Or, what to do when you just aren’t in the mood to think about menu planning.
I’ve said before that traditional (?) menu planning and I aren’t friends. I just don’t live in a way that requires, let alone supports, planning ahead for every meal.
However, flying by the seat of my pants can sometimes be an issue, too. I tend to keep things in my pantry that allows for last-minute ideas for meals. But what happens when you just don’t have any ideas?
That’s where I was this week as I planned for my shopping. I’d put aside a couple of ideas from Mandy In The Making, but when it came time to actually shop for the things needed for those recipes… <sigh>
This week, when I just wasn’t interested in choosing a particular meal or two, being able to rely on my pantry for quick and easy meals has been such a treat! I like to be able to have things ready to go so I don’t have to do a lot of prep work. It also helps me keep a balanced diet. I love vegetables but don’t want to spend the time prepping them. (I never said I wasn’t a lazy cook!)
I had an interesting chat with my Schwan’s delivery guy this week. He brought my order and let me know what the specials were and we got to chatting about some of the things I’d tried recently – and loved – and because we both enjoy cooking and good food, we got to talking about putting things together to create some great meals.
Schwan’s has a new Italian Chicken that is wonderful. Beautifully flavored, it fits the profile for many different breaded chicken meals, but the thing that stood out for me was to take that chicken, add it to pasta and a jar of Rao’s marinara sauce and you have the best and easiest Chicken Parmesan ever! In the time it takes to bake the chicken you can have the pasta ready and the sauce heating through. Easy.
That chicken is also great for a fried chicken salad. Yum!
Ground beef also has space in my freezer. I like to use it in pasta dishes, make my own burgers or meatloaf. I’ve got an idea to use it with canned biscuits. I’ll let you know how they turn out. 🙂
By the way, if you are interested in checking out Schwan’s click on the link to get 40% off your first order. They have a wide variety of foods for a variety of tastes. I’ve been a customer for several years and have never had a complaint. Their site is easy to use, has lots of recipe ideas and you can read reviews from other customers before you buy. Some areas have delivery to your door while others provide shipping to your door. Check out their service HERE.
