Category Archives: Recipes

Our Go-To Weekly Meals – When life gets hectic!

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White Chicken Chili (without beans) – Just 100% good and quick!  Follow the crock-pot recipe to make it ridiculously easy.  www.TheRealFoodRDS.com  Serve with some tortilla chips or diced avocado. (photo from TheRealFoodRDS)

Taco Tuesday Stuffed Peppers – Not the easiest or quickest but it’s totally worth the work.   Recipe is here.  I love to make these in addition to our regular Taco night menu.  They make perfect leftovers for lunch to-go.  (My photo)

Sheet Pan Dinners – One pan and done.   I love these type of dinners.  Just be sure you have a higher quality sheet pan so it doesn’t warp in the middle of baking.  I typically use Chicken Thighs or Boneless Pork Chops.  Check it out here  www.TheKitchn.com (photo from TheKitchn)

Spaghetti & The Meatball – Yep you read that right “THE Meatball”, meaning one meatball 🙂  A step up from our typical sketti & frozen meatballs & sauce dish.  We like to follow this recipe from www.HalfBakedHarvest.com except we double the meat and divide into 8-10 large meatballs.  (photo from HalfBakedHarvest)

Whole30 Style Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Dupe) –  I’ve tried a few different variations and they always turn out super yummy.   Check out the recipe here: www.FarmsteadChic.com   (photo from FarmsteadChic)

 

MYO Night – also known as Make Your Own and/or Leftover night.  The kids really hate to see this on our meal board.  They eventually figure something out and all is good again in the world.

 

Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers

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I love a pretty plate!   The combination of colors just look yummy.

This is one of our go-to dishes when we are bored with Taco Night.

And I’ll get right to the recipe…..  Note:  This could easily be altered to a vegan dish with the right substitutions.

3 large bell peppers (red, yellow & green)
1 pkg Spanish Style Rice of your choice
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 can black beans drained
1 pkg Taco seasoning
1 cup of water
Olive Oil
Shredded Cheese – Cheddar or Colby Jack
Fresh Cilantro, Sour cream or Guacamole
Mixed Greens and dressing of your choice

Pre-heat oven to 350
Start the rice, following the directions on the package.  Typically this will take 20-30 min.
Slice bell peppers in half long-wise, clean out seeds trying to keep as much of the stem area in tact.  This will create a little “boat” for the stuffing mixture.
Place the bell pepper halves in an oblong, shallow casserole dish with aprox a cup of water.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 8-12 minutes or until the peppers start to soften.
While peppers and rice are cooking, brown the ground turkey in a large skillet.  Follow cooking directions on Taco seasoning packet.
Once turkey is browned and taco seasoning has been added, mix in the drained black beans.  Let cook until all the liquids have been absorbed.
When the rice is finished add to turkey and bean mixture.
Place softened bell peppers in a 13X9 casserole dish…. this could be the same dish you already used, just drain out the water.  Now fill the peppers with the turkey mixture.  I like to press down gently to make sure I get all of the pepper filled.  Finally I top with some shredded cheese and pop in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve topped with fresh cilantro, a side salad or guac and chips and you have a delicious and beautiful meal!   This will make 6 small servings.  I love having these ready to go for leftovers!  For our big family I make these along with regular taco meat and all the basics. 🙂

It’s Soup Day!

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Butternut Squash Soup

Since it’s been super cold we have been pulling out all our favorite soup recipes. One of the easiest and my most favorite is the Butternut Squash Soup.

Pan of yum!

With any further blah, blah, blah here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

One package cubed butternut squash (found in the produce section)
2 cups baby carrots
3 stalks celery chopped
One small onion chopped
4 garlic cloves smashed and roughly chopped
2 TB Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh Rosemary
2 TB Thyme
2 TB Rubbed Sage
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (reduce if you’d prefer a little less spicy)
4 cups Vegetable Stock or chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350
Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Place all chopped vegetables on baking sheet and drizzle with Olive oil. Sprinkle spices over veggies including salt & pepper and gently stir to coat. Top with 3 sprigs of rosemary. Roast for 1 hour.
Remove veggies and place in a large pot, add half the broth and puree until smooth with an immersion blender. (Be careful not to scratch your pot or get splattered!)  You can also use a food processor following the same method. Add remaining broth and heat over medium high. Serve immediately or let cool and freeze. I like to top mine with a little sprig of Rosemary.

This recipe takes about 1.5 hours from start to finish and makes about 6 servings.

I have altered the original recipe a bit since I made it the first time over a year ago. It’s super easy and mostly everything can be prepared ahead of time.

Also……………….

Roasted Cauli & Dipping Sauce

If you caught my Instagram Live’s you got to see this delicious beauty during the prep & cook process.

Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Goat Cheese Dipping Sauce ….. just like the one at Domenica we drooled over last month!!

Here’s the recipe we followed.  It’s a little time consuming but totally worth it!

Let me know if you like it!  Enjoy!!!

The quickest, easiest, yummiest Chicken & Wild Rice Soup EVER!

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Chicken Soup feeds the soul as well as your whole family 🙂

A recipe I have been making for over 14 years and it is still one of my favorites.

GASP – 14 years?

OK, I’m back.  I needed a minute.  I had a flashback of making this soup when I was pregnant with my 13 year old.

How. Is. It. Possible?IMG_8490.jpg

OK, I’m back from my second meltdown….. Moving on.

The recipe:  Total time 20-45 minutes…..

  • 2 TB olive Oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 8-10 cups chicken broth
  • 1 Rotisserie Chicken – COOKED (I grab one from Publix or Walmart in a plain flavor, Lemon Pepper or Mojo works good, BBQ not so much)
  • 1 box  Wild Rice Mix WITH seasoning packet – Fast Cook Version* if you can find it, otherwise the regular will do
  • 1 Can Cream of Chicken SoupDirections – Pour the Olive Oil into a large pot over medium heat.  Saute the onions and carrots until the onions are translucent.  Add in the 8 cups chicken broth, if you want to add two more cups feel free.
    While your waiting for the broth to boil, pull chicken from bones and shred into the broth.  I usually get my hands all in it, kinda mashing and shredding the chicken.  I USE ALL THE MEAT.  WHITE AND DARK!  To me, it adds to the flavor of the soup.
    Once all the meat is all shredded and added to the broth mixture, and you have a nice boil going add in the seasoning packet.  Let that boil for a couple minutes while you stir to make sure it’s all incorporated and doesn’t clump up.  Add in the rice and reduce temp after it comes back up to a boil.
    At this point, follow the cooking directions on the rice box.  If you were able to find the Fast Cook version – YAY – cover & cook for 5 minutes.  Otherwise follow the instructions, typically cover and cook for 20 minutes.   Not earth shattering but we are LIMITED on TIME HERE!!!!  Must be QUICK to be “the quickest”!!
    Last step is to add the can of cream of chicken soup and stir occasionally as it simmers for another 5 min or so.  You want to make sure it mixes in completely and doesn’t hang out in globs, clumps, chunks, ok you get the drift.

Stand back and observe the amazing goodness you just prepared…… Ah, so good!

Top it with some hot sauce if you like and maybe a cracker or slice of sourdough bread and savor the yumminess!

You’re welcome 😉

PS: Perfect Freezer meal once you let it cool enough. AND……. This recipe feeds my family of 7 with some leftover.  Score.

Enjoy!!  XOXO

Keep it simple, sister

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imageIt is so easy to get overwhelmed.

Daily distractions can derail your goals in a heartbeat.

Two days later you realize instead of taking steps toward your goal you’ve taken steps backwards.

Writing things down has been my “go-to” goal planning system.

Do I always follow it?  Heck no, I’m a human.  I make mistakes.  I get distracted by the pretty things that flutter into my head.  Just take a look at the 5 -10 window tabs I have open at any given time.  haha, Seriously.  It is ADD at its’ worst.

Anyone that knows me knows I love a good list.  I make lists for the grocery store, vacations, yard work, daily to-do, kids homework, housework, bills… it’s’ kinda weird. But it helps me get things done!

True story: I was pregnant with my second son and working full time.  I had a list of things that needed to be completed by a certain deadline, knowing his due date was fastly approaching.  The day I crossed off the final time-sensitive project, guess what happened….. I went into labor the night!!  Within 5 hours he was swaddled and the grandparents were cooing over him.  I truly believe crossing that final task off my list gave me the satisfaction I had completed my responsibilities to my position and I could move on the my next priority – my son.

In an effort to share useful information along with my randomness here ya go:  I love the following posts from Pinterest, I hope you do too!
Time Management Mistakes

How to Manifest Anything by Corey Buter

5 Minutes to a more Productive Day

 

And because I am who I am and will never apologize for it here are a couple other Pinterest Posts that caught my eye 🙂

Paleo/Whole30 Veggie Quichequiche

 

Pretty Potted Plant Project

plants

And then here’s my cute kitty for all the real ADD sufferers….

 

Hopefully that will satisfy your needs and help you get back on track by scrolling back to the more helpful posts I included.

Carry on friends!  And keep it simple 🙂

XOXO

 

Whole30 is the Bomb-digity!

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I went into this Whole30 “thing” with serious trepidation.
My friends said “Ew!, Really?  Are you sure you want to do that?”
Black Coffee, No Wine, No Bread, No Pasta?  Ew!

Guess what?  I LOVE IT!!

Black coffee?  Heck no, take some heated unsweetened Almond milk and a tsp of cinnamon, froth it up and add it to your coffee – heaven! Check out the recipe here!

No Wine? Yeah, so what no wine for 30 days won’t kill me.  I’ve got a gorgeous bottle of red waiting on me 🙂

No Bread, pasta, etc: I’m fine with out that stuff.  It’s all fluff to me at this point.

My scale is the motivation to continue.  

My energy is the motivation to continue.

My reflection is the motivation to continue.

Give it a try.  You will be amazed!

The recipes pictured are:

Top Right – Roasted Butternut Squash Soup by Ahead of Thyme

Top Left – One Pan Baked Chicken from Kitchn , I added the lemon slices towards the end

Bottom Left – Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti – can’t find the recipe but you can easily recreate 🙂

Bottom Right – Roasted Cauliflower Soup from The Whole Smith’s

So much yumminess!!!