How is it Friday already? Five on Friday.

It's Friday again and I find that so hard to believe! Some days I felt like this week has dragged on...and now that I'm writing, it feels like it flew by. Does anyone else ever feel that way? No? Just me? Good to know.

Anyway, I'm linking up with April over at Smidge of This for another round of Five on Friday. Go check her out.

So...here we are with five things for this week.

one | Meatless Mondays

I've heard a lot about this from various bloggers and ladies that I follow on IG. So we thought we'd give it a go. We really like this quinoa recipe and this quesadilla recipe. So those might be our go-tos for a while.

two | Potty Training

I know! I feel like it's SO SOON to be even thinking of this. But, Lewis has been telling us when he needs a new diaper...and has even told us before he's messed his diaper. So...I feel like it might be a sign to start getting him acquainted? Does anyone have any great tips for an 18 mo boy? I've been looking at this, this, and this on Amazon. And I find these to be silly.

three | Mott's

These are a new favorite snack in our house. Lewis wants them all of the time, but since they are sooo chewy and sticky, he only gets half. One day he'll get to enjoy the whole bag himself.

four | Healthy Meals

We're in a rut. I love to cook, but I feel like we make the same things all of the time. PLUS. We have so much food in our freezer, that I feel a little overwhelmed by it all. SO. I need some suggestions for your favorite meals that include ingredients most people already have on hand. It's time to clean out our cupboards!

five | Grad School

Update on grad school...I'm almost done with week 3 and it's going. I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed between work, homework, and keeping up with things at home. So if you think of it, send up a prayer or seven for me.

That's all!

Happy Friday!

 

Monday Meals | 02

It's Monday and I'm thinking about our meal prep for this week again. We just came back from a weekend at the farm and we don't have a long week at home again. So, it's going to be pretty sparse around here.

But that doesn't mean that I can't share some meals with you. The first is a family favorite. What's more "home cooking" than potatoes and gravy? If you said, "not much", then you are correct.

Potato Klub

Klub is a Norwegian dumpling with pork and gravy. Many people make it into balls and the meat is in the center. Then they fry it in butter.

We don't make it in balls. It's more of a log. Super appetizing I know.

Here's the recipe:
5 lbs potatoes shredded/chopped
2-3 c flour
salt & pepper to taste
chopped pork

Gravy:
1/4 c butter
1/2 c flour
2-3 c milk/cream
salt & pepper to taste
garlic (if desired)

Mix together and place into a steamers bag and boil until done (approx 15-20 min)

While the dumplings are boiling, make a roux with the butter and flour. Add milk all at once and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir continuously until thickened to desired consistency.

Serve dumplings hot with gravy or melted butter on top.

Baked Oatmeal
We love the baked oatmeal recipe from Joy the Baker. We usually double the recipe and cut the sugar in half. 

I also add raisins, craisins, coconut, and any other dried fruits/nuts we have on hand.

Bake and serve warm with milk.

Mac & Cheese (from the box*)
*because we're classy*

Tonight Lewis had generic mac and cheese, while Kyle and I had Cracker Barrel cheddar/Havarti. And it's one of our favorites.


Since this week is a short week, we didn't have to buy any groceries. I have parent/teacher conferences again tomorrow and it'll be a late night at work for me. So this is our exciting menu for the week. Hah.

Have you had any of these? Let me know!

Happy Monday!

Monday Meals | 01

Well, it's another Monday and the week is off to a busy start. I always have staff meetings on Mondays and when they're in the am, the day seems to fly by so much faster. Today is one of those days. But, I'm not here to give you a play-by-play of how fast or slow my day goes. Today I'm going to share three quick meals that you can use in a bind.

I chose three, because that just so happens to be what I had planned for this week anyway...annndddd...it's Monday. So why not give you some ideas for the upcoming week?!

It's a short school week for me with it being fall break, but quick and easy are our go-tos lately. Lewis has to eat between 5:30 and 6 or else he's a monster. Here they are!

Egg Roll in a Bowl

This is one of Kyle's new favorites. I first heard about it from April over at Smidge of This. It was also one of her Monday Meals a while ago. Here's how it goes when I make it: 

Ingredients--> 
1 pound ground pork 
1 1/2  – 16-ounce bag coleslaw mix (shredded carrots and cabbage) 
2-3 large cloves garlic, minced 
1 teaspoon ginger, minced or grated
⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce 
2 tablespoons sesame flavoring oil 
Green onions, for garnish (optional) 
*and if you like a little kick, add 1-2 T Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce*

Here's the thing...the sauce goes a LONG way. The original recipe calls for 1 bag of slaw mix, but it gets too soggy for my taste, so 1 1/2 it is. 

Also, I add chow mein noodles to the top of my bowl for a little extra crunch.  

The longest part of the process is browning the pork. It takes approx 5 min to prep and should be on your table in less than 20 min.

serves: approx 6


Hoisin Chicken and Veggies
This is also a new one for us. I wanted a one pan meal and it kind of worked. It was easier for me to roast the veggies in one pan and the chicken in another. 
Here's our version with modifications:

Ingredients--> 

2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts

4-5 small/med red potatoes, halved or quartered

2 large carrots, sliced

1/2 head broccoli florets

1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1/2 head cauliflower florets

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and black pepper to taste 

1/3 onion, in chunks

For the sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon grated or minced ginger

1/2 tablespoon corn starch

Toss veggies with olive oil and salt & pepper. Roast at 400 or 450 for 15 min, turn over, drizzle 1/2 sauce over top and cook until tender enough.

Bake chicken breasts at 400 or 450 until done. Cover with remaining sauce when almost done.

Serve alone or over rice/quinoa

Serves: approx 6

Prep Time: 15-20

Total Time: 60 min

Spaghetti w/Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients-->
6-8 roma tomaotes, quartered
1/2 white onion
2-4 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 c red wine
2-3 T evoo

1 lb ground beef
1/2 box spaghetti

The night before, coat tomatoes, onlion, and garlic in olive oil, add red wine and roast for 30-40 min at 400 deg. Let cool for 10 min, then puree and refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 year.

The next day, brown your hamburger, heat up your spaghetti sauce, and cook pasta according to preference. 

Serves: approx 4-6
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time (including roasting): 60 min


This is just a glimpse into our menu this week. The rest of the week consists of pumpkin pancakes, chicken in the smoker w/quinoa or rice, homemade pizza, and at least 2 batches of scrambled eggs. 

If you try these and modify, have suggestions, or love as is--please comment below!

Happy Monday!

Freezer Meal Prep Day 2--the plan

We're at it again! Today's the day where we (hopefully) finish the meal prep that we have planned. My mom and sister are coming to town to help out. Last night we made 3 batches of baked oatmeal to kick off the final day. *Only two are for us...the other is for a friend who just had a baby 2-ish weeks ago.

So here's our line up for today...after last night's baked oatmeal:

1. Chicken enchiladas
2. 1 pot Mexican Quinoa
3. Breakfast burritos
4. Fiesta Lime Chicken w/Spanish Rice
5. Monkey Bread

We were thinking about making beef stew to throw in the freezer...but that just seemed like too much work. I was super ambitious when I wrote the list out...and then when I was actually thinking about it yesterday, I decided that I was too tired to prep beef stew too.

I hope you saw yesterday's post with the first two recipes up from Saturday! If not, check it out here.  And I'll do my best to get some more up in the next few days or a week.

Here we go...off to cook!

Happy Thursday!

 

Freezer Meals: Part I

So since today's our anniversary, I've actually written this out a little ahead of time. But let's just pretend, shall we?

You may remember me posting this on Saturday. Our friend Anna graciously decided to give up the better part of her Saturday to help me meal prep for #babyentzel. And like I had hoped, we got all seven of those meals prepped! Seven! That's so much cooking!

So, here's the thing. I could just rehash the entire day for you, but I'll spare you the gory boring details.

Instead, I'll share two recipes at a time with you. Only two because that gets to be obnoxious...really. And I don't want you thinking I'm obnoxious.

The first two meals I'm going to share with you are two of our absolute favorites.

First, mac and cheese. 
Okay, okay. I know you're thinking..."wow, she really just made a few boxes of Kraft and threw 'em in the freezer...". But that's not the case at all! This mac and cheese is delicious and I found it in one of our Taste of Home cookbooks that we got from our wedding.

I've modified the original recipe, because even though we love cream and butter in the Entzel house, we don't need that much cream or butter.

Ingredients:

•1 package (16 oz) pasta (elbow, mini shells, spirals, it's really your choice)
•16 oz 4% cottage cheese
•1/2 c butter, cubed (You don't have to cube it...it just melts faster)
•1/2 c all-purpose flour
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp white pepper (yes, you do need white pepper...the flavor is so much better!)
•1/4 tsp garlic powder
•2 c half and half
•2 c milk (I use 1% because it doesn't make me feel like my arteries are clogging quite as fast)
•4 c shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package, or until al dente.
2. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in large sauce pan. (If doubling the recipe, make the roux in a stockpot/dutch oven) Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until smooth. Gradually add milk and cream. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
3. Add 3-3 1/2 c cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and white sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 9x13 pan.
4. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs (if desired).
5. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F for 20-25 min or until bubbly.

And that's it for the mac n cheese. It's a pretty simple recipe, but if you've not made a roux before, it might take a little practice.

I doubled this recipe and we ended up with

three 9x13 disposable pans!

 

 

Second, chicken tetrazzini.

This is another favorite in the Entzel house. It seems to have quite a few steps, but when two of us were working on a double batch together, we had it done in no time!

This is also taken from a cookbook from our wedding...it's a local church cookbook, so you know it'll be good.

Ingredients:

 

•1/2 pkg thin spaghetti/angel hair

•1/4 c butter

•1 med onion, chopped

• 1/2 med green pepper, chopped

•2 1/2 c cooked, diced chicken

•1 can cream of chicken soup

•1/2 c milk

•1 c sour cream

•1 tsp basil

•1 carton mushrooms, diced

•1 c shredded cheddar cheese

•Parmesan cheese

 

Directions: 

1. Break spaghetti into 1 inch pieces, cook according to package instructions & drain
2. Saute onion, green pepper, & mushrooms in butter
3. Mix all ingredients together (except cheese)
4. Place in buttered 2 qt casserole dish
5. Sprinkle cheddar and Parmesan over top
6. Bake at 300 degrees F for 30 min or until hot and bubbly

For our freezer meals, I made 2 whole packages of angel hair pasta, 1 1/2 onions, 1 med green pepper, 1 large can of cream of chicken soup, approx 2 1/2 c milk, and 1 1/2-2 c sour cream.

Here's what we got:

Three pans for this one too!

 

Overall, these two recipes went pretty quickly. They're definitely doable for an evening meal when you get home from work too. Once you've got the steps down, it's much easier to get these meals made quickly. 

As always, if you try a recipe and you love it or modify it, please let me know! And I suppose you can tell me if you hate it too. Maybe just give me some suggestions on how to modify it?

Anyway, we're celebrating our anniversary today by babysitting in the morning, working on some school things, going to the doctor, and hopefully going on a date.

See you tomorrow with our plan for day 2 of meal prep!

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

Freezer Meal Prep Day 1--the plan

It's here. A day I've been super excited about for months...and just haven't gotten around to accomplishing. :) Until today.

Our friend Anna is headed to our house as we speak and she's planning to help me prep some freezer meals for after baby arrives! Kyle and I found some great new recipes and we have some old favorites that we're planning to prep to have on hand. Here's a look at what we hope to get accomplished today:

1. Chicken Pot Pie : The whole chicken is already cooking as I type this.

2. Chicken Tetrazzini : One of our favorites.

3. Mac 'n' Cheese : Adults love this one!

4. Baked Ziti with Roasted Veggies : This is a new recipe for us. I'm praying we love it.

5. Mexican Stuffed Shells : Also a new recipe. We have some left over taco meat from the baby shower...so I figured, why not?

6. Hamburgers : Simple. And convenient. We bought 6 lbs of ground beef from SAMs Club so that we can portion up meat and keep them in the freezer for when we want to grill. :)

7. Wild Rice & Chicken Casserole : Assuming we have time...which we should, since this is one of the easiest on the list to make...

Stay tuned for recipes coming soon!

A weekend recap...

...and some photos!

Well, I'm not entirely sure what to even start with!? Do I start with the part where I hurt my back on Thursday putting on my boots or do I start with being couch ridden all day Friday/Saturday? Or do I just tell you the pretty things that make our lives seem together and "with it"?

Pfft. You've already got us figured out. I'm sure of it.

But for good measure--since going to the Chiropractor didn't help (much), I spent all of Thursday afternoon and evening on the couch. I'd lay on the heating pad. I'd sit up with the heating pad behind me. I'd pace a little to stretch out my back and hips.

Nothing.

Nada.

When I realized it only felt better to lay down and not move for hours, I had to resign myself to the fact that I would not be able to go to school on Friday. So...I hung out with these cool cats all day on Friday.

source

And much to my dismay, I was at the end.
The very. End.
UGH. I've been aware that the end was coming...and I couldn't have been more bummed to see it end during the morning of my day of pain.

To console myself...I slept. yep. Not just a little nap here or there. I had a good 3 hour nap on Friday afternoon. And let me tell you. It was GLORIOUS.

To show you what the rest of our weekend was like, I'll sign off with photos. But, not before I tell you that my husband is the best. I know, I know. You may think yours is pretty good. But he's not as good as mine.

I recovered all weekend and amidst rehearsals, he was cooking and preparing to host a fellow singer Friday night for Saturday night's concert AND his parents Saturday night into Sunday.

He's a trooper.

My pal during Friday

Thai Chicken Pizza

GF Master Chorale--Sanctus (Michael Strand)

This wasn't even the coldest it got!

Caramel Rolls for Sunday breakfast

World Premiere of Sanctus (Michael Strand)

performed by Grand Forks Master Chorale Chamber Choir

It's Friday and all I want to do...

...is think about food. Like seriously.

Kyle has rehearsal tonight and then we're having a guest over that we're hosting for tomorrow night's concert. So that means dinner needs to wait til they get home.

And I'm super excited to try this pizza recipe. I'm also making a standard pepperoni pizza in case our guest isn't a fan of non-traditional 'zas. (that's short for pizzas...)

So I thought that since I'm waiting, waiting, waiting to eat until my main squeeze gets home...I'd share our belated Valentine's Date.

the menu:
New York Strips
Garlic Mashed potatoes
Stuffed Artichokes
Strawberry cheesecake cupcakes

*I've never cooked artichokes before

*We've found our new fav dry rub!

*Excited for dinner*

*Kyle brought me flowers at work!

We had a great dinner together and I'm looking forward to another good one tonight. 

Happy Friday! And if you're in the upper Midwest--stay warm!