Dinners 10/20 - 10/31

SATURDAY: Cobb Salads

You can't tell, but there really was lettuce underneath my cobb salad toppings! In addition to the romaine lettuce, I included rotisserie chicken, cucumbers, croutons, tomatoes, feta cheese, bacon, and boiled eggs. I think the glass contained a half of a margarita that Adam made for me.

SUNDAY: Sausage and Peppers with Whole Wheat Penne, Steamed Veggies

I tried this new recipe for sausage and pepper pasta and it was delicious! I think what made it extra tasty was the homemade sauce, which included tomato sauce, tomato pasta, Italian seasonings, and red wine. I steamed broccoli and cauliflower to go with it.

 MONDAY: Baked Beef & Bean Chimichangas, Salad

 These chimichangas were good, but not fantastic. I had high hopes for them.....beef, beans, taco seasoning, and homemade enchilada sauce. I even thought Ryan might like them since the beans were mashed up and not very noticeable. Unfortunately they just weren't a big hit. I made a side salad of the usual lettuce, cucumber, and tomato.

TUESDAY: Fish Sticks, Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts

 I tried out these new fish sticks I found at the store for an easy fish dinner. Can you believe Adam was grumbling about this meal? Because I made fish sticks? I think my family is spoiled with my cooking!! I mean, the mashed potatoes were HOMEMADE. And even though nobody else likes brussels sprouts, I thought they were fantastic roasted and topped with parmesan. Oh well, can't win them all.

WEDNESDAY: Cheese Tortelloni, Chicken, and Pesto Veggies

This was a yummy one-pot meal filled with diced chicken, cheese tortelloni (Costco), Asparagus, and Cherry Tomatoes, all mixed together with pesto. I thought it was full of great flavor.

THURSDAY: Burgers, Potato Wedges, Carrots and Dip, Pickle

I normally buy whole wheat burger buns, but these brioche rolls were calling to me at the store, so I splurged a little on them. They were fantastic with the burgers! On the side I roasted some potato wedges. I also made a quick homemade ranch dressing to dip the carrots in, and added a pickle.

FRIDAY: Dinner out at Chipotle. I got a veggie burrito bowl. Mama needed a break!

SATURDAY: BBQ Shredded Chicken Sandwiches, Cheese Tortelloni, Steamed Veggies

This was kind of a use-up-leftovers night. We still had a couple brioche rolls, so I cooked some chicken breast in the crockpot with BBQ sauce and made little sandwiches out of it. (I wasn't super hungry so I only had about 1/3 of a sandwich. On the side we finished off the cheese tortelloni and some freshly steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

SUNDAY: Taco Casserole, Chips and Guacamole, Apple Pie

This is the taco casserole that was brought to me by a friend after I had baby Ryan, and I've been making it and giving away to other families ever since. It's simply layers of corn tortillas, cheese, and a ground beef/rotel/taco seasoning mixture. Very hearty and delicious! On the side we just had chips and guacamole. I tried not to stuff myself, because we had homemade apple pie and ice cream for dessert! My Mops table got together to make pies last week but I had to miss due to a sick child. My sweet friends brought me a pie anyways, and it was so good!

MONDAY: Thai Chicken Stir-Fry, Brown Rice, Edamame

 Jenna keeps asking me to make her "those green things that pop out of the green thing". I finally figured out she meant edamame, so I planned an Asian dinner. Jenna went to town on the edamame, and must have eaten 20 pods! I tried out this recipe for a Thai stir-fry, and added chicken breast for protein. I cleaned out the veggie drawer and included cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, and fresh basil from my garden. The sauce was pretty light and mild. I served it with brown rice.

TUESDAY: Flemish Beef and Beer Stew over Egg Noodles

I was bringing dinner to a friend on this night, so I made a big batch of this stew. It's a bit different than my usual meat, potato and carrot beef stew. This recipe uses brown ale, and lots of meat and onions, as well as bacon for flavoring. It's definitely a different flavor but I really love it. We ate it over whole wheat egg noodles with parsley sprinkled on top. This recipe seems to be almost the same one.

 WEDNESDAY: Meatball Mummies, Pizza Sauce, Salad

I planned on making chili on Halloween, but changed my mind that morning to just make something simple yet festive. I saw this idea on the internet for wrapping meatballs in pizza dough, and then including little eyeballs to make a mummy. Well, I did my first ever Grocery pickup at Walmart that day and added candy eyeballs to my list. They ended up being out of them, so they subbed orange sprinkles! Not quite the same. So my mummies had no eyeballs. I served them with pizza sauce and a simple salad. It included romaine, kale, arugula, basil, parsley, and mint all from my backyard! Topped with cucumbers and tomatoes.

Whew, that's a lot of cooking! For next week I plan on doing something a little different with my menu and meal prep. Stay tuned for that!