Dinners 10/6-10/15

Another week of dinners from the Nullmeyer house! What have you been cooking lately?

Saturday: Salsa Chicken Nachos

This was our "family movie night", where we watch a movie and eat a more "fun" dinner. I cooked salsa chicken in the crockpot all day. My nachos contained a whole ton of ingredients and they were delicious. From what I remember, they had chips, salsa chicken, cheese, avocado, salsa, cilantro, black beans, green onions, and sliced pepperoncinis.

Sunday: Stuffed Peppers, Salad

I made traditional stuffed peppers, stuffed with ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, and a variety of spices. On the side I made a salad of mixed green, cucumbers, and radishes.

 Monday: Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Broccoli, Garlic Bread, Chocolate Eclairs

On this night we had Grandma Jan over to celebrate her birthday. I made traditional chicken parmesan, which I have never made before in my life. I always make a more shortcut version that is  topped with croutons and baked in the oven. This real version was so tasty! On the side we had some pasta, steamed broccoli, and Adam made a delicious pull-apart garlic bread. I also made homemade chocolate eclairs but they didn't quite turn out as well as the last time I made them.

Tuesday: Portuguese Beans With Rice, Salad

I had some dried beans I wanted to use, so I found this recipe for Portuguese Beans With Rice. I couldn't find the chorizo, so I did a total white girl thing and used a hot dog instead. Obviously it wasn't truly authentic, but I thought the flavor was great. Adam especially loved it, and it was even better the next day! I topped both the beans/rice and my salad with some homegrown herbs.

Wednesday: Mississippi Pot Roast With Carrots, Mashed Potatoes

Mississippi Pot Roast is a recipe that's all over Pinterest. And rightfully so.....it's very tasty! It's basically a chuck roast, butter, pepperoncinis, and dry ranch dressing mix (I made my own). Towards the end of the cooking time I added some baby carrots to the crockpot. On the side I made mashed potatoes. This was lick-your-plate delicious!

Thursday: We were at the boys' school festival, so I ate a small cheeseburger for dinner.

Friday: Kalua Chicken, Hawaiian Rolls, Popcorn, Slaw

I have made Kalua Pork before, so I decided to try it using chicken breast instead. It wasn't as good! Kalua pork is made using just pork roast, salt, and liquid smoke. And it's SO good. This chicken version lacked flavor and seemed a little dry. I made homemade Hawaiian rolls and we assembled little sliders using the chicken and some BBQ sauce for added flavor. On the side I made a quick slaw using a bag of coleslaw mix and a simple dressing made from apple cider vinegar, honey, mustard, and olive oil. The kids were watching their weekend movie, so Adam made popcorn. He added garlic and parmesan to the popcorn and it was so yummy! (We used the leftover shredded chicken all weekend for various lunch dishes, so it didn't go to waste.)

Saturday: Date Night at Loomis Basin Brewery!

Sunday: Minestrone Soup

I am leading a MOPS table this year at our church. I wanted to gift them something thoughtful, yet useful. So I made each of my mamas a "soup in a jar" mix. But first I wanted to test it out to make sure the recipe was good, so I made the minestrone soup for us. Adam semi-grumbled about being a guinea pig, but he loved the soup! This is the recipe I used:
http://www.prepaheadanddinein.com/2010/11/organic-minestrone-soup-jars-gift-of_15.html

Monday: Ground Beef Pizza, Salad

I made homemade pizza dough earlier in the day using a "secret" recipe I got a couple years ago from a pizza-making class I attended. I made one pizza topped with ground beef, and a smaller caprese pizza for myself. Mine had fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, and basil. On the side I had a simple salad of romaine and cucumber. While we ate dinner we participated in an OHM Hour, so we ate our pizza in the semi-dark and played telephone at the table. It was perfect.