This week included leftovers and a kid chosen meal.  Not everything is gourmet in this house.  I hope you have a great week ahead and can find at least one meal to make for dinner.  I made two recipes from America’s Test Kitchen magazines.  Unfortunately, they don’t allow you to access recipes online unless you have a paid subscription.  I had to type the recipes, thus the long post today:

Meal 1::  Weeknight Turkey Bolognese (recipe after the jump)
This was a great recipe but very much a Sunday meal.  Took over 40 minutes, which I consider too long for a weeknight.  There were tons of leftovers, so this will give you one additional meal during the week.

Meal 2::  Italian Cobb Salad
I posted about this salad earlier this week.  Great for a night when you are making dinner at 8pm.  

Meal 3:: Mom’s Famous Sliders
Not really famous, except with my family.  I add low sodium soy sauce and Lawry’s seasoning to the ground beef.  This recipe’s high note is to serve the sliders on King’s Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls.  Who can resist?

Meal 4:: Chicken with Butter Beans and Chorizo (recipe after the jump)
This one skillet meal is easy and tasty.  I used chicken chorizo from Whole Foods, but any link sausage would probably work.

Weeknight Turkey Bolognese
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, but into 1 inch pieces
2 oz of pancetta, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup diced cremini mushrooms
1 anchovy fillet, rinsed
1 (28oz) can whole tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 1/2 cups 2% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine

1. Pulse carrots and onion in food processor until finely chopped.  Transfer to bowl.  Process pancetta, mushrooms, and anchovy until finely chopped.  Transfer to bowl.  Pulse tomatoes with their juice until smooth.

2.  In Dutch oven melt butter or heat oil.  Add pancetta mixture and cook until brown.  Stir in carrot mixture and 1 teaspoon of salt, cover and cook until softened.

3.  Stir in garlic and turkey.  Brown for 1 minute.  Stir in milk and simmer until nearly evaporated (18-20 minutes)

4.  Stir in tomato paste and wine.  Simmer until nearly evaporated.  Stir in tomatoes and simmer.

Serve over cooked pasta.  Our absolute favorite gluten-free pasta is Schar.   I used the spaghetti for this Bolognese.

Chicken with Butter Beans and Chorizo
1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenderloins
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, halved and sliced thin
8 oz chorizo sausage, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 (16oz) cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1.  Season chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.  Transfer to plate.

2.  Add remaining oil, onion and chorizo to skillet and cook until onion is soft.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add tomatoes, broth and butter beans and cook until slightly thickened.

3.  Return chicken to pan and any accumulated juice and simmer until chicken is cooked through.  Stir in parsley and serve.

Our week was crazy busy!  Although I had my plan for dinners, obtaining the groceries to make the planned meals is essential.  I will have to do a better job next week because I was a mad woman on 3 of the nights trying to hustle to the store between drop offs and pick ups.  In the spirit of full disclosure and keeping it real, one night I resorted to chicken salad sandwiches.  So here it is.  Hope you find at least one meal for next week!

Meal 1::
Posole
I had never used pork tenderloin in stew or soup before.  It was a great change of pace.

Meal 2::
Spicy Turkey Meatloaf
I sauteed the onions, mushrooms and garlic and mixed the meatloaf in the afternoon.  After dropping off Little Man at baseball, I ran home and put it in the oven.  This was a super tasty meatloaf and the seasoned ketchup topping was a great addition.

Meal 3::
Shrimp Tacos
My dear husband loves these tacos.  {I have made them before.}  He voted this is as his favorite meal this week.  You can easily make the slaw ahead of time.  This meal comes together in a matter of minutes. 

Meal 4::
Yep. Quick and easy.  Don’t judge.

Chicken Salad
Diced chicken breast [I used a rotisserie chicken from the deli.]
Red seedless grapes -sliced in half
2-3 Celery stalks-diced into bite size pieces
Pecan pieces- [If you are an overachiever you could toast them in the oven for 3-5 minutes]
1/4 cup of Poppy seed salad dressing [I used Newman’s Own.]

Combine all ingredients and chill.  Serve on bread or rolls of your choice.  

Meal 5::
Beef with Snow Peas
I do want to try this recipe because it sounds delicious. [If you make it, let me know how it is!] However, I totally cheated.  If you want to “fake” it like me…..I cut flank steak super thin, used a bottle of marinade, sauteed snow peas and green onions with the steak, and served it over quinoa.  

{top image via myrecipes.com}

Our week of meals.  I hope you can find at least one meal for your menu next week.  And yes, I may have a small obsession with quinoa.  You can always substitute rice in its place. 
{Do you have a friend that would find these plans helpful?  There are easy share buttons at the end of the post.  Please help me spread the love! Thank you so much for reading.}

Meal 1 ::
Best-Ever Barbequed Ribs [sans the barbeque]
These really are amazing ribs on the grill.  We made them all summer.  Big W begged for ribs, but I wasn’t about to step outside to the barbeque with the temp hovering around 45 degrees.  They are pretty delicious right out of the oven too.  [I used Rub with Love Smokey Barbeque Rub.]

Meal 2 ::
Spicy Chicken Sandwiches

These had a kick…in a good way.  My kids don’t like “spicy”, so I left a few pieces out of the marinade and made them plain chicken fingers with the tortilla chip crumbs.  It was an easy solution and we were all still eating the same meal!  [You could easily use breadcrumbs and bake the chicken as an alternative to pan frying.]

Meal 3::
Breakfast for dinner.  You choose.  We had french toast and chicken sausage.  Everyone loves breakfast for dinner in my house!

Meal 4::
Asian Fried Quinoa
I modified this recipe a bit.  I didn’t have a lot of time for dicing and shredding veggies, so I used a package of shredded carrots, cabbage and broccoli from the produce section.  Tasted great, and saved a ton of time.

Meal 5::
Chicken and Dumplings {gluten free}
This recipe uses gluten free Bisquick.  The dumpling are light and fluffy, but you can use regular Bisquick and follow the directions on the box.  I used fresh carrots and celery [instead of a frozen mix] and a rotisserie chicken from the deli.  This was my husband’s favorite meal of the week!

Bonus Meal::
Tinga Poblana Pulled Pork Tacos

 Our non traditional Easter dinner.  Delicious topped with slaw and guacamole.

Sweet Treat::
The best rice crispy treat you have every tasted.  Hands down.  Posted here if you missed it!

Our week of dinners.  My hope is that you can find one meal to make this week.  {My absolute favorite this week was the Pot Sticker Burgers.  Oh. my. goodness!] I am “off” next week.  Spring Break = a week of no cooking for this mom.  I will post again once I am back in the kitchen.

Monday:
Quinoa Black Bean Burrito bowl

Tuesday:
Spicy Brown Sugar Salmon with Chopped salad with fried garbanzo beans 
**We put our salmon on the grill using a cedar plank.  The rub is fantastic!

Wednesday:
Paleo Potsticker Burger with Spicy Asian Slaw

 

Day 1– Quinoa and Roasted Pepper Chili
I actually made this on Monday, but this would be ideal for Sunday dinner.  [I prefer to keep prep for weekday meals under 45 minutes and this recipe took about an hour.]  I could not find the tomatoes with chipotle chiles, so I just used fire roasted diced tomatoes.  You could add one diced chipotle pepper if you want the heat.

Day 2–  baked potato topped with left over chili
Serve leftover chili on baked potatoes.  Dress it up with chopped green onion, sliced avocado, sour cream and hot sauce.

Day 3– Teriyaki Chicken and roasted brussel sprouts
My own recipe.   Serve over your favorite rice. 
Chicken: Thinly slice a white onion and lay in bottom of 13X9 baking pan. Cut thin sliced chicken breasts into bite sized pieces [about 2lbs].  Lay on top of onions.  Cover onions and chicken with your favorite teriyaki sauce. [Don’t have a favorite?  Try one of mine.]  Bake in oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Brussel Sprouts:  Cut brussel sprouts in half.  Drizzle with olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Roast in oven at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes – until some of the edges start to brown.

Day 4– Crockpot Carne Asada Tacos
Anything in the slow cooker makes dinner a breeze on a busy day!  These were yummy, with TONS of leftovers. 

Day 5- Carne Asada Salad
LEFTOVERS!  There was so much steak leftover we got a second meal out of it.  My husband stuck with the tacos, but I used the steak on a salad.  I just added lettuce, tomatoes, red pepper, chopped green chiles, avocado, and salsa. 

Hope you can find at least one meal for next week. 

With lives busier than ever, I felt like I needed to make myself a plan for getting dinner on the table.  Winging it wasn’t working for me during the week.  I thought why not share with all of you what we ate for the week?  Hopefully you can get at least one idea for dinner next week.  I plan to post on Saturdays.  Let me know what you think.

*All dinner recipes are gluten-free.  Because that’s how we roll!

Sunday:  steak with mushroom sauce and cauliflower puree
This recipe called for skirt steak.  My grocery store didn’t have that available, so the butcher suggested flat iron as a good substitute.  The mushrooms and wine sauce were delicious!

Monday:  steak, mushrooms and wilted spinach
Cut the left over steak into bite size pieces.  Add sliced mushrooms and the steak in a skillet until mushrooms are cooked through.  Last, add 1 cup of spinach to the skillet until wilted.  Fast and easy.

Tuesday: spicy chicken and hominy soup

Wednesday:  skillet-poached huevos rancheros
This was ready in less than 15 minutes.  I had a kid distraction while poaching the eggs.  They ended up cooked all the way through instead of being poached and this dish was still delicious.

Thursday:  open faced sausage sandwich
I had a evening meeting, so I left the sausage and the sauce simmering on the stove until my husband was ready to eat.  I simply used a bottle of marinara, one [chopped] red pepper, and fully cooked [sliced] Italian sausage.  Simmer all on low until warmed through.  Serve on an open faced roll.  Top with peperoncini peppers and mozzarella cheese.

Friday:  Parents’ night out  [can I get an amen!]
I ordered pizza for my guys and the sitter, but came across this super idea for pizza in the crockpot.  Might have to give it a try.  

Have a wonderful week in your kitchen.