October 4, 2013

I suppose we should just get this out of the way...no new keepers this week.  But to be honest, there was only one new recipe we tried this week.  It was a cookie recipe, and the kids liked them, but they didn't stay soft very long so I don't plan on making them again.  As a result, they didn't earn keeper status.

My classes  were busy this week, and we had lots of sporting events and practices.  As I sat down to create the meal plan on Sunday I found my pen writing down easy dinners like tacos, hurry up ham, spaghetti and meatballs, salmon.  I knew we had a lot going on during the week, but also the marathon is on Sunday!  With a hectic week, and an epic run planned for Sunday I clearly didn't have the heart to waiver too much from food I knew and was easy to get on the table.  We will see what next week holds for our household - hopefully there will be a few new recipes.

Cheers for a good weekend, and happy cooking!

September 27, 2013

You will notice a trend this week in those recipes that earned the title keeper.  All three (yes, three this week!) have a similar flavor profile, and in addition all were time savers when it came to putting dinner together.  2 of the keepers are slow cooker dishes, and the other is a quick stove top skillet meal. Between school classes, soccer practices, cross country meets, and everything else, having dinner either going in the crock pot or easy to toss together was a life saver in the evenings.  Looks like this pace is going to keep up well into October, so don't be surprised if there are more slow cooker meals coming your way!

New Recipes
Slow Cooker Lime Chicken Tacos
Weeknight Beef Skillet
Slow Cooker Fiesta Cheese Chicken

Slow Cooker Lime Chicken Tacos

Ingredients
* 1 - 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken
* juice of 2 limes (about 1/3 cup)
* 1 tbso chili powder
* 1 cup frozen corn
* 1 cup chunky salsa
* flour tortillas, lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, sour cream - typical taco fixins'

Directions
1. Place the chicken in a 3 qt slow cooker. Combine the lime juice and chili powder, and pour over the chicken.  Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours.
2. Remove the chicken and shred.  Return shredded chicken to the slow cooker.  Stir in salsa and corn.  Set slow cooker on low for 30 additional minutes.  Once everything is heated through serve with tortillas and taco toppings!

Notes
I had strips of chicken, so I only needed about 3.5-4 hours.  But the chicken didn't shred quite as easily so next time I will leave use whole pieces.  I don't have a 3 qt slow cooker, so I put a round Corningware bowl inside the slow cooker, and used that as the cooking vessel.  It worked out great!!!

Weeknight Beef Skillet

Ingredients
* 3 cups uncooked egg noodles
* 1 lb ground beef
* 1 medium pepper, diced (your choice of color)
* 8 oz frozen peas, thawed and drained
* 8 oz frozen corn, thawed and drained
* (2) 8z cans tomato sauce
* 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
* 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
* 2 tsp sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions
1. Cook the noodles according to the package directions.
2. While the noodles cook, cook the meat and peppers in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until the meat is cooked through.  Drain if needed.
3. Stir in the veggies and everything else except the parsley.  Cook and stir until well combined and hot.
4. Drain the noodles and combine with the meat sauce. Stir in the parsley and serve.

Notes
Gotta love a quick one pot meal!  A step above "hamburger helper" but the same sort of idea.  This is very easy to toss together.  You can substitute one 15 oz can of tomato sauce if you had that on hand, and feel free to add 2 cups of frozen mixed veggies if you don't want to do separate corn and peas.  Everyone loved this, and we had a little bit of leftovers which heated up well later in the week.

Slow Cooker Fiesta Cheese Chicken

Ingredients
* 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken cut into chunks
* 3 medium peppers, diced (your choice of colors)
* 1 can condensed Fiesta Cheese soup, undiluted
* 1/2 cup chunky salsa
* 1 tbs chili powder
* hot cooked rice

Directions
1. In a 3 qt slow cooker, combine all the ingredients.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
2. Stir, and serve with rice.

Notes
My slow cooker was too big, but I put all the ingredients in a smaller Corningware dish that fit into my slow cooker so that I could make this dinner.  That worked like a charm.  We all really enjoyed this and will definitely be making it again.  It isn't an all day-long cooking crock pot meal, but if in the late morning you are home and have lots going on in the afternoon this just might fit your needs!  I put it on at noon and we ate around 5:45.  We served it with brown rice and it was a hit.

September 20, 2013

Why, of why, do I continue to try new overnight french toast recipes?  I tried another one this week, and just as in the past, no one really liked it.  But it sounded so good...and I am always wooed by the idea of a little bit of work in the evening that will result in a fuss free morning.  Well, it was fuss free, but we were all underwhelmed.  In the end, as I said to Ryan, my mission of trying the recipes I have clipped over many years is still working.  I toss the ones we don't love, or even like, and then we put into regular rotation the recipes that are deemed keepers.  This week's overnight french toast hit the recycling bin.

But, although the overnight french toast and a few others this week didn't earn keeper status, we did have a successful week!  3 new dinner recipes earned keeper status!  Fabulous! Chicken, turkey and salmon!  The funny thing is that it was just as busy, if not busier, than week as the prior, but for some reason my motivation level was higher. When I was looking through recipes to try for the week I chose 9, we actually made 7 of them (skipped apple cider donuts and a slow cooker meal), and we loved 3!  Not bad!  A fourth recipe, a cookie recipe, we really enjoyed and I think could have earned keeper status, but I honestly don't think I'd make them again and as such it couldn't earn keeper status.  I guess the two lessons this week are ones I already know - I work best when my plate is really full, and no matter what is going on, there are plenty of great QUICK dinner recipes that you can get on the table at dinner time!

Happy Cooking!


New Recipes
Chicken thighs with shallots and spinach
Turkey with mushroom and cream
Moist oven baked salmon

Moist oven baked salmon

Ingredients
* 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
* 1 garlic clove
* 4-8 salmon fillets

Directions
1. In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic.
2. Place salmon in a zip top bag or a glass/pyrex container with a tight fitting lid.
3. Pour sauce over the salmon, and seal.  Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 425, and grease a baking dish appropriate for the number of salmon fillets used.
5. Place salmon in baking dish.  Bake for 14-15 minutes.  Serve!

Notes
This salmon was paired with a black bean and corn salsa, but the salsa wasn't fabulous.  The salmon, however, was fantastic!  So quick to make, so moist, and even Hannah was looking for seconds (that is a huge testament to the dish).  Marinate the salmon, then put together everything else you need for dinner, and then 15 minutes before you want to eat put the salmon in the oven.  What a quick and fantastic dinner!  We paired this with green beans and popovers.  Definitely a keeper!