Recipes

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Meatball Nirvana w/ steamed corn and garlic bread

While planning meals for this week, meatballs sounded fulfilling.  Usually, I try to cook them on the stovetop and it always ends in disappointment.  This time, I followed a baked recipe and was very pleased with the results.  I didn’t dice my onion quite well enough but other than that, these were some of the best meatballs I have ever made.

Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin

Here is a new recipe for us to try out.  I will probably pair it with mashed potatoes and some kind of green vegetable to add color to the dish.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

My first reaction when hearing about this recipe was to serve it with white rice, but I think noodles, in particular Lo Mein, would actually go better with it.

Snack Food…

Homemade Cheese ball, Apples, and Bananas

Grab some crackers and cut off a bit of a cheese ball and voila, perfect snack food.  The only problem is that store packaged cheese balls around here are expensive.  For example, Kroger offers a 10 oz version for $4 and that is when it is on sale!  Tonight we tried making our own for the very first time.  We didn’t bother trying to form it into a ball and decoratively coat it with nuts like the picture so elegantly displays.  Ours is more of a dip/spread sitting in the mixing bowl.  What it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in cost competitiveness.  After taste testing, the cream cheese to cheese ratio seems a bit high.

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Cavatini with Apple Pie å la mode

This was the recipe I was thinking of last week.  If you like pizza you’ll love this casserole because it is essentially pizza casserole.

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Baked Tortellini (Ravioli) with Spinach

This is another recipe that comes from Shae’s side.  I don’t know the exact recipe but I do know some things.

1. It involves cheese tortellini
2. It includes both Alfredo and tomato sauces
3. Spinach is mixed into the casserole
4. Italian sausage and pepperoni slices seem to find their way into the pan
5. Cheese is a must
6. It is positively delicious

Brats w/ Potato or Macaroni Salad

Whether you are tailgating or just want a quick meal, brats really hit the spot.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

It has been unseasonably cold this past week.  That has me craving two things.  A hot, hearty soup, and a slow cooker recipe to help warm up the house.  We still have a package of authentic corn tortillas to use for this recipe.  Yum yum!

Caramel Chicken Stir Fry

Are you looking for a new stir fry recipe?  Then look no further.  This recipe by Chef John is delectable.  There is even a video on AllRecipes that shows you how to make it.

Snack Food…

Trail Mix & Spooky Candy

We’ve made up another big batch of trail mix.  Cashew halves and pieces were on sale so they made it into the mix.  Also this week is Halloween.  We’ll be handing out treats to the little gremlins and goblins that pay us a visit.  Of course some of those treats might not make it out of the house!

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Meatloaf, French Green Beans, & Mac ‘n Cheese

This is the meal that Shae prepared for us tonight.  The weather was beautiful this weekend so I started a new outdoor home improvement project.  She wanted to treat me to some comfort food as a thank you.  Thanks sweetie!

Baked Burritos

I was first introduced to this recipe back when I was courting Shae.  She made it and called it enchiladas but I think of it more as a burrito recipe.  It is a pretty simple recipe but tastes oh so good.  Brown 1.5 pounds of ground beef, mix in a can of refried beans (or make your own refried beans), add some cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes (if you want some spice).  Grease a 13×9 pan and fill tortilla shells with your beef/bean mixture.  Spread some salsa over the burritos and then sprinkle some cheese on and bake until the cheese melts.  Serve with sour cream and sweet corn!

Grilled Salmon

We’ve had a two week break from seafood so it’s high time to get back to the bounty of the sea (or in our case more likely the local fish farms).  I was browsing AllRecipes.com and this particular recipe looked enticing.  Okay, I’ll admit, the picture sold me on it.  If you don’t want to grill or you don’t have a grill (that’s us!) then you can use your ovens broiler to get a similar result.  This lighter meal would go great with a salad and maybe a nice loaf of bread.

Snack Food…

Apples, Chocolate Pudding, Cottage Cheese

Part of living with a woman means that there is always a stash of chocolate somewhere in the house.  If you can’t beat ’em join ’em!

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Sausage, Potatoes, Carrots, & Cheese Casserole

Yep, this is a repeat of last week.  With 5 lbs of potatoes ($2.99), a bag of whole carrots ($1.49), 2 packages of sausage ($5), and a bag of shredded cheese ($3) I was able to make up two 13×9 pans of this casserole last week.  $12.50 for 4-5 dinners and lunches for two people is a heck of a deal.

Whole Chicken with Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, and Steamed Corn

I know that it isn’t Thanksgiving yet but roasting up a whole chicken is a great thing to do right now because 1.) chicken is cheap and 2.) it lets you practice before the real deal in November.  Roasted chicken provides a lot of food but it also comes with a lot of bones.  If you really want to make your dollar stretch, make sure that when you are packing up the leftovers that you pick all of the meat off the bone.  Doing this will not only save room in your refrigerator but will also help ensure that any picky eaters in your house won’t be throwing away perfectly good meat because it isn’t a big breast piece.

Goulash

Goulash is another meal that can be almost whatever the chef wants it to be.  The base recipe includes ground meat (usually beef), short noodles, and tomato soup.  From there you can customize by adding chopped bell peppers, onion, corn, seasonings, mushrooms, peas, crushed tomatoes, and cheese.  The instant food version of this recipe goes by the name “Hamburger Helper” but there really isn’t any comparison.  I tried the HH version because we had a coupon for a free box and it didn’t taste anything like the homemade version with fresh ingredients.

Snack Food…

Apples and Cottage Cheese (but not together)

Apples are still in season.  We are trying out a new variety called “Envy”.  They are a bit smaller than the Honey Crisp kind.  I haven’t tried one yet so I cannot compare tastes.  Cottage cheese has also made another appearance at our house for snack time.  What are some snack foods that always seem to be on hand in your kitchen?