What's For Dinner? Week 52: Crock Pot Mac & Cheese

 Week 52 - I made it!  Before the end of the year even (this was my plan, as baby is expected to arrive any day now...).  My goal was to try out 1 new recipe/week for this year...thus, 52 new recipes.  And, this is new recipe #52!

 I have never been a huge fan of homemade macaroni and cheese (bring on the instant boxed stuff).  But, this was pretty good.  I used mild cheddar cheese, and it turned out yummy.  The recipe for this version of Mac & Cheese is found here.

It's been fun to try out new recipes - some were great, others were not so great.  Some were easy and quick, others were a bit more time-consuming.  Some were loved by my kids, others my kids wouldn't touch!  To look through all of the new meals we have tried this year (maybe you'll find something you'd like to try?), click below:

What's For Dinner: All 52

What's For Dinner? Week 51: Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

This was not all that great. It turned out quite runny, yet the chicken was dry.  And, the biscuits didn't even cook all the way through, even though I baked the entire thing for longer than suggested.  I think that eating the rotisserie chicken, biscuits & veggies all separately would have made for a much better meal!  I am not sure if I did something wrong, or if it's just not a great recipe...but, I don't plan on making this again.  We love chicken potpie, but I will stick to a more traditional recipe next time.

It wasn't awful (once we cooked it for longer so the biscuits were done), so you might enjoy it.  And it was super easy.  In case you want the recipe (it might work better for you!), here it is. 

What's For Dinner? Week 50: Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

This was a little too salty, in my opinion, but other than that, it was really good.  I have made baked potato soup before, but never using cream cheese...so I was a bit apprehensive about how it would turn out.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I actually wasn't super hungry going into dinner time and had no plans of actually eating anything until later.  But, after serving Kris his bowl, I just had to try it.  And even with very little appetite at that moment, I was able to finish and enjoy my own bowl. =)

You can find the recipe here.

What's For Dinner? Week 49: Creamy Garlic Pasta

This was soooo good.  I love garlic, so I guess if you are not a garlic fan, you won't enjoy this as much as I did.  It was simple to put together, extremely rich in flavor, but unfortunately NOT low in calories!  Next time (and there will be a next time), I will double the pasta recipe and add some grilled chicken.  Yum.  Here's the recipe.

What's For Dinner? Week 48: Chicken Ranch Pasta

This was good.  Nothing fancy, but super simple to make.  And it has bacon.  Enough said.  Recipe here.

What's For Dinner? Week 47: Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

 This was fantastic.  I used the lime/cilantro Rotel as she prefers and it was great.  Also, I used just 1 cup of water (the recipe calls for 1-2 cups), and it was more than enough.  I used 3 chicken breasts instead of 2 for some extra meat, and it turned out really well!  I am so glad there's leftovers....=)

Recipe is here.

What's For Dinner? Week 46: Cheddar Beer Chicken (Crock Pot!)

This cheddar-beer chicken was pretty good.  The flavors were quite strong, but blended well.  I could not find a package of Reser's diced red potatoes, so I used fresh ones.  I also just used a fresh green pepper instead of frozen.  And, instead of Bass Ale, I used Newcastle, as that's what we had.  The recipe for this dish is here.

What's For Dinner? Weeks 44 & 45: Beef and Broccoli & Creamy Potato Soup

 Sorry for the not-so-clear pictures.  I took them with my phone, and I'm not sure why they came out so grainy.  Anyway...

Beef & Broccoli:

 The broccoli got soggy and brown, even though I only cooked it for the amount of time suggested.  Regardless, the flavor was pretty good, and it was an easy crock pot meal.  I used beef broth instead of consomme (because that is what I had) and I didn't have sesame oil, so I just used a little bit of vegetable oil.  Next time, I will probably steam the broccoli separately and just toss it in the sauce right before serving. Recipe is here.

Creamy Potato Soup:

This turned out a lot better than I expected.  It was really tasty and easy...another crock pot meal!  I left out the onion (because I didn't have one) and I didn't put the bacon IN the soup to cook, but just used it to sprinkle on top when serving (we don't like soggy/soupy bacon).  Oh, and while the recipe didn't say to peel the potatoes, I did in fact peel them before dicing.  Here is the recipe.   I also made this honey beer bread to go along with it, which is sooooooo good. 

What's For Dinner? Week 43: Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

I am not sure I have ever actually had a real Philly cheese steak, so I have nothing to compare this recipe to in that regards.  It was definitely quick & easy, was a nice "spin" on a traditional sloppy joe sandwich, had good flavor, and cheese is always a bonus (in my book)....although I didn't think it was anything too spectacular.

Recipe can be found here.

What's For Dinner? Weeks 40, 41 and 42: Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches, Mushrooms & Cream Chicken, Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches

I made these on Saturday night, somewhat last minute.  They were a simple yet "upgraded" version of a traditional grilled cheese sandwich, and the marinara dip was a perfect extra!

Go here for the recipe for the sandwiches.

Mushrooms and Cream Chicken

This was sooooo good (if you like mushrooms).  I don't have a dutch oven, so I had to do a lot of transferring from pan to baking dish, but it worked out fine.  Also, I used white cooking wine as opposed to what she suggested (mostly because I am alcohol-illiterate and I didn't even know what alcohol she was talking about!)

For the mushrooms and cream chicken recipe, click here.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

This was really good!  And, it is a crock pot recipe (bonus) that requires little prep, though there is some very minimal work needed at the end.  I actually pureed the soup, although the directions didn't say to do that.  I am not a big fan of chunky tomatoes, so after the soup cooked for 6-ish hours in the crock pot, I stuck it all in the blender, pureed, and then put it back in the crock pot to continue cooking.

The soup recipe can be found here.

What's For Dinner? Week 39: Double Crunch Honey & Garlic Chicken

This chicken was not nearly as crunchy as I hoped (too much oil in the pan?  not hot enough?) but the flavor was great.  I was a little hesitant to try it, as there were a LOT of different flavors included in the coating and the sauce....but, it all blended well together.

To find the recipe, click here.

What's For Dinner? Week 38: Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken

This week's new dinner recipe was nothing extraordinary, but it was simple (crock pot, yay!) and good and kid-friendly (my kids, at least).

Go here to get the recipe.

What's For Dinner? Weeks 36 & 37: Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken & Chicken and Wild Rice "Soup"

 Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken....this was quite yummy.  I actually grilled it on the outdoor grill, instead of on a grill pan inside as she suggested.  And, I marinated the chicken for about 5 hours in the olive oil/balsamic vinegar combo instead of just brushing it on while grilling.  It turned out really good.  Click here for the original recipe.  It was easy, and yummy (we love the tomato/basil combo).

Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Not sure what I did wrong with this next one....but, the crock pot "soup" ended up less soup-like, and more casserole-like.   I followed the directions (click here for recipe), or at least I thought I did!  Anyway, no soup for us!  It tasted fine....we just ate it on plates with forks, instead of in bowls with spoons.  It reminded me of this dish that we tried a couple of months ago, but not nearly as good.  So, unless I can figure out how to make this one into an actual soup, I don't think I'll be making it again.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Casserole

What's For Dinner? Weeks 34 & 35: Taco Bake & chicken and Dumpling Casserole

Two new recipes this week....taco bake, recipe found here and chicken and dumpling casserole, recipe found here.

The taco bake was very good.  I was a little concerned at first with the amount of cheese in the layers (shredded cheese and salsa con queso), but it was quite yummy.  The sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes definitely helped lighten up the cheesy-meaty-tortilla goodness and it was really tasty.  Leftovers were very good as well!

The chicken/dumpling casserole was also very tasty.  It came out a bit runny, but still tasted great.

What's For Dinner? Week 33: Ranch Chicken Sandwiches

 My mom made this a while ago and passed the recipe along to me (it's from The Pioneer Woman).  These were SO good!  The combination of flavors (honey mustard marinade, bacon, and cheddar) was amazing.

I suppose that you could add some lettuce or tomato if you like that kind of thing.  And, if you need more sauce, BBQ would be a good option, but they were extremely tasty as-is.

I am really excited about the leftovers we have, and I will for sure be making these again.

What's For Dinner? Week 32: Grilled Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

This pork tenderloin was quite good.  Great flavor, and everything is always good when grilled, right? 

We also had some very yummy sweet corn, straight from the farm, that my mom picked up for me over the weekend.  It's seriously good!

I got the recipe here.

What's For Dinner? Week 31: 1 Dish Italian Chicken Meal

I found this on Pinterest.  There's no actual link to a recipe, so here it is:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place 4 thawed boneless chicken breasts along the middle of a casserole dish.
3. Arrange quartered potatoes (peeled or unpeeled - your choice) along one side of the chicken and uncooked veggies of your choice (I used frozen green beans) along the other side.
4. Sprinkle with 1 packet of Italian seasoning mix and then drizzle 1 stick of melted butter over entire dish.
5. COVER and bake for 1 hour.

This was extremely easy, and clean-up is always nice when only 1 dish is involved!  =)  It was very flavorful and everything cooked really well together.  

What's For Dinner? Week 30: Coconut Chicken With Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

 Both Kris and I love coconut, so I had high hopes for this meal!  While it wasn't as "coconutty" as I would have liked, it was really good, and Kris loved it.  I think next time I will add a bit more coconut to the breading mixture. =)  The original recipe was meant as an appetizer, but it worked great as a main course.  I served it with coconut-lime rice and candied carrots.  It turned out to be a really great meal!

Go here for the chicken recipe, and see below for the rice and the carrots recipe.

Here's what I did for the rice:

My rice cooker calls for a 1:1.5 rice to water ratio.  I doubled that and substituted some of the water with coconut milk.

So, I used 2 cups of rice, 2.5 cups of water and .5 cup of coconut milk.  

After it cooked (I love how easy using the rice cooker is!), I mixed in the juice and zest from 1 lime.

And, here's what I did for the carrots:

Peel 8 carrots and cut them in half and then lengthwise.

Place carrots in a buttered casserole dish.

Cover carrots with some salt & pepper, about 2 tablespoons of butter (sliced thinly and placed on top of carrots) and a couple of table spoons of brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Yummy!

What's For Dinner? Week 29: Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Over Rice

This was super yummy.  It was a great "comfort food" and an easy crock pot option!

Recipe is here! 

What's For Dinner? Weeks 27 & 28: Crunch Wrap Supreme & Chicken With Sundried Tomato and Basil Sauce

Two new recipes again this week, and they both turned out pretty good!

The first was a homemade crunchwrap supreme.  Apparently this is a homemade version of one of the menu items at Taco Bell, although I have never actually had it there.

I apparently don't have tortilla wrapping skills, as I was not able to successfully fold the flour tortilla over the filling/corn tortilla.  So, I improvised and cut 2 flour tortillas to be the same size as the corn tortilla and layered everything before cooking on the stove top.  Also, I didn't put the sour cream in any of the layers, as I prefer my sour cream to be cold and more of a garnish for dipping.   So, flour tortilla on the bottom, then a layer of seasoned meat and cheese.  Then the crunchy corn tortilla.  Then the lettuce and tomatoes.  Finally, one more flour tortilla on top.  Then, cook it quesadilla style!  They turned out really great.  We love tacos, and combining the crunchy corn tortilla with the typical flour ones made for a great upgrade to our usual version. =)

 Go here for the original recipe.

 Next up was this chicken dish.  Kris loves sun dried tomatoes, so I made this one with him in mind.  I'm not a huge tomato fan, though I really love basil.  I used more of the tomatoes than the recipe called for, and in our opinions, even more would have made it even better.  The sauce was creamy and yummy, though next time I'll use more sun dried tomatoes.

Go here for the chicken/sauce recipe.