How We Break Bread

I feed my family the same meal four times a week and they love it.  No, seriously... they do. You see, I get home at 5:00 PM Monday through Thursday each week.  In order to squeeze in all of our after work activities and dinner, I needed to find a way to feed my family fast (in a healthy way, mind you -- no TV dinners or fast food) so that we have more time to do other things and less time is spent slaving away in the kitchen so to speak.

So that's when I decided to feed my family like I would feed an army... literally.  Each Sunday, I make the main course - this week, it was cheese and broccoli soup.  I make a large enough portion to provide enough servings for dinner, Monday through Thursday nights.  I store the main course in our refrigerator and then simply heat up what we need each night and make any side dishes as necessary during that process (e.g. salad and whole grain bakery bread).

Here are a few examples of what we've been eating lately for dinner:

• Week 1: BBQ Grilled Chicken with Vegetables (e.g. asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.)
• Week 2: Diced Sweet Potatoes covered with a Meat Spaghetti sauce with Salad or Vegetables
• Week 3: Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry with Brown Rice
• Week 4: Homemade Soup with Salad and Bread (bread is often optional)
• Week 5: BBQ or Baked Pork Chops with a large Green Salad
• Week 6: Crock Pot Spaghetti with Vegetables or Salad (or both!)
• Week 7: Homemade Chili with Salad and Cornbread 
• Week 8: Tacos or Taco Salads

(Please note: we don't always eat all of the above meals or all of the above meals in that order.  Sometimes I add things to a meal listed above, or take away from them.  I just wanted to show a glimpse of how we roll.) 

You may wonder if we get sick of the meal eating it four nights in a row.  Yeah, sometimes we do.  But the beauty of this method is that we don't eat that meal again for a very long time... or sooner if we like.  Sometimes I use a crock pot, sometimes I spend a little time on Sunday meal prepping... but it works for us.  And any time I can give myself and my family the gift of time I'm a happy camper. 

{Dinner} Beef Tortellini Soup

For some reason, it felt like a soup-kind-of week here at our home.  So, I decided to throw together my own take on a beef tortellini soup last Sunday. 

We were pretty pleased with how it turned out... even the boys gobbled it down.  And you know that must mean it is pretty tasty (our oldest boy is rather picky).

To Make:
1 lb. Ground Beef
2 cans Diced Tomatoes
2 cans Kidney Beans (rinsed, drained)
1 can Diced Green Chilies (to taste)
1 can Corn (rinsed, drained)
1 can Green Beans (rinsed, drained)
1 chopped Onion
2 9 oz. packages of Three Cheese Raviolis
4 cups Chicken Broth
Italian Seasoning (to taste)
Garlic (to taste)

Because we were pretty busy on Sunday and I wanted leftovers for the week, I browned the ground beef over medium heat and mixed the meat into my crockpot with the rest of the ingredients.  I set the crockpot for 4 hours on high.  And then, viola! We were ready to eat with minimal prep time.

I might add a bit more chilies the next time I make this soup... the hubs and I like our dishes with a kick.  But that is the beauty of a soup like this; pretty simple and a pretty great way to clean out your cupboards/fridge by adding whatever you would like to the mix.

One of our favorite dinners.

Kind of one of our comfort meals, the hubs and I almost think of this meal as a treat.  I make it more of the consistency of chili than soup, but this - my friends - is a pretty delish taco soup.  Here are the deets if you are interested:

Ingredients:
Meat of your choice (pictured: 1 lb. ground beef)
Diced tomatoes with Green Chilies (2 cans)
Kidney Beans (2 cans)
Vegetarian Baked Beans (2 cans)
Diced Green Chillies (1 small can)
Onion (medium in size, chopped)
Corn (optional - 2 cans)
Taco Seasoning (1 package or to taste)

To Make:
Because I used ground beef, I had to brown the beef with the chopped onion.  In a stock pot, I added the other ingredients - diced tomatoes and green chillies, kidney beans (drained), vegetarian baked beans, diced green chillies, and taco seasoning.  I placed the stock pot on a medium-heat burner and stirred the ingredients together, adding the browned ground beef to the mixture.  Finally, I let the soup  simmer together for approximately 10 minutes or so... pretty. easy.

To Serve:
We usually add shredded cheese, sour cream, and a few Fritos on top.  Yum.

To Alter:
This soup is also a very easy crock pot meal.  When I make it that way, I add chicken breast instead of beef and put everything together in the pot at once, close the lid, and let it cook for 6 to 8 hours on low.  I did not use corn in my soup this week (pictured above), but I have used it before.  The hubs requests that I add it back into the recipe next time... but I could take it or leave it.  We also add one little can of diced green chillies to add that extra **pow!** to the dish.  So good, so very good.

Give this meal a whirl and let me know how you do... because we may just have this as our main course again next week!