What's Cooking

Since Josh is never home for meals, on Mondays I usually make a weeks worth of food and have it all ready in containers. Josh can pick what he wants, and then he takes them to work to warm up. It's sorta like a home made microwavable dinner.

Alyse and I also usually eat the meals for our lunch and dinner. (Well, beside the times I decide to just make her some mac and cheese and me eat a salad.)

It is so nice to only cook and clean up the kitchen one day a week. Plus it is so helpful when I plan a menu and can check to make sure I have everything I need when I am doing my online grocery shopping. (I also save money this way.)

Today, I thought I would share some of what I made for this week.

Breakfast:
I made some yummy blueberry muffins.
Sometimes I make other breakfast things, but I was lazy this week.
He will have to have a bowl of cereal or grab some doughnuts.

Lunch and Dinners:
For some reason I ended up using my crock pot a lot this week. (I have 2, so they are easy to use.) Be prepared that you will think "Good Lord, she uses her crock pot a lot!".

Pulled Pork BBQ
1 big piece of boneless pork (really doesn't matter what cut you chose. Just make sure that it has no bones.)
Your favorite BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)

Put it in your crock pot and cover with water.
Let it cook, cook, and cook on low until all the water/juice is basically gone.
(I actually started my on Saturday, turned it off over night and let it set. Then I turned it on on Sunday morning and let it cook some more.)
Once most of the liquid is gone, mix in the BBQ sauce.
Let it cook for about an hour. Just make sure it doesn't burn.

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken
(I stole this recipe off of another blog. I believe it was Kristen's.)
1 - 1.5 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (15.5 oz) can black beans
1 (15 oz) can corn
1 (15 oz) jar salsa (whatever kind suits your fancy)
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese

Place chicken in crock pot.
Cover with corn, beans, and salsa.
Cook on high for 4-5 hours.
Shred the chicken in the pot, and then toss the brick of cream cheese on top in one big piece.
Replace cover and cook another 30 minutes. Stir in melted cheese and serve.

I usually make Spanish rice and then we eat this as burritos with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can of chicken broth
1 onion, finely diced
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

*** Note: I didn't use the biscuits. I used Mary B's frozen dumplings because I like a "noodle kind of dumpling". I also added some carrots and peas, but you have to add them at the end because they make the texture a little watery. ***

Place the chicken, butter, soup, broth, and onion in a slow cooker. (If your chicken is not covered, you can add about a cup of water.)
Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough (or frozen dumplings) in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

Lasagna
Stouffer's.
We like it!

Chicken Cordon Blue
Again, this is frozen, but it is so easy for Josh to grab and warm up at work.
I usually make Cheddar Broccoli Rice for him to eat with this.
Plus Alyse loves rice, so this is one of her favorites.

Chili
(Well, I am waiting on a crock pot to be clean for this, so I haven't made it yet. I also decided to wait to the end of the week because it is suppose to be cool again, and it will be better then.)

1 lb of browned ground beef
1 can of black beans (15oz)
1 can of mixed beans (15 oz) - I use Bush's Mixed Pinto and Great Northern beans
2 tbsp Chili powder
1 tbsp Cumin
1 cup of water
24 oz of your favorite salsa
1 can of Mexican style corn (15 oz) or you can use 2 cups of fresh/frozen corn

Cook in a crock pot on low for 4 to 8 hrs.
When serving, top with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips or corn bread.

Desserts/Snacks
Brownies
Rice Krispy Treats
I also have the stuff to make a cheesecake, but haven't done it. Maybe I will make that the day I make the chili.....

So there you go. Now you can imagine what is in our fridge right now.