A Little Knitty

I was just meal planning for the week, and thought I would share what is on tap for us!  Have a yummy week! Monday: Man Pleasin’ Chicken with mashed potatoes (make extras for the Shepard’s Pie) http://bemorewithless.blogspot.com/2012/11/man-pleasin-chicken-freezer-meals.html Tuesday: Tilapia Tacos http://www.sarcasticcooking.com/2012/06/20/blackened-tilapia-tacos/ Wednesday: Shepard’s Pie (make two, freeze one) http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/2011/03/guinness-shepherds-pie-2.html Thursday: Baked Ziti (make two, freeze one) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-ziti-ii/ Friday: Kale Quiche http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2012/10/kale-and-feta-quiche-recipe.html

I have been trying to use more homemade dressings and marinades. I gave this dressing a shot: Zesty Italian Dressing Recipe Ingredients 1 cup of the vinegar (any type is fine, whether ACV, wine vinegar, rice vinegar, etc...) 1 1/3 cup of olive oil or other oil (I usually do half olive oil, half cheaper oil) 2 tablespoons of water 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder 1/2 tablespoon onion powder 1/2 tablespoon honey, white sugar, or sucanat 1 tablespoons dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley 1 tablespoons salt Ok...so let's get to my recipe for Crockpot Italian Chicken Pasta Ingredients 1 cup Italian Dressing 6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs 4 oz cream cheese 1 bag frozen veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc) 8 oz Penne Pasta (we used Trader Joes, I like the brown rice one) Parmesan Cheese (if that is your thing) Combine Italian Dressing and chicken and marinade overnight (or you can freeze and thaw later) ...

I bought a few sweet potatoes the other day and had planned on making them into oven fries...but that didn't happen. So I took to Pinterest and google to figure out what was for dinner tonight. I came upon this recipe as inspiration. Didn't it turn out pretty?? Here is how I made it....let's call it Black Beans and Sweet Taters Ingredients - 4 medium sweet potatoes - 1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed - 1/2 14-oz can diced tomatoes, rinsed - 1 clove garlic, minced - 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil - 1 tsp ground cumin - 1 tsp ground coriander - 1 tsp salt - sour cream (garnish) - chopped fresh cilantro (garnish) - fresh lime juice (garnish) 1. Microwave on high until tender all the way through (about 10 minutes). Remember to pierce with fork a few times!! 2. In a medium bowl combine beans, tomatoes, garlic, oil, cumin, coriander and salt. Microwave on high until heated through, about 4 minutes. 3. Cut each sweet potato in half, lengthwise. Top with bean mixture and garnish with a...

Here is a simple way to stock your freezer for those times when you are super busy! I do use pre-made dressings as short cuts in the recipes below, but you could totally substitute your own homemade versions of ranch dressing mix  or italian dressing   if you would like.  Each of the following meals will serve 4-6 people, but you'll need sides too, but I'll give fast ideas for those too! For our family, I use 2 lbs of meat per meal (except the flank steak & mexichicken), you might want to use more or less depending on your family. You can easily add more meat if you like. These are all "dump" meals, and over 1/2 of them you will need a crockpot for. They are designed to fill in on those super busy days, not necessarily to be eaten over the next 10 days because you might get a little tired of them! I have found having these 2-3 days a week has really helped our meal planning. I will list a shopping list for everything you will need to make the meals (including sug...

This summer we bought some flank steak for a BBQ we were hosting. We bought it at Sam's club so I put 1/2 in the freezer for later. With the new year here, I was cleaning out the freezer and was pretty excited when I stumbled upon it (plus, it helped out the grocery budget this week!) I went through my cupboard and fridge and scraped together stuff for the marinade below...it turned out pretty darn good!  Marinade 1 tbsp  minced garlic 3 tbsps  chopped cilantro 1/ 3  cup  olive oil 1/ 2  cup  balsamic vinegar 2 tbsps  dijon-style mustard 1/4  cup  lime  juice squirt of honey 1 tsp  kosher salt  (taste) black pepper  (fresh ground) Mix everything together in a bowl then add to flank steak and marinade 24 hours. You can also put the marinade in a ziploc bag, add the flank steak and freeze. When you are ready to fix it, just take the bag out of the freezer and thaw in the fridge. It marinades as it thaws!! Grill or cook ...

I have had this on my to-do list for awhile, but had so many adorable, Pinterest-inspired ideas floating around, that I never got around to making a final decision, buying all the supplies or actually completing the task (I have dubbed this Pinterest Paralysis) Anyway...yesterday I was cleaning and organizing and decided to just do it and not wait for it to be perfect or Pinterest worthy...here is what I finally did... I hung my jewelry up! I have a nice jewelry box, but I find that the necklaces get tangled and I completely forget I have so many awesome necklaces...plus many of them have stories behind them. I used 3M hooks and just stuck em to the wall. It's not perfect. They aren't evenly spaced, aren't level, isn't artistic, the necklaces aren't draped from an adorable branch or intricate sculpture that I welded together in my spare time...but it does make me insanely happy, I smile every time I enter my closet and I remember to accessorize more! :) Do you have ...