getting my meal plan on

We have been working on getting healthy, easy dinners on the table now that Lila is old enough to understand that eating frozen pizza from the couch does not a dinner make. I know, story of the life of every mom on the planet. Here are the easiest, cheapest things we have done to help get our family on track:

1. Sign up for eMeals 

2. Use my crock pot more often

I have found that my biggest hurdles to getting dinner on the table are not shopping ahead of time (so there is never an easy meal with all of the ingredients at hand), not planning out meals for a specific day, not thinking ahead on busy days. No, this is not a sponsored post for eMeals; they do not know I exist. I purchased a Groupon (which they have been running on and off for several months...check your local city) for half off a year of meal planning. I have played around with the different plans (they have Weight Watchers, low carb, low fat, clean eating) and we are sticking with the low fat family plan. The regular family plan had too many cream sauces and cheese for me. 

I try to do my shopping on the weekend because honestly, who wants to try and grocery shop with a toddler after work or even worse, in the evening after they go to bed. That time is reserved for me and Brian and my wine. I have not gotten to this point, but I have heard several friends say they prep all of their meals as soon as they come home from the grocery store (cut veggies, divide up meat, etc.) so there is very little prep on meal night. I have also been trying to use the crock pot more on nights that I know I will be busy, so I do not cheat and drive through somewhere. I saw this great crock pot recipe on Skinny Crock Pot's Facebook page for Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken. I adapted it a little bit and I think we have found a new favorite! Hope you try it out in your slow cooker this week!

Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken

In crockpot:

4 chicken breasts

1 jar of all natural salsa (I used a mix of lime salsa and salsa verde since I had a half jar of each...delicious!)

Juice from one large can of pineapple (pineapple in juice with no sugar added)

In your crock pot, add the three items above. After draining your canned pineapple juice into the crockpot, set aside the pineapple in your fridge for later; do not add the actual pineapple to the crockpot. Cook on high for 6 or low for 8 hours. 

Evening ingredients:

1lb of sliced fresh mushrooms

1-2 small zucchini, sliced

Onion powder 

Olive oil

Pineapple from can

Half package of Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend (you could also use regular rice but this is 1000x better: Israeli couscous, red and green orzo, split dried garbanzo beans, and red quinoa)

Shred the chicken in your crockpot with a fork, now that it is fully cooked. Save the juice in the crockpot. 

Cook half a package of Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend according to directions.

Saute the fresh mushrooms and sliced zucchini in a little bit of EVOO with a dash of onion powder. I do mine barely cooked so they are not slimy. 

Put a scoop of the Harvest Grains Blend on your plate, a scoop of chicken (with plenty of salsa/pineapple juice), a handful of mushrooms and zucchini, and top with chopped pineapple. Delicious!