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Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos

May 12th, 2012
by erin.
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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

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Apr 28th, 2012
by erin.
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Date: 4/26/2012

Recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2009/02/27/sausage-and-spinach-stuffed-shells/

Modifications: I got diced tomatoes for the “chopped tomatoes” called for in the recipe – I’m not sure if there is a different thing actually called chopped tomatoes, but if there is, I couldn’t find it. I only made 2 8×8 pans, and for my preference, there wasn’t NEARLY enough sauce. I added a large can of crushed tomatoes to the top – a 28oz can split pretty evenly between both pans.

Time to table: 1 hour prep, ~1 hour baking time

Servings: Three 8×8 pans (but I got only 2 + some extra)

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: This made a little more than 2 8×8 pans for me – but the remaining weren’t quite enough for another pan. I used my small pampered chef cookie scoop to stuff  the shells – about 2 scoops per shell. I froze the 2nd 8×8 pan prior to the baking step. This is very similar to the other stuffed shells recipe we tried, but I liked this one better, especially since I knew to add a lot more sauce. The filling was especially rich and delicious, probably due to using sausage versus turkey.

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Chicken chili verde

Feb 22nd, 2012
by ben.
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Crockpot Chicken Chili Verde

Date: 2/6/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/10/04/crock-pot-chicken-chili-verde/

Modifications: We basically turned this into a chili and didn’t serve it over rice. We added chopped spinach and white beans at the end. For the chicken we used a 1.6 lb package of boneless, skinless thighs. I upped the garlic from one clove to six.

Time to table: 15 minutes prep, 4 hours cook time

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: I thought to add the spinach later on in this recipe, then as Erin was looking at it, she remarked that it was odd that it didn’t have any beans in it. Knowing that we had a can of beans in the cupboard, I threw those in too, forgetting it was supposed to be served over rice, so it became more of a chili, but I thought these were great modifications. The only liquid in the dish is from the salsa verde. We topped our with cheese and sour cream and had the remaining beer bread along with it as well. We’ll definitely make this again and I think I’ll add more spinach or another vegetable. This ended up being similar to the white chicken chili we’ve made before, not sure which one I like better.

Crockpot Chicken Chili Verde

Smokey Mac and Cheese with Squash and Spinach

Feb 8th, 2012
by erin.
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Smokey Mac & Cheese with squash and spinach

Date: 2/6/2012

Recipe: http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/01/smoky-mac-and-cheese-with-squash-and-spinach/

Modifications: I ended up having a ton of gouda, so did not add any additional cheddar. This probably just made it even better, and certainly helped the “smokiness”.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: We all enjoyed this – as Sonja indicates in the recipe, by far the hardest part is peeling and chopping the squash (so it’s not that hard really :) – but if you do that in advance, this all comes together pretty quickly! This is very similar to this recipe - I enjoyed both, but it is nice to skip the roasting squash and baking step if you’re pressed for time!

Annie with her mac & Cheese

Annie has wised up to my dinner photo routine – now instead of just continuing to eat while I take photos of her, she helpfully holds out her bowl as well, so I can take a pic of it like I took one of my own :)

Spaghetti Pie

Feb 6th, 2012
by erin.
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Spaghetti Pie

Date: 1/26/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2010/08/31/spaghetti-pie/

Modifications: We used ground beef, and added chopped spinach to the sauce mixture. I also baked this in a cake pan instead of a pie pan and it was FULL.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes bake time

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: Our neighbors are big fans of this meal so I’ve wanted to try it out – I think it could have just used more sauce because the noodles got a bit dry. We made quite a big batch of the tomato sauce recipe linked in the post, so we had extra.

Spaghetti Pie

Annie eating spaghetti pie
Examining the mess on her hands

Tortellini Salad

Dec 29th, 2011
by erin.
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Tortellini Salad

Date: 12/25/2011

Recipe: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2010/01/balsamic-chicken-spinach-and-tomato-pasta-salad/

Time to table: 30 minutes

Modifications: Since this was a side dish, we left out the chicken. We also doubled this. I didn’t use Newman’s Own dressing, just some generic balsamic.

Servings: I think there were around … oh, 17 adults or something? The single recipe would easily feed 6 I think.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Dislike, would not try a bite.

Notes: Everyone really liked this! It felt very summery (as most of the ingredients are freshest in summer obviously) which was a nice change of pace – but obviously this would be better in the summer using actual fresh ingredients. Stuff like basil and tomatoes right now are pretty sad, but I still enjoyed it despite that.

Sour cream cod and cheesy spinach rice

Dec 20th, 2011
by ben.
2 comments

Sour Cream Cod and Cheesy Spinach Rice

Date: 12/11/2011

Fish recipe: http://lizscookingblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/sour-cream-halibut.html

Rice recipe: http://ellysaysopa.com/2011/10/07/creamy-cheesy-garlicky-rice-with-spinach/

Time to table: 60 minutes

Modifications: We used cod instead of halibut from the recipe because the halibut was over twice the price of cod and we just don’t care that much.

Servings: 2 adults, with extra rice

Ben: LOVE

Erin: Loved the rice, liked the fish

Notes: Erin and I ate this after Annie went to bed as a stay-home-date-dinner :) Sure is easy to forget how laid back a meal can be without a toddler to prep, cajole, and clean up after at the same time. Seriously though, the fish was good, but the highlight of the meal for me was the rice. The recipe doesn’t lie when they say it tastes just like risotto without all the work, it was delicious.

Sour Cream Cod

Stuffed shells

Dec 19th, 2011
by ben.
1 comment

Stuffed Shells

Date: 12/12/2011

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2009/11/02/baked-shells/

Modifications: We added a large handful of spinach, chopped up, to the shell filling.

Time to table: 90 minutes

Servings: 8 adult servings

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: The prep time is about an hour for this, but the nice thing is that you can make them the night before and just bake them the next day. We had Erin’s family over for dinner and it served all six of us plus Annie and we had enough leftover for Erin and Annie to get another dinner out of it, so it’s certainly a good dish for a crew. We should have used more sauce on top as they were a little dry. This will make a great freezer meal in preparation for baby #2 due in February.

Family dinner

Crockpot lasagna

Dec 6th, 2011
by ben.
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Crockpot Veggie Lasagna
Date: 12/1/2011

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/09/14/crock-pot-veggie-lasagna/

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 4 hours cook time

Modifications: We used a head of cauliflower and a handful of spinach for our veggies.

Servings: 6 adult meals

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: I actually liked this more than I thought I would, especially with some sriracha :) There were enough leftovers to skip lunch and just have it for another full dinner, which is always nice.

Crockpot Veggie Lasagna

Crockpot Veggie Lasagna

Italian Spinach and Egg Soup

Nov 8th, 2011
by ben.
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Italian Spinach and Egg “Stracciatella” Soup

Date: 11/2/2011

Recipe: http://www.acouplecooks.com/2011/10/italian-spinach-and-egg-stracciatella-soup/

Time to table: 30 minutes

Modifications: I left the garlic in the soup, cause why not? :)

Servings: 2 adult dinners, 2 adult lunches

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: I actually liked this a lot better as leftovers when I was hungover under the weather, with some sriracha. I had this on both weekend days for lunch and it was delicious. We were surprised that Annie even got any of this in her mouth, but she seemed to enjoy it, and picked out the beans to eat specifically. This may have been because we showed her a cracker and put it in the soup… but whatever works.

Italian Spinach and Egg “Stracciatella” Soup

Annie eating soup

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