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!

How We Do Dinner.

Being a working mom, it makes the nights go by in the blink of an eye... just having a few precious hours with my men during the work week.  Which, I am sure, is the same for most of you.  So, I knew I had to do dinner differently.  Do it in such a way that I would not have to cook something each and every night of the week, but still be health-conscious.  Allowing more free time to spend with my family.

So, the hubs and I agreed on our current process: cooking one big meal on Sunday that will carry through until Thursday (leftovers Monday through Wednesday).  With this method, I have time to cook something delicious on Sundays that is an easy reheat-able meal the next three nights.  Why through Wednesday?  Because Thursday nights we have family dinner night at my parents' home and Friday is a "weekend day" for me, with more time to cook (same with Saturday).

We plan our meals in such a way as to not get sick of them... sure you may be tired of the recipe by day four, but you won't have it again for another month or two.

This week I tried a new recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.  It was pretty good, I have to say.  I didn't follow the recipe 100%, only using the following to create a pretty tasty meal:

4 Chicken Breasts
1 pkg. Black Forest Ham
1 pkg. Swiss Cheese (thin sliced)
Panko Bread Crumbs (I used 1/4 pkg... use as much or as little as you prefer)
Dehydrated onions (to taste)
Garlic Salt (to taste)
Black Pepper (to taste)

First, I boiled the chicken for approximately 20 minutes.  Once the chicken was heated to about 160*F, I shredded the chicken into chunks and placed it into my large pyrex casserole dish.  To the chicken, I added the dehydrated onions, garlic salt, and ground black pepper. 

Next, I added two layers of black forest ham.  

On top of the ham, I added two layers of swiss cheese and sprinkled some panko bread crumbs on top, mixed with a little more garlic salt and ground black pepper.  I then placed this dish into our pre-heated oven to cook for approximately 15 - 20 minutes at 375*F.

I have to say, the finished product was pretty delicious and moist.  

The best part about cooking a large meal that needs to feed our family for four dinners is the need to portion control everything.  So along with our main course, I add a vegetable and a pretty large salad to make sure everyone gets enough to eat (i.e. the hubs).  This week we had a large green salad with fresh avocado on the side.  Yum, yum.  

So there you have it.  Monday through Wednesday, our dinners only take about 15 to 20 minutes to prepare and eat, leaving much more time to spend together and even squeeze in a little workout time. 

How do you meal planning for your family?

Recipe to Try: Banana Oatmeal Muffins

I got a craving for these bad boys after the hubs's cousin posted her version of this recipe on Instagram earlier this week.  A different take on banana muffins or banana bread, this recipe does not call for any flour or any sugar.  Sounds pretty healthy, right?  Here's what you need to make your own:

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 ripe bananas (I used three)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used coconut Greek yogurt)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Using a food processor, magic bullet, or something similar, pulse the oats until you have a semi-smooth, four-like consistency.  
2. In a medium mixing bowl, add the semi-smooth oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Whisk to combine these dry ingredients.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas until semi-smooth (i.e. no large chunks).  Whisk in eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, and honey.  Stir until well-combined.  
4. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients; this can be done by stirring together with a wooden spoon or spatula until a thick batter is formed... or by using your handy dandy KitchenAid mixer, like I did.  
5. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin that has been greased or completed with liners, filling each one 3/4 of the way.  Bake for approximately 18 to 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (mine were done after approximately 14 minutes).

A pretty great guilt-free treat if you want a little something when trying to keep it healthy like we are.  And a good way to use up any extra-ripe bananas you have lying around your kitchen.  Give this recipe a whirl... and let me know if you come up with any adjustments that you think make it even better.  Enjoy!

{Original recipe found HERE.}  

What's for Dinner: One Pot Chicken and Vegetable Risotto

{Recipe found HERE}

Sorry friends... I only paused mid-stir after adding the arborio rice to take a photo of what I thought would be many of this new dish I tried tonight on my family.  While I didn't quite get a finished-ready-to-serve photo, let me just tell you this recipe was a major hit with the fam... especially the hubs, who I had to keep slapping his taster spoon out of the pot before it was ready.

Chicken, mushrooms, yellow bell pepper, green onion, yellow onion - all diced and mixed with arborio rice, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, black pepper, beef stock, and water.  You really cannot go wrong.  

But, let me warn you.  Because I opted to make a bigger pot for leftovers during the week, this recipe turned into quite the ordeal today.  I think I clocked a total of four hours (not even joking one bit) of checking, stirring, liquid-adding, and repeat... when I do it again, I think I will pressure cook the risotto separately to speed up the time a bit.

Definitely try it out... and let me know your thoughts.   

Homemade Banana Bread Kind-of-Day.

Kingston and I made THIS recipe today... minus the nuts... plus peanut butter chips.  Delish, friends.  Delish.