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.

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  :-)

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

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!

December 4-11, 2016

Happy December!  Here is last week's menu.  It will likely be the last one of the year, unless a yummy recipe or two pop up that I want to share on here.  Between Christmas parties and family activities, our nights of regularly eating at home are fewer.  

We wish a wonderful Christmas to your family, and a very Happy New Year! 


** The kids and I had a funny discussion about different themed-dinner nights, so this week's menu was inspired by our conversation.  It's also really funny how, by Tuesday night, we were already off schedule and modifying!

Sunday:  Quick Cauliflower Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Quick Cauliflower Soup
  This recipe is from a new cookbook I bought for myself called 100 Days of Real Food:  Fast and Fabulous.  My friend Sharon made this recipe and recommended it, so I was excited to try it!

It was both fast and easy, and Chad and I truly enjoyed it.  The kids had eaten dinner a little earlier, so I was saved the groaning and moaning that their dinner included soup.  ;-)  There was  just enough leftover for me to have for lunch the next day.  I even sprinkled on a little freshly-grated parmesan...yum!  As cauliflower doesn't have as much protein as Chad and I require for a typical meal, I also made some grilled cheese sandwiches for us.  It was the perfect cold weather meal!


Monday:  Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Green Beans

  Sometimes you need a healthy meal, but don't have time to make it from scratch.  I had some turkey meatballs I purchased at the grocery store in my freezer.  I baked them with a little BBQ sauce while roasting sweet potatoes and green beans in the oven at the same time.  This meal was a hit with everyone in my family, and I liked how easy it was for me on a busy day.


Tuesday:  Dinner with Small Group


Wednesday:  Ground Turkey Tacos with Sauteed Zucchini

  Another simple, crowd-pleaser!  My mom, the kids, and I ate our zucchini as a side, but Chad just piled everything together in his tacos.


Thursday:  Egg, Sausage, & Cheese Breakfast Croissants with Fresh Fruit & Veggies

  Because, if you roll it in a crescent, it's delicious and there's almost NO mess!


Friday:  Dinner Out with Neighbors


Saturday:  Family Pizza & Movie Night


Sunday:  Chad's Gumbo

  Chad makes a DELISH gumbo!!

Chad’s Conglomerate Gumbo

Total Time:3 hours
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 2 hr 45 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
4 duck breasts, spoonbills a good option

1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 cup smoked turkey/chicken

Salt and pepper

Tony Chacheres

3 bay leaves
1/2 cup peanut oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 cups broth/stock
2 cups water (fill broth bag after emptying)
1 bag frozen sliced okra
4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts

Directions

Prep by chopping onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic (trinity) and set aside in a bowl.  Cut sausage into ¼ slices and set aside with duck breasts and shredded turkey/chicken.

Add small amount of oil to hot dutch oven type pot and sear the duck and sausage together for about 6-8 minutes.  Remove meat, set aside in a bowl, and proceed to roux.  To make roux, add the ½ cup oil to pot and let get hot over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle the flour over the oil, add 2 tablespoons of butter and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until rich brown, about 20-30 minutes.  Be patient, whisk constantly, and do not let burn.  If you don’t have time for this step, buy a jar of ready-made roux.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter, along with the trinity mixture and cook for 10 minutes, stirring with wooden spoon until mixture well coated and onions start to wilt. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, Tony Chach to taste. Add 4 cups broth, 2 cups water, and bay leaves while whisking constantly. Add the chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour. Add okra. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until ready to serve.  Serve over steamed rice, top with green onions, and taste before adding hot sauce to preference.

November 20-26, 2016

  I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Between family time, Thanksgiving day, and a couple of date nights, we only ate at home 3 nights this past week.  One night we grilled with friends, one night was chili and cornbread, and one night was hot dogs and s'mores with neighbors.  :-)  So, I've just listed the chili recipe below.

  The kids and I are headed out on a road trip to visit some dear Georgia friends this week, so there won't be a menu for next week!


Turkey Chili
  This is based on a chili recipe from my sweet mother-in-law that I have in a church cookbook I bought a decade ago.  It's referred to as Prestoncrest Chili.  It's pretty much my go-to chili recipe that I can alter however I like and have simmering on the stove top or in a slow cooker in no time.

3 lbs lean ground beef, chicken, turkey, or venison
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 T salt
1 T cumin powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 T paprika
3 T chili powder
1 (15-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (32-oz) can chopped tomatoes
2 (15-oz) cans beans (Ranch style, black, pinto)

Brown meat and onions.  Add all other ingredients and simmer together.  Serves 12.

*  I tend to alter this recipe based on what I have on hand, and often I make a half-recipe if it's only for my family.  This freezes really well, so making a full recipe is nice too!  I've also added a tablespoon or two of brown sugar at times and knocked down the spiciness with smaller amounts of chili powder since my kids won't eat super spicy foods.  The kids love eating their chili in the scoop-type tortilla chips with shredded cheese.  I love mine with cornbread muffins, sour cream, and shredded cheese.  Yum!

November 13-19, 2016

Sunday:  Baked & Breaded Chicken Tenders with Quinoa & Fresh Veggies

  The Cowboys were playing, and we decided to start decorating for Christmas.  So, I made a simple dinner of baked chicken tenders accompanied with quinoa & kale (frozen packet from Costco...4 minutes in the microwave!) and fresh veggies.


Monday:  Dinner with Nonnie
  The kids and I had dinner at my mom's while they "helped" her decorate her Christmas tree!  Chad was out of town for work, so he missed out on all the fun.


Tuesday:  Dinner with Small Group


Wednesday:  Breaded "Fried" Ravioli (Me) & Baked Turkey & Cheese Sliders (Kids)
  Chad was flying home from a business trip, so I made an easy dinner for the kids of baked turkey and cheese sliders using rolls leftover from Payton's preschool Thanksgiving Feast earlier that day.

 There wouldn't have been quite enough for all 4 of us, so for myself, I heated a little olive oil in a pan on the stove and added in a few chicken raviolis tossed in a small amount of Italian bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  I "fried" them lightly on both sides and served them with marinara sauce.

(Do you love our fancy turkey paper plates?) ;-)

Thursday:  Black Bean, Smoked Turkey, & Sweet Potato Tacos

(Chad always makes his dinner plates look so much fancier than mine...)

  We have some smoked turkey in our freezer that needs to be eaten before we receive another smoked turkey this year.  :-)  So, I thawed some during the day.  For dinner, I diced up a sweet potato and sauteed it in a little olive oil with a few sprinkles of season salt.  Once the potatoes were browned and soft, I added in the smoked turkey and a can of drained and rinsed black beans.  Then I simply let it all heat together!  I had some freshly made tortillas from Kroger, so we had our "hash" as tacos and burritos.  This was a seriously yummy meal that was packed full of flavor.  I could see us repeating this with leftover Thanksgiving turkey next week!

Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night!

Saturday:  Hot Dogs

  I was out of town on a girls weekend, so the kids had a fun weekend with Chad...word on the street is that hot dogs were grilled for Saturday night's dinner.  :-)