Getting ready for another week!

Here we are, another week! I can't believe how fast these weeks are flying by - I always have intentions of other posts to add to my blog but can only seem to find time for the meal plans. Since Jesse and I are pretty heavily involved in church, especially with leading the young adult group there, our "down time" is either spent totally vegging in front of a movie or working on planning for activities for the group. I know that moms probably read that and think "Oh brother, how can she think that's busy" but it can overwhelming at times. I suppose it's good preparation for being a mom in some respects, and I have days that I come home from work and really don't want to cook, clean, plan, do laundry, meal plan, etc. Other days, I find it very rewarding to take care of things around the house. And my dear husband is currently cleaning both bathrooms of his own initiative, which I appreciate more than he knows.

So first things first:
Last week I had planned a few new recipes, but didn't get around to the potato and onion fritatta, so I won't review that one. The "Chicken Zucchini pot" was one of those few meals I have tried that after preparing it, I thought "WHAT WAS I THINKING!!" It was some chicken in the crockpot all day with some zucchini and spices. That was it. WHAT WAS I THINKING? The zucchini was total mush and since there wasn't any liquid included in the recipe, it was slightly burned at the edges by the time I got home from work. Needless to say, Tuesday night became date night and we had dinner at Panera bread. THE Spiced Zucchini bars that I made for Bible study were excellent and I have just posted the recips on His Little Wife Feasts. They were moist and sweet and sugary with bits of fruit. Almost a zucchini bread and almost a bar. I will be making those again - and for a whole 12th of the entire recipe, it's only 3 WW points!
The Mediterranean Salad was delicious as well - artichoke hearts making anything delicious!

This week with new recipes starred ***:

**Monday: Mediterranean Chicken with Rosemary Orzo (from Betty Crocker). We had this tonight, so I can already review it - it was good! Next time I would let the orzo cook a little longer, but essentially it's chicken tenderloins sauteed with onion, fresh rosemary, tomato, zucchini, chicken broth, and yellow pepper. We added feta cheese on top to give it little more flavor and I added some lemon pepper as well to give it a little tang. I was pleased.

Tuesday: Red beans and rice in the crockpot - easy peasey and nice to come home to a hot filling meal

Wednesday: Church supper, no COOKING! Huzzah! I'm still thinking up a recipe for bible study treats, something that will stay good overnight and be equally good 24 hours after making it as it was when it came out of the oven. I'm a tough cookie to please. Hey - maybe cookies.

Thursday: Cheesy Chicken and Rice, one of my mom's staple dishes and a crockpot meal that is super easy and such a comfort food for me! Green beans on the side.

Friday: Corned beef and cabbage (one of Jesse's favorites) with baked sweet potatoes on the side (I think this is another slow-cooking recipe... that crockpot is getting a workout this week!)

***Saturday: Chicken Chilaquiles from my Everyday FOOD cookbook (sort of looks like enchiladas without the tortilla and served over tortilla chips. Jesse picked it out, so we're going for it!

I hope it turns out to be a good week food-wise. It will definitely be a busy week. We have Bible study at our place on Wednesday after church events, a meeting at church on Thursday (good thing we're doing the crockpot!) and Friday afternoon I am picking up my dear friend Morgan from the airport to spend some time together... Saturday evening I think I'm possibly speaking at our church's youth retreat. Yikes... this week is going to zip by. I better enjoy tonight and tomorrow night's peace.