Our Eleven Favorite Dinner Recipes

I cook almost every night.  I think we go out to eat once every other month (not kidding), so home cooking definitely happens around here.  This is a non-comprehensive list of our favorite dinners.  These all appear regularly on our menu, and I love each and every one.  Hopefully some of them will become favorites of your family as well!  Some have been adjusted from the original source, and I rewrote them with my revisions on the blog (and in one case in the description), and some I love in their original form from the blog that is cited.

Also, congratulations to Jennifer who won the PayPal Giveaway!  Thank you to everyone else who entered!  

Clockwise from upper left: Chipotle Chicken Tacos; Black Bean Soup; Quiche; Pizza
(All the photos were taken and the food was made by me)

1.  Black Bean Soup:  I talk about this one a lot, because it is a favorite.  Especially accompanied by tortilla chips.  It is creamy, thick and flavorful.

2. Tuscan Pasta (Mel's Kitchen Cafe):  Mel never fails.  Almost every recipe I have ever tried from her has been amazing, and this one didn't disappoint.  It is SO easy and incredibly good.  Great for a quick weeknight meal.

3. Chickpea Salad (Perry's Plate):  I used to be very wary of chickpeas... They kind of freaked me out (probably because of the smell), but now I love them.  This is one of my favorite ways to use them.  I substitute peanuts in for the walnuts, and almost always leave out the cilantro.  It still tastes delicious anyway. I made this when I was pregnant one time, and I think I ate 7 bowls of this for dinner... It was so good.

4. Gourmet Green Salad (Mel's Kitchen Cafe):  The dressing makes this salad, but the bacon and pear don't hurt.  This one is a home run every time.  I would half the dressing.  One time Adam made the whole thing and we were eating it for every meal for 2 weeks, and still had to throw some of it away.

5. All the Pizza:  There is so much love in my heart for pizza.  We make it about once a week with whatever is in the fridge.  It is one of my favorite nights of the week.

6. Vegetable Pot Pie: My mom made this all the time when I was growing up.  It has become a favorite in our home, too.  I almost always leave out the chicken, and have subbed in all kinds of other fillings.

7.  Bacon, Apple, Cheddar Panini:  So I may have posted them with the worst photos of all time, but this is still one of my very favorite dinners.  For a lot of people, a panini press would go to waste, but ours is a workhorse.  We use it several times a month.

8. Hoisin Vegetable Noodle Bowl (Budget Bytes): I stumbled on this accidentally, but it is my go-to stir fry.  Hoisin sauce has become a very favorite of mine, and honestly, if something has peanut butter in it, you can almost guarantee I will like it.

9. Quiche:  Another dish that my mom made a lot when I was a kid.  I always make it with a crust, because Adam says it is just an omelet in a pie pan if it doesn't have a crust.  This was a recent one that I made, but I make them a lot and throw in all kinds of veggies and meat.

10. Creamy Tomato Soup (Our Best Bites):  My mom recommended this recipe a few years ago, and I have made it at least a dozen times since then.  It is a total crowd pleaser and absolutely delicious!

11.  Chipotle Chicken Tacos: These tacos are a real win!  Every time I make them I wonder why we don't eat them every week.  They are SO delicious!

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Pesto and Squash Pizza

I have promised you all some great posts about France. They are coming, don't worry!  Fox is still switching over time zones (there is a 7-hour difference), so I am spending a lot of time at our hotel currently while he is sleeping. Consequently, we haven't been out to see very much yet, so you get one more recipe for now.  This one is a real winner!  Seriously. 

And the photos that Adam took are gorgeous!

When I did my study abroad in London, I was trying to eat relatively cheaply, and ended up buy a lot of pesto to eat on rice, bread, chicken and pasta.  A very healthy combo of things, I know... At any rate, pesto became one of my very favorite foods, and I still love making it/buying it a few times every year.  This pizza definitely highlights the pesto, while keeping it from overpowering the other flavors.  It is a delicious vegetarian pizza!   Flavorful, and relatively healthy.  

Pesto and Squash Pizza

1 pizza crust
1/4 cup pesto (homemade or store bought)
1/2 summer squash, sliced into wheels
1/2 zucchini, sliced into wheels
1 1/2 - 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Roll out the dough on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper that has been lightly dusted with cornmeal.  Spread a semi-thick layer of pesto on the pizza crust.  Sprinkle shredded cheese liberally over pesto and place squash and zucchini on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the squash, if you like.  Bake at 450°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is gold brown.  Happy Cooking!

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A Round Up of Freezer Meals

I have been meaning to post about the freezer meals that I made for the first few days of Fox's life for weeks... But life happens, and posting these recipes didn't. So now, Fox is almost 4 months old, and lucky you get to read about freezer meals that we ate in January.    

I quit my job right before Christmas and ended up with a few weeks before Fox was born (because he was late), so I made a few freezer meals, terrified that I would never sleep again and be a complete zombie for the first 6 months of his life.  I am happy to report that didn't happen, but you never know.  Now, I know not everyone is on board with freezer meals, and typically, I am not a huge fan, primarily because our freezer doesn't regulate it's temperature very well, and we often end up with freezer-burned food.  

These recipes were delicious, and I really enjoyed not having to do more than throw a meal in the crockpot most nights for the first few days of Fox's life.  Some of them do require a little more preparation, but overall, they are quick, easy, and delicious.  Also, I didn't take photos of any of them, so I painted you this lovely illustration to get you really excited about making freezer meals.  You can thank me later.    

1.  Orange Crockpot Chicken - Served over rice with steamed veggies on the side.  This one surprised me with how much Adam and I liked it.  I thought it would be good, but it was great.

2.  Beef Dip Sandwiches - Served on sliced French bread with a salad and fruit on the side. I will always love a good beef dip sandwich.

3.  Beef Teriyaki Stir Fry - used the left over beef from the beef dip sandwiches and added it to the veggies.  Served it over rice.  This was one of my favorites.

4.  Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce - I bought a big package of frozen tortellini from Sam's club, and then made a quick and easy Alfredo sauce.  You could definitely use a canned sauce as well.  I like to use this recipe and leave out the sundried tomatoes.  We eat salad and fruit with everything.

5.  Tortellini Soup - I am not totally sure which recipe I used, but I think it was this one.  I didn't include sausage, because I almost never buy sausage.  This recipe I didn't make ahead, but it was quick and easy, and I already had frozen tortellini, so I am going to count it.  Quite tasty.  Serve with bread and a salad.

6. Pot Stickers - These are awesome.  I love having these in the freezer.  I just made the dipping sauce the night of, and cooked them in a little oil in a frying pan.  So quick and easy.

7.  Pizza - I love having a few frozen pizza doughs in the freezer.  I just form them into balls and freeze them for up to 8 weeks.  Makes for a 25 minute meal.  Just add some sauce (I often blend a can of diced tomatoes and add herbs), meat/veggies, and cheese and insta-pizza.  I love it!  Serve with fruit.

8.  Black Bean Soup - Awesome to freeze, and SO tasty.  Serve with tortilla chips.

9.  Sundried Tomato Soup - another favorite soup around here.  Serve with toasted garlic bread.

10.  Cilantro chicken tacos - SO delicious!  Adam especially was a huge fan, and he doesn't really like cilantro (crazy, I know).  Crockpot for a few hours, shred the chicken and then plop into a tortilla and pour ranch over the top.  Serve with fruit.

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Culinary Adventures: Homemade Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage and Cream Cheese Sauce

Adam took a quick trip to the library to return some books a week or so ago and he came home with this beauty: 

It is all about a restaurant in San Fransisco (called Flour + Water) that makes loads of specialty pastas.  They have a few different recipes in their cook book for doughs, and lots of tasty looking recipes for homemade tortellini, ravioli fillings, spaghetti type sauces and more.  

Adam was intrigued, and was completely determined to make pasta (I was 100% willing to support that decision).  Thus was born a new series: Culinary Adventures.  We decided that there are a lot of tricky, but fun (and delicious) things to make out there.  You may not be interested in making them, but hopefully you will be interested in the process, which can be super amazing (and time consuming)!  This is the first of many culinary adventures that we hope to have and post here.

Spicy Turkey and Cream Sauce with Bow Tie Pasta
Makes 4 medium-sized servings

Pasta Recipe: 
from flour+water (if you are truly serious about making delicious pasta, I would check out this book from your local library, because the directions are much more extensive (about 4 pages) with many more suggestions, particularly about using a pasta-roller, which we didn't do.  I have given a decent summary of the directions that they give, but if you feel that you require more directions, take a look at the book)

1 cups of well-packed flour
3/4 tsp salt
9-10  egg yolks (about 1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup)
3/4 tsp olive oil
Place the flour on a dry, clean work surface, forming a smallish mound.  Sprinkle the salt in the middle.  Using the bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass, make a well in the middle with at least a 1/2 inch of flour covering the floor of the well.  Carefully add the olive oil and egg yolks to the well, using the flour as a bowl.

Using a fork, very carefully beat the eggs without touching the flour walls or scraping through the bottom of the flour bowl.  Slowly incorporate the flour walls into the egg, working your way to the outer edges of the flour, without touching the floor of your flour bowl.  Once the dough takes on a paste-like quality, start to incorporate the flour on the bottom.  Once the paste begins to form a solid dough, remove as much as you can from the fork.  Slide a spatula or bench scraper under the mass of dough and flip it and turn it onto itself to clear wet dough from the counter or work surface.

With your hands, knead the dough into a single mass.  The goal is to mix all the flour into the mass.  Use a spray bottle to spritz the dough.  It is dry dough and the books says that "it cannot be overstated how important it is to generously and constantly spritz the dough to help glue any loose flour to the dry dough ball".  When the dough is a solid and stiff mass, scrape any dry bits of flour from the work surface.  Knead the dough with the heel of your hand, rotating the dough every knead for 10 to 15 minutes.

According to "Flour + Water" it is almost impossible to over knead pasta dough, but it won't work correctly if it isn't kneaded enough.  It can spend too much time on the worktable though, and begin to dehydrate.  10 to 15 minutes should be plenty of time.  When the dough is done, it will be firm and bounce to the touch, almost like play dough.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 6 hours.

You can roll out the dough with a hand crank machine, or if you are tough like Adam, you can roll it out by hand.  Slice a section off the ball, and quickly wrap up the rest of the dough in plastic.  Roll the small section out with a rolling pin and flatten it to fit the widest setting of the pasta machine.  The dough will begin to dehydrate, so it is important to do this part quickly.  Roll the dough through the machine, or roll it out by hand.

When you have reached your desired thickness (about 1/16 of an inch or thinner), lay the dough of a flat surface.  Now measure out and cut the lines for the bow ties.  Cut the pasta into small rectangles, and fold and pinch the middle to create a bow.  Lay out on a cookie sheet until all are formed.  Once you have formed all the pasta, add to a pot of boiling water, and let cook until they are soft.  Serve with sauce immediately.

Ground Turkey Sausage:
adapted from Food.com
1/2 lb raw ground turkey
2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tps brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix all the ingredients except the ground turkey together.  Add the ground turkey and mix to combine.  Place turkey in a frying pan and cook on medium heat until it begins to brown.  Remove from pan and make the sauce.

Cream Sauce:
adapted from Mel's kitchen cafe
3 Tbs Butter
3 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 tsp Thyme
1/4 tsp Rosemary
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 cup + 2 tsp milk
1 tsp flour
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Melt the 3 Tbs butter.  Add cream cheese and smoosh with a rubber spatula until mixture is relatively smooth.  Add herbs and stir, then slowly add the milk.  Then add the flour and parmesan cheese.  Salt and pepper if desired.  Immediately serve with ground turkey sausage over pasta.

Enjoy a serious sense of accomplishment for having made homemade pasta.  It is a pretty satisfying feeling!

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Sweet Chipotle Tacos

As I am sitting here reveling in tasty tacos (I had one of these tacos for lunch... mmmm), a car alarm is going off.  I wouldn't mind so much except that this car alarm has gone off every 3 to 5 minutes for the past three hours, and I am feeling a little grouchy. Good thing I am talking about something I love so much.

Ah, tacos, you beautiful food!  There isn't much that is more satisfying than a good taco.  And this, is a good taco.  The slightly sweet, with a hint of spicy meat, filling quinoa, beautiful greens, beans and a homemade ranch all wrapped up in a soft tortilla.  Seriously a winner.  

Sweet Chipotle Tacos:

adapted from How Sweet It Is

Chipotle Chicken: 

2 or 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp chipotle powder

2 1/2 Tbs honey

1 Tbs dijon mustard

1 tsp stone ground mustard

2 Tbs chopped cilantro

2 tsp minced garlic

Chop the chicken into strips, and cut those strips in half.  Put in a large ziploc bag, or tupperware.  Combine salt, pepper, oil, chipotle powder, honey, mustards, cilantro and garlic in a small jar and shake to combine.  Pour over the chicken and let marinade for 2 - 4 hours or overnight.  Cook in a frying pan over medium high heat until the chicken is cooked through and beginning to brown.   

Toppings: 

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup of cooked quinoa

3 cups of mixed baby lettuce (or greens of your choice)

homemade ranch

homemade tortillas

If you have questions or comments, I would love to hear them at measureandwhisk[at]gmail[dot]com!  

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