Category: Side dishes…veggies

Clean Out the Fridge- Veggie Pasta

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, Pasta, Side dishes...veggies, Vegetarian

Evening guys! Hope everyone is having a spectacular week! 8 more days of school!!!! Monday night I made pasta with some leftover sausage and mushrooms and a random jar of marinara I spied in the cabinet. Something kind of like this, except with jarred sauce…https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/09/30/spaghetti-with-mushroom-and-meat-sauce/
I have to say that whole wheat pasta is slowly becoming a family favorite. No one really notices the difference! I can eat just enough to fill me up and still feel great all during my yoga class.

Tonight the hubby made some fish sticks and fries. I had him time it so they would be ready when I got home from my Zumba class. There were not very many fish sticks, so I heated up a couple of veggie burgers in a pan while I cooked the Steam-fresh frozen corn. The girls gobbled up their dinner. Success!

As I was cleaning the kitchen, I decided to make something for lunch using some things in the fridge; leftover spaghetti, sliced mushrooms, an onion, a bag of snow peas, leftover corn, sun-dried tomatoes, and some pine nuts.

So I cooked the mushrooms and onions for about 10 minutes. Then I added the snow peas and corn.
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Then I added the pasta and mixed it up with the sun dried tomatoes, and pine nuts. I topped with grated Parmesan cheese. Delish! 002

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Weekend Wrap-up- A Day for Katie and a Day for Mommy

Beef, potatoes, Side dishes...veggies, Weekend Wrap-Up

Hey guys! So this weekend we celebrated 2 important people. Katie and ME!!! It was Katie’s birthday which always coincides with Mother’s Day. Best Mother’s Day present I have ever received =) Lots of fun, yummy food, and amazing family!

First Up…Katie’s birthday. She wanted to invite a few friends over for a play date. Only one sweet girl could make it (damn you spring sports), but we all had a blast. It was nice to hear 3 girls running around and playing together. We miss that. We ate cake, drank strawberry milkshakes, and opened presents. Tons of fun!010

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I made bacon cheese burgers for dinner. YUM! https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/08/28/burgers-2/
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Had a fun day with my Mommy at a picnic in the park…036

Dinner was so fun! I cooked stuffed mushrooms (Italian Sausage in mushroom caps topped with mozzarella cheese baked at 350 for 15 minutes), and steak with twice baked potatoes (https://funfoodiefamily.com/2015/02/15/steak-twice-baked-potatoes-and-pan-steamed-broccoli/)
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Chicken with Tomato and Veggie Orzo

Chicken, One pot meal, Pasta, Side dishes...veggies

Hey all! I hope everyone had a great weekend with family and friends celebrating the beginning of Spring, special holidays, and the fact that it is SPRING BREAK!!!! Woohoo! We had lots of fun gardening, playing at the park, and enjoying the amazing Spring weather.

We had a picnic at the park for lunch today. It was glorious to see the girls play and get to eat yummy ham sandwiches and pasta salad. Oh, and my mom makes the best deviled eggs. I think I made them once on the blog. I will have to check it out and make sure I add the recipe if it is not already here. Plus, we had Lay’s chips. Plain. The go to chip in our house. Yes, we love our Cheetos, Cool Ranch Doritos, etc… but there is nothing like a bag of salty crunchy Lay’s. Although those commercials with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head eating the chips is a bit disturbing…

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So with a late lunch and a lazy day, I decided to wing it in the kitchen. I had taken out some chicken thighs from the freezer. I know. Chicken. Again. But it is always a yummy go-to that everyone LOVES. My family loves them some dark meat. When any chicken is on sale, I load up. Luckily, last week, it was thighs. I also had a few random mushrooms, a few carrots and celery, and one onion in the fridge. I also found a large can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of green chilies.
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Chicken with Tomato and Veggie Orzo

Ingredients
3 -4 chicken Thighs
10 mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can chopped green chilies
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup cooked orzo- I used my leftovers from this…https://funfoodiefamily.com/2015/04/03/1-pot-veggie-orzo/
1/2 container of broth (I had veggie, but chicken would be perfect.)
1 turn of white wine- acidity is the key to any dish =) use lemon/lime juice, white/red wine vinegar, or red wine…

Directions

Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken liberally.
Brown both sides in a screaming hot cast iron pan or dutch oven- about 6 minutes per side.
Take the chicken out and add in your chopped veggies. Cook down for about 6 minutes. Add in your tomato paste and stir, about 3 minutes. The aroma of smokey tomato should hit your nose. YUM! Add in your wine. Cook for a couple more minutes and add in your canned tomatoes and chilies. Add your broth and your cooked orzo. Stir well and add in your chicken. Simmer until cooked through. Add crusty bread for dipping. DELISH!

Full disclosure- Everyone was STARVING, so I took the chicken out to serve. It was still under cooked, so I cooked it longer and then took it off the bone and added it back in the orzo. Turned out even better than I thought!!!!! Better to be under cooked and cook longer than over cooked and dry as a bone.

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Paired Perfectly with this…
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Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Side dishes...veggies, Vegetarian

Evening! I have made this probably more than 100 times. I know that sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, but I promise you I am telling you the truth. As a vegan/vegetarian, this was an easy and filling meal. The girls tried it for the first time tonight. I had to stop Becca from licking her plate. Katie wasn’t a fan…

The flesh of this squash resembles spaghetti when cooked. It is just like magic. You can add sauce to it, add it with cheese, or simply eat it with salt and pepper. Heaven!

Heat the oven to 400°F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Brush with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the squash halves cut-side up on a baking sheet and roast until fork tender, about 50 minutes.

Remove the squash from the oven and let sit at room temperature until cool enough to handle. Scrape the flesh with a fork to make long strands, or just eat it strait from the skin.

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I ate half with butter and parm cheese.

I spied a leftover garlic butter sauce from pizza last night. I added that and some parm cheese to the other half. I am saving that for another meal this week =)
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Chicken and Gravy with Bacon and Mushroom Stuffing

poultry, Side dishes...veggies

This week has been a pretty wacko. We had a snow day yesterday that was supposed to be like 4-6 inches. Well, it turned out to be more of a really cold, then snow, then rainy slush day. Oh well. I got some groceries for the next week or so, so no real meal plan coming up. Just eating up leftovers and making meals out of what we bought this mid-week. I bought a fryer, so made up this meal this evening. We all enjoyed it!

Chicken and Gravy with Bacon and Mushroom Stuffing

Ingredients
1 fryer chicken (1 whole chicken already butchered for you)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme, parsley, rosemary or any combination
1 large onion,chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
3-4 tablespoons olive oil/butter
1 glass white wine- I used pinot grigio
1- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium container
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

Heat a Dutch Oven or large skillet on med. high heat with a couple of tablespoons butter or olive oil
Season all the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown both sides of chicken. Work in batches or use 2 pans, about 8 minutes skin side down first. 3-4 minutes on opposite side. Take the chicken out. Add your onions to the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes and add your garlic. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add your flour. Mix well. It should come to the consistency of wet sand. Once it does that, add in your wine. Cook down for a couple of minutes then add in 3/4 of your chicken stock. Add in your chicken. Add more chicken stock if gravy gets too thick. Add in your fresh chopped herbs. Simmer on med.low for 45 min stirring occasionally until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Bacon and Mushroom Stuffing- This stuff was pretty simple- I followed the directions on one of those “Thanksgiving” Pepridge Farms bags of stuffing. I added sauteed mushrooms with cooked chopped bacon to the onion, celery, and herb mix. I made it in my cast iron. It turned out pretty yummy, and I have plenty of leftovers. Stuffing is one of those foods with so many leftover possibilities.

I served this with canned biscuits and Steam-fresh green beans. 016!