It’s been a rough couple of weeks for our household. I have been sick for most of it with a nasty cold/virus that made me miss 3 days of work, my mom was supposed to have surgery last week on her shoulder and after waiting for hours at her scheduled time of surgery they ended up not being able to do it due to a complication and now poor Doug is sick with the yuck. So I apologize for the late posting again. Here are week #5’s meal ideas.

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

Whether slow cooked in the Crockpot all day or grilled on the grill pan, this is a hearty and relatively inexpensive meal. Add some steak fries and yum!!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I use a whole bag of wide egg noodles, 2 cans of white tuna packed in water, drained, 1 can of cream of mushroom and one can of cream of celery soup with milk added to both cans and a small bag of frozen peas. After you cook the noodles add in all of the rest of the ingredients stirring gently together then pour into a casserole dish. Top with crushed Ritz crackers or crushed potato chips. Salt and pepper to taste and add fresh parsley if you like too. Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly about 30 minutes.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

In lieu of most people either using their own family recipe or preferring the jarred kind I will let you use whatever recipe you like for this. Meatballs are good homemade or from a freezer bag. Hey it’s a meatball how can you go wrong either way right?

Chicken Stir Fry

Remember those little, tiny corn on the cob that Tom Hanks chewed on in the movie “Big’? This dish always reminds me of that because I can’t resist using a can of baby corn in this recipe.

For the Sauce: Combine 1 cup water, ¼ cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp instant bouillon granules, ¼ tsp ground ginger. Stir to dissolve everything and set aside.

Chunk or thin slice boneless skinless chicken breast. Salt and pepper to taste. Preheat a few Tbsp of cooking oil in a wok or stainless steel frying pan. Add chicken and stir fry until cooked through about 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

To the hot pan add veggies such as broccoli, julienned carrots, mushrooms, onion and/or garlic. Stir fry until the crunch is just gone. Remove from heat.

Next, add the sauce to the center of the pan. Stir and cook until thickened and bubbly.

To the sauce add more veggies like the corn, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, frozen snow peas and bean sprouts. None of these take long to cook that’s why they are added at the end. Cook for a couple of minutes in the sauce to warm everything up and defrost the peas.

Add in all of the rest of the veggies and the meat to warm up and finish cooking. Cook another few minutes in the sauce then serve over rice.

Deluxe Turkey BLT Clubs

An easy meal! Get your favorite deli turkey, cooked bacon, tomatoes and your fanciest lettuce plus mayo of course and start stacking it all on your favorite toasted bread. Three slices of bread make it a club! Put a frilly toothpick through it, add some sweet potato fries and you have dinner. Enjoy!

Crockpot Chili Sauce Chicken with Mashed Potatoes

This has got to be the easiest recipe ever! If you can your own homemade chili sauce like I do just pop open the jar and dump it over cut up pieces of chicken in the Crockpot and that’s it! Turn it on low and let it cook until the meat just falls off the bone. If you don’t have your own chili sauce you can buy a variety of kinds at your local grocery store. Whip up some mashed potatoes and a veggie and you are all set. Easy peasy!!

Leftover Night

Take the night off from cooking and enjoy those leftovers!

I would love more ideas for dinners. What are you making for dinner? Please post in the comments. -MM

All of these recipe amounts are based approximately on 4 people and might have to be adjusted if you have teenagers with a healthier appetite.