Get Dinner Under Control, plus FAVORITE recipes roundup!!

It's back to school time! Can you believe it? If you're like me, you might be feeling giddy anticipation that maybe, just maybe, your kids will stop fighting for TWO MINUTES and also a touch of sadness that the days of sleeping in until 8am and staying up late playing outside are over.

My latest project has been something I have wanted to do for a while and it just so happened that it coincided with back to school. Have you ever fallen into a "What's for Dinner?" rut? I have, big time! I know that I cook. I know that I try new recipes. However when meal planning comes around, I find myself looking at my cookbooks and Pinterest boards like making dinner is a foreign concept I have never done before. I have made new recipes for my family that they have raved about, but then never make them again. Why do I do this to myself? Finally, I took the time to compile our family favorite recipes all in one place to help me plan out my family's meals.

 Here's what my family favorite meals look like. Feel free to use mine or print the blank one below. You can also use this with my free grocery shopping list & menu planner.

 Here's how this is going to work for me: I've printed out a copy of our favorite tried and true meals and laminated it. Each week as I plan our meals before heading to the grocery store, I can refer to the list instead of sitting at the table with a blank stupor on my face. I'll use a dry erase marker to cross off the meals for that week and then repeat until all the meals are crossed off. Hopefully this will give us a variety of meals and make sure I am not just making the same things over and over.

TIPS: If you use Pinterest like I do to find new recipes, I would recommend printing out the recipes you like and plan to use often. I've made myself a "Pinterest cookbook" (aka, a binder with dividers) where I store all the recipes I've found. I do this because sometimes links to recipes are removed, or your internet is being slow that day, or child is using your phone/ipad/computer and you don't feel like interrupting this little moment of peace and quiet.

Curious about any of the recipes you see on my menu planning sheet? I've compiled some of the recipes below:

• Tuna Patties Recipe
• Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Toquitos
• Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Teriyaki Bowls  This is also where you'll find the recipe for the coconut rice and THE BEST homemade teriyaki sauce I have ever tried. We've also cooked the ingredients on bamboo skewers on the grill.
• Chicken Bacon Artichoke Bake
• BEST steak marinade
• Mississippi  Roast
• Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole we love this recipe year round and it's a great one to use up any left over ham from the holidays
• homemade hawaiian haystacks
• legendary lion house rolls
• Chipotle Chocolate chili don't let the chocolate in the title scare you. Seriously so good! We don't usually add the extra dark chocolate the recipe calls for, just the cocoa powder.
• Tortellini Lemon-Spinach Bake
• Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
• 7UP Chicken & Rice 
• Lasagna
• baked homemade french fries (note: DO NOT skip the soaking in water step. I did once and my fried turned out horrible.)
• Creamed Corn Casserole (this has become a holiday staple on our dinner table. It's also so easy that I do make it during the year too.)

Need more back to school helps?
We've got CHORE CHARTS and SCHOOL PRINTABLES. (HERE are some too!) Also, head over to my shop and see if there's anything else that might tickle your fancy! Thanks for stopping by!

MIA no more! July Freebies x2!

I know it's been pretty quiet around here the past few months, but I promise I haven't forgotten about the blog or the monthly freebies. I'm back in action and since the reason for my MIA status has been because there's a new little bun in my oven, I thought a cooking themed freebie was appropriate :)

I usually write down my weekly menu on a post it or something before I head to the grocery store. Then sometime during the week the post it gets lost and I'm left scratching my head, "what were we going to have for dinner again?" I decided to design a printable (and reusable, I'll show you how at the end of this post) menu and shopping list to stay organized.

 To download the menu printable, click HERE

I decided to set up my shopping list a little differently. Instead of grouping things by labels like "fruits" or "vegetables" I tried to group them according to where they were located in the store. I am notorious for going back and forth across the store when I was just in that section! Hopefully this will help me stay more organized and I hope it helps you too.

To download the shopping list printable, click HERE

I printed mine as a 5x7 so it would fit in my purse. I even had the thought that you could print this double sided so your menu and your shopping list were easy to find and plan. There are 3 ways to make this printable reusable:

1. Put inside a clear sheet protector

2. You can purchase self laminating pouches at office supply stores

3. Take to your local printing store and have them laminate it for you

Then, simply use a dry erase to write and then wipe off when finished!

Don't forget to check out my shop on Etsy and don't forget that I do custom orders too! If you like this post, please share/like it on facebook or pin it! It really helps small business owners get the word out!