How To Eat At Home On The Go Week 5 - Wraps

Welcome to Week 5 of How to Eat at Home on the Go, a series where I offer my tips, tricks and recipes to eat at home even when your family is on the go for school, sports, church, work and anything else that comes up. You can check out the first three weeks of the series here - Week 1, Week 2,Week 3 and Week 4. 

This summer we discovered the joy of wraps.  Don't know why it took us so long, but now that we have discovered them, they are a favorite.  On our busiest nights, wraps are a great way to eat quick and make sure we get protein and veggies.  My trick is grilling or baking my chicken earlier in the week, so all I have to do is heat and assemble when we get home from practice.  However, I also have a favorite quick wrap that can be whippped up on the spur of the moment. 


Grilled BBQ Chicken Wraps
originally from Kraft Foods Website

picture from www.kraftrecipes.com

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c  BBQ sauce
4 - 10 inch tortillas (warmed)
1 c shredded colby-jack cheese
2 c shredded lettuce
2 T chopped cilantro
1/4 c BBQ sauce
1/4 c ranch dressing

1.  Marinate chicken in 1/2 c BBQ sauce
2.  Grill chicken until done.  Cool slightly and slice into strips on the diagonal.
3.  Mix together 1/4 BBQ sauce and Ranch dressing. 
4.  Spoon BBQ dressing down the middle of each tortilla.  Top with chicken strips, cheese and lettuce.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
5.  Fold opposite sides and roll like a burrito.  Cut into 2 pieces on the diagonal. Serve. 

Super Quick Week Day Wrap

1 can chicken (drained)  or 2 c cooked chopped chicken (left over rotisserie chicken in good)
1/2 c ranch dressing
2 c chopped lettuce
4 - 10 inch tortillas

Mix chicken with ranch dressing.  Spread down middle of a warmed tortilla, top with lettuce.  Fold opposite sides and roll like a burrito.  Cut into 2 pieces on the diagonal.    Serve with extra ranch for dipping.

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Works for Me Wednesday

Meal Plan Monday 10/25/10

Another week, another meal plan.  Seriously, without a meal plan, we would not eat or eat at every drive-thru in a 5 mile radius.  So glad to have Meal Plan Monday to link up to, it certainly keeps me on track.

We added some new favorites last week, including Grilled BBQ Chicken Wraps and Sour Cream Cornbread (recipe coming soon).   I made some changes to the BBQ Chicken Wraps the I will share tomorrow for Week 5 of my series How to Eat at Home on the Go. 

Here's what we are eating this week.

Sunday - Penne with Cream Sauce and Sausage, Salad and Garlic Bread

Monday - Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches, Chopped Veggies with Ranch and Autumn Pear Mini Muffins

Tuesday - Spinach and Mushrooom Chicken, Creamy Parmesan Orzo, Fresh Fruit

Wednesday - Cheesy Chicken Vermicelli, Chopped Salad and Garlic Bread

Thursday - Leftovers!

Friday - Ham and Potato Soup, Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Saturday - Grilled Chicken, Baked Potato Casserole, Roasted Asparagus

Freezer Cooking - October

We really didn't need much to stock the freezer this month as we are still enjoying the fruits of my Marathon Freezer Cooking Session from July.  However, we were dangerously low on Pancakes, Sloppy Joes and pre-cooked hamburger,  staples of our freezer stash.  So, I spent a few hours in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon and completed the following

Hambuger Mix for Spaghetti - 3 meals
Sloppy Joes - 3 meals
40 Pancakes

Not much, but it certainly filled in the gaps in our freezer.  I love that in a couple of hours, I had 6 meals and breakfasts in the freezer with minimal effort. That is what I love about cooking ahead!

Linked to Life at Mom's Freezer Cooking

How to Eat at Home on the Go - Week 4 - Sloppy Joes

Welcome to Week 4 of How to Eat at Home on the Go, a series where I offer my tips, tricks and recipes to eat at home even when your family is on the go for school, sports, church, work and anything else that comes up. You can check out the first three weeks of the series here - Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3.




This week's recipe to help you eat at home on the go requires advanced prep, but makes meal time on busy days a breeze!  If you already freezer cook, you can just add this recipe to your freezer cooking rotation.  If you do not freezer cook, then this is the PERFECT recipe to get started with.    Cook up these Sloppy Joes and freeze in meal size portions.  I double the recipe and get 3 meal size portions for my family of four - I have one preteen boy who LOVES these, so you may get more than I do.  On a busy night before practice partially thaw Sloppy Joes and place in the crockpot on low.  I do this as soon as I get home from work and when we get back from practice 4 hours later, it is ready to go.  An quicker alternate to this is to simly thaw and heat on the stove for 10 - 15 minutes and serve. With this, I can have dinner on the table 5 minutes after we walk in the door.  I serve with chips, dip and fresh fruit or vegetables. 

I always forget this is a Weight Watchers recipe until I pull out the recipe.  It tastes nothing like a "diet" meal, so please don't let that deter you from making these, your family will thank you!

WW Sloppy Joes



2 pounds uncooked, lean ground beef (7% fat)
1/4 c packed brown sugar
3 c canned tomatoe sauce
1/4 c canned tomatoe paste
1 medium red onion, chopped
3 T red wine vinegar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T Montreal Steak Seasoning

Mix together brown sugar and steak seasoning. Spray pan with cooking spray. Break up ground beef in pan, pour brown sugar/steak seasoning mix over and brown. When meat has browned, drain off excessfat, add onions, Worchestershire and red wine vinegar and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and sacue, cook for another 10 - 15 minutes and serve. Serve on Whole Wheat buns.

5 points/sandwich

Linked to Delicious Dishes
Tasty Tuesday
Eat at Home- Ingredient Spotlight

Meal Plan Monday - 10/18/10

The weather has finally turned cooler down South and I have several cool weather meals on the menu this week.

Sunday - Mustard-Oregano Pork Chops, Twice Baked Potatoes, Green Bean Bundles, Sour Cream Cornbread and Ice Cream Sundaes

Monday - Chili, Cornbread and Homemade Applesauce ( I know this is on the menu EVERY week, but my kids love it.  With the price of apples right now, I am more than happy to make it for them as often as they want it.)

Tuesday - Grilled BBQ Chicken Wraps, Pearl Couscous Salad (from Costco - YUM), Pears

Wednesday - Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread

Thursday - Chicken and Rice Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Pears

Friday - Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Veggie Sauce, Garlic Bread, Chop Salad

For more wonderful menu ideas (over 300!)  head over to Organized Junkie. 

How to Eat at Home on the Go Week 3 - Quesadillas

Welcome to Week 3 of How to Eat at HOme on the Go, a series where I offer my tips, tricks and recipes to eat at home even when your family is on the go for school, sports, church, work and anything else that comes up.  You can check out the first two weeks of the series here - Week 1 and Week 2. 

A family favorite at our house is quesadillas and they are a quick and easy weeknight meal with a bit of preparation.  I prep the meat the night before, preferably from leftovers, then assemble and grill them when we get home from practice.  Serve with a side salad and you have a great meal on the go.

Filling Options -

• Leftover grilled chicken, taco meat, pork roast, steak or roasted vegetables 
• rotisserie chicken from the grocery store
• Cheese and salsa
• Peanut butter, jelly  and fresh chopped fruit (really, try it, we love it)

I toast mine on a large flat grill made by Presto.  You use a  skillet on the stove or a George Foreman grill or one of those fancy quesadilla makers.  Place one tortilla on the flat grill, top with desired toppings (don't forget the cheese) and cover with a second tortilla.  Toast until cheese is melted and first tortilla is brown and toasty.  Flip and toast a couple more minutes.  When finished, use a pizza cutter to cut quesadilla and serve with sour cream, salsa or if you are my kids, homemade ranch dressing.  All in all, it takes about 8 minutes to put a warm, home cooked meal on the table for your family. 

Linked to:
Tasty Tuesday
Delicious Dishes
Mouthwatering Mondays
Eat at Home

Meal Plan Monday - 10/11/10

You will see several repeats from last week on this week's menu.  I have had a cold/sinus/virus for the past 10 days and just now feel human again.  Many of my menu plans fell by the wayside in light of feeling terrible!

We added a new family favorite to our menus this week.  We loved the Homemade Applesauce from Eat at Home.  YUM, YUM, YUM.  In fact, we will be making more this week and putting it in the freezer. 

Sunday - Grilled Lamb Chops, Broccoli Casserole and Sweet Potato Casserole
Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Toasted Sandwiches, Chips and Pears (In season right now and so delicious.  My kids can't get enough of them!)
Wednesday - Chicken Pot Pie, Homemade Applesauce and Rice Krispy Treats
Thursday - Ham and Potato Soup - this is the original allrecipes link.  I will post later with the changes I make to make it even better.
Friday - Marinated Grilled Chicken, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Peas
Saturday - Looking for a new pasta dish to make -- Any suggestions?

Ingredient Spotlight - Cake Mix

This is my entry for Eat At Home's Ingredient Spotlight.  This week's ingredient is cake mix and when I use a cake mix, I usually am making this recipe, especially in the fall. I always get rave reviews and recipe requests when I make this Pumpkin Crisp.  The original recipe was in Southern Living Magazine in 2008, but I have made a couple of changes to suit our tastes.  Hope you like it as much as I do.

Pumpkin Crisp

Image courtesy of www.myrecipes.com

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 c evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

1 t vanilla

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1/2 box butter flavored cake mix 

1/2 c butter, melted

Stir together first 7 ingredients.  Pur into a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish.  Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture.  Drizzle butter evenly over cake mix.  Bake at 350* for 1 hour or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve warm with fresh whipped cream. 

*** At tip from my husband's grandmother --For best results make your whipped cream with powdered sugar, not granualted and add a dash of nutmeg.  Delish!

Linked to Eat at Home's Ingredient Spotlight
Sweet Tooth Friday

How to Eat at Home on the Go Week 2 - Baked Potatoes

Welcome to the second week of How to Eat at Home on the Go, where I share the tips, tricks and recipes I use to feed my family at home even when we are on the go.  You can check out Week 1 to see how we got started.   

This week I am sharing my Baked Potato tips.  My family loves baked potatoes, especially in the fall, however, spending hours baking potatoes in the oven does not fit our schedule very often.  In my quest to eat at home more and out less, I tried making my "baked" potatoes in the crockpot.  SUCCESS!! 

I use the super large baking potatoes, wrap them in foil and place in my slow cooker.  I do this at night before going to bed.  I then leave a sweet note for my 7 year old daughter to "cook" dinner when she gets home from school at 2:30, asking her to turn on the slow cooker on HIGH.  Since I am cooking them on HIGH, the bottom potatoes can get hard on the bottom, so when I get home at 5:00 I rotate the potatoes, placing those that were on the top on the bottom and the bottom ones on the top.  This allows for even cooking at high temperatures.  By using this process, our potatoes cook from 2:30 - 8:30 when we get home from football practice. 

How can you make this work for you?  If you don't want to eat in the middle of the night like we do, just cook your potatoes on LOW for about 10 hours and you will have delicious baked potatoes.  If you are cooking on LOW you do not have to rotate the potatoes unless your slow cooker cooks really hot. 

I set out the potatoes with cheddar cheese, diced ham (which I keep in portioned out in the freezer), butter, sour cream and ranch dressing.  My family then selects their favorite toppings and makes their own potato.  With miminal effort on my part, we have a quick week night meal with out resorting to a drive thru. 

Linked to
Tasty Tuesday
Delicious Dishes
Mouthwatering Mondays
Works for Me Wednesdays

Meal Plan Monday - 10/3/10

Sunday - Shrimp and Grits, Grilled Asparagus

Monday - Taco Quesadillas with Avocado Ranch Dressing, Homemade Applesauce

Tuesday - Sloppy Joes, Chips and Cucumber Slices with Ranch Dressing

Wednesday - Baked Ziti, Salad and Garlic Bread

Thursday - Ham and Potato Soup

Friday - Grilled Chicken, Broccoli Casserole, Sauteed Pears

Saturday - Chicken Pot Pie, Homemade Applesauce