February 12-18, 2017

Sunday:  Early Valentine's Date Night

  Chad and I went out for dinner for an early Valentine's Day date; my mom had the kids!


Monday:  Crockpot Turkey Tenderloin with Fresh Fruit & Veggies

  This was a busy day, and I knew the kids and I would be coming home just in time for a quick dinner with Chad before he left for a meeting at church.  I found a seasoned turkey tenderloin from Jenny O at Tom Thumb, and I stuck it in the crockpot around lunchtime and cooked it on low all day. When we arrived back home, dinner was ready in a snap!  I just sliced up the turkey and added some fruits and veggies already cut and washed and ready in the fridge.


Tuesday:  Heart Pasta with Turkey & Homemade Marinara

  I found some heart-shaped pasta at Aldi a few weeks ago, and I grabbed it for our family Valentine's Day dinner.  My mom also came over.  We had quite a bit of turkey left over from the night before, so I added that some some homemade marinara.  I also roasted some Brussels sprouts in a little olive oil, salt, & pepper at 425 for 20 minutes or so.  Once I pulled it out, I topped it with a mixture of 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar.  It's so, so yummy on roasted veggies....our Aunt Suzanne shared the recipe with us a few years ago, and we've loved it ever since!  I also made garlic toast using whole wheat bread from the pantry.  Happy Valentine's Day to us!


Wednesday:  Dinner Out

  February 15th is my Daddy's birthday, and while he's now celebrating every day in Heaven, we still get together with my mom to honor his birthday.  Palio's was the perfect spot!


Thursday:  Breakfast for Dinner

  Chad was traveling, so breakfast for dinner hit the spot for the kids and me.


Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night


Saturday:  Dinner Out with Daddy

  I was at a ladies retreat over the weekend, so the kids had fun with Daddy!

February 5-11, 2017

Better late than never!!

Sunday:  Grilled BBQ Chicken with Baked Sweet Potato Fries & Fresh Guacamole

  Our family had our own little Super Bowl party!


Monday:  Chicken, Rice, & Veggie Stir Fry

  We had leftover chicken from the night before, and also the Chili Lime Chicken from late last week.  So, I sauteed some sliced carrots and zucchini in a little olive oil and a tablespoon of butter.  Once those were brown, I added in the diced chicken from both leftover meals, and also the sauce from the Chili Lime Chicken.  I splashed in a bit of rice wine vinegar and soy sauce to add some Asian flavorings, and then I tossed it all together with brown rice and a few diced bell peppers.  It was a one-pan meal that was ready in no time, and as a bonus, it was truly delicious!


Tuesday:  Breakfast For Dinner

  Enjoying eggs from our chickens makes breakfast for dinner even more satisfying.  :-)


Wednesday:  Hot Dogs for the Kids, Taco Soup for Me

  Chad was on a work trip for a few days, so the kids enjoyed hot dogs while I ate taco soup my mom made.  Wednesdays are a little busy with a dance class for Payton and baseball practice for Callen, so quick meals are a MUST!


Thursday:  Dinner Out


Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night!

  Instead of ordering pizza out, I made cheese and pepperoni pizzas out of leftover hot dog buns for the kids, and I made a salad for myself.  Use what you have available!!!


Saturday:  Grilled Cheeses with Fresh Fruit & Veggies

January 29 - February 4, 2017

Sunday:  "10 Chicken" in Crockpot, Roasted Green Beans, & Brown Rice

  "10 Chicken" is a recipe from my cousin, Britney, and it is excellent on the grill or crockpot.  Typically, I buy a huge package of chicken and marinate it.  For the first meal I grill it, then I put the remainder of the marinated, raw chicken, I freeze. Then when I am in need of an easy meal, I pull the frozen chicken out and dump the whole frozen contents into my crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.  It is tender and delicious!  We used boneless, skinless thighs this time around.

"10 Chicken"

Chicken Breasts/Thighs
Italian Dressing
Soy Sauce
Garlic Powder

-I don't measure anything, so just use your judgement!  :-)  I pour it all in a bag and marinate a few hours, all day, overnight, or for weeks or months in the freezer!


Monday:  Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia with Steamed Broccoli & Roasted Veggie "Chips"

Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia
  I had some tilapia in the freezer, and I needed a quick meal, so I went to good ole' reliable Pinterest and found this simple recipe Shruti's Delectable Delights.  It was truly delicious!  I also sliced thin a huge sweet potato and drizzled it with a little olive oil and sprinkled some season salt.  I roasted these on a foil lined baking sheet for about 20-25 minutes, turning them over halfway through.  While the tilapia and sweet potato chips were in the oven, I steamed some broccoli.  This simple, healthy dinner was incredibly easy and also quite tasty.


Tuesday:  Breakfast for Dinner

  We enjoyed a breakfast of bacon and eggs...the eggs were the first ones from our very own chickens!!  I added a little sauteed spinach to mine, but they kids don't love that combo.  :-)


Wednesday:  Dinner Out

  The kids earned some free kids meals at Chipotle, and Chad left that morning for a business trip, so eating out was a treat for everyone!  Nonnie even met us for dinner!


Thursday:  Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

  We had plenty of chicken leftover from last night's dinner at Chipotle, so I made quesadillas for us.  Throwing leftovers into a tortilla is always a hit at our house.


Friday:  Pizza & Movie Night


Saturday:  Amber's Garlic Lime Chicken with Roasted Zucchini & Tomatoes, Rice, & Chips

Amber's Garlic Lime Chicken 
  This recipe is fast and full of flavor!  I keep the spice to a minimum for my kids, but you could make this a spicy as you like.

1 t salt

¾ t pepper

¼ t cayenne pepper

¼ t paprika

1 t garlic powder

½ t onion powder 

½ t thyme

Chicken breasts 

2 T butter

2T olive oil

4 T lime juice

½ cup chicken broth

Mix the first 7 ingredients. Pound out the chicken in a Ziploc bag until thin.  Sprinkle mixture on both sides of the chicken. Heat butter and olive oil over medium high heat. Cook chicken 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and add lime juice and chicken broth to pan.  Whisk the mixture around until it is reduced, mixing up the brown bits.  Pour over the chicken. Enjoy!

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!