Greek Chicken Sheet Pan

 Here is the original recipe: Greek Sheet Pan Chicken

Here is how I make it:

Chop up veggies and place on sheet pan

    * Zucchini

    * Red onion

    * Bell pepper

    * Tomatoes

Mix dressing

    * 1/4 c. lemon juice

    * 1-2 tsp. oregano

    * 1 tsp. minced garlic

    * 3/4 tsp. salt

    * 3/4 tsp. black pepper

    * 3/4 c. olive oil

Pour some of dressing over veggies and mix. Then add chicken thighs to pan (4-6). Add cubed feta cheese (4-8 oz). Pour rest of dressing over chicken and feta. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.

Recipes I Want to Try

 

Greek Yogurt Cauliflower Curry

Tomato Chickpea Soup

Marry Me Orzo

Turkish Lentil Soup

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

Chicken Risotto with Spinach and Mushrooms

Chickpea Salad

Chicken Burrito Casserole

Greek Tomato Fritters

Sheet Pan Salmon with Asparagus and Lemon

Frittata

Chicken Orzo Mushroom Spinach

Chicken Feta Pasta

Greek Chicken Orzo Pasta Bake

Mediterranean Chickpea Skillet

Chickpea Ranch Casserole

Mediterranean Yellow Rice

Creamy Garlic Pork Chops

Crock Pot Lemon Garlic Butter Chicken

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

One Pan Chicken and Spinach Orzo

Marry Me Chickpeas with Greek Yogurt

Here is the original recipe I used: Greek Yogurt Marry Me Chickpeas

Here is what I normally do:

Ingredients:

• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 cans chickpeas
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 2-3 c. vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 2 c. rotisserie chicken or 1 beef smoked sausage
• 1/2 c. sundried tomatoes
• 3. spinach
• 1/2 - 1 c. parmesan
• 1/2 - 3/4 c. Greek yogurt

1. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add one finely diced onion and cook for about 3 minutes until it looks soft and clear. Stir in 2 T. tomato paste, 1 tsp. minced garlic, and 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes. Stir for 1 minute to mix together and cook the paste a little.

2. Add 2 cans of drained chickpeas, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. black pepper to the pan. Give everything a good stir so the chickpeas are fully coated in the tomato mixture. Pour in 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth and 1/2 tsp. oregano. Let the liquid come to a gentle simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. I also throw in 2 c. rotisserie chicken shredded or 1 beef smoked sausage cut in half-moons. If I throw in chicken I up the broth to 3 cups because it soaks it up.

3. Add 1/2 c. sliced sun-dried tomatoes and 3 c. baby spinach to the skillet. Gently fold the leaves into the hot liquid for about 1 or 2 minutes.

4. Turn the heat completely off and move the skillet to a cool burner. Stir in the 1/2 c. to 1 c. grated parmesan until fully melted, then gently fold in 1/2 c. Greek yogurt. If I added more broth, I will add more Greek yogurt as well.

Easy Meatloaf with Stuffing

I have boxes of stuffing that I can never seem to make, so after enjoying meatloaf a friend made with stuffing, I decided to find one online.

I found this easy recipe:  Easy Stove Top Stuffing Meatloaf

I only used 1 pound of ground beef, so I didn't use a full box of stuffing, but I kept all the other amounts the same. I found it very tasty and all the kids ate it. That's always a win! My husband felt the stuffing flavor was too strong. Everyone's allowed their opinion.

Let me know if you try it or if you have a variation on this recipe.

Easy Pumpkin Soup

Found this recipe and look forward to trying it. I love making my butternut squash soup, but using canned pumpkin makes the prep for this soup minimal. Will update once I try it!

Easiest Ever Pumpkin Soup

My Favorite Macaroni and Cheese

My beautiful friend Lindsey makes this and I found out the recipe is actually supposed to be a homemade version of Panera Bread's Mac-n-cheese. I have adapted the recipe and make this regularly. It is so creamy and my kids love it, even the one who won't eat any other kind of mac-n-cheese.

Panera's Mac & Cheese

Here's my adaptation:

Ingredients:

1 16-oz. pkg. of elbow macaroni
1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 c. milk
10 oz. extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar (This is the size pkg. at Aldi.)
2 oz. another white cheese (I've used Monterrey Jack, mozzarella, and parmesan.)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. hot sauce

Instructions:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Melt butter in a large pot (I use my 4qt. dutch oven) over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.
4. Add cheeses, salt and hot sauce, stirring until cheese melts and you have a smooth sauce.
5. Stir in pasta. Ready to serve!

Note: The first time I made it I used the American cheese slices and it was good, but since I can't find them at Aldi I just pick a different cheese. My family gobbles this up every time I make it.

Super Yummy Alfredo Sauce

I found this recipe for Alfredo sauce and I will never go back to alfredo sauce in a jar. This is as good if not better than what you will get at a restaurant. It does take some patience to thicken the sauce, but it is worth it. I double the recipe for our family of 6 and use 1 lb. of fettucine or linguine with it. You can add chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, etc. to make it your own. I have found it's nice to eat as a side dish with baked tilapia as the main dish.

How to Make Alfredo Sauce

To double the recipe, here is the ingredient list needed:

4 T. butter (1/2 stick)
2 c. whipping cream (16 oz. container)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (4 oz.)

Aldi note: I buy most of my groceries at Aldi and I can buy an 8-oz. slab of parmesan cheese in the cheese section and make this twice.

Easy Chili

It's finally time to eat chili again. I made some on Friday and was instantly reminded of why I like this comfort food. I have made chili like this for many years. It's super easy and you can always add more things to it, like chopped onions and green peppers.

Ingredients:

1 to 1.5 lbs. ground beef
2 15.5-oz. cans light red kidney beans, dark red kidney beans, or chili beans (drained)
2 15-oz. cans tomato sauce
2 14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes (I usually drain them a little.)
2 pkg. chili seasoning or homemade chili seasoning
Cheddar cheese to shred for topping

Directions:

Brown the ground beef in a large pot. Drain any grease. Add beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and seasoning. The longer you can let the chili simmer, the more the flavor will cook into the beef. Scoop into bowls, top with cheese and serve with tortilla chips, bread or corn bread.

This serves our family of 6. I used to use 2 lbs. of ground beef, but have cut back for health and cost reasons. Still just as good, but it does mean we have less leftovers.

Spaghetti alla Ceci

I found this recipe in Express Lane Meals by Rachael Ray. It's a great pasta recipe that is meat free and dairy free. You can have all the ingredients in stock and fix it when you need a quick meal. My family of 6 all ate it. I will say that it wasn't the prettiest dish. Next time I will probably try to chop the chickpeas (garbanzo beans) up even finer, so the sauce is smoother. I used a very strong blender, but a food processor would be nice for this meal prep.

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 14 oz. can chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 c. dry white wine or chicken stock (You can also use vegetable stock.)
1 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Handful of fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped (Didn't have this on hand, so left it out.)
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (I grated fresh parmesan to sprinkle on top of each serving.)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil and then add the spaghetti and cook to al dente.

While you wait for the water to boil, drain the chickpeas and chop them in a food processor or blender until fine.
Then while the spaghetti cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Add the chickpeas to the skillet with the garlic and season them with the thyme, salt, and pepper. Sauté them for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the wine or stock and cook down for 30 seconds or so, then stir in the tomatoes and adjust the seasoning. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Top the pasta with the parsley and grated cheese.

Note: The red pepper flakes did give it a kick and it was hard to taste some of the other flavors. I plan to use less red pepper flakes next time. I loved that the sauce was done at the same time as the spaghetti. It was a fast meal prep.

One Pot Mushroom Spinach Pasta

Here's a good meatless recipe that is also easy because you throw everything into one pot and you have a meal. I am looking forward to trying this recipe for Mushroom Spinach Pasta.

Update:  I have made this recipe a few times now and adapted it to something I like. The first time I made it following the recipe above, I found it starchy and tasteless. My family ate it, but I did not like it. It needed flavor. The second time I made it I decided to add pesto to the final product and that was a big improvement. The last time I made it I waited to add the pasta until the water had come to a boil and that was the best version yet.

So, here's MY adaptation of Mushroom Spinach Pasta. 

Ingredients:

1 carton sliced baby bello mushrooms (Nice, meaty flavor.)
1 bag of spinach (I used frozen spinach as well. It worked fine. It was more spinach (10 oz.), but it wasn't too much.)
1/2 onion, diced
1 lb. pasta (I like fettuccine, linguine, or penne.)
1 jar (6.7oz.) pesto
Parmesan or mozzarella cheese for topping (optional)

Bought at Aldi

Instructions:

1. Put mushrooms, spinach, and onion in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil.

2. Once water is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package.

3. Drain out all water after pasta is cooked. Add contents of pesto jar and stir.

4. You can add freshly shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese on top of each serving after plating.

This feeds our family of 6.

All Things Turkey!

I love turkey. I used to think it was just something we enjoyed during the holidays, but as I got older I knew I couldn't pass up buying meat at that price. Now I try to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving and 1 or 2 for later. This year I am sharing a refrigerator with my in-laws so I had to make sure I didn't stuff the freezer full of turkey. I did cook a 20lb turkey on Thanksgiving and I was happy to pack up leftovers for other dishes for the next week. I realize my family may get tired of eating reheated turkey, so I have some recipes for chicken that taste great with turkey and I have found a few more that may be worth trying soon. You may also learn a few tips from this radio show that featured a fellow high school alum who won the recent season of Hell's Kitchen.

To make it easy to find all the things you can do with turkey, I thought I would share the links below. Just bookmark this page and you have some recipes handy for your leftovers this weekend or freeze some turkey for future dishes. If you're like me and grabbed up a second turkey for the freezer you can make your family happy with even more turkey dishes and you have a second opportunity to use the whole turkey by making stock afterwards. Remember, if I can figure out how to do it, you can too!

Turkey Gravy

Turkey Stock

Turkey & Rice Hot Dish

Turkey & Broccoli Ring

Turkey Noodle Soup

Other Website Recipes

Turkey & Rice Soup

Curried Turkey Salad

Turkey Pot Pie

Chicken Stock

In trying to keep to our grocery budget and needing low sodium chicken broth, I figured it was finally time to make my own chicken stock. After cooking a whole chicken in my crockpot to have cooked chicken for meals throughout the week, I looked up this recipe and made chicken stock very easily. I had enough for meals that week and to freeze in ice cube trays for future soups.

Frozen chicken stock made in ice cube trays

Turkey Stock

After seeing how easy it is to make chicken stock overnight in the crockpot, I knew I couldn't waste the turkey carcass after our Thanksgiving gathering.

I used this recipe for Turkey Stock in a Crockpot. I did not add the apple cider vinegar that the recipe called for.

Place turkey carcass, onions, carrots, celery,
garlic, vinegar and spices in slow cooker.

Then fill slow cooker with cold water. Cook on high
for 1 hour then switch to low for 12-15 hours.

Scoop out all the bones, veggies, etc and discard.

Yes, I use a flour sifter to strain the stock.

After it cools in the fridge and the fat rises to the top, I will separate out the fat and then divide it into Ziploc bags or ice cube trays. An easy way to freeze some of it is by using ice cube trays and then transferring the cubes into Ziploc bags.

Turkey Gravy

Cooking the turkey is the easy part. I've cooked a lot of turkeys. As long as it's defrosted, trust me it isn't fun trying to pull the neck out of a still-frozen turkey, every turkey comes with easy to follow directions.

The part I have always been intimidated by was making the gravy. But, after forgetting to buy gravy and having to buy the most expensive gravy at the store on Wednesday night, I decided it was finally time to learn. So, thanks to the internet and friends who came over for Thanksgiving, we ended up with yummy turkey gravy using pan drippings, flour and a little salt & pepper.

I found this turkey gravy recipe and ended up tweaking it because I had plenty of pan drippings and didn't want to thaw any of my chicken stock or water it down. I realized the important thing is making the roux with the turkey fat and flour before adding the pan drippings.

4 Layer Torte

Crust:
1 stick margarine/butter
1 c flour

2nd layer:
1 c whipped cream
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar

3rd layer:
3 c milk
2 small instant pudding (any flavor)

4th layer: 
whipped cream

1st layer:  Mix like pie crust and put in ungreased pan (9x13). Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool.
2nd layer:  Cream together 8 oz cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add whipped cream and beat.
3rd layer:  Beat pudding and milk with mixer for about 1 minute. Spread over second layer.
4th layer:  Cover pudding with rest of whipped cream. Shave chocolate on top. Refrigerate.


This is one of the my favorite desserts. As a teen, I even requested it for my birthday, in place of cake.

Orange Juice Pancakes with Orange Butter

This recipe is from eMeals.

Butter:
6 T butter, softened
1 t grated orange rind
2 t fresh orange juice

Pancakes:
1/2 c fresh-squeezed orange juice
3 c buttermilk pancake mix
1 1/2 c water

pancake syrup

1. Combine butter, orange rind and 2 t juice in a small bowl.
2. Combine pancake mix, water and juice. Let stand 10 minutes.
3. Cook pancakes according to package directions.
4. Serve with orange butter and syrup.

I doubled the pancake recipe for our family of 6. My kids really liked these. I served them with mandarin orange slices.

Pasties

This is a family recipe and a popular food item in Upper Michigan. (It is pronounced with a short vowel A.)

Dough:
4 c flour
2 t salt
2 sticks butter
1 c milk
1/4 t baking powder

Filling:*
1 1/2 lb hamburger
1 onion, diced
4 or 8 potatoes, cubed
salt and pepper

Divide dough into 12 portions. Roll out 1 portion to 1/8 in thick into a circle. Cover 1/2 with layers of potatoes, meat, onions and salt & pepper. Fold 1/2 of pasty over filling and seal. Bake in 400 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes. (I will be double-checking the oven time this week.) We like to eat it with ketchup.

*You can add other vegetables like carrots and rutabaga. My husband likes it with shredded cheese added and you can also add other seasoning.

Hashbrown Casserole

Another favorite from my family recipe book:

Mix Together:
2 lbs frozen hashbrowns
1/2 c melted butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1/2 c chopped onion
6 oz cheddar cheese
1 t salt
dash of pepper

Top it with:
1 c crushed cornflakes
1/4 c melted margarine

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Can be made a day ahead.

Topping Options: I have made this without a topping and topped it with potato chips. It's good either way!

Vegetable Pizza

Crust:
2 pkg of 8oz crescent rolls

Spread:
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 c Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
1 t dill weed
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder

Toppings:
1 c cauliflower
1 c broccoli
1 c carrots
1 c radishes
1/4 pkg alfalfa sprouts (sprinkle on top)*

1. Spread crescent rolls in bottom of 15x10" brownie pan. Bake according to can directions.
2. Beat together the ingredients for spread. Put on top of rolls.
3. Cut vegetable toppings into small pieces and add on top of pizza. Push vegetables into spread, so they stay in place. *The sprouts are not necessary. Feel free to experiment with other veggies. (Bell peppers or other veggies can be used. I forgot to buy radishes and it was still good.)
4. Cut into squares and enjoy!

This was the food I requested for a light meal before my wedding. It is one of my favorite ways to eat raw veggies.



Two packages of crescent rolls spread in pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cooled crust.

Add vegetable toppings. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Chicken Hot Dish

This is a family recipe. One of the best gifts I received for my wedding 16 years ago was a recipe book handwritten by my step-grandma. It contains many of my favorite family recipes.

2 c chicken (cut small) or turkey
1-2 c cooked rice*
10 oz broccoli
1/2-1 c cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can of milk
1 can another cream soup
1 c mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 T curry powder
1 T lemon juice
salt & pepper

Note: Top with herb stuffing, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Option: Use 2 chicken cubes in 1 c hot water to dissolve in place of cream soup.

*I recently learned that I could make extra rice and freeze portions. Pulling out a package of cooked jasmine rice for this recipe made the prep fast and easy.