Shout Out: Pinterest

Ahhh Pinterest... Is there anything better than snuggling up in bed with a cup of coffee or tea with a computer on your lap surfing the world of Pinterest? Amazing recipes, killer work out ideas, fabulous fashion and beauty tips, gorgeous wedding ideas (why did my wedding have to come before Pinterest?!?), adorable animals and hilarious jokes all in one place! 

If you haven't been on Pinterest, I highly suggest that you do but be forewarned it is fantastically addictive! With so many ideas floating around on the internet it can be hard to find what you want or find the things that you never knew you wanted! *Enter Pinterest*

Looking for something specific? Search it.
Looking for things your friends love or want to do? Add your friends and see it in your feed. 
Looking for inspiration? Scan the popular feed and enjoy the world being opened up to you! 
Want to keep that idea close? Pin it to a board.
Want to share your idea with a special friend? Send it to them!
Having a bad day and need a laugh? Check out the humor section!
Want to help your children to learn? Check out the education section for awesome ideas!
In a rut and have no clue what to make for dinner? Check out my favorite section, food and drink!
The possibilities are endless!!!

Pinterest has been described as virtual clutter but if we keep it organized and really use it and benefit from it, is it a waste? Personally, all of my recipes nowadays come from Pinterest. In fact, I not only have boards separating the different kinds of food but I also have a board called "Current Plan" where I put pins of this weeks recipes and any other things I am going to try to do or work on. There is also a board called "OrganizedForReal" to help get my blogs out there! It's helped me plan vacations, set goals, helped me with my job, helped me understand myself at times and helped me to have a good laugh! In fact, feel free to check out my boards here! 

Obviously you can tell that I love Pinterest but to fully understand, you will have to try it out for yourself! So go ahead, set up a free account and get to pinning! But as always, let's stay OrganizedForReal!

Recipe: Sausage Bisquik muffins

     Tired of cereal for breakfast but you need something really quick in the morning? Tired of breakfast really adding to the morning drag? Well then, I have a great recipe for you! I made these for the first time (will totally be making them again!) yesterday after I found this recipe on one of my Facebook groups and I had everything I needed to make it in my kitchen, only four ingredients!!!

Sausage Bisquik Muffins

1 cup of Bisquick (next time I will home-made mix that I plan on making)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs (beaten)
1 lb sausage (I added the seasonings that I always do to my sausage to make it spicy Italian sausage)

Mix in a bowl and add to a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and there you have it! 

      An amazingly easy breakfast! Perfect for a couple mornings depending on the size of your family! I'm sure they would freeze well also, may have to try that next time! Make some ahead of time to easily add to your meal plan when there simply isn't enough time in the morning. Pop them in the microwave or toaster oven and breakfast is served! Who doesn't love a simple flavorful breakfast? But of course, here we are keeping it OrganizedForReal!

Tip of The Day: Weekly Meal Plan

    Is the term "weekly meal plan" an inspiration or does it make you cring? I'll admit, at first,I thought it would be a daunting task but now I don't know how I lived without it! I found myself in the rut of not knowing what to cook so it was just easier to go out or order in. But I noticed that I was not feeling very good because I was not eating well and I wanted to have better meals for my husband. So I decided I would try making a meal plan for the week and see how it worked and like I said, now I don't know how I did without it.
     The first week was the hardest, I didn't know what I wanted to make. So I decided to start a list of meals that I make. I also looked though some cookbooks and online to find new recipes I wanted to try. Here is what week one looked like...

Monday-

Lunch- Stromboli

Supper- Chinese

Tuesday-

Lunch- Red Beans and Rice

Supper- Turkey and Ham Wraps

Queso and Chips

Wednesday-

Lunch- Red Beans and Rice

Supper- Capresse chicken and pasta

Thursday-

Lunch- Leftover Capresse Chicken and pasta

Supper- Vernicelli with sausage and spinach

Friday-

Lunch- Leftover vernicelli with sausage and spinach

Supper- Cedar Rapids

Saturday-

Lunch- With Nieces Out

Supper- Make with Nieces

Sunday-

Lunch- Eat out

Supper- Leftovers

     For the lunches I only have to figure out what I would eat as my husband has to eat out for lunch. I normally eat leftovers, which I love for lunch. Then for supper I looked at my days activities to see how much time and energy I would have to cook. On days where I am gone until 5, I want something that will either be ready when I get home or take very little effort to prepare. 

     I also have to figure in meals to use leftovers. If there are more leftovers beyond this. I freeze them and plan them into next weeks meal plan. I also make sure I include when we will be eating out on the meal plan. 

     When I am making the meal plan, I try to make sure that I plan for a wide variety of foods. I make sure that I don't have the same meat too many times in one week or too many pasta or rice dishes etc.
     When I am trying to think of meals to make, I rally try to look at what I will have a partial package of and try to use it in another meal. For instance, I made a beef roast one night and then used the leftover beef in beef stroganoff the next night. I also froze the beef broth for later use. This way I make sure that I don't have wasted food and thus wasted money.
     As you have noticed, now I am going to post my new meal plan every Sunday or Monday. Monday Meal Plan- genius!
     Because I have my weekly meal plan and use my Master Grocery List I can get groceries once a week on my errand day! This way I can be OrganizedForReal!!!

Meal Plan for the Week of Oct 1st

     How is tomorrow already October 1st? That just doesn't seem possible! I've been super busy the last couple of days trying to pack. Yesterday Graham and I went to the Cedar Rapids and got some things for the condo. We found the comforter sets for both the master and the guest bedroom. We bought a table for the living room (that is gorgeous and awesome, can't wait to show you), a desk for my computer, a cool bookcase as well as some pillows for the living room and some paint for furniture. So we got a lot done! And all for about 400 dollars! 
     But that's enough about what's been going on the last couple days. Now it's time to look at this weeks meal plan. I'll admit this week isn't the most exciting as far as food goes. I am trying to use up some of the food that is in the freezer as well as other things in our pantry. I'm not trying any new recipes this week although I will be posting the recipe for the white chili when I make it. But let's just say that my trip to the store is going to be really cheap this week! There are only about 5 items that I need to get, I may think of a couple more but I still wont have very many.
     I am really trying to use what I have so there is not as much to move. I know maybe that is silly, there will still be a lot in the way of food to move but I guess it is just a mental thing for me. I also wanted to make the meals for this week simple because I am going to start painting the condo and I am still working on packing as well. So here is this weeks meal plan...

Monday-

Lunch- Leftover Alfredo

Supper- Croatian Brats w/ sour kraut

Brussel sprouts

Tuesday-

Lunch- Leftover Alfredo

Supper- Naan pizza

Wednesday-

Lunch- Misc leftovers

Supper- White Chili

Thursday-

Lunch- Leftover white chili

Supper- Baked fish/ Brussel sprouts

Friday-

Lunch- Leftover fish and brussel sprouts

Supper- Pork Loin in crock pot with red potatoes

Saturday-

Lunch- Hamburgers

Supper- Croatian Brats

Sunday-

Lunch- Vinton

Supper- Popcorn/ snack

This week I am CookingSimpleForReal! 

Meal Plan and Prep: Week of Sept 24th

     Monday morning is always the day that I plan my meals for the week and get groceries. So here is what this week's menu looks like...

Monday-

Lunch- Leftover Taco Soup

Supper- Bacon and eggs and pancakes

Tuesday-

Lunch- Leftover Taco Soup

Supper- Naan pizzas

Wednesday-

Lunch- Leftover smokies from freezer

Supper- White Chili

             Cabbage Salad

Thursday-

Lunch- Leftover smokies

Supper- Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

             Raspberry Salad

Friday-

Lunch- Leftover alfredo

Supper- Croation Brats

             Brussel sprouts

Saturday-

Lunch- Leftovers

Supper- Leftovers

Sunday-

Lunch- Eat Out

Supper- Popcorn and snacks

     So I got my groceries at Fareway and spent less than 40 dollars for the whole week! Awesome! I'm so happy about that! Once I got home it was time to prep some of the food for the week like I talked about in my post about putting away groceries. I started by putting some chicken in a big pot with a little water in the bottom, then I added lots of seasoning to it and let it cook. 

While the chicken was cooking I decided to chop the veggies. I chopped broccoli and red bell pepper for supper on Thursday. I went ahead and put it in a bag and labeled it Chicken Alfredo. 

Then after the chicken was cooking I seperated it like this. 

I took out the chicken itself and then strained the broth. I sliced half the chicken for chicken alfredo and shredded the rest for white chili. In the bag for the white chili I added back what I had strained from the broth as I had added dehydrated onion and this will be a good addition to the chili. I labeled them like this and put them in the freezer. 

Then I left the broth sit in the container for a little while and then skimmed the fat off the top. Then I poured it into ice cube trays and froze them for about 6 hours. It made 22 cubes or 22 oz. I them took them out of the trays and put them in a resealable bag and labeled it. I will be using some of the broth for the chili this week. 

So by doing this I am Organized CookingForReal!