2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
4 rolls of Ritz crackers
2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 whole eggs
1 tablespoon Dried Parsley
1 tablespoon Oregano
salt & pepper to taste
These can be frozen and reheated in microwave for a great afternoon snack!Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Crush crackers. Pour the crumbs into a small bowl. Add the parmesan and toss to mix. In a separate bowl, crack and beat the eggs well. Dip each chicken piece in the egg and then roll it around in the parmesan crumbs until chicken is coated. Place the coated chicken on a cookie sheet, coated with cooking spray. Cook for 30-45 minutes or until cooked through.  Serve with favorite dipping sauces if desired.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups shortening
• 2 cups chopped pecans (Optional)
• 2 packages (12 ounces each) semisweet chocolate chips

Additional ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months! YIELD 4 batches (14 cups total)

To prepare cookies: In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and vanilla. Stir in 3 1/2 cups cookie mix until well blended. (if dough is dry, add 1-2 tablespoons water). Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1-2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Yield: About 3 dozen per batch

Some alternative ways to make these! Grandma brought me a plain mix minus the chocolate chips. I have a variety of chocolate chips in containers in my kitchen. I added a few different kinds including M&Ms to make it fun! If you don’t like chocolate? Make the plain recipe and bake a few cookies. Add some chips to the rest of the mix for those chocolate lovers! It is so customizable!

Chopping away

Sunday:

I grabbed the store ad and noticed that chicken was on sale! $1.77/lb. Great sale since it’s normally $6.99/lb. I went onto Once A Month Mom and browsed the recipes for August. I knew my family wouldn’t eat Stuffed Bell Peppers and the lasagna. So I went to the shopping list and removed those items off. Then printed out the new shopping list. I scratched off the items I already had. I didn’t have many of the items but I had a lot of spices and had already bought eggs. I still have hamburger in my freezer so I pulled out the small amount it asked for. I grabbed my list and headed to the store. I also went onto Amazon and ordered some Glad Ovenware. I got 6 (2pks) for $30. It was cheaper than buying a bunch of new bakeware. After I went grocery shopping, I put some chicken breasts in the crockpot to cook overnight. I wish I would have done all my chopping this day too and stored in the fridge.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Roasted Tomato Pasta

Monday:

I woke up and had my recipes all printed out and ready to go. Once A Month Mom has instructions that are easy enough to follow but I kind of did my own thing. The Stuffed Pizza Sticks takes 1-2 hours to rise before you can cook. So during that time, I started preparing other things and then cleaned house a little bit. Throughout the cooking experience, I washed the dishes too. I used my kitchen table for all the prep work since I don’t have a lot of counter space. I grabbed some cheap labels from the store and labeled all the food with the instructions on how to reheat. I started about 9AM and was finished by 6PM. Yes it was a long day of cooking but I was cleaning and doing other things while things were in the oven. It was also my first time and I could have easily got some of the recipes that don’t require cooking done while others were cooking. It was one of the lessons you have to learn the hard way. My suggestion is to mark the ones that don’t need your oven and work on those while your oven is being used. I also told my husband that I want a stove with two ovens. Yeah, he laughed at me too. A girl can dream!

Half of the food I made

The other half of the food in the freezer

I did keep a pan out for dinner and the kids loved it. Now what did I manage to cook in this one day? Are you ready for this?

After School Snacks and Lunch ideas

• 7-8 dozen Chicken Nuggets
• 31 Pizza Stick Rolls
• 21 Buffalo Chicken Rolls

For dinners

• 2 Roasted Tomato Pasta
• 2 pans of Unstuffed Pepper Bake (easily can get 4 meals out of)
• 2 pans of Sausage and Pepper Penne (easily can get 4 meals out of)
• 2 pans of Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya (easily can get 4 meals out of)
• 4 bags of 5 Peach Glazed BBQ Pork Chops
• 1 pan of BBQ Stuffed Chicken
• 1 pan of Baked Pesto Chicken

I didn’t buy as much chicken as the shopping list told me to buy. It said to buy 30 lbs. Instead I bought about 12 lbs. I made it stretch THAT far! By 6PM my kitchen was clean and ready for the next day! If you would like to learn more about Once A Month Cooking check out Once A Month Mom.

My clean kitchen