Cooking and such.

Menu planning, budgeting, grocery shopping, and cooking are things I am constantly working on and evolving as a wife and a mother.  When Popeye and I first got married, I bought a jumbo tub of Country Crock "butter" and ridiculous amounts of canned "cream of" soups and thought I was doing right by my man.  I spent months trying to figure out how to copy his mother's tried-and-true recipes before feeling like I was a complete disaster in the kitchen and spending even more time eating cereal and frozen pizzas and taquitos for dinner.

Something had to give.

So I started experimenting in the kitchen.  Figuring out what I liked and didn't like.  Awakening my taste buds to new and different textures and flavors.  Watching lots and lots of Food Network while laying comatose on the sofa during seasons of joblessness, morning sickness, and nursing.  Googling recipe after recipe.  And bombarding my friends with questions and ideas and thoughts and meals from their own kitchens.

Over time, how I cook has evolved.

I've learned there are foods I really, really love.
And flavors I really, really hate.
I've made an effort to introduce Popeye to foods he had always flat out refused to try.
And learned that although I've won with asparagus and bell peppers, I'll never get him to like onions or casseroles or most pasta dishes.

I have go-to recipes that I know will please my family any night of the week.
And I have those few that I love so much that sometimes, hey, suck it up guys.  Moms are allowed to have a favorite meal cooked and served every now and again, too.

And when all else fails, I know if I keep a hidden stash of frozen pizzas or taquitos in the freezer for Popeye, and an endless supply of refried beans, cheese, and tortillas on hand for Swee'Pea, all will be right in the world.

My menu planning changes every few months as Popeye's schedule changes.  Right now he is home five nights a week for dinner, two of which are my work days so our schedules are tight that day.  The two other days he gets home after I'm gone for work and leaves again before I'm off.  Lame.  So I try to have freezer food for him or hope he has time to grab food on the road.  One of the nights he is home we eat dinner at his parents's house, so that leaves four nights for a home-cooked meal.

When planning those four nights, my basic thought process is this:
One night is a time-consuming dish I've done some prep work for the day before.
One night is a dish that takes an hour or less.
One night is a meal that can be made in the crock-pot or marinated all day to save time.
One night is a "go-to" easy meal.

I try to not have more than two nights in a week with the same type of meat.

I have to have leftovers to take to work on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I pack Popeye's lunch and he isn't the biggest fan of leftovers, so when he isn't home for dinner I try and always finish off the rest of the food that's left from the night's dinners (if any).

And we may or may not eat bean burritos with (gasp!) canned refried beans a night or two a week when Popeye is gone.

So here are some of our/my favorite recipes:

Go-to Easy Meals
BLTAs.
Chili dogs.
Taco salad.
BBQ chicken salad.
Fresh and Easy's tomato basil soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches on rosemary bread.
Bruschetta.
Salami, cheese, crackers, peppers, and green olives.

Plan-Ahead and Leave Some Leftovers Meals
Spicy shredded beef tacos with homemade guacamole.
Steak and vegetable kabobs and rice pilaf (or noodle rice as Swee'Pea calls it).
Parmigiano and herb chicken tenders (use for spicy chicken cesar salad).
Lemon chicken drumsticks, parmesan lemon orzo, and asparagus.
Traeger smoked chicken, twice baked potatoes, and asparagus.
Parmesan crusted pork chops, roasted red potatoes, asparagus (Popeye calls these "fancy chops").
Pan fried pork chops, roasted red potatoes, and asparagus.
Creamy chicken enchiladas, rice, and beans.
Spicy shredded pork tacos with homemade pico de gallo and guacamole.
Spicy Dr. Pepper pulled pork sandwiches and spicy cole slaw.

We eat a lot of asparagus in this house.  Popeye and I both love it.  Occasionally I'll give into my cravings and make a head or two of broccoli.  Of which Popeye and Swee'Pea will eat three bites each and I will devour the rest in one sitting.  I give Swee'Pea baby carrots and strawberries, grapes, or apples at every lunch and dinner.  I told him if he isn't willing to eat other vegetables, he has to eat carrots twice a day.  It works for us for now.

He also dips all his meat in Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.  Small price to pay to get him to eat food.  I'll take what I can get.

We don't really "do" dessert around here.  Because to be honest we just aren't sweets people. But I do try to keep cans of peaches and pineapple chunks in the fridge which are yummy and sweet, or all fruit popsicles which Swee'Pea and I are addicted to.  Occasionally Popeye and Swee'Pea will ask for chocolate chip cookies or brownies, which I'm more than happy to make but to be honest don't enjoy partaking in.

However, I was recently I was introduced to a new recipe for rice crispy treats from my dearest friend  Toni, which I'm now super addicted to and will make whenever I possibly can (but only when I know I can share half the pan.  Otherwise I would literally eat the whole entire thing!!!).

What about all of you?  What are your favorite, tried-and-true recipes?  Please share!  I'm always in the market for new ideas!