Meal Plan for the Weekend and Tip for Freezing Beans

I used to do a weekly post where I shared our meal plan for the week.  I haven't done one of those in a while and I always enjoy seeing other people's meal plans, so I thought I would pick back up with what's on the menu at our house for the rest of this week. 

Here's What's Cookin' in Our Kitchen:

Thursday: Baked Pecan Crusted Salmon w/grilled asparagus and garlic bread

Friday:  Homemade Pepperoni Pizza w/spinach salad  (Before when I've made this I've used The Frugal Girl's recipe for thin crust pizza which my sister showed me and I like a lot, but I think I might try The Pioneer Woman's pizza crust recipe this time).

Saturday: Not sure yet.  We're having our youth group over for games and ice cream tonight, so we'll probably do something simple like leftovers or grilled cheese and soup for dinner.

Sunday-Wednesday:  We're going to Nashville these days, so obviously we'll be eating out a lot!  My parents sent us a gift card to the Texas Roadhouse for our 1 year anniversary which I'm sure will be put to good use!  And I've been MAJORLY craving a chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle pretty much since we moved here.  Here's to getting my fix in Nashville! 


Tip For Freezing Beans

Most of the time instead of using canned beans I like to buy dried beans, cook a big pot of them and freeze them for a later time.  My problem was when I would put them in the freezer after cooking them they would always freeze into one big clump, making it difficult to get the portion I wanted out of the bag.  I recently discovered a little trick for helping the beans to freeze individually instead of in clumps.  You ready?  The trick is to freeze the beans on a cookie sheet first before separating them into smaller zip-lock bags.  This tip might not be new to a lot of you, but it was new to me!  I thought I'd share how to do it in case anyone else doesn't want a frozen clump of beans.  Here goes: 

Soak AND cook your beans, then drain them well.  Next you can:

• Spread them evenly on a flat cookie sheet (you can line the sheet with parchment paper to make bean removal easier)
• Freeze them 1 hour
• Take them out of the freezer, then put them in a Freezer Ziploc or individual Ziplocs (or a freezer safe container).
• Return the beans to the freezer.

Simple as that! A quick tip for you!  I love being able to have already cooked beans in the freezer that I can pull out and heat up real quick with a meal!