Sunday, January 29, 2017

January 22-28, 2017

Sunday:  Chad's Gumbo

  Chad made gumbo a couple of months ago, and we had a few bags frozen in the freezer.  This was a perfect day thaw one out and warm it up for dinner.  We served it with brown rice.


Monday:  Dinner with Family

  The kids and I drove over to stay at my brother's house for the night, so we had dinner with family!


Tuesday:  Whole Grain Pasta with Homemade Marinara & Turkey Meatballs

  We returned home that afternoon, and I wasn't in the mood to make a huge meal.  Towards the end of the month, and also on tiring nights, I love that we have a few yummies stored away in our freezer.  I had a bag of homemade marinara that I thawed a bit and warmed on the stove...I also added in some chopped up turkey meatballs that were also frozen from a previous meal.  :-)  After boiling some whole grain pasta and roasting some green beans, our meal was done!  I also made some whole wheat garlic toast.


Wednesday:  Mini Turkey Meatloaf "Muffins" with Roasted Broccoli & Carrots



  I made my tried and true turkey meatloaf recipe, but this time I baked it in my muffin tin.  I topped the kids' portions with ketchup and for Chad and me, I used BBQ sauce.  Simple, healthy, and done in no time!


Thursday:  RANGER'S 8th BIRTHDAY!!!

  We spent the day celebrating our Ranger Lee on his 8th birthday.  His dinner of choice...Mooyah!


Friday:  Grilled Venison Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Sauteed Spinach

(Chad's plate always has more food than mine, so it looks much more appetizing!)


  We had eaten out every meal the day before, so I asked Chad to grill instead of ordering pizza like we typically do on Friday night.  He was in the zone working on an outside project, so I actually made the kids some chicken nuggets and served them alongside some roasted sweet potatoes and fresh veggies.  Once Chad finished his project, he grilled our steaks and I quickly sauteed some spinach and topped it with some fresh parmesan cheese.  Everyone was really happy with this meal!


Saturday:  Tortilla Crusted Tilapia over Spinach Salad


  Chad had a work dinner, so I made a simple salad for me using tilapia from Costco.  I had one sick kid who didn't want to eat, and the others had sandwiches with fresh fruit.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

January 15-21, 2017

Sunday:  Hot Dogs & The Cowboys Game  :-(


Monday:  Burgers & Salads
  Chad was still in Cuba, but he was on a plane on his way home!!


Tuesday:  One Pot Spaghetti with Roasted Broccoli



One Pot Spaghetti
  Chad had been eating mostly rice, beans, and pork during his Cuba trip, so I planned our meals this week to be full of filling proteins, carbs, and veggies.  This spaghetti is so, so good, and it's also incredibly easy to prepare and clean since you are only using one pot! I made ours with ground venison thawed from the freezer.


Wednesday:  Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken with Roasted Carrots & Spinach Salad



Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken
  This is a family favorite, and there are never any complaints when I've made it.  The homemade honey mustard is great on everything!!  Six Sisters Stuff is a WONDERFUL blog for recipes, by the way!


Thursday:  Grilled Venison Steak with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Green Beans



  Chad wanted to grill venison, so I happily agreed!


Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night



The kids had pizza with fresh fruit and veggies as sides, and I made a salad with some of the leftover chicken, sweet potatoes, and green beans in the fridge.


Saturday:  Clean Out the Fridge Night  :-)

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

January 8-14, 2017

Sunday:  Dinner at Friends' House


Monday:  Grilled Duck, Cheesy Cauliflower "Bread," & Salad



  Chad wanted to grill duck for dinner, and I am always happy any night he wants to grill.  For our sides, I made Cheesy Cauliflower "Bread" from this recipe I had seen on Facebook, via Real Housemoms.  Now, no one would actually be fooled that this was truly bread, but Chad and I really enjoyed it!  We have a few ways we love eating cauliflower, so it's nice to add a new one to the rotation.  As for the kids, Callen loved it and gobbled it down, Ranger tolerated it and ate what was on his plate, and Payton ate the 4 bites I required of her.  :-)  I ate the leftovers for lunch a few days later (after warming in my toaster oven), and it was still quite tasty!


Tuesday:  Duck Quesadillas with Fruit

  Keeping Tortilla Land tortillas on hand makes dinner with leftovers a snap!  You can make as many tortillas as you need in only a few minutes!


Wednesday:  Tamales & Salad

  This evening marked the first of 6 nights with Chad being gone on a mission trip to Cuba.  So, it was a perfect night to pull some frozen tamales out of the freezer (leftover from Christmas Eve) and serve them with a simple salad.


Thursday:  Dinner Out

  Callen and I had dinner with Mom while Payton stayed with Grammy & DadDad, and Ranger ate at a birthday party.


Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night!


Saturday:  Leftovers

Sunday, January 8, 2017

January 1-7, 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope your Christmas was filled with family, love, and many blessings!  We had a wonderful Christmas, and our time together was just what we needed.  Over the holiday season, our family grew by 5 chickens and 1 dog!  The kids are thrilled.  The dog I'm already in love with, and once the chickens start providing eggs for us, I'm sure my appreciation will grow.  :-)

We have been home more this last week, so I'm happy to say I've been cooking regular meals again!


Sunday:  Grilled Quail with Black Eyed Peas & Spinach Salad

  Chad grilled some quail that we were given from his dad, and I had some black eyed peas going in the crock pot all morning while we were at church.  Good luck for everyone on January 1st!


Monday:  Dinner at Mom's


Tuesday:  BBQ Sausage, Macaroni & Cheese, Rice, & Roasted Broccoli



  I browned some nitrate-free beef sausage in a skillet with a little BBQ sauce, which is always a kid-favorite around here.  For sides, we had macaroni & cheese, rice, & roasted broccoli.  (I snagged this picture as Chad was starting to eat...he plates always look better than mine because he fills them up!)


Wednesday:  Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Marinara & Zoodles



  I love the crockpot marinara from Skinny Taste, and I made a double recipe so we could have some for dinner and so I could freeze some for future meals.  It's so simple, and you can customize the spices and herbs to your liking!  Then I lightly breaded some chicken breasts with bread crumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and shredded parmesan cheese and browned and cooked them in the skillet.  Callen took care of spiraling the zucchini to make the zoodles for us, and I did a quick saute with a little olive oil, salt & pepper.  This dinner was full of flavor, healthy, and, while it used several pots, its actually quite simple.  :-)


Thursday:  Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Kale Salad

  I made the meatballs with ground turkey, parmesan, salt, pepper, Italian herbs, and an egg.  I baked them (loosely covered with foil) at 400 for about 40 minutes.  Then we all chose whatever sauce from the fridge we wanted on top of them.  These are also great to make more than you need and have as leftovers and also have for your freezer.  They go well in any sauce, diced up for tacos or quesadillas, or in a soup!


Friday:  Date Night with Family!


Saturday:  Chili & Cornbread

  We hosted all of Chad's family over here for the day, and with all of the cold temperatures we've been having, chili was the perfect meal!  Chad did all the work and made his yummy venison chili!