Don’t be scared by the title and stop reading just yet!  It’s not scary I promise.  Today I’m going to share how I make my crazy life a little easier each day by having a system for dinner each night.  ohh system, that’s a scary word too, even to me.  But don’t be scared, we can all do it!

So if your life is anything like mine, its been a long day and you’ve been running errands all day and your kids have been screaming and crying and not napping ALL DAY!  And the last thing you want to do is make dinner.  You stare into the cupboards and don’t really see anything inspiring or anything that sounds good. Can anyone else relate? This is a very common occurrence around my house. And then dinner time comes and I have nothing prepared and the children are all screaming because they are starving! Then what? I know for me the only saving grace is meal planning.  I like to plan out 2 weeks at a time. And can I tell you my little secret for meal planning that makes life so much easier, pinterest. I know it sounds silly, but I go through the food I have pinned and then create a separate board for that 2 weeks meals. I am such a visual person, I have to see of picture of it and know what I am making.  Hopefully I am making sense?! Check out this link to my meals for the next 2 weeks. I also like to add in a couple standby favorites at my house. Once I plan out my meals for 2 weeks I do all the shopping for those meals for the 2 weeks, so that all the ingredients are on hand and ready for when the craziness ensues. My crock pot is my best friend, and I use it to at least cook the meat about every night.

To help me from not loosing my mind and forgetting what I had planned to make each night I created a simple chalkboard to write it all down. Really simple, I took a large frame that I had lying around. If it has the glass in it, even better you can use chalkboard paint to paint right on it. I however broke the glass trying to get it out of this frame, so instead I cut, or should I say had my husband cut, a piece of plywood to fit in the frame instead.  I like to use the spray chalkboard paint, it goes on much more evenly.

My frame already had hooks to hold the plywood in, if yours does not you could us a staple gun and staple it into the frame.

And that’s it, now you have a chalkboard.  My husband loves the board because then he knows what he can look forward to eating when he gets home.  And I love it because it helps me feel like I haven’t completely lost my mind every day when I can’t remember what I had planned for dinner.

And today I will leave you with our AMAZING dinner from Pinterest that we had for dinner last night, Sesame Chicken Wonton Cups.  It was so yummy and the kids loved the crunchy and my kids love chicken.  Also great because you can add in veggies and they don’t really notice because its all mixed together.

 

I followed this recipe for the  most part, but instead of mayo, I used greek yogurt, not because I’m trying to be healthy, just because that’s what I had, and I also added peppers.  I also cooked the chicken in the crockpot during the day, so I used shredded chicken instead of cubed chicken, again life in my house is too crazy so anyway to cut a few corners and save some time always helps.  I didn’t have tahini sauce, so I just left it out and it was great.  We will definitely be making it again at our house.

Ingredients: Makes 24 cups. Active Time: 45 minutes. Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes. To make ahead: Can be prepared through step 3 up to 6 hours in advance.

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast

cooking spray

24 wonton wrappers, about 6 oz.

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari sauce

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

½ cup thinly sliced snow peas

½ cup shredded carrot

½ cup thinly sliced scallions

2 tablespoons chopped basil and/or cilantro

black sesame seeds for garnish, optional

Directions

Place chicken breast in a medium skillet and cover with cold tap water. Place over high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness of the meat. Remove the chicken and let cool. Cut chicken into small cubes.

Meanwhile, Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat two 12-cup mini-muffin tins with cooking spray. Cut corners off wonton wrappers to make an octagonal shape. Gently press wrapper down into each cup. Lightly spritz wrappers with cooking spray. Transfer the pans to the oven and bake until the wrappers are starting to turn golden brown and are crispy and bubbling, 10 to 14 minutes. Let cool completely.

Whisk tahini, soy or tamari, maple syrup and mayonnaise in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir in the chicken and refrigerate until cold, 40 minutes to 1 hour.

Stir snow peas, carrot, scallions and herbs into chicken mixture. Divide chicken salad among wonton cups, about 2 scant tablespoons each. Garnish with sesame seeds, if using. Serve immediately.

 

I hope you all it.  How are you all liking our month of organizing?  Are you taking away a few tips that you can use?  We’d love to hear your feedback and to see how you’ve been organizing in this new year!  Share with us on facebook, twitter or instagram, we would love to see!

 

Lindsey

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