5 :: Incorporate Theme Nights

 

If you struggle with variety in your menu planning, giving each night of the week a theme may be a helpful solution for you. Some examples of themes include Meatless Monday, Italian Tuesday, Seafood Wednesday, Mexican Thursday, Pizza Friday, Slow Cooker Saturday, Soup & Sandwich Sunday, etc. I like to think of this method as a no-brainer method of menu planning. It sets you on a quick and easy path to a variety of weekly dinners.


Stay tuned for five more ideas later this week!

{Shared with Growing Home Blog's Teach me Tuesdays, Cornerstone Confessions' Titus 2 Tuesday, and Time-Warp Wife's Titus2day.}

Weekly Menu Plan {Weight Watchers Style} + Recipe for Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

Quick & Healthy Taco Salad with Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing {Recipe Below}

After several months inconsistent menu planning, I jumped back on the bandwagon last week. We had our two nieces over for the week, and I was highly motivated by the fact that I didn't want to haul four kids to the grocery store on any given day. So in effort to save myself some frustration, I sat down Sunday night to  make a thorough menu plan for the week, including breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks. The girls were arriving on Monday so time was of the essence. I made an evening run to the grocery store to pick up my supplies. I'm happy to report that my plan was a complete success! I'm judging by the fact that (1) I haven't been to the grocery store in a week and (2) we haven't eaten out except for the one day that we actually planned to. So, it goes without saying that I'm at it again this week. The short time that it takes me to sit down and plan for the week saves me tons of time, money, calories, and frustration down the road. "So no more laziness in this area, Beth!!" (sorry, I yell at myself sometimes). 

Here's a sneak peek at our dinners for the week:

Dinners:

*Baked Tilapia, Yellow Rice, Green Beans

*Zucchini & Mushroom Frittata (This is a new Weight Watchers Recipe I'm trying this week. I'll report back soon.), Turkey Bacon, Toast

*Weight Watchers Slow Cooker Lasagna (except I'm using the over instead of the slow cooker), corn, garden salad

*Morningstar Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers (We don't eat many convenience meals, but on busy nights these are perfect. They are so delicious and only 3PP per burger!), Popchips

*Chili Dogs (chili courtesy of my Mom!)

*Leftovers

Now for the recipe I promised...

A couple of week ago, I had a delicious taco salad for lunch. I tried a new recipe for a Creamy Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing to pour over the taco salad. I'm a cilantro-lover so I thought it was the perfect touch to the salad. It's low-calorie, and only 1 Weight Watcher point plus for 1/4 of the recipe, which equals to a little under 1/4 cup per serving.

 

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

 

 Ingredients:

1/3 cup light sour cream (not fat free!)

1/3 cup low fat plain yogurt (Fage 2% would be a good choice!)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (curious how I chop my herbs?), loosely packed

2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and combine until smooth! Best served over taco salad.  Enjoy!

Shared with Louisiana Bride's Meal Pinning Monday, I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday, and Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday. 

 

This Week's Menu Plan

Well, I'm finally back to menu planning, and it's definitely making my life a whole bunch easier! In just three weeks of planning my menus again I've (1) saved money, (2) lowered my stress level, and (3) invited guests over spontaneously! Last week I was even able to provide a spontaneous meal for a family in need because I had all of the ingredients on hand. Careful planning pays off in so many ways! So in honor of my third week back in the saddle, I'm giving you a sneak peek into our lunch and dinner plans for the week. Most of the time I don't fix everything I plan for, but I always roll over meals into the next week.




So with no further adieu, here's the plan:

Lunches:
Tuna or Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Pizza Pockets (in the sandwich maker)
Mac n' Cheese & Chicken Nuggets
Tacos
Ham & Cheese Sliders (SO good)
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Dinners:
Grilled Chicken Salad (using marinated Rosemary Chicken given to us by my mom :)
Baked Tilapia, Yellow Rice, Green Beans 
Crescent Chicken & Veggies (trying this for the first time)
Grilled Chicken, Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes
Shrimp Scampi (trying this Weight Watchers recipe for the first time)
Breakfast for Dinner

I must also mention that my wonderful mother comes once a week to allow me some child-free time to run errands, including grocery shopping. This has been a HUGE help in getting me back on track. Thanks, Mom!!

Also, I'll try to take pictures and let you guys know how the new recipes I'm trying turn out- so stay tuned!

Dinner Inspiration

 Need a little dinner inspiration?

Here's what I'm HOPING we'll eat this week (in no particular order)...

• Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad (We had this last night, and it was delish! I added double the mozzarella inside the lasagna and some cheddar on top. It turned out awesome!)
• Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Veggies (trying a new meatloaf recipe- another stuffed one! This time the stuffing is ham, cheese, and mushrooms! Thanks for the recipe, BJ!)
• Grilled Chicken Quesadillas with Corn and Black Beans (These go quick around here. Chips and Salsa add to the yumminess.)
• Baked Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, and Veggies (I'll probably just season and bake- nothing fancy. Anybody got a great baked chicken recipe you wanna share?? *smile*)
• Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore (I've made crock pot chicken cacciatore before, but this particular recipe is new to me. We'll see how it goes.)
• Breakfast for Dinner (This will probably happen Sunday night.)
• Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue, Potato Salad, and Beans (This slow cooker barbecue recipe is a keeper.)

What are you eating this week? 

Got any good recipes you wanna share? 

Kitchen Adventures - Breakfast Edition

One of my goals as a homemaker is to provide healthy and tasty food for my family. So, although we have occasional McDonald's Happy Meals and good 'ole fried seafood, more often than not, I'm trying to provide healthy meals at home. My time in the kitchen has been mostly trial and error (thus kitchen ADVENTURES), but I'm slowly learning. So I thought I'd share with you some of the successes I've had in the kitchen as of late. 

Note: All of the pictures were taken in the Celestin kitchen (good practice with my new camera), and all the recipe sources have been linked up.

Ready to go on a breakfast adventure with me?? :-)

Easy Whole Grain Pancakes - These are a regular around here. I've been batch cooking them occasionally and freezing them (in individual Ziploc bags) so that I can just pop them in the microwave (1 minute) for an easy breakfast. The topping options are pretty limitless, so flavor them up however you like. My hubs likes his with peanut butter and jelly, and Si prefers his topped with strawberry preserves. 

Yummy Drippin' Goodness

Hodgson Mill Strawberry Banana Smoothie - I got this recipe off a box of Hodgson Mill milled flax seed. I adapted the recipe by using 1 cup of vanilla soy milk instead of the low fat milk and the fat free vanilla icecream or frozen yogurt. This makes a delicious breakfast smoothie or afternoon snack! And of course, you don't NEED the flax seed, but it's such a great nutritional supplement, so why not? :) And by the way, that pineapple in the background was chopped up and used for an experiment in pineapple smoothies the next day- yum!

Cascadian Farms Fruitful O's! Ok, so I didn't make this, but who doesn't like a good bowl of cereal for breakfast? This is the organic, healthier version of Fruit Loops- and I think they taste better than those sugary Loops to! I'll have to admit that on occasion we've even had these for dinner (usually when it's been one of THOSE days ;-)

The Incredible Edible Egg - We LOVE eggs around here. We don't just limit them to breakfast. But there's nothing like fresh farm eggs to brighten your morning! (minus the poop and feathers, of course!) We like scrambled eggs the best, but there's so much you can do with eggs! The other night we had a delicious frittata for dinner. So good! The eggs in this picture were a special treat from our neighbors, but typically we just buy them from good 'ole Wal-Mart. 

Ever been faced with this?

Why not make these! I made these muffins using this recipe for Banana Bread.  I made these during my "free time" (haha @ free time) one afternoon, and we ate them for a snack, but this is another great breakfast item.  And another plus is that they can be frozen and thawed in the microwave or toaster oven for those on-the-go mornings!

And if banana's don't float your boat, how about blueberries?

I made this recipe minus the streussel topping (cause I didn't have time for all that! maybe next time :-). I also used all whole wheat flour. They're a little browner than your typical blueberry muffin, but tasty nonetheless. And again, freezer friendly.

And last but not least - in an effort to keep it real - granola bars! Nope, didn't make these either! But they're my Sunday morning delight! Because some Sunday mornings I don't even have time to pop something in the microwave for 1 minute! Sad, huh? Thank God for these grab and go treats! Our favorite brands are Nature Valley...

...and Kashi :)

Hope you were inspired to make healthy breakfasts a part of your day!