Easy Dinner for busy night & freeze easy

This dinner was a total success!  I doubled the recipe and tweaked it a bit.  Here's how I ended up using it...
One 9 x 9 dish went with me to a friends house and all 4 of us ate it almost licking the dish! (4 servings)
One 9 x 13 dish stayed at home for mike & the kids to eat.  We all had another serving the next day for lunch & I had the last serving the third day for lunch.  (10 servings!)
One Medium size plastic container to give to my sweet Friends who have a new baby.  (2 servings)

It made 16 servings total and took about 20 min to prepare.  The original recipe is from Taste of Home Magazine (which I love) but it was an enchilada which I think takes WAY too much time to make.  So I turned it into a layered casserole.

Recipe:
(my adaptations will be in paranthasis)

1 1/4 pound ground turkey
1 small onion chopped
1 tsp. taco seasoning
1/2 tsp pepper
1 pkg. 8oz reduced fat cream cheese (cut into cubes)
1 cup (4oz) shredded mexican cheese
1 can 15oz black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can 14.5oz fire roasted diced tomatoes drained
2 cans 4oz each chopped green chilies (I used one can for a double batch but you can use more if you like heat)
1/4 cup salsa (I used mild)
14 whole wheat tortillas (8 inch)
1 can 10oz enchilada sauce

toppings:
Tortilla chips
Greek Yogurt (or sour cream)
Chopped cilantro
lettuce
tomatoes

Preheat oven to 375
Step 1.
Cook turkey, onion and seasonings over medium heat until cooked.  Stir in cream cheese and 1/2 cup cheese until metled.  Stir in beans, corn, tomatoes, chilies and salsa.

Step 2.
Chop tortillas into strips (this makes it much easier to serve).  Spray 9 x 13 pan with oil (PAM) and layer: Tortillas, meat mixture, enchilada sauce, cheese.  Repeat until pan is full

At this point you can cool this off, cover and freeze OR cook in oven for 15-20 min until heated through.  (super yummy to put under broiler for 2-3 min to brown cheese)

Add toppings and enjoy.

Should serve 10 people.  Packed with fiber and protein.

Kids lunch... Genius idea

I made a plate of food for the kids to build their own plate for lunch. Genius idea. Normally meal times are hectic and its difficult for me to sit down and enjoy lunch. But this saved me tons of time! 

Food:

Turkey lunch meat nitrate free rolled up

Cheese block cut into sticks

Baby carrots

Cantaloupe cut into squares

Kids grabbed their plates on their own in their drawer that's low to the ground.

Then they made their own plate

To my surprise they grabbed more carrots than I normally give them an ate them all. 

This was a very easy lunch for me to serve.

Meal planning

Total cost of groceries for 5 days: $85
For Breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks for 5 people.
Per meal $5.66 per person $1.13
(Didn't subtract out the snack cost so its even lower)

I get a lot of questions on how I meal plan. The attached pictures show my meals written out (sorry for the short hand) on my kitchen calendar. The other picture shows my groceries from my trip.

I spent $85 total at Fresh & Easy and Albertsons. They are next to each other and both had sales. I didn't clip coupons. I spent 20 minutes looking at both store ads. Albertsons had three store savings in the ad I clipped. I clipped fresh & easy coupon $5 off each $25 spent which saved me $20 and I used a $5 credit I accumulated from their point system.

I wrote out on paper the meals I would make this week and any ingredients & sides needed. I take this withe to the store so I know when things expire & when I'm using them.
I looked at our weekly calendar & wrote out the night we would cook the meal based on our schedule. If I don't have any items on hand I add them to my grocery list explained below.

It took me 10 min at Albertsons to buy 3 things (rotisserie chicken cooked & ground turkey) then went to fresh & easy (it's a cold day). Fresh & easy took 40 min but I had Grace with me so that's good! I use a iPhone / online shopping app called Cozi www.cozi.com it makes it so easy to keep a shopping list going. I referred to my written menu just in case any items were expiring soon.

You can see we have a variety of fruits, veggies, starch, "sometimes foods" and protein. For example: watermelon, blue berries, zucchini, whole wheat bread, wheat pretzel sticks, macaroni n cheese.
But overall easy meals and healthy.
Each meal will take 20-45 minutes to prep & cook. But this is really the same amount of time it would take us to drive through or sit down but much healthier & cheaper.

Hope this helps!

Are you ready for Holiday Gift giving???

So we're just a few short weeks away from the madness that is the holiday season.  Soon we will be receiving invitations for house warming parties, thanksgiving lunch, thanksgiving dinner, christmas parties, Hanuka parties, work holiday parties, kids class parties, new years eve party... the list goes on and you get the picture.  Although I think this is a lost tradition, it is proper to offer the host of a party a gift.  I usually struggle with finding an affordable gift.  I don't drink wine so it's really a guessing game in that department.  So this year I'm giving gifts that keep on giving!  I've been searching through herbalife's catalog (can be found at www.goherbalife.com/brendaho) and there are so many cute ideas and really affordable too!

Look at this cute idea!  Buy an affordable basket and fill it with hand lotion, face wash, toner and face lotion.  You could even put it in a cute travel makeup bag or just wrap in cellophane.

Fill a shaker cup with protein bars and our new Formula 1 Meal Replacement Cookies n Cream Bar.  Great gift for teachers who are always on the go!

I'd love to brainstorm with you to help you create a personalized gift and make the holidays super easy!

Oh and I can't forget about my favorite holiday product, Thermobond.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, my family has some really good cooks!! Not getting enough fiber in your diet can slow movement of food through the intestine, making unwanted fats more likely to be absorbed. This unique combination of sodium choleate and fiber blend help liquefy fats, aid with digestion and control fat absorption.  I use this every thanksgiving and I actually LOSE TWO POUNDS over every thanksgiving!!  $20.66 for 90 tablets.  You take 1-3 tablets with a large glass of water right before your meal.

Wishing you a happy & healthy holiday season!

Rachel ray changed my life

I love to make home made teriyaki sauce but always throw away most of the ginger root. Rachel ray gave a great tip today to peel the root put in zip lock bag and freeze left over. It won't dry out & it's easier to grate into sauces. What a great idea!!!!

Recipe Mexican Casserole

From Taste of Home Magazine. A family & friend favorite. It's a weekly meal at the Ho House. I've made it for friends who LOVE it as well. Easy to adapt to whatever you have on hand.