This is a classic example of being creative with ingredients you have on hand.

I made this for us early last week…using up the tomatoes from Aldi from the week before, and the feta cheese from Monday’s shopping trip. Also, this is another example of a meal that uses an “expensive ingredient,” that is paired with a few other inexpensive ingredients and pantry staples to keep the overall cost of the meal down.

(Feta = expensive…pasta/tomatoes/egg = inexpensive.)

This meal ended up being dinner for just Steve and I (the kids had leftovers since they can’t have dairy) and after his first bite, Steve began staking claims on the leftovers. He took what was left for lunch to work the next day…and the “euchre lunch club” was insanely jealous of his “gourmet lunch.” Amazing how a few simple ingredients can be cooked up in a way that is “gourmet” but still very inexpensive to put together!

Enjoy…

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I’ve shared 2 recipes that are perfect for your winter meal plan over on SCJohnson.com recently!

• Beef Roast with Winter Vegetables
• Tortellini Soup

Bon Appetit!

We do a lot of bulk cooking because our schedules are crazy during the week but we really prefer to serve home cooked meals to our five kids.  This is a super simple recipe as well as a great way to cook once and eat many times! 

I just bought 40 pounds of boneless chicken breast for a great deal but I need to get it put up in the freezer pretty quickly so I put half of it in the slow cooker and cooked it all at once. When it was ready I used three of the breasts for supper then cut most of the rest into cubes and shredded the remainder.  I ended up with five packages of cubed chicken and three packages of shredded that can be used for all sorts of quick homemade meals like BBQ sandwiches, enchiladas, quesadillas, casseroles, pot pies, salads, fajitas, pizza, soups and pasta dishes.  I was also able to put four containers of chicken broth in the freezer.

You can make any size batch that you’d like, as long as the lid will close on the slow cooker.  The recipe below is for a smaller batch of 4 to 6 breasts – double the recipe if you’re making a larger batch.

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Jenna emailed this recipe to me from White on Rice Couple. And I was so skeptical that I had to try it…even though I rarely make Mac n Cheese because of the boy’s dairy allergies. I made it anyways, and it worked out perfectly…

Right before Christmas, Ryan woke up one morning with a fully body rash. After grilling him about what he ate at school the day before, thinking it was a delayed food allergy reaction, I made an appointment that morning with the pediatrician. She diagnosed him with Fifth disease, a virus that causes fully body rash in kids…and can cause rash, fatigue, joint pain and swelling in adults.

I commented to our pediatrician how I’d been feeling fatigue like I’d never felt before, along with some malaise but no other symtpoms. She told me to watch out for the symptoms above. And lo and behold I broke out into the rash the following week, and also ended up super swollen hands, very sore ankles and knees for about 5 days. I felt very much like a leper with the rash…and very much like an 80 year old woman with severe arthritis. But I welcomed the time I got to spend resting on the couch, and I enjoyed the time I got to spend reading with the boys as well!

According to my family practice physician sister, I got hit pretty hard with it, as it doesn’t usually hit adults as it did hit me. Most adults don’t get Fifth disease because they had been exposed to the virus as a child, built the necessary immunity and don’t have to worry about it as adults. Obviously I was never exposed to it as a child. And neither was my dear friend, Steph. Her son had it over Christmas…and he shared it with her. *sigh

Yesterday morning I get into a text conversation with her about all this Fifth disease madness. It took all of 3 milliseconds for me to figure out that I’d be taking her this mac n cheese, cookies, and other goodies for dinner last night. She is in the “worst of the worst” phase…and I wasn’t taking no for an answer! We are now in an exclusive “Moms with Fifth disease club” now…and we Fifth diseasers have to look out for each other

I gave her about 15 warnings about this being a new cooking method, that I hadn’t tried before….and apologized 22 times in advance…in case it bombed.

Well, apparently it didn’t bomb. This is part of the text exchange we had this morning.

Apparently, it was the best ever…even after being reheated!

I only modified the recipe to make more to feed her hungry boys…and to use what I had on hand….

Also…this is a very hands on cooking method…the results are totally worth it though. Read the directions carefully

I’m tempted to dub this first week of the year, “Mac n Cheese Week.” But I won’t. Today, I’m sending over to check out this recipe for No Boil Mac n Cheese Bake from Mom on a Mission.

And on Friday, I’ll be sharing another awesome way to cook mac n cheese. And likely what I’ll be making myself for lunch at least once a week through the winter. #comfortfood

Photo Credit

Do you want to make a casserole without a bowl, a spoon or a pot?

You do?

Then this is the casserole for you. I make this often and double to have extra in my freezer to give away to a friend in need, or for a busy weeknight meal.

You DO NOT cook the manicotti prior to filling and freezing, and that’s what makes this recipe so easy. The other easy part is the method to mix the filling ingredients. You mix the filling in a freezer bag by kneading it.

You start by preparing your pans with sauce in the bottom.

You dump the filling into a gallon size FREEZER bag and gently knead until it is mixed up.

Then you cut a small corner of the bag; about  1/2″. You want the filling to flow easily through the opening, but you don’t want it to pour out too quickly.  Don’t cut it too small because there will be too much pressure and the bag could burst. Once you do it a couple of times, you will get the feel of piping cheese into the shells. I fill one side horizontally and then turn the shell and fill the other.

Fill all the shells dividing between two 8×8 pans or one 9×13.

Cover all the shells with the marinara sauce. I use Hunts when I don’t have time to  crock pot marinara on hand.

Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top.

Cover the pans with heavy duty foil labeled with thawing and cooking instructions. This is the most important part when you’re giving a casserole away. It’s handy for people to have the instructions right at their fingertips.

Shells are $1.50 at Wal-mart and the sauce is $1. Cheese prices range. I leave out the parmesan cheese sometimes and it’s still great. You can substitute ricotta, but try the cottage cheese. It makes a terrific ministry meal to give away to someone in need and it’s easy because there’s “no cooking” involved. P.S. Your family is a ministry too, so be sure to double this recipe to have enough for dinner and others in need.

Three Cheese Manicotti

Filling Ingredients (gallon bag)

• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
• Add:  1 ½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Remaining Ingredients:

• 1-8oz. package manicotti
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• Jar or can of favorite marinara sauce (I use the $1 can Hunts marinara or homemade)
• cooking spray

It may seem early to be thinking about how you are going to use your Thanksgiving leftovers since you probably haven’t even bought your turkey yet. But the best way to make sure that your leftovers don’t get pushed to the back of the refrigerator is to have a plan for how you are going to use them up.

On Thanksgiving night, I clean the meat off the turkey and place the turkey bones in the slow cooker to make turkey broth. The next morning I wake up to delicious turkey broth and have the base for several delicious recipes.

The best way to ensure your family doesn’t get tired of leftovers is to create new and surprising flavor combinations with your leftovers. If you just reheat turkey and mashed potatoes they will probably get bored, but if you use the mashed potatoes in a Pierogi Casserole and the turkey in Curried Turkey Salad or Lasagna Soup they will probably forget that they are eating leftovers.

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As the first few months of the school year have passed, I have gotten into a school lunch rut. I was starting to pack my 1st grader a peanut butter & honey sandwich everyday! Then a little leftover pasta inspired me to create a new, quick dish for school & work lunches.

This is is versatile and can be changed to use up a variety of leftovers. You could substitute leftover rice or add leftover chicken/tuna or beans. You could even challenge an older child to create his own creation using up already in the fridge. Here’s to breaking the school lunch rut!



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My 18 year old son created this recipe when there wasn’t much left in the pantry and fridge…those are always the best. It turned out great and is a favorite with my teens! It is easy to make and feeds a crowd.  This recipe uses American cheese, however, shredded cheddar or mozzarella would work even better. But you can use whatever kind of cheese you have on hand. Enjoy!

This quick and easy recipe was inspired by mushy salad greens. I had plans to make taco salad and had already started browning the hamburger when I pulled the lettuce out of the refrigerator and discovered it had turned. I didn’t have a lot of time to come up with a new dinner plan. I surveyed the cupboards and fridge and decided to use the beans and tomatoes  that I was going to put in the salad, stick with taco seasonings and add corn and pasta. Then I said a quick prayer that it would turn out and my family would like it. It turned out well and my family loved it. It is now on my mental list of meals for busy nights because I can make it start to finish in about 15 minutes.

Really short on time? Then don’t peel your tomatoes when you dice them! The tomato peels have nutrients and fiber, so you can feel good about being lazy. I grown roma tomatoes because they have fewer seeds than other varieties, so I don’t bother removing the seeds either. Can you see the tomato seeds in the bowl of pasta? Neither can my children.

I added all of the ingredients to my large skillet after I browned the hamburger. If you don’t have a large skillet, then after you rinse your pasta, return it to the pot you cooked it in and add all of the ingredients to that pot to finish cooking them.

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