Dinner 22 - Table for One

Ok, Rach and the kids are out of town for spring break.  I decided to hijack dinner #22 and make something that I will probably never get at home as a family meal - some seafood!  I am not a wiz in the kitchen like Rach so I kept it simple.  Thanks to the kind folks at Food.com for the help!

Dinner #22 - Lemon & Herb Chilean Salmon on a bed of seasoned long grain and wild rice, served with roasted asparagus (yeah, that was a mouthful - I am all ready for Chopped!)

Salmon:
http://www.food.com/recipe/lemon-herb-salmon-127788

I left out the rosemary and dill weed, and used sea salt instead of kosher (not sure what the difference is)

Roasted Asparagus:
http://www.food.com/recipe/roasted-asparagus-50847

Rice:
Ok, cheated here a bit.  But it was very tasty! Thanks Rice-A-Roni!

It was super simple and it did not make too much of a mess.  And it actually tasted pretty good.  It was a little more tangy than I thought it would be, so maybe I should have added more sugar (or used less sour lemons).  In any case, I will be enjoying it for the next few days as I made 6 fillets and only got through about 1.5 of them tonight.  Just need to get the fish smell out of the house before Rach gets back!

Enjoy!

Dinners 20-21

Oh my goodness!  It is certainly taking forever to get to 28 new meals.  We tried 2 new ones the past two days.  Now that Spring Break is almost upon us I won't be doing any new ones until April.  I know it didn't take this long last time, but there has kind of been a lot going on and I really just didn't want to stress about this.

Dinner #20-Easy Crock Pot Pork Chops-this picture didn't do it justice

 

 Super Easy-threw it all in a crock pot before church, came home and it was almost done.  What can be easier than that on a busy day.  Know your crock pot though.  Mine only cooked for 5 hours on low and I think that was to long.

•  
• 6-8 thinly sliced pork chops (you can usually buy them already cut thin)
• 1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing powder
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (I would use the reduced sodium ones for both-it was a little to salty)

• Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.
• Add pork chops.
• Sprinkle ranch dressing powder evenly over the pork.
• Add soups and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours (or high heat for about 3-4 hours).
• Serve with mashed potatoes and salad

#21-Mexican Shredded Beef

 This was another easier meal, but it involved some effort.  It's not one of those meals you can put in the morning and then forget about until dinner time.  There is a middle process, but it wasn't to hard.  They were way yummy though and the kids really liked them.

• 3-4 Lbs. lean roast beef
• 1 pkg. onion soup mix
• 2-3 c. water
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 c.  picante sauce

 Lightly sear the roast on all sides. Add to crock pot and sprinkle with onion soup mix and add 2 c. water. Cook in crock pot on low for 8-9 hours, keep an eye on it and add more water as necessary. (again, know your crock pot.  Mine only took 4.5 hours before I took the meat out to shred and it was done.) Make sure there is always about 1-2 cups of liquid in there. Do not let the water cook out!

After meat is cooked, drain juices into a large jar. Place jar in the fridge so the fat will rise to the top and be easily removed. Shred the meat and toss our any excess fat.

Saute onion in butter. When onions are clear, add flour and stir until smooth. Add 1-2 c. of the meat drippings, stirring or whisking constantly until it is a gravy-like consistency.

Return shredded meat to crock pot and add gravy mixture and picante sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer. Meat should be moist and juicy.

St. Patty's Day fun!

 Our lives our so busy again.  Gone are the simple days.  Can't wait til summer when I don't have to worry about projects or grades.

 Noah had to try 5 new fruits and veggies for his health class.  He had kiwi, bok choy, a plumb, kiwano ( I think) and a kumquat.  It was quite a fun exercise.

 Raspberry chocolate cupcakes.  They were pretty tasty.  Just starting the St. Patty's day food a tad bit early.

 Pinewood Derby kind of snuck up on us this year.  We weren't 100% prepared and didn't get to spend as much time on the car as we would of like, but it got finished right before weigh in and Adam ended up getting 6th place.  He had fun and we are a bit relieved that this is our last one.

 Lily is always wanting to be a part of the derby.  Adam was nice enough to let her help.  She's been a great cheerleader for him.

St. Patrick's day in not one of my favorite Holidays, but it's a good one to have some fun with.

 I wasn't going to do anything special for this holiday breakfast, but the kids turned up their noses at Lucky Charms so I ended up making green french toast.

  The kids wanted me to dye the mashed potatoes green.  Lily had quite the rainbow of flavor on her plate at dinner.

 Then they wanted to make sugar cookies.  I was in the kitchen all day, but the kids were happy and at the end of the day the kitchen was clean.

 We finally got to meet our new baby cousin, Samuel.  He is only 6 days old in this picture.  He is so cute and snuggly.  

Happy Birthday Nana!

We hosted a birthday party for Damon's mom.  She turned 60 although you can't really tell.  She is such a wonderful person who likes to help.  I had to kick her out of the kitchen several times the day of the party.  We were so glad we were able to have lots of family over to help celebrate with us.

 I spent the whole morning and afternoon in the kitchen.  I made 4 main dishes and two desserts.  It was all worth it though.

We always buy Nothing Bundt Cakes for Nana's birthday.  This year I decided to make them instead and they did not disappoint.  I made a chocolate, chocolate chip and a white chocolate raspberry.

It was a great night.  Happy Birthday Nana!!

dinners 17-19 and a move

Well this weekend we moved into a house, were both super sick and exhausted and we only managed to have 1 new meal.  I'm really trying my hardest.  We went out to eat Friday and Saturday this week because of the move.  We will try harder this week to do more meals.

We have decided that moving really stinks.  Unpacking and organizing a new house is worse then packing up an old house I've decided, but truth be told I would rather do neither.

So my one new meal in 4 days turned out really well and everyone loved it.  My pickiest eater even asked if we could make it a staple.  That's a pretty high compliment.  We served it with fresh homemade Italian bread.  Here is it.

Dinner #17- Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 small onions
• 4 garlic cloves crushed and/or chopped
• 1 1/2 lbs sausage or ground beef
• 2 tsp oregano (I used crushed leaves)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves (I left this out.  Didn't have any on hand.  I miss my next door neighbor's herb garden)
• 8 oz. fusilli or rotini pasta
• 1/2 c. fresh basil (see above comment about the bay leaves. I used dried leaves)
• 8 oz Ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups Mozzarella, shredded
• salt and pepper to taste (just a pinch)

Instructions

• Chop onions small, and sauté onions and fresh garlic in olive oil in a fry pan.
• Add sausage/ground beef mix and brown.
• In a stock pot, combine oregano, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, chicken broth and bay leaves. Don't add the pasta and basil yet.
• Drain any excess fat drippings from the meat and add the meat to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer for at least an hour then add the pasta about 15-20 minutes before serving. When the pasta is done add the basil.
• Mix the cheeses and salt & pepper together in a small serving bowl.
• When the soup is served in individual bowls, add a large scoop (at least 2 tbs.) of the cheese mixture into each bowl. 

Dinner #18-Meatloaf

1.5 lbs. lean ground beef

1.5 lbs. ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped finely

1 (8 oz.) box stuffing mix (any kind)

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 Tb Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup fat free or light sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp oregano

1 egg

Sauce

Stir together in a bowl:

2/3 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp prepared mustard
(I would double this recipe so the sauce is thick on both loaves.  Dividing the original amount between both loaves wasn't enough sauce)

Combine all ingredients in a mixer (Kitchen Aid with paddle attachment works great). Divide into two 9 inch loaf pans. Do not cover. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove loaves and drain any accumulated grease in pans. Top with sauce and bake an additional 30 minutes. Once it has mostly cooled you can wrap tin foil over the top of one and put it in the freezer for later. (Use a disposable tin loaf pan so you don’t have to monopolize one of your own loaf pans while it’s frozen!)

Dinner #19-Chicken Fajita Casserole

1 can (16 oz)  refried beans

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 package  fajita seasoning mix

cooked chicken strips, or shredded chicken-about 10oz

8  flour tortillas for soft tacos & fajitas

1 bag (1 lb) frozen stir-fry bell peppers and onions, thawed, drained(I used fresh ones)

2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (8 oz)

 Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix refried beans, tomato sauce and fajita seasoning mix. Stir in chicken.

Spread 1/2 cup of the bean mixture over bottom of baking dish. Arrange 4 tortillas, overlapping if necessary, in baking dish. Top with half of remaining bean mixture, half of the stir-fry vegetables and 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat layers with remaining tortillas, bean mixture, stir-fry vegetables and cheese.

 Cover baking dish with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

 Super yummy and super easy.  We served it with tortilla chips and guacamole. 

 I cut up a cucumber for the kids and they loved it because in the center were "Ys".  They had to take a picture.