Slumps on Friday and Food for the Weekend

I have determined I'm in a bit of a slump.  I'm unmotivated to do much of anything this week.  I pushed around some paper on my work desk.  I printed off my challenges in the Super Stash Busters class, read one and watched all the video content, but haven't managed to pull out photos and dig in.  I've taken a few shots for the lessons in the Phone Photography Project and uploaded them.  I even picked up my cross-stitch, but couldn't convince myself to put in a even a stitch.  

While there's certainly nothing wrong with a slump. . .slumps can be good, sort of rejuvenating, depending on what you do with them.  I, myself, can't let a slump go on for long because it tends to leach into other areas of my life - like cooking and cleaning.  

I have, however, had no difficulty in Pinning this week.  Actually, during these types of hiccups in creativity, I seem to Pin at a faster rate.  I have also managed to cook through quite a few recipes in the last couple weeks with menus created from the I Can Cook That board.  I always enjoy moving things that are "keep worthy" to the I Cooked That board - aka my Pinterest Cookbook.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Gooey Cake - We love Gooey Cake since we discovered it a little over a year ago.  We've had traditional, pumpkin and now this one.  I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as a bad Gooey Cake.

Taco Lasagna - I liked this version that uses noodles instead of the usual tortillas.  Using no cook noodles would make it even faster to pull together.  The flavor was good.  Next time I think I'd like to add cilantro to the ricotta mixture and, maybe, refried beans to the meat mixture.

Ridiculously Easy Parmesan Butter Noodles - I made these to go on the side with the Brown Sugar Chicken.  I liked the lemon in the recipe, which is something I haven't seen in a Butter Noodle.  I didn't have basil on hand, or in the garden, so I used fresh parsley instead.  Worked great.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken - These were sweet, like a teriyaki, but I could pick up the pineapple juice in it and it wasn't overly "soy."  I used boneless, skinless thighs, and that cut the cook time down.  Good and definitely a do-over for the cooler months.

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad - I had this on the menu because it was supposed to be hot on the day I had it slotted, and it was a no-cook recipe.  Turns out, the forecasted heat turned out to be rain.  I had picked up corn on the cob at three 3 for $1 and so I cooked it up and added that to the salad instead of frozen, but otherwise stuck to the recipe.  Lots of good flavor from the dressing and crunch from the peppers and lettuce.  Three of the six of us has seconds and there was still some left over.  One of these days my kids will either just eat what's in it, or I'll be able to chop it small enough they can't pick out the pieces they don't like.

My sister called and is in a knitting frame of mind.  Maybe she'll be able to help me end my slump.

Happy Friday,