It won't be long before we are rolling in Thanksgiving leftovers. I enjoy the opportunity to create "encore meals" from the leftovers. One of my favorite ways to use leftover mashed potatoes is in pierogi casserole. This goes together quickly and can easily be altered to suit your family's preferences. My children prefer milder cheeses, so I use mostly mozzarella cheese, but … [Read more...]
Chunky Bolognese Sauce
I have been itching to make a Bolognese Sauce ever since Jamie emailed me her recipe during the Pantry Staples contest. I dug out the last of the bacon from the freezer, grabbed a few cans from the pantry, and pulled out the ground beef and veggies from this past week's grocery trip. I decided to double up and make 2 batches, as I found I had plenty to do so. And thought this … [Read more...]
Spinach Meatballs with Spaghetti
Look at these green babies simmering in homemade spaghetti sauce. After rummaging through the freezer and pantry last week, I discovered that I had everything on hand for these Spinach Meatballs. A reader mentioned them on Facebook recently, and I had to make them. I was really worried that the boys wouldn't eat the meatballs because they had "green stuff" in them, but it … [Read more...]
Grilled Chicken & Simple Pasta with Sauteed Tomatoes
Recently, we weren't feeling well. Ryan called my mom, as he is quite handy with my iPhone...and he informed her in a bold, confident and cheerful voice that he was sick. She didn't believe him. In an effort to ease back into regular eating, I made this partly bland-partly not-so-bland dinner for us. The boys had just the noodles, chicken and a few bites of green beans, … [Read more...]
Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Red Peppers
Super Simple Supper! This is a one dish dinner. (That brings up an important question...when you hear one dish dinner, do you think of it being a dinner that is SERVED in one dish, or COOKED in one dish?!) So this is technically a one dish served dinner...as the whole meal is in one bowl. But it was cooked in 2 pots...a pot for the pasta, and a skillet for the sausage, … [Read more...]
Chicken Spaghetti
I'd like to take a second and introduce you to Connie from Smockity Frocks! Every 2 weeks, she'll be sharing how she feeds her family of 10 on a budget! First up... This Chicken Spaghetti is a real crowd pleaser! When I make this meal, I cook and debone a whole chicken. This provides me with plenty of meat to make 2 huge casseroles, so I can make one to eat and one in a … [Read more...]
Mediterranean Mini-Meatballs
I've had this hankering for olives lately. While I haven't set out to eat an entire jar of green olives, I have no doubt that I could do it...as long as I had a huge glass of water and something sweet nearby. As I was perusing the cupboards when making my meal plan over the weekend, my eye fell on the olive jar ($.49 from Walgreens). And as I started to tear into it and eat … [Read more...]
Chicken and Bacon Florentine Pasta
Every had one of those super productive days...only to forget one very important thing on your to-do list. That thing: Make dinner. Eeps! That's what happened to me tonight. I scurried around all day, catching up on Mt. Washmore (yes, we have been home for 10 days and I still haven't caught up on laundry from the Savvy Blogging Summit!), helping the boys with a new puzzle … [Read more...]
Angel Hair with Julienned Zucchini
So I am just having the WORST luck with the veggies in the garden this year. I thought for sure (just like I did with the radishes and the yellow squash) that the zucchini would be in by now...but NO...it's taking its sweet precious time getting going! And I just noticed yesterday that the "powdery mildew" is starting to form on some of the smaller leaves too. :( But...it … [Read more...]
Homemade Lasagna with Garden Herbs
Even though most of us in our family, 80% of us to be exact, are not eating dairy foods right now, I still stock up on cheeses when on sale. This allows me to make lasagna for Steve's lunch. A 9x13 pan will last 8 lunches. I cut 4 pieces off and store them in the fridge. And the other 4 pieces go in to the freezer in individual baggies for him to enjoy later. Or whenever … [Read more...]