Another great dish brought by another great neighbor as we are learning how to be parents of 3 under 2 years old! It’s easy for larger groups or for weeknight dinners. If you don’t like a lot of sauce check out the original recipe linked at the bottom of this post. If you’re like me and like a some sauce with your pasta then check out my adapted version written below. Thanks Jenn!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried ziti pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound sweet and or spicy Italian sausages, casing removed and crumbled
• 1/4 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• One jar tomato/spaghetti sauce
• Fresh basil (about 3-4 sprigs)
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, half sliced and half cubed
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain. (Meanwhile start sauce).
• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
• Add the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more.
• Add the basil and tomato sauce (about 1/2-3/4 jar depending on how saucy you want it)  and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
• Season with salt and paper
• Toss the cooked pasta with the tomato and sausage sauce, half the mozzarella cubed, and h1 Parmesan cheese.
• Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
• Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
• Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Original recipe available here.

I wish I had taken a picture of this so I could show you how truly awesome and tasty this meal really is. In the last week, since the birth of our newborn daughters, we have been blessed by so many friends and neighbors stopping by and bringing us meals. Food really is one of the best gifts for people post delivery. It really just helps tackle one of those necessary items on your never-ending to-do list that you need to do but don’t have a lot of time to really spend on. If it wasn’t for these amazing gifts of food we would probably eat cereal at every meal until we get past the newborn phase!

Here is a recipe for Baked Spaghetti brought to us by our neighbor Jenny. It really is wonderful! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large
skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the marinara  sauce and seasoned salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese and butter. Drain
spaghetti; add to egg mixture and toss to coat. Place half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Top with half of the cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

I’ve been doing pretty well sticking to our meal plan for the week. We’ve moved around some of the meals but no emergency pizza calls or cereal nights so that’s a plus! Tonight we tried this recipe for shrimp and grits.. It was so simple to make but has a flavorful and simple taste. It’s the perfect weeknight meal after a busy week when you want something different but don’t want to make an extravagant meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup instant grits
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

• Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, covered.
• Uncover and slowly whisk in the grits, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
• Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the parmesan and 1 tablespoon butter.
• Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

• Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and pepper.
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the shrimp, garlic and cayenne and cook, tossing, until the shrimp are pink, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons water, the lemon juice and parsley, stir to coat the shrimp with the sauce and season with salt and pepper.
• Divide the grits among shallow bowls and top with the shrimp and sauce. Serve.

Original recipe available here.

So I’ve really been slacking on making dinner lately. Thankfully my husband is amazing and has been saving us and our tummies these past few weeks and taking care of making meals for us. In an effort to try and get on top of things again here is my meal plan for the week for easy weeknight dinners… week 1. Here’s to hoping I can come up with an easy month of meals to make future planning a little easier.

• Sunday: Food Trucks after church
• Monday: Filet steaks on the grill and roasted Brussel sprouts
• Tuesday: Fish tacos with salmon and Mexican corn.  (I’ll have to write a post with the recipe for both of these that night)
• Wednesday: Ranch chicken club roll-ups
• Thursday: Homemade pizza
• Friday: Date night- Dinner out!
• Saturday: Shrimp and grits

So full recipes and results on how well we stuck with this plan to come!

Last night I made dinner for one of our friends and neighbors who recently had their fourth child. It’s crazy to think we moved into our new home and neighborhood just two years ago, right around the time they had their third child. Man, how time flies!

My typical go-to meal when bringing dinner to another family is Sicilian Meatloaf, however I’m pretty sure that’s what we gave them after baby #3 so I had to change it up a bit this time around. This recipe takes a little longer than my usual weeknight meal but the results are well worth it! And it makes a ton! So not only did we send a dinner (plus enough for leftovers) to our sweet friends but we had enough for 2-3 meals ourselves. That’s a lot of peppers (and yes, this recipe can definitely be halved if you don’t want this much).

Ingredients

• 6-7 red, yellow, orange, or green bell peppers or a mixture of all
• Olive oil, divided
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp chili powder (if desired-I don’t love spicy food so I often leave this out)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 16 oz ground turkey
• 1 (16 oz) jar chunky salsa, mild or hot
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup cooked brown rice*
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 2 large avocados, peeled and pit removed, sliced
• 1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup finely chopped basil

*Quinoa or couscous can be subbed instead of brown rice.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, slicing from the stem to the bottoms. Remove the white pithy ribs near stem and down length of inside. Remove the ribs and seeds and discard. Place the peppers in a shallow 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Drizzle the peppers with oil. Cover the dish with foil, and bake the peppers 15 to 20 minutes, until they start to soften.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and cumin; cook until the vegetables are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey to the skillet. Cook, breaking it up with a slotted spoon or potato masher, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the salsa and the spinach, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the cooked brown rice.

Carefully fill the pepper halves with the turkey mixture. Cover the dish with foil, and bake until the filling is hot and the peppers are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove foil, and sprinkle the cheese over the top of the peppers. Return to oven; bake, uncovered, until cheese has melted, about 7 to 10 minutes.

When ready to serve, top the peppers with a heaping tablespoon of the greek yogurt.  Place slices of the avocado on top of each pepper.  Sprinkle with the basil.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Original recipe available here.

Yesterday was a super busy day. We got up early, headed to my office to put together a new book shelf I recently purchased, then back to my husband’s office so he could finish up some work, lunch with my parents and then a trip to Costco. We left the house around 10:00 a.m. and didn’t get home until after 4:00 p.m. – just in time to throw together some dinner for friends coming at 6:00 p.m. This is one of those great recipes that can come together quickly either last minute or you can put it in a pot and forget it until you’re ready..it’s also one of those that I make without a recipe and the quantities often change every time I make it..  I’ll try and capture it below as best as possible- I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 package tortillas (I like to use the Mission extra soft tortillas)
• 3-4 chicken breasts (usually 1 chicken breast per person)
• 2 cup shredded cheese (I like to use mexican blend or cheddar)
• half and half
• 1-2 jars of salsa (depending on size- you need enough to cover all of the chicken)*
• 1-2 packets of taco seasoning (1 packet for every 2 pieces of chicken)*

Directions:

• In a crockpot mix salsa and taco seasoning. Cook on high about 6 hours or low about 4 hours until chicken breaks apart easily with a fork. (*If you missed the window to use the crock pot you can also cook the chicken in a skillet on the stove and then mix in a bowl with red enchilada sauce. 1 can per 2 pieces of chicken then continue with directions below).
• About 20 minutes out from your preferred dinner time…
  • Preheat oven 350 degrees
  • Shred chicken with a fork and mix in bowl with half of shredded cheese.
  • Fill each tortillas with chicken/cheese mix and wrap with the fold face down.
  • Pour half and half over the top of all enchiladas (this keeps the tortillas soft while baking).
  • Sprinkle remaining cheese over enchiladas.
  • Bake 10-12 minutes.
• ENJOY!

 

I’ve been waiting for months (ok maybe weeks or days) for Tom + Chee (the new grilled cheese and tomato soup restaurant) to open up near my office. A friend and I attempted to go there again today and it was still not even close to being open. Since it’s rainy and cold outside I finally decided its time I went ahead and made some myself. This is my favorite recipe for some thick and creamy tomato soup (best served with a hot grilled cheese)! Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Soup

DIRECTIONS: 
1. Place oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion,  carrot, and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring often.

2. Add sun-dried tomatoes, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. (If you’re adding red pepper flakes, add them now)

3. Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.  Cover pan and simmer for 30  minutes.

4. Remove from heat. Place soup in a blender (do this in 2 batches if necessary). Add cream cheese. Remove center piece of blender lid to allow steam to escape, but place a paper towel over opening in blender lid to avoid spills. Process for a few minutes until smooth.  You could also add cream cheese directly to the pot and use an immersion blender to combine.

5. Add additional salt and pepper to taste and then divide soup among bowls.  Garnish each serving with a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan cheese and a fresh basil leaf if desired.

*Recipe by Our Best Bites

It’s been raining all week and so its about time for some warm comfort food in the form of a good soup. Here’s a recipe that even the pickiest eater can’t complain about.. Cauliflower soup by the Pioneer Woman. Enjoy!

One of our favorite go-to meals thanks to our neighbor, Jenny, who brought this to us after our little man was born. I’m returning the favor and making it for another friend with a new baby this weekend.

4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2 – 8 oz. cans crescent rolls
2 – 10 3/4 oz. cans cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese
1 1/4 cups milk

In a saucepan on low heat, combine soup, 1 cup of cheese, and milk and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Pour half* sauce into a 9×13″ pan prepared with nonstick spray.

Open cans of rolls and separate. Set aside 1/4 cup of cheese for topping. Combine chicken and cheese in a bowl. Place about 2 T of the chicken/cheese mixture on wide end of each dough triangle, pulling side points of triangle over filling. Roll up each crescent roll and set in pan with sauce. Top with remaining sauce. 

Bake at 375* uncovered for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and then heat to melt additional 3 minutes.