New Recipe Source!

A few weeks ago my husband sent me a link to THIS menu planner. If you click on that link and then click on the big orange rectangle at the top, it has more info about the program, etc. He liked the website because it allows you to print out a shopping list so that you have everything you need for two weeks worth of dinners in your house already! I like that idea too - that's how I do my grocery shopping, most of the time. However, for us, we have a fairly well stocked pantry and printing out the shopping list wasn't quite as helpful as we thought it would be. But it would be really great for anyone who does not have a stocked pantry, is just starting out, or just beginning to do well balanced, home cooked meals!

What I love most is the recipe ideas! I sat down and planned out several nights worth of dinners off this site, allowing for things like Leftovers Night (gotta have 'em!) and a plan to eat out one night and get pizza with the kids' friends another night...you know how it goes. Anyway, I bought the ingredients to allow us to give 10 days worth of meals a try. I'm going to share our reviews and photos, and tell you where to find the recipe on the website I linked above. (because it can be just a little tricky...)

We started with the Carrot Potato Soup with Ginger. (Go to Step 2, and under "Customize" choose "Comfort Food" as the theme...allow it to completely load and scroll down til you find it!) Oh. My. Word! It was sooooo good!! It was rich and creamy and so beyond perfect for a cold winter night! I planned to make the Breadsticks with it (found under "Italian" as the theme) but my day was much too packed, we were lucky to have dinner at all, lol! All four of us liked it a lot! My husband thinks I can half the butter to make it less rich and also less fattening. *wink

The next night I made their 3 Cheese Manicotti (theme: Italian). We do have a Manicotti recipe that we love already, (check HERE) but this one did not involve squeezing water out of thawed frozen spinach. Also I have never made our recipe, that's one of those meals my husband makes. This recipe was just as time consuming tho...its not easy to stuff cooked noodles. But, I thought I could give this a try so here we go...

My husband commented with disappointment on the fact that I made the sauce in the recipe, instead of our sauce...then he took a bite. LOL! This recipe is a keeper!!!

Doesn't that look yummy?? Well it was! I am excited to try more of these recipes, and thought I'd share with you too!