Kitchen Goal for February - Reduce Takeout

Back in December I set some Kitchen Goals for 2010. We did really well on our January Goal of Eating from our Pantry. My goal for February has been to reduce takeout and delivery because I was too tired to cook or to lazy to meal plan.

So far so good! Absolutely no pizza or chinese delivery at our house this month! In fact, we have only eaten out 3 times and those had nothing to do with not planning ahead or being too tired to cook.

2/5 - my parents came to town to visit. I had Chicken Pot Pie planned, even had the chicken cooked, but they rolled into town and were craving Mexican food, so they treated us to our favorite Mexican place.

2/9 - I had planned to make PW's meatballs only to come home from work and discover my dh had made hamburgers for lunch out of my meatball meat! We had an appointment and I didn't have time for a plan B, so we ended up going through a drive thru.

2/11 - we have activites at 4:30, 5:15 and 6:45 tonight, so due to this one week crossover between basketball, gymnastics and lacrosee we will be stopping for sub sandwiches.

Not bad, considering that the pizza and chinese delivery guys not only know our regular orders by heart, but greet our dogs at the door by name.

Meal Plan Monday - Feb. 8

Monday - Baked Potato Bar with Cheese, Ham, Salsa, Sour Cream
Fruit Salad
Tuesday - PW Meatballs, Mashed Potates, Green Beans and Brownies
Wednesday - Chicken with Mushroom Sauce, Corn and Green Beans
Thursday - Not sure how this is going to work - we have activites at 4;30, 5:15 and 6:45. We might just have to resort to a drive thru tonight.
Friday - Chili, Grilled Cheese, Carrots and Celery with Ranch, Brownies
Saturday - Valentine's Dinner with friends

Spinach -Ravioli Lasagna

This was the number one hit at our Supper Club this past weekend. The bowl was just about licked clean and everyone wanted the recipe. As usual, it is a Southern Living Recipe, my favorite place to find new, wonderful recipes. I did make some adjustments and they are reflected in the recipe below. I used more pesto than called for and more sauce.

Spinach -Ravioli Lasagna

1 6 oz. pkg. fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed
2/3 c refrigerated pesto sauce ( I used my homemade pesto from this summer's basil bounty)
1 1/2 jars (15 oz) Alfredo Sauce (used Classico brand, but I am going to make my own sauce next time.)
1/4 c chicken broth
32 oz. frozen cheese ravioli - do not thaw (I used the Costco brand - this is the BEST frozen ravioli available IMHO)
8 oz. shredded Italian six-cheese blen
Garnishes - chopped fresh basil, paprika

Preheat oven to 375*. Chop spinach nad toss with pesto in a bowl (I used my pizza cutter and it worked great)

Combine Alfredo sauce and broth. Spoon 1/3 of sauce mixture into the lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with a single layer of ravioli. Top with spinach mixture. Arrange another single layer of ravioli on top of spinach mixture. Top with remaining Alfredo sauce.

Bake at 375* fro 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 5 minutes until hot and bubbly. Garnish if desired.

Linked to Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam.