Winner, winner, delicious dinner on the fly!

I am a Pinterest addict & refer to it anytime I need a recipe for dinner, an appetizer, football Sunday, whatever.  I wanted to highlight some recent recipes that have been a definite hit in our house.

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This crockpot brown sugar, roasted garlic pulled pot roast was an awesome addition to a Sunday Bears get together with our friends.  The Bears certainly didn't win, but this recipe absolutely did.  Since we knew our Sunday morning was going to be busy, we roasted & smashed the garlic the day before.  Come game day, it took minutes to throw together & I was free to hang out with my friends & watch the game without worrying about dinner.

If you like Panera's broccoli cheddar soup, you will love this copycat recipe we made this past Sunday.

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I've made many broccoli cheese soup recipes but none have been this spot on to the real deal.

This crispy cheddar chicken is a cinch to throw together & delicious even without the sauce.

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I toss any veggies I have on hand with salt, pepper & olive oil, roast for 20-30 minutes while this is cooking & dinner is ready from start to finish in less than 45 minutes.

On a recent Saturday night, we whipped up this quick homemade pumpkin ricotta gnocchi. 

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If you've never made gnocchi before, it's a yummy way to make fresh pasta without any special tools.  You just roll out the dough, cut & boil for a few minutes.  While the gnocchi is boiling the sauce can be quickly made in less than ten minutes.

During the week when evenings are rushed, I tend to make quick chicken recipes that contain only a few ingredients.  I've been buying boneless, skinless chicken thighs since it's a lot cheaper than the breasts.  A large pack at Target is around $10 & I easily get 2 meals for the four of us, plus leftovers.  I'll make 1/2 the pack & freeze the rest for the following week.

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Melt in your mouth chicken is 6 ingredients that takes about five minutes to assemble & 30-45 minutes to bake.  Again, I serve it with roasted veggies.  Most of our dinners are a protein & veggies, not usually a starchy side.

Equally as easy is this "man pleasing chicken."  You see a lot of this recipe on Pinterest & it is again only a few ingredients.

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I'm not a huge fan of the name, but Mike is a man & this dish definitely pleases him, so I suppose it's accurate.  I just use the knock-off pancake syrup since I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy the real deal.  Most of the time I forget the fresh rosemary that's growing in a pot in our backyard & it's perfectly fine without it.

Since I'm on my own with the kids in the hectic evenings, I have to be prepared with a plan going into the week as far as our meals our concerned.  We use a lot of frozen leftovers like meat sauce I've made in big batches or the leftover chicken with simple ingredients I mentioned above.  Not only do I hate to grocery shop but we're also on a tight budget.  With a good plan in mind, weekday meals don't have to be a stress!  It seems that with Cam in kindergarten & Reese in daycare, there's a million things to remember & I'm not always on the ball.  Last week, I filled out Cam's flu vaccine report for school & today I got a letter back saying he wasn't vaccinated since I forgot to circle one of the questions.  Did I mention that I kept him home from school on Columbus Day thinking he had off?  Um yeah, he didn't & he missed an unnecessary day of school.  Who does that?!?!?  Me.  Yeah, this gal.