As you are all aware, Dream Dinners is one of my favorite ways to save time and get tasty, healthy meals on the table in 45 minutes or less!
If you haven’t tried Dream Dinners yet, now is the perfect time! They have lowered their minimum orders to three meals, and new customers can score a free dinner. When youorder 3 or more dinners, they get a free medium Cashew Chicken and Noodles with code SHARE at checkout.
There are over 70 Dream Dinners locations throughout the US, but if you don’t live close to one, fret not! There is a deal for you as well! New Guests can get free shipping on their first box of 4 medium dinners as a special offer just for you. Use this code at checkout: FREESHIP.
I love to cook and bake. I love freshly baked bread. I’m kinda over the poppin’ fresh dough boy’s crescent rolls and Italian loaves. I don’t have time to make bread from scratch on weekdays. I recently discovered Wildgrain. I ordered our first box last week and it will be arriving soon (I’m stoked).
What is exciting for my family is the ability to customize- Wildgrain’s new customizable subscription box features NEW multiple box types including:
A mixed box where you can pick your own delicious loaves of Wildgrain bread, pasta, and pastries.
A pastry only box where you are able to grab choice Wildgrain pastry options.
A bread only box where you can snag all your fave Wildgrain bread loaves.
A new Vegan bread-only box!
Wildgrain will continue to offer the same favorite seasonal and rotating add-ons they have always had. Now you can just add more of your favorites into your own customizable box!
Free Shipping- That’s right… Wildgrain orders SHIP FOR FREE? No matter where you live in the U.S. or how many “extras” (like those yummy chocolate croissants) you add on, Wildgrain boxes always ship for free! Let your audience know today!
To learn more or order a box yourself, check out Wildgrain here.
This landed in my inbox last night, and I thought I’d share it. With Summer Break coming up, I’ll be leaning on Dream Dinners a few times a week to get us through the summer for those days we are busy.
I don’t get paid when school is out (surprise- teachers and school staff don’t draw a paycheck over the summer months unless they work summer school or opt to spread their paychecks out over 12 months- and some districts don’t offer this), so I really need to be cost-conscious over the summer. Dream Dinners is a great way to have restaurant-quality meals in the comfort of our home for 50% (or more) savings compared to restaurant prices.
And the June Dream Dinners Menu has a bunch of my family’s favorites- Mongolian Beef & Broccoli with White Rice (my fav), and Spinach and Artichoke Ravioli Bake (The kids’ fav) were the top two on my list.
FREE* Dream Dinners Cooking Class
Thursday, June 8th at 5:30
Learn how easy it can be to make Dream Dinners at home. During the class learn how to prepare quick, easy healthy, and delicious meals. In this class, you will learn basic cooking skills you can use to make all types of different meals at home. Save time, save money, and have fun!!
This Month’s Featured Entrée will be the Nashville Chicken served with Summer Grilled Veggies.
Call/Text 619-460-6800 for more information. La Mesa Dream Dinners will begin offering a series of cooking classes each month. To stay up to date on our classes, go to lamesadreamdinners.com.
* No Fee for class, Minimum Purchase required – 3 meals.
This is a recipe I recently made. I wanted chipotle chicken but with veggies and sauce.
I looked online for a recipe, however, there was nothing that fit the bill. I headed to the kitchen and started cooking.
This meal turned out AMAZING.
Chipotle Chicken Thighs
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Chipotle sauce from a small tin of adobo pepper in chipotle sauce
1 cup salsa
3T. Hot honey
1 medium onion, diced
2 large bell peppers or 3 medium bell peppers, cleaned and sliced into bite-sized pieces
Dash cumin
Dash salt and pepper
Juice of 2 limes
2T. Corn starch
1/3 cup water
Directions:
In a crockpot, combine all ingredients but corn starch and water.
Cook on low for 5 hours, or high for 3 hours.
Strain sauce into a saucepan, and heat over medium until boiling. While sauce is heating, mix water and corn starch and slowly pour into boiling sauce. Stir until thickened, add back into meat and veggies.
Serve with rice, beans, and tortillas.
If you want extra smokiness, chop 1-2 chipotle peppers and add to the sauce while it thickens on the stovetop.
I learned to make this soup originally in High School Food and Nutrition class. The teacher was very big on low fat, low carb (it was the 90’s), so I’ve made a lot of changes from the original recipe to include more vegetables, aromatics, and herbs/spices.
Thankfully our Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box loads us up weekly on locally grown, farm fresh veggies. All the veggies I used in this recipe came from our CSA box!
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (I use 80/20)
1/3 cup uncooked rice (don’t use instant rice. I used jasmine rice)
1 egg
1/4 c plain bread crumbs
1 T. Parsley
1 T. Olive oil
2 T. Minced garlic
2 carrots peeled and chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
2 15-ish oz. cans diced, peeled tomatoes
2 green zucchini or calabaza (Mexican Squash), cut into bite size pieces
1 bay leaf
2 T. Penzeys Penzeys Salsa & Pico Seasoning
6 cups chicken or veggie stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine ground beef, rice, egg, breadcrumbs, and parsley. Form small meatballs, and set aside until all the meat is balled up.
In a large Dutch oven, heat oil and fry meatballs, turning frequently so all sides are browned.
Remove meatballs, and set aside. Keep the drippings in the Dutch oven.
In the Dutch oven, over medium heat, sauté carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes for about 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
Add in the garlic, continuing to cook over medium heat, until garlic is fragrant.
After garlic is fragrant, turn heat down to low, add in remaining ingredients, including the meatballs that have been patiently waiting. Cover with a tight fitting lid, and allow to simmer for 15-30 minutes, giving time for the ingredients to mingle, and the meatballs will swell slightly, as the rice in them cooks.
This recipes serves 6-8. It freezes well and is so good topped with a little queso fresco, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime and a little hot sauce.
If you don’t eat beef, you can use any other ground meat. I’ve never used faux ground “beef”, so I can’t vouch for it.
Dream Dinners is one of my favorite ways to save time and get tasty, healthy meals on the table in 45 minutes or less!
If you haven’t tried Dream Dinners yet, now is the perfect time! They have lowered their minimum orders to three meals. And April has some of my favorite meals:
Chicken with Honey, Garlic, and Orange with Oven Roasted Broccoli
Chateau Chicken with Almond Butter Sauce
Sonoma Grilled Steak
Tuscan Chicken Bake
Classic French Dip and Au Jus
I am picking up my Dream Dinners order tomorrow afternoon, and it is definitely coming in the clutch over spring break. We’ll be able to have our usual fun adventures and I’ll be able to get dinner on the table.
If you want to learn more, find your local Dream Dinner location, or place an order, click here.
This is a pretty good deal, especially if you live near (or work near) a Panera.
If you redeem your Panera Unlimited Sip Club daily during your monthly subscription, that works out to about 30¢ per day. Subscribe now and get your first month free. After that, it’s just $11.99/month (plus tax).
Any Size, Any Flavor-Includes unlimited hot coffee, iced coffee, and hot tea. Plus you’ll receive $0 Delivery Fee all year, and a FREE custom calendar from Shutterfly.
Get any size, any flavor once up to every 2 hours, with unlimited refills while you’re in the cafe. That means plenty of coffee to pair with your favorite bagel, breakfast sandwich, or sweet treat. YUM!
And it’s super easy to use when you order. Redeem your subscription like a MyPanera Reward at the register, kiosk PaneraBread.com, or on our app. Add an eligible beverage to your cart and will be automatically redeemed upon checkout.
Unlimited Sip Club members score benefits like Sip Club Saturday deals, VIP challenges, and more.
In my recent post about hosting a mermaid-themed party, I mentioned that we will be serving pasta salad.
One of the things that I love about pasta salad is that it’s so flexible.
Basically, all you need is a pound of pasta (your choice) cooked per package directions, drained, and rinsed. After that, whatever you add is up to you.
I use 1 cup of dressing to start. Usually, I use zesty Italian-type dressing, but if you are a pesto lover, 1 jar/can of pesto and a few tablespoons of your favorite oil (I like avocado oil) is excellent. Red or green pesto, whatever your preference is. If you are serving vegetarians, avoid red pesto because it contains anchovies.
1 cup of diced cheese- Mozzarella, or mozzarella pearls, or cut up a couple string cheese sticks.
2 cups vegetables, cut into bite-size pieces. Bell peppers, broccoli, black olives, tomatoes (either grape or cherry), and fresh, shelled peas are some of my favorites.
Optional, but tasty: a bunch of fresh basil, cut into ribbons (chiffonade).
Mix all ingredients together, and store in a tightly closed container for at least 4-6 hours prior to serving.
This recipe serves about 8-10 as a side dish, less as a main dish. If you need to add meat to this, as a can or 2 pouches of chunk tuna, drained and rinsed.
Leftover Turkey. It’s coming. Here is my favorite way to repurpose leftovers and make a really yummy soup.
The best part is that you can add anything you’ve got left over and it’s yummy.
Turkey Soup
Ingredients:
8-10 cups of turkey stock (I use the recipe here and substitute the turkey for chicken)
4-ish cups of leftover turkey chopped into bite-size pieces
2-3 cups of leftover roasted veggies (Or if you don’t have any: 2 carrots, peeled and chopped, 2 ribs celery, chopped, 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces)
1-2 cups turkey gravy (optional, but makes the soup thick and richer)
Optional, but yummy: 1 cup uncooked Noodles/pasta. I like Rotini or Elbow Macaroni.
Directions:
In a large stock pot, add stock, meat, and veggies. Simmer on medium until the soup has reached a gentle boil, and if using fresh veggies the veggies are fork tender.
Add in noodles/pasta, and allow to simmer 10-ish minutes, until pasta is cooked.
Now it’s gravy time. Gently pour in the gravy, and bring the soup to a gentle boil, stirring frequently.
Serve soup immediately. It’s really good topped with reheated leftover stuffing/dressing.
This soup reheats well and can be frozen for future meals.
At this point, your 2022 Thanksgiving Meal is already cookin’. And if your dinner is anything like ours, there are leftovers. Lots and lots of leftovers. Which, don’t get me wrong is great, but, after a few days, you may get tired of eating leftovers.
Here are a few ways you can repurpose your Thanksgiving leftovers and make something tasty (and different).
1- Let’s start with the star of the show- The Bird. I recommend taking the carcass and a few cups of meat (I use dark meat) and make stock. Here is my basic recipe, substitute the rotisserie chicken in the recipe for your turkey. And the best part is that you can do it in the crockpot overnight! Once you have a rich stock, you can make- SOUP! I’ll have a great Turkey Soup recipe up in a bit.
When packing up leftovers, I cut all of the remaining meat up, so there aren’t HUGE CHUNKS. This makes the meat easy to serve for future meals.
2- Gravy. Don’t ditch the leftover gravy! I add my leftover gravy to my Turkey Soup. Admittedly, I make a lot (8 cups+) of gravy. Not a thick soup fan?
It’s turkey pie time! It’s a take on shepherd’s pie. Take 1 cup of gravy, 2-3 cups of bite-size pieces of turkey, and 1 cup of frozen carrots and peas (or if you have leftover veggies from dinner). Mix all together, and pour into a greased baking dish. Then, top with 2-3 cups of leftover mashed potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. I like to top with 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese about 10 minutes before it’s done, remove the foil, and allow the cheese to melt and get all bubbly.
3-Mashed Potatoes. Don’t ditch the taters, they have lots of life in leftovers! In addition to the turkey pie above, Mashed potato cakes are a good choice, and they are super easy to make!
Mashed Potato Cakes start with 2 cups mashed potatoes, 1 egg, 1 cup AP flour, 1/2 c grated or minced onion, salt, and pepper. Mix all of these ingredients together and form into patties. Fry the patties in 1 cup oil (your choice), drain on paper towels prior to serving. If you like cheese, add 1/2 cup cheese of your choice. These are great for breakfast with eggs.
4- Cranberry Sauce/Jelly. I like topping toasted leftover rolls with it, or putting it on toast. It’s also good on turkey sandwiches. Thirsty Whale has a great cocktail recipe using Cranberry Sauce.
Talk Back: How do you repurpose your holiday leftovers?
As you are all aware, Dream Dinners is one of my favorite ways to save time and get tasty, healthy meals on the table in 45 minutes or less!
There are over 70 Dream Dinners locations throughout the US, but if you don’t live close to one, fret not! There is a deal for you as well! New Guests can get free shipping on their first box of 4 medium dinners as a special offer just for you. Use this code at checkout: FREESHIP.
Free Shipping- That’s right… 
This is a recipe I recently made. I wanted chipotle chicken but with veggies and sauce.
In my recent post about hosting a mermaid-themed party, I mentioned that we will be serving pasta salad.
Leftover Turkey. It’s coming. Here is my favorite way to repurpose leftovers and make a really yummy soup.
Hewes Family Fun 