I recently shared with you my weekly meal planning strategy. I was pleasantly surprised by the reception I got from it. In fact, a co-worker told me it was a "game changer" for her life. Wowza! I had no idea and it fills me with joy that I may have been helpful in some way.

But don't go thinking I'm so some of miracle person that is just "so together" - heck no! I have my struggles, too. Like sometimes I just don't want the meal I had planned, or I had to work later than I thought and the meal I had scheduled is just not going to feed me fast enough. In fact, being pregnant I come home way more hungry than before so it's a real struggle bus.

Luckily, I have my blogger friends to help me. Did you know there is a whole community of bloggers out there? It's a thing. For real. They even get together for conferences and they all seem to be friends or connected somehow. These gals (and some guys, too) are so talented, and have some great ideas to share. This is one of my biggest sources of new recipes and help me through the week. In fact, Pioneer Woman is starting to share these bloggers on her site with her Food & Friends section. Bloggers, bloggers everywhere!

I share a few in my meal planning post, but I thought I'd dive into it some more.

Mel's Kitchen Cafe

These bloggers are real people and also talk about their week meal planning struggles. Mel talked about it recently on her "Let’s Talk: When There’s No Time {or Desire} To Make Dinner" post. She really struck home with me on what she had to say. Not to mention, she gives some great tips on quick meals when you're in a bind. I noticed one thing we do in common is panini's (grilled cheese supremes, as I like to call them) for a quick meal. She has a whole list of "Quick Recipe Solutions" that I plan on referencing. Also, she also has these menu plans and a side dish planner because isn't it the sides sometimes that just get you?

I think she has some great homestyle meals. No crazy ingredients and using tools you already have at home. The food is filling, delicious, and full of heart. There is a good mix of main dish, side dish, and sweets on her recipe collection. The Best Recipe collection is handy, too!

Here's a few recipes that have either caught my eye or have tried (and know to be true):

Chicken and Butternut Squash Quinoa Stew - This screams fall to me. Pinned it!
Chicken Cordon Bleu {The Easy Way!} - So homey, so good looking. Need to try!
Chili Verde {Mexican Stewed Pork} - This has been a success for me. I put it on top of romaine to make a salad. Yum!

Foodie Crush

Heidi from Foodie Crush always seems to help me find some good recipes. She shares the blog love her Blog Crush series - here's her most recent 5 Food Blogs I'm Following Now. Check out those Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars on that post - that looks like something Josh would love. I like her style and everything I've tried from her site has worked out! She has her recipes categorized by season (like fall) which is pretty handy. In fact, all her categories are nicely organized.

Here's some recipes that I've tried or want to try!

Lemon Chicken Stew - A tried and true. I've made this a bunch and love it. Love it!
Carbonara Pasta With Charred Brussels Sprouts - This caught my eye. Pinned it!
Baked Turkey Meatballs with Polenta and Marinara - Another favorite of mine. Make it!

How Sweet It Is

I was so bummed when Jessica was in Seattle earlier this year, but I did get her cookbook. She makes the best stuff both savory and sweet. She is one of my favorite blogs, and I drool at most of the recipes in her cookbook. Seriously, you need to check her blog out.

Caramelized Shallot, Spinach and Goat Cheese Garlic Butter Pasta - This is delish and quick. A must!
Cider Braised Chicken with Spiced Butternut and Portobello Mushrooms - Chicky chicky! Just pinned!
Pumpkin S'mores Cupcakes - You had me at pumpkin. Yes please!

Blog Management Tip

Now that I've told about a few of my favorite blogs, you're wondering how I manage them. I highly recommend a blog reader. You subscribe to whatever blogs you're interested, and then when that blogger posts something new it pops up. Then it disappears after you read it (you can mark as a favorite, though). If it's something good, then I usually "pin it" to my Pinterest board. And that's that.

Right now I use Feedbin as the service, but then use ReadKit as the tool for reviewing/reading the blog posts. I love that you can look at the blog posts either on your phone (like when I'm on the bus to/from work), or at home on my computer. Although, Josh is trying to get me to move over to Reeder instead. He'll probably convince me to move over to it soon.

At the start of my blog reading, I used Google Reader until it went bye-bye. I wrote a little post about it and some alternatives. You might try some of those instead, if you're interested. Whatever you choose, I hope you choose to follow some blogs. It's fun!

And I'll share some more of my favorite blogs again soon. I'm not stopping here!