Fun Foodie Family

Throwback Thursday- Bacon Wrapped Pork

Hey guys! This week has been pretty great, but there has not been a lot of cooking going on. Lots of quick easy meals (spaghetti and meat sauce, taco night, grilled cheese and Spaghetti O’s), quick meals on the go (Jimmy John’s), and dinners out and in (Ruby Tuesday’s and Chinese night). Tomorrow I have my girls excited about Indian food…FINALLY!!! A new place opened up 2 minutes from my house, so we are having a girl night tomorrow and trying it out! I will let you know the outcome. The blog has been a bit lonely, so I decided to add a quick post on something that needs to repeated real soon…You are welcome!!!!!!

Spiced Rubbed Bacon Wrapped Brown Sugar Pork Loin

See you tomorrow with some Friday Faves!!!

Cheater, Cheater, Veggie Lasagna Eater

Pasta, Vegetarian

Black History Luncheon Tomorrow
I was going to make my meaty lasagna or baked ziti, but after seeing the crazy list of meat and bacon laden veggies, I thought I might at least bring a relatively healthy vegetarian dish. Here is the SUPER EASY recipe. I am also bringing some Crock Pot BBQ Pork(pork butt in the crock pot all day then mixed with sweet honey BBQ) and Asian Veggie Noodles (lo mein stir fried with broccoli, corn, green beans, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots).

Easy Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients

1 package no cook lasagna noodles
2 jars mushrooms, drained
1 large package shredded mozzarella cheese
6 slices Provolone Cheese
1 container of your favorite marinara sauce
1 can diced tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 350
Spray lasagna pan with no stick spray
In a large bowl, mix jarred sauce, tomatoes, and mushrooms
Line bottom of pan with a thin layer of sauce mixture
Layer pasta, shredded mozzarella, and sauce until pasta runs out, about 4 layers
To the top layer, add sauce, the provolone and remaining mozzarella
Cook about 30 min. or until top is bubbling.

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. !

Creamy Chicken and Rice and Meal Plan for 2/22/15

Chicken, Weekly Meal Plans

Can you believe the weekend is almost over? Fun weekend with the family, time to myself, and an awesome yoga class this morning. It just goes by way too fast…

Here is what I made tonight-

Creamy Chicken and Rice

Ingredients

6-8 chicken Thighs (or 4 chicken breasts)
1 package Arborio Rice
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 small container sliced mushrooms
1 glass white wine
1 container low sodium chicken broth
1 handful of chopped herbs- sage, tarragon, and parsley
about 1/3 cup half and half (could use heavy cream and milk)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Warm up your box of chicken stock in a pan.
Brown up your chicken in a hot large dutch oven in a bit of olive oil. Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken- take out and set aside
Turn down to med.heat. Add your chopped onions in the pan with a bit more olive oil. Cook about 5 minutes. Add in your garlic and mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir gently. Add in your wine. Stir and reduce about 5 minutes. Add in your rice. Stir well. Add in your chicken stock. Nestle your chicken in to the rice. Turn down to med-low heat and cook rice and chicken until cooked through, about 30 minutes. Rice should be soft and chicken should be falling apart when you stir the mixture at the end. Stir occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom. Add the herbs and half and half in at the end. Stir to combine and serve with crusty bread and a side salad or another veggie.

Monday- Gorditas

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/07/23/homemade-taco-seasoning-mix/

Tuesday- Crockpot- BBQ Pork
https://funfoodiefamily.com/2014/07/28/back-to-the-basics-meal-planning-and-an-easy-crockpot-pork/

Wed- Leftovers/ Clean out the fridge night

Thursday- Chinese Night with Miss Mandy!

Friday- Family Night Out- Greek? Mexican? Indian?

Mom Night In!!!!

Eating Out, Girls' Night Out/In

Hey guys! I had a pretty awesome day with the family. We all went to the circus. It was great and we all had fun together! Last night, I was supposed to go to dinner with a couple of friends, but it fell through. No worries, though. We will catch up soon. I had a quiet house to myself for a few hours, so I ordered Chinese take out; Shrimp and Broccoli, Sweet and Sour Tofu, and some yummy Spring Rolls. For the second night in a row, I find myself in a quiet house for a bit. I was in the mood for something vegetarian, so I ordered a veggie pizza, cheese bread, and Greek salad. Plenty of leftovers from both nights! Looks like I have lunch covered for the week! Now watching a marathon of The Americans. So awesome!

Looking forward to yoga in the morning. My dad’s b-day is tomorrow, so I’m going to make a yummy meal for him. That recipe and this week’s meal plan coming up tomorrow!