Bad Food Blog

Tag: slow cooker

• My Menu Plan – December 2020

  Posted at 3:14 pm by Rachel, on November 19, 2020

  My postpartum freezer stash is dwindling but we still need to eat every day, so I wrote another meal plan. I literally cannot remember the last time I wasn’t exhausted, so most of these recipes are tried-and-true without too much fussing. I’m going to be missing all of my freezer meals!

  As always, this is a printable menu – if you want to print this menu plan, you can just click on the image below and it will open the full-sized image in a new tab. I scaled it to be 8.5×11, or the size of a standard piece of printer paper, so it is ready to print.

  

  Sundays – Meats

  • Kalua pork – One of our neighbors made this for us recently, and not only did my kids eat it (multiple days in a row), but they also keep asking for it. We might have to freeze some leftovers, and I’m 100% okay with that. Since I am planning on serving rice with this meal and a couple others this month, I will probably make a giant pot of rice and then freeze the leftovers. Rice takes forever to cook and I would rather not have to do it more than once.
  • Huli huli chicken from The Complete Slow Cooker – One of my husband’s favorites, and the kids like it too. We’ll probably finish it on the grill instead of under the broiler.
  • Buttermilk Marinated Roast Chicken from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat – I made this recipe and used the chicken carcasses for broth a few months ago. The skin was nice and crispy (if you’re one who likes to eat the skin), the meat was tender, it was very easy to double in a standard American oven.
  • Sweet & sour chicken – We accidentally made four of these instead of two during baby freezer prep, but that just means I have one less meal to make this month, right?

  Mondays – Soups

  • Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup
  • Chicken Noodle Soup – My kids call this “vegetable soup” because of the carrots, celery, and onions. This soup and the tomato soup we are having this month are their two favorite soups. I’ll be using the chicken carcass from the day before to make the broth – last time I got a good gel broth for the first time in a while and I am excited to see if I can do it again.
  • Creamy Tomato Soup from The Complete Slow Cooker – My kids love making little “volcanoes” with biscuits and tomato soup “lava”.
  • Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup – I’m probably going to try to prep this earlier in the day and just reheat it at dinner time – less stressful during the dinner time rush and it gives the soup plenty of time to cool for my younger eaters.

  Tuesdays – Leftovers

  Wednesdays – Eggs

  I always used to make roasted sweet potatoes with our eggs, and while I still love them so much, it has been more time than I have wanted or been able to spend lately. A few weeks ago, I started making “baked” sweet potatoes in my slow cooker, and they have been a nice substitute and really just a nice way to freshen up our eggs night. Wrap the sweet potatoes in tin foil and then cook them for 8 hours on low. Giant sweet potatoes will not be as soft so either cook them for longer or cut them into smaller pieces before cooking.

  Thursdays – 

  • Tacos & guacamole
  • Hamburgers & hot dogs
  • Pasta with roasted vegetables/buttered pasta – Another meal from my small freezer stash.

  Fridays – Pizza

  Saturdays – Bowls/Salads

  I love bowl meals and salads, but my kids do not. They hate most foods that touch other foods. If your kids are like mine, just put a portion of each element on their plates before mixing everything together and enjoy your dinner.

  • Beets/sweet potatoes/apple/chickpea/farro/nut bowls – There used to be a great recipe on Budget Bytes for an Autumn Harvest Salad with butternut squash, quinoa, apples, and probably some other things that I cannot remember. I can’t find it anymore, but that is the recipe I had in mind when I added this bowl meal to my dinner menu. I’m going to roast the beets (in foil) and diced sweet potatoes earlier in the day, and toss them with diced apple, chickpeas, farro, and either walnuts or pecans. Dressing TBD.
  • Polenta/pesto/roasted veggie bowls – Make some cheesy polenta (I like parmesan with this – keep an eye on it because mine is usually done in about 25 minutes), and top it with roasted vegetables (I like a mix of at least 3 with this, such as sweet onions, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes) and good store bought pesto.
  • Mashed potato/sausage/brussels sprouts bowls
  • Kale/apple/walnut/chicken salad – The original recipe is for a side salad that doesn’t include chicken; I am going to throw some chicken thighs in the slow cooker to make it a meal.

  ~Holidays~

  • Christmas Eve – Snack dinner

  I think most parents have done some version of “snack dinner” at some point. Ours includes cheese & crackers, raw veggies such as cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, & olives, hummus, pepperoni, and salami – basically kid-friendly charcuterie. It is always a hit and pretty easy to get my kids to eat it, plus it is super simple to prepare, making it perfect for an exciting and busy night like Christmas Eve. In the past we have frequently made waffles for Christmas Eve, and we might do that instead, but right now I am leaning towards snack dinner.

  • Christmas – Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken, farro, vegetables

  Yes, I’m pulling out the slow cooker for Christmas. I’ve made this chicken recipe before and it really is worthy of a Christmas dinner as it turns out so beautifully. And really, it gives me more time to spend with my kids and enjoy the holiday.

  • New Year’s Eve – Turkey & stuffing meatballs, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, something green

  We are rounding out the year with some of our favorite foods, maybe I will make a special dessert too. I don’t plan on being awake at midnight but with three little kids plus a newborn baby anything is possible.

  Notes about side dishes –

  • I use “green veggies” and “salad/greens” pretty interchangeably, but my goal is to have a bunch of veggies at dinner every night, and especially a bunch of green veggies. I keep it vague on my menu plan and then usually look for the best looking, most reasonably priced stuff when I’m at the store.
  • Similarly, I have listed “bread” as a side dish several times, but depending on the night that might be homemade biscuits, an artisan loaf, buttermilk bread, cornbread, or even some Annie’s crescent rolls.

  Lunches

  • Adults – Some combination of leftovers, egg & cheese sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, yogurt, cheese & crackers, fruit, raw veggies, hummus
  • Kids – PB&J sandwiches/crackers, mac & cheese, cheese & crackers, fruit, raw veggies

  Breakfasts

  I’ve been taking the kids out on a walk first thing in the morning, so I bring a smoothie for me to sip along the way, and things like bananas and Larabars for the kids. Most days the kids have a bigger second breakfast when we get back, with oatmeal, cereal, or whatever else.

  Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 0 Comments | Tagged breakfast, chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, lunch, Menu plan, pasta, pizza, slow cooker, soup, vegetarian

• My Menu Plan – May 2020

  Posted at 10:52 pm by Rachel, on May 3, 2020

  Okay, I am giving monthly menu planning yet another try. Fingers crossed that no one gets sick this month and we can eat the whole thing!

  My Perdue Farms order was finally delivered a week or two ago, so it did take the full 5-6 weeks to arrive. Based on my one data point, I would say their current estimate of 2-3 weeks is probably accurate despite the upcoming meat shortage, although the package I ordered and several other products are not currently available. But talk about good timing! One of the reasons I ordered this meat in the first place was in anticipation of a meat shortage, and here we are. All of the meat we will be eating this month is already in my freezer – even the chicken from the cheesy farro, broccoli, and chicken that we had on Saturday was from a big batch of chicken breasts I baked a few weeks ago.

  Speaking of the meat shortage, you might notice that there isn’t a lot of meat in this menu plan. Not that that is atypical around here, personally I feel that the meat and three menu gets pretty boring pretty quickly. Of course no meat can get kind of boring too! So my categories this month are soup, pasta, vegetarian, eggs, pizza, and a meat night. My Monday and Tuesday nights switch between two categories because of some scheduling conflicts – just makin’ it work.

  May means Cinco de Mayo, and also… Cinco de Cuatro! Just in time too, because my kids have been asking if we can make chocolate covered bananas again.

  I made the menu printable again this month – if you want to print this menu plan, you can just click on the image below and it will open the full-sized image in a new tab. I scaled it to be 8.5×11, or the size of a standard piece of printer paper, so it is ready to print.

  

  Soups

  (Our 1-year-old eats what we eat, and she really likes soup. Feeding her with the spoon is hit or miss, because she likes to feed herself. Right now, one of my favorite ways to feed her soup is by dipping chunks of bread in the soup and letting her feed herself the soupy bread.)

  • Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup
  • Chicken Noodle Soup – requested by my kids
  • Creamy Tomato Soup from The Complete Slow Cooker – This is still my kids’ favorite soup
  • Slow Cooker French Onion Soup – This probably isn’t the best French onion soup recipe ever, but it is pretty easy
  • Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup

  Pasta

  • Tortellini with pears and prosciutto (adapted from this recipe)
  • Eggplant parmesan with pasta from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone – I’ve never made this recipe for myself, but my favorite vegetarian friend – the one who recommended this book to me in the first place – made it for me a while ago so I thought I would give it a whirl.
  • Spaghetti aglio e olio
  • Pasta alfredo

  Vegetarian

  • BBQ Bean Burritos with Grilled Peach Salsa from Thug Kitchen / veggie tacos for my kids – I made this sometime last year and it was sooo good. Hands-down the most flavorful burritos I have made at home. They were pretty labor intensive, which is why I haven’t made them since, but Cinco de Mayo seems like the perfect occasion for a repeat. Unfortunately the burritos were pretty spicy, and my kids genuinely hate spicy foods right now, so I’ll cut up some veggies for them to make their own little vegetable tacos.
  • Yeasted waffles à la King Arthur Flour
  • Weeknight enchiladas (bean and cheese enchiladas) / veggie tacos for my kids – Again, these enchiladas are really not very spicy, but I have tried and failed many times to get my kids to eat them. I’m going to make them on the super-mild side (with Monterey jack cheese instead of pepper jack, for instance), and also plan on some simple veggie tacos for them.
  • Polenta with roasted vegetables and pesto

  Eggs

  We’ve been alternating scrambled eggs and eggs-in-a-basket lately; it’s been a nice change of pace!

  Pizza

  I’m back to making pizza – this is the crust recipe I typically use and this is the sauce.

  Meat

  • Cheesy farro with chicken and broccoli – like a deconstructed chicken-broccoli-rice casserole, but with farro
  • Whole chicken in the slow cooker – save some extra meat for chicken noodle soup
  • Potato kielbasa sheet pan – I’ve never made this recipe, but it looks simple, a.k.a. just my style
  • Easy orange chicken – Why yes, you *can* make that sauce ahead and stick it in the fridge for later in the day
  • Slow cooker honey soy drumettes – This recipe has been in my mental bookmarks for YEARS. Literally, at least five years. Of course, basically every time I think to make it I have a baby under a year old doing baby led weaning, and the one food they are really not supposed to eat before they turn one is honey (thanks, botulism!). Hopefully five years of anticipation do not leave me disappointed.

   

  Notes about side dishes –

  • I use “green veggies” and “salad/greens” pretty interchangeably, but my goal is to have a bunch of veggies at dinner every night, and especially a bunch of green veggies. I keep it vague on my menu plan and then usually look for the best looking, most reasonably priced stuff when I’m at the store.
  • Similarly, I have listed “bread” as a side dish several times, but depending on the night that might be homemade biscuits, an artisan loaf, buttermilk bread, cornbread, or even some Annie’s crescent rolls.

  Lunches

  • Adults – Some combination of leftovers, egg & cheese sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, yogurt, cheese & crackers, fruit, raw veggies, hummus
  • Kids – PB&J sandwiches/crackers, mac & cheese, cheese & crackers, fruit, raw veggies

  Breakfasts

  Cereal, yogurt, smoothies, fruit, oatmeal

  Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 0 Comments | Tagged breakfast, chicken, Covid-19, Dinner, kid-friendly, lunch, Menu plan, pasta, pizza, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian

• My Menu Plan – January 2020

  Posted at 9:37 pm by Rachel, on December 31, 2019

  Happy New Year! I’ve been listening to fireworks all day today – no one does New Year’s Eve fireworks like Hawaii! After six long months, I am happy to announce the return of my monthly menu plan. My nights have switched around a bit since I last shared a monthly menu plan. It feels less festive than Fridays deserve to be, but since Fridays look like they are going to be the busiest night of the week for a while, I decided to make them leftovers night for the quickest, easiest possible dinner. I rounded out the weekdays with other meals that I can prepare with a bunch of kids underfoot – some less than fussy salads, eggs, meats, and soups, many of which can be made ahead. I stuck new-to-me recipes on Sundays, when my husband will be home to wrangle our kids in case things go terribly wrong. Pizza, which is easy to scale up and share with visitors, got Saturdays, the day we would be most likely to have other people over.

  I decided to try out a new program to make the printable menu this month. If you want to print this menu plan, you can just click on the image below and it will open the full-sized image in a new tab. I scaled it to be 8.5×11, or the size of a standard piece of printer paper, so it is ready to print.

  

   

  New Recipes

  • Black Bean Veggie Burgers from You Have It Made – We got some take out from Down to Earth, and one of the stand-out items was the Black Bean & Roasted Beets Burger. My 5-year-old, who is really into the idea of burgers right now, said she would eat it again, so I’m trying this homemade variety, which also contains beets and can be made ahead.
  • Barley Stuffed Peppers from Thug Kitchen – These kind of remind me of the pepperoni pizza quinoa stuffed peppers that I love, but you know, vegan.  I will probably set some of the filling aside to increase the chances of my kids trying it.
  • Roasted Brussels Sprouts Bowls – This recipe has been on my “to make” list for a while. I will probably use some chicken sausage instead of veggie sausage, we will see what the store has in stock.
  • Roasted Chickpea and Broccoli Burritos – Six months ago, I made Thug Kitchen’s BBQ Bean Burritos with Grilled Peach Salsa and they were phenomenal. Like, hands down the best burritos I have ever made at home and probably the best burritos I’ve had outside of little burrito shops when I was in college. These chickpea and broccoli burritos look like a lot less work, but the authors say they are a fan favorite. Fingers crossed that they are just as tasty!

  Salads

  • Kale and Apple Salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts – We’ve eaten this salad several times in the last few weeks because it is so fast to throw together. I like to add some baked chicken breast to make it a meal (note that the recipe is for a “side salad”) and I swap goat cheese for blue cheese because that is my preference.
  • Asian chicken salad – Prepare the chicken breasts ahead of time and this is a super fast dinner
  • Farro Salad with Kale and Grapes from You Have It Made – I was asking my family what they want to eat this month, and one of my kids said, “I like farro!” We’ve been eating farro a lot lately, but I decided to throw in this salad for her.
  • Southwestern Salad from You Have It Made – I’m feeling inspired to up my southwestern salad game after trying so many salads this summer. Ellie Krieger’s salad calls for jicama, an ingredient that I haven’t used since 2011! It wasn’t a great experience, which is why I haven’t really used it since then – hopefully this goes better.

  Meats

  • Ginger Peach Chicken – My tips for this recipe are 1) slice the onions very thin – I use my food processor’s slicing disc and 2) cook the chicken WITHOUT the peaches, then add the peaches in for the last 30 minutes
  • Pot Roast – Prep for this always takes me a while so I will probably start it the night before
  • Chicken Parmesan Burgers – I made these for the first time since 2016ish a few weeks ago when my burger-lover started asking for burgers. She liked it (with no sauce and cheese on the side) and asked to have them again. If you’ve never used ground chicken, these are worth a try!
  • Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker – save some extra meat for chicken noodle soup
  • Spaghetti and Meatballs – As I have previously described, I make this sauce with these meatballs in my 7.25 quart Dutch oven. Basically, I start the sauce, then start the meatballs, and pop them into the pot after I broil them. I use all of the meat to make meatballs, instead of using some to make the sauce a meat sauce (doing this yields me about 32 meatballs instead of 16). It is time consuming but oh so good. I’ll be working on this on a weekend and then freezing the meatballs and sauce to use on a week night.

  Soups

  (Our 1-year-old eats what we eat, and she really likes soup. Feeding her with the spoon is hit or miss, because she likes to feed herself. Right now, one of my favorite ways to feed her soup is by dipping chunks of bread in the soup and letting her feed herself the soupy bread.)

  • Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup
  • Creamy Tomato Soup from The Complete Slow Cooker – This is still my kids’ favorite soup
  • Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup
  • Chicken Noodle Soup
  • Winter Lentil Soup from Easy, Delicious Meals

  Pizza

  I haven’t made pizza in the longest time, not because I have stopped eating pizza, but because there is actually a really great pizza place nearby (Boston’s Pizza, if you are on Oahu). I think there is a 50/50 chance I will make pizza versus ordering some take out, we will see where the weeks take me. This is the crust recipe I typically use and this is the sauce.

  Notes about side dishes –

  • I use “green veggies” and “salad” pretty interchangeably, but my goal is to have a bunch of veggies at dinner every night, and especially a bunch of green veggies. I keep it vague on my menu plan and then usually look for the best looking, most reasonably priced stuff when I’m at the store.
  • Similarly, I have listed “bread” as a side dish several times, but depending on the night that might be homemade biscuits, an artisan loaf, buttermilk bread, cornbread, or even some Annie’s crescent rolls.

  Lunches

  • Adults – Some combination of leftovers, egg & cheese sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, yogurt, cheese & crackers, fruit, raw veggies, hummus
  • Kids – PB&J sandwiches/crackers, mac&cheese, cheese & crackers, fruit, raw veggies

  Breakfasts

  Cereal, yogurt, smoothies, fruit, oatmeal

  Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 0 Comments | Tagged beef, breakfast, burgers, chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, lunch, Menu plan, salad, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian

• Menu Plan 10/13-10/19

  Posted at 1:52 pm by Rachel, on October 12, 2019

  You might notice a couple of repeats from last week on this week’s menu – I ended up with a cold last week and had to shuffle some things around. Last week I began planning my breakfasts and lunches in more detail. I did not do a great job sticking to the plan because I just wasn’t eating much. I only just prepped the farro for lunch salads last night, and the grapes were moldy 😦 so I will be trying this salad with some apples or maybe cucumbers instead. Breakfast went better than lunch – I made a big batch of steel cut oats one morning and then ate that for several days. This week I am going to set an alarm on my phone to make overnight steel cut oats (less active cooking time). I also picked up a bunch of sweet potatoes; I will be “baking” them all in the slow cooker for dinner on Monday and then have leftovers for breakfasts and maybe lunches as well.

  Dinner Plan:

  S 10/13 – Maple mustard chicken thighs (slow cooker – make extra for chicken salad sandwiches), mashed potatoes, green vegetable

  M 10/14 – Eggs, sweet potatoes (slow cooker), green vegetable

  T 10/15 – Pasta with blistered cherry tomato sauce, salad

  W 10/16 – Creamy tomato soup (slow cooker from The Complete Slow Cooker), bread, salad

  R 10/17 – Leftovers

  F 10/18 – Greek salad, bread

  S 10/19 – Whole chicken (slow cooker), carrots, green vegetable

   

  Breakfast Plan: Steel cut oatmeal with almond butter and fruit, “baked” sweet potatoes

  Lunch Plan: Layered feta salad with kale, feta, and apples (adapted from You Have it Made), Mayonnaise-Free Chicken Salad Sandwiches

  Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged breakfast, Dinner, hotel living, lunch, Menu plan, slow cooker

• Menu Plan 10/6-10/12

  Posted at 2:39 pm by Rachel, on October 6, 2019

  Here we are again! One of my kids has her name day this week, and she chose “snacky dinner” for dinner. I love snack for dinner too, so no complaints here! I’m going to attempt to adapt the cheesy cauliflower and potato soup for the slow cooker on Tuesday. I have made it on the stove before, but my space is limited in the hotel and I really think it will be easier with the slow cooker right now. I have not been doing a great job with my breakfasts and lunches lately, so I added in a mini-menu plan for those this week as well.

  Dinner Plan:

  S 10/6 – Quesadillas/burritos with leftover beef, pineapple guacamole (from Thug Kitchen), green salad

  M 10/7 – Snacky dinner (cheese, crackers, cut up veggies, hummus, berries)

  T 10/8 – Cheesy cauliflower and potato soup, green vegetable/salad, bread

  W 10/9 – Leftovers

  R 10/10 – Eggs, green veggie, bread

  F 10/11 – Greek salad, bread

  S 10/12 – Maple mustard chicken thighs (slow cooker), sweet potatoes (slow cooker), green vegetable

   

  Breakfast Plan: Steel cut oatmeal with almond butter and fruit

  Lunch Plan: Layered feta salad with kale, feta, and grapes (from You Have it Made), leftovers, or peanut butter/almond butter sandwiches

  Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged Dinner, hotel living, slow cooker

• Menu Plan 9/29-10/5

  Posted at 2:21 pm by Rachel, on September 29, 2019

  Happy Sunday! We are still in the hotel (I think I will be saying this for a while) and my slow cooker is working double time. When I used it to make some chicken thighs for salad a couple of days ago, I made enough for this week’s salad as well. Just because I don’t have a house doesn’t mean I can’t meal prep! 😀 I originally planned on making Caprese sandwiches with a side salad tonight, but plans change and now we are having dinner with friends. I was trying to decide what to bring along, and after quite a bit of thinking I realized that the simplest thing to do was just revert our sandwiches to their original form – Caprese salad! Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to see. Have a great week!

  S 9/29 – Caprese sandwiches, salad Dinner with friends, bringing Caprese salad

  M 9/30 – Eggs, bread (slow cooker), veggie

  T 10/1 – Lemony broccoli pasta, salad

  W 10/2 – Tomato soup (slow cooker), bread (slow cooker), salad

  R 10/3 – Leftovers

  F 10/4 – Green salad with chicken, berries, and almonds, bread

  S 10/5 – Pot roast (slow cooker), carrots, green vegetable, grits/polenta

  Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged Dinner, hotel living, slow cooker

• Menu Plan 9/22-9/28

  Posted at 10:02 am by Rachel, on September 23, 2019

  This is the first little menu plan I have done since moving out of my house almost 2 months ago. It is pretty simple and slow cooker-centric because we are actually living in a hotel right now (more on that later). I’m basically working with a 2-burner stove, microwave, and my slow cooker. Anyway, I have done some basic meals here in our room but between house hunting and not meal planning we have fallen back on eating out more than I like, and that is especially expensive here in Hawaii. So far I am on track for the week – I cooked my sweet potatoes overnight and have a whole chicken roasting in the slow cooker as we speak.

  S 9/22 – Pasta, bread, salad

  M 9/23 – Chicken (slow cooker), sweet potatoes (slow cooker), salad

  T 9/24 – Chicken soup, bread (slow cooker), salad

  ~Slow cooker chocolate lava cake~

  W 9/25 – Chicken-broccoli-rice

  R 9/26 – Leftovers

  F 9/27 – Hummus, veggies, pita

  S 9/28 – Asian chicken salad, bread (slow cooker)

  Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged Dinner, hotel living, slow cooker

• My June Menu Plan

  Posted at 9:34 pm by Rachel, on June 1, 2019

  Happy June! This is my last monthly menu plan for a while – we are moving in August so I will be spending July trying to use up the odds and ends in the pantry and using shorter-term planning to really hone in on what I already have. I usually do grocery shopping once a week, but last month I planned ahead and purchased all of our meat the beginning of the month. I really liked doing one meat prep, pre-cooking and portioning chicken for salads, chopping, and otherwise just making prep work easier for the rest of the month. I don’t know why I haven’t been doing this all along with these monthly meal plans, because it did make dinner time go very smoothly all month long. All that to say, I was just at the store yesterday and I did the same thing.

  I picked up two cookbooks from the library this month – Thug Kitchen, which is all plant-based/vegan, and You Have It Made. I borrowed You Have It Made a few months ago, so I already knew that it had more recipes that I wanted to try. Most specifically I wanted to take a look at the salads because she puts together some really interesting ones. I picked up Thug Kitchen to take a look at making my own vegetable broth (super simple, by the way), and ended up bookmarking at least two dozen recipes with post its. I am trying several recipes from each book this month before returning them to the library.

  

  Slow Cooker

  • Whole chicken in the slow cooker with hummus, pita, and raw veggies (cucumbers,  bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and olives) – Sometimes I just buy a rotisserie chicken and BAM – a healthy, no cook dinner. Making my own chicken this time means a little more meat leftover for chicken soup this week and chicken, broccoli, & rice later in the month.
  • Slow cooker maple & dijon pot roast – It’s been a few months since I’ve made this one! I’m going to prep the night before so I can just turn on the slow cooker in the morning. This recipe suggests serving with grits, and yeah, that is really tasty, so I also recommend grits if you have the time (I use this recipe, which is actually for polenta, but hey, it’s still creamy cornmeal). If I’m short on time I’ll pull out some egg noodles.
  • Maple mustard chicken thighs – prepping this one for the freezer! I have made chicken thighs in my slow cooker using the maple mustard and sweet and sour marinades from this list and both came out great! Cook boneless skinless chicken thighs for 4-6 hours on low.
  • Creamy Tomato Soup from The Complete Slow Cooker – This is a family favorite that always turns out excellent.
  • Rosemary chicken thighs

  Stovetop

  • Chicken noodle soup – It’s only going to be in the 80s here this week; that’s soup weather, right? 😉 But seriously, don’t let the bones go to waste!
  • BBQ bean burritos with grilled peach salsa from Thug Kitchen – Reviewing this recipe, it is really 3 recipes in one – rice, salsa, and finally burritos – so there will be some decent prep work involved. Hopefully it will all pay off!
  • Chicken, broccoli, and rice – I make a deconstructed version of the classic casserole, but with a lot more broccoli and probably a bit less chicken.
  • Beef tacos with pineapple guacamole from Thug Kitchen – Now that I am writing this, I can see the irony of pairing beefy tacos with a recipe from a vegan cookbook…

  Eggs

  Last month I made the broccoli cheddar quiche from You Have It Made, although due to some menu shuffling it ended up being a breakfast item instead of dinner. I don’t have anything special planned for egg nights this month, just our basic scramble with lots of veggies!

  Salads

  • Layered farro salad with kale, feta, and grapes from You Have It Made 
  • Berry chicken poppy seed salad – Last month I made this with the dressing from this recipe. I’ve made it a few times before and it is fine, but I am pretty sure we have some of this poppy seed dressing lying around, and it goes really well with this salad too.
  • Red cabbage & kale salad from You Have It Made – I’m adding some baked chicken breast to this one, and will probably substitute pepitas for sunflower seeds because I have a bunch.
  • Southwestern salad – As I have said before, I make different variations of this recipe with black beans, pinto beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes, and salad greens. Last time I added some cheese, and completely forgot about the pepitas. Don’t worry, pepitas, I’m still coming for you. The cilantro-lime vinaigrette I made last month was good, but this time I really might just squeeze some lime on top and call it a day.

  Pizza – For our weekly pizza I use this crust recipe with this sauce.

  Pasta

  • Grilled eggplant with soba noodles from Thug Kitchen – I usually think of pasta night being more Italian-influenced dinners, but really why not throw in some Asian noodles to mix things up? I couldn’t find soba noodles at the commissary, so I ventured out to Earth Fare today to get some. I’m going to try cooking the eggplant under the broiler because I don’t have a grill and I’ve broiled eggplant a couple of times now. Overall this seems like it should be a quick and easy recipe.
  • Lemony broccoli pasta – Fast to make and my kids love the “worms”! I know I have said it before, but my kids will eat this as is – pasta and broccoli being mixed together, with lemon and all. That is a big deal around here!
  • Pasta with pesto
  • Fettuccini with vegetable bolognese from You Have It Made – There is no meat in this recipe, and I could not be more excited to try it.
  • Fast and Easy Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce – My favorite, super fast sauce. Remember to dry the tomatoes on a towel after you rinse them to stop them from exploding all over your kitchen.
  Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 4 Comments | Tagged beef, chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, Menu plan, pasta, salad, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian

• My May Menu Plan

  Posted at 10:04 pm by Rachel, on May 1, 2019

  Well, April got away from me and between Easter and everything else, I didn’t get to make a couple of the recipes on my last menu plan. But that’s just life, isn’t it? So I moved the recipes that we did not get to eat right onto my May menu. A couple of other recipes are repeats just because we like them.

  There are some special days this month, too! I think I will make a special dessert for Memorial Day, perhaps this flag pie or another berry dessert. And I’ve never tried chocolate covered bananas, and what better day to try than Cinco de Cuatro?

  

  Slow Cooker

  • Maple Jalapeño Pulled Pork Tacos – I don’t usually make pork other than bacon but these look good and super easy.
  • Sweet and Sour Chicken Thighs – Last month I used the Maple Mustard marinade from this list to make slow cooker chicken thighs and it was amazing – I think that was the most chicken I have ever seen my 4-year-old eat in one sitting! Now I’m wanting to try every marinade from this list.
  • Creamy Tomato Soup from The Complete Slow Cooker – This is a family favorite that always turns out excellent.
  • Huli Huli Chicken from The Complete Slow Cooker – Another family favorite! The juice from a can of pineapple slices is about the amount you need to make the sauce, and the pineapple slices make a beautiful accompaniment to the chicken.

  Eggs

  I never got around to making the quick quiche from Ellie Krieger’s You Have It Made last month, so that is still on my list for one night in May.

  Sandwiches

  • Quesadillas – I will be filling things with bits of whatever food is left in my fridge, probably some of the pork from the Maple Jalapeño Pulled Pork Tacos, or plain cheese for my kids. If you need some serious quesadilla inspiration, check out Budget Bytes (Beth is the queen of quesadillas as far as I am concerned) or these caramelized onion, spinach, and avocado quesadillas.
  • Grilled cheese
  • Mayonnaise-Free Chicken Salad Sandwiches – I saw this recipe in an email newsletter a few years back and I still reach for it when I want to make chicken salad. I usually bake a bunch of chicken breasts for all of my dinner salads and anything else that calls for cooked chicken at once.
  • Cantaloupe Soup with Prosciutto and Mozzarella Sandwiches from Real Simple: Meals Made Easy – I’ve made these sandwiches with the prosciutto cold and also cooked in a frying pan, both ways are great. The cantaloupe soup might seem unusual – or at least I have never seen it before – but it is worth a try.

  Salads/Bowl Meals

  • Southwest salad – I make different variations of this recipe, but the general formula is black beans, pinto beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes, and salad greens. I have some pepitas in the pantry, so I will probably toss some of those on top. This recipe for a cilantro-lime vinaigrette looks promising.
  • Cobb salad – I guess what I make is not a true cobb salad, because I don’t use blue cheese. My recipe is chicken, hard boiled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, salad greens, and either cheddar or jack cheese. I think I have everything on hand to make the salad dressing from this recipe.
  • Almond, Berry, and Chicken Spinach Salad – I’m pretty sure that this is my kids’ favorite salad; they love all the berries and the mandarin oranges!
  • Asian chicken salad – This was one of our favorites from last summer. The toppings make the salad!

  Pizza – For our weekly pizza I use this crust recipe with this sauce.

  Stovetop

  • Veggie Stir-Fry – So many vegetables, so many textures. The baby corn is my favorite – it’s just so cute. I’m pretty sure my kids ate this one even with the sauce last time.
  • Vegetable soup made from homemade vegetable broth – I have a big bag of veggie scraps in my freezer that I am going to try to turn into broth for soup. I have made chicken broth many times, but I have yet to try making vegetable broth! I read somewhere that the rind from a piece of parmesan is a great addition to vegetable broth, and I’m pretty sure I have one of those floating around my freezer too. A friend suggested I check out the vegetable broth recipe from Thug Kitchen, and it looks like that book is at my library!
  • Orange chicken – This is one that I didn’t get to make last month! I still plan to make the sauce and cut up the chicken ahead of time, and will probably try to make it in my wok.
  • Fast and Easy Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce – My favorite, super fast sauce. Make sure you dry the tomatoes on a towel after you rinse them, or you will be dealing with some serious fireworks in your frying pan.
  Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, Menu plan, salad, sandwich, slow cooker, soup, vegetarian

• Freezer Cooking for Baby #3 and My Postpartum Menu Plan (Part 3)

  Posted at 3:00 pm by Rachel, on March 8, 2019

  This is the third part of a four post series on filling your freezer before adding a new baby to the family. Revisit Part 1 and Part 2.

  Before we go any further, I need to emphasize that 8 weeks of food is a lot to take on, especially towards the end of pregnancy. I had a lot of back and abdominal discomfort towards the end of my pregnancy that made standing for long periods of time difficult. If you want to pack your freezer, plan ahead – don’t wait until you are 39 weeks along! I started one month before my due date, and just kept cooking things and adding to our stockpile until a few days before my due date. If you have a helper, use them! Without my husband helping this would not have gotten done.

  

  As far as supplies go, I like to store my freezer meals in slider top freezer bags. I used to use Ziploc brand, but as far as I can tell they discontinued the slider top freezer bags. Don’t use the non-freezer bags in the freezer, as they periodically break and leak while defrosting. Ask how I know. And I really like a slider top so I know that the bag is closed. The Up&Up brand bags from Target have been pretty good so far (available in gallon- or quart-sized). Bags are good for slow cooker meals, soups, muffins, and anything oddly-shaped. Store them FLAT in the freezer so you can stack them or file them on their sides. Some meals freeze better in a casserole dish, and I use disposable foil pans for those meals. I have noted how I stored each food below for easy reference. However you store it, label your food with what it is, the date, and cooking instructions so you don’t have to dig them out later.

  Main Dishes

  

  • Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup  (double recipe, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  I usually use Great Northern beans and dried sage when I make this. While I have not noticed it in the past, the cream separated from the rest of the soup upon reheating. This was more of an annoyance than anything else (it just made for a lot of extra stirring), but next time, I’m going to wait to add the cream until right before serving the soup.

  

  • Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (double recipe, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  I didn’t notice any separating with this soup, but it doesn’t hurt to leave the cream out until serving. Read my full review of this soup here.

  • All-American Beef Chili (single recipe, 3 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  This recipe is from The Make-Ahead Cook: 8 Smart Strategies for Dinner Tonight, which I borrowed this book from my library. This recipe on Brown Eyed Baker is the same, but half the amount the book recipe yields.

  Wow, what a great chili! It’s a bit too spicy for my kids (although they did enjoy the toppings and cornbread that we served up with it), but I thought it was a good amount of seasonings for grown-ups.

  

  • Easy Chicken Noodle Soup from a Leftover Roasted Chicken (2 single recipes, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  Do not freeze the soup with the egg noodles! You can add egg noodles once you reheat the soup, but this soup is also delicious without them. I prepped this soup twice, each time after I made a whole chicken.

  • Onion-Butter 2-Step Chicken (double recipe, 2 8×8 foil pans)

  I highly recommend cutting large chicken breasts into smaller pieces so they bake more quickly. I forgot to cut up the giant chicken breasts I bought and it ended up taking about twice as long to cook them all the way through.

  

  • Mini Garden Turkey Loaves (double recipe, 2 dozen mini meatloaves in 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  I have made this recipe several times now and we love it. The mini meatloaves freeze so well and they reheat quickly in the microwave. However, be forewarned that the prep time listed on the recipe is way off. Especially for a double recipe, I think it took me about a half an hour to cook off all of the liquid from the vegetables.

  

  • Dijon-Pecan 2-Step Chicken (double recipe, 2 8×8 foil pans)

  Again, cut large chicken breasts into smaller pieces so they bake more quickly. My kids really enjoyed this one!

  

  • Slow Cooker Maple and Dijon Pot Roast (double recipe, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  I like the flavors in this pot roast recipe. Usually I only use 2 onions, and add about a pound of carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2 – 1 inch chunks. I made it with bacon for the freezer, but I usually just throw some olive oil into the pan before searing the meat.

  • Ginger Peach Chicken (double recipe, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  This is one of my favorite dump meals for the slow cooker. I’ve made it with fresh ginger and ground ginger and both versions were excellent. Mix everything in the freezer bag EXCEPT for the frozen peaches. Add those in for the final 30 minutes of cooking or they will turn to absolute mush. I also recommend slicing the onion VERY thinly (I use the 4mm disc on my food processor).

  • Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls (double recipe, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  

  • Tender and Juicy Slow-Cooker Meatballs (single recipe, 4 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  These are the meatballs I used for pasta and meatball night as well as for meatball sandwiches – they are my husband’s new favorite meatballs. However, it is important to note that I did not follow the recipe for the sauce, and instead added my meatballs to a single batch of the Best Slow-Cooked Tomato Sauce. I started the sauce first, prepped the meatballs, and popped them into the Dutch oven once they were out from under the broiler. Also, I used all of the meat to make meatballs (instead of making a meat sauce), and ended up getting about 32 instead of 16, great for stretching this into a few meals.

  

  • Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables (single recipe, 3 8×8 foil pans)

  I love this recipe, although I’m still working on convincing my kids that it’s okay for different foods to touch each other. I freeze before baking, and I cook the pasta for about 3-4 minutes less than what the box instructs. Use a high-quality sauce with a flavor you enjoy.

  • Vegan Tuscan Pumpkin Pasta Sauce (double recipe, 2 gallon-sized freezer bags)

  I wanted to throw different sauce into the rotation and landed on a pumpkin sauce. My neighbor used to make the most delicious pumpkin sauce with sage, but many recipes warned that they would separate if frozen and I did not want to deal with that issue. Finally I found this delightful recipe. It is vegan so no cream and no separating. Its flavor reminds me of a cinnamon raisin bagel, but is not so sweet that it felt weird putting it on pasta. You really just have to try it to understand – it is so good and so fast to make.

  Next week I’ll be wrapping up this series with Part 4, all about freezer-friendly sides, sweets, and extras!

   

   

  Posted in Menu Plans | 5 Comments | Tagged beef, chicken, Dinner, freezer friendly, kid-friendly, Menu plan, pasta, slow cooker, soup, turkey, vegetarian

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