Wednesday

Can we say pizza. I had a church meeting so dinner had to be quick!! I usually don't do fast food during the week - but this is a very unusual week. Anyway - we found our new favorite pizza - at Dominos. They have these new legend pizza's and their Pacific Veggie is fantastic. Just a little FYI.

Tuesday

I found this recipe from my e-mealz.com account. I was a little nervous to try this because the ingredient combo seemed a bit weird - but...I was pleasantly surprised with the results. This took longer than an hour to bake -but it is worth the extra time.

Chicken Rice Bake

6 - 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used 4 of these and cooked 2 boneless breasts because my husband doesn't like thighs.)
1.5 c minute rice
1.5 c water
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 packet of Lipton onion soup

Place chicken in 9x13 dish. In a bowl combine remaining ingredients saving half the onion soup mix. Poor mixture over chicken and sprinkle remaining soup mix on top. Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for 90 min.

I served this with green beans

The Verdict: Yummy!! Everyone really liked this - especially the kids. It made a lot of food so I was hoping to have some left overs - but the kids ate the remaining for their snack at bedtime. We will definitely make this again!

Monday

OK - last week was a bit of a failure because we all got sick.. So I will try to do better this week. However, today's meal was what I like to call a "busy day" meal. Kate has dance so we don't get home until late. Needless to say - Taco Bell became our best friend this evening. On a positive note - we were able to feed our family of 5 fast food for about $10.00 Not too bad!

Teriyaki Chicken Bowl

Today's meal was a crock pot dinner. I like to do these a couple days a week because it really frees up time. I found this recipe in my Fix It and Forget cookbook. For working moms - this book is by far my most used book! Great recipes and they are all easy prep and pretty tasty.

8 chicken thighs (skinned)
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
3 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 tsp minced garlic (from a jar of course! - or 2 cloves)
1 tsp ginger

Place chicken in crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and poor over chicken. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. When you get home, debone chicken (should fall right off the bone) and place back in sauce. Let simmer while you cook your rice ( I use a steamer for this).

Serve chicken over rice and with steamed broccoli.

The Verdict: I really liked this - though I think next time I will try and find a different recipe for the Teriyaki Sauce. The kids really liked this as well and my husband said it was good but not his most favorite. He tends to prefer white meat - which I think would be good as well, I just didn't have any.

Happy Monday!!

Today was a holiday for us - so I was able to spend a little more time preparing our dinner - however, we still spent less than an hour getting everything put together. We made dinner at my mom's house and enjoyed an evening of House!! I know some of you will wonder why we don't use canned spaghetti sauce, however for spaghetti, once you make this VERY EASY SAUCE, you will not go back - I promise!!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
1lb hamburger
1/2 green pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
mushrooms sliced (optional)
2 tsp pre minced garlic
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
salt/pepper
season salt
Brown hamburger with above ingredients until no longer pink. DrainAdd the following to meat mixture:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 can condensed tomato soup (sounds strange - but trust me!)
1/4 c ketchup (another trust me!)
1/4c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. water
Let all ingredients simmer until you get your noodles cooked (about 20 min.)

We served this with a nice green salad.

The Verdict: My family loves this meal - in fact we rarely have leftovers. My son, who does not like mushrooms or green pepper, eats this and doesn't complain. I know some of the ingredients seem a little weird, but it makes for a very nice sauce. I hope you all enjoy!

Sausage and torellini soup

Friday will be my official soup days - at least through winter. In spring I may change it to my official salad day or something else like that. Today's dinner was super easy to make - it took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Hope you enjoy!

1 lb sausage (spicy is very good in this)
28oz can Italian crushed tomatoes
14 oz can Italian diced tomatoes
1 box spinach
9oz tortellini (you can use the fresh or frozen - I used the frozen)
4 c water with 4 bullion cubes added (I like my soup more "soupy" so I added one more can of beef broth

Brown sausage in large pot and drain. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.

I served this with some garlic bread and it made a very tasty meal.

The Verdict: My husband and I loved this as well as my 6 year old. My other two were not that pleased with the outcome - but they did eat some. My husband even added Parmesan cheese which added a nice taste as well. I needed to add a little more salt to mine - but overall this was a very filling and tasty soup.

One of my most favorite meals...

I like this meal because it is SO EASY!! Hehe - this is what I like to call a cheater meal.

1 Rotisserie Chicken from Costco (biggest and cheapest place to find these)
Rice pilaf mix by Uncle Ben's
Frozen green beans

Make your rice, cook your beans and enjoy!! It can't get any easier than that.

The Verdict: Never get any complaints about this meal except from the hubby who is not a great fan of chicken with bones - oh well, he still eats!! I think us working moms deserve a break from the kitchen every now and than!!