Favorite Recipes for the Week of December 20th

We did Thanksgiving dinner all over again for Christmas with all the usual combinations of leftovers, so there were just a couple of recipes we had for each meal earlier in the week.  Some were repeats of things we’ve had and featured before, so I’m only sharing new recipes with you here.

TOP FAVORITE BREAKFAST:

Egg ‘n’ Bacon Sandwich.  This is just like an Egg McMuffin, so it’s always a hit with my Crew.  It’s my go-to meal when I’m short on time but have the ingredients on hand.  I can whip it up in just a few minutes and be on my way.  I serve this with a cup of fresh cantaloupe on the side for a total of 266 calories.

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

TOP FAVORITE LUNCH:

Shredded Beef Barbecue.  This was so easy to make in the crockpot, and it made so many servings on fluffy Kaiser buns from the bakery!  This lasted us for several days of lunches.  I served it with a salad with light dressing, a pickle spear, and a medium apple for a total of 385 calories.

TOP FAVORITE DINNER:

Easy Swiss Steak. My husband really liked this simple meal.  Cubed steak is generally tough, so simmering this for so long on the stove made it really tender and enjoyable.  The flavor reminded me of chicken cacciatore, only with beef instead of chicken.  I served this over white rice with green beans on the side for a total of 358 calories.

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

I had a lovely Christmas with my husband and kids.  It continues to be an odd year of celebrations because of the ongoing pandemic, but I’m thankful that all of my kids are still at home this year so we can all be together.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Favorite Recipes for the Week of December 13th

We really had some great choices this week.  Our meals were all so good!  My husband got a new-to-us used car from Carvana last weekend, so we were busy getting that squared away and trying it out.  I hope you find some great new recipes to try from our menu for the week!

TOP FAVORITE BREAKFAST:

Italian Garden Frittata.  This was a really tasty egg dish, and we both felt the flavors were even better in the leftovers as each day passed.  I served this with a Peach Smoothie recipe we’ve had before and some fresh blueberries for a total of 324 calories. 

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

TOP FAVORITE LUNCH:

Lime Jalapeno Turkey Wrap.  Wow!  This was a total winner.  You might be thinking that a wrap is a wrap…they’re all pretty similar.  But this was loaded with flavors.  We did note that the recipe was void of any kind of condiment, so I added a drizzle of light ranch dressing to each wrap, and it was the perfect cooling complement to the heat of the jalapeno.  This was SO good!  Instead of shredded turkey, I bought a slab of cooked oven-roasted turkey breast from Aldi and cut it into cubes.  It was perfect.  We will definitely be having this again and again!  I served it with some white corn tortilla chips and salsa for dipping and 1/2 cup of baby carrots for a total of 409 calories.  Yum!

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

TOP FAVORITE DINNER:

Southwest Pasta Bake.  My husband really enjoyed this dish for its unique combination of flavors.  It’s like a cross between Italian and Mexican.  It’s very tasty in an unexpected way and is actually very good!  I served it with steamed broccoli for a total of 328 calories.  My husband enjoyed it so much that he actually took some of the leftovers for lunch one day!

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

The top favorite dinner was a difficult choice, so I have to give honorable mention to these delicious Two-Cheese Turkey Enchiladas.  My husband and I really enjoyed the creamy filling.  They were easy to make, and the leftovers lasted us several days.  I actually had enough filling to make more servings than were listed, so this is a great dish for feeding a crowd.  I served it with some shredded lettuce, tomato, and light sour cream on top and a salad with light dressing on the side for a total of 329 calories.

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

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TOP FAVORITE DESSERT:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I only made one dessert this week.  I had intended to make more, but I was super busy and never got around to it.  But I’m happy to share this delicious recipe with you.  These soft little dome-shaped cookies are almost cake-like, and the chocolate chips are quite plentiful.  They were a hit with my family.  I used a 1.5 Tbsp. cookie scoop leveled off to measure out my dough, and it made a few extras over and above the suggested serving count.  I think they came out to about 50 calories a piece, so we could indulge in a few of these without a lot of guilt.  It’s also a great way to use up over-ripe bananas instead of throwing them out!  The recipe came together in a flash.

Photo Credit: Taste of Home

That’s it for now!  I will have fewer recipes to choose from next week since I’ll be doing a traditional Thanksgiving-type menu for Christmas, complete with all the leftovers for the weekend.  I hope you all enjoy your holiday, even if it’s without your extended family. 

Happy cooking, and stay safe!

Favorite Recipes for the Week of December 6th

I have some great recipes for you this week!  Choosing was *really* hard.  We had some real winners across the board, so narrowing down the top recipes was a real challenge.  I hope you enjoy the ones we chose!

TOP FAVORITE BREAKFAST:

Sausage Breakfast Wrap.  My husband and young son really, really enjoyed these, and they were very filling.  I served them with 1/2 cup fresh blueberries on the side for a total of 318 calories. Here’s a photo from Taste of Home.

TOP FAVORITE LUNCH:

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wrap.  If you enjoy buffalo chicken wings and blue cheese, then you’ll enjoy all the same flavors in these convenient lunch wraps.  There was quite a bit of chicken in these, and I served them with celery sticks with ranch dressing on the side and 1/2 cup red seedless grapes for a total of 304 calories!  Here’s a photo from Taste of Home.

TOP FAVORITE DINNER:

Glazed Asian Pork Medallions and Stir-Fried Carrots.  I have to admit that I was skeptical of this recipe when I saw that it contained orange marmalade, but I selected the spreadable fruit-type of marmalade for less sugar, and I was amazed at the authentic Asian flavor of this pork!  It was perfect.  I kept thinking that in the future, I would use this same glaze recipe for Orange Chicken, because using the marmalade is a whole lot faster and easier than grating fresh orange peel to combine with fresh orange juice!  Anyway, I served this with the Stir-Fried Carrots and a buttered roll on the side for a total of 386 calories.  This meal came together quickly and was a real winner with my crew.

I just have to give honorable mention to this fabulous sandwich we had for lunches.  It’s called a Baked Deli Focaccia Sandwich.  Check out the picture of the whole thing when I took it out of the oven!  It got slices up into wedges, but this thing was as tasty as a sandwich gets.  I stopped by Panera Bread to get a fresh-baked Asiago Cheese Focaccia loaf on which to make this sandwich, so that was the basis of flavor in the bread itself.  It was incredible!  My husband said he found himself looking forward to this sandwich each day, and the bread held up well and didn’t get soggy as leftovers on subsequent days.  We reheated it in the air fryer.

There’s only one more shopping weekend left before Christmas, so get your meal plan organized with some of these great recipes and use your time wisely so you’ll have extra time to get out and finish up your Christmas shopping before the big crowd rush next weekend. 

Enjoy, and have a great week!

Favorite Recipes for the Week of November 29th

This was a week full of some really wonderful recipes!  I hope you’ll find something great you can’t wait to try!

TOP FAVORITE BREAKFAST:

Garden Frittata.  This was loaded with a variety of veggies, but with a combination of feta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses, the cheesy flavor permeated the dish and helped to hide all of those nutritious veggies.  It was absolutely delicious, and I would definitely make it again!  I served it with a cup of fresh pineapple or cantaloupe for a total of 326 calories.  Here’s a photo from Taste of Home.

TOP FAVORITE LUNCH:

Tuna Artichoke Melt.  This was really, really tasty!  We were both pleasantly surprised at just how good this was.  I could eat this any day of the week, as it was very flavorful!  I prepped these in advance for a couple of days and found it was easier to toast the muffin in the morning and then just warm the tuna topping in the microwave, melting the cheese on top, and then plop it onto the English muffin.  So very good!  I served it with 1/3 cup of red grapes for a total of 378 calories.  Here’s a photo from Taste of Home.

TOP FAVORITE DINNER:

Balsamic Seasoned Steak and Colorful Roasted Veggies.  This steak was easy to make, and the balsamic sauce really added so much flavor to this tender meat.  I had never broiled a steak before, and I was surprised that I was able to get it well done without overcooking the outside, but it actually worked out great.  I served it with a lovely array of oven-roasted vegetables that were a great complement to the main dish.  I love any veggies roasted in olive oil, rosemary, and salt, so I knew this was going to be good!  I served these two dishes with a small baked potato for a total of 326 calories! 

Choosing a favorite dinner was difficult, because this Chicken Marsala and Savory Asparagus was restaurant-quality delicious!  My youngest son, who is almost 13, absolutely raved about this meal and was happy to have leftovers the following night.  He even asked to have it for lunch!  I was impressed at how good it was, and it was definitely worth the effort of marinating it the night before.  I will happily add this to our rotation in the future!  Even the asparagus was so good, and he surprisingly ate that, too.  I was supposed to serve it with 1/2 cup of white rice, but I totally forgot the rice!  No biggie…it was great just the way it was.  The chicken and asparagus totaled 321 calories.  Here’s a photo from Taste of Home.

 

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did.  Have a great week!