Fajita Seasoning Mix

Ingredients:

Fajita:
1 lb. chicken cutlets
1 green pepper (sliced)
1 small onion (sliced)
1 tbs. oil
wraps

Seasoning:
Taken from http://www.food.com/recipe/fajita-seasoning-mix-28011
(enough for 3x of making fajitas following this recipe, so store in empty spice container)

1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon crushed chicken bouillon cube
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into small nugget size pieces
2. Heat oil in pan
3. Cook chicken in pan until it's mostly white (stir frequently)
4. Add pepper and onion
5. Cook until ready
6. Add ~3 tbs. of seasoning mix
7. Add some water if needed

Serve on wraps.

A New Start

Today was the first day of our new daycare.  Things went better than expected.  I made sure to have a (huge) bag for each kid with everything they would need for daycare.  I also made sure to pack DS1 with some extra snacks to make his first day a little bit better (also to take away from my mom-guilt of dumping him in a new place with strangers and then leaving when he was crying).  Anyway, around 11am I called and the teacher in his room confirmed that even though he cried a little bit when we left, he was having fun playing with the toys and was eating lunch.  I'll have to find out about the lunch part.  11am for lunch sounds a bit early, but whatever.  At least he was having a good time.

Couponing- not the extreme way

Lately I've been checking out some couponing blogs, like Kosher on a Budget.  I don't do couponing the extreme way, but I like free stuff and saving money, so when it's easy to do, then why not?  This week alone I saved $3 on household cleaners, got free swiffer wipes, sharpies, scotch tape and pens!  All this with minimal effort.

Some of these coupons were printed out from the internet and others I filled out a form online and the company sent me a whole coupon booklet.  So, if you hear of any good deals, let me know!

Some Like it Hot

 

Learn from my mistakes.  Read the label.  If it is in a red container and is on the top shelf, it doesn't mean you always use it.

Here's what happened:  I was preparing my roasted potatoes for Shabbos and remembered that DH had previously put paprika on his potatoes to give them a nice color.  I wanted mine to look nice too, so I reached on the top shelf of our spice drawer and pulled out the red container.  When looking at the top shelf of the spice drawer all I could see was the top of the spices, so I grabbed the red one.  I ALWAYS use paprika, so of course it would be on the top shelf... or so I thought.  I was all done sprinkling my "paprika" and mixing my potatoes (they have a really nice red color, by the way), when DH began to reach for the "paprika" and said something like, "oh, that's not the paprika."  Well, hearing that made me jump.  What do you mean that's not paprika?  Turns out the label said chili powder.

We're gonna have one spicy Shabbos!

Edited for update:  turns out that the potatoes weren't spicy at all.  Apparently chili powder isn't super spicy.  Good thing I didn't use cayenne pepper.  DH said that if I did, we wouldn't have been able to eat them.

Broccoli Kugel

This recipe is my "go to" when I don't have much time to prepare for Shabbos. It's simple, quick and tastes great.  I usually double it and stick one in the freezer.


Ingredients:

20 oz. frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
3 eggs
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon onion soup mix

Directions:

1.  mix all ingredients
2.  cook for 1 hour at 350

Spiced Braised Beef With Sweet Potatoes

I love this recipe from Real Simple!

Spiced Braised Beef With Sweet Potatoes 
  
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into chunks
• 2 sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch-thick half-moons
• 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 large red onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 cup dried apricots
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• kosher salt
• 1 10-ounce box couscous (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
• 2 cups baby spinach (1 1/2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup roasted almonds, chopped

Directions:

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the beef, potatoes, tomatoes (and their juices), onion, apricots, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup water.
2. Cook, covered, until the meat is tender, on high for 4 to 5 hours, or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
3. Ten minutes before serving, prepare the couscous according to the package directions.
4. Add the chickpeas to the slow cooker and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach. Serve with the couscous and sprinkle with the almonds.
5. To freeze: Omit the couscous and spinach. Cool the beef to room temperature and divide among freezer containers or bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.
6. To reheat: Thaw in a bowl of cold water or overnight in the refrigerator. Cook in a pot, covered, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the spinach. Serve with the cooked couscous.

Tuna / Salmon Croquettes

Ingredients:

2 cans of salmon/tuna fish, drained
2/3 cups of unsalted matzo meal
¼ cup of mayonnaise
4 large eggs
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon of dried minced onion
½ teaspoon of fine sea salt
2 tablespoons of oil

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the tuna/salmon with the matzo meal, mayonnaise, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, minced onion and salt.
2. Mix well and form into patties, recipe should make 8 but when we make them it is more like 12-15 patties.
3. Heat oil in skillet, and when oil is hot place patties in pan working in batches if necessary.
4. Fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and flip.
5. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Tip: I love adding peas and carrots into the mixture!

Easy Lazy Meatballs

This is my never-fail meatball recipe. I've tried it with ground beef, turkey and chicken and all tasted really good!

http://kosherfood.about.com/od/meatmaindishes/r/meatballs_sweet.htm

Ingredients:

2 pounds of lean ground beef, turkey or chicken
½ cup of breadcrumbs or matzo meal
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of onion powder
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of cranberry sauce

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine meat, eggs, breadcrumbs and onion powder.
2. In a large pot, combine sauce and place over a medium hear.
3. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Form the meat mixture into balls the size of walnuts.
5. Carefully place them in the sauce.
6. Cover the pot and cook on low for 40-45 minutes.

Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of oil divided

1 onion chopped

1 package of frozen broccoli florets

1 can of water chestnuts

1 lb. boneless meat – cut in strips

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ cup of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 tablespoon corn starch or 2 tablespoons of flour

1 -2 tablespoons of water

1 ½ cups of rice

La Choy Chow Mein Noodles (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet heat 1 tbsp oil and add frozen broccoli, onion and water chestnuts for 5-10 minutes – remove from skillet after broccoli is fully defrosted.
2. Pour remaining oil in skillet and cook beef and garlic for about 4-6 minutes until browned and cooked.
3. Add broccoli, onions and water chestnuts until everything is heated through.
4. In a small bowl mix together the soy sauce and brown sugar and add to food. Mix together corn starch/flour and water and add to food and mix well until well blended and sauce thickens.
5. serve with rice and enjoy!

Gefilte Fish

Ingredients:

1 loaf of frozen gefilte fish
2 carrots or a handful of baby carrots
1 onion
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Boil a lot of water in a pot with the onion, carrots, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. once the water is boiling add the fish with wrapper on it
3. leave on a medium flame for an hour and fifteen minute – 1 ½ hours
4. After allotted time (as specified on fish package) wait for water to cool a bit and then “fish” out the fish, carrots and onions
5. Put in a container or tin with tin foil – make sure its covered so it doesn’t dry out.
6. Refrigerate until cool and enjoy.

Tips: Don’t make this on Friday afternoon – unless you have more then 4 hours to cool, otherwise it won’t be ready for Shabbos. The fish lasts if you cook it in the middle of the week.

Esther’s Yummy Chicken

My sister had this chicken at her friend Esther's house and couldn't stop talking about how good it was.

Ingredients:

Chicken
Jason’s Flavored Bread Crumbs
1 large onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup boiling water
½ cup ketchup
¾ cup brown sugar
 

Directions:

1. Clean chicken
2. Wet chicken with water and then cover in bread crumbs.
3. Cook chicken for 35 minutes at 375°
4. Sauté onion with garlic powder
5. In a small saucepan mix together the water, ketchup, brown sugar and bring to a boil
6. Add onions to saucepan and mix together.
7. Pour mixture over chicken and continue to cook for another 25 minutes uncovered (or until ready).

Mushroom Onion Quiche

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 container of mushrooms

Pie Crust

½ cup of mayo

2 tablespoons of flour

2 eggs

½ cup of milk

8 oz. of cheese

Pepper and paprika to taste

Directions:

1. Sauté mushroom and onions.

2. In a bowl combine mayo, flour eggs, milk, cheese, paprika and pepper.

3. Add mushrooms and onions to mixture.

4. Pour in pie crust

5. Bake in over for 45 minutes of 350° or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

2 containers of grape tomatoes
6-7 tablespoons of vinegar
3 tablespoons of oil
2 cloves of garlic minced (chopped finely)
Salt, pepper and oregano to taste

Directions:

Cut tomatoes in half and place in a bowl.  Combine vinegar, oil, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano and pour on top of tomatoes and toss.

Caesar Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup mayo

5 garlic cubes

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Less than 1/4 cup water

Grape Tomatoes

Directions:

1. Mix together

2. Pour on top of romaine lettuce - 2 bags

3. Red onion and tomatoes- optional

4. Pour croutons on top

Spinach Noodle Kugel

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Med. Noodles

1 package frozen chopped spinach

1cup Coffee Rich

2-3 tsp onion soup mix

3 eggs

½ stick margarine

Directions:

1. Defrost and drain spinach

2. Cook noodles according to package directions and drain

3. Add melted margarine

4. Mix in all ingredients

5. Bake at 350° uncovered for one hour

Tip: Double this recipe and put one pan in freezer.

Serves 6-8

Lemon Thyme Chicken

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
4 boneless chicken cutlets
2 teaspoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of margarine
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of minced parsley (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper
2. Set aside 4 1/2 teaspoons of mixture for later
3. Sprinkle remaining flour mixture over both sides of chicken.
4. In a large pot/pan cook chicken in oil until cooked (can cut the chicken into pieces)
5. Remove chicken from pot but don't clean.
6. In the same pan, sauté onion in margarine until tender.
7. Add thyme and reserved flour mixture and stir until blended.
8. Gradually stir in broth and lemon juice, scraping up and brown bits from the pan.
9. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes until thickened.
10. Serve sauce over chicken

Tips:  Before Shabbos I put the sauce in a small saucepan and heat it up In a tin I put cooked white rice with chicken on top and put it in the oven for about 15 minutes on 250°. Right before I light candles, I stick the saucepan in the oven and turn off the oven. The food stays hot until it’s ready to serve!

Terra Chip Salad

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of oil
1/3 cup of red wine vinegar (you can substitute apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of ketchup
2 tablespoons of chopped onions (comes in a spice container)
1 head of romaine lettuce
1 cup of spinach
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into pieces
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into pieces
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
6 oz of slivered almonds
4 oz of pine nuts
6 oz of terra chips

Directions:

1. Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and chopped onions - mix well
2. Put lettuce, spinach, peppers, avocado, almonds, pine nuts and terra chips and toss until well blended.
3. Add dressing a bit at a time and mix in, serve immediately.

Tips: You do not have to use the lettuce or vegetables specified - you can use whatever you want, the salad tastes good anyway you make it.

Corn Salad

Ingredients:

2 (15oz) cans whole kernel yellow corn, drained

1 (7 oz) can white shoe peg corn, drained

1 small red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 oz of snow peas, sliced diagonally into small pieces
3 tablespoons of oil
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste (start with a "pinch" and add more if needed)

Directions:Put everything in a bowl and mix until oil, salt and pepper are mixed in.

Tips: This salad is great the day after it is dressed, it doesn't get soggy right away.

Strawberry - Mango Mescaline Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 vegetable/canola oil
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of salt
8 cups of mescaline/spring/European 5 lettuce salad (2 bags of salad are perfect)
2 cups of craisins
8 oz. of strawberries, sliced
1 or 2 large mangos, cut
1 cup of slivered almonds
1/2 cup chopped onion, optional - I've never tasted it with onion, it doesn't sound good

Directions:

1. Mix sugar, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt together.
2. In a large bowl mix salad, craisens, strawberries, mango and almonds.
3. Add dressing a little bit at a time to salad and serve IMMEDIATELY or it will get soggy.

Tips: DO NOT USE ALL OF THE DRESSING AT ONCE- it will be too strong. Pour a little at a time until you find the perfect combination.

Vegetable Kugel

Ingredients:

1 Frozen bag of vegetables

1 can cream of corn

French’s French Fried Onions

Directions:

1. Place frozen vegetables in a microwave safe dish, microwave according to directions on bag.
2. Place cream of corn over vegetables and stir to make sure corn covers vegetables
3. Sprinkle on as much or as little French fried onions as you would like on top.
4. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until onions are brown.

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour
3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup of oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup dried cranberries / craisins

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350°.
2. In a LARGE bowl mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda
3. Add pumpkin, oil, eggs, and cranberries. 
4. Mix with a mixer until smooth (you can not do this without one, otherwise there will be clumps -- I've tried)
5. Spray cake tins/muffin tins with cooking spray and pour batter
6. Cook uncovered for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Tips:  This recipe makes a lot so I freeze half and use it a week or two later, it defrosts nicely. (This batter usually makes 12 muffins and 2 cakes or 18 muffins and 1 cake)

Pumpkin Bisque

Great recipe from Kosher By Design, Short on Time

Ingredients:

1 table spoon of olive oil

2 cloves of fresh garlic coarsely chopped or 2 teaspoons of garlic powder

6 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

2 (15 oz) cans of pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon of sugar

Pinch of salt / fine sea salt

1 teaspoon dried ground sage

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Raw Pumpkin seeds, optional (we don't use this - I just put croutons in mine)

Directions: 

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute while stirring
3. Add the stock and pumpkin (stir all together)
4. Add maple syrup, sugar, pinch of salt, sage, cinnamon, and onion powder
5. Stir until everything is well blended
6. Lower flame and simmer for 10 minutes

How to Cut a Melon

Ingredients:

Melon

Directions:

Cut melon in half.
Scoop out seeds.
Take half of melon and cut into 3-4 moon slices (depending on the size of melon)
Do the same with the other side

At this point you can serve the melon as an appetizer or dessert.
If you would like to cut it into smaller snack-size pieces, you need to:

Place a slice of melon on its side, take a sharp knife and round to cut the rind (peel) off.
Repeat on all of the slices.
Take the melon slices and cut in several large chunks.

Italian Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken

Italian Dressing of your choice

Cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half

Yellow squash, cubed or sliced

Green squash, cubed or sliced

Directions:

1. Clean chicken – I remove the skin
2. Place chicken in pan
3. Place vegetables on top and around chicken
4. Pour dressing on top
5. Cook uncovered in oven on 350° for 2 hours  

Tips:  Light or fat free Italian dressing comes out just as good as the full fat dressing

Roast Chicken

This recipe works best in a big roaster.

Ingredients:

Chicken
Red potatoes
Sweet potatoes
String beans
Paprika

Garlic powder

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes and cut into big pieces, place in cold/warm water until step 3.
2. Wash string beans very well and cut off ends.
3. Line the potatoes on the bottom of the roaster and sprinkle with garlic powder and paprika.  To get a nice color wet hands and rub potatoes until paprika and garlic powder are all over the potatoes.
4. Place string beans on top of potatoes and lightly sprinkle with garlic powder and paprika.
5. Clean chicken (I remove the skin) and place on top of string beans, sprinkle on garlic powder and paprika and rub all over chicken like in step 3.
6. Put some water in the bottom of the roaster to just cover the bottom.
7. Cover and cook in oven a 375° for 2 hours (the longer you cook it the softer everything will get)

Tips:  I often prepare everything in the roaster the night before and cook it fresh.

Zucchini Kugel (2 steps)

This was a great Facebook find!

Ingredients:

6 zucchini
1 small onion
6 tbsp oil
6 tbsp flour
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp onion mix
1 tsp salt
3 eggs

Directions:

1. Boil zucchinis until soft

2. Let the zucchinis cool and then mash them (drain access water)

3. Chop onion into tiny pieces

4. Add the remainder of ingredients to a bowl and mix

5. Cook in a 9x13 pan for one hour on 350°

Balsamic Chicken with Spinach

This recipe is not only easy but looks beautiful just as a home cooked gourmet meal should.  This recipe was a Food Network by Ellie Kreiger on her segment called Healthy Appetite.  Watch how she makes this dish here.

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic, chopped / 2-3 teaspoons of already chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of oil

4 boneless skinless chicken cutlets

1 bag of spinach baby leafs

2 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar

1/3 cup of chopped/diced tomatoes from the can

1 bag of couscous

Directions:

1. Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the biggest pan you have (I use a pot/pan – a pan with walls)
2. Put garlic in pan and mix the garlic and oil together
3. Place chicken in pan and cook for about 5 minutes, turn cutlets over and cook for another 4-6 minutes.  If you can not tell if it is cooked then you can cut a piece of chicken in half.
4. Once the chicken is cooked remove from pan leaving the flame on med/high leaving the garlic/oil. 
5. Place baby spinach leafs in the pan. At this point it may look like your pan is not big enough, but the spinach will shrink.  Make sure you mix the spinach so that it gets the flavor of the oil/garlic which is left in the pan from the chicken cooking.
6. Remove spinach from pan after it’s wilted/shrunk.
7. Turn the flame to low and put in 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1/3 cup of chopped/diced tomatoes in pan and mix until it is heated.

How to plate when served with couscous:  Put couscous down on plate, top with ¼ of the spinach and a piece of chicken.  Pour a little sauce on top and enjoy.

Tips:

For an easy clean up:

1. For the entire recipe I use “salad tongues” because it is easy to grip the chicken and mix the spinach.
2. When the chicken is cooked I place it on my dinner plate. 
3. When the Spinach is finished cooking I place it in a Tupperware (the recipe makes a lot) that I will use after we finish eating for leftovers.

I double / triple the sauce (balsamic vinegar/tomatoes) because I like a lot of sauce on my portion and I don’t have a half a can of tomatoes leftover.

How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs

Ingredients:

Eggs (I think Halachically you need to do at least 3)
Water

Directions:

1. Places eggs in a pot large enough to hold them in a single layer (the more you do the bigger the pot)
2. Add cold water to cover the eggs by an inch (so they float)
3. Heat over a high flame just to boiling.
4. Turn off stove and cover for 15 minutes
5. After 15 minutes, put under the sink and let cold water run until the eggs are cool to touch. 
6. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Onion Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken
Onions
Orange Juice (sometimes I use Tropicana’s Pineapple Orange Juice)
Honey
Garlic powder
Paprika

Directions:

1. Clean chicken – can remove skin
2. Place chicken in tin and sprinkle garlic powder and paprika over chicken.
3. Cut up the onions in quarters or rings (or both), place on top of chicken
4. In a measuring cup measure equal parts of honey and orange juice (put in honey first). Mix until the honey is part of the juice and pour on top of chicken. (I usually start with ½ cup of each and then if I think I need more I make more)
5. Pour mixture over onions and chicken.
6. At this point you can pop it into the oven or marinate over night
7. Cook covered in the oven on 375° for 1 ½ hours. For the last 20-30 minutes, cook uncovered so the onions get a nice color.

Shabbat in a Pot

This recipe cooks the chicken and the rice together in the same pot. The rice is delicious as it absorbs the juices from the chicken.

http://kosherfood.about.com/od/sabbathcooking/r/onepot.htm

Ingredients:

6 pieces chicken on the bone
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (NOT INSTANT)
1 tablespoon onion or chicken soup mix
1/2-1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons McCormick’s chicken seasoning
2 tablespoons paprika
Water - 1/4 cup less water than the directions on the rice package require for cooking

Directions:

1. Spray a shallow baking dish/tin with the cooking spray
2. Place the uncooked rice in the tin and add the onion soup mix. Mix together and spread out the rice to cover the bottom of the pan.
3. Place the chicken, skin side up, (I remove the skin), on top of the rice.
4. Sprinkle the chicken with the pepper, chicken spice and paprika, in that order.
5. Add the water to the pan.
6. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
7. Place the chicken in the 350 degrees oven and cook for about 1 ½ hours. Check the chicken regularly to make sure that the rice isn't dry. If the rice is dry add some more water a tablespoon at a time. (Mine never needs more water – I think because I use a tin.)
8. Remove the foil for the last fifteen minutes of cooking in order to brown the chicken.

TIP:

1. Make sure the chicken and rice are tightly covered so the steam stays in the pot and keeps the chicken moist.
2. I prepare the chicken and rice and spice everything the night before; when I am ready to cook I add the water and stick it in the oven.
3. This tastes DELICIOUS on Shabbos day and for leftovers.

Meal Planning

I recently came across this blog post on meal planning and I think it has some good ideas.  The first, which I will attempt to do is make a master meal list.  This is basically a list of every meal you have ever served/cooked.  We used to have some sort of list floating around, but I have no idea where it went.  I hope that this will force me to plan our meals a little better and more easily.  Every week I basically have to choose from a list and put it somewhere on my calendar.  What could be easier? 

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Dinners	Shabbos Appetizers	Shabbos Main	Shabbos Side Dishes
Chicken-less nuggets	Chicken Soup (with matza balls)	Balsamic Chicken with Spinach	Acron squash
fajita	Fruit soup	Beef and Broccoli	Broccoli corn kugel
Falafel	Gefilte Fish	Chicken and rice	broccoli kugel
fritatta	Melon	Chicken Salad	Butternut squash
Meatballs and spaghetti	Pumpkin Bisque	chicken with sauce	butternut squash kugel
Morning star burgers	Vegetable soup	chicken with zucchini	cauliflower kugel
pasta	Zucchini Soup	cholent	couscous
Pizza		meatloaf	Kasha
salmon		Roast chicken	lokshen kugel
salmon croquettes		schnitzel	Mashed potatoes
stir fry		Shake and bake chicken	rice
tuna noodle casserole		Shepherd's Pie	Roasted asparagus
vegetarian chili		Spiced Braised Beef With Sweet Potatoes in crockpot	roasted potatoes
		Stuffed cabbage	Roasted zucchini
		turkey legs	sesame noodles
			spinach kugel
			Spinach Noodle Kugel
			steamed vegetables
			String beans
			sweet potatoes
			Zucchini kugel

Any other suggestions?  Post it in a comment!

Special Offer!

Since I started blogging, I've become obsessed!  I have a list of blogs that I read everyday (some are listed on the right hand side of this blog).  I even figured out how to read all of them in one place (thank you to my "dashboard" on Blogger).  Anyway, one of the blogs I frequently visit lists all sorts of freebies and special deals you can get.  I try not to get carried away buying things I don't need just because they're on sale or almost free (meaning item is free but you have to pay for shipping), but sometimes I just can't help it. 

I usually don't end up buying anything, but I do spend a lot of time debating whether or not I should.  For example, they were giving away free personalized tote bags on Vistaprint + shipping ($4.99).  I really wanted one!  But what on earth do I need a small tote bag for?  I don't and I knew that, so I thought it would be nice for DS1 to have one.  You know, in case he needs to go somewhere with stuff.  When I told my sister about the deal she took one look and told me it's an ugly bag, a waste of money and if DS1 used it all his stuff would prbably fall out since it didn't have a zipper.  I still wanted one though.  It was such a good deal! 

In the end, I didn't order anything.  Only the ugly designs were for free and I didn't want my DS1 to have an ugly design on a bag with his name on it. 

So, I'm really telling everyone this so you can learn from my mistakes.  It's so easy to get carried away- if you don't need an item, just walk away- or click the little "x" in the corner of the screen.  I hope I can take my own advice next time.