Dinner Tonight?

Have you ever tried Super Suppers? There are 12 different entrees to choose from every month. You make you own meals the way your family likes them but you don't have to grocery shop or clean up your mess. And because there is no waste you save money on food.

I love www.recipezaar.com I couldn't live without it. And, I second the other posters referral to kraftfoods.com

I have difficulties standing for long periods so cooking can be a struggle. I purchase the cooked chickens from grocery store and use it for many things. The 1st night we eat the chicken with rice, salad & veggie. My sons favorite dish is chicken tacos or chicken quesidillas. I strip the meat from the bone and chop into bite size pieces. I use flour tortillas, chopped avocado, tomatoes, grated cheese, optional chopped onions & cilantro. Have all the ingredients chopped and family ready cuz this goes together fast. In a hot skillet warm 1st side of tortilla, flip over then place chicken meat in middle, along with the cheese. Allow to heat & melt cheese. (Keep toothpick ready to prick air bubbles that puff up on tortilla) Put on a plate and add the other ingredients then fold in half. My son likes his to be a little crunchy & I like them soft. I keep them warm in the oven until I have them all done. You can have your table set for the family to add their own ingredients of choice. I use the chicken bones and make stock for Chicken Tortilla soup which adds a nice dimension to the flavor. Add the chicken meat, hominy or corn, 2 t. minced cilantro, 1 c. onion diced fine, 2 c. diced can tomatoes, 1 T cumin powder, 2-3 cloves chop garlic, 2 t. chili powder, 6 c broth, salt & pepper to taste, 4 corn tortillas (I use tortilla chips), Optional: any veggie you think your family would eat. Saute the onion & garlic til soft then dump all the ingredients EXCEPT cilantro & tortillas. Simmer for 30 minutes, adjust seasonings, add toritllas crumbled up & cook 10 minutes on high to thicken the soup, last add cilantro. I serve this with chopped avocado, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, More Tortilla Chips on side to eat like crackers. This is also good to use with your leftover turkey after Thanksgiving.
Another quicky is Alfredo Noodle with Ham, Shrimp or Chicken. I buy the ham cut into bite size pieces or shrimp with no tails. Boil my noodles, use a jar of Alredo sauce, pan sear the ham, chicken or shrimp. Toss together and add a salad with it for a meal. I hope these help you, I didn't know which 4 meals you usually make.
My friend bought a recipe book that was divided by Months and cooked meals from it for a year. Then the family decided after the year which meals they want again and those they could do without. It introduced her family to many new flavors and some of the meals were all vegetarian. Best of Luck to you. K

Last night we had wild caught balsamic orange salmon (recipe on the ziploc steam bags website - was featured on Biggest Loser Couples not too long ago), seasoned steamed green and yellow long beans with baby carrots and a whole grain vegetable wild rice medley with lentils. The salmon was done in the ziploc steam bags, the vegetables are in those frozen veggie steam bags and the rice is from those Uncle Ben's 90 second microwave whole grain rice packages.

Tomorrow we will have either Crock-pot Super Garlic Chicken Legs (http://www.recipezaar.com/179050) or Japanese Mum's Chicken (http://www.recipezaar.com/68955). I'll probably make it with four cheese mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Wednesday we will have spaghetti with meat sauce. I've already browned the meat and frozen it (bought & cooked in bulk) and will just have to thaw it out and add it to the jarred sauce along with my other herbs and spices, boil up a pound of whole wheat spaghetti noodles and serve with a fresh salad and bread.

Thursday will probably be asiago cheese roast pork tenderloin (got on sale at Sam's) and I haven't decided on the sides yet. Probably steamed baby carrots and peas and a corn casserole (Paula Deen's recipe off the food network - www.foodnetwork.com). It's a huge tenderloin and will easily be enough meat for at least 2 full meals (for 4) plus a couple of lunches for both me and my hubby. There might even be enough extra to cut up for a pork stir fry or green chilie stew.

Friday will probably be left overs. :-)

One "fancy" meal I make is Prime rib and I usually use this recipe http://www.recipezaar.com/73866.

One of my favorite Saturday or Sunday meals is the copy cat version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana http://www.recipezaar.com/38298. It's a little more time consuming, but I make a HUGE batch and have it for lunch during the week. It's my favorite soup.

We also do grilled meats usually once every 2 weeks or so. We grill steak, chicken, smoked sausage and/or pork chops and serve with mac and cheese or mashed potatoes and a vegetable and/or salad. We try to do a bulk grill (several different meats) and have leftovers throughout the week.

When I'm not in the mood to cook something I planned for, I usually have alternatives on hand. I might do fajitas in a bowl which consists of pre-cooked fajita meat (bought at Sam's), sweet onions and mushrooms sauteed in butter and olive oil with dried red pepper flakes, minced garlic and spices. I'll add cooked white rice to the sautee near the end of the cooking time, along with the fajita meat to warm it up and serve it in a bowl with some shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top. I'm not fond of tortillas, but my family is so I'll probably serve theirs in warmed tortillas instead of a bowl. :-)

Some other dishes are stir fry with frozen stir-fry vegetables, Asian seasoning and canned meat (either beef or chicken) from Costco, chicken spaghetti, country pork chops with vegetables, pan fried pork chops, crock-pot pork chops with veggies (my own recipe), cheese stuffed meat loaf, crock-pot cream cheese chicken, Mexican shepherd's pie, beef enchilada casserole (excellent for pot-lucks), crock-pot beef roast (my own recipe), pork roast, baked ham, baked or steamed fish (usually salmon or tilapia), and crock-pot chicken with black beans and cream cheese (doesn't look pretty but it's one of my oldest son's favorites). If you'd like any of these recipes, PM me and I'll get them to you.

Some non-meat dishes my family likes are ravioli (usually cheese and/or spinach stuffed) with red sauce, or soup. I make a veggie-cheese soup, a bean soup and a French onion-soup that we all like real well.

Bon appetit!

Tonight is spaghetti. Boring.

I made pork tenderloin with rosemary/garlic/olive oil on Friday, with sweet potatoes and that was really good.

I made steak last night. We usually grill on weekends but because it was the Master's Golf tourney and hubby is avid golfer, I made the steak.

I got the idea from Everyday Italian - Giada

I used high grade quality choice rib eye from Hirsch's in Plano (ONLY place I purchase beef, pork and chicken) Great products.

I pulled out my cast iron skillet and put about 1/2 tablespoon of butter and a little extra virgin olive oil to cover the bottom.

In the meantime, I lightly coated the steak with the extra virgin olive oil and then used kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste on each side.

Place the steak in the hot oil/butter (medium heat) and sear it 5 minutes on each side (Medium Rare). Don't move it when it is cooking, you want a good sear. Let it sit for a minute before you slice it. I used the leftover oil/butter mixture in the pan as a gravy. Sometimes I add fresh garlic to the oil/butter mix.

I served it with freshly steamed green beans and Rice a Roni beef flavored rice dish.

Other things I do are:

Chicken/artichoke dish in the iron skillet
Salmon wrapped and baked in foil with tomoatoes, shallots and garlic.
When you have marinarta sauce and noodles.....heat a couple of hot italian sausages to go along with the sauce.

Good luck!

Here are some our favorites....

Chicken enchiladas

Stir fry

Quiche and lentil soup

beef stroganoff

Tortilla soup

Kraftfoods.com is one of my favorite websites....they always have lots of good ideas.

Blessings :)

You might try www.allrecipes.com for some ideas. I appreciate the other recipe site referrals too -- kraftfoods and recipezaar!