Tag Archives: one dish meal

Food

Bertolli Meal Soup

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We all have those nights that we are going out but need to feed our kids or leave something the sitter can make. But I am kind of picky about frozen food. The kids need to have some vegetables, it needs to taste good, and not be greasy! It also needs to be easy enough that my sitter can make it while chasing my 4 kids;). Another component is wheat;). Since NerdDad and I are both gluten free, the kids kind of look forward to getting something with gluten when they eat dinner without us;).

So my kids were stoked to be able to try Bertolli’s Roasted Chicken and Rotini. They felt it was fancy and very grown up! My sitter said that it was easy to make and didn’t take a lot of work. The problem we found is that the younger 3 really wanted more pasta and less veggies but isn’t that how little kids always are? But my sitter and my 10 year old absolutely loved the soup!

I think that this soup is a great meal option! It is better for you than any fast food and probably quicker! Keeping this in your freezer is a pretty smart move! So check out more by visiting Bertolli’s Website, Facebook or follow them on Twitter!

(Disclosure: I was compensated to review Bertolli’s Meal Soups by GigCoin. But while they picked the subject the opinions were all mine!)

Food

Gluten Free Sausage Spinach Noodles

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This is a great gluten free throw together dish on a weeknight It is a little spicy and satisfying!! Nom nom.

Ingredients:

2 packages of rice noodles
3 8 oz packages of Farmer John sausage links (we are a meat heavy family)
1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 tsp salt
1 tbls dehydrated onion
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic

Process:

Prepare the noodles (soak them in boiling water, then rinse them in cold water and drain). Crumble and fry spinach. Do not drain!!! Throw in onion and garlic. Then toss in noodles and stir. Coat the noodles in the sausage and oil from the sausage. Then add the salt and paprika. Stir again. Then add the spinach. Toss and continue to cook until it is all heated through. Then serve.

So easy! So good!

Food

Yummy and Easy

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And I am home from CES! So my first home cooked dinner was a steak bowl! It was made with leftover steak, rice, broccoli, a little shredded cheese and taco sauce. The magic with the steak is to originally cook it only to rare. Then when you reheat the steak it is perfect! So the last time we had made steak we cooked a little extra.

Yummy and so very easy!

Food

A Delicious Creation with #GourmetCreations

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So we have given up wheat recently but at the same time we are not a family that can really live on salads (well, I could but NerdDad would starve to death;). So I am exploring some other options for delicious meals that will please and this dish was a huge hit!

Looks delish eh? I am having a hard time coming up with a name so please, give me your suggestions!!!

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash
1 package of Hillshire Farm Gourmet Creations Sausage in Beef and Bacon
1 package chopped frozen spinach: thawed and drained
1/2 stick of butter
2 heaping teaspoons of minced garlic
2 teaspoons sea salt +extra for squash
1 teaspoon pepper +extra for squash
1/2 teaspoon paprika +extra for squash
Sprinkling of queso fresco
Olive Oil or Veg Oil

Cooked Spaghetti Squash

Process:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Sprinkle the inside of the squash generously with sea salt, paprika, pepper and oil. Give it a rub to make sure the inside is all covered. Place cut side up on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes until it is tender.  When it is done just us a fork to pull the flesh from the skin and it will shred like spaghetti!

Take your Hillshire Farm Gourmet Creations Sausage and cut it in half length wise both ways to create 4 equal sticks. Do this to all 4 sausages and then dice. Melt a 1/2 stick of butter in a skillet. Once melted toss in your sausage, garlic and all your seasonings. Once the sausage browns up and you can smell the garlic just toss in your thawed and drained spinach and heat the spinach through. Then just toss it all with your spaghetti squash and serve!

Now this is strongly seasoned  so you can back off the pepper and paprika  but my kids all love it! This served my family of 6 (with kids 10-4) with no leftovers but no one was hungry either!

So what should I call it?

Want to see the shopping trip that got me to the kitchen? Pop over to Google + to see the trip!

(This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. But while they gave me the subject, all words and recipes are mine!)

Food

How It Looks In the Beginning Isn’t What Counts

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I know, that is not sexy food at all! But what is it? It is a crock pot full of pinto beans! Pinto beans are super easy to make! A key thing is to rinse and pick through you beans! Occasionally there is a rock and that doesn’t make tasty eats! Then I put beans and water in the crockpot at a ratio of 1:4. I usually make 4 cups of beans at a time. To that I add about 3 tablespoons of beef bullion, 1 tablespoon of pepper, 1/4 cup of dehydrated onions, a sprinkling of cumin and 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt. Then turn the crock pot on low for 6+ hours.

Now I use dehydrated onions and only a sprinkling of cumin due to NerdDad’s  preference. If I was making them for someone else I would use 1 onion and 2 tablespoons of cumin;).

The first meal with my pinto beans is my Bean Bowls! I make up some seasoned Jasmine Rice in my rice maker and then put some of that in the bottom of the bowl. Then I add broccoli, beans, cheese and some taco sauce. Then stir!  And NerdDad is not a fan of the veggie meal so I usually add some cut up chicken or steak.

Looks a lot sexier now, doesn’t it;)?

(I added this to GreenbacksGal’s Meatless Monday)

Food

Super Easy Gnocchi Dish

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Yummy looking, right? It was super easy too! The longest thing was boiling the water!

All I did was cook 3 packages of gnocchi (hey, they are small packages and there are 6 of us;). Then I heated up 2 cups of cooked, sliced steak (I had in the freezer) and 1 package of chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed out). I melted 1 stick of butter and then sauteed 2 teaspoons of prechopped garlic. I added 1 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp of paprika. Mix it together and eat up!

An added note: I often put in chopped chicken instead of steak. It really is that simple!

(This has been linked up to Works For Me Wednesday, Delicious Dishes, and Tasty Tuesday)

Food

Bulgar Lunch

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So I don’t know if I should call this a salad, pilaf, mixed bowl, or what. But this was my first official flour free and sugar free lunch! It was super easy and tasted pretty good. It was very filling and I only ate 1/2 of it at once.

Bulgur Lunch
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bulgur
1 cup boiling water
1/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 chicken thigh shredded
2 tablespoons shredded zucchini
1 tablespoon soy nuts
2 tablespoon feta
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon Champagne Vinegar
1 tablespoon (scant) extra virgin olive oil
Process:
Put 1 cup of boiling water, 1/4 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder and 1/2 cup bulgur in a bowl and cover it. Let it sit a half hour to an hour and drain off the excess water. Then mix every thing else together! I ate it immediately but i think it would have been good if it sat too!

Food

Cheap and Easy Throw Together

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So I have found another cheap and easy meal. It has been over 95 for so long, I don’t want to be caught in the kitchen. I wanted to find a way to incorporate ramen noodles since they cook in just 3 minutes and are just 17 cents a package. The reason that the noodles are done so quick is because they are already deep fried. Now a lot of the oil in the noodle is washed away in the boiling water so don’t freak about the oil;).

This is more of a process than a recipe so adapt away!

Ingredients:
2 Packages of Ramen Noodles (toss the seasoning)
1/3 stick Butter
2 tsp Garlic
1/4 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Dried Parsley
2 cups Bite sized left over meat (I love leftover BBQ Chicken Thighs)
2 cups Bite Sized left over Veggies (I like leftover BBQ Asparagus and Zucchini)

Process:
Boil noodles, drain and remove from heat. Put butter in the pan and heat until melted. Then add seasonings (including garlic) and stir. When you smell the garlic add meat and veggies, cook until warmed through. Then add noodles and stir all together. Chopsticks are great for separating and stirring the ramen noodles. Once all is warm just serve!

Easy Peasy!

Food

Frezer Friday: Pasta Alfredo Bake

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Welcome to Freezer Friday. The goal here is to make our lives easier. Due to the fact I have 4 little ones and homeschool, I need all the help I can find. Simply post a recipe that can be made, frozen and then later reheated(thawed, etc) and consumed. Make sure that you include freezing and reheating instructions in your post. Then come here and add you post (not your blog) into Mr. Linky.
Now for some disclaimers:
If it isn’t a recipe, I will delete it.
If it can’t be made ahead, I will delete it.
If you don’t have a family friendly site, I will delete it.
Now onto the food fun!

Due to my women’s retreat I am reposting this as a Freezer Friday recipe. (It was around before Freezer Friday was)

Pasta Alfredo Bake

Here is my easy, peasy made up recipe to use leftover meat. I have done this with pork roast and chicken so far.

Ingredients:
Anywhere from 3/4lb to 1lb of pasta
2 cups of cubed meat
1 large bag of frozen veggies (I use broccoli)
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1 small jar of alfredo sauce or one batch of my Cheap and Easy White Sauce
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded Fontina Cheese

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil your pasta and drain. Rinse frozen veggies in warm water and drain. Then mix pasta, meat, veggies, chili powder, and alfredo sauce. Dump into a 9 by 13 pan and top with shredded cheeses. Then bake for 30 minutes until everything is warm. You can assemble this ahead of time and freeze it. Then just thaw and bake. I put it in partially frozen and cooked it for an hour and it turned out great.

Technorati Tags: Leftovers, Freezer Friday, Make Ahead

Food

Dijon Chicken Stew

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So I tried a new recipe from Cooking Light. My version cuts out half the wine. I substituted mustard greens and think we would definitely preferred kale.

Ingredients:
4 tsp Olive Oil, divided
2 cups sliced Leeks
4 Garlic Cloves, minced (I use jarred)
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 lb Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breast (cut into bite-size pieces)
1/2 lb Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breast (cut into bite-sized pieces)
1/2 tsp Salt, divided
1/2 tsp Pepper, divided
1/2 cup Dry White Wine
3 cups Chicken Broth, divided
1 tbl All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Water
2 tbl Dijon Mustard
2 cups (1/2 inch) sliced, unpeeled White Potatoes(about 1 lb)
1 bunch Torn Kale (about 5 oz off the stems)

Process:
1. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sliced leeks to pan and saute for 6 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Add minced garlic and continue until light color is added. Then remove to a bowl.
2. Place flour in a zip top bag and add chicken. Then shake until evenly coated. Heat remaining oil in pan with medium-high heat. Then brown chicken with salt and pepper in 2 separate batches, it should take about 6 minutes. Add browned chicken to bowl with leek mixture.
3. Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Combine 1 cup of broth and 1 tbl of flour, stir until smooth. Add broth mixture, remaining broth, 1 1/2 cups water, and mustard to pan and bring to a boil. Stir in chicken mixture, remaining salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Stir in potato. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until potato is tender. Stir in Kale; cover and simmer 10 minute.

Yield: 6 serving (serving size 1 1/2 cups)