Menu #2 of 2013

After a December of stopping at the store every evening on the way home from work, or eating out, or eating whatever junk we could throw together I am SO happy to be back to meal planning. I've been following my first menu of 2013 almost exactly and it has been great. Made the menu and bought all the ingredients - all I have to do is pick which recipe I want to make. While some of the recipes I make take some time and effort I always feel like I spend as much time or more just figuring out what to make when I don't have a menu. Besides, trying all of these new recipes is fun, I enjoy putting them together and, so far, almost everything has been really tasty!

As has been my modus operendi lately I pulled many of these recipes from Pinterest. Don't get me wrong, we have favorites at our house - those trusty old standby's that always hit the spot - but I love experiencing new tastes! So here's menu #2:

• Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole
• Greek Quesadillas & Greed Salad
• Tofu Pad Thai (Lilly LOVED this recipe)
• Flank Steak Rolls & Ratatouille
• Tuna Melts & Baked Pickles
• Enchiladas (see here's one of those favorites)
• Shrimp Fried Rice
• Crockpot Zuppa Toscana
• Chicken Tiki Masala with Brown Rice and Naan
• Lasagna Rolls & Caesar Salad (I found a homemade Caesar dressing that is delicious!)
• Mushroom Soup & BLTA's
• Mexican Haystacks
• Crockpot Honey Apple Port Roast & Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Garlic Aoili
• Mississippi Roast (tweaked my way, of course)

I've been considering posting all of the recipes (maybe on a different page of my blog?) and/or creating a shopping list. Is there anyone out there that reads my humble little blog that would benefit from that? When I create my own shopping list I only write down the things I don't have on hand - and I usually have A LOT of things on hand (my friends say that they will be coming to my house in case of the Apocalypse).

Here's my family's review of Menu #1:

Steak and Shrimp - Baked potato - Caesar salad (New Year's Day).

This was the special at our local IGA and Brandon cooked them wonderfully!

Linguine with Clam Sauce.

One of my new stand-by's. I got this recipe from a Family Circle and I don't think I tweaked hardly anything. Everyone loves this one and the total cost for the entire meal is about $6.00 and it feeds the 4 of us plus one or two lunches the next day - depending on whether Logan is on a growing spurt.

White Chicken Chili.

Another stand-by. I picked this one because I can crockpot it for wrestling nights. One of my favorite recipes EVER.

Pork Carnitas Burritos.

We are having these tomorrow so no report yet.

Tofu Pad Thai.

I know a lot of people scrunch their nose up at the mention of tofu but it really can be quite tasty. I like to marinate it in an extra batch of the sauce for the Pad Thai and fry it until it is crispy. If you are hesitant I would encourage you to try it AND make sure you buy the extra-firm tofu - it has the consistency of chicken. The whole family loved this dish too and you can put it together in about 30 minutes.

Philly Steak Stuffed Peppers & Roasted Yukons.

Holy Smokes! These were delicious! I found the recipe on Pinterest - if you're on there you will probably have seen it. The problem is I used to work for a Philly Cheesesteak restaurant, run by a guy from Philly, who had his ingredients shipped from Philly and this recipe called for deli roast beef. I'm sorry but no proper cheesesteak, or cheesesteak-type food, can be made without prime sliced ribeye. That's what we made ours with and they were phenomenal.

Shrimp in Jalapeno cream sauce - Pinquito beans - Mexican Rice.

Another recipe we haven't quite gotten to yet. Maybe Sunday?

Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake & Veggies.

This is one of the first recipes I made in the new year and while Logan is not especially keen on pesto, I found these to be incredibly delicious, as did the hubs and Lil.

BBQ Kielbasa - Coleslaw - Potato salad.

Hubs and I are both working at the wrestling tournament this weekend so this will be a pretty easy dinner for Saturday night.

Quinoa Veggie Fried Rice.

I'm slowly but surely working this miracle food into our diet more and more. This was not my favorite recipe. I'm not sure I would make it again. It was ok, and everyone ate it, but it was not show stopping.

Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken.

The kids and the hubs really enjoyed this meal. I found it to be lacking in peanut flavor and think if I make it again I will use a different type of peanut butter.

Parma Rosa Veggie Primavera.

This is just a throw together recipe for me. We love the Knorr powdered sauce mixes you find near the taco seasoning. Parma Rosa is one of our favorites. I like to work at least one or two vegetarian meals into each week. This isn't because I have anything against meat, I think that vegetarian menus use ingredients in new and innovative ways and that is something I really like. For this one I chop up whatever veggies we have around - zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, onion, red bell pepper - toss in a bag with 1/4 cup of butter, garlic and lemon juice and roast in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cook your pasta and drain. Make up the sauce according to package directions and mix all together. Top with Parmesan cheese. Yummy!

Breakfast for Dinner.

Need I say more.

Seasoned grilled chicken over Zuchinni & Roasted potatoes.

This is a dish I had at Applebees (off their 500 cal and under menu) and decided I could recreate at home. Everyone liked it and it was super simple and quick to make.

Quinoa & Sweet Potato stuffed Portobellos.

This was another vegetarian dish. I LOVE that my kids have a dinner such as this one and ooh and aah over it. I'm so glad that I do not have picky eaters. I guess it helps that in general I'm a pretty good cook, and they've tried things in the past they didn't think they'd like and have been wrong, and so in general they trust me when I tell them I think they'll like it. A definite keeper. Can't wait to enter it into my Reedy Family Recipe Cookbook.

Stuffed Acorn Squash - Veggie Rice.

This one got the boot this time because I could not find acorn squash ANYWHERE! This is a really good recipe - especially in the fall when the weather is just turning colder and the leaves are falling outside. (Ok, I'm nostalgic) I replaced it with mustard rubbed Shake-n-Bake pork chops, roasted asparagus and Kraft Mac & Cheese.

Crockpot Noodle Bake (Brandon asked that I not call this lasagna. My homemade lasagna is his favorite and he cannot believe that this dish will do it justice - awww, what a guy).

Ok, I will admit it, I couldn't do it. I broke down and just made lasagna - the old fashioned way.

Tortellini Soup (Lilly's Birthday Dinner with Family).

One of the kids very favorite dinners....tripled in size! This recipe is good even doubled or tripled and is great for a laid back family get together.

Dinner out for Lilly's Birthday.

Maybe I was hungry but the Old Spaghetti Factory hit the spot!

I hope you all are inspired to try new foods. If you come across something you think we need to try please send it my way!