Dinner Ideas - Mount Pleasant,PA

It's kind of hard to come up with 'different' if we don't know what 'the same old thing' is in the first place. :-)

Lately we've discovered chicken, spinach and sun dried tomatoes risotto.

We're going out tonight, but tomorrow I'm making a layered tortilla mexican casserole and Tuesday it'll be Italian chicken tomato soup cooking in the crock pot. I get most of my ideas from Pinterest.

might help if you tell us what you like....

Chicken Parmesan with buttered noodles

sausage/hamburger butternut squash
1lb sausage
1lb hamburger
1 butternut squash
one medium onion

heat pan and cook sausage and hamburger with onion...
peel butternut squash - steam until ALMOST soft - you still want SOME texture

mix together - add salt/pepper to taste and use either brown sugar or maple syrup (about 1 to 2 Tablespoons) to give it a nice flavor.

Chili with cornbread

Honey Mustard Pork chops w

4 to 6 pork chops
2 cans peach halves
1/4 cup honey
1/s t dry mustard
garlic
2 Tspoon dried cranberries

pre-heat oven to 400

Place pork chops in ungreased oven safe dish - bake for 10 minutes
while baking mix honey, mustard and garlic...

remove dish from pan, add peach halves on top of each pork chop, drop cranberries in peach center...drizzle sauce over peaches and pork chops. place back in oven for 35 minutes.

Serve with sugar snap peas, green beans or broccoli and biscuits

In the past week here's a sample of what I've made:

Red beans & rice
Macaroni & cheese in the crockpot
Carne asada with quesadillas
Beef roast & veggies
Bratwurst with roasted potato salad
Chicken salad sandwiches
Cheesy rice & broccoli casserole
Chicken & vegetable risotto
Chili spaghetti

Not sure what your same old things are but maybe something will peak your interest. Best wishes.

Kinda hard to give you ideas when you don't say what your "same old" is.

Broccoli/Cauliflower casserole

Sloppy Joes with french fries

I asked about Mac & cheese and got some great responses! Tried the baked recipe and my family loved it!

Tuna casserole

Turkey Divan over biscuits
white sauce (butter, milk, flour)
mixed veggies (one bag frozen)
diced turkey (1 to 2 cups)
1 jar diced pimentos
cayenne pepper
salt & pepper over biscuits

Biscuit Taco Casserole (as you can see Casserole's are used a lot here!)

Taco Sauce (1 16 oz jar)
1 can biscuits
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 can sliced black olives (the little 3 ounce can)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 can (4 ounce) sliced mushroom

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees. Spray baking dish
spread taco sauce on bottom of dish
separate biscuits, cut into halves or quarters (whichever works for you) and place over taco sauce
sprinkle cheddar cheese over biscuits
bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes (until bubbly)

While baking cook beef, bell peppers and onion. Cook thoroughly.
drain.
Remove biscuit dish from over, spread beef mixture over biscuits and cheese, top with the rest of the cheese
Return to over and bake for 10 minutes.

Serve with Doritos or Tortilla chips.

Pizza on english muffins
Calzones - you can "cheat" and use the Pillsbury Pizza dough.

does that help?

I'm making our weekly menu right now and I am going to include some minestrone soup, baked chicken thighs with carrots and potatoes, speghetti and I haven't really figured out the rest yet. Hopefully that helped with some ideas for you :)

We are grilling a nice special cut Porterhouse steak tonight. I have a baked potato for hubby and sweet baked potato for me.

Last week I made a big batch of chicken and noodles and it was good al week.

Chili

I keep a homemade Marinara on hand for pasta, stuffed shells, Italian sausage

pork chops or pork loin

I was at the butcher on Saturday and I got some beef short ribs to try, rack of lamb, pork crown roast, and steaks.

Hope I said something that might hit the spot!

BBQ chicken in the slow cooker (just chkn & bbq sauce)
Shepherd's pie
Taco Pie (You layer flour tortilla topped w/cooked ground beef or turkey,
shredded cheese, salsa, another tortilla, beef/cheese, tortilla. then bake
for 20-30 minutes. Top w/shredded cheese/shredded lettuce/diced black
olives & sour cream).
Homemade pizza (pepperoni or veggie)
Boboli bread, honey, diced cooked bbq chicken (you can buy precooked
chicken in deli section. Doesn't take long in the oven. Basically just to
warm it through)
Appetizer night: lil smokies in the slow cooker w/bbq sauce, mini quiches,
bread & spinach dip, little bowls of clam chowder w/oyster crackers
Steak fajitas (grilled breakfast steaks cut into strips, grilled onions & red
peppers)
Spaghetti squash (cooked, shredded, served w/grilled veggies. Google a
Rachel Ray recipe)
Soup & bread night (baquette & clam chowder or tomato bisque w/grilled
cheese)
Taco Salad (cooked grd beef. Toss into a big bowl w/shredded lettuce,
diced tomatoes, diced red onions, diced Doritos & sm bottle of
Thousand Island dressing)
Table lenghth sandwich (get big french bread loaf, slice in half, layer with
pastrami, provolone cheese, salami, spicy mustard). Cut in slices &
everyone grabs a sandwich & a choice of salads.
Stir fry veggies w/rice (you can even add cooked diced chicken)

We're having beef stew tonight. Later this week, we're going to have chicken pot pie and white turkey chili. Last week, we had delicious chicken and dumplings. The recipe is a snap .... http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easy-chicken-dumplings

Also delicious .... http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes...

If your family is craving pizza .... http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/chicago-style-deep...

I made spinach lasagna for dinner last night and tonight I am making roast beef, roast potatoes, beets and Yorkshire pudding with gravy. Not sure what to make for dessert. Nothing terrible unusual, but I don't know what your usual meals are.

Here's what I'm making this week

Pizza with pillsbury crust, sauce cheese, italian sausage (I have to cook it up first) green bell pepper and cut up eggplant parm slices (the microwaveable eggplant parmesan rounds from Trader Joes). This is a knock off of our favorite pizza at our favorite place.

Chicken Ceasar salad with romaine, croutons, grilled chicken. Bottled dressing. Voila.

Chicken salad sandwiches with the rest of the grilled chicken. Bought some croissants. Will mix with Mayo and chopped green apples.

Thai ginger soup- it's a flavored swansons broth you buy and there is a recipe on the back. You need chicken (or tofu or whatever) a can of coconut milk, carrots muchrooms and cilantro. I forgot the cilantro. And I may not have enough chicken after I make the other stuff. so we'll see.

Baked Ziti- I figured if I bought the italian sausage I might as well put it in something else. I'll do it simple with jarred sauce and some mozzerella layers.

I try not to go to complicated during the week since we both work and there re a lot of activities going on.

Last week we had salisbury steak which is basically hamburger patties sauteed in a pan with mushrooms and onions, and beef broth you thicken with cornstarch. We also had brocolli cheese soup, and some crockpot honey garlic chicken recipe I got from the internet with rice and veggies

I love a good "what's for dinner" question.... I'm gonna try Honey Mustard Pork Chops a la Wild Woman next week.

how about braised lamb (shoulder chops or shanks) and pureed parsnips? That's what we had last night. We had rosemary potatoes with it too.

Tonight is a crispy noodle stir fry.

Tomorrow is Blts and Potato leek soup.

I cooked a pork roast in the crock pot. From it we made pulled pork sandwiches, nachos and tacos. I also made a yummy chicken and rice recipe and a pot of pinto beans from www.pioneerwoman.com. Everything I've tried from her website is delicious and easy.

Enjoy your adventures!
L.

No idea what "the usual" is for you so I'm kind of flying blind here.

Favorites of ours are
- stir fry with fried up tofu cubes (soak in soy sauce first, then drain well, fry till browned, then remove to a platter) plus any combination of veggies (after removing the tofu, fry up in batches with the longest-cooking ones first, then add the next batch every 2 minutes), remove it all, deglaze the pan with a mix of soy sauce (re-use what the tofu soaked in) and cornstarch and 5-spice powder and a little white wine or sherry and stock or water, stir till thickened, add the tofu & veggies back in until hot through, top with cashews if desired, serve over rice. You can substitute chicken for the tofu

- enchiladas: spread a flour tortilla with a strip of refried beans down the center, then top this strip with any combination of beans, chopped green pepper, cooked chicken, a handful of frozen peas or corn, chopped onion, and some chopped seeded drained tomatoes, and some taco or cheddar cheese. Fold over the 2 sides and secure with toothpick. Line up the enchiladas in a baking dish side touching side, top with tomato puree or sauce mixed with any Mexican style spices like coriander, cumin or cilantro, and add a little more grated cheese on top. Bake 20 minutes until hot. Serve with Mexican rice (I add some tomato puree to the cooking water). If anyone in the family doesn't like a particular item (e.g. onion) I just stick an extra toothpick in the enchilada that's "different".

- homemade pizza - buy a finished pizza round, buy the dough in the refrigerated section of the market, or use Naan bread. Use up any combination of veggies and meats - look at any pizza takeout menu for ideas. This can be "personalized" based on individual family members' tastes.

-Tamale pie - lots of recipes on line. Basically it's a chili type of skillet meal, with browned up beef or turkey, onion, etc. with beans added (kidney or pinto, whatever you have), and tomato sauce. Spread it in a casserole. Top with a cornmeal batter which cooks a cornbread crust on top.

- Your own chicken tenders or nuggets dipped in egg and then a mix of bread crumbs and wheat germ, quick fried in olive or canola oil and then finished on a rack inserted on the baking sheet and baked in the oven. The coating is crispy but it doesn't soak up as much oil as if you fried the whole thing. Slice up a sweet potato or Yukon gold potato (or combination) into spears, put on a baking sheet with some olive oil mixed first with herbs (e.g. dill, salt & pepper), toss gently with your hands, bake 20 minutes at 350 at the same time as the chicken. You can add in broccoli spears, cauliflower florets and onion quarters too - all the veggies cook at once.

Sorry if the above is the "usual" you're sick of!! Good luck!

Tonight I made baked potatoes with cheddar cheese, steamed broccoli and shredded chicken. Tomorrow we are going to go out to eat because we all have dentist appointments and I don't want to cook after them.

Buzzfeed actually has some pretty great recipes that I use as inspiration a lot but sometimes I like to make easy stuff. Pre made soups I get from local deli's or grocery marts with simple sandwiches, Nachos are super easy, there are over a 1,000 ways to make pasta.

Don't over think your food too much.

I'll try to remember the last week or so of dinners we had:

* Parmesan Chicken (not the red sauce), twice baked potatoes, and asparagus
* Make your own pizza's
* Fajita's (steak and chicken)
* Chicken Stir Fry (with Tastefully Simple Terriyaki Sauce and fresh broccoli) and brown rice
* Spaghetti
* Mexican Casserole (new recipe - not bad, but not sure we like it enough to make it again)
* Hot Dogs/mac and cheese/ broccoli

Here are some things we have on the plans for this week:
* Spicy Sausage Alfredo
* Baked Chicken, rice, veggie
* Baked Ziti
* Lemon Dill Chicken
* Soup and Grilled Cheese

last week
Tortilla Soup
Stew
Tuna casserole
Tacos
Enchiladas
One night I had a bowl of cold cereal!

Yesterday I picked up BBQ Brisket and some smoked Turkey. With Pinto beans, tangy cole slaw and potato salad.

Tonight at the store they had some turkey sweet Italian sausage on sale, so made spaghetti and sauce (jar) and huge salad

I will probably make stroganoff this week
Roast with Potatoes, carrots and squash
Chili

Trying to clean out the freezer, we are planning on moving mid month!
I also like to purchase the precooked roasted chickens. So easy to make sides for it.

Of course down here we still grill any chance we get, even if it is cold outside! Ribs, steaks, vegetables.