5 go to meals

So, lets be honest…. we all want to create perfect meals every day and have fantastic, healthy meals for our families. And as a stay at home mom, It is kind of my job to make sure that my family eats 3 square meals a day…. Well sorta. My oldest gets a quick breakfast in the morning because she is not the greatest at waking up for school and then she eats lunch at school and then gets dinner.

And as a parent, there are just some days where I just don’t want to cook or I am too sick or exhausted to craft one of those fantastic meals. So there are usually an arsenal of go to meals that moms, or at least I do, have in our back pocket for these days.

 

One of the biggest go to meals for days that are busy or days where I just don’t feel like spending too much time standing in the kitchen is Spaghetti. It is quick and easy to cook. It takes less than 30 minutes to have a hot and delicious meal on the table. And I usually have 3 variations in my arsenal. There’s regular spaghetti, baked spaghetti and taco spaghetti. It is amazing. And although there are the pasta carb debate going around that too much pasta isn’t health….there are ways that I can sneak health into these meals.  There are noodles that are made out of vegetables. And you cannot tell, or at least my kids can’t when they eat it.

Another go to meal is hot dog mac and cheese.  Another non healthy meal that some of those parents would never put on the table for the kids.  It is the quickest easiest meal that my kids love. It is extremely simple and literately 2 ingredients. Takes less than 20 minutes to get on the plate. Its Mac and cheese, which I use Velveeta I love the ooey gooey cheese rather than the powder, and hotdogs. It couldn’t be more simple. We don’t eat it very often but when I have had one of those days, this is one of the meals my kids ask for.

Most people do Taco Tuesday. I do Taco Pizza. It is simple and a hit. Especially with the husband. It is simple and I can put it all together in 30 mins or less. It is crescent rolls pinched together to fit my pizza pan. Covered with refried beans, taco meat, diced tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and cheese. It tastes amazing and is easier than it actually sounds.

My favorite go to meal when its cold and we’re feeling under the weather is Potato Soup. It is creamy and yummy and honestly the hardest part is peeling and cutting the potatoes. And I can cook and dice up cauliflower and broccoli and sneak it into the soup without my family really knowing. It is so good that I usually eat so much that I fall into a food coma. Honestly the best thing in the world. I absolutely love it.

My 5th go to meal would have to be pizza. If I am under the weather or just not in the mood to cook….we usually order in. But If I want to include my kids, which I try to do often because our oldest just adores cooking and watches the cooking shows, we make homemade stuff crust pizza. This is a go to meal because I don’t have to do much, my daughter does.

 

These are my five go to meals…. what are yours?

Chili cheese mac recipe

So Easter weekend was pretty hectic. With that being said, we didn’t get to fully plan out this weeks menu. So I asked my husband what he wanted me to cook and he said Chili mac and cheese. Which is a simple go to item. Typically most people will do spaghetti as their easy go to meal. This is ours.

What you’ll need:

1 lb Ground beef

Seasonings of your choice

2 boxes Velvetta Mac n Cheese

1 can Chili with beans. (i got mine from Lidl for like $0.50)

So you cook  the ground beef until done. Nice and brown. Drain it. Add the beans. While this is simmering, cook your mac and cheese according to the box directions. Once this is done…add the beef mixture.

And you’re done.

Simple as that.

Quick and easy

And so yummy.

 

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I realized I haven’t posted a lot of recipes in a very long time. Well technically it’s only been a few months.

So I was in the mood for sweet and sour chicken. Except I didn’t want to go to the only decent chinese place here in town to order the food. Because well even with it being the best in town….it lacks a lot.

So why not makes something myself right??? And Even though my brother thought I was a lunatic for trying… I did make a sweet and sour Chicken casserole and I am happy to say…there were no left overs

 

What I used.

1 pound of chicken breast tenders cut into cubes

oil

flour

corn starch

seasonings

red, yellow and orange bell peppers

2 bags of boil in bag rice

A jar of Sweet and Sour Sauce that I got from Lidl

a couple of eggs

So I put the oil into the pan and let it heat up while I cut up the chicken and mixed the flour.

I put the flour and cornstarch in a bowl with seasonings. Then I beat a couple eggs in a separate bowl to do a egg wash.

As usual.. you put the chicken in the egg wash then the flour… After that. you put it in the hot oil and let it fry.

I put the sauce into a baking pan. So that I could transfer the chicken straight over once it got done cooking.

The thing I love about boil in bag rice is that I can put it in a bowl full of water stick in the microwave for  ten minutes and its done. The picture of the rice below….After it got done in the microwave I drained the water into my strainer. to try to get all of the water out.

I put the bell peppers into the frying pan and after that started cooking, I put the rice in with it.

Once everything was done I put everything into the baking pan and mixed it together, Baked at 355 for about 15 minutes. Yumm

Tuna noodle casserole

I used to spend a lot of time at my brothers. He didn’t cook a lot mainly because he liked spicy things and his family didn’t. So when he had to cook, his go to meal was tuna helper. But like most helper box meals, they are filled with preservatives and theres something about making it from scratch that i like.

What you will need:

3 cans of tuna

Egg noodles

Frozen peas

2 cans cream of chicken soup

Cheese

Seasoning

Cook egg noodles according to package.

Once done, drain.

Mix all ingredients other than cheese together. Top with cheese and bake until done.

Yummy

Low carb-ish egg roll

I don’t know about you but I am not a fan of the egg roll wrapper…unless I’m making cream cheese wontons….but I do enjoy the insides…sometimes…so here is this low carb kinda (no wrap) egg roll

What youll need

1lb ground beef

Soy sauce

Garlic

Ginger

Seasonings

Cole slaw mix

Brown your ground beef….

While this is cooking mix the garlic ginger and soy sauce.

Drain the beef

Add the slaw…mix slaw and beef together.

Once this is starting to really cook thru add the sauce…

Allow to simmer until the slaw is wiltering and easy to chew…

Enjoy…I added some yum yum sauce to mine and I’m in heaven.

Chili pie

Its starting to get a little colder here…so why not make the cold weather comfort food…chili.

Well its a little twist on it. I made it into a pie.

What you’ll need:

1 lb ground beef

2 cans pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small onion diced

2 boxes corn bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Brown the ground beef and onion…drain

While the meat is cooking mix one box of corn bread according to directions. Spread on the bottom of a baking dish

Once the meat is done…add the cans. Let simmer. You’ll also want to add seasonings. I added salt pepper and cayenne.

Once that is done pour on top of the corn bread.

Mix the other box of corn bread according to directions. Pour on top of chili.

Bake until corn bread is golden brown and enjoy 🙂

BBQ ranch chicken pasta

I am a huge fan of ranch, but my husband isn’t. Thats why whenever I wanna make something with ranch in it…I dont write it on the board correctly. Like this was just BBQ chicken pasta….I’m evil…I know. This actually made enough for 2 night of dinner because I accidentally picked up 2lbs of elbow noodles. Honest mistake but yay me. I get a night off.

What you will need:

1lb chicken cut into pieces and cooked

1lb elbow pasta…i used 2 lbs oh well

1 can sweet corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 cup rance

Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook your chicken. I’m pretty flexible with recipes. If it calls for cooked chicken…then cook it however you want. Here I just threw it on the stove and let it cook that way. Sometimes I’ll bake it.

While you’re cooking the chicken…cook the pasta according to package.

While both these items are cooking (and by the way…season your chicken however you want) you will need to mix the BBQ and ranch together.

Next add the corn and tomatoes.

Finally add the chicken and pasta.

Place in a baking dish, cover with cheese.

bake for 20 to 30 minutes until cheese has that nice bubbly look.

BBQ Cheeseburger Casserole.

As you have probably figured by now, I am a sucker for a casserole. Especially with two kids, house work, errands and school work. Casseroles as well as dump and bakes are a blessing. This was actually really good….and simple. My picky eater ate all of it… then again she did want some of her trunk or treat candy….We have rules… haha.

What you’ll need:

1Lb ground beef

Onion (optional)

About 1/2 cup BBQ

About 1/4 cup Mustard ( I used honey mustard because I love it)

1 package crescent rolls.

1 to 2 cups cheese.

*I say about because I don’t usually use measurements. I eyeball all the measurements, taste it…if it needs more add it.

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F

Cook the ground beef and onion til no longer pink. Season it however you like.

While the beef is cooking, open the crescent rolls and place in a baking dish. spread it out to fit. Then bake until just barely golden and no longer gooey.

Once the beef is done, drain it. Add the BBQ and Mustard.

Then place on top of the crescent roll.

Add cheese!

Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then ENJOY!

Cheesy spinach chicken pasta

We do not eat enough greens. At all. My nephew refuses to eat anything green. I try to include things that are healthy in our foods. Especially since we do eat out once a week. And we only do that because I mean hey I do need a break.

What you will need:

Chicken breast. I used 2 decent size

Penne pasta

1/2 cup to a cup sour cream

Cream cheese

Spinach

Ranch mix

Seasoning…your choice

Cheese….your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degree F

Cut the chicken up into bits. I usually do this before cooking because its easier…maybe a little more slimey….but its easier than cooking, waiting for it to cool and then cutting. This way I can just transfer it to whatever I’m cooking.

While the chicken is cooking. Boil the pasta. According to directions. Except you want to pull it off the stove just a little bit before its done. Dont worry it will finish in the oven.

Now, its time to mix some things together. I know it’s a lot of multitasking. But it doesn’t take much time. So here we will need to mix the cream cheese, sour cream. Ranch mix and spinach. It looks kind of gross but hey. It turns out good in the end.

When the pasta is done. Drain it. Add the cooked chicken and the pasta to the spinach mix. Stir to combine then transfer to oven. Cover with cheese and bake about 25 to 30 minutes.

Cabage soup casserole

We’ve all heard about the amzing benefits of a cabbage soup….right? I’ve heard that its great for detoxing and other miracle properties….. Could be true since cabbage is really good for you. I, however, just like the taste.

So…

Here’s what you will needg

1 lb hamburger

Onion

About cup of chopped celery (optional)

Beef broth

Diced tomatoes

Tomato sauce

Cabbage…chopped

Salt/pepper

Garlic powder

Before we begin. Lidl recntly opened in my town last week. I’ve been dying to go. So I made a two week meal plan and wrote out my grocery list. Mind you I didn’t need any meat because I go to the local meat market..they have great prices.

I ended up with 55 items for only 58 bucks. Mind you I had a bag full of onions and celery. But my meal plan didnt call for the celery til next week and I didn’t want it to spoil. I was initially looking for frozen chopped celery but couldn’t find any. So…I decided to do it l. I spent half an hour chopping onions and celery just to freeze them. It will save me money in the future and it didn’t even take that much of my time.

The celery in this recipe is optional. I just had some so why not use it. The more green the better right?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

You will need to brown the beef. Half way thru I added the onion and celery so they could get nice and done before going into the casserole.

The hardest part I think was chopping up the cabbage. That is after you wash it. Always wash your veggies, fruits and the tops of your cans. Always.

While the beef is cooking chop up the cabbage and place it into your baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the broth, sauce and tomatoes. Pour this over the cabbage.

When the beef is done…drain it. We don’t need any of that grease in our dish. Add this to the mixture and bake.

It took about 2 hours for the casserole to bake so that the cabbage was all the way done. You do not want to serve something where the cabbage isn’t easy to chew.

Funny thing is….I like cabbage but not Brussel sprouts.