Menu #8

These weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and then Christmas get to be complicated and there seems to be more times of leftovers and going out. One reason is that we are part of our church’s choir, and each year we do a large Christmas program. We start rehearsals in August and have a rehearsal about every other week, except at the end of October and in November. We tend to rehearse every week since we don’t rehearse the week of Thanksgiving, and after Thanksgiving, there are only a couple of rehearsals left. We are getting into the throws of that right now, so some of the menus may start to be a little short and many will be on the simplistic side or seem repetitive. That doesn’t mean they aren’t delicious though! Plan accordingly for your family. Hopefully these will give you some ideas that you can use to help keep your sanity as you head into the holiday season!

Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans

This is a super-easy crockpot recipe that a friend shared with me years ago. You can use stew meat, cut up steak, or cut up roast. Place four cups of meat in the crockpot and mix it with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Mix in about a cup of sour cream and serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta. I like to serve mine with egg noodles, and I usually mix it all up together after I cook the noodles. If I am making the recipe as is, I use about half a package of cooked egg noodles. If I double the recipe because my whole family is coming, then I use the entire package. I think you could also do the same with spaghetti. Heat up and season some canned or frozen green beans to complete your meal.

Taco Soup

The recipe I use comes from an old recipe card that I have. It was a company called Great Meals in Under 30 Minutes. There are lots of easy and great recipes for this out there. Many of them use a packet of Ranch dressing mix. This one does not, but I have eaten those that do, and they are delicious as well. Here is mine, but feel free to search for another one. I like this one because it is literally a dump and go recipe.

1 ½ pounds ground beef

1 cup tomato sauce (1 small can)

½ cup frozen chopped onion (or fresh)

1 cup water

1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes

1 envelope taco seasoning mix

1 (16 oz) can light red kidney beans

salt and pepper to taste

1 (15 ¼ oz) can whole kernel corn

shredded cheese

Cook ground beef and onion in large pot over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until ground beef is browned and crumbly. Drain off drippings. (I like to actually rinse mine in hot water to get rid of some of that extra fat.)

Stir in undrained beans and undrained corn. Add tomato sauce, water, seasoning mix, salt and pepper. Stir

Simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. (I sometimes cook mine a day ahead so that the flavors really have time to meld, and then I just reheat it the next day.)

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cheese, if desired. You can also add sour cream, cilantro, tortilla chips – whatever you like.

Rotisserie Chicken, Lemon-Pepper Potatoes, Broccoli

This one is a real no-brainer. I have told you that I like to buy cut-up rotisserie chickens from Sam’s, freeze them, and use the pieces later for quick meals. This is one of those times. Just take out some chicken from the freezer in enough time to let it thaw(or pick up a rotisserie chicken at your local store). Or you can thaw it in the microwave, but I like to thaw in the fridge. I usually give it about 36 hours in the fridge to thaw. That means taking it out of the freezer and placing it in the fridge the morning before the night you are going to serve it. That’s why I like to plan!! I reheat it in the oven at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes. Lemon-pepper potatoes are just something I remember having as a kid and I improvised the recipe. Peel and cut up some russet potatoes and boil them until they are soft. Drain off most of the water and put the pot back on the stove on about medium-low heat. Add in as much butter or margarine as you like. Stir gently until the butter has melted and the potatoes are coated. Sprinkle with lemon-pepper seasoning and continue stirring gently. We like a lot of seasoning, but you have to use what you like. I just use frozen broccoli to round out the meal. I also like to sprinkle it with lemon pepper after it is cooked. 

Soup and Sandwich

Not too much to say here – this is literally what it sounds like. We each pick out a canned soup that we like (or you can pick one together, depending on how many you are feeding and how much you want to eat), heat it up, and fix a sandwich to go with it. I usually like a hot sandwich like a hot ham and cheese. My husband prefers a cold sandwich. When the kids were growing up, they also liked having the hot sandwich. Hard to go wrong with tomato soup and grilled cheese! Just pick out what you like.

Tamales, Mexican Rice, Salad

We live in an area where we can buy fresh tamales. You may not be so lucky. Sometimes we buy them the day we are going to have them. When we do that, sometimes we don’t even have to reheat them. They are still warm enough to serve. Other times we buy several and freeze them for later. You can reheat them in the microwave, but they are better if you put them in a steamer and steam them until they are hot. If they are homemade ones, be sure to remove the husks before you try to eat them. Some people who are unfamiliar with tamales may not know that! I have never purchased frozen tamales at the grocery store, but you could try that as well. We like to serve our tamales with chili over them. Canned chili with no beans works just fine. Use a boxed rice dish and make a salad of your choosing, and you have a wonderful meal. 

Smoked Pork Loin, Chicken Rice, Broccoli

Here I am again using a pork loin that my husband smoked previously and we froze it. I told you that we get a lot of different meals out of things he has previously smoked and we froze for later use. Once again I know not everyone is going to have smoked pork loin in their freezer. You can always buy a seasoned pork loin to bake or just move on from this meal. Remember, these are just ideas to help you with your planning. I use a package of Knorr chicken-flavored rice and steam some broccoli to complete the meal. 

Spaghetti, Green Beans, Garlic Bread

This is one of my husband’s favorite meals. He says, “Spaghetti – always spaghetti.” Here again is my semi-homemade “recipe”. I start with a pound of ground beef and a chopped onion. I cook those together until the meat is browned and crumbled. Drain completely. Once again, I usually even rinse mine with hot water to make sure I get most of the fat off. I put the meat back in the pot and add some seasonings to it. We like ours spicy, so I add salt, pepper, chili powder, dried oregano, dried parsley, dried basil, and a little cayenne pepper. I have no measurements for this. Then I add a jar of spaghetti sauce. I just use the store brand. You use whatever you like. Then I add more of the same spices. I have no measurements for any of these either!! I just add them until it is the flavor that we like. I let it simmer for a bit while I cook the spaghetti. Once the spaghetti is cooked, I drain it well and mix it with the sauce in one big pot. I just heat up some green beans to go with it. I season those with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder, but you do them however you like them. Heat up some frozen garlic bread or garlic toast to round out the meal. 

Chicken Lo Mein, Egg Drop Soup

We do love Chinese food. I’m not sure this is classified as that, but I generally cook some version of “Chinese” at  least every couple of weeks. This is a recipe that I found on Pinterest from aloynascooking.com. I do adjust it slightly. I use rotisserie chicken that I already have in the freezer instead of cooking a chicken breast. I also use bagged tri-color coleslaw mix rather than cutting up my own vegetables. I especially do that if I want to make this quickly. I have used some of the other substitutions she recommends. For the egg drop soup, I linked a recipe from gimmesomeoven.com that I have used a time or two, but we honestly usually purchase that from a local food truck. I can buy it on my way home from work, and it literally is still hot by the time we are ready to eat – usually over an hour later. I don’t know how they do it, but they do.