january 31, 2011 - smothered sirloin steak in parmesan peppercorn sauce

tonight i made something new... and it was good!

i got the recipe from kraftfoods.com, here.  i served it over egg noodles to make it a little more substantial and it was good.  even the kids liked it.  it was also really quick and simple and used ingredients that i typically have on hand. 

the picture is isaac's plate since i had mine half gone before i remembered to take a picture.

january 28-30, 2011

january 28, 2011 - nathan and i went out to dinner to texas roadhouse with shane and roni.  the kids went to pa and nana's and got take out.

january 29, 2011 - nuts and berries

january 30, 2011 - nuts and berries

okay, so my weekend dinner making was non existent.  but i am not beating myself up because i have been doing really well so far.

january 27, 2011 - quiche lorraine

tonight i made quiche lorraine for the first time.  it was pretty good and will be on the list to make again.  i got the recipe from my better home and garden's cookbook.  i had made some pie crust a couple weeks ago and had frozen enough leftovers to make a single pie crust.  this was a great basic recipe that would be really easy to add other ingredients like spinach, peppers, sausage, etc...

quiche lorraine

ingredients:
1 pastry for single pie crust (i have an awesome recipe from a friend for pie crust)
6 slices bacon
1 medium onion, sliced
3 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese (i didn't have swiss, so i used cheddar)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

directions:
1. prepare pastry for single-crust pie.  line the unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of foil.  bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes.  remove foil.  bake 4 to 5 minutes more or till pastry is set and dry.  remove from oven.  reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
2. meanwhile, in a large skillet cook bacon till crisp.  drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings.  crumble bacon; set aside.  cook sliced onion in reserved drippings till tender but not brown; drain.
3. in a medium bowl stir together eggs, milk, salt, and nutmeg.  stir in crumbled bacon and onion.  toss together shredded cheese and flour.  add to egg mixture; mix well.
4. pour egg mixture into the hot, baked pastry shell.  bake on a cookie sheet in the 325 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or till a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  if necessary, cover edge of crust with foil to prevent overbrowning.  let stand 10 minutes before serving.

** a couple of things i will do differently next time.
- my crust shrunk big time.  i don't think i let it rest long enough before i put it in the oven, but i was in a hurry.
- when i dumped in the egg mixture, it overflowed.  i'm not sure whether there was too much or whether it was because the middle of the pie crust had risen a little.  next time i will push the middle down before pouring in the eggs and maybe use a larger pie tin.
- spray the pie tin before i put the pastry in it.  my crust stuck a little bit.

january 26, 2011 - wisconsin cauliflower soup and lion house rolls

tonight was a night of redo's.   i had to try the wisconsin cauliflower soup again.  this time i cooked it up a couple of days early and let it sit.  i also added a little bit more cheese.  the results - fabulous!  i also had to try the lion house rolls again.  they were really good the first time, but i knew i could do better. (recipe here).

so that is what we ate tonight soup and rolls.  the kids loved the soup this time - they weren't too thrilled at my last attempt.

january 25, 2011 - cajun dirty rice

used the extra portion i made a while back for dinner tonight.  this one was more spicy for some reason so we all added a little sour cream to calm it down.

january 24, 2011 - sunday dinner stack

i'm really not sure what this is called, so i made something up.  nathan's mom made it for us when we were living with them, while trying to find a house to buy.  it is very quick (like 10 minutes) and super easy.  and the kids and hubby love it.

start out with a package of the frozen texas toast with garlic and cheese on top, i had this brand, but any brand will do.   cook according to package directions. next microwave a hormel refridgerated entree - i used the beef roast with au jus.  then whip up some mashed potatoes.  i heated the beef and made the potatoes while the texas toast was in the oven.  once everything is prepared, top a slice of the texas toast with mashed potatoes and then beef.  pour some au jus over the top.  i warmed some frozen veggies for our side dish.

the great thing about this meal is that all of the ingredients were purchased while on sale and with a coupon so it was super inexpensive as well.  the hormel entrees can be pricey, but if you watch for a sale and then pair it with a coupon you can stock up.  i freeze them and pull them out when i need something quick.

because this dinner took almost no time at all, after dinner, i made another batch of wisconsin cauliflower soup.  I wanted to let it sit for a couple of days and let the flavors blend together.

january 23, 2011 - chicken n biscuits

so remember the extra portion of the chicken n biscuits i made this day?  we heated it up and ate it for dinner with a green salad. 

because the kids loved the biscuits part so much last time, before i put this one in the oven, i quickly whipped up more of the biscuit mixture and put it on top.  nathan also added more cheese, of course!

january 22, 2011 - bbq chicken

we ate bbq chicken drumsticks tonight. around noon, nathan threw them into the crockpot. along with the chicken, we had green salad and ranch and bacon suddenly salad.

january 21, 2011 - ramen w/bread & butter

made the 6 kid crew ramen noodle soup with bread and butter tonight. they loved it, of course.

also, i attempted lion house rolls (just google lion house roll recipe). i don't know that i have ever had the real things, so i don't have much to compare them to, but they turned out huge and fluffy. i will definitely be making them again.

january 20, 2011 - nuts n berries

i read on another blog (can't remember which one) that what i call fend for yourself night, they call nuts and berries night. where you are a bear and you forage for whatever you can find in the fridge and cupboard. i thought this sounded tons better. so that is what we did tonight and what i will call it from now on.

january 19, 2011 - omelet and hash browns

tonight we had breakfast for dinner. nathan helped me cook up a giant omelet with peppers, onion, mushrooms and cheese. we also had hash browns that i quickly fried up with butter and seasonings.

i ate my portion in a flour tortilla with a little sour cream and salsa.

january 18, 2011 - easy broccoli beef

tonight, i made an easy broccoli beef recipe. it was the first time making this and it was yummy! for the recipe i used sirloin steak and fresh broccoli i got on sale this past week.

and yes, normally you would have this dish on rice or noodles, but nathan doesn't really care for rice too much and because we've had quite a bit of rice lately, i thought i would be nice to him and we served the broccoli beef over mashed potatoes. still yummy!

the kids loved it too. isaac said, "this is really good even though it looks gross." my kids are pretty good at eating whatever i make because nathan and i have never given them the option of not eating. well, they can not eat what i make, but they don't get anything else. they learned really quickly that it stinks to go to bed hungry.

january 17, 2011 - wisconsin cauliflower soup

tonight we had wisconsin cauliflower soup that nathan made. i got the recipe from here. next time we make it i will add more cheese and probably not use pepper jack and instead use monterrey jack or colby jack. the soup made this way didn't have as much flavor as i was hoping it would. nathan and i ended up adding a bunch of salt and pepper to it because it was pretty bland.

i was wishing i had remembered to buy some french bread to serve with it, but luckily i had some rhodes warm-n-serve rolls that i quickly heated up. we also had green salad and jello from sunday night. (as a side note, my jello never set up, so weird)

** post edit - i took this to work the next day for lunch and it tasted a lot better. i still added a little pepper, but i think the flavors had time to mix overnight.

january 14-16, 2011

january 14, 2011 - i spent the evening at the dr's office with a sick little lady. i'm not sure what everyone ate...

january 15, 2011 - we splurged and got mcdonalds.

january 16, 2011 - carter dinner at mom and dad's house. i made jello salad that didn't turn out and never set-up. finally when i opened the fridge this morning, it looked like it could be eaten so it will be served with our dinners this week.

january 13, 2011 - not what i planned

remember the extra serving i made of this little dish last week? so i sent nathan a text from work, it said: "will you get out the chicken & biscuits from the freezer. it will probably have to be in the oven for 2 hours."

when i arrived home, i found a package of frozen chicken drumsticks on the counter. nathan says to me, i couldn't find any biscuits.

so, there was no dinner out cooking and i hadn't put any thought into anything else, obviously.

so tonight, the kids had frozen chicken nuggets and chips with salad.

january 12, 2011 - frozen pizza

yep, that's what we had tonight. it was informal and fast.

january 11, 2011 - sausage n rice skillet

tonight i made a modified sausage n rice skillet. i got this recipe from my good friend jess. she used to bring it as leftovers to work for lunch and i think i ate more of it than she did. it is a simple and quick dinner. it normally does not have green beans in it. i added them so my children would get more veggies.

i opened a bag of green salad and added some chopped up orange bell pepper for some taste. then i quickly threw some rhodes warm and serve rolls into the oven. i really like these rolls. they are so fast (15-17 minutes from frozen) and they taste great.

january 10, 2011 - pork chops

tonight i cooked up some pork chops in a skillet with worcestershire sauce. i also made au gratin potatoes (from the box) and nathan made green bean casserole. it was quick and easy. for dessert, nathan made us a chocolate pudding pie with a graham cracker crust. yummy!

i really need to do some grocery shopping!! if you've been keeping track we are eating a lot of pork lately. i haven't purchased chicken or beef in a while and a few months ago we bought half a pig. now, all i have left is pork. i'll be watching for sales.

january 7-9, 2011

january 7, 2011, nathan whipped up some good ol' mac-n-cheese for our crew plus the 3 extras we had over. I didn't feel so bad feeding them a boxed dinner because last week we served the whole crew pork roast and potatoes. :)

january 8, 2011 - fend for yourself saturday!!

january 9, 2011 - we had a fend for yourself sunday today. not something i am extremely proud of, but that's what it was. growing up at my house, sunday dinner was special. there was always a roast with potatoes. i really want to continue this tradition of a fine meal every sunday, but i forgot to get any meat out to thaw and then i fell asleep after church. there's always next sunday, right.

january 6, 2011 - creamed eggs

made creamed eggs served over toast for dinner. this recipe comes from my mom who used to make it for us for as long as i can remember.

january 5, 2011 - burrito/fajita bar

tonight i heated up some refried beans and a hormel pork roast and sauted some chicken and peppers for burritos and fajitas. put all the regular fixings on the table and let everyone build their dinner the way they wanted it. we made betty crocker sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting for dessert.

during dinner we went over who should be served first at meals.

january 4, 2011 - cajun dirty rice

tonight i made a modified cajun dirty rice. i got the recipe shell from the dream dinners cookbook. i made a double batch and froze one for another night. this dish can be spicy depending on the amount of cayenne you add. for my family, the 1/2 teaspoon gives it just a little spice, nothing too crazy. we had green salad as a side.


1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice (i use instant most of the time)
4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 pound sausage, cooked
1/2 cup yellow onions, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup olive oil

cook rice according to package directions. place rice and the remaining ingredients in a large skillet and simmer until the liquid is fully absorbed and the rice is hot and fluffy.

*note - if you make this and it is a little too spicy, we have added sour cream to settle it down. it actually tastes really good with sour cream on it as well.

january 3, 2011 - get the door...

came home to a nice surprise. nathan had already ordered domino's pizza for dinner. although it goes a little against what i am trying to accomplish, the gesture was really nice.

i did prepare some plain rice and got sausage and bacon out to thaw for tomorrow night's dinner.

january 2, 2011 - chicken & buscuits

made chicken & biscuits - this was the first time i have ever made this meal. we all like it well enough to eat it again, which is good because i actually made 2 pans and froze one for another night. the kids loved the biscuit part especially. it was super simple to make and i had all of the ingredients on hand. it was a little bland at first so i added pepper. next time i will add the pepper during the prep. i will also make more of the biscuit batter since the recipe makes a pretty small amount. we had green salad on the side and home-bottled grape juice mixed with cherry 7-up. chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream was our dessert.

january 1, 2011

get real.... i don't make dinner on saturday night. it is the ultimate fend for yourself night.

welcome to accountability

one thing i would like to be better about this year is making dinner for my family. in 2010, for most of the year anyway, i was pregnant and making dinner was the last thing i wanted to do most nights. the kids usually ended up with something simple to prepare - like from can to microwave to bowl, and most of the time it was something that they themselves could whip up and eat with a little help from either nathan or myself. nathan and i ate whatever we could scrounge up and sounded good. the menu from 2010 looked something like this:

• chef boyardee
• spaghetti o's
• frozen pizza
• cheese quesadilla
• sandwiches
• hot dogs
• mac-n-cheese
• fast food
• take-out

while i do think that at least jared benefited from learning to make mac-n-cheese by himself (he won't starve on his mission now as long as he can get his hands on a couple boxes of the stuff), i know that eating dinner as a family is very important. so this year, i am going to do better. to keep myself somewhat in line, i am going to keep track of my dinners on my blog.

*note - this is really for my benefit only, but if you want to see what i have made, you can follow along under the "dinners in 2011" page on the right side bar.