More Easy Dinners!

Here are 2 more very easy meals for our weeknight dinners. First up is Chicken Pasta-Roni with grilled chicken and mushrooms. Next is Mac and Cheese with Imitation Crab (our fav!). Dinner in less than 20 minutes. Can't beat that!

On A Ranch Kick Lately!

Raise your hand if you like Ranch Dressing. No keep it up if you like easy meals. Still there? Well, then let me introduce you to THE EASIEST and THE MOST AMAZING Pasta Sauce recipe in the world! Take a packet of Ranch Dressing Mix and add half a cup of milk and half a cup of sour cream. Stir and you're done. Really, it's that simple and it is the PERFECT sauce for pasta and whatever else you choose to put in. These 2 meals featured sausage in 1 and ham in the other and of course, mushrooms because we LOVE mushrooms!

Pasta-Roni to the Rescue!

Growing up, we never had Pasta-Roni (or Rice-a-Roni) at our house since my mom only cooked Asian food. I mean, we had American goodies like pizza and fried chicken, but none cooked at home. Actually, I think the only time I had pasta was when I ate frozen meals for lunch during summer breaks. (Hello, Stouffers!) Anyway, I was recently turned onto Pasta-Roni thanks to a huge sale at the grocery store and my new crazy work schedule. They're not as quick as frozen meals but definitely tastier! I also like how easy the pasta was to customized. Below are a few of the meals I've recently made.

Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Chicken

Macaroni and Cheese with Spicy Sausage

Cheesy Shells with Roasted Chicken

Quick and Easy Pad Thai at Home

We used to order Pad Thai all the time from our local Thai places but nowadays it's so easy to make my own and it's much faster than takeout too! (Plus, who know if those "No MSG" claims are real or not!) Anyway, here are 2 Pad Thai meals that I've made recently, 1 featuring ground beef and another with chicken. I like to add chopped veggies like bell peppers and mushrooms if I have them but the dish is yummy just with the meat and rice noodles. We like either chopped eggs mixed in or a fried egg on top. The sauce is essentially the same, a combo of fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and of course, Sriracha!

Easiest Dinner from the Fridge!

Some nights I just don't have the time or energy to deal with recipes so I turn to my fridge for ideas. Tonight was one of those nights. I opened my fridge and some spicy sausage stared back at me along with my usual onions and mushrooms. My house is never without canned tomatoes and dried pasta so a very quick and easy dinner was born. Gotta love a stocked kitchen!

Mexican Smothered Chicken Thighs...How Good Does THAT Sound?

It's been a while since I made chicken thighs mainly because they take a while to cook and now that I'm working fulltime I just don't have the time after work. Sunday nights though are a different story. Even with all the errands and laundry, I still end up with plenty of time to make dinner. So tonight, I made Mexican Smothered Chicken Thighs. I mean, the name just makes my mouth water! I served the chicken over Spanish rice and it was an amazing Sunday night dinner!

Double PB Double Yummy Cookies

I found a recipe for Reese's Double Peanut Butter Cookies and thought I'd make them even more decadent by substituting Mini PB Cups for the PB Chips. What I wasn't expecting was the time it took to unwrapped all those little things but boy was it worth it! PB and Chocolate is definitely one of my favorite combos!

What a Box of Carrot Cake Mix can Do!

I simply can't help myself when things go on sale especially yummy stuff like cake mix! I found this recipe for Carrot Spice Cookies and realized that I had all the ingredients already so I definitely wanted to make it. The only thing I changed was using White Chocolate Chips instead of the Cream Cheese Glaze. Why? Because I'm impatient and it was a faster way of getting the same sweet creamy addition! The verdict? Super yum and definitely a creative way of using Carrot Cake Mix!

No Time to Grocery Shop!

Now that I'm back to work, some weeks I just have NO time for grocery shopping. What do I do? I turn to my well-stocked pantry, of course! I always keep a few cans of salmon and boxes of different pastas around and my fridge is never without butter and heavy cream. So tonight, we enjoyed a yummy salmon pasta dinner without a trip to the store!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter
1/2 c green onions, chopped
1/4 c seafood stock
1/4 c heavy cream
1 (5 oz) can salmon
Pasta, cooked

Prep:

1. Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until tender, 5 minutes.

2. Add stock and deglaze. Stir in cream and simmer until thickened, 2 minutes.

3. Add salmon and pasta and toss to combine. Serve warm.

Taco-Twist on Sloppy Joes!

My hubby LOVES Sloppy Joes but I don't make them very often because...well...they're SLOPPY (aka MESSY!) but tonight, he made a special request and I gave in. These are not just regular old Sloppy Joes though, they're Texas Taco Joes! I substituted TJ's Corn Salsa for the frozen corn and the flavors could NOT be beat! YUM YUM YUM on a Saturday Night!

Beef and Macaroni ALL in 1 Skillet

You can't go wrong with a Skillet Macaroni recipe especially when it involves ground beef and Picante Sauce! A while back I ordered some Cream of Mushroom in bulk so I'm constantly looking for ways to use them. This recipe did NOT disappoint! The combination of the spicy sauce paired really well with the creamy soup. A perfectly comforting yet effortless meal!