Cilantro Lime Pot Roast

A friend of mine shared this yummy new slow cooker pot roast recipe with me recently and I wanted to share it with you...you can find it here: Cilantro Lime Pot Roast.  I hope you enjoy it!

My Favorite Last-Minute Meals

Last-minute, emergency, quick fix...whatever you want to call it, we all need to pull out a quick and easy dinner plan sometimes.  If hot dogs, grilled cheese, and canned soup have overstayed their welcome on your menu plan, here are a few easy favorites of my family's...

1.  Quesadillas
2.  Omlets
* I love both of these because you can use whatever meat and veggies you have to whip up a healthy, easy meal!  They're also great if you have picky eaters because you can customize them so much.
3.  Soup from the freezer (My favorite soup to freeze is my taco soup - I always make a double batch and freeze one.)
4.  Breakfast
5.  Fried raviolli
6.  English muffin pizzas
7.  Stuffed chicken breast (I buy these at our local grocery store when they go on sale for $1 each.  Small kids can split one, so this is a very budget friendly meal.  There are lots of options like chicken kiev, chicken cordon bleu, and buffalo style chicken.)
8.  Mexican hamburger casserole
9.  Chicken and pasta (I use individually frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts and Philadelphia Cooking Creme.)
10.  Taco salad (No meat?  We love chili beans and Spanish rice.)

Menu Plan Monday - 4th of July Edition

I'm trying out some recipes this week that sound promising.  I'm hoping they taste as good as they look!

Monday:  Mexican hamburger casserole (a family fave - get the recipe here)

Tuesday:  layered meatball casserole (I'm cutting the recipe into two dishes - one for now, one for the freezer)

Wednesday:  grilled chicken and chorizo sandwiches
Thursday:  NEW RECIPE - slow cooker Tex-Mex chicken
Friday:  meatball minestrone

Saturday:  cheesy chicken and pasta (I'm trying out the new Philadelphia Cooking Creme)
Sunday: special meal at church

Something's Missing...

Tonight I'm home sick...our oldest son and myself both woke up during the night with a stomach bug.  He recovered quickly.  Its taking me a little longer.  So while they're at church tonight, I'm home sick.  The quiet house has given me time to think.

I've been thinking about things I love, things I'm passionate about, that I've let slip away because of busyness.  One of them is cooking.  Maybe its because all I've eaten today is dry Fruit Loops and chicken noodle soup, but I realized that I don't have fun in the kitchen anymore.  I don't experiment or try new recipes.  I don't pour through foodie magazines anymore.  I miss it.  Its time for a change.

I've been working hard on couponing, and now I'm dabbling with meal planning a month at a time.  One thing I'm going to include is one night a week to try new recipes.  I'm going to rediscover my love of cooking.  Since I'm home sick, tonight's the perfect time to start on the stack of Bon Appetit magazines a friend gave me...

Save Time in the Kitchen With Meal Planning

I love to cook, but when life gets crazy, cooking can quickly become just another chore.  Years ago, I started planning our menus week by week, and found that it saves hours of work and lots of money.  It may seem overwhelming at first, but it's not as hard as you think.  Here are a few steps that will get you started:

1.  Plan menus using your calendar.
I always have my day planner (a.k.a. my brain) open beside me as I plan menus.  I can see which days I work late, when my husband has meetings, or when my kids have activities and plan accordingly.  The days I have more time are the days I cook more complex meals.  On the busy days, I find quick and easy meals.

2.  Make your slow cooker your best friend.
The slow cooker is a working mom's best friend!  Turn it on in the morning, and you come home at night to a hot meal - just add a veggie or a salad, and dinner's done.  I use mine at least once a week, often twice a week.  There are so many fantastic recipes for slow cookers!  My resource page lists some of my favorite sites.

3.  Plan for leftovers.
Plan some meals that will provide leftovers - one meal will then stretch to two.  Soups and pastas are great for this!  Taco soup is one of my favorites - not only does it make a huge meal, but it freezes well, too.

4.  Post your menu.
Keep a copy of your menu handy - post it on the fridge, keep it in your planner, or put it into your phone.  That way you'll be able to find it quickly.

5. Use your menu to plan your shopping trip.
Once your menu is done, you can plan your shopping list around it.  Check your pantry to see what you have and what you need, and within a few minutes, you have a list ready.  You can save money by buying only what you need and save time by not having to run to the store every couple of days for something you forgot.

Plantation Dinner

This is a recipe from my mom that makes a quick and easy one-dish dinner!  Just throw together a salad and some veggies on the side, and you're done.

• 1 lb. ground beef

• 1 small onion, diced
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (12 oz) package wide egg noodles, cooked and drained


1. Brown beef and onion; drain.
2. Add cream cheese, milk, soup, corn, and water - mixture should be fairly soupy.
3. Add egg noodles and cook until hot.

My favorite recipes websites

I am so thankful that this semester of college is almost over!  Life has been so hectic that I've resorted to quick-fix meals almost every day.  I've really missed cooking, and I'm looking forward to experimenting in the kitchen again and testing new recipes.

My favorite recipe site, hand down, is food.com (formerly Recipe Zaar).  There are so many amazing recipes here, and it's so easy to search for just what you're looking for.  I also love the fact that each recipe is submitted by home chefs, so they are tested and tried.  I found my Mexican egg roll recipe here.

I don't know what I would do without my slow cooker, and I'm always finding great new recipes to try at A Year of Slow Cooking.  To me, a slow cooker is a busy mom's best friend - you can put your food in and pretty much forget about it, then end your day with a hot, home-cooked meal.

A site that is new to me is Picky Palate.  I love the original takes on familar recipes, and I also love the fact that everything I've tried is easy to prepare.

I hope these sites will inspire you to get into the kitchen, try some new foods, and have fun cooking!

Sour Cream Cheesecake with Praline Sauce

This is a holiday favorite at our house! I also make it for a lot of church potlucks - that way I get a little bit, and the rest goes home with someone else - otherwise I would eat way more than I need to! LOL

 

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 stick melted butter

 

Filling:

•  3 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

 

Topping:

•  1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 Praline Sauce:

• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. For crust, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter - pat into bottom and sides of a springform pan.
3. For filling, beat together cream cheese and sugar; beat in eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla; pour filling into crust and bake for 1 hour.
4. Remove cake from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
5. For topping, mix sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until well blended; spread over top of warm cheesecake and return to oven for 5 minutes.
6. Cool cake to room temperature in pan, then cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
7. To serve, loosen cake from pan with a knife, then remove sides of pan.
8. To make sauce, mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan; add in corn syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick; remove from heat, stir in nuts and vanilla, and cool slightly. Pour over cheesecake before serving.

My Favorite Mac and Cheese

Since it's almost Thanksgiving, I decided to share one of our family favorite holiday recipes today - the best mac and cheese I've ever had!  I got this recipe from a church member when we lived in south Arkansas, and it was an instant hit.  It's simple, delicious, and very popular at church potlucks, too!

  

• 1 8-oz box elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 1/2 c. mayonanaise
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 small jar chopped pimento, drained
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 12 oz grated cheddar cheese
• 1 stick melted butter
• 2 c. crushed cheese crackers, such as Cheese Nips 

1. Mix together everything but the last 2 ingredients and pour into a a casserole dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.
2. Mix crackers and butter; spread over top of casserole.
3. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Taco Soup

This is a quick and easy favorite at our house! This also freezes well, so sometimes I'll make a double batch and save some for later. Just last week, our schedule got crazier than I expected, and I pulled a batch of frozen taco soup out Enjoy!

1 lb. ground beef

1 can each of corn, chili beans, dark kidney beans, light kidney beans, diced tomatoes

1 package of taco seasoning (I use Taco Bell)

1 package dry ranch dressing mix

Brown and drain ground beef and add taco seasoning according to package directions. In a separate pan, mix all other ingredients. Add beef mixture when done. Add 1 can of water. Heat through. Serve over tortilla chips and top with cheese and sour cream.

Working Mom Wednesday - 30 Minute Recipe

What is your favorite 30 minute recipe?

First let me say that I am all about quick and easy meals!  I use my crockpot a lot, and I love OMAC (once a month cooking) recipes, too.  I have a couple of things I fall back on when I'm in a hurry - they aren't really recipes, but that's why I love them.  You don't have to do the same thing every time.

I love making quesadillas and omlets, and the reason I love them is that you can grab whatever you have in your fridge and make dinner.  I always have eggs and tortillas, beyond that, I just throw in whatever meats, cheeses, and veggies I have on hand and dinner is done in just a few minutes.  Plus you can customize them to what each member of the family likes.  My hubby loves mushrooms, we both love roasted red pepper, and my kids like plain old meat and cheese.  Cheap, fast, and easy - my favorite kind of meal!  lol

Small Talk Six

 

Today’s topic is “6 things you love to eat, but rarely get to because at least one other person in your household does not care for it.” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

 

Okay, I'm going with six sentences...and this one doesn't count!

 

• This is a hard one for me, because I'm the picky eater in our family.
• As a former vegetarian, I love certain foods that my hubby and kids won't even try.
• I love Boca burgers.
• I also love Morningstar Farms breakfast strips.
• I recently discovered hummus - roasted red pepper is my favorite!
• Finally, one that is definately NOT from my vegetarian days - I love meatloaf but my husband hates it.

 

 

Recipe Zaar

My absolute favorite recipe website is Recipe Zaar. I stumbled across it months ago, and I've gotten so many great recipes from it! My favorite feature is the fact that you can search by preparation method - slow cooker, OMAC, etc., but they have so many different search options. It's a lot of fun and so useful!

My First Menu Plan Monday

Monday's Lunch: cheesy potato soup, Monday's Dinner: chicken and chorizo sandwiches

Tuesday's Lunch: Cuban chicken wraps, Tuesday's Dinner: slow cooker pot roast

Wednesday's Lunch: beef empandas, Wednesday's Dinner: leftovers (chicken and chorizo sandwiches)

Thursday's Lunch: stuffed chicken breast, Thurdsday's Dinner: hamburgers

Friday's Lunch: sandwiches, Friday's Dinner: spaghetti

Saturday's Lunch: hamburgers, Saturday's Dinner: salisbury streak

Sunday's Lunch: leftovers (spaghetti), Sunday's Dinner: sandwichs

Snacks and other goodies: cream cheese brownies, roasted red pepper hummus