Food in Review (week 10)

So here's what I fed my crew not last week but the week before....I'm a little late but life's been a little busy these days! As long as food gets to the table and my kids are clothed I call it a successful day - ha.

Hopefully you can find something new to try in your weekly menu!

MONDAY: Ravioli and Vegetable Soup 

I found a simple recipe on Pinterest (where else, right?) and decided to modify it a tad and give it a whirl...

Here's what I put in mine:

1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 tsp thyme (or to taste) 
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
10 oz cheese ravioli 
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
Parmesan cheese for topping

In a large pot, sauté your veggies in some oil till tender. 

Sprinkle some thyme over veggies. 

Pour in broth and water - bring to a boil. 

Add in ravioli and boil according to package directions. 

TWO minutes before ravioli would be complete add in your chopped spinach and let wilt during last few minutes of cook time. 

SERVE with a sprinkle of cheese over and a side of bread. 

I don't have a picture of the completed dish....it's a pretty simple soup - I'm sure you can imagine it!

TUESDAY: Turkey Burgers, Tator Tots, Broccoli and Fresh Pineapple

Mmmmm. We love these burgers over here. You probably could conclude that yourself if you've read many of my other menus.

HERE's the recipe for these delicious (and easy) burgers.

Click on ^ link to see the BEAUTIFUL burger that results...seriously good. 

I served them this time with some fresh pineapple (remember my cool contraption I got for those?) and some steamed broccoli. 

WEDNESDAY: Santa Fe Beans and Rice in Tortilla Wraps

This was a recent gem I found on Pinterest....we love it! Last time I served it with some tortilla chips to use as forks. This time we wrapped up the yummy rice and beans in a soft tortilla wrap. 

Soooo good. Meatless. Cheap. High Protein. Feeds a Crowd. Can't Lose. 

Remember that I use white rice (instead of brown) and I use GREEK YOGURT in place of sour cream. 

Try it. Here's the link 

Pic from Recipe Website

THURSDAY: Baked Garlic Chicken, Rice and Peas

I found this simple baked chicken recipe on....you guessed it....PINTEREST. 

It wasn't bad but it also wasn't blow-your-socks-off-wow-that's-tasty either. 

Here's the recipe I followed. 

 Photo from Recipe Website

I served this with some rice and a side of peas. There was something refreshingly SIMPLE about this meal - no fancy frills or unexpected flavor combos. So, if you're looking for an easy meal this might be for you! I'm not sure if I'll purposefully make it but I'll keep it in my mind for those nights where I really don't want to make what I planned (you know what I mean right? Those nights when you really don't want to stand for an hour and read detailed instructions....) 

FRIDAY: Chicken Pumpkin White Bean Chili

Oh Yum. 

I've made this with turkey (as the recipe calls for) but this time I threw caution to the wind and used shredded CHICKEN! Rebellious I know...

What resulted was spectacular! 

It was a creamy, thick, flavorful, chili. Beautiful color. NO tomatoes. No icky bottom for my baby. TMI? Yep. 

Here's the recipe. 

Photo from Recipe Website

Here's a recipe with what I did different: 

Chicken Pumpkin White Bean Chili

Adapted from SkinnyTaste.com

You Need: 

• 1.5 lb cooked chicken (roughly shredded) 
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder, to taste
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 (15 oz cans) of white northern - rinsed and drained
• 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 4.5 oz canned chopped green chiles
• 2 cups chicken broth

DO IT:

In your handy crock pot MIX pumpkin, broth, and seasonings. 

ADD in beans, chiles, and chicken. STIR well. 

Set your slow cooker to LOW for 4-6 hours (you're just warming it up...everything's already cooked) 

TOP with sour cream, cheese, green onions. 

YUM. 

**There ya have it. My menu from 2 weeks ago - I'm optimistic that I'll have last week's menu up soon...we shall see! **

Food in Review (week 8)

Time to share my menu plan from last week.....aka time to sit at the computer and not care that my house is a living tornado zone. Meh - I can clean later. 

I tried a few *new* recipes this week and they were KEEPERS! Woot - woot. I love it when that happens! 

SUNDAY: Blueberry Pancake Bites with Sausage

I found this variation of the classic pancake on Pinterest and gave it a whirl....look how cute they look:

Image from Recipe website

I made ours with blueberries and served them with some sausage links. The kids thought they were fun and I enjoyed the 'fluffiness' of them and that I didn't have to stand and FLIP pancakes for ever. 

MONDAY: Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice and Peas

Wow. Seriously. This one is a KEEPER. Soooo good. Delish. 

Ok - enough rambling...

I've had this pinned on my Pinterest board for a loonnng time but have never tried it because it requires a lot of prep and time. I wish I would've tried it sooner - it was that good. I can't wait to make it again. It looked, smelled and tasted like takeout! Maybe even better? You decide. 

Here's the LINK for the recipe. I used chicken THIGHS instead of breasts and absolutely loved it with them! 

Look at how WONDERFUL that plate of food looks! It tastes even better...have I convinced you to try it yet? 

TUESDAY: White Chicken Chili/Soup over Rice

Have you noticed I do a lot of variations of this? Cuz I do....a lot. Good thing we like it. It's an easy crock pot meal that I can modify to what I have or want to use.

Here's what hung out in my Crock Pot this time:

Chicken Thigh (the remaining thighs that I didn't use for Monday) 
Black Beans
Corn
Can of Green Chilis
Chicken Broth

To serve I put a scoop of rice in a bowl and poured the yummy soup/chili mix over it....Mmmmm. Can't go wrong with this one!

WEDNESDAY: Turkey Burgers/Fries/Broccoli 

I love ground turkey. It's cheap. It's versatile. It's healthy.

I made THESE burgers and served them on those thin buns (I don't know what they're actually called...)

Some frozen fries and steamed broccoli helped me round out this meal. I made 3 'mini' burgers for my mini men...they thought those were pretty sweet. I agree.

Gotta love a good, simple meal. Picture-less but still delicious. I was too busy eating it.

THURSDAY: Sweet and Sticky Baked Chicken Drummies 

This was another new one. I was a little hesitant since I don't cook with bone-in meat much....but I gave it a whirl anyways.

I let my drummies hang out in the marinade for a solid 24 hours and I'm glad I did! YUM.

HERE'S the recipe. They taste as good as they look. 

Look......

Image from Recipe website 

My kids think it's a riot to eat meat off the bone - they like to discuss where on the animal it was...weird? perhaps. 

I served this with some rice and peas and a SMILE. I try to serve all my meals with a smile....it's a nice side right? right.  

This one is another new KEEPER. When I see drummies go on sale I know what I'll be doing with 'em!! Mmmmmm. 

FRIDAY: Black Bean Quesadillas 

I prepped my quesadillas in the afternoon and stacked them with buttered outsides to hang out in the fridge till it was eating time. It was a cool trick - once it was time for dinner I just fired up my griddle and didn't have to waste time prepping them! 

Does anyone else do quesadillas on your griddle? You know - the thing you use for pancake flippin'? Well - it's a SLICK way to make a bunch of quesadillas at once! 

For my filling I put some black beans in a bowl (I drained them 95% and kept just a tad of liquid) and smashed them with a fork. 

Into that I added:

Garlic Powder

Chili Powder

Oregano

Mix 'er up and there's your filling! I put a layer of that then a layer of shredded cheese - smooshed between two corn tortillas. Yum. 

There ya have it. Another week in review. Lots of happy tummy's. I went grocery shopping today and have my game plan set for the week. Game on food. I'll win. 

Happy Cooking. 

Food in Review (week 6)

MONDAY: Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted Carrots

Mmmm comfort food. Gotta love it. This past Monday I made a turkey meatloaf from this recipe and a side of roasted carrots from this recipe.

Photo from recipe website 

Call me behind the times, but this was my first time ever roasting carrots. Oh.My.Goodness those are good! My kids gobbled them up and both Joe and I couldn't get enough of them! So simple and so sweet. Needless to say - they are on the menu again this week. 

TUESDAY: White Turkey Chili over Rice

I used this recipe as a base and tweaked it to fit what I wanted to use. Instead of chicken I used ground turkey and used my basic chili seasonings (chili powder, cumin, garlic). I served this chili over a bowl of rice - Mmmmm.... 

WEDNESDAY: Pepperoni Pizza Bites with Broccoli

How fun is this meal? Pretty fun you'll see...

I based my idea of this recipe but used a different dough and different baking method...same concept though! 

Ingredients: 

3 tubes refriderated Buttermilk biscuits (total of 30) 

Mozzarella Cheese cut in small chunks

Pepperoni 

Butter (I melted garlic into mine) 

1. Flatten down each biscuit a little

2. Lay a slice of pepperoni on it 

3. Put a piece of mozzarella cheese on top

4. Fold edges of biscuit up and seal top

5. Place little pizza packages in 9x13 pan with sides touching

6. Brush melted butter over biscuits and bake according to package or until tops are brown

DIP in warmed marinara sauce! Yum and Fun! 

Serve it with a healthy side and call it good. My go-to for this night was steamed broccoli - everyone's a broccoli fan in this house! 

THURSDAY: Vegetable Minestrone

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and gave it a whirl....meh. It wasn't AmAzInG but it wasn't horrible....meh. 

It's full of veggies and is great for a chilly winter day! 

Here's the recipe I followed. 

Photo from recipe website

To help fill us up I served this with a side of crackers and cheese. Mmmmm cheese. 

FRIDAY: LazyMan Lasagna

This one's a keeper. Easy. Yummy. Feeds a crowd. 

Here's the recipe. I used bow-tie pasta to more emulate 'real' lasagna noodles and love the way it turned out! I decided to use chopped spinach for the veggie aspect of it and it meshed perfectly with the rest of the dish. I had thoughts of adding in chopped mushrooms but I'm glad I didn't -- the spinach itself was great! 

Photo from recipe website

I've eaten these leftovers for the past 3 lunches! It's that good (and it makes THAT much!) Try it. 

SATURDAY: Papa Murphy's 

I love a good deal. In our local newspaper I found some sweet coupons for Papa Murphy's and then in a mailer I found more coupons for Papa Murphy's....guess what we're eating for dinner this night? Yep. Papa Murphy's. I totally mis-matched the coupons together to get an even better deal! 

$6 Large Pepperoni Pizza

FREE 2-Liter Pop

FREE Cookie Dough

That was our ever-so-healthy dinner on Saturday. The kids thought it was so FUN! Pair this with a RedBox movie and you have a special Saturday night. 

That's our week in review! I have a lot of fun food planned for this week and can't wait to share it with you. A few new recipes and a few old recipes....

Food in Review (week 3)

Another week done - Another menu completed!

SUNDAY (SUPERBOWL!!): Nachos Supreme

We enjoyed Nachos Supreme with all the fixings during the Big Game!

*Tortilla Chips

*Shredded Chicken

*Cheese

*Sour Cream

*Green Onions

*Black Olives

*Shredded Lettuce

*Salsa

MMMmmmmm! 

MONDAY: (Our Anniversary!) Mexican Lasagna

SEVEN years of wedded bliss deserves a special meal don't ya think? This is one our favorites dinners and with good reason..it's delicious! 

I blogged about it HERE - oh.for.yum. I like to have all my ingredients ready to roll (rice and meat cooked) then my assembly is a piece of cake! 

TUESDAY: Crescent Roll-Up Sandwich/Tator Tots/Peas 

This is one of those super-easy kid-friendly meals that are quick to whip up! You can fill these bad boys with whatever you please...this night I used turkey lunch meat and mozzarella cheese. I take my crescent rolls - lay some meat and cheese in in - and then ROLL 'em up! Bake in the oven as the directions say or until golden brown. 

We dipped ours in mustard - depending on your fillings other dips would be tasty too! I threw some tots in the oven, heated up some peas and called in a meal. Easy Peasy. 

WEDNESDAY: Cherry Berry! 

For reals. Am I the coolest mom ever? Debatable...but with this under my belt I'm getting somewhere! After Joe and I discovered Cherry Berry on our Anniversary outing last weekend we knew the kids would LOVE it -- so I fed them a hearty (and healthy) afternoon snack and went to Cherry Berry for dinner! 

If you've never heard of this wonderful place...let me enlighten you...

It's a self-serve yogurt bar. You choose your flavor(s) and serve yourself a bowl, then add in your toppings and finally weigh it to see what the damage is (you pay by the ounce). Sheer genius.

THURSDAY: Creamy Potato Soup

My trusty Crock Pot helped me out with this one - and it didn't let me down! I found this recipe of Pinterest and gave it a whirl...it'll definitely be in my menus in future weeks. 

Pic from recipe website 

I added in some carrots with the potatoes and then garnished with green onions and BACON! Everything gets better with bacon. 

FRIDAY: Baked Pumpkin French Toast

Another Pinterest find I had to try - I love breakfast for dinner and I love pumpkin...this recipe had both bases covered! Here's the RECIPE that I used. For my bread I used Hawaiian Rolls (tore up into pieces) and I doubled the brown sugar to make it sweeter. Total keeper in my book! The only thing I would suggest is to double it if it's for more than 3 people - it only makes a loaf pan and it served myself and the boys perfectly with no leftovers. 

 Pic from recipe website

So, there's my week. 

Happy Cooking! 

Food in Review (week 2)

Ready to see what I fed my crew this past week? Read on...

SUNDAY: Pasta/Sauce with Cheesy Bread

Good ole standby for a weekend night when I really don't want to cook - I bumped it up a notch this time and added some ground turkey in the sauce (bam!) and threw some cheesy bread in the oven. Nothing spectacular here. 

Monday: Baked Taquitos with Brown Rice/Corn

I LOVE the filling of this - I use it all the time (translation: weekly if not more) and it is soooo easy. I originally got the idea from some recipe but have since changed the ingredients and amounts a bunch so I'll give you my version...

Filling: (don't blink...it's short!) 

1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, etc.. I often use turkey since it's so cheap!) 

1 can refried beans

1-2 Tb salsa (choose your level of spice) 

Cumin 

Chili Powder

**Brown meat in skillet. Drain excess grease. Add refried beans. Add salsa. Add seasoning (eyeball how much you want...no right or wrong here!). STIR and heat. It will look unappealing...keep stirring and smell how yummy it will be. 

I use this filling in my taquitos, oven tacos, chimichangas and quesadillas! 

To assemble my taquitos I put 1-2 Tb of filling in a small (fajita size) tortilla, sprinkle a little cheese on top (can be excluded if you're not a cheese fan) and roll 'em up! I line them in my pan, spray with oil and sprinkle with salt (I used garlic salt this time...daring I know!). 

BAKE: 350* till nice and crispy and golden. 

Serve with sour cream, lettuce, salsa and whatever your little heart desires! YUM. 

TUESDAY: Tortellini Soup 

I always try to have at least one (if not more) meatless meal to help the budget -- this soup fit the bill and was a great way to warm up during this *ahem* cold spell we're having. And by 'cold' I mean, "frigid, burn your nostrils, don't want to step outside ever" 

Here's the base recipe I used for this soup - I added in carrot, celery and onions to beef it up a bit. My kids loved the tortellini and white beans - I loved that it was warm. Have we established it's cold yet? 

p.s. see E's sweet bowl? It has a built in straw! I want one. 

WEDNESDAY: Salsa Chicken (Crock Pot) with Rice

Here's another one of my go-to meals...super easy+crock pot+kid approved=WINNER. 

I love that I can get it started in the morning and all I have to do for dinner is make rice! I use my crock pot a lot. It's one of my best friends. You should make friends with yours. They ROCK. 

Here's the easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy (E's favorite saying) RECIPE for it. I've done it with whole chicken breasts and then shred it at the end OR cube up my chicken before putting it in...either way is a win-win. Throw it over some rice and you're golden. Add some black beans and you're an over-achiever! Way to go. 

Photo from recipe website. 

THURSDAY: Crock Pot Banana Bread Quinoa served with Bacon and Eggs

So, I just told you how much I love my crock pot. You'll see me use it a lot. No joke. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it looked good...I haven't done sweet quinoa yet but there's a first time for everything! 

Photo from recipe website. 

Verdict: meh. I don't know if it was the texture or what but I wasn't a fan. The FLAVOR was good (like banana bread - go figure!) but the texture was a little too something for my liking....like caviar maybe? Joe liked it. Isaac LOVED it. The big boys tried a bite each and graciously declined. Good thing I made scrambled eggs and bacon as a side. Can't go wrong with bacon. Live and Learn. 

FRIDAY: Teriyaki Chicken (crock pot) with Rice 

I like to have easy dinners for Friday (who am I kidding...I like easy dinners most nights!) and my best bud Crock Pot helped me out yet again. I've made this one a bunch of times - typical dump this and that in the crock pot and walk away for the day returning for a yummy meal. 

Here's the link to the sauce for this easy weeknight meal. I added in some carrots and onions to cook with the chicken to complete the meal. All I had to do was whip up some rice at dinner time! 

Photo from recipe website. 

SATURDAY: nothing! 

I didn't have to cook today! Our anniversary is on Monday (SEVEN years - woot!) so Joe and I got to enjoy a date day today sans kids. The date spanned over lunch and dinner letting me off the hook for making any food today. As part of our date, Joe and I went grocery shopping (romantic I know...) so I'm all ready for next week. 

Let me know if you have any questions about any of these recipes - I'd be happy to answer them! 

Happy cooking. 

Tortellini Soup with Spinach and Tomatoes

I was given the "SOS! Six O'Clock Scramble" cookbook a few months ago and I love it! I made one of our favorites tonight and actually remembered to take some pictures to share. We love the Tortellini Soup for many reasons: #1 it's tasty. really tasty. #2 (for me) it's easy and quick! #3 my kids like it!

Without further rambling here it is (my modifications in RED)
Tortellini Soup with Spinach and Tomatoes
SOS! Six O'Clock Scramble

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves) *I use my micro-plane to finely shred it*
1 box (32 oz) reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth *I use chicken broth*
1 package (9 oz) whole wheat or regular cheese tortellini (sold refrigerated) *I use the dried, shelf variety -Spinach/Cheese, 8oz*
1 can (15 oz) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with their liquid *I use Ro'Tel diced tomatoes with chilis for an added kick - 10oz*
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano *I use Mexican Oregano - a little bolder*
3 cups fresh baby spinach *I use about 4 cups...I like my greens!*

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the broth. Bring it to a boil, then add the tortellini, tomatoes, pepper, basil and oregano.

Reduce the heat to keep it at a low boil for 7 minutes, then add the spinach. Simmer it for 2 more minutes, *if using dried tortellini - use cook time on package adding the spinach in for the last 2 minutes* Remove soup from heat and serve immediately.

*Scramble Flavor Booster: Stir in crushed red pepper flakes at the table for an extra spice!
I serve this to my kids minus the broth - I use a slotted spoon to get out the tortellini and spinach and they gobble it up (well, they gobble the tortellini...the cooked spinach takes some convincing; I don't care though - there's spinach hiding in the tortellini!)

One thing I always forget to do is to DOUBLE IT! We eat up the whole pot at one meal and always want leftovers....I won't forget next time!