Dinner This Week

I have been really slacking on trying new recipes and posting things on here, but here's my menu for the week in case anyone is needing inspiration. It's not super exciting, but at least I have it planned out more than 10 minutes before I need dinner on the table. For me lately, that's success.

Mon - Hot wing pizza
Tues - Grilled chicken salads
Wed - Hamburger soup
Thurs - Grilled pork chops and Parmesan potatoes
Fri - Porcupine meatballs (from the freezer)
Sat - Chicken enchiladas (from the freezer)

Also, I'm starting to get smarter about how I prepare meals. Like last night, instead of just making the chicken and hot wing sauce I needed I made 4 times as much chicken and twice as much sauce. I have another pizzas worth of chicken and sauce frozen and some more chicken breasts cooked, chopped and frozen. These little things are helping me get ahead more since I am not really getting any major freezer cooking done. I'm just trying to double or triple anything I am already making (quickly) that will freeze well.

Homemade Baking Mix

I saw this tonight on a blog I was reading and thought it looked interesting. She is posting some recipes for a freezer meal day to go with it later. You're supposed to use it in place of Bisquick. Might be handy in a pinch. You can see the post here.

• 10 cups flour (I used freshly-ground whole-wheat. Doreen suggested doing half white and half whole-wheat.)
• 8 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cup powdered milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar or turbinado
• 2 1/4 cup coconut oil or shortening

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening or cold coconut oil until you have fine crumbs. Store in a tightly covered container in a cool place (if you use freshly-ground flour, store in the freezer). Use in place of Bisquick.

Hot Bean Dip!

Hey there, I feel so special contributing a recipe to Dinner Tonight!! This is a recipe I originally found on Allrecipes. I needed something to feed my girls at lunch time other than mac n cheese and peanut butter! (ya know, the lunch rut=) ...Bonus that it is beans since meat doesn't go over too well in our house.

FYI, I usually half it and bake it in an 8x8 dish, and I rarely fix it as it is written. I will add either sour cream OR cream cheese- whichever one I have- and never the full amount called for! Thankfully it is always eaten... so I hope you enjoy!

Hot Bean Dip

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 C sour cream

2 16 oz cans refried beans

1/2 pkg taco seasoning

5 drops hot pepper sauce

2 T dried parsley

1/4 C green onions, chopped

1 8 oz pkg shredded cheddar cheese

1 8oz pkg shredded monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Blend cream cheese and sour cream. Mix in beans, taco seasoning, hot sauce, parsley, green onion and 1/2 of cheeses. Spread in a 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Bake 20-30 minutes, until cheese is slightly browned.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I got this recipe from Our Best Bites if you want to see their instructions with pretty pictures. :) These have been a big hit at my house. I've already made a second batch for my freezer.

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Freezer Egg and Hasbrown Casserole

8 eggs 4 cups of hashbrowns 12 oz can of evaporated milk 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese 1 tsp salt 1 cup diced onions 1/2 tsp pepper 1 1/2 cup cut up peppers 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 1 cup diced ham, sausage or bacon Mix together in 9x13 pan and freeze. (The cheese will clump if frozen, you may want to leave it out and add it when you thaw it before you cook it.) Thaw and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. I made ours without the onion and pepper and with sausage and it had plenty of flavor. I did add some onion flakes.

Breadsticks

I got this recipe from Our Best Bites and they are so yummy! This makes too many for one night for us. I think next time I'd do half on one pan with the parmesan and garlic salt and half on another pan with cinnamon and sugar on top for dessert. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

Directions:
In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.

Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then drape over your forefinger and twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it's okay if they're close; pulling apart hot bread is one of life's greatest pleasures!

Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes. When there's about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning or the powdery Parmesan cheese in a can and garlic salt. Or you could sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.

See how fat and happy they are rising? :)

Cream of Tomato Soup

I thought some of you might still have V-8 in your fridges from cooking night and with it being cold out, soup sounds good. I found this on Real Mom Kitchen. This isn't quite as tomatoey as soup out of a can, so my kids actually liked this better!

1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups V-8 or tomatoe juice
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2-3 cups of milk
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Then whisk in the flour until smooth.
2. Add the V-8 and stir until it thickens.
3. Next whisk in the baking soda followed with the 2 cups of milk, sugar. Cook until heated through. Taste the soup and add the other cup of milk if you would like it creamier. Divide into 4 bowls and serve.

Cream Cheese Chicken Soup

We had this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit at our house. Really quick to throw together too.

2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced (I used 1/2 of 1)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots (about 2 regular carrots or a handful of baby carrots)
3 cups chicken broth (I used 4)
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz. package) regular or light cream cheese
2-3 (about 1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent.

Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir often to ensure the soup doesn’t burn.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty, or let it set at room temperature for until soft. Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces. Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through then whisk or stir the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well.

Add the cooked chicken and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Tortilla Chicken Chili

1 tbs oil
1 lb chicken breast cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 pkg Chili Seasoning Mix
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney, white or pinto beans, undrained
 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 c water
1 1/2 c broken tortilla chips

Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 3-5 min or until chicken is no longer pink.

Stir in seasoning mix and remaining ingredients. bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 10 min, stirring occasionally. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream or chopped cilantro if desired.

Chocolate-Chip Coffee Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and soda. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Add the flour mixture and combine. Batter will be thick.
5. In a separate bowl, combine chocolate chips, 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
6. Spread half of the cake batter in prepared 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle half of the chocolate chip mixture over the batter. Repeat with the remaining batter, and then the remaining chocolate chip mixture.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.