_Hope everyone’s New Years was totally fabulous! 

Our original party plans got canceled because of sickness {oh the sickness}, but we managed to have a fun family NYE as our Plan B.

I made a fabulous new Sausage Dip Chris’s uncle shared at Christmas.  It’s so deliciously wonderful and easy.  1 lb of sausage, 8 oz cream cheese and 1 can Rotel. Brown sausage and drain. Then mix with other two ingredients in the crockpot or on the stovetop and wala.  Serve with chips!! Yum-o!

We didn’t get to go out and par-tay, but our friends made our night by face-timing us at midnight to say Happy New Year!  :)  I think it was the first time we had ever even used the face time feature other than trying it out when we first got our 4g’s.  One of us in the living room and the other in the bedroom style. We live on the edge, people.  :)

We have really enjoyed our time off school, but we’ll be back to bizness on Wednesday.  So hard to believe my girl is halfway through the third grade.  Thoughts of her entering FOURTH grade leave me quivering and twitching in corners.  In my experience, fourth grade is the beginning of the end, er, I mean, middle school madness present in virtually ALL girls.  Just not sure I’m ready for that.  :)

I AM, however, excited about a NEW YEAR of not worrying about dinner.  Meal planning was always something very elusive and unattainable in the past.  Despite other successes in organizing, I just could never quite conquer that blasted meal planning. 

It feels so good to know that I found a solution that has worked for me, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to learn and grow even more in my cooking skills in 2012! 

Sweet & Tangy Chicken /2 via Syrup and Biscuits

Easy Stromboli via Sisters Stuff

From the Freezer… Asian Pork Chops image via The Cooking Husband

From the Freezer… Cornflake Chicken via What’s Cooking Chicago

_Despite being sick I was able to knock out these THREE meals in 22 minutes!!!

Doesn’t that chicken look yummy??  The marinade smelled really good, and I’m excited to try something quite different.  The marinade is a mix of Russian dressing, apricot preserves, and dry onion soup. 

Uh, wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to find the first two in the store. I don’t think I had ever heard of Russian salad dressing. And apricot preserves? Is that really a common flavor?  I searched the dressings, and I found many other countries represented among them, Italian, French, Greek, Asian etc…

{Okay, I know Asian isn’t a country, but it’s close enough right?}

But I could NOT find anything that even LOOKED like it might be Russian-ish.  Finally, when my vast American-ized choices were almost running out, I spotted it. 

It DOES exist.

Who woulda thought.

You just mix those three ingredients together and pour over chicken.  Different, right?  It smelled good at least, so hoping it will be a winner since it was so easy to prep! 

Haylee and I {but mostly Haylee} made Nana’s Fruit Salad before starting on my meal prep.  She was so excited to don her apron again and create something herself! The only part I really did was slicing the frozen strawberries since they were so hard.

My future cook showing off her dish!  :)  

Do you wanna take a stab at a stress free dinnertime?  Click for more info on how on earth I do it.   {Did I mention I ♥ it?} …. and here for more Monday Menu Inspiration from orgjunkie!

What were your big NYE plans?  Did you feast on any new and yummy treats??