Fab Faves Friday!

No food today, friends...but some seriously great websites with some seriously fun names for you to visit!







I like Evite as much as the next person...but I've found something much better. Actually my wonderful friend Christy found it. You are SO going to thank us...check out Pingg. Amazing functionality and, my favorite part, everything looks sooooo good. I'm really excited about this site...you HAVE to check it out!






Next on the list...Blurb. Ever want to publish your own book? Now you can with a few clicks and at a great price. I'm so excited about Blurb!! Seriously, there are so many cool things you could do...make your own cookbook, publish a short story, create an amazing family photo album. I'm planning on using their software that works with blogging websites to create an album based on our family blog each year...all that journaling and photo-ing I do online can finally be "printed" easily, and in a beautiful format no less.







Last, but certainly not least, is Kirtsy. Remember Sk*rt? It has a new name! Same great site, awesome new name! Make sure you update your bookmarks...and if you've never visited, get over there now. It's like Digg but for women, so it's automatically more fun, right? Sorry boys!

Call for Recipes! Bran Muffins

This is a sad little bran muffin. He tastes okay, but knows he could be MUCH better. Please help him! Please share your best bran muffin recipes so this little guy can live up to his potential!!!

I won't tell you what recipe book I got this muffin recipe from because normally that book is no-fail. But these muffins just did not cut it...and I really want some yummy bran muffins right now! I know I can just walk to Starbucks and get one, but I'd rather make it myself so I can get one hot out of the oven. Can't wait to see what you got!

Meal Planning 101

Every once in a while I just feel like talking about meal planning with you. After all, it IS the crux of this blog, right? Today we're going to discuss why it's so EASY. I'm also going to share a few strategies you might find helpful. This is a long post - SORRY! I promise there's some good stuff in here, so keep reading!


Let me preface this post by saying, I'm a slacker at heart. Before this blog, most days you would find me around 4:30 pm each day lamenting the fact I had to cook dinner, with no idea what that dinner was going to be. For some reason I thought planning a weekly menu was annoying. Then I started this blog (if you want the story behind THAT, click here!) and everything changed.

PLANNING MEALS IS EASY! Yes, people, it is. I know many of you who visit this site do so because you ARE planners. In fact you are probably way more organized than I am. But I also know many of you out there are not planners and don't plan weekly menus. I know what you're thinking: "Oh, she's just organized. I'm not like that." If you know me at all, you'll know that I am not an organized person. If I can do it, so can you!

WHY should you plan a weekly menu? Honestly, it makes cooking dinner so much less stressful every day. Grocery shopping is SO much easier. And you spend less money. It's awesome. Trust me, 10 minutes of planning will save you bucket loads of grief for the rest of the week!

Okay, off the soapbox. Time to share some cool menu planning strategies. And these strategies are not mine...my strategy is pretty much sit down on Sunday, browse through the blog for ideas, randomly select meals. That's not so helpful or interesting...Ruth and Elizabeth have much better things to share...


My good friend Ruth does the following, with an 8-week rotation of tried & true meals that she uses for each slot:
Monday: Mexican
Tuesday: Italian
Wednesday: With Rice (Indian, Stir-fry, Red beans & rice, Pad Thai, etc)
Thursday: Try new things or Leftovers
Friday: Fast food (homemade fast food items: hamburgers, grilled cheese, pizza, baked potatoes, etc.)
Saturday: Fancy Meals (salmon, coq au vin, stuffed shells, etc.) or Eat Out
Sunday: Soup & Salad

One of Ruth's daughter's friends comes over regularly on Tuesdays. One day she said, "You guys eat pasta a lot!" Pretty funny...little does she know how amazing a cook Ruth is!

Elizabeth Harris wrote a post a few months back about her quest to plan meals and "reclaim" dinner. You should definitely click over to her post...she writes some great things about the importance of family dinners. Here is Elizabeth's weekly strategy in a nutshell:
- One crock pot meal (for the busiest day of the week)
- One night for leftovers
- Tuesday nights are usually quick and easy (like breakfast for dinner) because of late meetings
- One new recipe each week

There are of course many meal planning websites out there. I've gotta tell you, though, I think it just boils down to making a list of things you like and are willing to cook, then developing your meal plans from there. And if you are not planning, hop to it! You'll thank me later. :)

Time for all of you to share your strategies! How do you go about planning meals? What motivates you?


You may be wondering what the white trash dinner pictures are up here for? To take the pressure off those of you who think your meals aren't FANCY enough to post each week. This is honestly what we ate on Friday for dinner. I'm not kidding when I say I love reading your menus, fancy or not! All of your ideas are super! :) Meal planning does not equal fancy food. Especially in my house...

Week 68 Menu & HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas out there! I hope your day was filled with flowers, chocolate, clean dishes and, most importantly, necklaces made out of plastic wrap and Starburst candy!


I've got lots and lots of carry-over from last week's menu. Honestly, what are we eating around here? All I know is I didn't have to cook tonight because of this great holiday (I can't change that diaper, it's Mother's Day! I can't do dishes, it's Mother's Day!), so that's one carry-over item. There's no way I'm cooking on Mother's Day!

ANYHOW...SHARE YOUR MENUS! Seriously, it does NOT need to be fancy!!!! Of course it CAN be, but I like 'em when they're not, too! :)

MONDAY:
- Orange Chicken (great recipe - click through!)
- Rice
- Carrots (click & scroll to the bottom for a "recipe")

TUESDAY:
- Hawaiian Pizza on Trader Joe's pizza crust (you can find it in the reefer section, yeah you heard right. I overheard the TJ's guys talking about the "reefer" over and over one day...it was so funny. They realized I heard them and explained it was the "refrigerated" section, which is not nearly as interesting)

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken Tostadas (see Chicken Tostada Goop recipe)

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Grill night...hamburgers? chicken? we shall see...

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- no idea...give me a break, it's mother's day...I'll do some planning later. :)

ProFlowers Giveaway Winners

Before I announce the winners, make sure you visit this link for some great tips on arranging flowers!

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the random winners of the ProFlowers Giveaway are:

Natalie, who said, "Pleaes pick me! I love flowers! :-)"

and

Kristy, who said, "Hooray for ProFlowers!"

Congratulations! Please email weeklydinners@gmail.com to claim you $50 ProFlowers giftcards!

For everyone else, don't forget you can get a 15% discount at ProFlowers by going here. (Believe it or not you can STILL order something for Mother's Day!)

Thanks to all who entered and for all your nice comments about TWFD & ProFlowers!

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

Tomorrow, Saturday May 10 is the national Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Simply place non-perishable food next to your mailbox tomorrow. Your letter carrier will pick it up and deliver to your local food bank. It's an awesome and easy way to make a difference!

Please visit the Stamp Out Hunger website for more info or contact your local post office to confirm their participation.


So, go grab some cans out of your pantry and put them by your mailbox. I'm going to. I just hope my grumpy mailman doesn't throw the cans at me. Okay, I'm sure even HE will be happy tomorrow knowing he's doin' some good!

ProFlowers Giveaway Reminder!

Don't forget to enter the ProFlowers Free Giveaway - click here and post a comment by Midnight tonight!

Here is a helpful link from ProFlowers about arranging bouquets...for sure to come in handy this weekend for many of you!

Kitchen Tips: "Coring" Iceberg Lettuce

As I was getting our hamburgers ready the other night and banging the you-know-what out of my lettuce (you'll see why in a sec), I thought, this is a good Kitchen Tip. And perhaps you all already know it...but I didn't know it before I knew it, so figure there's someone out there who can benefit! :)


This is a simple trick that's not really very life changing, but it's handy. Know that core in the center of the iceberg lettuce that you have to dig out and causes you to get lettuce under your I'm sure what are beautifully-manicured fingernails?

Just bang your iceberg lettuce HARD on the countertop - core side down. Flip it over, and out it pops!

Silicon Valley Moms Blog

In case you just can't get enough of me here on This Week for Dinner...ha ha...I'm now a writer over at Silicon Valley Moms Blog. Today my first post went up! Silicon Valley Moms Blog is great and they have blogs for several cities now, so check it out! SV Moms hosted the Maria Shriver book signing I went to, and Katie Couric recently guest-posted on their NYC Moms Blog site. Needless to say I'm excited to be a contributor!

Week 67 Menu

We had the yummiest mango this morning. Worth the work, I suppose...does anyone have a "trick" for cutting mango? Or is it just a lost cause? Regardless, I love it!


Yeah, yeah, my menu's not so different from last week...for some reason I ended up not cooking a lot of what I had planned, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what we ate instead!

MONDAY:
- Chicken Masala & Rice
- Naan bread
- Some sort of veggie

TUESDAY:
- Bistro Chicken
- Mashed potatoes
- Veggie

WEDNESDAY:
- Orange Chicken (great recipe - click through!)
- Rice
- Carrots (click & scroll to the bottom for a "recipe")

THURSDAY:
- Homemade pizza

FRIDAY:
- Hot dogs
- Stuff that goes with hot dogs...how's that for specifics?

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Chicken Tostadas (see Chicken Tostada Goop recipe)

Now time for YOU to post your menu! Any menu! Fancy dancy, boring, yucky, yum. Bring it on!

And don't miss the ProFlowers Giveaway!

PS - I've been terrible about responding to all your lovely comments this week! It was a busy week for the blog and a busy week for work...please know I read them all! If you said something nice, THANK YOU. If you answered a question for me, THANK YOU. You guys are the best!

Free Giveaway! ProFlowers Encore!

For those of you who were bummed when you didn't win the last ProFlowers giveaway...you have another chance! ProFlowers is giving away 2 more $50 gift cards - 1 each to 2 lucky TWFD readers! You'll be able to get whatever you want with your gift card...flowers, plants, awesome FOOD (remember these?).


And, don't forget Mom...Mother's Day is coming fast, but you still have time to send her something sweet, or pretty, or both! I just received this AMAZING bouquet from a good friend yesterday (pictured). Seriously gorgeous, and the vase is wicked cute. And, if I were a Mom (wait, I am!), I would totally dig this, too (oh wait, I do!).

Back to the giveaway...just post a comment on this post by Midnight PT, Friday May 9th. Two winners will be randomly selected and announced next Saturday, Friday May 10th. Make sure there is a name associated with your post somehow so I know who the winner is! And don't forget to come back next week to see if you're the winner!


I seriously do love ProFlowers, and not just because they're so good to my readers. The flowers are amazing and their yummy treats are too!

Be sure to visit through this link (or any of the links above) to get a special 15% discount! Just in time for Mother's Day!

Good Luck!