Food in Review (week 5)

We enjoyed lots of delicious food this past week! 

SUNDAY: Loaded Baked Potatoes 

Have you made baked potatoes in your Crock Pot before? If not - try it. You won't go back to the old fashion way in the oven. I promise. It's sooo easy it's ridiculous! I like this method because it doesn't heat the house up and I can actually LEAVE while they're baking.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

-wash and dry your potatoes 

-prick your tators with a fork a few times

-spray with cooking spray (olive oil, canola, butter, your choice) 

-sprinkle salt (I use garlic salt...fancy!) 

-WRAP in tin foil and place in empty crock (I try not to layer mine) 

BAKE for 8 hrs on LOW or 3-4 hrs on HIGH 

**If I want to start my potatoes and have 5-7 hrs before dinner (ie: too long for high and too short for low) I've baked them on high for 2ish hrs then bump it down to low for the rest...you really can't mess these up! 

Here's what we had for options to top our baked tators:

*leftover chili

*cheese

*sour cream

*avocado

Pair this with a salad and dinner's done. Easy. 

MONDAY (aka Joe's BIRTHDAY): Ginger/Cilantro Tilapia with Rice and Broccoli

Sound similar to what I made for V-day? It is. This time I doctored up our fish with some fresh ginger and cilantro. I also made our rice with the same concoction and sprinkled some grated ginger over our steamed broccoli....can you tell I had a chunk of ginger? ha! It was delish. Mmmm I love ginger. Better yet - the birthday man loves ginger! 

The boys and I made Joe a special dessert: TRUFFLES! The kids had a ball decorating them - they each turned out unique. And delicious. 

I love how J is totally eyeing up the goods...

TUESDAY: Beef Stew 

Crock pot to the rescue again! I was able to prep this meal in the morning and come home to a hearty meal ready to be gobbled up. I don't have an actual recipe for this stew - drop some of this and that and call it good! 

This time here's what I put in my magic food maker (aka Crock Pot) 

*stew beef

*carrots

*onions

*celery

*potatoes

*ginger 

*dill

*beef broth

YUMO. 

WEDNESDAY: Oatmeal Pancakes and Bacon

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it peaked my interest...so I had to give it a whirl. Verdict: Oh.My.Yum. It tastes just like FRENCH TOAST but in pancake form. Weird I know, but awesome. 

It's packed with protein and healthy oatmeal so you can't go wrong there. 

Here's the recipe I used - I didn't use blueberries though. It would be divine topped with powdered sugar! 

Image from Recipe Website

I made some bacon in the oven (BEST way to prepare it in my opinion) and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Mmmm I want it again...right now...stat. 

THURSDAY: Oven Mac-n-Cheese

I whipped this up in the afternoon so it'd be an easy meal for Joe and the boys while I went out to eat with a girlfriend! What? I have a social life? Ha. Anywho - the home crew gobbled this up with I gabbed it up with my bestie from college. I've since eaten the leftovers THREE times (yep. 3! It makes a lot and it's delicious) 

Here's the recipe I use. You should make it. Total comfort food - my boys LOVE oven mac (and so do I!) 

Image from recipe website

FRIDAY: Soft Shell Tacos with Corn and Rice

Mmmm Mexican food I adore you. So many variations. So much yumminess. So little time. 

Brown up some ground turkey and onions...add in some drained black beans....sprinkle some (or a lot) of chili powder, cumin and garlic powder....add a little water...simmer. 

Lay some of the turkey/bean mixture in a tortilla and top with cheese, salsa and sour cream. Wrap and roll. Served with a side of rice and corn - done. Mmmmm. 

SATURDAY: Homemade PIZZA

Well, semi-homemade. I bought a pre-made crust and then we topped it with our faves: sauce, cheese, pepperoni and black olives! I love that my kids (baby included) love black olives. They have good taste. Dinner was complete with some cuties clementines! 

SUNDAY: (Leftover) Taco Cups

I kinda had to wing dinner this night....and I came up with a pretty sweet meal! I used the leftover turkey/bean/rice/corn from our taco night on Friday and put them in cute little tortilla cups in my muffin pan. 

I cut tortillas into circles and gently shoved them into my (sprayed) muffin pan, then I sprinkled a little cheese in the bottom then a scoop of my leftovers topped with more cheese. Throw it in the oven for a while (I watched mine..maybe 10 min or so?) till the cheese is melted and the tortilla cups are lightly browned. Look how they came out....

Top them with your fave goodies and we have a winner! I love random leftover meals that turn out better then expected. 

So, that's what went on our table this past week. I have a super-cute story about E and his cooking adventure but don't have time now (time? I don't have time? who wouldn't thunk) 

I'll blog it I promise. Super cute. Stay tuned. 

Food in Review (week 4)

Ready to what we ate this past week? If not...well, I'm not sure why you're reading this...if so..READ ON!

SUNDAY: Oven Tacos

*This is one of my favorite recipes! It's a crowd pleaser - super economical - and best of all...SUPER TASTY!

I discovered it on Pinterest here! I like it with ground turkey (cheaper and healthier) but it's equally as delicious with ground beef.

Image from recipe website

The main change I've made is that I layer shredded cheese in the BOTTOM of the shells - then meat - then cheese of the TOP. I've discovered this prevents the bottom of the shells to get soggy...who wants soggy tacos anyways? Not I.

MONDAY: Chicken/Wild Rice Bake 

Another wonderful Pinterest find! I only made HALF of this recipe and it fed us plus leftovers...wow! Here's the link - you're welcome. This is some serious comfort food - it reminded me of chicken wild rice soup in casserole form.

Image from recipe website

TUESDAY: Potstickers and Fried Rice

Some days you gotta go easy. That was this day -- thank you frozen potstickers for cutting my food prep effort in half! I decided to be crazy and fry my potstickers instead of the normal boil method - I'm a rebel I know:) 

Along with our fried potstickers I whipped up some easy fried rice...no real recipe, just a little of this and that. 

Fried Rice: 

Cooked Rice (preferably cooled so it doesn't all stick together) 

Soy Sauce

Ginger

Onions chopped

Peas

Carrots (chopped) 

Eggs (to scramble at the end) 

Fry your rice and onions in oil of choice, add in soy sauce and ginger to your liking, add in peas/carrots. Move everything to one side of your pan and then scramble your eggs and mix together! Easy. Boom. 

WEDNESDAY: Pasta, Sauce and Sunshine Salad 

Ethan has compiled a 'cook book' of sorts from recipes he's ripped from magazines and asked if we could make one of his recipes this week. Of course I said YES and asked which one! He flipped through and landed on the Sunshine Salad. Since this wasn't a main course we paired it with the good ole pasta and sauce combo. 

The basics of this salad was lettuce (woah!), mandarin oranges and almonds. Pretty simple but E thought he was hot stuff helping me plan and then make it! 

*Sorry I didn't snap any pics while he was making it - mom fail. I'll do better next time.* 

THURSDAY (AKA Valentines!): Tilapia, Broccoli, Rice 

Awwhh. Love Day. Gotta make something special for that...so I planned some FISH! Nothing spectacular but a little out of the ordinary. I did have some pretty good looking dates I must say...

Like our candles? The boys wanted a 'special' dinner so we gave them one! 

For BREAKFAST on V-day I made pink-chocolate-chip-HEART-pancakes! Mom of the year...I'm coming after you - ha. They thought it was pretty clever...I concur. 

FRIDAY: Chili

Thanks Crock Pot for being there for me again. I like you. While the kids were having rest time (aka: give mom a break time) I browned up some beef and onions then poured in the last little bits from a salsa jar. Waste not, right? right.  That mixture went swimming in my crock pot with his buddies black beans, corn, diced tomatoes and some tomato paste. Spice it up with some cumin, chili powder and garlic then give it a good stir and walk away. 

Once again - no photo. It was nothing special - just a good ole bowl of chili! Perfect for a chilly day (har-har-har I'm funny!) and it makes great leftovers. I know that because I ate it yesterday for lunch and have plans for the remains of that for tonights dinner (loaded baked potatoes). 

CHEERS! 

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. 

Recap

Ready - Set - Photo! Here's a pictorial mini recap of us...enjoy. 

It's winter...winter means snow...snow with kids means playing outside....they love it:) I'm not a huge cold weather fan so I'm the mom out there with 20 layers on and waddling around! Hey - at least I'm out there!

So, we've established it's winter already. We obviously need hats in the winter. My boys like to pick out yarn and then I make them hats! It warms my heart to see their excitement when they are complete...it's the little things right? 

In other news - this baby is CrAzY! Always into something and making us laugh (or pull our hairs out...totally dependent on my mood) 

Good thing he's so stinkin' cute - cause he's always into mischief! 

My smiley baby...he's a charmer and he knows it! 

We're homeschooling E and J - E in the big Kindergarten and J is rocking preschool. I looked the other day and we're already over halfway done! How did that happen? Not to sure...I feel like I blinked in September and now it's almost February. I'm pleased to say we've stayed on track with our curriculum and are actually AHEAD of schedule! Woot. Translation: Summer Break will be visiting early this year - total score. 

My big boys are rockstars with school - both are super smart (I'm sure I'm biased but what mom isn't...) E is reading well and excelling in math! J has his letters mastered and conquering all the other fun preschool concepts! Oh academia how I love thee....for reals. :) 

Speaking of my students - Mr. J turned the BIG FOUR over Christmas break! He's my Christmas baby (12/27) and I always strive to make his birthday extra special since it's packed right in with all the Holiday ho-ha's. He loved his special cake with his fave berries on top! 

SEVEN years ago right now...I was probably freaking out about some tiny details for my soon-to-be wedding! I've been married to this stud for SEVEN years this Monday - when planning our wedding and looking at dates I discovered the perfect date...02-04-06. Inner math geek (who am I kidding - OUTer math geek) was so stoked for this date! Easy to remember, all even numbers, blah blah blah. 

Aren't we cute? Awwhh. 

My hair is long and I dip dyed my tips purple and loved it -- sadly this was like 2 months ago so I have since trimmed off almost all of it....translation: I better go get some more dye and do it again. Obviously. I've taken on the hobby (or rather necessity) of trimming my bangs and hairs...I've even tackled layers and they weren't horrible! I won't claim they're good but I'm totally cool with non-horrible. HA! It's a way I can help the budget - plus I feel so empowered with those sheers...

So, there's a mini-recap. Have fun? I did. 

In other news: I've had 3 people tell me that my last post (menu plans) actually helped them! Hooray - it wasn't a total waste of time! Stay tuned for this weeks menu plans...that reminds me I better go start dinner for tonight. 

Food in Review (week 1)

Here's my menu plan that we just finished eating this week - enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I don't always make everything from scratch. Sometimes we eat pizza. Whew. Glad I got that cleared up* 

Saturday: Pumpkin Pancakes with Bacon

Using this MIX - can't get much easier! Add some whipped cream on top...Mmmm

photo from amazon website 

Sunday: Fiesta Lime Rice Stuffed Peppers

Thank you Pinterest. I get a lot of my recipes from there. Here's the delicious insides that I put in par-boiled green peppers for dinner. 

photo from recipe website 

Monday: Basic Chili with Cornbread

I don't have a link or pic for this...it's waaay too easy. 

Ground Beef+Crushed Tomatoes+Red Beans+Onions+cumin/chili powder/garlic+CROCK POT = Dinner is served. 

I went ALL fancy and threw some shredded cheese in my cornbread muffin batter - boom. 

Tuesday: Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake

I've been meaning to try this one from my Pinterest board for a while - I'm glad I finally did! Yummy. Here's the recipe - do it. 

photo from recipe website 

Wednesday: Sausage Pizza Bake

This is one of those go-to deals for me...super easy...super cheap...crowd pleaser. This time I browned up some mild Italian sausage in place of the pepperoni and added in black olives. ENJOY!

Thursday: Quinoa and White Bean Fritters with Broccoli 

Oh. My. Word. These were AWESOME! Seriously. So stinkin' healthy (well, minus the frying in oil part) and sooo yummy! Here's the basic recipe - I changed up the seasonings a bit and used regular flour - still PERFECT. Perfect I tell ya! 

photo from recipe website 

Friday: Take and Bake Pizza

Don't act surprised...I already warned you I don't cook every night! Thank you Target for your deli-take-and-bake goodness. It saved me some time:) 

Saturday: Quinoa Fried 'Rice' and Egg Rolls

I had some leftover cooked Quinoa from the fritters so I made some fried 'rice' of sorts...sans rice. It actually worked out pretty well! All my kids and hubby gobbled it up - always a good sign. Great way to use up leftover Quinoa! Here's the link for that basic recipe. I tend to add my own flare to things - so should you. 

photo from recipe website 

And that brings us current - it's Saturday night and I have my menu set for next week. Lots of goodies on there! 

I didn't even think of treats - I bake a lot...maybe I should add those too? This past week I made pumpkin muffins, banana bread, cream-of-wheat cookie bars (score!) and jello fruit snacks (fail.) 

Maybe I'll add those recipes in sometime...food for thought...ha I'm witty....or tired....you decide. 

Bloggin' Back Burner...

So...as you may have guessed blogging took a little time off from my priority list the past few months - ahem - almost year. Ah well. Life goes on. I'm sure you weren't crying at your computer screens at the lack of new reading material.

Anywho - I figure now is a great time to get back into it. I always enjoy a stroll down memory lane and this blog is a great place to do that.

I had this crazy idea (wait for it....it's CrAzY!) -- I spend a lot of my time with food...menu planning, grocery lists, food shopping, food prep, food consumption (yum) and food clean-up (bleh.)

I'm going to (try to) record my meals and link to the recipes that I feed my crew with. That way if I'm ever in a rut for menu planning I can look back a few weeks and *tA-Da!* I have them at my fingertips! Clever eh? I thought so.

Plus, I LoVe to see what other mama's feed their families -- so maybe my listing will start a domino effect and I can stalk - I mean observe - other meal plans too....deal? deal.