Sloppy Joes

I survived my first day back after being out for an entire week with the flu. It was a long day! I was very tempted to run a pick something up for dinner but I already had my groceries bought and I didn't want to waste them. So tonight I had sloppy joes. It's a super easy and fast dinner.
1/2 lb of ground beef
Sloppy joe seasoning
1/2 can of tomato paste
1/4 cup of water
Cook the meat until no longer pink then add the other ingredients and cook for about 10 minutes.
I also had green beans and steak fries.
It was a good dinner and I'm glad I made it instead of getting fast food.

Enchilada Casserole

My mom use to make this all the time and I love it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Saute 1 chicken breast. I added some mexican seasoning to my chicken as it was cooking. I got this seasoning at Affair of the Heart. It is for making salsa but I also use it often when I cook mexican food. By the way it makes the best salsa and it is incredibly easy!

 As the chicken is cooking I mix a can of cream of chicken soup, a can of green enchilada sauce, and about 3 tablespoons of rotel together. Put it on the stove to warm and continue mixing together. Once the chicken is done cut it into bite size pieces and add to the mixture. Finally, I cut corn tortillas into fourths. I add a layer of the corn tortillas on the bottom of a casserole dish. Then pour the mixture onto of the tortillas. Next sprinkle a little cheese. I continue the layering steps until all the mixture is gone. I add one last layer of tortillas and cheese.

 Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Then uncover and cook for another 10 minutes. Pull out of the oven and cover with foil, let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Finally serve with chips. Sorry this isn't the best picture since everything including the plate is around the same color.
The best part of this meal is it is even better as leftovers.

Getting back into routine...

I am slowly getting back into the swing of things after being down with the flu for the week. Here is my meal plan for this week:
Saturday- Sloppy Joe's. As I was watching hours of tv when I was down with the flu I saw a commercial for sloppy joes and have been craving them ever since.
Sunday- Chicken enchilada casserole.
Monday- beef nachos
Tuesday- leftovers. The bible study I am attending this semester starts Tuesday night so leftovers will be the easiest.
Wednesday- leftovers.
Thursday- Taco and Bunko night at church.
Friday- baked potato and salad

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA this week. There has been no weekly plan due to my meals consisting if soup, Gatorade, and slushes from sonic. Unfortunately I have the flu. Hopefully, I'll be back to my normal self next week!

Catching up

I ended up not completely following my plan for this week. Just like with my lesson plans at school everything is flexible.
Tuesday afternoon a friend asked if I wanted to meet for dinner. I absolutely love spending time with friends and visiting so I just couldn't say no :) I had a great time!
Wednesday I had leftovers as planned. Thursday I went out with some friends from work. We try to get together once a month. We always have a wonderful time! I look forward to those afternoons/evenings!
Last week our school started a biggest losers contest. As of our first weigh in I am in second place with 2% lost. I am really excited and look forward to moving to first place :)
Later this weekend I will update with my meal plan for next week.

Scripture 2

As I stated earlier I am doing Beth Moore's challenge of memorizing two verses a month for this year.
My verse from January 1st is, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19 This has been a great verse for the beginning of the year as I try to focus on what God has for me this year and not dwell on anything I didn't like from last year.
Here is my new verse for January 15th, "God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply & gently within us." Ephesians 3:20 MSG
I don't refer to the Message often however there are a few verses that just make it clearer from there and this is one of them.

Sunday & Monday Dinner

Sunday was such a cold dreary day. I spent most of the day trying to finish a great book. I was wishing that it would snow outside so we could have snow day or two. It was a perfect day for chili. I let it cook for a while so it was even better.
Chili Recipe
1/2 lb of hamburger meat
2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of chili beans
1/2 can of diced tomatoes
1 package of chili seasoning

Monday night I made taco salad. Super easy and yummy. As I was chopping the tomatoes and onions I thought I would share another favorite kitchen tool. My new cutting boards:

They came in 4 different colors. I use the red for meat, blue for chicken, green and yellow for fruit and veggies. In the picture I am showing you the bottom it has grippers so it won't slip around on the counter. I love that feature!

So here is how I do my taco salad. I cook the hamburger meat and add taco seasoning. Put the lettuce, meat, tomatoes, onions, beans, cheese, crushed chips, and dressing all together.
Ingredients:
1/2lb hamburger meat
1 roma tomato diced
1 green onion diced
cheese
baked nacho cheese chips
lite french dressing

It was definitely a success in the amount for one! I have just enough for one possibly two more meals.

Weekly Plan

Here is my plan for this week:
Sunday- Chili
Monday- Taco Salad
Tuesday- Potato Soup in the crockpot (new recipe)
Wednesday- Leftovers
Thursday- Dinner out with friends
Friday- Leftovers

Lasagna & Friday Night Changes

Last week I said I wanted to try one new recipe a week in my dutch oven. So as I was looking online for recipes I found a few for lasagna. I decided to try it. Again, I didn't like everything in the recipes so I created my own recipe. I made this for dinner Thursday night.

Lasagna noodles
1/2 lb ground beef
Jar of spaghetti sauce
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1. Brown meat in dutch oven.
2. Put cooked meat, sauce, and seasonings in mixing bowl. Combine
3. Layer noodles, meat sauce, and cheese
4. Cook in 425 degree oven for 30 minutes

It turned out good. The only thing I would do differently is add a little water. It dried out a little more than I like.

I made a salad and some garlic bread. It was a great dinner.

I planned a dinner for tonight but my plans were changed for the better. I had a wonderful evening with friends. We ate at panera and had a great time visiting and laughing. You know you have had a good time when your stomach hurts from laughing so much! Thanks for H and A for a fun evening!

Lemon Chicken & Rice

Tonight's dinner has been one of my favorites since I started doing this blog. I saw a recipe on pinterest for lemon chicken and rice. The picture looked great so I wrote down the ingredients and added them to my grocery list. I finally looked at the directions for cooking it and noticed they said to cook it in a crockpot. Well it was 5:15 so definitely too late for that. So I decided to just wing it and create my own recipe for it. Here it goes:

1 chicken breast
1 box of uncle ben's long grain and wild rice
a few carrot sticks chopped
a 1/4 of an onion chopped
1/2 a can of chicken broth
1 lemon

Cook the rice according to the box
Cook the chicken. I cut it into chunks before I started cooking it.
Squeeze all the juice from the lemon into half of the can of chicken broth.
About half way through the chicken being cooked add the chicken broth, lemon juice, onions, and carrots.
Finish the rice and chicken. Then add the chicken, onions, carrots, and all leftover broth into the rice. Mix together.

I cooked some greenbeans to eat as well. I don't like very many vegetables so I try to get them in where I can.

I think tonight's was a success. It was delicious and I have very little leftovers.

Monday Night Dinner - Taco Soup

I am a night behind but yesterday was so hard going back after two weeks off. I don't remember any other time going back after break being this difficult!  I am so thankful I had dinner ready in the crockpot. If I didn't have that ready I would have been very tempted to grab something on my way home.
Anyways, here is the world's easiest taco soup recipe and it is very yummy!! I make mine in the crockpot but you could make it over the stove.
1 and half cans of rotel
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of corn
1/2 lb of hamburger meat
2 tbs of taco seasoning
**It calls for black beans but I don't like black beans. However you can add them if you like them.
As I said yesterday I cooked the meat the night before. Monday morning I threw everything into the crockpot and turned it on low. Then it was ready when I got home from work.
Enjoy! :)

   

Back to Routine

Well after being off for two weeks, it is time to go back to work. :( I'm excited to see my students but it is always hard getting back into a normal routine. No more staying up late, sleeping in late, and taking long afternoon naps.
I always try to plan out my week and get everything ready but as the weeks got closer to Christmas break the less I planned. I am going to try to stick with the following to make my days easier, especially the mornings:

1. Planning out my dinners for the week. Done
2. Figuring out what I will wear for the week and hanging it on my bathroom door. This is a huge help in the morning. It allows me extra time to sleep :) Done
3.  Getting my lunch packed every night before I go to bed. Again more time saved in the morning. Done

Tomorrow night I plan on having a crockpot meal that will need to be put together in the morning. Therefore, I prepped as much as I could tonight. I cooked the meat and put it in the fridge. I set out all the ingredients that don't need to be in the fridge. All I have to do in the morning is dump it all in.

All the little things I do the night before save me a lot of time in the morning.
Tomorrow night I will share my recipe for crockpot Taco Soup.

Weekly Plan

This week I finally have to go back to work after being off for two weeks for Christmas. It has been a great break but it will be nice to get back into a routine. However, I will welcome any snowday we happen to have ;)
Here is my plan for this week. There are a few things that carried over from last week that I didn't make due to fun improtu dinners popping up during the break.
Sunday-leftovers. This is my shopping day as well.
Monday-Crockpot Taco Soup. I LOVE using my crockpot and try to use it at least once a week.
Tuesday- Lemon Chicken Rice. This is a new recipe. Hopefully it turns out well!
Wednesday- Leftovers. I work with the kids at church on Wednesday so it will always be a leftover night. I am really going to try to stick with having leftovers and not going to a drive-thru.
Thursday- Dutch oven Lasagna. I plan on trying to use my new dutch oven once a week. If anyone has good dutch oven recipes I am open to hear them. As I was googling for ideas all the ideas that I could find are for campfire dinners. That's not exactly what I had in mind...
Friday- Baked Potato & Salad
Saturday- Leftovers

The plan is to eat at home every night this week. However, if something comes up one of those nights it is fine. I always try to plan a meal or two that can be carried into the next week.

I hope everyone has a great first back into a normal routine after the holidays.

Chili

I am enjoying writing on here. It has been great hearing from friends about what they are doing or making after they read it here. I received an adorable video of a friend's little boy trying goulash for the first time. Then I received two emails one from my wonderful mentor and friend and another friend a college friend who is joining on Beth Moore's scripture memory team. I can't wait for us to share our verses with each other.

As planned last night I went to a movie and then dinner with some friends. We had a great time! We ate at Chuy's. If you haven't been you should try it.

Tonight I made chili. This is one of my absolute favorite things to make. Luckily, a few years ago I figured out how to make it for one. I brown 1/2 lb of hamburger meat. Then mix tomato sauce, one can of chili beans, and half a can of diced tomatoes with the cooked hamburger meat. For the seasoning I use McCormick's chili seasoning. Again this is a favorite. I usually have enough left for an extra two meals.

With tomorrow being close to the end of my Christmas break I have another dinner out with a friend planned. Once school starts back I will definitely be eating at home more since my schedule will be back on track.

2 dinner update

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fun safe New Year's Eve! I am not a huge fan of New Year's Eve so mine was fun but very relaxed. I went to a friend's house and we just hung out and tried to watch a movie. A word of wisdom do NOT rent 10 Years, it is not worth the money! We only watched about 15 minutes then turned it off.
I cannot believe it is 2013! I remember being a sophomore in high school and it celebrating the year 2000. I look forward to what this year will bring! No resolutions here because I always break them. ;)  I have decided to join Living Proof's Scripture Memory Team http://blog.lproof.org/  and try to memorize 24 verses this year. I think filling my heart and mind with God's word is better than any other resolution out there. Here is the first verse I am going to memorize:

This is a great verse for me as we move into a new year. It is a wonderful reminder to focus on this year and not worry about things I wish I did differently last year.


Now onto last night's dinner and tonight's dinner.
Last night I made a caesar salad. I use the salad kits. Another fast and easy thing to make. I had a late lunch with my brother, Matt and his fiance, Erin. I also knew that I would be having junk food later that night so I kept my dinner simple.

Tonight I just had leftovers. I usually eat through my leftovers quickly while school is in session because I take them for lunch. But since that hasn't been happening I have LOTS of leftovers. Tonight I had leftover tortilla soup.

Tomorrow night's dinner will be out to eat. It is the first time since I started the blog last week that I have had dinner out. I am looking forward to going out with friends!