WHAT? No Chicken???

My hubby said to me last night, when are going to have chicken again.. We have been out of chicken for a while and I am getting down to the bare bones now in regards to meats in the freezer.. Tonight is salmon steaks and then I am going out shopping.. We have a VERY small list of only the 'must have' items (like chicken), and some veggies and snacks for little B.

Meal plan for the week:

Salmon steaks, mashed potato cakes, green bean casserole (made with stuffing mix).

Texas style Beer Chilli with corn bread muffins OR garlic cheese bread (depending on our mood)

Chicken soup and veggies (the sauce is a puree of chicken, carrot, celery, onion, and squash, so my kid will eat it) and then I add noodles.

Fish sticks... YES, AGAIN! Maybe with my mango salsa, and a salad.

Discouraged!

So here is last week in a nutshell..
The Fish sticks and Mango salsa were a hit and hubby inhaled them (little B had to be told they were chicken sticks and she loved the plain Mango slices).
Thursday we went to the In laws for Enchiladas, YUMMY! Friday was the Quesadillas and that was another huge hit.. The whole weekend was eating out or with Family and Monday we had left over chicken wings from the Superbowl party at my MIL's house.
So we were back to starting to cook last night.. I could not face it so we went out to eat!

Why am I discouraged?
I spent a lot of my day yesterday looking online for inspiration and this is what I found... I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE DOING THIS! In fact, there are a TON of other blogs and websites out there that are doing the same thing (using pantry items, or shopping cheap etc.) and they seem to be doing it much better.. I cant figure out how to post pictures inside my blog posts, they only seem to want to be at the top or bottom.. I also don't like my layout but I only am able to pick from a few choices.. Maybe it is this specific site, maybe it is my lack of experience.. Any ideas?

So my fave sites so far are.. http://www.5dollardinners.com/ who is doing the pantry challenge, while she posts coupons and store links, her monthly menu, AND her recipes (with pictures and steps)along with daily life stories.. Awesome! And http://weelicious.com/ this woman is so together that she makes food for her 2 kids, posts about it sometimes 3 times a day and manages a Face book profile where she gets her fans involved with her daily questions and recipes! So cool!

I want to know HOW these women get the time to do all this? They are also stay at home Moms, but geeze, they even have YouTube videos on 'how to' cook recipes! I feel so inadequate...

OK DONE WITH THE PITTY PARTY. Here is my new action plan.
Step 1. Find out how the heck to utilize this blog better, add pictures etc, or decide if I need to use a different blog site
Step 2. Revamp how I am going to post my daily food blogs
Step 3. Continue with my Food Experiment until the end of this month and then GO FOOD SHOPPING (I really miss it so I will need to make sure I don't go crazy and spend thousands on things I don't need)!
Step 4. Remember every day, that I am not in competition with anyone and I can go at my own pace (darn those movies like Julie and Julia, that make me feel I should be doing more with my life)! :)

Any other suggestions folks???? I would LOVE your input and assistance!

As Requested

Some friends have asked for the Mango salsa recipi from last week so here ya go!

2 Cups Frozen Mango chunks, thawed and cut in small cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 small onion chopped fine (can use yellow or red, but white can be a bit strong so use sparingly)
1 whole jalapeno diced (use less if you dont want much spice)
Juice of 1 whole lime
2 tsp of dried or fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste, you can add tobasco or any other hot sauce if you want even more spice! Taste first and remember, the longer it sits/marinates the hotter the jalapeno will get in the salsa!

Mix all ingredients together and serve fresh with fish, chicken or chips. Makes 2 large servings or 4 small servings.

And we are half way there...

Day 15 of the Food Experiment and things are going well.. I have run out of all veggies and will be visiting Sunflower market tonight for fresh, organic produce (mmmm salad for lunch tomorrow)! This week has been a bit crazy and not so tasty thus far (that will change tonight, I promise).. Left over pizza from little B's birthday party on Sunday is never ending! Had it on Monday for lunch and Dinner, and now need to give the rest to the in-laws. It was good the first and second day but Yuck, I am done with pizza for a while!

Last night I made a Sausage and tomato pasta sauce, with vermicelli. NOT GOOD! I have made this in the past with onions and peppers and it has turned out FAB, but this time all we tasted was freezer burn.. UGHHH! I am glad we are doing this Experiment to clean out the freezer so I can start over fresh. I will never keep frozen meat more than 3 months without using it again!

Tonight- Wed Feb 3rd

Breakfast, I am no longer going to post breakfast because it is always more of the same and boring (cereal, pancakes, eggs, etc) unless I make something cool!

Dinner- Fishsticks (wow we have a ton of these) with mango and jalapeno lime salsa, corn chips, and steamed edemame in the pods (little B's fave). Left over Birthday cake for desert (the last of it I hope).

Thurs Feb 4th- Crispy open faced Cheesy Quesadillas (recepi from '10 dollar dinners' on food network, below) with my spicy Tequilla/lime bean dip. (take a can of refried beans, add 1 shot Tequilla, juice of 1/2 lime, and 1 tspn chili powder and stir, yummy, yummy!)

Crispy open faced quesadilla Ingredients
2 large (10-inch) flour tortillas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Kosher salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar

Directions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or parsley leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried parsley)

Preheat the broiler.

Brush the tortillas on both sides with vegetable oil and lightly salt. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and cook the tortillas, 1 at a time, until slightly golden on both sides. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the sour cream, lime zest and juice, cumin, and salt and pepper, to taste, until smooth. Pour into a plastic squeeze bottle or sturdy resealable plastic bag and cut small tip in corner.

Arrange the browned tortillas on a baking sheet and sprinkle evenly with cheese. (You may need to do this in batches if both tortillas don't fit on 1 tray.) Broil until the cheese bubbles and begins to brown, about for 1 to 2 minutes, (be careful not to burn). Slice each quesadilla into 8 wedges and drizzle sour cream decoratively over the top. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.