July 5-11, 2015

Sunday:  Hot Dogs at the Texas Rangers Game!

Monday:  Chicken Sausage & Cheese Crescents with Steamed Broccoli & Brown Sugar Carrots

Chicken Sausage & Cheese Crescents

The kids and I had been gone for over a week, so our grocery stock was pretty low.  But, wrapping chicken sausages and cheese in a crescent roll made for an easy, tasty dinner.  I steamed some frozen broccoli and made some brown sugar baby carrots to go along with it.

Brown Sugar Carrots

Put baby carrots in a sauce pan and pour in about ½ cup to 1 cup water.  Cover and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  After the carrots are fork tender, most of the liquid should be absorbed.  Add in some butter and brown sugar (just eyeball it based on how sweet you want them…it doesn’t take much), stir it around, and warm over the stove for 4-5 more minutes.  Some of the carrots will start turning a yummy golden color. 

Tuesday:  Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Bacon, Roasted Green Beans, & Roasted Sweet Potato Chips

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Bacon

If it’s a recipe with cheese and bacon, I’m game.  This one looked both delicious and easy, and it didn’t disappoint on either front!  I actually used some turkey cutlets we had in the freezer from the turkey Chad shot back in the spring.  These were so, so yummy!  My turkey cutlets were a little thinner and had almost no fat, so I should have cooked them just a little less than the recipe required.  So, just want the thickness of your chicken so you don’t overcook your dinner!  In the comments, several people had just baked them, rather than frying them first, which is a great idea if you are cutting back on a little fat from the oil or if you just don’t want to stand over a hot stove on a hot summer day.  J  (I added some Panko bread crumbs to my breading.)

We all really enjoyed this recipe, and I will absolutely make them again with chicken, turkey, and maybe even pork.

Roasted Green Beans and Sweet Potato Chips

I keep a big bag of frozen green beans from Costco in the freezer for an easy side dish.  I tossed them on a foil-lined baking sheet with olive oil and season salt.  On the other half of the baking sheet, I spread out thin-sliced sweet potatoes (I had peeled them as well), and drizzled olive oil and sprinkled season salt on them as well.  Normally I roast at 400-425 degrees, but the chicken recipe called for a 350 degree oven.  So, I roasted the green beans and sweet potatoes for 15 minutes, then I tossed them around.  I roasted them for another 10 minutes or so.  When I pulled the main dish out of the oven, I turned the oven to broil and broiled the vegetables for 3-4 minutes to crisp them up a bit more.  They were just right!  The kids especially loved the sweet potato chips!  (They aren’t quite as crispy as actual chips, but they are still delish!)

Wednesday:  Swedish Meatballs with Boiled & Buttered Potatoes & Roasted Broccoli

Swedish Meatballs

Ranger loves Ikea’s meatballs, so when I can make them at home, I know he will be a happy camper.  I saw this recipe for them, and generally love the recipes she makes and posts on her blog, so I made them for dinner.  I made a huge batch of them so that we could have leftovers the following night, and also a few for the freezer.  These were a little more time consuming that some of the meatballs I’ve made since she browns them in batches in a skillet.  They were wonderful, though!  I love that everything was from scratch rather than a packet of some kind.  Still, the recipe where they are baked first, and then put into the gravy is nice too.  I think I may try a combination of the two recipes for the next time.  J

Thursday:  Leftover Meatballs, Potatoes, and Salad

Friday:  Date Night #1!

Our kids were with my mom for the weekend…yay for date night!

Saturday:  Date Night #2!

2 date nights in a row!!  Crazy!