Mom's Meatloaf

(sorry for this not so pretty pic...I was going to take a before and after pic, but only got the pre-cooked photo)

Another main dish I grew up with and I love this because of the cheese cubes in it.  

1 lb. hamburger

1 egg

crushed saltine crackers

milk

chopped onions

salt & pepper

cubed cheddar cheese

I know this is really broad, just prepare to your liking.  Mix all together and put into baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or check for longer.  We serve it with ketchup or BBQ sauce.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

This is one of my most favorite meals I grew up with.  Wouldn't call it fat free by any means, but you could use reduced fat soups to make it better.

1 pkg. egg noodles (cooked)

3-4 cooked chicken breasts cubed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine soups and add 1/2 to 1 cup milk

Saute in 2 T. butter: 2 celery stalks chopped and 1/3 onion chopped

Cubed cheddar cheese

Mix everything together and place in a 9 x 13 pan.  Top with crushed potato chips and grated cheddar cheese mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  *I always make a few recipes and freeze for later.

French Dip sandwiches

For a busy school night this is super easy and fast.  

French Roll

Sliced roast beef

Swiss cheese slices

Au jus gravy mix (in the gravy packet aisle)

Prepare au jus gravy mix as directed on package.  I always add the sliced beef into the hot gravy.

Slice french roll in half and butter each side.  Broil until browned.

Layer hot beef onto roll and place a slice of cheese on top.

Return to oven to broil until cheese is melted.

Replace top of roll, slice sandwich on half and serve with side of au jus gravy.

Cheese Manicotti

Cheese Manicotti

Box of manicotti shells uncooked

Stuff with mixture of:

15 oz. ricotta cheese

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. parmesan cheese

salt & pepper

Boil 30 oz. spaghetti sauce and 1 c. water.  Pour some sauce in bottom of glass 9x13 pan.  Put stuffed shells in sauce.  Pour rest of sauce covering shells.  Foil top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Take off foil and bake 10 minutes longer.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I have been thinking about gearing up for an all cook day to make a ton of freezer meals for the summer.  I found this recipe on Good Things Utah and am putting it on my list to do.

Ingredients: Yield: 8-10 Servings

1 (12 oz) bottle of Lawry’s 30 min. marinade or a homemade marinade. 
6-8 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless 
6-8 slices Swiss cheese 
6-8 slices of ham
2 C. Italian flavored bread crumbs 
Trim the fat off chicken breasts, slice chicken breasts in half (so it folds out like a heart) and slice down the center of the fold. Each breast will make 
2 Chicken Cordon Bleu. 
Place chicken breasts in 3 large zip-top bags and pour in marinade in each bag. Marinate for 15 minutes minimum. I like to place mine the refridgerator overnight. After marinating, pound and flatten chicken breasts in the large zip top bags with a heavy pan until chicken is 1/4 inch thick. 
Lay out 2 flat plastic bowls, tooth picks, a cookie sheet and a paper towel. Melt butter in one flat bowl, pour bread crumbs in the other. Place the paper towel on the cookie sheet. 
Lay out 8-10 tooth picks. Open the zip top bags, spread chicken out on plastic so you can place meat and cheese on chicken breasts all at the same time. Place 1 slice of cheese and 1 slice of ham on each breast. You can slice some large chicken breasts in half to make smaller Chicken Cordon Bleu. Roll chicken and tuck sides in as much as possible. Secure with a toothpick. Dip in butter, roll in bread crumbs. Place on a paper towel and set in the freezer for 1 hour. 
Place in a large zip top bag, label (Chicken Cordon Bleu 350 degrees 35 minutes) 

To serve: Place frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu on a aluminum foil covered cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. 
Serve warm with a green salad and breadsticks 

Cinco De Mayo Quesadillas

To celebrate the 5th of May, we made chicken and cheese quesadillas last night.  I buy uncooked flour torillas at Costco.  I came across these from my neighbor Tiffany as she gave me a suggestion for Kate's baby blessing dinner to recreate Cafe Rio sweet pork burritos.  And now I always buy the tortillas.  I like that they are thinner than the prepackaged cooked ones.  You just bake them on each side on your stovetop and add whatever you want to make your quesadilla or burrito.  We are pretty plain and just add cheddar cheese, grilled chicken and salsa for our quesadillas.  Way easy and my kids love them.  We have even made cinnamon sugar tortillas for dessert.  Tiffany makes breakfast burritos for her kids.  The possibilities are endless.

Pizza Party

Cousin Carsen spent the night last week and we had a pizza party.  My kids love to make their own pizza and happily eat it up.  I roll out Grand Biscuits and then the kids put on sauce and cheese and whatever toppings they want.  Bake as the biscuits package directs.  Easy and FUN!

Chicken Baseballs

One of my scrapbook friends made this for us during one of our scrapbook retreats and it has always been in the back of mind to make it for my kids since her boys liked it so much.  So in trying to figure out what was for dinner tonight at 5:30 it came back to me and I knew I had all the ingredients luckily.  It is super easy and quick.  The following recipe I found on the web uses low-fat ingredients.  

Chicken Baseballs

3 oz. light cream cheese, softened

2 t. light margarine, melted

1/4 t. salt

1/4t. pepper

2 T. chopped onion

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

1 - 8oz. can reduced fat crescent rolls

2 T. skim milk

Bread crumbs

In a blender (or by hand) combine cream cheese, butter, salt, pepper, milk and onion.  Blend.  Pour mixture over chicken and stir.  Separate crescent roll dough into four rectangles and seal perforations.  Spoon 1/2 cup mixture into center of each.  Pull opposite corners of dough to center and seal.  Sprinkle each "baseball" with breadcrumbs and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Taco Salad

This is our simple family meal tonight.  I love it because we just set out bowls of each item and everyone creates their own concoctions.  We make salads, heaping nachos or just bowls of beans and corn. Everyone is happy so mom is happy.

Taco Salad

Layer the following however you wish

Tortilla chips

Lettuce

Taco seasoned ground beef

Kidney beans

Cut corn

Shredded cheddar cheese

Ranch dressing

Salsa

Pepsi Chicken and Vegetables

Got this recipe off of Good Things Utah.  I am trying to add more veggies to our meals.  My kids will always eat chicken and will hopefully try the veggies.

Pepsi Chicken and Vegetables

(Serves 8)  Cooking Time: 1 to 1 1/2 hours

6 to 8 pounds chicken breasts (large breasts cut in to four pieces, small in to two)

1, 16 ounce bottle of Pepsi

1, 24 ounce bottle of Ketchup

salt & pepper

4 tablespoons cornstarch (make it in to a paste with cold water)

vegetables of your choice

Directions: Cut up your vegetables and meat.  Place half of the vegetables in a layer on the bottom and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour the ketchup and the Pepsi on top of this layer.  Place the other half of the vegetables on top of the chicken.  Cook until chicken juices run clear, stirring occasionally.  Thicken sauce with cornstarch paste and bring back to boil.  Serve over rice with rolls or biscuits for a great meal.

Variation/Suggested Veggies:

2 orange bell peppers (cut in chunks)

2 yellow bell peppers (cut in chunks)

2 green bell peppers (cut in chunks)

2 medium purple onions (cut in chunks)

Chicken Pesto Rolls

This was a recipe from Good Things Utah last week also.  Looks so good and so easy and I think my kids will even eat it... yeah!

Chicken Pesto Rolls

Ingredients:

2 tubes of buttermilk biscuits (10 count each)

3 T. of your favorite pesto (or more if you want)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded

3 T. roasted peppers, chopped

2 T. black olives, chopped

Fresh parmesan cheese

Marinara or alfredo sauce

Preparation:

Lay biscuits on floured countertop to form a 9 x 11 rectangle (4 biscuits down, 5 across). Using flour as needed, press biscuits together well.  Blend pesto into the cream cheese and spread mixture over entire surface of dough.  Distribute chicken evenly over pesto cream.  Sprinkle chopped peppers and olives over chicken (optional).  Carefully roll up from the long end and gently compact as you go.  With seam side down, slice into 12 equal sections.  (Using string - as you do to cut Cinnamon rolls). Place slices, on their sides into greased 10 inch round pan or cast iron skillet.  Drizzle lightly with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Roasted chicken and vegetables

I love asparagus and found this recipe last summer. It actually is from the South Beach Diet. I add cubed chicken and mushrooms to make it a one pot meal.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables
1 med zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
1 med summer squash, cut into bite-size pieces
1 med red bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
1 med yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
1 lb fresh asparagus, cut into bite-size pieces
1 red onion, chopped
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper



1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the zucchini, squash, bell peppers, asparagus, and onion in a large roasting pan, and toss with the oil, salt, and black pepper. Spread in a single layer. *this is where you can add in mushrooms but don't add your cooked, cubed chicken until half way thru cooking or it drys out too much
2. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender.

It smells soooo good while it is cooking!

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

I got this from one of my scrapbook buddies.  It's easy and my kids love the chicken.  I have tried to use fat free or reduced fat ingredients to lessen the fat intake. 

4 boneless chicken breasts, cubed (can also cut up after chicken has cooked)

1/8 cup margarine

1 (.7oz.) pkg. Good Seasons dry Italian dressing mix

1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese (I use a reduced fat)

1 can cream of chicken soup (again I use reduced fat or even cream of mushroom soup)

1/4 cup milk just to thin a little

1. Put chicken, margarine and dressing mix in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. (Can cube chicken at this time when cooked)

2. Add cream cheese, soup and milk, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm.

3. Serve over egg noodles or rice.  We added asparagus on the side for a vege which only Brad and I ate but worth the try for the kids to experiment.

Sometimes I don't crockpot this but cook it up at night and it is still very good.  I also buy chicken in bulk, bake it, cube or shred it, and freeze in individual baggies to use in a meal such as this one. One less step for me at dinner time.

Taco Soup

This is the easiest dinner recipe and I know many of you use it often. (Circe this is not for you...I think you have it down!)  Brad doesn't really like it a ton, but my kids do so he has to suffer and especially on nights mom isn't so prepared (like today).  This was already posted on my family blog but of course I need to post it here now.  My recipe comes out of the Lion House Christmas Recipes Book.  Not that this is already quick enough, but a short cut I do monthly is to buy bulk ground beef at Sams/Costco and fry it all up then divide into around 1 lb. baggies and freeze.  Then I can thaw a baggie in the microwave and toss it into the soup saving me a step.

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pkg. mild taco seasoning mix

1 16oz. can cut corn

1 16oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I use 2 because my girls love them)

1 28oz. can stewed tomatoes

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

Tortilla chips

Grated cheese

Brown ground beef in heavy saucepan.  Drain.  Saute chopped onion; add to ground beef.  Stir in taco seasoning, corn, kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Serve topped with tortilla chips and grated cheese.  Makes 8 servings.

Bratwurst-Potato Skillet Dinner

Serves 2-4
2 t. extra virgin olive oil
2 medium potatoes, but in half lengthwise and sliced
4-6 fully cooked bratwursts, cut into bite size pieces (we used Johnsonville)
1 small red onion, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced
2 T. teriyaki sauce
1 T. orange juice
1/2 t. dried basil
1/8 t. black pepper

1. In a large heavy skillet heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Cook the potatoes until they are lightly browned and crisp-tender, about 20 minutes turning occasionally.
3. Add the bratwurst, onion, and red and yellow bell peppers.
4. Stirring occasionally, cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender and heated through, 10-15 minutes.
5. Combine the teriyaki sauce, orange juice, basil, and pepper in a small bowl.
6. Stir the sauce mixture into the brats and veges, and heat through, about 5-10 minutes.
7. Serve with Stone Ground or Spicy Mustard on the side for dipping the brats.