April 7, 2010

What's For Dinner??!!

If you're like me, you probably constantly struggle with what to fix for dinner!  I get so tired of having the same things over and over!  I'm not passionate about cooking but I do enjoy it :)  I always grew up w/ my mom cooking wonderful meals that we would enjoy together as a family around the dinner table.  I think that is SO important!  It was a time we were able to sit as a family and share about our day.  To laugh and talk together. And I always remember my grandma Devero being a wonderful cook!  She made a chocolate pie to die for!!!  Both sets of my grandparents had gardens which I thought was awesome growing up!  I hope to do that one day, even if it's just a small garden of carrots and tomatoes!  How fun :) 

Anyway...  when I was preggo with my first I became a stay at home mom a month before I had her.  During that time I watched the Food Network constantly!!  It inspired me to be a better cook and put together better meals.  At that time I bought a three-ring binder w/ clear sleeves.  Before a recipe made it in the binder it had to be tried out first.  If we didn't like it, the recipe didn't make the binder...it went in the trash!  No need to keep recipes around that you'll never use again!  I keep in it recipes I've torn out from magazines, copied from friends, hand-written on a napkin, or copied from a recipe book.  I go through the binder every once in awhile and if I haven't made a recipe in over a year I'll just go ahead and throw it out.

My friends and I are going to have a recipe exchange next week (I'm SO excited to get new recipes!!!)  We're each bringing copies of 5 of our favorite recipes and bringing one of the recipes to eat!  Usually the best recipes are those that come from friends and family.

If you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share please leave it in the comments!  We could all use a new recipe!

Here are a couple of my favs....

My friend Amanda A. gave me this one last year and we have it all the time!!!
Turkey Pesto Sandwich
sourdough bread
turkey
provolone cheese
pesto
mayo

spread on a tablespoon of mayo and pesto on your bread.  Add the cheese and turkey and broil open faced for about 3 minutes. SO GOOD!!!

Greek Chicken
One of my favorite meals and so easy is to take chicken breasts and season them w/ Cavender's Greek Seasoning (grill or cook in skillet).  Serve w/ asparagus seasoned w/ salt and pepper baked @ 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. (On asparagus, grab at both ends and bend.  Where the natural break is is where you'll cut the ends off of the entire group.)  Another side is oven roasted red potatoes (I love red potatoes...baked or mashed!).  Pre heat oven to 450.  Quarter up to 2 lbs of potatoes. Put in ziploc bag.  Add a bag of dry onion soup mix and 1/3 cup of olive oil.  Shake, then put in a medium baking dish.  Bake 40 minutes.

Baked Lemon Pasta
This is one of our new favs!  I make this recipe by the Pioneer Woman HERE.  I also flour and salt/pepper some chicken breasts and cook them in the skillet to put them on top of the pasta. Soooo good.

If you haven't checked out Pioneer Woman's recipes, you should!!  She gives step by step instructions w/ pictures!!  You can find them HERE.  She also has a cookbook out that is excellent!!!
(I've also heard Trisha Yearwood has some fabulous down-home cookbooks.  HERE is a link to them on Amazon.)

Happy Eating!!!

3 comments:

  1. Hey, you forgot that you make a mean taco salad! ;)

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  2. I have the PW cookbook and have loved everything! Here's one of our favorite recipes (its healthy, versatile and makes great leftovers)...

    Ground turkey and beans:
    1 lb. ground turkey
    1 can red beans
    1 can black beans
    1 can corn
    1 can diced tomatoes
    1/2 green pepper
    1/2 red pepper
    1/2 onion
    olive or grapeseed oil
    2 cloves garlic, chopped

    Brown turkey with 1 Tbs. oil. Season with desired seasoning (salt/pepper, garlic salt) and 1 Tbs. garlic. In separate pan, saute peppers and onion, add the rest of the garlic. Drain and rinse beans and corn in strainer. Add tomatoes and add to pan with peppers and onions. Add browned meat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve alone, over tortillas chips topped shredded cheese or over rice.

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  3. Here is a simple, yet super yummy recipe!

    Chicken Roll-ups

    3 to 4 chicken breasts (or about 1 can of chicken, shredded)

    ➢ 2 cans crescent rolls
    ➢ 1 to 2 cans cream of chicken soup
    ➢ 1/2 to 1 can of chicken broth
>
    ➢ 3/4 cups green salsa (I probably used closer to a cup or cup and 1/4th)

    ➢ 1 to 2 cup shredded cheese, Mexican blend


    ➢ 
> Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9 x 13 pyrex dish with cooking spray. Separate crescent rools as perforated. 
Spread chicken pieces to cover each triangle of crescent dough. Roll the chicken up into the crescent rolls. Place chicken rolls in prepared pyrex and cook as directed on roll can. Mix soup, broth, and green salsa. Pour mixture over rolls when they are done cooking. Place in the oven for 10-15 min. at 375. Add cheese on top of each roll just before done or after removed from oven.
    ➢ (I vary the amounts depending how thick or how soupy I want the mixture. You can use more chicken if your family likes lots of “meat” in their meals.

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