My New Favorite Lunch

We were at friends' house last Friday. The kids had sandwiches for lunch, but my friend made wraps for us. They were delicious. On Friday, our wraps consisted of ham, shredded cheese, lettuce and coleslaw. My friend put Thai sweet chili on hers but I wasn't sure. I tried them at home yesterday. Yesterday, when I made one I put turkey, ham, shredded cheese, lettuce, coleslaw and I tried the Thai sweet chili. It was so delicious. I think I could eat one everyday. I am glad to actually find something that sounds good, since so far in this pregnancy nothing sounds good. I think I may even make them for us for lunch today. YUM!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I thought I already posted this recipe, but I couldn't find it. This is another crockpot meal, which we all love.

4 chicken breasts
2 cups salsa
1 can corn
1 can black beans (optional - sometimes I use them and sometimes I don't)
8 cups chicken stock
Shredded cheese (for topping)
Nacho chips (for topping)

Place all in crockpot and cook all day on low or 4-5 hours on high. About 1/2 hour before serving, remove the chicken to a bowl and shred. Then place chicken back in crockpot and cook until ready to serve. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream (some of my kids like it with this) and crushed nacho chips. Enjoy!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I am so proud of myself, I just have to share. For those of you that know me, you know I cook meals so my family can eat. In the past I haven't done it because I enjoy it. I have to admit I am starting to enjoy it more and more. Making a meal plan has helped me tremendously. Lately, I have also been going through a stage of wanting to feed my family more healthy food.

This week I was going to make spaghetti for the kids and Steve as I was going out with friends. I looked into the cupboard and realized I didn't have any spaghetti sauce. I looked around a bit and saw that I did have some tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes. I have been thinking recently about making my own spaghetti sauce, after all, do we really know what is in a jar of spaghetti sauce? I figured this was as good of opportunity as ever. I looked up a few recipes for homemade spaghetti sauce on-line and found a good base line for the sauce. From there, I tweaked it a bit to what sounded good to me. What I ended up with was the BEST spaghetti sauce I have ever had, even in a restaurant. Everyone loved it. I made a lot of it and they ate almost all of it. Thankfully, I remembered to write it down as I was making it. I thought I would share it if anyone else is ever in a bind for spaghetti sauce. Or maybe I am the only person that used spaghetti sauce from a jar.

1 1/2 pounds browned ground beef
1 small onion cooked with the beef
1 tsp. garlic powder (I would have used fresh if I had it)
2 8oz cans of tomato sauce
2 cans stewed tomatoes (pureed in food processor, I don't like tomato chunks)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. dried basil
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt (although next time, I won't use any as the tomatoes made it plenty salty)
1/2 tsp. pepper

I just put it all in a large pot, brought it to a boil, then turned the heat down to low and simmered for about two hours. It was simply delicious. Try it and tell me what you think. I am just proud as this is my first made up recipe.

Meals for the Week

Monday - Chicken BBQ's on buns, potato wedges, coleslaw, and veggies
Tuesday - Meatballs, mashed potatoes, bread, veg and salad
Wednesday- Chicken Fajitas and Mexican Rice
Thursday - Baked Potato Bar (we didn't do this one last week, because I didn't have bacon. I still need to get some this week.)
Friday - Cheese Quesidillas, nacho chips with salsa
Saturday - Frozen pizza or pizza delivered
Sunday - Nachos

I do the chicken bbq's in my crockpot too. They are super easy. I just put 4-6 chicken breasts in the crockpot and dump on our favorite bbq sauce. I cook it on low all day or on high for 4 hours. Half an hour before serving I shred the chicken and put in a little more bbq sauce, if needed. Serve on buns. It is so delicious and easy. We all love it.

Taco Salad

Taco Salad

1-2 heads of Romaine lettuce
1 pound taco seasoned ground beef with kidney beans added
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheese
1 chopped tomato
1 bag of nacho chips crushed

I make cut up the lettuce in the biggest bowl I have. Then I dump in the taco meat, cheese, tomato and then I add the salsa. Stir the salad to mix the salsa up. Finally, I put the nacho chips on top. Mix it all together before serving. Enjoy a quick, easy and delicious meal. We usually eat it all.

Final product

Poppy Seed Chicken

Poppy Seed Chicken

3 C. cooked cubed chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz container of sour cream (in England I use creme fraiche, I am not sure the difference, but it is easier to find in the stores and it tastes good.)
1 stick butter
1 tube or box (if in England) of Ritz crackers crushed
1 T. poppy seeds ( I just sprinkle some on the top. I don't measure it.)

Mix the chicken with the sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Put into a greased casserole dish (something smaller than 9x13) I use one of my oval corelle dishes. Melt butter and mix with crushed crackers. Spread crackers over the chicken mix. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C for 20-30 minutes until bubbly.

Nachos

How I make my nachos has been requested, thanks Malory. So here you go.

I brown about a pound and a half or so of ground beef (mince). I will only use half that and save either freeze the rest or this week I will use it in Taco salad. I just estimate because I buy Scottish beef at Costco, divide it and freeze it. After it is browned I add a packet of taco seasoning with the amount of water it calls for and a drained can of kidney beans. (If I freeze half the meat I do it after I add the beans and seasoning. This makes it quick and easy the next time we want nachos.) I warm the meat and beans through. Next, I cover my biggest cookie sheet in foil for easy clean up. I layer a whole bag of nacho chips, the meat, some salsa and some shredded cheese. I bake at 350 degrees F or 180 C for about 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

That is it. So simple. You could add whatever your favorite toppings are as well. Like I said before, it is a perfect Sunday night dinner. The kids love it. I think I am close to having to make two trays. This past Sunday, we could have done with more.