Menu Plan October 1-7

October is here! One of my favorite months of the year! In just a couple of weeks, Charles and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary, which is one reason I love October. And the leaves will be starting to turn colors here in the Deep South. It's going to be a great month!

Now on to this week's menu plan.

Monday
Ladies Night Out at church, family will eat pizza

Tuesday
Cheeseburger soup, pretzel rolls

Wednesday
Parmesan crusted tilapia, cauliflower

Thursday
Pesto chicken pasta, broccoli

Friday
Pot roast with potatoes and carrots, green beans

Saturday
Hot dogs with West Virginia hot dog sauce

Sunday
Feel better chicken stew, biscuits

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday over at Organizing Junkie.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

I have always loved potatoes. Cook 'em however you want to, and I'll eat 'em! But really, I think roasted potatoes are my favorite. I love the crispy-edged ones especially. This recipe is super easy and not fancy at all. But it delivers fantastic flavor. Sometimes simple really is best.

Here's what you need:

3 lbs small potatoes (I used Honey Gold but red works great, too)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teas sea salt
1/2 teas pepper
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 teas dried parsley (optional)

In a bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic. Allow to sit for a few minutes so the flavors can blend.

Quarter the potatoes, making sure all the pieces are roughly the same size. This ensures even cooking without some pieces getting burned while others aren't cooked through. Dump the potatoes into the bowl with the olive oil and toss to coat well. Spread in an even layer on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Flip the potatoes over with a spatula every 15 minutes or so.

Sprinkle with dried parsley if desired.

Skillet Lasagna

We love lasagna around here. It's one of Mr. Lego's favorite meals. This skillet version has all the wonderful Italian flavors but gets on the table faster than traditionally prepared lasagna.

Here's what you need:

1/2 lb pasta, cooked and drained according to the package directions
  (I used bowtie pasta because the ruffly edges resemble lasagna noodles. Penne
     would work just fine, too.)
1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
29 ounce can tomato puree or sauce
2 TBSP dried oregano
1 TBSP each Italian seasoning and dried basil
1 TBSP minced onion
1 teas garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used mozzarella and Parmesan)

In a large skillet, combine the cooked ground beef with the tomato puree. Stir in the herbs and spices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. If the sauce mixture appears to be too saucy, don't worry. The pasta will soak up some of the moisture.

Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce, making sure all the pasta gets coated. Drop the ricotta cheese by spoonfuls over the entire skillet.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over all. Remove from the heat and cover to allow the cheese to melt. Alternately, if you have an oven-proof skillet, you can pop the whole thing into the oven for a few minutes to let the cheese melt.

From start to finish, this dish took about 30 minutes. Considering that a traditional lasagna bakes at least 45 minutes in the oven after all the prep work, this is a huge time savings for me!

The entire family declared this quick, yummy dinner to be delicious. It will show up on our menus regularly.


I'm linking up this recipe to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace.

Menu Plan September 24-30

It's the last week of September. Can you believe it? I've enjoyed the cooler mornings and evenings here in the Deep South. Soon the leaves will be turning all sorts of colors. I can't wait to see their beauty!

This weekend I spent some time going through my kids' clothes in an effort to exchange some summer clothes for fall/winter clothes. And, as I expected, I didn't find much that still fits them from last spring! They have both grown so much. So it looks like clothes shopping is on my to-do list this week.

Now for this week's menu:

Monday
Sausage tortellini soup, garlic bread

Tuesday
Beef short ribs over rice (slow cooker recipe), broccoli

Wednesday
Chicken shawarma, flatbread

Thursday
Grilled steak, garlic roasted potatoes

Friday
Oven baked chicken fajitas, corn

Saturday
Pizza sloppy joes, fries

Sunday
Hot dogs with West Virginia hot dog sauce 

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday over at Organzing Junkie.

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole in the Crockpot

I found this recipe at The Country Cook while searching for crockpot recipes and knew my family would like it. I've made a similar dish with ham, hash browns and cream of mushroom soup. I loved that this chicken version didn't require any cream soup. I'll admit, I worried that perhaps it would be dry without the cream soup, but to my great delight, it was perfectly moist. The chicken provided plenty of juices as it cooked.

Here's what you need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pkg tater tots
1/2 cup bacon pieces - you can use the precooked stuff like I did or just dice up some cooked bacon slices
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk or heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a large, lightly greased crockpot, layer 1/2 the tater tots, then half the bacon pieces and half the cheese.

Layer the chicken pieces over the cheese. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.

Repeat the tater tot, bacon and cheese layer. Pour the milk over all.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

The bacon provides a great deal of flavor and is perfect with the chicken and cheese. The tater tots lose their shape and resemble hash browns, so if you want to substitute hash browns, it would work wonderfully.

Sausage, Red Beans & Rice in the Crockpot!

I love crockpot meals. It's so convenient to toss a few ingredients together and let the appliance do the cooking. This is one of those meals that is so simple, you can hardly consider it cooking! When I found the recipe at Freezing Your Way Fit, I knew I had to try it. Of course, I tweaked it a bit. But it's a very hearty, satisfying dish that even my kids loved.

Here's what you need:

1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
3 cups chicken broth (I use low sodium)
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa
1 small onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 teas Creole seasoning
1 teas dried oregano
1 teas garlic powder
1 teas sea salt
1/4 teas black pepper
1/4 teas dried thyme
a pinch of cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)

Stir all the ingredients together in a lightly greased crockpot. Avoid stirring during the cooking process to avoid excess gumminess. A little sticky is okay and perfectly normal. But you don't want mush.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. All of the liquid should be absorbed.

I'm sharing this recipe at Blessed with Grace's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Menu Plan September 17-23

This weekend we spent a lovely day at a local state park and reached the highest point in the state of Alabama.

From the top of this observation tower (built in the 1930s) you can see for miles!

Fall has definitely arrived, bringing cooler temperatures, especially at night. We saw a few changing leaves on our mountain adventure. By this time next month, the mountain will be brilliant with color. I can't wait for that!

This week will see a few family favorites on the menu, as well as a couple of new recipes. Here's what we've got coming up:

Monday
Chicken tacos, corn

Tuesday
Beef stew, pretzel rolls

Wednesday
Skillet lasagna, cheesy garlic breadsticks

Thursday
Homemade chicken nuggets, french fries

Friday
Homemade pizza

Saturday
West Virginia pepperoni rolls

Sunday
Crockpot beef stroganoff, green beans

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.