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Skillet Shepherd’s Pie

Shephard's Pie

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Date: March 18th, 2013

Recipe: http://ellysaysopa.com/2013/02/01/skillet-shepherds-pie/

Modifications: I used a couple more carrots and celery stalks than it called for because we had extra. I also cooked the ground beef separately because I wanted to drain the fat.

Time to table: 50 minutes

Servings: Four adults, two toddlers, and two more lunches

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie & Luke: Like

Notes: This was a great cold weather meal that we’ll have to add to our repertoire for next winter, and it’s also versatile. I think I would mix in some sausage next time too. With all the vegetables it ends up being decently healthy I think, too.

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Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli

Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli

Date: February 20th, 2013

Recipe: http://clippingmoney.blogspot.com/2012/07/crock-pot-cheesy-chicken-brocolli-over.html

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 6 hours cook time.

Servings: Two dinners

Ben: Dislike

Erin: Dislike

Annie & Luke: Like

Notes: This meal was a case of the kids liking it, but us not so much. This just tasted a little bland to us, and I didn’t really care for the cheesy flavor. I can’t put my finger on it, but it didn’t sit right with me. This was a very easy meal to make and a good week night option if you can spare the time in the morning to get it in the crock pot.

Sad sick Luke

White Bean Chicken Chili

Crockpot White Bean Chili

Date: February 13rd, 2013

Recipe: http://www.erinsfoodfiles.com/2012/11/slow-cooker-white-bean-chicken-chili.html

Modifications: We used chicken thighs instead of breasts because they’re cheaper. We also threw in some onion, celery, and garlic to add some veggies.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 6 hours cook time.

Servings: Dinner with the neighbors and two lunches

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This chili was awesome and incredibly easy. I chopped up the veggies the night before so in the morning I just had to dump everything into the crockpot and turn it on. We brought this next door to eat with the neighbors and still had plenty leftover for our lunches, even after having second helpings for dinner.

Mia and Annie eating chili

Chicken enchiladas with avocado cream sauce

Chicken enchiladas with avocado cream sauce

Date: February 10th, 2013

Recipe: http://hannahholzmann.com/cilantro-lime-chicken-enchiladas/

Modifications: None, but we used some frozen shredded chicken and turkey that was leftover from a previous meal.

Time to table: 60 minutes

Servings: dinner and three lunches from leftovers

Ben: Like

Erin: Like (did not like the leftovers)

Annie: Like

Notes: I made the cream sauce earlier in the day, which made dinner time go a little smoother. Despite the long list of ingredients and instructions, these are rather simple enchiladas. I used salsa verde instead of red salsa, just a personal preference. I really liked the avocado cream sauce, we had not had that before and it was really good. Erin did not care for the way these reheated for lunches though, they were too soggy and kind of grossed her out.

Chicken enchiladas with avocado cream sauce

Burrito Soup

Burrito Soup

Date: January 1st, 2013

Recipe: http://ellysaysopa.com/2008/12/15/crockpot-burrito-soup/

Modifications: We used ground turkey instead of beef, just a personal preference.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, couple hours cook time

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This soup is incredibly easy to make and tastes excellent, perfect for winter weekday dinners. We made the rice separate this time, per the update to the original post. Making the rice separately was nice for leftovers as well, as you could make fresh rice to go with the soup for lunch. Annie particularly enjoyed crushing the chips into her soup :)

Annie eating burrito soup

Shrimp Enchiladas with Roasted Poblano Sauce

Shrimp Enchiladas with Roasted Poblano Cream sauce

Date: December 28th, 2012

Recipe: http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/12/05/shrimp-enchiladas-with-roasted-poblano-sauce/

Tortillas: http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/11/01/diy-flour-tortillas/

Modifications: I only used one adobo pepper in the sauce because I didn’t want it as spicy for the toddlers.

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: 7 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: Ben and I were both home last week while the kids were in daycare, so we each spent part of a day making a more elaborate meal than normal. His was the cassoulet, and this was mine! I wanted to try my hand at making tortillas, and then I also made a dessert that was part of Ben’s Christmas present from me, so I was pretty much in the kitchen the entire day. I am my own worst critic after I’ve spent so long on a meal – I did REALLY like these, but they weren’t quite as saucy as I prefer enchiladas (perhaps because they sat out with the sauce on before baking for awhile) and because my tortillas weren’t very uniform they were kind of ugly too. The tortillas were actually pretty easy, but I do not have (nor do I want) a discerning enough palate to appreciate the flavor of homemade tortillas vs store bought. I will gladly pay $3 to not spend an hour making dough, individually weighing dough pieces, rolling out and frying each one. Fun to do once, definitely, but the taste wasn’t much better to me than the ones we buy. I LOVED the filling of these – shredded cabbage, carrots, and spinach with shrimp sounds super odd but it was a great mix and with the creamy sauce was awesome. I’m not typically a huge shrimp fan, but it worked well in these. We’ll definitely have these again! (except try to cut some steps since this did take FOR-EV-ER – not a weeknight meal, for sure). I think you could prep the veggies for the filling in advance, roast the poblanos and chop in advance, and then it’d come together quick enough to be made on a weeknight.

Lots of photos of this process…

Flour Tortillas
Dough for tortillas

Flour Tortillas
Rolled out as thin as I could make it

Flour Tortillas

Flour Tortillas
Finished tortillas

Roasted Poblano Peppers
Roasted poblanos

Shrimp enchilada filling
The filling

Roasted Poblano Cream sauce
Roasted poblano cream sauce

Shrimp Enchiladas with Roasted Poblano Cream sauce

Twix Trifles
Dessert – kind of meh because neither pudding tasted like I felt like it should (aka, like the stuff from a box) but I call it a win because I successfully made caramel, and hey – can’t go wrong with this much sugar and cream and chopped twix no matter what!

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup

Date: December 18th, 2012

Recipe: http://ellysaysopa.com/2012/10/15/slowcooker-loaded-potato-soup/

Modifications:  I didn’t peel the potatoes, duh.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 4-6 hours in crock pot

Servings: Roughly 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This soup was a great weekday meal if you have a little time in the morning to prep the bacon and onion/flour mixture. The leftovers were better than the initial meal, in my opinion, as it thickened up more in the fridge.

Sweet potato and black bean enchiladas

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

Date: October 16, 2012

Recipe: http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/10/sweet-potato-and-black-bean-green-enchiladas/

Modifications: None, actually. Well, we forgot the cilantro I guess.

Time to table: 60 minutes

Servings: 9 good sized enchiladas

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: These were excellent! They didn’t have any sauce on the inside of the enchilada as we’re accustomed to but I put in plenty of cheese. Not having sauce inside saves time on assembling them as well. I loved using salsa verde as the sauce too, instead of red enchilada sauce. Definitely going to be making these again!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Date: July 18th, 2012

Recipe: http://ellysaysopa.com/2012/05/06/meatless-monday-southwestern-stuffed-sweet-potatoes/

Modifications:  None

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: 3 potatoes

Ben: LOVE

Erin: Love

Annie: Dislike, so she says.

Notes: We’re big fans of twice baked potatoes in this house, so I don’t know why it took us so long to try this variation. These were incredibly good, easy, and healthy to boot. They made great leftovers and because of all the extra ingredients  you add to the potato filling, there is enough leftover mix to put inside tortillas for a little variety.

Annie helping cook

My helper.

Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos

Sweet Potato Foil Packets

Date: 5/8/2012

Recipe: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/sweet-potato-foil-packet-tacos/

Modifications: I used ground turkey, black beans, and did not peel the sweet potatoes. I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I just used some crushed tomatoes instead. We use this taco seasoning recipe.

Time to table: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes of baking time

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: My friend Chelsea sent me this recipe, and I immediately knew it would be a winner in our house! The best part about these is that you really can prep everything completely beforehand, and then just pop the foil packets in the oven when you’re ready to eat. Ben has an oven at work and was able to bring the extra packets to work the next few days. It is important to layer the packets with the sweet potatoes on the bottom, if they are on top they won’t get cooked through. We served with tortillas and sour cream.

Sweet Potato Foil Packets