I’m back from the Blissdom women’s blogging conference (where I was a speaker) and in “conference recovery” mode.  That means that I have my own sleep to catch up on, unpacking to do, laundry for the entire family and usually some pickup/reorganization to do with the house.  As a result I like to keep the first few days after a conference very easy on the meal front.

Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs with Canned Veggies

Can’t get much more simple than that. I’ve got frozen venison meatballs that I made downstairs in the fridge.  I’ll add jarred spaghetti sauce and store brand spaghetti to make a quick and easy meal that the whole family will eat.  I have no idea which veggies we’ll add-I’ll decide at the last minute.

Tuesday:  Baked Chicken, Baked Potatoes & Green Beans

Talk about an “All American” classic meal.

Wednesday: Green Chili Chicken Lasagna, Spanish Rice & Mixed Veggies

I haven’t made my Green Chili Chicken Lasagna in a long time-it’s a great twist on your typical tex-mex dishes.  I’ll use the leftover chicken from Tuesday night as the meat

Thursday: Hamburger Casserole, Salad & Bread

I have a meeting, so I wanted it to be easy.  It’s been a long time since we’ve had “Hamburger Casserole” so I figured I’d go for it! My mom’s recipe includes corn & peas to up the veggie quotient.

Friday:  Stromboli

I’m going to do a twist on my typical pizza and use my Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe, then roll it up jelly roll style (with the toppings inside) to make stromboli.

Saturday:  Fish Chowder & Biscuits

This will be my “fish” meal for the week-I’ve got some pollack down in the fridge that I’ll use.  Leftover potatoes, corn etc from the week will turn it into a tasty meal.

Sunday:  Aloo Gobi, Rice & Naan

Ok, I thought I’d experiment with an Indian style meal to be my vegetarian dish for the week.  Not sure how it will turn out, as it’s my first time trying it.  But this Aloo Gobi recipe got over 80 great reviews on RecipeZaar.com, so I figured it had to be decent!

For more great recipe ideas, head on over to The Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Mondayd.

I filmed another Frugal Update before flying out for the Blissdom conference on Wednesday. This one runs about 10 min long-enjoy!

I’d love to hear what you think of the video-even if it’s just “liked it, keep doing them”. . .

We love rice, and my rice cooker makes it very easy to whip up a batch as a side dish. . . but sometimes it can get,1 well, boring. A little lemon juice, a little orange peel, a little dill and you’ve got yourself  something out of the ordinary

Photo by Su-lin

Citrus Rice

1 C rice

1 tsp dried orange peel

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp dill

1 tsp salt

2 chicken bullion cubes-crushed

1 TBS butter

2 C water

Mix all ingredients well in a large saucepan.

Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer & cover.

Cook until all liquid is absorbed-15-25.

or. . . .Throw it all in the rice cooker & hit “cook”.

Congratulations to Cathy at the Chief Family Officer-she is the lucky winner of the $50 Walmart Giftcard.

Everyone else, stay tuned-I’ll be reviewing and giving away a copy of “$3 Low Calorie Meals” very soon!