Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos

It seems like it has been forever since I cooked.  I haven't done much of it since Adalyn was born.  Unless if you count popping some corn dogs in the oven cooking.  Josh and I have been feeling awful from the lack of health food so we decided it was time to go grocery shopping and have a somewhat of a healthy meal plan.  I saw this recipe on Pinterest the other night and thought it sounded amazing!!!

It was so easy and quick to make and you can even freeze them and have them another night.  I didn't know how they were going to turn out so I made half a batch.  I also made my own version of this. 

Here is my version (click above for the actual recipe):

2 cans of chicken (in water)  {the actually recipe calls for shredding chicken, but when you are cooking dinner and worrying about kids you don't have time for all that!!}

1/2 stick of cream cheese softened ( (I used Neufchatel cheese)

bacon bits  {actual recipe calls for real bacon, but as I said earlier..I didn't have time to fry up some bacon}

1/2 packet of dry ranch dressing mix

1 cup of pepper jack cheese  {actual recipe called for Monterrey jack cheese, but I thought this gave it some more flavor}

10 - 6 inch tortilla shells

non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Make sure your cream cheese is soft.  I just threw mine in the microwave for a few seconds.  Mix in chicken, bacon bits, cheese and ranch mix.

Spray cookie sheet.  I then used a cookie scoop to scoop my chicken mixture on my tortilla shell.  I used two big scoops but the recipe calls for 2-3 tbls.  Roll the shells up and put the opening part down on the cookie sheet.  Repeat until all the mixture is gone.

Spray the tops of the tortilla shells with non-stick cooking spray.  

Put in the oven for about 10 minutes.

They turned out so good that I brought some leftovers for lunch today!!!  This will be on our future meal plans!  

Meal Organization

Update: I counted and we haven't been to Walmart in 17 days!! That is unbelievable to me!!!!

I told y'all a few weeks back that I was trying to come up with a way to not go to the grocery store as much.  I also wanted to have ideas for dinner so I was worrying about what was for dinner that night.  I am not completely done but I have started this and it is working out well. 

Step One
Look for a whole bunch of recipes.
I went out on the internet and found a whole bunch of recipes that I wanted to try.  I looked on Pinterest for most of these.  I combined those recipes with some that are our favorites and came up with a list of about 15-20. 

Step Two
Make a list of ingredients.
Once I decided on recipes I typed up a list of the ingredients I needed for each recipe.  For example if one of the recipes were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips (no we don't eat this for dinner but its just an example!!), it would look like this:

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches/Chips
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Bread
Chips

I did this for every single recipe I wanted to make. 

Step Three
Decide on what meals you want to cook for however many weeks.
I made a calendar in Word and decided what meals I wanted to cook on which days.  I wanted to buy enough groceries so we wouldn't have to make our "big" grocery trip but once every three weeks.  I included the days I knew Josh would be late so I could make easier meals that night. 

Step Four
Make a grocery list
I looked back at the list of ingredients to see what I already had in the fridge/pantry and typed out my grocery list. 

Step Five
Go grocery shopping!!!

We had a lot going on the first week so I don't think I made a single meal.  But since life has slowed down a bit I have made a few of these meals and it has helped so much having a plan!  Some days I don't eat exactly what is on the calendar for that day, but I choose one of the meals that I know I have all the ingredients for. 

I think this saves us some money too because we aren't going to Walmart numerous times in a month.  Because you and I both know that if you go to Walmart you can NEVER stick to your list.  I did go to Publix once since then but that was to buy fruit and some veggies. 

I will post some of my recipes soon.  I want to try them out first to make sure they are good before sharing them.