I am loving this menu planning! It’s no wonder so many people do it. It really simplifies the whole shopping and cooking process. I’m really bad about just buying whatever I see whether we need it or not but I told myself I was gonna stick to the 2-week menu planner shopping list from Kraft. I went in with my list, browsed a bit, then pulled out the list and began to shop. I found everything with no problem, with plenty to cook for more than two weeks.

It was time to decide on what to cook. There are a ton of recipes & tips and everything looked very good! Since the first day was a hurried mess, we cooked the pizza which was a hit with the guys! Please tell me I’m not the only one that spends an hour trying to decide what to cook….I’m not am I? This is what I loved about the menu plan, all the ideas were ready and waiting to be cooked. AND, it even gave me creative ideas for future meals. We all took turns picking out what we wanted to try from the 2-week planner. We even let little man pick one!

This week, we tried the South of the Border Chicken and Pasta Skillet and it was soooooo good! While my guys are meat eaters, they really loved this chicken dish. I think it’s because I don’t normally cook like this so it was a nice change for them. It was also a much simpler meal to make and *I* liked that. I usually go overboard when cooking a meal and I think with the hot weather, they appreciated that I didn’t with this.

South of the Border Chicken and Pasta Skillet

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups medium-size pasta, uncooked
• 2 Tyson® Boneless skinless Chicken Breast halves (about 1 lb.), thawed, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 6 oz. salsa
• 1 0 oz. frozen corn, unthawed (about 2 cups)
• 4 oz. (1⁄2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
• 1⁄4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 cup Kraft Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta as directed on package.  Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 6 min. or until done. Add salsa, corn, cream cheese and cumin; simmer on medium-low heat 6 min. or until corn is heated through
and cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.  Drain pasta; add to skillet with half the shredded cheese. Simmer 3 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining shredded cheese; cover. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

You can download the 2-week menu planner and find out about in-store recipe demonstrations at a Sam’s Club location near you and do your shopping and feel free to join right in with me in making these recipes. We can swap stories!

OVER TO YOU

Give your top 3 tips for menu planning and shopping for groceries.  Share with us what works for you!

Welcome to the food section of the guide.  We have so many wonderful items here for that person who just loves food.  Food is also a great gift to give teachers or coworkers!  I think making a big basket full of goodies is the best!

Back to the 2008 Holiday Gift Guide Table of Contents

From Coco-Zen, give a gift that they can eat and use.  With these divine chocolate truffles and lovely tins, called Truffles-to-Give, you’ll be sure to be a hit and they are handmade from only Fair Trade & organic chocolate, all natural ingredients with no preservatives.

*******************************************************************************

Graeter’s famous French Pot ice cream is an irresistible treat for loved ones, especially those hard-to-buy-for mothers, and it can be shipped anywhere in the contiguous United States.  Flavor options include our signature Black Raspberry Chip, as well as Mocha Chocolate Chip, Caramel, Strawberry, Coffee and more.  We also have seasonal ice cream flavors, including Pumpkin Pie, Cinnamon and Peppermint, available in November and December.  A number of celebrities have touted their love of Graeter’s ice cream, including Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Glenn Beck and George Clooney.

*******************************************************************************

Let those special ones delve into the sheer delight of lemon bars so refreshing and light that they’re like a perfect spring day.  With dozens of items to choose from, finding that perfect gift this holiday season is made easy with Dessert Alert. They offer a wide variety of desserts by the half dozen, full dozen, or more.  Not only are they absolutely divine, but they can be delivered to that special person right to their door step in a stunning gold box with a ribbon on top.

*********************************************************************

Order Trail’s End popcorn tins for holiday gifts, and help the Boy Scouts at the same time.  If you know a Boy Scout, you can order on their behalf through OrderPopcorn.com, and they will get the credit. Otherwise, you can order on behalf of your local Council – 70% of the money from popcorn sales goes directly back to support local Scouting.

For people who would like to send popcorn to U.S. Troops serving around the world this holiday season, you can also make a donation to send popcorn treats to the Troops.

**********************************************************************

This year, give homemade jellies. But let’s cheat a little and skip the hours of back-breaking fruit picking and the berry-stained kitchen counters by using fruit juice.

R.W. Knudsen Family’s Just Juices work great – jelly-making in less than an hour. Just Juice Black Currant creates a tart fruit flavor – paired with clotted crème and a fresh scone it’s a holiday win.

********************************************************************

From fresh cheese and oysters to biodegradable plates, you’ll find that Marx Foods offers you the finest bulk food on the web!  They even have alligator and bison!  What a great gift to give to those fellas eh?!!

************************************************************************

Plush Puffs makes the highest quality, all natural, intensely flavored marshmallows ever! These gourmet puffs are good enough to eat straight out of the package, but are also amazing when melted in hot drinks or roasted in recipes. From ice cream toppings to exquisite rice crispy treats, marshmallows aren’t just for S’mores and hot cocoa any more!

********************************************************************

Salsa is always popular but I bet giving it as a gift didn’t cross many of your minds did it?  It would be neat to find a fun fiesta type bowl and throw in a bottle of Pace’s salsa with some tortilla chips!  How fun would be that!!  And by the way, if you have never tried new flavors, I highly encourage you to give it a try.  My husband didn’t think he would salsa with pineapple but he loves it!  You’ve just got to open your mind and give it a try!

********************************************************************

No guide would be complete without these little pieces of heaven from Donsuemor.  Remember my food porn post?  OMG, these are wonderful and would be such a nice treat for someone!

************************************************************************

Because everyone loves jerky!!  And what a great stocking stuffer, especially for the male crowd! The highest quality Beef jerky, Buffalo jerky, Venison jerky, Ostrich jerky, and Turkey jerky comes from House of Jerky®! Our jerky is made the old fashioned way, sliced from lean whole premium top round steak. It is not ground, chopped, processed or formed into strips.

************************************************************************

Scrumptious season’s greetings. Sweet delights head your way with this set of eight hand-dipped apples. The entire collection is dressed for the holiday with charming ornaments specially designed for the family tree. Individually wrapped in a gussied-up gift bag, the apples also make the perfect present pick! From Mrs. Prindable’s.

These are a great gift to give if you have to buy for a lot.  These apples are HUGE and there are many other sets that you can and save so check them all out.

These are my HOT PICK!

************************************************************************

Back to the 2008 Holiday Gift Guide Table of Contents

This is THE MOST easiest thing to make EVER!!  I’m not trying to brag or anything (well, maybe a little) but this is one of those things that people remember about me.  They love my hot sauce:)  I would call this a more resturant style type of hot sauce because it’s not chunky at all.  I’m sure you could play with it if you prefer chunky but all the cowboys I’ve ever made it for have never complained. 

SUPER EASY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cans of Del Monte diced tomatoes (any flavor is find really)
• garlic powder
• salt
• cumin
• 1 fresh jalepeno pepper (not canned)

Cut the end off the pepper and throw in blender.  You can use all or half, it just depends on how hot you want it.  Open your canned tomatoes and throw them them in the blender too, juice and all.  Finally, you’ll add the garlic powder, salt, and cumin.  I don’t have any measurements to give you…just add to taste.  A good rule of thumb though—I just “layer” them.  If I had to guess, I would say 1 tsp. salt(maybe more salt), 1 TBLS of garlic powder & 1 TBLS cumin.  Then BLEND, POUR, and EAT!

I told you it was E-Z!!