“I’ve come to believe that resolutions lend them failure…”

From Rethinking Resolutions, my latest article on SCJohnson.com

I’ll be sharing more about my 2012 plans, goals and other fun stuff next week! In the meantime, maybe you should rethink your resolutions?!

Yesterday I shared the top 5 recipes from the One Dish Dinners website…and today I’m sharing the top 10 recipes from $5 Dinners in 2011. There is some serious yummi-ness on this list…you have got to put some of these on your next meal plan!

The only particular-ness to the order of these is…well, they really are in no particular order! Bon appetit!

Pumpkin Pie French Toast (shown above)

French toast will never be the same. It will be too plain made any other way. I think I’ll make this in the dead heat of summer next year when I’m craving some cool fall air.

Slow Cooker Maple Chicken

It seems I’ve had an unnatural obsession with slow cookers, baby carrots and sweet potatoes this fall/winter. I’ve made at least a dozen meals with some combination of them and other ingredients. Which is very strange for me, the ever experimenting food blogger.

Lasagna Buns

So these are buns with all the lasagna fixin’s inside. They are not the buns of some handsome Italian.

In all seriousness, loved this idea. Loved this simple meal.

Raspberry Brownie Parfaits

Heaven in a glass. And the health-full, antioxidant filled raspberries cancel out all the chocolate, yes?

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Pancakes

Brinner just got a little tastier. And sweeter!

Savory Slow Cooker Chicken with Butternut Squash

If butternut squash could melt in your mouth…oh wait, it can. When you make it like this.

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

ooey. gooey. shmooey. globs of caramel and chocolate goodness. no, greatness.

Try this next time you make chocolate chip cookies. And mini chocolate candies will work.

Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

Simple twist on a new an old favorite! Philly style…

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Tomatoes

Yum-ilicious. Times twelve. Or twenty four. Or forty eight.

Grilled Pork Chops with Peaches and Red Onions

Absolute perfect combination of flavors, textures and smokiness…I can almost taste it now…hot off the grill!

So I had a tough time keeping it to just 10 recipes. I couldn’t not share these too!

• Baked Zucchini Sticks
• No Sugar Freezer Jam
• Mocha Brownies
• Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal
• Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix
• Cinnamon Walnut Quinoa
• Rolled Pizza Bread

And here are the best recipes from 2010…we can’t forget about yester-year now!

Plus the complete recipe index can be found here, along with most recent recipe postings!

Just wanted to remind you about the “what to make when” series found here on $5 Dinners!

When you find a particular meat on sale at the store, or better yet, on manager’s special, and you’re not sure what to do with it…visit my What to Make When page. You’ll find a number of different ideas for how to use that meat…and hopefully you’ll find the right recipe for your family!

I’m so grateful to get to partner with such wonderful websites each month. I’d like to highlight a few of my favorite ideas, recipes and more from this month’s partners!

• How to Cut your Cable-Phone-Internet from $160 to $44 – Homemaker Hand Guide
• Are Coupons Worth Your Time? – Saving Cents with Sense (something to think about as we head into the new year!)
• Why You Need a Junk Email Account - Stockpiling Moms
• Get a Better Night’s Sleep – Total Wellness Doc
• Learn more about social media and making money from blogging from Sandi

Give ‘em some love for me, huh?!

This past year, we started bringing you all “theme weeks,” where we share our best ideas on a certain ingredient or type of food, as well as other ideas from around the web to help make your life a little easier! I thought I’d gather them into one place, as we close out the year.

I have a few other “year end” posts for you all this week, then it’s back to a more regular recipe posting schedule from me!

Enjoy!

• Breakfast Week
• Lunch Week
• Pumpkin Week, more recipes here
• Edible Gifts Week
• Grow. Eat. $ave.

And I’ve got more theme weeks planned for 2012…Chili Week, Slow Cooker Week, Green Week, Garden Week and more!

May your Christmas be filled with peace, love and joy. Wishing you the very best this holiday and in the new year!

-Erin and her boys

Friends…it’s time for another “theme week” on $5 Dinners…and this week, it’s all about “edible holiday gifts”…that you can make and give to friends, family members, teachers,

We’ve been scouring the internet, high and low, to find the best ideas for holiday “edible gifts.” And we’re bringing them all together this week…

The tasty fun will begin…now!

Congrats to the 5 winners of The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook …and the $100 worth of groceries winner too!

In case you haven’t heard…every month we give away 5 cookbooks to active subscribers…3 from the daily email subscriber list, and 2 from the Weekly Meal Plan subscriber list. You too can be entered to win one of my latest cookbooks by signing up for free email updates from $5 Dinners!

You can sign up for the Daily $5 Dinners Email to be entered to win the $100 or 1 of 3 cookbooks, or the Weekly Meal Plan email to be entered to win 1 of 2 copies of the cookbook!

Winner of the $100 Worth of Groceries

• magan_weber@

(Winner will be paid by Paypal only.)

Cookbook Winners from the Daily $5 Dinners Email List

• christimarcks@
• kreed05@
• jencanary@

Cookbook Winners from the Weekly Meal Plan Email List

• tomsteph0519@
• k8turck@

Congrats again to each of you and thank you so much for your continued support of $5 Dinners!

I’m so grateful to get to partner with such wonderful websites each month. I’d like to highlight a few of my favorite ideas, recipes and more from this month’s partners!

• Homemade Christmas Gifts from The Happy Housewife
• Get Organized with the Organizing Gifts pack from Buttoned Up!
• Simple Grapefruit Bathroom Cleaner from Little House Living
• Are Coupons Worth Your Time? from Saving Cents with Sense
• Learn more about Sleeping Well with The Total Wellness Doc
• Christmas Cupcakes: Peppermint Bark from Hoosier Homemade
• Learn more about social media and making money from blogging from Sandi

Give ‘em some love for me, huh?!

It’s the 3rd round of the “Taste Test, Breakstone’s Battle of the Kitchen Bloggers”…

There’s just something about Breakstone’s sour cream baked into a cake. The added moisture and texture makes it so…so…so fluff-ilicious!

And then the frosting…sneaking in a little Breakstone’s sour cream into this cake’s frosting for a perfect balance of sweet and tangy with every bite.

This cake is the perfect end to any holiday meal…it’s light, tasty and will satisfy your palette without making you feel overly stuffed after your feast!

Quick reminder of the contest details…After watching the video, you can vote for your favorite recipe. By voting, you’ll be entered to win weekly prizes of $50, and a grand prize of $2,500!!! You can vote once per day and can receive one additional entry for viewing the video (1 additional entry per video, not per video view).