I might sound strange when I say this, but I love planning my weekly menus. What other time do I get to sit down, browse through my favorite cookbooks, magazines and blogs to focus 100% on food? I get to combine some of my favorite things with something that is useful for my family. It’s a win-win!

Planning out our weekly menu saves time and money for our family – and I love anything that can give me the results of more time and more money. Menu planning takes out the last minute “what’s for dinner” guess work you face when you don’t have a plan. It also eliminates the rush to the nearest fast food restaurant for dinner because you forgot to plan. With a plan in place I am more likely to stick to what’s on the menu, reducing the times we eat out. When I plan our menus out for the week and grocery shop, I head to the store with a specific list, which means I am less likely to impulse shop and spend excess money at the grocery store. Menu planning is key to the way our household runs. I love it when I do it, and dread it when I don’t.

My problem with menu planning through the years is having a system to do it. I’ve tried online programs, tried making my own system, have gone willy nilly without a real system and have had a difficult time incorporating something that fits all my needs… that was until I found The Organized Family Menu Planner.

The Organized Family Menu Planner is pen and paper…which is what I want for menu planning. It is a bright, beautiful, flexible binder with wide open spaces to write. Some of the features of The Organized Family Menu Planner are:

• 52 weeks of Menu Planning worksheets with detachable two sided shopping lists
• Favorite Meals list – so you can easily find what your family loves on days you might be stumped
• Recipes section – a space to write down some of your favorite recipes
• Special Occasions Planning Pages – includes event information, menu planning chart, guest and RSVP list and notes
• Wipeable cover – important since it will spend most of the time in the kitchen!

If you want to take control of your household in the New Year can I suggest giving menu planning a try? The Organized Family Menu Planner retails for $20.00 and is the most ideal system for menu planning I’ve found to date. The good news is, they want to give one lucky Dine & Dish reader the chance to win The Organized Family Menu Planner.

Giveaway Details:

To enter the giveaway leave a comment on this post telling me what you love about menu planning or let me know what obstacles get in your way when it comes to planning your weekly menus.

For additional entries:

• Tweet the following: “I want to #win The Organized Family Menu Planner to help me organize my weekly meals @dineanddish @lindsayGlowbaby http://su.pr/4p8y5R ” Leave a comment on this post letting me know you completed this.
• Follow @LindsayGlowbaby on Twitter. Leave a separate comment on this post letting me know you completed this.
• Become a friend of Glow Baby (the creators of The Organized Family Menu Planner) on Facebook. Leave a separate comment on this post letting me know you completed this.

All entries must be received by midnight, CST on Thursday, December 22nd. Winner will be chosen via Random.org and notified via valid email address.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Glow Baby however I truly love this menu planning system and am so excited to share it with you. All opinions expressed are my own.

The post Menu Planning – Time Saver for Busy Families – Giveaway CLOSED appeared first on Dine and Dish.

So, this week I’m on the wagon – I have my menu planned, groceries purchased and the motivation to hopefully get me through to next weekend’s menu planning session again. You would think that simply looking at my bank account on the weeks that I menu plan versus don’t would be motivation enough to keep me consistent! We do so much better, which means more fun money, when I plan out our meals and stick to it.

Here is my menu for this weeks Menu Plan Monday at I’m An Organizing Junkie:

• Monday: The Pioneer Woman’s Enchiladas
• Tuesday: French Onion Crockpot Roast Beef
• Wednesday: Three Cheese Pizza with Baby Bella Mushrooms, from Epicurious
• Thursday: Chicken Tequila Fettuccine (lightened) from All Recipes
• Friday: Shrimp Tacos, from Rookie Cookie
• Saturday: Ham and Cheese Panini, from Martha Stewart Living
• Sunday: Mom’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

Coming up this week on Dine & Dish:

• A Giveaway from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
• Meet my Adoptees and an Adopt a Blogger Update

If you are looking for something quick and easy to add to your weeknight menu, this Chicken Stir-Fry recipe is a regular on our menu. Switch up the veggies for what your family likes and will eat!

Chicken Stir-Fry (adapted from Recipezaar)

The post Menu Plan Monday (Recipe: Weeknight Chicken Stir-Fry) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

1. Goals – Project 365 – Day 1, 2. Bottles – Project 365 – Day 2, 3. Project 365 2010 – Day 3 – Grandma & Leah, 4. Project 365 2010, Day 4 – Mystery Ornament, 5. Project 365 2010, Day 5, Shake It Photo App, 6. Project 365 2010 – Day 6 – Jammie Day, 7. Project 365 2010, Day 7 – Picnic Anyone?, 8. Project 365 2010 – Day 8 – To Be Read, 9. Project 365 2010, Day 9, Cupcake Wrecks, 10. Project 365 2010, Day 9, Cupcake Face, 11. Project 365 2010 – Day 10 – Painting, 12. Project 365 2010 – Day 11 – Cleaning Routine, 13. Project 365 2010, Day 12 – A Rainbow of Temptation, 14. Project 365 2010, Day 13th – Be Happy, 15. Project 365 2010, Day 14 – So sweet…or is she?, 16. Project 365 2010, Day 15 – Slightly Obsessed, 17. Project 365 2010, Day 16 Inspiration, 18. Project 365 2010, Day 17 Tonight’s Going to be a Good Night, 19. Project 365 2010 – Day 18 – Return to Netflix, 20. Project 365 2010, Day 19 – Calming, 21. Project 365 2010, Day 20 – Children’s Hospital, 22. Project 365 2010, Day 21 Cereal for Dinner, 23. Project 365 2010 – Day 22 – Crazy Hair Day, 24. Project 365 2010, Day 23, My New Jo Tote Camera Bag, 25. Project 365 2010 – Day 24 Catholicism

One of my goals for this year was to return to Menu Planning. I’m proud to say it is one of the goals that I am actually doing well at so far. One of the reasons I called the items I wrote down on January 1st as goals instead of resolutions was because I am hoping to attain those goals by the end of the year… not accomplish them on day one. Good thing, because I would be failing miserably if that was the case. They are all top of mind though, so I do have a more centered sense of awareness around them since I wrote the goals down.

One goal that has turned into a new love of mine is Project 365. I love how participating in Project 365 is forcing me to get my camera out more and is motivating me to take some time for myself each day, doing something I truly enjoy. It has also become a format of micro-blogging for me, which has been fun. Above is a little collage of what I’ve taken pictures of so far. I have a long way to go, but I am pretty proud of myself for sticking to it for 24 days so far!

Adopt-a-Blogger matches will be made and posted here by next Sunday at the very latest. We have several newbies who still need to be adopted. If you have any interest at all in adopting a blogger, please head over to this post to sign up. Spread the word… we need experienced bloggers or I’ll have to turn some newbies away.

Here is my menu for this week. What’s on yours?

• Monday: Chicken Enchiladas from Southern Living Magazine and My Recipes
• Tuesday: Herbed Chicken Parmesan from Cooking Lignt and My Recipes
• Wednesday: Crockpot French Onion Beef Roast with Potatoes and Carrots
• Thursday: Shrimp and Wild Rice from Recipezaar
• Friday: California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza from CD Kitchen
• Saturday: Chicken and Mushroom Panini from Recipezaar
• Sunday: Baked Tilapia from Recipezaar

For more menu planning ideas and inspiration, head over to Menu Planning Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie or to my friend Jane’s blog, This Week for Dinner.

The post Menu Planning Monday – Back on Track appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Our menu this week is pretty much inspired by what we have in the fridge, freezer and pantry that needs to be used up. Check out I’m An Organizing Junkie for other Menu Planning Monday participants!

• Monday – Easy Chuck Roast from Tammy’s Recipes (modified for Crock Pot)
• Tuesday – Shredded Beef Tacos with leftover Chuck Roast
• Wednesday – Tuna Noodle Casserole inspired by Pinch My Salt
• Thursday – Mom’s Mustard Chicken from Apples and Butter (my adoptee!)
• Friday – Homemade Pizza
• Saturday – Date night out at the Barn Party – eating at the party!
• Sunday – Zippy Chicken and Mushroom Soup from Dine & Dish (one of our Family Favorites!)

What’s on your menu this week?

The post Menu Planning Monday appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Lunch time is when we go for the all out kids fare at our house. Chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, PB&J… they get to have the limelight at lunch time. One very kid friendly recipe that my kids go crazy for are Extra Cheesy Crescent Mozzarella Wedges. I love it too because it is so easy to put together and really tastes great.

The ingenious people over at Pillsbury have created a product to make this recipe (and ones like it) even more simple. Crescent Recipe Creations… a product just like the Pillsbury crescent rolls, but with out the perferated seams. Isn’t that brilliant? This will make making the Extra Cheesy Crescent Mozzarella Wedges, Grandma Doyle’s Breakfast Pizza, and more recipes like that so much easier!

The folks at Pillsbury sent me some other great products to try out. Stay tuned for what is new at Pillsbury!

Extra Cheesy Crescent Mozzarella Wedges

22 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 8

The post Kid Friendly appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Join Menu Planning Monday. More information can be found at I’m an Organizing Junkie!

• Monday – Bierocks from Delicious! Delicious!
• Tuesday – Penny with Pumpkin Cream Sauce from Everyday with Rachael Ray
• Wednesday – Church Mother’s Circle Kickoff (eat out prior!)
• Thursday – Cheesy Baked Shells and Broccoli from Real Simple Magazine
• Friday – Homemade Pizza
• Saturday – Angel Hair with Spicy Shrimp from Real Simple Magazine
• Sunday – White Bean Chicken Chili from Dine & Dish

• If you are participating in Adopt-A-Blogger 2 and haven’t heard from your partner, please contact me ASAP! Also, if you are an experienced blogger and missed out on adopting someone, we still have newbies who want to be adopted. Just let me know!
• The winner of the Country Bob’s Cookbook is Lan from Angry Asian Creations. Congratulations to you!
• Remember to enter the Dine & Dish giveaway from Cabaret Chocolate for a jar of their delicious Brewed Chocolate! More info can be found HERE.

The post Menu Plan Monday appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I sat down at 2pm this afternoon to write an article for Her Life Magazine. At 10:42pm this evening, the article still is not written. It has nothing to do with the fact that the article is a difficult one to write. The story is fascinating and I pretty much have how I want it to go all planned out in my head. The problem is… I keep getting distracted! Hubby came home with chocolate…so of course that distracted me right from the get go. Then the kids wanted to go to the swimming pool so of course I couldn’t turn that down. The Pedi Egg Blogher add grabbed my attention (and yes… I was swayed enough to buy one get one, plus the lotion and the upgrade to the Deluxe – what a deal!), etc. Just about everything sounds better to me right now than sitting down and writing the article I am supposed to be writing. So what do I do? Sit down and procrastinate some more by writing a Dine and Dish blog post!

Are any of you out there like me? You go to get the mail and notice weeds in your flower bed, so you stop to pull the weeds and completely forget to get the mail. You go to grab your address book so you can sit down and write a thank you note and when you open the drawer to find your address book you notice that you stashed a bill in there when company was coming last week, which reminds you that you forgot to finish downloading your Quicken transactions so you head to the office to do that… moving the thank you note to the next days to do list, once again. You head to your freezer to pull out a roast to thaw for dinner, and by the time you search through your freezer you completely forget what you are looking for and end up closing the door without pulling anything out? I think FlyLady calls us “Sidetracked Home Executives“… I know that term sums it up very well for me.

There is one appliance I am very thankful for that really helps with my distracted brain, and that is the microwave. I rarely use the microwave for anything other than the defrost function, but the letters on that button are barely legible because I use it so often. I love the defrost function. I can just picture the focus group who sat around and determined that microwaves needed a defrost function. A room full of “Sidetracked Home Executives” who feel like they really accomplished something that day if they remembered to take the meat out of the freezer to thaw. I seriously feel like I should be awarded or something on those days! “And Kristen gets a medal today for actually making it to the freezer, pulling out the meat and having it thawed in time to cook it for dinner without having to turn to the defrost button on her microwave for assistance.” <applause, applause>

Thanks to my microwave defrost button, we still get to eat pretty good around here. I have been wanting to share this recipe with you for quite some time now, but I keep getting distracted by other things to post. Lemon Chicken Spaghetti Toss is probably one of the most regular recipes on our menu. We have it at least once or twice a month, and have been for the past several years. This is a recipe that I can even pull through without getting too distracted by other things. I typically have all of the ingredients on hand and my entire family enjoys it.

Now – I’m going to share it with you immediately because as I was going to pull the recipe from my Zaar account, I got distracted by a chocolate cake recipe I want to go and check out. Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken Spaghetti Toss (adapted from a past issue of Quick Cooking magazine)

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