A Week of New Dinners

*I should start by saying this post has been a NIGHTMARE to get up! Blogger is NOT working and I've tried a gazillion times to post this week with no good results. Some of my pictures were deleted as well, so this is the best I could do!!! 

I've been looking around trying to find some new meals to make recently & these are the six I tried for this last week. They all turned out really yummy and I definitely will be adding them to my list! (Can you tell chicken was on sale this week?)

***I cannot believe I left out a recipe that happened to be our FAVORITE out of all of them!! I've updated & added the THIN BURGER! YUMMMM!!***

1. Chinese Chicken Salad

2. THIN BURGER

3. Sausage Scallopini (recipe will be at end of post) 

4. Coconut Chicken Nuggets



5. Chicken Tortilla Soup 
my house smelled like HEAVEN while this was cooking! 

6. Chicken Fajitas 

7. Martha's Bean Burritos  
I added sauted bell pepper and onions - and I actually didn't follow the recipe exactly.....I made my own beans and didn't add rice but added some chopped chicken instead and they were yummy! I think it's pretty obvious this is simple and versatile :) 
 


*Sausage Scallopini Recipe
1 lb sweet Italian sausage
2 garlic cloves - chopped
1 medium sweet onion - julienned
1 red pepper - julienned
1 green pepper - julienned
3 TBS olive oil
1 lb can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste (6 oz)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound pasta

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine all ingredients (except pasta) in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours stirring occasionally.
2. Toward the end of cooking time, remove the sausage, slice into smaller pieces, then return to slow cooker.
3. Cook pasta
4. Toss everything together and enjoy!

*I sauteed mushrooms and zucchini separately and added it to the finished product, and I also cooked spaghetti squash and used that as the "pasta." This was VERY tasty!

July Birthday's

Yes, I am very behind on posting. Right now, I seem behind on everything in my life! I'll explain more in a different post. July is a busy month all around but also because we have four family birthday's within 11 days of each other. My dad is July 3, Ruby is July 11, I'm July 12 & my mom is July 14. Of course, the only birthday that REALLY matters much to anyone is Ruby's. Turning 3 was ridiculously exciting for her. She savored every moment of birthday bliss singing "Happy Birthday" to herself at least once a day for numerous days in a row. We have started condensing family birthdays since now there are so many people in our family. One party for each birthday month. We had a lot of fun & the highlight of the party wound up being the Pinata that Ruby BEGGED for! I'm still hiding her bag of candy since there was far to much for any 3 year old to eat through. I actually don't have that many pictures from the day, but I stole some from my sister who also made a nice little video so I'll just share hers. 

31 Days of Meals

Ever since Quin's birth, we have barely eaten out! In comparison to our old food habits, or the food habits of most anyone else in the world we NEVER EAT OUT! It's difficult to come up with dairy and gluten free meals for an entire month! Some of these involve a bit of gluten, (I always make gluten free for Quin no matter what!) but I try and keep it to a minimal. I ALWAYS modify the recipes to be dairy free which is why a lot of these are not linked to a recipe page.....

Here is a list of my 31 go-to meals. It helps when I know what I'm making and plan accordingly when I shop. There are a couple of repeats because those are household favorites and we enjoy eating them more than once a month. Some of these are what I call "Friday Night" meals which I only make when Adam won't need leftovers for work the next day either because they are expensive or because they don't keep well.

(When I say pasta I mean rice or corn pasta. TJ's has a really yummy corn pasta!)

1. Shepherds Pie

2.  Protein style Hamburgers, caramelized onions, mushrooms, avocado, green salad, steak fries

3. Chicken Pesto Pasta with broccoli and mushrooms

4. Slow roasted chicken, carrots, baked broccoli, potatoes and honey orange sauce

5. Taquitos, rice & beans with homemade guacamole

6. Orange chicken, broccoli and carrots with rice (I use boneless skinless breast & instead of egg I dip it in 6tbs extra virgin olive oil with 3tbs rice milk whisked until combined and thick. AND I 1/2 the sauce recipe...it makes a lot)

7. Shredded beef tacos, rice & beans

8. Spaghetti & meatballs

9. Greek chicken salad, roasted bell peppers, kalamata olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus & flat bread, Greek Dressing

10. Salmon, wild rice & veggies

11. Chicken and veggie soup

12. Green enchiladas, beans, homemade guacamole (I use a little KRAFT cheese which is lactose free)

13. Beef Stew

14. Mongolian beef  with mushrooms and broccoli

15. Beef Stroganauf with broccoli

16. Chicken marsala with Naan bread & jasmine rice

17. Breakfast 

18. London broil, CousCous, tomato relish, green salad

19. Chicken and mushroom masala over pasta

20. Mexican chicken salad with cilantro dressing

21. BLT’s with avocado & steak fries

22. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, onion straws and green beans

23. Steak, roasted potatoes, veggies, mushrooms & caramelized onions

24. Chicken lettuce wraps

25. Pork chops with mushroom sauce over pasta or rice & veggies

26.  Chicken tetrazzini

27.  Sliders, chips and salad

28.  Pulled Pork Sandwiches 

29. Greek chicken salad & flat bread (Greek dressing recipe) *repeat*

30. Beef Stroganauf with broccoli *repeat*

31. Slow roasted chicken, carrots, baked broccoli, potatoes and honey orange sauce *repeat*

Like Weeds

My children are growing like weeds! 

Officially Summer

I know that it's officially Summertime, not because the calendar says so, or because it's hot outside, but because of the GAZILLIONS of people who are FLOCKING to where I live. Every single year I forget how much I dislike summertime crowds. Disney Land is packed, the beach is packed,  the mall is packed, the streets by my house are packed....and you know something? The older I get the more I realize I don't enjoy the heat that much. I find myself tending to be very fond of Fall. Adam on the other hand is a beach bum. He lives for the hot weekends that he can go bake in the sun. When I was a kid, summer was the best part of my world. Do you remember that feeling you used to get when summer was arriving? Such a wonderful feeling really. As I got old enough to venture out on my own, friends would pick me & my sister up to go to the beach. We could literally go anywhere no matter how crowded and it was the greatest thing in the world. We used to wait in three hour lines at Disney Land for splash mountain and it was absolutely nothing. Maybe it's sad that I'm so impatient now. As I age I feel as though I become less and less fun. I really do miss those wild and free days spent lounging around during the summer break. I'm excited to watch my kiddos do the same stuff I used to do. I guess in a lot of ways they really will keep me young!

Here are some old pictures of what my summers used to look like!

Out on the lake in Mammoth for vacation

High School Summer Camp at the beach

DISNEY LAND! (Yes, I realize I was wearing overalls.)

One of our awesome dress up dance parties

I'm pretty certain this was 4th of July

This was a Jr. High Summer camp gas station candy stop!