Two Delicious One Pot Meals

I cannot believe that it is March already, where does the time go?!!

After a long busy day, fewer things are nicer than an easy recipe for dinner.  I've been trying to add a few new recipes to my rotation, and I was pleased with how good these two came out.  The best part of these recipes are that they are ONE pot meals - from start to beginning, you only dirty one dish!

I came across Garlic Chicken Pasta in an effort to find a pasta dish with chicken that did not have a red sauce, because for some reason my son hates red sauce.  What kid doesn't like spaghetti sauce?!!  This pasta was easy, full of flavor and tasted even better as leftovers.  Another bonus - it freezes well too!  Both kids gobbled this up, and loved it.

The second recipe I tried was the Italian Wonderpot.  I've been hearing about these one pot pasta dishes and was a little skeptical.  In the wonder pot recipes, you add all of your ingredients, bring everything to a boil and then reduce to simmer until the pasta is cooked.  My sister-in-law made this first and told me how good it came out, so I decided to make it as a side dish and she was right!  I loved this, although the kids weren't as much of a fan - the spinach and onions were a turn off for them I think.

For any of you one pot meal lovers out there here is a link to 10 easy one pot meals.  I'm going to be trying some of these soon, they will come in handy on days that my husband is on shift and I'm alone with both kids.

Have any of you tried any one pot meals you love?  Be sure to share any recipes!


Have a great Tuesday!

PS - Tomorrow is Wino Wednesday, come link up with Lindsay and I

My Favorite Crock Pot Meals

This time of year when everyone is craving comfort food.  I love cooking in my crock pot, the fact that you just "set and forget" your meal and are left with delicious food in a matter of a few hours is pretty awesome!  It works wonders for me, especially on nights that I'm by myself because my husband is on shift.  I don't think anyone hates a one pot meal, right?!


Today I'm rounding up a few of my tried and true crock pot meals.  They are my go to meals and I know each time I make them everyone in the family will eat it up, and that's no easy feat with a 5 and 3 year old!  These meals are all delicious and are perfect for those days that you just don't know what to cook or want some comfort food after a long day at work or with the kids.


one | Crock Pot Maple Dijon Chicken - This has to be one of my all time favorite recipes in the crock pot, you can never go wrong with a Skinny Taste recipe!  The flavors marry so well that even I, who hates mustard loves the sauce.  I usually make it with some fluffy white rice and some oven roasted broccoli or sauteed spinach on the side.  And an added bonus - the kids love it!

 

two | Balsamic Beef - this recipe is on repeat here a lot.  It's easy and oh so delicious, especially when accompanied with some mashed potatoes!  The trick to this recipe is to cook the meat on LOW (8 hrs) so that it comes out nice and tender, any less than that and the meat will have to be sliced and not shredded.  One of the best parts about this recipe is that aside from the meat, all of the other ingredients you probably already have on hand - which makes shopping that much easier!

three | Chicken Marbella -this recipe is out of this world delicious!  I converted this recipe from an oven one to the crock pot and it worked wonderfully.  This recipe would be great for entertaining too, the flavors are SO good together and the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

four | Beef and Broccoli - I found this recipe last week while reading Andrea's blog, she posted the recipe and it sounded so good, I made it that night.  I loved this crock pot version of one of my favorite take out foods.  And while it doesn't taste exactly like my favorite Chinese restaurant, it definitely hits the spot and is most likely way healthier than the take-out version.

Do you use the crock pot a lot?  What are your favorite recipes?  I'm always up for trying new ones!

Recipes to Try This Fall

I hope you all had a great weekend!!  We had so much fun with our families.  I carved out all of the weekend to hang out with family that was in town  - and I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend it! Family is the best.  We ate, laughed and ate some more. 

This time of year is when I want to start baking pumpkin flavored everything - as most people do I'm sure.  It's also the time of year when soups and chilis make a come back.  I've gathered some recipes that I would love to make this Fall.  To me these all capture the essence of Fall.... even if it's still 90 degrees here ;)

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup - this looks and sounds delicious!  It's also gluten free for all of my friends that are sensitive to gluten.

Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash - we LOVE squash as a side here, even the kids eat it.  We usually make acorn squash with butter, agave and cinnamon.  This recipe would probably have a similar taste, but I'd love to try it.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread - pumpkin + chocolate = enough said.

Carrot Cake Banana Bread with Thick Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting- this sounds heavenly for breakfast and I think the kids would love this - minus the nuts for the kiddos and their nut allergy.

Sausage Potato Spinach Soup - my uncle makes something similar to this and it's delicious!

Pumpkin Cheesecake - I made this last Fall and it came out so good!  I can't wait to make it again this year.

What are some of your favorite Fall recipes or ones you'd like to try?

Weekend Recap

Haaaapy Monday everyone!


I hope you all had a good weekend!  Ours ended up to be really fun.  Friday was more of a run errand and TCOB kind of day, we went to Costco and did our shopping and then came home and ordered E her lunchbox and backpack for kindergarten.  It's getting so close!!  I also had a little time to drink some vino and read my Better Homes magazine - don't those ice cream bars look delicious?

Saturday we were invited to a kids' party.  It was awesome!  They rented a huge water slide, had water balloon fights, a pinata for the kids or as E called it a Pina Colada, can you tell she's my child? haha.  They had so much fun eating hot dogs and as much candy as their bodies could handle!

Sunday my mom invited my sister and I to a cooking class at Sir La Table.  Although the 3 of us see each other all of the time, it's not that often that we do something fun together, so it was a treat to hang out.  The class was so much fun.  We made manchego and quince empanadas, grilled shirmp gazpacho, a melon and arugula salad with prosciutto and a sangria sorbet - it was all so delicious!

How was your weekend?

 

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