Simple Thanksgiving

We had this meal for Christmas last year (and probably will again but with cranberry sauce added) but it is perfect for Thanksgiving too.  Using turkey breasts instead of a whole turkey is great for a smaller get together.  We had five adults and three kids.

Roasted Honey-Brined Turkey Breasts recipe from Wegmans

Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes recipe from Betty Crocker

Arkansas Green Beans recipe from All Recipes

Maple Butternut Squash recipe inspired by Skinnytaste

I love the extra shelves I can add to the oven to get everything ready at the same time.

Here's the spread.  I can't wait to make this meal again.

Meal Plan Monday: November 23rd - November 29th

 I feel like I was just commenting on how I couldn't believe that it was November and now here we are at Thanksgiving.  I love this holiday.  Thanksgiving is my simple Christmas.  You go straight to the family time and good meal.  Though now that I don't wait for Black Friday to start my shopping Christmas is getting less stressful.  With all the gearing up for Thanksgiving the rest of the week  can easily get forgotten but you still gotta eat!  Here is what we are having this week...

Monday: Cashew Chicken
Recipe from Wegmans

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday!
I asked for this Taco Rack for Christmas.  I like to buy the soft corn tortillas and bake them in the oven.

Wednesday: Dinner Out for a Birthday Celebration

Thanksgiving Thursday: Cucumber Salad, Kale & Butternut Squash Salad, Turkey Fruit Plate
Obviously I'm not making the main dinner.  This is what I am bringing.
Cucumber Salad Recipe
Kale & Butternut Squash Salad Inspired by Healthy Seasonal Recipes
Turkey Fruit Plate Inspired by Pinterest

Friday: Crock-pot BBQ Pulled Chicken
Recipe from Gimme Some Oven - I'm cheating and using Wegmans Organic BBQ Sauce

Saturday: Pork Tenderloin, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Arkansas Green Beans
Green Bean Recipe from All Recipes - You must make these sometime!

Sunday: Baked Chimichanga 
Recipe from Six Sister Stuff

Meal Plan Monday: October 5th - October 11th

What a start to October.  As I am writing this the sun is finally making its first appearance in six days.  Of course, it is setting at the same time but it has me looking forward to tomorrow.  This week has the possibility to go by very quickly or very slowly.  We are taking the girls to Disney for this first time this Saturday.  So it will go by quickly because we have so much to do.  Or it will drag because we are all so excited.

Here is what we are having for dinner this week:

Monday: Cashew Chicken
Recipe from Wegmans
We love this recipe and have not had it in forever.  Can't wait!

Tuesday: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower
Meatloaf Recipe from this month's Cooking Light Magazine
Mashed Potatoes Recipe from The Chic Life

Wednesday: Restaurant Fundraiser
This is a fundraiser for my daughters dance company.

Thursday: Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Walnut Butter
Recipe from Food Network the butternut squash instead of cheese.
This is one of those super easy recipes that comes together so nicely that it feels like a restaurant meal at home.  Great for a date night in.
The girls are having their regular Kid Fresh Mac and Cheese.

Friday: Wegmans Pizza
It is going to be a busy night.  Going with an easy dinner!

Saturday: Leave for Disney!!

Make sure to follow me on Facebook to see all of our yummy Disney dinners!

Meal Plan Monday: September 14th - September 20th

How is September half way over?  The only positive thing about that is that we are getting a hang of the school year.  Did you celebrate the start of the football season this week?  The buffalo wraps and cauliflower bites were perfect for watching the game.

Here is what we are having for dinner this week:


Monday: Crockpot Chicken and Rice with Steamed Broccoli
Recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.com

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes with Sweet Potato Fries
Recipe From Fixate Cookbook

Wednesday: Honey Ham Steaks with Maple Butternut Squash 
Butternut Squash Recipe from Skinnytaste - I mash the butternut squash after roasting it.

Thursday: Chicken Philly Cheesesteaks with Home Fries
Recipe from Skinnytaste Cookbook

Friday:  Pita Pizzas and Homemade Pizza Lunchable for the Kids
Punchable idea from 100 Days of Real Food

Saturday:  Family Birthday Party

Sunday: Pork Tenderloin and Brussels Sprouts
Brussels Sprouts recipe from Taste of Home

Meal Plan: January 25 - January 31

It looks like the snow season is upon us.  Our church State Dinner got snowed out this weekend so we are going to try again this Saturday.  Are you a snow fan?

Sunday - Chicken Kelley, White Rice and Steamed Broccoli
This is a childhood favorite of mine.  There are probably a lot of recipes just like this.  This one is named after a my parents friend are her chicken dish.  It's delicious and my girls LOVED it.

Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Crumbs
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
Fresh Mushroom
1/2 Cup White Wine
Milk, as needed
Butter, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 350.
Place chicken breasts in a casserole dish.
Mix soup, wine and mushrooms.
Pour over chicken.
Bake for 30 min.
Stir melted butter and stuffing together.
Place stuffing in mounds on chicken breasts.
Continuing baking for 30 min.

When plating spoon sauce over the chicken.  The sauce is good on the rice too!

Monday - Hawaii Loco Moco

Tuesday - Honey Ham and Maple Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash Recipe from Skinny Taste

Wednesday - Aunt Liz's Chicken Spaghetti Casserole - Frozen Meal
Recipe from Cooking Light

Thursday - Tuna Melt

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - State Dinner - Virginia and Connecticut Representative

Holiday Meal Plan: December 21 - December 27

Christmas is here!!  I feel like someone just told me there were 10 days until Christmas and now it is 3 days.  I'm totally almost ready.  Big shout out to Amazon Prime for helping make it all happen.  It's a life saver.

We are celebrating Christmas twice at our house.  Christmas Day with my mom and again on Saturday with my Dad and Stepmom.  This meal plan includes two totally doable and cost friendly holiday dinners.  

Happy Holidays!!

This is what we are having this week:

From MealBoard

Sunday - Chicken Nacho Dinner 
I used my Make-Ahead Chicken Recipe for these nachos. I cubed the chicken instead of shredding it.  I also added cumin. These were a great fit for football Sunday and an impromptu Family Game Night.  We played a cute game called Beat the Parents.  A great game for those that are addicted to Trivia Crack.
Recipe from Moms Who Think

Monday - Baked Ravioli
I made this last week and frozen one.  To reheat bake frozen at 350 for 1 hour or until bubbly.
Recipe from Tasty Kitchen

Tuesday - Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas w/ Chicken 
I baked extra chicken when I made the nachos to add this these enchiladas.  Since I'm doing a lot of cooking at the end of the week I decided to buy enchilada sauce instead of making the Ranchero Sauce recipe.  I went with Frontera Sauce because it is all natural and preservative free.
Recipe from Cooking Light

Wednesday - Homemade Sauce with Italian Sausage and Meatballs served over Rigatoni
This is another family vault recipe.  Basically it is sauce with the sausage and meatballs cooked in the sauce. ;)

Thursday - Pork Tenderloin, Hasselbeck Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Tuscan Salad
Pork recipe from Southern Living
Potato recipe from Cooking Light
Brussels Sprouts recipe from a local restaurant - Ayse Meza
Tuscan Salad from Giada De Laurentiis - Green beans, Cannellini Beans, Black Olives

Pic from Cooking Light

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Turkey Breasts, Mashed Potatoes, Arkansas Green Beans, Mashed Butternut Squash
Roasted Honey-Brined Turkey Breasts Recipe from Wegmans
Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes Recipe from Betty Crocker
Arkansas Green Beans Recipe from AllRecipes.com
Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Mashed Recipe adapted from Skinny Taste

Meal Plan: November 16 - November 22

About a month ago I started doing the 21 Day Fix.  1. Because I had a wedding coming up.  I have always said one of the best motivators for losing weight is a wedding.  2. With the help of this blog I saw how much cheese was in our diet and I wanted to "fix" our diet.  It is always nerve wracking to start a diet when you also have a family to feed.  I have to say I have not had any complaints about the new healthy meal plan .  Well, except for the brown rice but I get that.  The texture is very different.  Here is what we are eating this week:

Sunday - Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes (Crock-pot Meal)
Recipe from My Recipes
Update:  This took longer than the 3.5 hours that the recipe said it would.  It was more like 5.  So we had spaghetti and will have this for leftovers on Wednesday.  Other than that, the little taste of potato and carrot I had was delicious.

Going into the Crock-pot

Monday - Maple Cinnamon Glazed Ham with Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
Ham Recipe from Best Clean Eating Recipes
Butternut Squash Recipe from Skinny Taste
Ham steaks are great quick night dinner meal.  We used to make these all the time.  It's nice to bring back a family fav.  We would pair these with pre-made sweet potatoes but I'm going to make this butternut squash instead.  My kids have been asking for butternut squash after loving it at a friends house.  I may tweak this Skinny Taste recipe and mash the squash. This would make a good Thanksgiving side.

Picture from Skinny Taste

Tuesday - Hawaiian Chicken Skewers
I forgot to note where I got this recipe.  The original recipe was for a sandwich but I'm nixing the bread and making a kabab instead.

Ingredients 

4 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken cutlets
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices fresh pineapple
1/4 cup salt free teriyaki marinade

Directions

1. Preheat Grill
2. Brush chicken and pineapple with teriyaki marinade. Place on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill chicken and pineapple 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is done and pineapple is caramelized. 

Wednesday - Tacos
"Bring them a meal" idea from Peanutblossom.com.  I will be making some for us and some for a friend.

Thursday - Kielbasa and Pierogies (One Dish Meal)
I will admit when my husband asked for pierogies the 21 Day Fix in me panicked a little.  So this will have to be a good lesson in moderation. ;)  I plan on using Turkey Kielbasa.
Recipe from Foodie with Family

Picture from Foodie with Family

Friday - Pizza and a Slumber Party
Some of my daughter's dance friends are coming over to spend the night.

Saturday - Test Recipe from America's Test Kitchen
I got another test recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  Looking over the ingredients this one is definitely a go!