What's for Dinner? - Portland,ME

I love breakfast for dinner when dinner meals are getting old. Pancakes, breakfast casserole or pizza, french toast, etc.

make a pot of goulash, it usually hangs around for a day or two and gets better with age:

Goulash--

1 good sized yellow onion, quartered
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large bite sized chunks
4 medium white rose potatoes, peeled and cut into large bite sized chunks
1 ½ lbs 80% ground beef
½ c water
1 large can Campbell’s tomato soup and 1 can full of water
seasalt and cracked pepper to taste
(to me, the broth is the best part on the last day if you have any left over, so to make it more savory I like to add 1tbs chili powder, 1tbs smoky paprika, 1tbs seasoned salt, 1tsp cayenne pepper, 1tbs butter to the meat mixture while it’s browning)—but it’s still good with only salt and pepper if that’s all you have on hand and don’t want to hassle the extra seasonings.

Brown your meat in the butter in a large dutch oven.
Add seasonings, onion and ½ cup of water. Let simmer till water is gone, poor off excess oil.
Taste meat and add more seasoning if necessary.
Add potatoes, carrots.
Pour in the tomato soup and water.
Over medium heat bring it to a boil, then turn to low simmer and cover.
Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom.
Taste broth on occasion to see if it needs more salt, usually does.
You may need to add a little more water, you want the broth to be thick/soupy but not watery.
Simmer slowly for about an hour, until carrots are fork tender.

Easy to make, cheap, and comes in handy on cold days and everyone loves this stuff.
I usually serve it with cornbread or some sliced sourdough with butter.

My go-to dinner (that we can make any day) is what I simply call "Sausage Rice and Beans." In a skillet, I sautee jalepeno and onion (use some olive oil and/or water). Toss in 1 lb of Eckerich skinless sausage (can easily be taken straight from the freezer, diced, then in the skillet). Sautee till onion is done. Add two cans of black beans to the skillet. Stir. Heat beans. Serve your fav kind of rice (white or brown) in a bowl, top with the sausage/bean mix. Add tabasco if you want. Done. :)

Sometimes I do my 3.5 yr old's separate (b/c of jalepeno). In his, I'll add carrot pieces and then towards the end, toss in some frozen peas. He gets some extra veg (that husband and I could probably use too). I also sometimes toss in red or green bell pepper if I have some on hand. Anything kind of goes.

Broccoli chicken casserole.

I don't use a crockpot.. I make a lot of things ahead of time during the day, etc.

Chicken pot pie. I cook the chicken in slow cooker during the day then it takes about 5 min to throw together and an hour to bake, so not a quick meal but actual work time is almost nothing.

I like american chop suey (ground beef, tomatoes, pasta, seasonings, onions).

Soft corn tortillas with refried beans, chicken, peppers/onions, cheese, baked, serve with sour cream, salsa, avocado, really easy

crock pot with pork roast, potatoes (or sw pot), onion, carrots and a can of cranberry sauce (I usually mix in some ground mustard and ground cloves with a little extra cranberry juice)

I have some left over pork loin from the crock pot - yesterday I used it for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. I'll be freezing the leftover stuff that already has BBQ sauce on it. The rest that is currently plain, I will be seasoning up with a taco packet and using it for nachos. Cookie sheet covered with foil and lightly sprayed with evoo, chips, meat, cheese - bake at 350 till cheese is melted, served with lettuce, tomato, onion on top!!!!

Breakfast for supper! Lately we've been on a big Dutch Baby and sausages kick. But egg scrambles, omelots, and fritattas are quick, yummy and a great way to use up leftovers!

Another easy chicken dinner is just chicken and salsa in the crock pot, chicken coated in frenches onions, and chicken in 9x13 dump some italian dressing on it then spinkle bread crumbs and grated parmasean cheese on top and bake.

A big pot of chili! Yum! Our go-to's usually revolve around 1-pot meals, like chili, soup, lentils/rice, hash..and very few dishes!

I have three chicken dishes that I go to when I'm feeling uninspired. The first is an onion chicken recipe where you take a large ziploc bag and put 1/4 cup of oil, some chopped garlic (however much you like) and a packet of onion soup mix in it. Squish the bag around to mix the ingredients, then add boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Coat them and place them in a 13 X 9 casserole dish and cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Comes out awesome and so juicy every time! While it's cooking, I'll throw together a salad and some sort of side dish.

There's also a Rachel Ray chicken and dumplings recipe I use. I'm sure it's on her website. It looks complicated at first glance, but it's super easy and always comes out good.

The third one is a peach salsa chicken where you dump a packet of taco seasoning mix in a large ziploc bag, followed by boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in chunks. Coat the chicken and cook it in a skillet with about a 50/50 ratio of peach or apricot preserves and salsa. Serve it over rice. It's very yummy and a nice change.