Martha Stewart's Lentil Vegetable Soup

http://www.marthastewart.com/317682/lentil-vegetable-soup

Machaca Beef

http://www.lanascooking.com/2010/08/06/machaca-burritos/

Whole Wheat Bread

http://www.anoregoncottage.com/whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-101/

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cherry-vanilla-cupcakes/

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

We had THE best dinner tonight! I saw a link one day for some crock pot freezer meals and stumbled on this group of recipes from Six Sisters' Stuff.

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/02/10-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-in-less.html

The recipe for Italian Beef Sandwiches looked especially easy and delicious! And I was right! It took me longer to pick out the ingredients at the grocery store than it did to put it all together.

I picked up my ingredients at the local small town IGA so the prices may have been a little higher than if I had gone to a bigger store but it wasn't too bad. It was about $18 and will feed Adrian and I for at least 3 meals.

A few notes:
-I used a rump roast and it turned out great-nice and tender. The meat was under $6.00.
-It didn't say if you should drain the pepperoncinis-I tossed in the whole jar, liquid and all and it was great. It's hard to tell if it added to the flavor.
-We served with provolone cheese to make it like a cheesesteak (which I'm sure I'll start craving soon. Anyone up for a trip to Philly?).
-I cooked mine for about 9 hours on low - I think any longer would have started to burn the meat.
-This definitely has a kick to it but for me the pepperoncinis are mild enough that I can taste their delicious flavor.

This will definitely be a repeated recipe in our house.

♥

Apple-Cinnamon Breakfast Smoothie

I've been drinking this smoothie for breakfasts this week and I have really enjoyed it. For my lactose-intolerant sisters: you can substitute the milk for almond milk. There's not a great non-dairy substitute for Greek Yogurt, but hopefully it wouldn't be too much dairy. 

Picture and recipe from Fit Sugar

Harley Pasternak Apple-Cinnamon Breakfast Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

5 raw almonds
1 red apple
1 banana
3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. (Depending on how powerful your blender is, you may need to chop the apple and almonds into small pieces before blending.)
2. Blend on medium-high for 30 seconds (or until desired consistency).

White Bean and Potato Soup

I love love love this soup!  It's very tasty and quite healthy.  A roommate in college made it and I've made it a few times since.

White Bean and Potato Soup

2 Carrots peeled and grated
2 Garlic Cloves chopped
1 TBS. Butter
4 cups Chicken Broth
4 Potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
16 oz. can White Great Northern Beans
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Thyme

Saute garlic and carrots in butter until soft.  Add broth and potatoes.  Boil gently for 30 minutes.  Mash about 1/2 of the potatoes with the back of a spoon.  Add drained beans.  Bring to a boil just to heat the beans. Add a little thyme and stir in sour cream right before serving

Oven Fajitas

This is a dinner that we have pretty often. We all love it, but what makes it one of my favorites is that I can put it together ahead of time so I'm not standing over a stove during Crazy Hour. It would probably make a great crock-pot recipe, although I've never tried it. You can use store bought fajita seasoning or make a big batch of this seasoning and keep it in the cupboard.

In a greased 9x13 pan, toss 1-2 lbs chicken breasts, a sliced onion and a couple of peppers, seeded and sliced. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and 2 T of the fajita seasoning below. Bake at 350 until the chicken is done. Serve with tortillas, sour cream and limes

Here's the fajita seasoning. This makes enough for several batches.

1/4 cup cornstarch
2 T chili powder
4 tsp salt
4 tsp paprika
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin

Simplicity in Meal Planning

I do not like meal planning.  It takes FOREVER!  I know it shouldn’t be that hard.  I should just put recipes I like into a recipe box and when I go to meal plan, pull out 7 recipes and… Done!  Some people are really bad at math.  I am really bad at meal planning.  It is so hard!  Many people make a recipe out of a cook book or online and if they like it, they write it down, print it out or just remember where it is for future reference.  I don’t do that.  Why?  If it takes too much time to make, I don’t bother keeping it.  If it doesn’t taste REALLY good, I don’t bother keeping it.  If a recipe requires too many ingredients, if it is good, but the leftovers are not, if it doesn’t fit in my budget, I don’t keep it.  Unless a recipe is healthy, easy, delicious, inexpensive, heavenly, makes a great leftover, quick… I don’t bother keeping it.  Even if it meets all these criteria, sometimes I don’t have ink in my printer so I don’t print it and then I forget about it.  Can we say PICKY?  So, without a compilation of recipes, when it comes time to meal plan, it takes 10 hours of pouring through cook books and online cooking sites.  I could go on for hours about why meal planning is so complicated for me.   Whatever the cause of this mental block/pickiness/whatever you want to call it, the point is, I do not like meal planning.

In Thomas S. Monson’s biography “To the Rescue,” Heidi S. Swinton says “Sunday dinner was a big event in the Monson home, featuring roast beef with gravy and mashed potatoes.  On Monday the family ate leftovers from Sunday dinner.  On Tuesday they had stew from the end of the roast.  Wednesday they had pork chops, and on Thursday a sirloin steak that fed everyone at the table.  Friday was lamb chops or fish, and Saturday link-sausage sandwiches.  Variations included lima beans and ham one night, homemade meat pies another.”  Oh my word!!!  When I read this I seriously think I heard angels singing!  Can you imagine repeating the same menu every week?  It could be a bit boring, but you'd be done meal planning for life!!!  Imagine only having to stock ingredients for seven meals.  In our culture, it's Mexican food one day, Italian the next, American the next, Chinese the next, and some sort of mix of all of them the next.  We probably only repeat the same dinner twice a year.  How wonderful and tasty, but how complicated!  I'm all for variety, but something about the simplicity of Sister Monson's menu is so refreshing. 

Any thoughts?  Could you eat the same things week after week?  If you had to eat a repeating menu every week for the rest of your life, what would you cook?  I would LOVE to do this.  This isn’t to say I would never eat anything different.  I could switch out a meal anytime I wanted to try a new recipe or make something out of my non-existent recipe collection.  It would just be a base that I would not have to modify, but could if I wanted.  I really want your input.  What is a meal  you could eat once a week for dinner? 

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

This recipe was great. It comes from a recipe by Giada de Laurentis on FoodNetwork.com. I find myself getting most of my online recipes from Food Network. There are many great recipe sites, but this is just the site I am comfortable with. 

4 t Olive Oil

1 medium Onion, coarsely chopped

1 lb Ground Beef

Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

14 (8oz package) Manicotti

1 (15 oz) container Whole-Milk Ricotta

3 cups shredded Mozzarella

1 cup grated Parmesan

2 T chopped fresh Italian Parsley Leaves

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

3 cups Marinara Sauce

2 T Butter, cut into pieces

Heat a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 t of the olive oil, onion, and ground beef. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and cool.

Brush 1 t of oil over a large baking sheet. Cook the manicotti in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly softened, but still very firm to the bite, about 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the manicotti from the pot to the oiled baking sheet and cool. 

Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, 1 1/2 to 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and mix. Stir the cooled meat mixture into the cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Brush the remaining 2 t oil over a 13 by 9 2-in glass baking dish. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture. Arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer int he prepared baking dish and spoon the remaining sauce over.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, then the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan over the stuffed pasta. Dot entire dish with the butter pieces. Bake the manicotti uncovered until heated through and the sauce bubbles on the sides of the dish, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the manicotti stand 5 minutes and serve.