What's For Dinner This Month?

This month I chose too many complicated meals with too many ingredients.   I really should have taken a picture of the results of the day.  It was impressive. I was an extra long cooking day and I was exhausted. (It has been a long month anyway so that's nothing new.)  The major upside is that the meals will probably be better and I will be happier with them all month.  Never make too many different packs of chicken in just a sauce.  It makes for a long month.  I'm still in love with freezer meals.  My family (especially Two Fish) are as well because it means a month of happy dinners.  This month I ended up with 23 meals.  Yay.

The repeats that are loved-
Taquitos-  cream cheese, green salsa, lime, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cilantro, green onions, chicken, pepperjack cheese, corn tortillas, kosher salt

Baked Chicken Alfredo - This pasta (Lee Lee's was made with Quinoa pasta to make it gluten free) -http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/02/baked-chicken-penne-freezer-meal/ With this alfredo sauce http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/08/guiltless-alfredo-sauce/
 
Taco Soup- 1 lb ground beef, 1 medium onion, 1 Pk Taco Seasoning, 1 16 oz can corn, 1 16 oz can black beans (drained), 1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes, 1 14oz can diced green chilis, 1 8 oz can tomato sauce/paste- Bown meat and onion, drain - stir in taco seasoing, corn, black bean, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and green chilis.
Add tortilla chips and other taco topping (cheese, sour cream, avacado)

BBQ Chicken Salad- BBQ Sauce INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar, packed, 1-1/4 cups Ketchup, 1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar, 1/2 cup Water, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, 2-1/2 teaspoons Ground Mustard, 2 teaspoons Paprika, 1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Black Pepper, DIRECTIONS: Measure and add all ingredients to a large bowl and whisk well until the sugar has dissolved and the spices are thoroughly distributed. Add to chicken.  Freeze.  Cook chicken in crockpot in crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. Shred. For BBQ chicken salad:lettuce, corn, avocado, mozzarella cheese, tortilla strips, diced tomatoes, black beans and add a little of BBQ sauce to ranch for the dressing!

Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli- Ingredients, 1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips, 1 cup beef broth, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 3 garlic cloves, minced, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons sauce from the crock pot after being cooked, Fresh broccoli florets (as many as desired)- Directions 1. Place beef in a crock pot.
2. In a small bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, and garlic. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 3. In a cup, stir cornstarch and sauce form the crock pot until smooth. Add to crock pot. Stir well to combine. 4. Add broccoli to the crock pot. Stir to combine. 5. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken). 6. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Beef & Broccoli Calzone- (We made two batches of this.) 1 lb. cooked ground beef, Frozen bread dough, 10 oz. frozen broccoli, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, onion, 3.4 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp. salt.  Wrap in bread dough.  Thaw and bake.

Lemon Garlic Chicken- salt, pepper, garlic powder, a lemon, chicken

White Bean Chilli-(2 dinners worth for my family)  1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 medium onion, diced 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 2 cups cooked shredded chicken, (32 oz) chicken broth, 2 cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed.  Salt (to taste), 1 can corn, drained, Pepper (to taste), 1 can (4 oz) green chilies, 1 lime, juice

Fajitas- Leave chicken raw for freezing, McCormick Fajita Packet, sliced bell peppers and onion.  Thaw and cook in pan and put in tortillas.

Hawaiian Haystacks-  2 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 cup broth, 12 oz. evaporated milk, 10-12 Chicken tenders chunked.  Crock pot for 6-8 hours on low.  Serve over rice with the following topping options:  onion, celery, carrots, olives, pineapples, cheese, almonds, tomatoes, chow mein noodles, cheese, coconut, green peppers.
 
 New Things we are trying this month-
Tin Foil Dinners- 2-4 hamburger patties, White or red online, Carrots, Potatoes, Salt and pepper

Southwestern Chicken Roll-Ups- 6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, 6 tablespoons (about 3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, 6 tablespoons picante sauce, 6 cilantro sprigs, 6 tablespoons Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs, pound each chicken breast half to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Top each breast half with 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 tablespoon picante sauce, and 1 cilantro sprig. Roll up chicken beginning at narrow end.  Roll chicken in breadcrumbs. Place rolls, seam sides down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

Chicken Parmesan- 4 chicken breasts, ½ C dried breadcrumbs, 1 C shredded parmesan cheese, I Tbl oregano, 1 egg, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 2 tbl olive oil, ¾ C shredded mozzarella cheese, ½ C marinara sauce- In one bowl combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and oregano. In another bowl, lightly beat egg and salt. Brush both side of chicken with egg then lightly coat with crumb mixture. Cook chicken in skillet - 3 min each side. Add marinara sauce.

Honey Garlic Pork Chops - Ingredients: 1/8 cup honey, 1 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tsp  minced garlic, 2 pork loin chops, boneless, trimmed of excess fat- In a shallow dish, whisk together honey, soy sauce and garlic. Coat chops in mixture. Reserve left over honey mixture for basting. Place chops on greased grill over med high heat, close lid and cook.

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin- Ingredients: 1 (2 pound) boneless pork tenderloin (or regular pork loin), 1 teaspoon ground sage, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup water, Glaze- 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce- Directions: Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

Lasagna Roll Ups- Lasagna noodles (6 per family), Spaghetti sauce, 1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese, 1 large egg, 1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley (aka Italian Parsley, its about 1 small handful), chopped, 2 1/4 cups freshly grated Mozzarella Cheese, divided, 3/4 cup freshly, finely grated Parmesan Cheese, divided, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper- Once noodles are cooked, drain and immediately line noodles in a single layer on waxed paper or cookie sheets.  Prepare cheese mixture (I do this while pasta is cooking) by stirring together Ricotta cheese, egg, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper with a fork in a large mixing bowl until well combine.  Stir in chopped fresh parsley.  Add in 1 3/4 cups grated Mozzarella Cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese and 1/3 cup Romano Cheese, stir mixture until well combine. Stir meat sauce and spread 1/3 cup evenly into a 13x9 inch baking dish by tilting pan back and forth.  Spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture evenly onto each cooked lasagna noodle, then spread 1 heaping tablespoon meat sauce along the top of cheese covered noodle.  Roll noodles up jellyroll style and arrange seam side down in baking dish Place rolled noodles in baking dish and cover with remaining meat sauce (about a heaping 1/8 cup over each) then sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese evenly over roll ups.  Tent lasagna roll ups with foil (don't allow foil to rest on cheese or it will stick you just want to loosely tent to prevent the cheese from browning) and bake in preheated oven. 30 min if thaw and 60 min if frozen.

Red Stew- Stew meat,2 potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 can cream of mushroom, 1 can tomato soup, ½ pkg onion soup mix, 1 can of water- cube beef into bite sized pieces. Place in crockpot. Peel and cube potatoes and carrots. Place veggies on top of meat. Add soup and water. Cook 8hrs on high. Stir and serve.

Breakfast Burritos- Eggs, Sausage, Cheese, Salsa, Tortillas 

Boneless crockpot ribs- onion, ketchup, brown sugar, water, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce. 

Applesauce pork chops- sage, applesauce, simply apple juice, garlic salt, pepper. 

 Garlic Pork Roast- Garlic cloves, pepper, garlic salt and roast. It's heavenly. We like it plain or we make taquitos with a white cheese (mozzarella) avocado, lime, tomato or fresh salsa.