My Week of Pinterest Dinners

    This past week, as a promise to myself, I wanted to commit to making dinner for the family every day.  I know, that's the way it's supposed to be, right?  However, this was the first full week that all my kids were done with outdoor soccer (yes, now indoors), volleyball, football and marching band and the reality is dinner has been a crazy scramble the past two months as nobody was home at a normal dinner time.  I also wanted to prove to myself that I was "pinning" those Pinterest recipes for a reason, so I decided that would be a good resource for my meals.

     What I didn't take into account was that my kids did not have school on Tuesday (Election Day) and that Wednesday and Thursday evenings were parent teacher conferences.  This was going to make preparing meals and eating them as a family tricky.  Thus is our life -- dinner time interruptus.  The reality is -- there's always gonna be something!!
     I'd also like to give a little shout out to my new Cuisinart Smart Stick (emulsion blender).  I guess I've been living in the dark ages and did not have an emulsion blender.  It's my new love and the possibilities with it are endless!!  Highly recommend -- it's a food processor, blender and more!!*  Does everyone else already have one?  (Time for another bridal shower!!)  Smoothies without cleaning a blender...yes, please!
    (In full disclosure -- I took pictures of all of my meals and then just now got "delete happy" and deleted all but one of them (the last one).  Soooo bummed about that! 
      Monday:  Chicken and Cheese Lasagna Roll Ups as found here. 

     Comments:  In my opinion, this could use more Italian spices.  I added garlic and oregano, but it still could have used more.  It was little bland for me.  I also put leftover chicken mixture on top of each rollup and replaced feta cheese with shredded mozzarella. 
     Served with:  Caesar salad and fresh bread.

     Review:  Everybody liked these!

 

Pinterest.com

     Tuesday:  Meatloaf Muffins With Barbecue Sauce as found here
     Comments:  I used some salsa we had leftover.  I didn't even check how spicy it was.  Turns out it was medium spicy and a little too spicy for me and my kids.  Might want to keep that in mind when you are making yours.
     Served with: Mashed potatoes, gravy, and french cut green beans.
     Review:  Everybody ate it.  My husband liked it the most.  He's a meatloaf kinda guy.  Kids thought it was too spicy.  I thought it was good...for meatloaf.  Fast cooking time was nice.  Moist and flavorful.    

Pinterest.com

 

     Wednesday:  Carrot Chicken Soup recipe found here

     Comments:  This was a recipe I went in search for.  There is a local restaurant which has excellent carrot chicken soup.  If it doesn't sound good to you -- well, you might be surprised.  Be careful not to over blend. The recipe does not call for any spices. I added salt and pepper, but it probably could have used a little something else (I'm not sure what). However, I was surprised how much it looked like the restaurant's soup and tasted good, too. Lots of chopping!   

     Served with:  Warm pita bread

     Reviews:  Everyone liked it but would probably rather go to the restaurant.

fivestarfoodie.com

 

     Thursday:  Marsala Chicken and Mushroom Casserole found here
     Comments:  This was another conference night, but I was able to prepare this in advance and pop it in the oven when we got home.  I love that this uses rotisserie chicken.  I only put mushrooms on one half of the casserole as, unfortunately, I knew my kids would not touch the mushrooms.  If I make it again, I would probably add another 1/2 cup of marsala wine and heavy cream.
     Served with:  Nothing (pressed for time)
     Reviews:  This was very good and probably the overall family favorite of the week (thanks, Kerri)!!

     Friday:   I was happy to take the night off.  We had Megan's band banquet.
Oh, and by "week" I meant weekdays -- you didn't think I would actually cook seven days in a row, did you?? 

  What are some of your favorite "go to" dinners??

 

Kohls.com
 

*Of course this is my very own opinion, not a sponsored review