Menu Plan Monday

Time for this weeks menu!

We'll be having:

Mexican Penne. This is one of the easiest dishes I make and since I have to run to the grocery store today I want something simple to make when I get home!

Easy Side Potatoes

Today I'd like to share a recipe for a side dish that I love for many reasons; it is easy, I always have the ingredients on hand, and it tastes delicious!

I serve these up when I make steaks, london broil, grilled chicken, even fish, it goes with just about everything.

Here is what you need to get started:

Steak Layered Dinner

Today is Slow Cooking Thursday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom! Check her blog out for some awesome recipe ideas!

Although I'm a day late, it was also What's on the Menu Wednesday over at Dining with Debbie, and of course Works for me Wednesday at We are THAT Family. There are already a ton of great recipes and ideas on both of those sites from yesterday, check them out!

This is almost crockpot gourmet! I mean, who knew you could have steak, shrimp, potatoes, and corn on the cob out of a slow cooker!? The greatest thing about it was it's simplicity and the ability to sub ingredients for whatever you are in the mood for.

Salisbury Steak From a Packet!!

Today is the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom! She's asked for recipes that use 5 ingredients or less, and I thought I would highlight an old recipe that never fails me!!

This is my all time favorite dinner, no joke. Which is also why I am linking up with It's a Keeper which is being guest hosted over at B & the boy!! I could probably live off of this meal and nothing else! It's funny to realize that now, because growing up my mom made it about once a week and I got so sick of it that I never wanted to eat it! To go straight to the recipe, click here!

The great thing about this recipe is that it takes so little to make something so tasty! Here is what you need:

American Chop Suey

This recipe is a great standby for me because I always have all of the ingredients on hand and it always goes over really well with my boys.

Here is what you need:

• 1lb ground turkey (or beef)
• Small chopped onion
• Chopped medium bell pepper
• Sprinkle garlic powder
• Sprinkle paprika 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of cheese
• 1 can tomato poaste
• 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes (15oz)
• 2 cups cooked macaroni

Back to Blogging - Menu Plan Monday

Well, it's been awhile! I took a long break from blogging but I am hoping to get back into the swing of things and what better way than to start off the week with our Menu Plan!

This week we'll be having:

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I've been making this recipe for over a year now and it is by far my favorite sweet n sour chicken recipe - it beats out Wanchai Ferry and any packet you may buy (trust me I've tried quite a few varieties) and it is super easy!! I am linking up (a day late!) with the Tuesday Lineup of Bloggers: Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tuesdays at the Table! Thanks to all of you for hosting!

Here's what you'll need to get started:

Cut up chicken (this is about 1.5lbs), 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 egg white. All you'll need to do here is mix the cornstarch and egg white (also can add a little salt here but I always forget) and pour it over the chicken, mix it in well and then let the mix rest for 15 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's our menu for this week, remember to check out OrgJunkie to see even more!!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf in the Crockpot

It's been a long time since I've had a post but this turned out SO WONDERFUL that I just had to share it with everyone.... I've tried meatloaf again, and I've finally found success!! So exciting, this is only the 3rd meatloaf recipe I've ever tried and it's a keeper. It's also probably very bad for you, even with my edits. :)

For this recipe I basically combined the crockpot meatloaf and potatoes recipe I found over at Melissa's blog way back at the beginning of December and a Paula Dean recipe I had been dying to try.

Here is what you'll need:

Crockpot Spaghetti

I needed a super fast and easy crockpot meal the other morning and I just grabbed what I had on hand to make this meal. It turned out to be Delicious. (yes with a capital D). I got this idea from Stephanie O’Dea’s cookbook – which I won not too long ago at Dining with Debbie’s Crockpot Wednesdays!! Thank you Debbie, I LOVE this cookbook; in fact I have just about every other page marked to try.

For my sauce this is what I had on hand:

Our Menu for the Week

Crab Cakes

Joining up with Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday today!! This is one of the many recipes I have been meaning to post, cooked way back in 2009!!

Hubby has a close to Christmas birthday. According to him this is a travesty. And he has threatened to move his birthday to July Fourth if it isn’t celebrated properly and separately from Christmas!!! I can’t say that I blame him. So when I asked him if he’d like to go out for his birthday dinner or have me cook, he jumped on the idea of me cooking. Because he knows I make awesome crab cakes!

Korean Roast Chicken Thighs - Crockpot Style!

I am linking this recipe up with Cooking Thursday at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom, check them both out for some great recipes!!

I've seen the link for this recipe on many menu plans since I started blogging so it's been on my to-try list for awhile now. It's something that I know my boys would love so I was hoping to adapt it to a crockpot meal so they can have yet another yummy recipe on the nights I'm away at school. (Sometimes they even save me some!)

My plan of attack for changing this recipe to crockpot was basically... nothing!! I just gathered the ingredients:

Menu Plan Monday

I've been a very lazy blogger the past few weeks. I've cooked and photographed over 14 recipes and I haven't posted a single one. Shame on me!! So I am going to get back into the swing of things starting this week. Starting with planning my weekly menu... so here it goes:

Crockpot Potato Chowder

It's Crockpot Wednesday over at Dining With Debbie! I am going to be using my Crockpot all this week to test out some new recipes. School starts back again in a few weeks and I'll have night class 3 nights in a row - so my crockpot is going to be working hard!! Very thankful for the recipes I know I can find over on Debbie's website!

The weather has finally turned cold around here and I was in the mood for something to warm us up, and what better than a steaming hot, creamy bowl of potato chowder?? I don’t know why this popped into my head, I’ve never made it before and I thought the recipe looked a little boring… so I decided to make a few changes!! And now we have a new meal in the regular rotation (well, at least the winter rotation)!

Here is what you need:

Bean and Sausage Soup

It's Crockpot Wednesday again over at Dining with Debbie!!

I wasn't planning on posting this one, but after my boys ate it on day 2, I changed my mind. You see I really wasn't very impressed with it at all the night we had it, this is largely due to a few mishaps of my own. But, the leftovers, according to both boys, were absolutely delicious. So, it's on the keeper list, but we'll definitely be changing it up a bit!!

Here is what I used:

Back to Planning Menus!

I'm back to normal life now that finals are over!! I've missed my blog and it is in some serious need of attention so I should have some great new recipes up this week, here's a peek at our menu for the week:

Mexican Penne

You know what works for me? Making meals ahead when I know life will be crazy!

For those of you who read my blog on a semi-regular basis, you may have noticed I've been MIA for awhile now... I'm in the midst of finals (law school) and haven't found much time to sleep let alone blog, but I am taking a break tonight from the insanity to introduce you all to my favorite make-ahead (or make right now!) meal!

I made this about a week and a half ago, I knew I'd be too busy to cook (I haven't cooked since last Wednesday!) and I knew my boys would be hungry, so I made a few easy to throw together meals and threw them in the freezer, this is their second favorite - Shepherd's Pie being their first!

This recipe is for one casserole, but I made it into two because otherwise there are too many leftovers.

So here is what you need:

Shepherd's Pie

I first started making this about 4 months ago and it quickly became a regular! This is easily my stepson's favorite meal that I cook! The great thing about it is I can make it earlier in the morning and stick it in the fridge for later, or in this case, double it and freeze one for next week (finals are looming, I will not be cooking!)

So here is what you need, keep in mind I doubled this, so if you are only making one - cut it in half:

Cream Cheese Ranch Chicken

Ranch is a big hit around here, so anything with a ranch packet added in automatically makes the try list! This is the second time I've made this meal, and the second time I've said, why oh why didn't I buy low sodium broth/cream of chicken!??! Be warned, you should definitely go low sodium on this, but we got past the saltiness because this is really yummy!

Here is what you need: