Dinner Time

This past Sunday, I decided to get better about eating well balanced meals every night. I took a page from Heather's Recipes and made a weekly meal plan. I have some other friends who even plan meals by the month, but I figured baby steps were a better idea for me. Since Mr. Wonderful had dinner plans with a friend that day, I decided to start my plans for Monday and plan through Saturday for now. We had bought chicken in bulk and froze it a week or two ago, so I was trying to plan meals to use that up, but I also wanted to mix up the meals. Who wants to eat chicken every night?
So I planned, we went to the store for a few extra key items, and Mr. Wonderful started the plan off with Shredded BBQ Chicken made in the slow cooker on hamburger buns. It is a simple meal we both enjoy. I also added fresh cut veggies from a platter we had served for a board game party last week and I made semi-homemade strawberry shortcake. Basically, I made yellow Betty Crocker cake in a 13x9 in pan and for the sauce, I used my mom's simple recipe. You blend cut strawberries (almost mushy ones work best) in a blender until they are sauce like with a small chunks in them. Then you add water and powdered sugar until it's the consistency and sweetness that you desire, add a few more cut strawberries for bigger chunks and stick it in the fridge to cool. When you are ready to eat the shortcake, cut the cake into small squares and pour the strawberry sauce on top. For added fun, you can put a scoop of whip cream on top.
For tonight's meal I used two boneless chicken breasts that Mr. Wonderful cooked in the slow cooker yesterday (he took them out before he shredded them & added BBQ sauce) and made Chicken Tortilla Soup from scratch! I used a couple of recipes combined, using what ingredients I had and putting a few more of my Nola seasonings in. It took longer than I expected, although it was my first time making this meal, but it smelled fantastic. We threw shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips on top of the soup in our bowls and gave it a try. Mr. Wonderful ended up eating 2 full bowls and not just because he was super hungry! We still have enough for leftovers, and I am excited to eat it again ( crazy, right?). For dessert I had made strawberry banana frozen fruit pops, but they weren't done by the time we were ready, so we ate more strawberry shortcake. This time we put strawberry ice cream on top of the cake, and then added the strawberry sauce for an even yummier dessert than last night. Tommorow is sloppy joes and sautéed apples, with those (hopefully) frozen fruit pops. I am so proud of myself, and with my confidence in cooking boosted, I can't wait to keep making more meals from scratch.