Winter Grain Bowl with Balsamic Dressing

 

Winter Grain Bowl with Balsamic Dressing

   I feel like my body has been asking for greens ever since all the heavy Thanksgiving food and leftovers lol. This was really good and I was worried my husband wouldn't like it but he did, he's been trying to eat healthier. My teenager just said "it's ok" which mean's he didn't care for it lol. I did two things differently though. The recipe called for beets to roast but the store only had canned and pickled beets and that sounded unappetizing so I got a butternut squash to roast along with the sweet potatoes. I think that worked really well because it cut the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. The other change I made was with the dried cherries, those are crazy expensive! I had a tiny little container of them and it was almost $5, so I also got a pomegranate which I think I actually liked better anyway...it tasted fresher. 

 Click here for the Winter Grain Bowl recipe by Pinch of Yum

Air Fried Pierogies, Garlic Pepper Parm Broccoli and Shells & Cheese

 

Air Fried Pierogies, Garlic Pepper Parm Broccoli and Shells & Cheese

      This was just a quick clean out the pantry meal, it was going to be a fend for yourself night but we had all this so we might as well use it. I tossed the frozen pierogies in some EVOO and some garlic/salt/pepper seasoning and air fried at like 380 or so for around 15 minutes. We were out of sour cream so I looked up dipping sauces for pierogies and alfredo was one, and we actually had a jar. My husband did not like that. Oh well, it was food lol. 

Sausage, Pepper and Onion Hoagies

 

Sausage, Pepper and Onion Hoagies

    I make this recipe several times a year, it's super easy and always a hit. I just sauté an onion, 2 or 3 bell peppers and 1 package of some type of smoked sausage kielbasa thing in some EVOO. I season with salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning and a little bit of red pepper. Then I toast the hoagies with some provolone and dinner is ready!

Air Fried Shake & Bake Chicken with Caesar Salad, Baked Potato and Garlic Bread

 Air Fried Shake & Bake Chicken with Caesar Salad, Baked Potato and Garlic Bread

 This was surprisingly really good. I just added a garlic/salt/pepper seasoning, parm, and dill pickle popcorn seasoning to the shake and bake mix. I air fried the chicken at around 370 for maybe 20 minutes. I microwaved the baked potatoes and added butter, sour cream, cheddar, the salt/pepper/garlic seasoning and green onions. The garlic bread was just frozen texas toast and the salad was from a kit. Easy, delicious weeknight dinner!

Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie

 

Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie

     I never make stuff like this because it seems like so much work, and I have like zero experience with pie crust. But my husband loves chicken pot pie so I thought I'd try it! I got some baking beans pie crust weights because I was thinking maybe this will get me into pie baking. They worked great. I pretty much used this recipe, but I think I added extra chicken because I didn't measure. I also didn't boil anything, I sauteed the potatoes with the lid for like 10 minutes. Then I added the chicken and onions with garlic, then I chopped the carrots and mushrooms and sauteed that. I forgot to buy celery, so I added the whole pint of mushrooms. It seems like this recipe is really forgiving since I did so much differently lol. We'll definitely have this again, everyone loved it. 

Click here for the Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie by The Heirloom Pantry

Nashville Hot Chicken Alfredo Pasta with Caesar Salad

 

Nashville Hot Chicken Alfredo Pasta with Caesar Salad

     This was a quick clean out the pantry meal, and it was delicious. I just diced and tossed chicken in Nashville Hot Seasoning, then sauteed until cooked. I made the pasta and when it was draining I added garlic and pepper with a little butter and a jar of alfredo to the pot. Then mixed the pasta with that to warm it all up. The caesar salad is just a salad kit and I added a few Texas Toast crotons on top. 

Crispy Bean Tacos

 

Crispy Bean Tacos

    The recipe calls for black beans but my husband wont eat black beans so I substituted pinto beans. The store was also out of chipotle in adobo so I added in some diced green chilis instead. It was a little too spicy for me but I thought they were delicious. No one else really liked them though :(  The top picture was baked in the oven and they fell apart more (even though I steamed the tortillas) and the ones on the bottom picture I had air fried. Air frying works much better. I air fried them at 400 for less then 10 minutes. The dipping sauce was just sour cream with salsa and taco seasoning. 

   Click here for the recipe for Crispy Black Bean Tacos from Plays Well With Butter