We got fed

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Posted on April 28, 2012 by erin

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.

Posted in basil, cheese, eggs, garlic, italian sausage, onion, panko, parmesan, pasta, ricotta cheese, spinach, tomatoes | Comments Off

Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad

Posted on April 25, 2012 by erin

Annie’s portion

Date: 4/24/2012

Recipe: http://www.goodthymesandgoodfood.com/2012/04/southwest-avocado-chicken-salad.html

Modifications: I modified this quite a bit. Instead of serving it in the avocado halves, I just chopped up the avocados and mixed them in. I used a whole can of black beans, 2 chopped tomatoes, 2 chopped avocados and the rest of the ingredients except white wine vinegar because I didn’t have any. We also left the chips out and just served this as a dip.

Time to table: 20 minutes

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: This was an excellent summer meal! We all really liked it – I’m a huge fan of chips and dip so any dip is a winner for me 🙂 Annie LOVES guacamole already, so I figured she’d enjoy this. We will definitely be making this again – I always have a hard time coming up with meals we all like in the summer since we typically enjoy warm comfort foods, so this will be a good one to add to the rotation. Today I had this with the crushed up chips in a wrap for lunch… delish!

Luke enjoyed dinner 🙂

Posted in avocado, chicken | Comments Off

Brussel sprout hash

Posted on April 23, 2012 by ben

Date: 4/19/2012

Recipe:

1 small sweet potato, diced
1 onion, diced
1 bunch brussel sprouts, quartered
5 cloves garlic, minced
~6 strips of bacon
shredded cheddar cheese
one egg per person

Cook the bacon in a skillet. Remove from pan and save the grease. Cook the sweet potato, onion, brussel sprouts, and garlic in the bacon grease. While the vegetables are cooking, chop up the cooked bacon. When the vegetables are done (or nearly done) mix the bacon back in. Turn off the heat and top the mixture with the cheddar cheese and cover the skillet to let the cheese melt.

While the cheese is melting, fry up one egg for each person. Serve the hash in a bowl/plate and top each dish with a fried egg.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Servings: 2 adults, 1 toddler

Ben: Love

Erin: Like

Annie: Dislike

Notes: This is similar to another dish I’ve made before, but it was different enough that I figured I’d post it. I absolutely love this meal and would eat it very often. I also feel that in spite of the bacon and the bacon grease, it has enough healthy components going for it to be a guilt-free meal. Annie didn’t necessarily not “like” it, as much as she just ignored it, just part of being a toddler I guess. We’re sometime dumbfounded by what she decides she doesn’t want to eat. Veggies cooked in bacon grease, with cheese, and an egg?!?! Whatever. 🙂

Posted in bacon, brussel sprouts, cheese, eggs, garlic, one dish meal, onion, sweet potato | Comments Off

Pasta carbonara

Posted on April 22, 2012 by ben

Date: 4/13/2012

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/cooking-with-ryan-pasta-carbonara/

Modifications: None

Time to table: 40 minutes

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Notes: Erin and I made this for a “stay at home” date night, where we put both kids to bed and then made ourselves dinner. It was a lot of fun to be able to just focus on cooking food and eating it without the usual distractions. We’ve made this dish before, and it was just as delicious and unhealthy as I remembered it 🙂 It made a ridiculous amount and we ate it for several lunches in the next few days.

Posted in bacon, date night, eggs, garlic, onion, parmesan, parsley, pasta | 2 Comments

Chili Macaroni and Cheese

Posted on April 20, 2012 by erin

Date: 4/18/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/02/02/four-bean-chili-mac-cheese/

Modifications: I added a lot of sour cream since I was using 2% milk and because sour cream is delicious, and I think I used too much pasta so I added more chili and cheese to compensate.

Time to table: 20 minutes

Servings: 5 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: Again, this was so easy – I LOVE the concept of using leftovers to make a slightly different meal. We will definitely be trying this more! We all loved this meal in both forms – Annie probably enjoyed it a bit more here – mostly she just picked out each noodle though 🙂

Posted in black beans, cheese, garlic, green pepper, kidney beans, milk, pasta, pinto beans, sour cream, tomatoes, triple love, turkey, white beans | 1 Comment

Four Bean Chili

Posted on April 19, 2012 by erin

Date: 4/16/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/02/01/four-bean-chili/

Modifications: I used ground turkey instead of beef, and added a chopped bell pepper.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 6-8 hours cooking time.

Servings: A lot – this nearly filled our crockpot – at least 8 adults.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This chili was really good! We all are bean lovers, so this went over well. Annie enjoyed narrating which bean she was eating at that time 🙂 This is part of a 3 in 1 meal that weelicious posted, so the next post will be what we did with the leftovers.

Posted in black beans, crockpot, green pepper, kidney beans, one dish meal, onion, pinto beans, tomatoes, triple love, turkey, white beans | 2 Comments

Herbed Risotto with Chicken and Carmelized Onions

Posted on April 13, 2012 by erin

Date: 4/9/2012

Recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2011/01/13/herbed-risotto-with-chicken-and-caramelized-onions/

Modifications: I cooked 3 chicken breasts, but it seemed like FAR too much chicken – I probably only used 1.5 and then we saved the rest for another meal. I also forgot the butter at the end and it still seemed plenty rich and delicious 🙂

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: Risotto is one of those meals that is always a hit. How could it not, with all that cheese and butter?? The carmelized onions really put this one over the top for me. It was delicious. Annie (of Annie’s Eats, not my child) says this method is easier, but for the time you save from stirring, I spent shredding chicken, which is one of my most hated tasks in the kitchen. This still seemed plenty involved – wouldn’t be what I would call a “quick dinner” but it was worth it! Luke enjoyed watching me cook – good thing 🙂

Annie was well accessorized for this dinner

Posted in cheese, chicken, chives, garlic, lemon, one dish meal, onion, parmesan, parsley, rice | Comments Off

Mexican Baked Eggs

Posted on April 4, 2012 by erin

Date: 3/31/2012

Recipe: http://www.closetcooking.com/2011/09/mexican-baked-eggs.html

Modifications: I only used one jalapeno and just realized that I forgot the oregano. It also seemed to take longer than 5-8 minutes for our eggs to cook, more like 15 minutes, however the yolks were far more done than they appeared visually.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Dislike

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This was one of those meals that kept getting pushed off. I thought it was pretty good, would have been better if we hadn’t overcooked the eggs. The leftovers would be great in a tortilla – Annie had that for lunch the next day and seemed to enjoy it. Ben thought it tasted just like salsa with eggs and wasn’t a fan.

Posted in black beans, cheese, cilantro, eggs, jalapeno, Mexican, one dish meal, onion, vegetarian | Comments Off

French Toast

Posted on April 3, 2012 by erin

Date: 3/28/2012

Recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/french_toast/

Modifications: I added a splash of vanilla to the mixture, didn’t use triple sec or orange zest.

Time to table: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: We are coming around more and more to breakfast for dinner – mainly because it’s guaranteed to be well liked by Annie and is usually really easy. This is an excellent basic french toast recipe – I’ve never actually made french toast in my life, so it was high time I start! Unsurprisingly, we all LOVED this. I used french bread, and served with sausage and strawberries. You know something is good if Annie will even eat some of it when strawberries are an option.

Posted in bread, breakfast, eggs, fruit, milk, triple love | 1 Comment

Chicken Spaghetti

Posted on March 28, 2012 by erin

Date: 3/26/2012

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

Modifications: We used an entire chopped red pepper and a whole onion too. This was split into 2 portions, each in a 8×8 pan.

Time to table: 1 hour prep (including cooking chicken and shredding it), 30+ minutes baking (it’s closer to an hour if baking from frozen)

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This is one of our freezer meals – I’ve blogged about it on my other blog several times but it’s never been featured here. It’s a big hit around our house. I think it would be good with different veggies in it too – maybe some chopped broccoli instead of the pepper.

“Now picture of Annie’s food, too”

Posted in cheese, chicken, green pepper, one dish meal, onion, pasta, triple love | 1 Comment

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad

Brussel sprout hash

Pasta carbonara

Chili Macaroni and Cheese

Four Bean Chili

Herbed Risotto with Chicken and Carmelized Onions

Mexican Baked Eggs

French Toast

Chicken Spaghetti

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