Green Spaghetti

We all LOVE this pasta around here. I probably make it once a week or so. Sawyer, who won't touch any vegetables if he can help it, devours this in no time. The kids honestly cheer when they see me making it for dinner. It's that good.
It's a great, good for you side dish that adds a little more color to your plate as well!

Green Spaghetti:

about 12 oz. fresh or frozen spinach
1/4 c. broth

(I really like to use vegetable broth, but chicken works just fine too)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. milk or plain yogurt
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained
(I use thin spaghetti or angel hair; 1/2 regular, 1/2 whole grain)
4 tbsp. butter

Steam the fresh spinach until just wilted, or the frozen until warm. Put spinach and its liquid into blender. Add warm broth and liquefy. Stir cheese and milk into the puree. Toss cooked spaghetti with butter, then with green sauce.

This is a totally painless way to eat spinach, and if you cook the spaghetti while the spinach is steaming, this is about as fast as making up a box of macaroni and cheese--and far better!

Pulled Pork

We've been using this recipe regularly for going on a year and we're not even close to tired of it yet. It was our go-to company meal over the summer and it's not turned into that even this winter. It's perfect for a big group or just when you want a really really yummy really easy meal.
I originally found this super easy tasty method on this food blog.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Here's all you need to get started:

a packet of chili seasoning mix
and a pork butt (or shoulder, but pork butt is more fun to talk about!)

Then all you have to do is rub your butt (see? told you it was more fun to talk about). Just take the seasoning packet and rub it all over, around and into your butt. The pork butt that is.
Then just stick the pork into your crockpot, turn it on low and leave it for 6-8 hours or all day long.

About 2 hours before you want to eat the pork, pull it out of the slow cooker and pull it all apart with two forks. Or your hands... once it cools a little, I find it easier with my hands. Once it's all pulled and shredded, throw it all back in the slow cooker (drain all the fatty juice) and pour a big bottle of your favorite bbq sauce all over it. Stir it up, put the lid back on and leave it for another hour or two. The longer the better, but I never can wait it smells so good!

Then just serve it up on some buns and a nice big salad... we love it with corn on the cob in the summer, or maybe some fresh seasoned green beans. Any of those summery bbq feeling foods!

Tuna Noodle

Tonight we had a quick meal of Cheesy Tuna Noodle, peas and apple slices.
Savannah ate everything (she's on a roll lately!!) and Sawyer ate nothing. Ryan had two bowlfulls even though he always tells me this is not one of his faves. I, on the other hand, who usually scarfs it down, only picked at it tonight. Role reversal I guess. I only used one can of both tuna and soup tonight to the two boxes of macaroni. I think I like two cans better.

Fajitas

Ryan makes this meal and I love it! He slices up some red and green peppers, some onion, and sautees them in some oil. Then he adds some sliced beef and browns that up. When the meat is done, he adds a packet of fajita seasoning mix, simmers for a minute and we're ready for fajitas!! Just dish it up in a tortilla with cheese, tomato, salsa, guacamole... whatever you like. I usually serve this with some spanish rice.

For the kids (my kids hate things combined like tacos and fajitas), I put it all in separate little piles on their plates. With corn chips and guacamole for Sawyer (he won't eat tortillas) instead of tortillas and cheese, a couple pieces of the seasoned beef cut into bites, a pile of raw sliced peppers, and some sliced peaches, and they were good to go. They actually both ate well... Sawyer ate everything but the peppers and Savannah finished off her whole plate!

Spaghetti

We make a simple spaghetti around here.
Brown some ground beef, add some chopped tomatoes, some jarred spaghetti sauce and whatever seasonings I feel like.
Serve over whole wheat thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
Top with parmesan.

We cooked up some quick garlic breadsticks with our meal or spaghetti and salad tonight too.
Kids would have none of it.

*But they both ate a big bowl of leftover spaghetti for lunch three days later!!! Go figure. AARGH!!!*

Cheesy Tuna Noodle

Hold on to your hats, the kids ate a meal!
Well, that may have something to do with the fact that it's little more than they're stand-by of mac and cheese, but still... they ate it! With a little extra protein!!

Here's my super quick, super not-good-for-you, Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole:
2 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, prepared
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans of tuna, drained
mix together
ta-da!

This is one of my favorites. Don't ask me why. And I'm not a big leftover fan, but I will eat this every day warmed over out of the fridge until it's gone.

Crock Pot Potatoes

I love this meal. If you can find 20 minutes at some point during the day to do some peeling, slicing and cubing, you can get it in the pot, and you're set and it'll be ready and waiting for you by dinner. I love my crock pot! I can't wait till fall and winter weather to make me want to make these warm and hearty meals again on a more regular basis...

Country Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
8 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 lb fully cooked ham, cut into 1" cubes
1 pkg (1 oz) country style gravy
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups water
2 cups shredded cheese

Combine potatoes, onion and ham in lightly greased crockpot. Combine gravy mix, mushroom soup and water; whisk until combined. Pour gravy mixture over potatoes. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hrs or High for 4 hours. Top with cheese during the last 20-30 minutes.
Tip: to prevent darkening of potatoes, toss sliced uncooked potatoes in a mixture of 1 cup water and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar; drain and proceed with recipe.

Sawyer didn't touch it, but Savannah actually ate some this time. I think she was just starving. After five or six bites (when she realized what she was eating) she started asking what else she could have...

Weekend Recap and next week's Menu

We ended up grilling some chicken on Saturday. Just some plain ol' barbequed drumsticks. I made up some butter and herb pasta and also served fresh veggies with dip. Mmmm... it was a great warm-evening meal. And surprise, surprise, Savannah actually ate it! She ate a ton of the chicken, only tried one noodle, but had a whole plateful of baby carrots. All Sawyer ate was a bunch of cucumber slices.
Today we had an Open House, so we did a fast lunch at McDonalds and then when we returned home after being gone for the entire afternoon, we just threw together miscellaneous stuff to eat.

Menu for 5/21-5/27
Monday: Lasagna Rolls
Tuesday: Steak on the Grill
Wednesday: Cheesy Tuna Nooldle
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: Chicken Pot Pie
Saturday: Soup and Sandwiches
Sunday: Pot Roast

Pork Tenderloin on the Grill

I simply bought an already marinated tenderloin and the man of the house grilled it up for me, along with some asparagus I cut and seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Both the kids used to eat pork like this, but with their newfound pickyness, neither of them even touched it. In fact the only thing Savannah ate was mandarin oranges, and Sawyer left his plate full as well, only minus a handfull of green beans (offered along with the asparagus because I know he hates the asparagus).

As for the adults... it was very delicious and I love how easy the meal was!!