Chickpea Tomato Soup with Rosemary →

Today I bring you a delicious soup that I have made twice in the past three weeks. This soup may come in handy next week when the temps drop back down to freezing and below...hello winter in March! This recipes, like the last, comes from skinnytaste.com If you haven't checked out that website yet, do it! It has some delicious and very healthy recipes.

The first time I made this, I forgot to put the spinach in at the end...it wasn't missed. It was LOVED by my oldest who also licked her bowl clean when I gave it to her for lunch the next day as leftovers.

The second time I made it, it was devoured by every single person in my family. Even the little three year old who is becoming more picky by the day ate it up! And again, my oldest enjoyed it for lunch the following day. I did remember the spinach the second time and the kids balked at it at first, but ended up eating it without a problem.

My oldest even said that this is her favorite soup ever! So, thanks skinnytaste.com!

Korean Beef Rice Bowls →

Hey everybody! It's been a while again, I know. I know. Sorry about that.

Today I want to share a recipe with you that I tried out last night that took me only 30 minutes to make and tasted like something I could have gotten at a restaurant. Delicious! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you have already seen the picture of it.

Every one of my family members enjoyed this recipe. I left the chili flakes out and just put them on the table to be added to everyone's liking. My three and five-year-olds ate the entire serving that I gave them without any chili flakes added. My five year old who is typically the more picky of the two actually thanked me for making this for dinner! Melt a momma's heart!

Also, I couldn't find Gochujang sauce at my grocery store, so I just omitted it. You could probably use Siracha if you really want that spice though.

Give this one a try on a busy weeknight. I doubt you will be dissapointed.

Easy Pepper Steak →

I had some flank steak in the freezer left over from my figure contest peak week diet back in August. I decided that I wanted to try to make pepper steak with it and boy am I glad that I did! All four of us really enjoyed this meal! I hope your family does as well. (click the post title to go to the recipe over on gimmesomeoven.com)

Roasted Ratatouille

I came across this recipe in the "King George Farmer’s Market Fields to Table Cookbook". I fell in love with it the first time that I made it. It is a great way to use up many of your summer garden harvest and to eat lots of veggies at once. This is so yummy! I didn’t expect this to taste sweet, but roasting the vegetables brings out their natural sweet flavor. I served this hot over penne pasta. DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large sweet onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
12 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2 cups cherry tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt
Ground Black Pepper

Directions:
Combine eggplant, onion, pepper, zucchini, and garlic in a large bowl. Add olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Transfer vegetables onto a baking sheet. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and set oven to 425 degrees. Place baking sheet into preheating oven. Roast about 20 minutes, until vegetables are golden brown on bottom. Remove pan from oven. Stir in cherry tomatoes, Continue to roast for about 15 minutes, stirring once more until tomatoes start to release their juices. Serve hot or cool to room temperature.

Honey Chicken Stir-Fry →

I LOVE stir-fry! Homemade stir-fry is probably my favorite dinner meal. I have about 15 different chicken stir-fry recipes that I rotate through. I thought I would share one with you today. I made this recently for a visit with my in-laws. Everyone enjoyed it. Even my kids ate it, albeit not until the next day because they were too excited that Grandma and Grandpa were around to eat it when it was fresh.

I like that this is made from simple whole ingredients that most people have in their pantry and fridge.

I served this over long grain brown rice rather than pasta and used peanuts in place of cashews because that's what I had on hand. If you want to lighten this dish up a bit and cut back on the sugar content, you can reduce the sauce in half and probably still have plenty, especially if you serve it over rice instead of pasta.

Black Bean and Chickpea Chili →

Now that we are firmly into winter, I will share a versatile and simple chili recipe with you. This can be made vegetarian if you use vegetable stock, or you can add ground turkey or beef and use chicken or beef stock. I have made it each of those ways and love it all ways! I have also used kidney beans in place of chickpeas with good results. I don't purée any of the mixture, but that is just a personal preference. I also use about 1/2 the spices called for before removing some for my kids and then I add in the other 1/2 of the spices at the end for the grown ups, otherwise my kids will say it's too spicy and won't eat it.

The other thing I love about this recipe is that it is easily adapted for the slow cooker. Just brown the meat (if you are using it), throw everything in the crock, set to low for 8 hours and dinner is ready when you get home from work!

I usually serve this with corn bread or corn chips. My kids like it sprinkled with cheese and topped with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Pardon the not so great picture. I forgot to take one of the finished product until I had almost eaten all of the left-overs! 

Smoky Maple-Mustard Salmon →

I found this simple recipe for baked salmon a few weeks ago and have made it several times already. My whole family loves it! Tonight I served it alongside steamed broccoli and sweet potatoes roasted in coconut oil with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It was devoured. I love when my family loves what I cook! Give this recipe a try. It makes for a super quick and easy weeknight meal. (Remember: click on the title of the post to get the recipe!)

Slow-cooked Barbecue Chicken

Here is another super easy dinner idea for the crockpot.

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

½ cup chicken broth (or just water)

1 small bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (mine is Stubb's Original)

Directions:

Place chicken in bottom of crockpot and pour liquid over top. Cook on high for three and a half hours. Drain liquid from crockpot and shred chicken. Return chicken to crockpot and stir in the BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 30 minutes. Serve however you desire.

I like mine on a bun with some Cole slaw, but it is also good by itself with a sweet potato and some greens on the side. It really doesn't get much more simple than this!

Yes, I know that Stubb's has a longer ingredient list than I recommend and it has a natural flavor added to it. I am a work in progress! I should make my own natural BBQ sauce, but I'm just not there yet. If any of you know of a better brand or a good recipe, let me know what it is! Maybe I will have to update this later next week after I do some research and present to you (and myself again) why we shouldn't be using natural favors.

Picadillo

I made this for dinner earlier in the week and promised to put the recipe up. So, here it is. Better late than never!

I love this recipe because it is a quick and easy weeknight meal that my whole family will eat. I usually serve it with a salad or steamed green vegetable on the side.

I got this recipe from a cookbook sold by my high school. It was submitted by a classmate's mom. Thanks Mrs. Jennings!

Picadillo

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 lg onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lg tomato, chopped

1 med Apple, chopped

⅓ cup raisins

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

6 servings hot, cooked rice

Directions:

Brown the ground meat in a skillet with chopped onion and minced garlic, stirring to crumble meat; drain well. Add chopped tomato, apple, raisins, salt, pepper, cinnamon and cloves; mix well. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Serve over hot rice.

Easy Red Beans and Rice →

My husband cooked dinner for me and my girls last night and this is what he made.

Easy Red Beans and Rice from allrecipes.com

It was so delicious! I have made this several times, but you know how it is, it always tastes better when someone else cooks it! He used andouille chicken sausage and a 28oz can of diced tomatoes (I think it would have been too dry without doubling the tomatoes). It ended up being a little too spicy for our girls, but we both loved it and had it again for lunch today. If you use a milder sausage, I think it could definitely be kid friendly. It's a great meal for a cold day!

Oven Roasted Autumn Medley →

I come to you with another easy, satisfying dinner meal. Pair with a simple side salad or steamed vegetable for a complete meal. My husband and I prefer this made with spicy sausage, but my girls won't eat it that way, so I generally use a sweet Italian or apple sausage. If you have had trouble viewing these recipes, click on the post title (recipe name). It is a link to the recipe on another website.

Ground Beef Stir Fry →

Here is a quick and easy dinner recipe. I almost always have some ground beef in the freezer and don't always know what to do with it besides hamburgers or meatloaf. I found this recipe and fell in love with it the first time I made it. I make it at least once a month now. The changes I make are to omit the salt (there is enough salt from the soy sauce), use low sodium soy sauce, omit the crushed red pepper (so my kids will eat it, but I put it on the table for my husband and I to top it with) and I often have chicken broth rather than beef stock on hand, so I usually substitute that. I serve it over brown rice with a side of steamed broccoli or green beans. Gotta get those greens in!

Quick and Easy Mexican Chicken →

Here is another healthy, easy and kid-friendly dinner recipe for you. I just found this one last week and have made it twice. The first time I served it over rice with a side of steamed broccoli and the second time I served it as a filling for tortillas with avocado, Greek yogurt (to replace sour cream), diced tomatoes and lettuce leaves. It was well received by all of my family both times. The only change I made was to cut the chicken into strips and place it in a ziploc bag with the oil and seasonings and let it marinate for about 30 minutes before cooking. I hope you enjoy it!

Black Beans and Quinoa →

I am so excited to share this recipe because it is a meatless recipe that still has lots of protein and my kids loved it! I made it thinking that I would have to prepare something else for them, but they both devoured it. I have made this several times before, but until now had never served it to my children. My husband and I love the recipe as written, but this time I omitted the cayenne to make it more kid friendly. Give it a try for meatless Monday.

Green Beans, Chicken Breasts and Red Skin Potatoes →

Most of you may have already heard of, seen and/or made this recipe by now. It's been going around Facebook for months if not years. If you haven't made it yet, you should! It took me a long time to try it out from the time I first heard about it. Now I make it on a weekly basis because it is perfect for me to pop in the oven on the evenings that hubby and I have to pass the baton right at dinner time. Does it taste like a gourmet meal? No, but it's good for something that takes less than ten minutes to throw together and only uses one dish! I make my own Italian dressing mix (omit the salt) and I usually use butter, but not nearly as much as this calls for! I probably only use about 2 or 3 tablespoons. I have also done half butter, half olive oil. I prefer fresh green beans to canned. They turn out crisp tender, which is perfect!

2-Ingredient Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken →

I'm always on the lookout for easy and yummy crockpot recipes. I love being able to throw something in the crockpot early in the day so that I don't have to worry about fixing dinner when I get home from work or before I have to go out to work in the evening or right after my girls wake up from their naps and are cranky! This one is a cinch and is delicious atop some tortilla chips and romaine lettuce and garnished with avocado and a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt. You can also skip the chips and just wrap it up inside a couple of big lettuce leaves or a tortilla. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!