Mexican Rice

I posted on Facebook that you always want to make your dish in advance so that your spouse has time to grab something to go if your meal turns out to be a flop. Tuesday nights we have our life group over at our house and we all bring a dish that is themed. This week was Mexican. I decided to try Mexican rice - something I've never made before. It actually turned out pretty okay, minus the needing of salt. I have such a hard time with salt. I never put salt in anything or I put too much. Most of the time I do the first because you can always add salt vs taking salt away. I'm adding the recipe in case you would like to take a try! Dropping a few pictures in also, just because I like pictures :) Make sure to follow me on Facebook to check out extra tips :) ------>HERE

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes

1 onion

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups of rice

4 garlic cloves minced {I used garlic powder}

2 cups chicken broth {which is why I didn't think to add salt}

1 tbsp tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- puree tomatoes and onions until smooth and measure 2 cups

- heat oil in a 3-quart saucepan and add rice {dry, not cooked}, stirring frequently until a light golden color {about 10-15 minutes}

- add garlic and stir about 15 seconds

- Stir in tomato mixture, broth, tomato paste, and salt - bring to a boil.

- Cover and bake about 30 minutes. Rice should be tender and the liquid absorbed. Stir about halfway through the baking process.

- Fluff with a fork

- Enjoy!

Stepping out of my comfort zone BIG time 

{blog post to come!}

Friday night family time having dessert!

Homemade Pizza Night

This is one of our favorites. Our homemade pizza is seriously so much better than takeout - and it is fun for the kids as well! While on the meal planning train I want to make sure everyone is involved. One night a week my parents have a night, the kids get to choose a night, John will pick a favorite, and then Sundays I do not cook at all. That is either a leftover or just a free for all night. I can handle three nights to myself to pick a meal.

Tonight the kids planned pizza! They were PUMPED! Both chose a topping and worked on their "own" pizza for the family. It was certainly easy and more definitely fun! Below is what we used to make our own pizza!

Ingredients:
- Pillsbury Pizza dough {we did two pizzas, so two of these}
- Pizza sauce {one jar worked for both pizzas}
- Mozzarella cheese {enough to cover well}
- toppings - we chose sausage and pepperoni

Steps:
Preheat the over to 425. Roll dough onto a baking pan. Cover with the pizza sauce and then top with the cheese. Next add the precooked toppings. Bake for about 13 minutes and then you are all set! YUM!

Both kids were SO proud of their pizzas and how yummy they tasted! You will definitely want to add this to your weekly meal planning recipe book.

Missed a Week!

Posting our meal plan from this week - but also our meal from last Friday. It was delicious! Know what's even better? It was a crockpot meal. I do love a good meal from the crockpot. I'm not always in love with the crockpot meals because you can taste that it was sitting all day, but this one was a score for the whole family!

Friday - Taco Chicken Bowls :) DELICIOUS!!! This recipe I found on Budget Bytes.

Saturday - WELL, I had a meal planned and I was just feeling blah about it so we went out to eat. Then we had ice cream afterwards :)

Monday - we had Roast/potatoes/carrots in the crockpot. This one is super simple, just add those food items, water {to cover the food} and a packet of lipton onion soup mix. Set it on low for the day and you will come home to a yummy aroma of delicious smelling food! Even better? The parents cooked so I didn't even have to worry about doing the crockpot!

Tuesday - life group at our house where we all bring themed food. This week was a potato bar. I made baked potatoes and then grilled cheese sandwiches for the kiddos. I literally just started eating baked potatoes about a year ago. Still not a fan of mashed potatoes, but I am loving the baked potatoes.

Wednesday - Kids choice day! This helps with giving me an idea about dinner AND its something they are guaranteed to love and eat! They chose spaghetti.

Thursday - Dinner did not go as planned. I had a chicken pot pie turnover meal planned, but it was taking too long and I had somewhere to be, so leftover spaghetti was for dinner!

Friday - Parmesan baked pork chops. We have had this one before and its always good. I also added butter beans and rice for the sides. Recipe below :) I originally found this one on Just A Pinch.

Taco Chicken Bowls

1&1/2 lbs chicken breasts
1 {16 oz jar} salsa
1 {15 oz} can black beans, drained {typing this I just realized I did not drain mine}
8 oz frozen corn
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
cracked pepper {to taste}
cooked rice
cheese
toppings

- Add everything {minus the rice, cheese, and toppings} to the slow cooker and then add about 1/4 cup of water. Mix it all together making sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.
- Turn slow cooker on for 8 hrs. This is key because I totally forgot to turn mine on after an hour - opps!
- After it is finished carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken. Build the taco bowls by placing the rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and toppings

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops
1 tbsp olive oil
1 c parmesan cheese
1 c Italian bread crumbs {I didn't have any so I just used regular crumbs and Italian seasoning}
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

In a bowl combine the last 4 ingredients. Rub the pork chops with olive oil and then dip each one on the dry mixture. Make sure to really coat the pork chop. Press the mixture over the pork chops to make sure they are well covered. Line a pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spay {I think I forgot to spray, but it turned out fine!}. Place the pork chops on the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Meals this Week

I knew I would not post two days in a row :) BUT here is the rest of our meals we had this week!

Tuesday we normally have our church small group over, but instead the ladies headed to church for a woman's event while the guys stayed home with the kids. John, however had to go to the school orientation meeting, so I left a crockpot meal. I think I printed this recipe in 2011, but it was the first time actually making it. You can check the site Raising Healthy Eaters for the recipe I printed. I'll list the recipe below as well.

Wednesday we had a favorite of John's - Turkey Meatloaf. This one is so simple! I literally prepped it in just a few minutes while the kids were getting in their baths. I have never been a meatloaf person, to be honest chunks of meat make me nauseous, but this one is just perfect! This recipe I pinned from Boys Ahoy and you can find the original link there. It was the night before our first day of school so dinner was early and then the kids went to bed! I was in bed early as well because I do not do mornings.

Thursday - first day of school! For breakfast Heidi chose cinnamon rolls. All day Harrison kept saying that cinnamon rolls are "super yummy"! That and that the "gookies" we were making were super yummy as well - and they were! I'm not giving you that recipe, but if you have a blue cookbook from RHUMC circa 1985 then you can find it on page 49. Just look for my mom's name :) You'll thank me later. Thursday is choir for me so I needed a simple meal. Actually, apparently all I need to to burn some nervous energy so I prepped this meal in the morning before lunch and then I could just pop it in the oven when it was time later! I'm a messy cook so that gave me plenty of time to clean up after myself. We had a Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole - found on Better Homes and Gardens, but I printed this in 2012 and cannot find the link to it. It was delicious! This is definitely one you can put in the freezer and bake later. On this one I do substitute the "cream of chicken soup" with a homemade mix.

Today is Friday and we will be having Taco Chicken Bowls. I found this one on Budget Bytes and I'm hopeful that it will be tasty!

Recipes:

Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan

2-4 boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 beaten egg
sliced mozzarella cheese or 1 coup shredded
26 oz marinara sauce

Spread olive oil into the bottom on your slow cooker. Beat the egg in a bowl and in a separate dish mix the bread crumbs with the seasonings and parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken into the egg bowl covering with egg, then into the bread crumb bowl coating both sides. Place the coated chicken at the bottom of the crock pot. Repeat with all chicken. Layer mozzarella cheese on top and then pour marinara sauce on top. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours. We served this with pasta :)

Turkey Meatloaf {I cut this in half for my foursome}

2 lbs ground turkey
1 egg
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup milk
1 -1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

For the Sauce:
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350. IN a large bowl combine turkey, egg, onion, milk, bread crumbs, and salt/pepper and mix. {the easiest way to mix is with your hands}. Place mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish and form into a loaf. Sprinkle with a dash or salt and pepper. In a separate bowl combine the sauce ingredients and mix. Pour over the loaf and spread evenly. Sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar over the top. Cover with foil and bake for about an hour.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

6 oz package grain and wild rice mix
1/2 cup medium onion chopped
1/2 cup chopper celery
2 tbsp butter
can of condensed chicken with white and wild rice soup or cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
2 tbsp fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried basil crushed
2 cups cooked chicken or turkey
1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Prepare rice mix according to package directions. Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet cook onion and celery in melted butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in soup, sour cream, wine, and basil. Stir in cooked rice and chicken. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until heated through. Makes 4 servings.

Back to School Meals

This year I am determined not to have it all together, but at least have a little bit together. Normally I am running around like a frantic squirrel trying to get my stuff together at the last minute. It's really strange because I am such a planner, but it's that whole "it's never going to turn out the perfect way so let's just sit at the procrastination circus" type of mentality. But y'all, maybe it's finally being in the new house {ok, since December} and being able to get things into their place that is helping - maybe.

This summer has flown by, but we've made some amazing memories and really we didn't do much at all. It was relaxing! I am super nervous about Heidi going to "big girl" school and she is equally excited and nervous. With school starting in a couple of days this is normally the time when I think - AH we need a bookbag/clothes/etc!!! Not this year - nope! I have finished school shopping {for both kiddos}, ordered Harrison's Halloween costume, ordered Christmas PJs, and have half of my Christmas shopping finished. The only problem with the being ahead is that I will probably forget where I hide everything when the time comes to use it....

Maybe it is normal for people to be this ahead, but not for me. I definitely think it has a ton to do with our new accounting/budget system which I will post about at a later date - like when both kiddos are in school.

What I really wanted to post about was how our meal was last night. This is the first week of being completely back on our meal planning for the week. I was slack during the summer, but with a new schedule and harder days coming I knew that this year we had to be on top of things. Hopefully I can post about all of our meals and let you know how they fared in our household. I usually go straight to my Pinterest when getting ready to meal plan.

The other thing I have organized is my recipe binder. I had all of these recipes printed without organization. It was my on my list of things to do - in regards to my binder. SO finally I sat and put my binder together and now when I find a good recipe on Pinterest I go ahead and print it and then add it to the binder. This way I can make my notations on the print out of things I did differently in a recipe or if we liked it or not. PLUS, I found it a huge pain trying to use my phone on Pinterest while cooking at the same time. My phone would go into sleep mode and then I would have to find it all over again.

On to last nights meal.

By the way, I am not a great cook. I cook what is simple and easy.

I found a Crescent Burger recipe a few years ago and it has always been a hit - so we had those! Heidi scarfed hers down and Harrison ate his as well. The original link to the recipe is found on Budget Savy Diva. It tastes similar to a Krystal Burger, but better :) As a small side note, we use the same meat mixture without browning the meat to make hamburger patties for the grill. It is so yummy and changes the flavor of just a regular hamburger! I didn't take pictures {edit - I took a picture of a leftover} because I'm not that on top of things - maybe I will tonight for the slow cooker Chicken Parmesan, but don't get your hopes up!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of ground beef
Worcestershire sauce
1 Egg
1/3 packet of Onion Soup mix {I accidentaly misread this and used a whole packet - it was fine}
1/2 tsp black pepper
2/3 cup of cheddar cheese
1 roll of crescents {the recipe makes enough to where I needed to use 2 rolls - so you get 16 pockets}

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Brown meat
- Mix 1/2 cup of cheese, onion soup mix, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, pepper, browned meat
- Unroll the crescents and place a rounded tablespoon of the meat mixture towards the larger end of the crescent
- Roll until the meat is fully cover, like a little pocket
- Place pockets on parchment lined baking sheet
- Brush tops of dough with an egg wash {whisk egg and 1 tbsp of water}
- Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of egg wash
- Bake 10-15 minutes