What We're Eating This Week

This week is a little different than normal in that Deputy Handsome is taking the week off work to play in a soccer tournament which means he will be home for dinner every night! (yay!) This changes my usual routine a little bit and also gives me more time to cook during the week with supervised children so I don't have to cook as much ahead as usual. So while the kids nap this afternoon, I will be making tonight's dinner and prepping a few other things, but it won't be a huge blow-out kitchen session.

Making today:

• BBQ Meatballs from The Pioneer Woman 
• ground beef was on sale in a max-pack last week
• we'll be eating this for dinner tonight and still have leftovers for another meal
• My mom's Italian meatballs to freeze
• with leftover meat from above
• to easily freeze meatballs, I put them on a standard baking sheet as I form them like I would if I was going to cook them right away, then slide the sheet in the freezer until the balls are completely frozen. Once frozen, remove from sheet and store. I use Tupperware FreezerSmart containers because I sell them :) Large zip-top freezer bags would also work, but don't stack as nicely in your freezer. 
• frozen meatballs cook the same as regular meatballs. Just add another 10 minutes or so to the baking time. 
• Romesco sauce from the Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook 
• I will cool and store sauce after preparing, then just pour over chicken and bake for a quick meal later this week.
• Beans and Cornbread from The Pioneer Woman
• dried beans are probably the cheapest form of protein you can buy. I have at least one bag in my pantry at all times! 
• once cooked, the beans will store well. on the day we want to eat this meal, I'll just have to make some cornbread.



mmm ... bacon

• this recipe also calls for a few strips of bacon which is expensive! But with a sale and coupons I bought a couple packs recently for $1.97 each. To easily freeze extra bacon, roll each piece individually into a tight roll and place in a flat-bottomed freezable storage container. Frozen bacon is fairly soft because of the high fat content so it's easy to chop for a meal like this (it's actually much easier to chop frozen than fresh!). Or, if you want crisp-cooked bacon, just place the still-rolled bacon in a cold pan and turn on the heat. As the pan heats up, the bacon will unroll on its own and cook normally. 

Cooking on the day we want to eat it:

• Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo from the Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook
• fresh chicken was also on sale this week in a max-pack. Any chicken I have leftover after this recipe and the Romesco, I will freeze to use another week. 
• since the chicken cooks with the orzo and there are lots of veggies tossed with it, including fresh spinach, this would not be a good meal to make, store and reheat.