dinner – Page 33 – Hewes Family Fun

Weekly Meal Plan!

June 17, 2019June 16, 2019Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

This week starts our first full week of summer break! We’re going to be checking out some fun, free activities, including some free lunches! I stocked up on snacks and treats Friday at Grocery Outlet, so the kids will have yummy food to get them through the week.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done, so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix). I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Veggie curry & rice I’m making this for the first time. I’ll be posting the recipe later in the week!
Tuesday: Shakshuka– It’s a one dish meal (and it’s vegetarian!)
Wednesday: Grilled Cheese and soup (I’ve got some leftover chicken noodle soup in the freezer)
Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner (pancakes and fruit salad)
Friday: I’m going to see my cousin play at a local tavern, so I might have a bite there, otherwise it might be leftovers.
Saturday: Homemade pizza night!
Sunday: Leftover Night

Weekly Meal Plan

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

AHHHHH!!! The last day of school is Wednesday. Summer school doesn’t start for the big kid for 2 weeks. I’m going to have to ramp up my frugality to 11! Here is my article about keeping kids fed over the summer, and my article on free lunches this summer for kiddos.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Chicken meatballs & Cheesy cauli-rice.
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (Waffles, bacon, and melon)
Wednesday: Frittata and fruit salad
Thursday: Nugget Night! This was such a hit last week, we’re doing it again! The big kid is a vegetarian, so I make him Chick’n nuggets, and the rest of us have chicken nuggets or another variety of meatless nuggets. The Buffalo Chick’n nuggets are popular among the grown-ups. I serve carrot sticks, and apple slices on the side.
Friday: Date Night (dinner out)
Saturday: Birthday party leftovers! Bitty’s 4th birthday party is Saturday and we’ll have pizza, cake, and fruit leftover.
Sunday: Leftover Night

Weekly Meal Plan!

June 3, 2019June 2, 2019Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

I’m done with college! Now I’m back to all of my frugal habits, I’m no longer even more pressed for time. I’m stoked to be able to get back into my groove of cooking healthy food, exercising, and keeping up with the kiddos!

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

This weeks meal planning goal is to eat up what we’ve got in the pantry. I’m finishing the pantry inventory this morning after my coffee. I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Chicken Soup (using the roasted chicken I made the other night)
Tuesday: Spaghetti (I’ve been buying this kind because it’s high in protein) with bolognese sauce, steamed veggies
Wednesday: Madras Lentils, riced cauliflower
Thursday: Nugget Night! The big kid is a vegetarian, so I make him Chick’n nuggets, and the rest of us have chicken nuggets or another variety of meatless nuggets. The Buffalo Chick’n nuggets are popular among the grown-ups. I serve carrot sticks, and apple slices on the side.
Friday: Homemade Pizza Night- I’ll be making a few extra crusts to toss into the freezer.
Saturday: Burgers- We’ve got a bunch of meatless burgers floating around the freezer. The kids will probably have the Veggie Burgers from the 99 Cent Store (Chef Ernesto- they are like potato cakes with other veggies in them- they are super good with cheese and salsa) or grilled cheese. Served with applesauce- we have tons of it.
Sunday: Leftover Night

Oh, and I’m making cookies this week! These cookies to be precise!

One Roast Chicken, Three Meals!

June 2, 2019June 2, 2019Abby H.

I love roast chicken and veg. It is one of my favorite meals to prepare and serve. It’s dead simple, it’s impressive, and there are always leftovers to repurpose.

The other night I made a roast chicken with veg and I had enough meat leftover that I was able to stretch the meat into three meals: Roast Chicken and Veg, Chicken soup (use the directions for using a rotisserie chicken), and chicken enchiladas (this recipe, but I added 1 cup shredded chicken). Here is my fool-proof recipe for a tasty meal.

Roast Chicken, Veg, and Gravy

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, rinsed and plucked of any errant feathers. Remember to remove the bag of giblets
1 stick of butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon of each of the following: Rosemary, Shallot Pepper, Parsley
2 cups of the following veggies, chopped into bite-size pieces: carrots, celery, zuchinni
1 cup of the following veggies, chopped: onion (I used sweet yellow), shallots, red bell pepper
4 cloves of garlic, diced
salt
pepper
2 T. corn starch (this makes the recipe Gluten-Free)
1/2 c. water or chicken broth

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small dish, mix butter and Rosemary, Shallot Pepper, Parsley.
Spread the butter mixture under the chicken’s skin. If there is any remaining, drop a dollop in the cavity and smear on the outside of the bird.
Stuff the cavity with veggies, place chicken breast side down in a baking dish.
Pour remaining veggies into the baking dish around chicken.
Cover loosely with foil, and bake the chicken for 20 minutes per pound.
About 20 minutes before the chicken is done, remove foil and finish cooking.
Chicken is done when internal temp reaches 165 degrees (we have this meat thermometer)
Remove the chicken from the oven, and allow to rest for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove chicken and veg from the pan and set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the juice/pan drippings and 1/2 cup water or chicken broth.
As the liquid comes to a boil, combine cornstarch and 1/2 c. cold water in a cup, whisk until lump free.
As the liquid comes a rolling boil, slowly stir in water/cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat.

Serve the chicken, veggies, and gravy with mashed potatoes (or cauliflower).

There are no photos of after it came out of the oven. The locusts (aka the dinner guests) descended upon the chicken and carved it up.

Talk Back: What is your favorite meal to serve guests?

Olive Garden: Buy One, Take One is Back!

May 30, 2019May 29, 2019Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-05-29 at 9.53.47 PM Olive Garden in the big kid’s favorite “grown-up” restaurant (aka they have cloth napkins). He saw a commercial for this deal the other day and told me I had to tell the internet about it.

Olive Gardens Buy One, Take One deal is back for a limited time. The complete list can be found here.

The basics of the deal are that you order a meal to eat in the restaurant from the list above (complete with the soup or salad and breadsticks that you all know and love), and you get to take home another prepped meal (Spaghetti with Meat Sauce*, Fettuccine Alfredo, Five Cheese Ziti al Forno, or Cheese Ravioli) sans soup/salad and breadsticks (although you usually can snag a couple extra breadsticks in a doggy bag if you ask your waitperson nicely).

And don’t forget that Olive Garden has a loyalty club too! You earn points with every purchase, and points can be redeemed for freebies like non-alcoholic drinks, appetizers, entrees, kids meals, and desserts. You can sign up on their website, or in the restaurant at your table on the little Zoosk kiosks.

Weekly Meal Plan!

May 21, 2019Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

The kids and I are going camping this weekend, so I’m only meal planning through Thursday! We’ll be going to a Society for Creative Anachronism Event, Potrero War. The kids are looking forward to playing with friends, making s’mores, doing crafts, and the big kid is really looking forward to participating in Thrown Weapons with his Grandpa.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

This weeks meal planning goal is to eat up what we’ve got on hand that will spoil first. I’m not going to the grocery store to buy anything but milk and butter (oh no, we’re almost out!).

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Leftover homemade pizza and strawberries
Tuesday: Spaghetti (I’ve been buying this kind because it’s high in protein) with red sauce loaded with veggies
Wednesday: Madras Lentils, white rice, and steamed veggies
Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and soup (I’ve got a couple batches of soup in the freezer, so I’ll grab one and defrost it the night before. It’ll probably be Veggie Tuscan Soup).

Weekly Meal Plan!

April 30, 2019April 30, 2019Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

Bitty and I hit up grocery Outlet and Food4Less yesterday and picked up everything we might need for this week. Has anyone noticed how expensive celery is lately?

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

Monday: Cheese enchiladas, beans, steamed broccoli
Tuesday: Kids had pizza- Their last two Book-it certificates expire tomorrow. I’ve got a pot of chicken soup on the stove. I’ll either toss in fusilli pasta or Rana cheese and uncured bacon ravioli.
Wednesday: Rollup sandwiches and kale salad (Kale, apples, chopped almonds, and apple cider vinaigrette)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Dinner out
Saturday: Grilled Cheese and soup (It’s definitely soup weather!)
Sunday: Meatless night! The kids will have Morningstar Farms nuggets, and the grownups will have black bean burgers. Sides will include fruit salad, carrot sticks and some sort of dip.

Talk Back: What will you be cooking this week?

Family Recipe: Abasitas

April 25, 2019April 22, 2019Abby H.

I haven’t done a family recipe in a while. My mom made a batch of these recently and sent me home with a few.

na na na na na na na na na- Bat Plate!

Turnovers, hand pies, pasties, kolaches, whatever you call them, I love them. Eating with your hands is done in almost every other culture on earth, but us westerners tend to frown on it.

My mom invented these rich, savory turnovers based on the flavors that I loved as a kid (and still love). It’s a pastry or yeast dough exterior, filled with cheese, chicken, breakfast sausage, and green chilis.

The batch she made last week used crescent dough that was rolled out. You may be able to see the remaining perforation in one of the photos.

In the past, I’ve used my pizza crust recipe (found here). It’s really up to you what kind of dough you use for exterior. Crescent dough is rich and buttery, and I think it works well for this recipe, so it’s what I’m going with. You can get the crescent dough in one large sheet if you want and cut it up, or, we used the regular rolls, and just did 2 crescents per hand pie.

Abasitas

(Makes 16-20 depending on type of dough used)

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped up (You can also use 1.5 cups of chopped up rotisserie chicken meat)
1/2 lb of Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage, cooked, crumbled, and drained of fat
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 4 oz. can Ortega Chilis, chopped
1 batch pizza dough (recipe linked above), or 4 tubes crescent roll dough

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix first five ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.
Roll out/unroll dough; Separate into 4 rectangles. Pinch together perforations to seal up. If you are using another type of dough, roll out on a floured surface and use a sharp knife to cut the dough into approx. 8×5 rectangles.
Place approx. 1/4c of filling in the middle of each piece of dough. Fold over, and seal edges of the dough by pinching edges together, you can also crimp the edges with a fork.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet (I always use parchment paper– it makes clean up easier) for approx 12-15 minutes until the dough is golden brown.
Remove cookie sheets from the oven and allow hand pies to rest for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow to rest a few more minutes before devouring.

I serve these with a green salad. They are good cold the next day too. They make a great picnic addition.

After they have cooled completely, store them in the fridge or the freezer. You can reheat them in the toaster oven!

They are a great food to batch cook.

Weekly Meal Plan!

February 11, 2019Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

I’m home from Influential Summit, and boy, did they load us up with snacks and goodies! Our snack cupboard is full, and I’ll be putting together a big box of goodies together and post a giveaway later this week!

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

You may notice a lot of plant based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Protein shakes for grown ups, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. We have plenty of protein shake fixins’- I buy the over ripe bananas, peel and slice them pop them into ziploc bags, and freeze them for smoothies and protein shakes. I also keep sandwich ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or a protein shake for me and the Mister, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently). Bitty Bird eats whatever I’ll feed her.

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

This week is going to be a little different tan usual. With Mr. on the cleanse, we’ll be eating a lot of whole foods/vegetables raw, and an old family friend steel cut oats will be coming to breakfast.

Monday: Leftover night! We’ve got leftover cheese enchiladas, pizza, and some homemade applesauce
Tuesday: Homemade chicken soup – I’ll post the recipe tomorrow!
Wednesday: Cheese and Veggie Quiche! I’ve got so many eggs!
Thursday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches, Green Salad
Friday: Date Night (dinner out, but I’m not sure where)
Saturday: Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice
Sunday: tri-tip, baked potatoes, roasted veggies

Talk Back: What will you be cooking this week?

Recipe: Pasta Free Lasagna

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019Abby H.2 Comments

WHAT? Pasta free lasagna? Are you nuts? I know that’s what you are all thinking, but bear with me.

I know so many people are sticking to their New Years Resolutions of eating healthy, but they are longing for the warm, cheesy, rich gooey-ness of their favorite comfort foods. Mr. just finished a 10 day cleanse, and we are slowing adding things back into his diet. He missed cheese, so I set to find a recipe that contains cheese that I could make a little more healthy by omitting some of the other things that he isn’t quite ready to add back in (meat and lots of heavy carbs). I did make spaghetti to go on the side, but you can skip that if you want.

We had a bag of yellow squash in the fridge, so I decided to make lasagna using the squash in the place of the lasagna noodles.

With this recipe, you can add as many veggies as you want. I opted for mire poix (I had bags of it prepped in the freezer), garlic, shallots, tomatoes, and little pieces of the squash that I chopped into bite size pieces. These were the neck or end that I couldn’t cut into planks. I recommend that you use what you’ve got on hand that you really like. You can add ricotta between the layers, but I skipped it because we didn’t have any, and Mr. isn’t ready to add eggs back in yet (if you’ve never made lasagna before, the ricotta filling is a mixture of egg, Parmesan cheese, and ricotta).

This recipe makes a big 9×13 inch baking dish- There will be leftovers!

Pasta Free Lasagna

Ingredients:

4 yellow or green crooked neck squash (zucchini), cut into planks, Reserve remaining pieces for sauce
1 jar sugar free pasta sauce (or use your favorite)
2 medium onions or 1 large onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1 can (approx. 14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
2 T. Italian seasonning
2 T. Olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup parmesaen cheese
2 cups Italian blend cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large stock pot, saute onions, celery, and carrots in olive oil until onions are soft and translucent.
Add garlic and shallots, reduce heat. Cook until garlic and shallots are soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Burnt garlic is gross.
Pour wine over veggies and scrape any yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pot. This is called De-glazing the pan. Those brown bits are full of flavor.
Add pasta sauce, herbs, and both cans of tomatoes (diced and paste). Cook on medium for 15-20 minutes. If you want, you can simmer the sauce on low for as long as you want. Make sure to stir frequently and put a lid on the pot.
Add reserved squash bits to sauce. They will cook quickly, so you need to add them last.
Remove from heat.
Ladle sauce in the bottom of the 9×13 baking dish, just enough to cover the bottom of the dish.
Cover the sauce with planks of squash, then layer cheese, and sauce. repeat until the pan is full- the top layer should be cheese. If you like lots of cheese, use more than the 2 1/2 cups listed above.
Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 350. after 20 minutes, uncover pan and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly.
Remove from oven and let rest for about 10 minutes.
Serve with salad and a small portion of whole wheat pasta. I made whole wheat pasta and topped it with a dollop of Chef Shamy Garlic Butter. It’s amazing.

Variations: This meal is already vegetarian and gluten free. If you are vegan, use dairy free cheese. I cannot promise it will be as gooey and delicious, as I’m not familiar with how dairy free cheese cooks.

If you just gotta have meat, start by sauteing 1 lb of ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, or turkey), then continue the recipe as written.

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