I scream, you scream, we all scream for......CHICKEN??

Okay, I have one more recipe to try out (tonight) before I post my first weekly meal plan! I found a couple really great recipes this week...hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I did!

Since I'm not ready to post the entire thing yet, I thought I'd just tell you about the MOST AMAZING WAY EVER that I have discovered to cook chicken. I'm telling you, it's fabulous!

Lots of recipes I use call for chicken, which you have to cook before you can even start on the rest of the recipe. I have always wished there was a shortcut...like buying pre-cooked meat! Instead, I have started doing this:

In the morning before I leave for work, I put about 5-6 FROZEN chicken breasts into my crockpot, season lightly with salt, pepper, garlic powder (just a sprinkle), and depending on what I'm using the chicken for, maybe some minced onions. (minced instead of fresh, because fresh onions will turn to slime by the end of the day. Believe me, I've tried it...NOT good!) Then I pour about 1/2 cup of water in, put the lid on, and cook on LOW until I get home from work.

**The first time I tried this, I didn't put water in the bottom and the chicken was like leather when I got home. Ick. Apparently the water is VERY important!**

When I get home, I pull the chicken out with some tongs and use a fork to shred it (takes about 10 seconds because the chicken is SO tender and juicy!) Have you ever bought a rotissere chicken from the grocery store? That is the only way I can describe the tenderness and juciness of this chicken. It's great!

So what can you do with it? Here are just a couple ideas:

* Use for ANY recipe that needs cooked chicken.
* Put on a bun or flatbread for an alternative to lunchmeat.
* Chicken salad.
* BBQ Chicken Pizza (*recipe to come!*)


Keep an eye out for a meal plan in the next couple days!

~SMurph~

Meal Plans. UGH

I absolutely love being a wife. In fact, I really hope that some day in the near future, I can quit working and just be a full time wife/stay at home mom! (We are still negotiating how NEAR the "near future" is...)

So for now, with both of us working full time, it is a real struggle to plan and prepare for meals all week long. Call me lazy, but I don't necessarily want to spend my entire evening going to the grocery store, then cooking and cleaning up a huge gourmet meal. I really REALLY love to cook, but there are plenty of other things I love to do as well.

I've learned that organization is key (go figure!) and I always do better if I sit down on the weekend and make a meal plan, write my grocery list (organized by section because I HATE to backtrack in the store) and head out for my weekly trip.

I love to follow weekly meal plans, like what you can find online (occasionally) or published in a magazine. The only problem is that I don't want to have to pay for the plans (since I'm also trying to keep the grocery budget as small as possible)so I figured, "Why don't I just make my own?" And better yet, maybe I could start putting my meal plans up on here or on Facebook just in case they might be helpful for someone else who has the same struggle??

So that's the plan. Stay tuned to see if it actually happens!

~SMurph~

Has it really been 3 years?

Today is our THIRD anniversary! So hard to believe that it has really been that long since I walked down that aisle to my (very) teary-eyed husband-to-be! We have had some amazing times together. I can't wait for the next 70 years!

~SMurph~