Three Cheese Pasta with Kielbasa and Peppers

This quick pasta dish has the most perfect 3-cheese sauce!

Any recipe that has three cheese in the title is one I will almost immediately save. But I try to make pasta recipes on Mondays and so it can take forever for me to get around to putting pasta recipes on my meal plan. Especially if I'm craving an old favorite. I think this recipe will end up in our rotation and take the place of recipes that I haven't made yet because it is fantastic! It's easy. It's quick. It has 3 cheeses! And you get precooked meat that you basically just brown. I really like this one because I can use turkey sausage in place of kielbasa if we have a heavy red week and I'm trying to even things out.

 

Greek Chicken Rice Bowls

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

Menu Plan Monday - October 26, 2020

Good morning! Where has October gone?! This week we're having my favorite tacos of all time and I could not be more excited. I still haven't posted the recipe yet and haven't seen it on my near-future calendar. I've made it more times than any recipe as of late. I'm a bit sluggish this morning - had a busy weekend of applying to many jobs (all remote) and now it's just a waiting game.

Monday - Sausage & Roasted Broccoli Lemon Penne Skillet
Tuesday - Chicken Tacos
Wednesday - Italian Wedding Soup
Thursday - Chinese Chicken with Black Pepper Sauce
Friday - Wisconsin Butter Burgers
Weekend - PB&J Muffins // Absolute Best Crockpot Beef Stroganoff // Pumpkin Dump Cake

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to the recipe in the comments!

Crispy Chicken Tacos

What could possibly make tacos better? FRIED CHICKEN!

I'm trying to be good and get my posts for the week scheduled before the week starts. I'm almost there but I've been doing a lot of crocheting and watching Youtube instead. I got super behind on all my subs while doing college (I'm still watching September videos - eesh). This lovely recipe is genius. It's not a super involved recipe. Really you just marinade and fry the chicken and you're good to go. And really...tacos with fried chicken?! YES!!! That's just the best idea ever! We kept ours really simple and they tasted wonderful, but you can absolutely add whatever toppings you want. You could make them spicy with hot sauce or add cayenne to the marinade. It's whatever you want!

Butterfinger Cheesecake

This peanut butter cheesecake has an Oreo crust, chocolate ganache, and peanut butter whipped cream - and lots of Butterfingers!

I'm unsure why I don't make more Butterfinger desserts. I think they always end up on my favorites list. I wouldn't even consider Butterfingers my favorite candy bar (not even in my top 5), but Butterfinger desserts are always the best! I made this cheesecake for my brother-in-law's birthday. This particular cheesecake has a chocolate crust and a peanut butter base and is topped with chocolate ganache, peanut butter whipped cream, and tons of Butterfingers.

Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Pie

This pie is like a giant peanut butter cookie with more peanut butter treats inside!

I don't really care for pie, but if it's a pie that's actually a cookie...sign me up! I knew this would be a keeper and I knew I would love this recipe and I was right. The base is a peanut butter cookie and then you stuff in mini Reese's cups and peanut or peanut butter M&Ms inside before baking. It's great on its own and it would be great with a scoop of ice cream on top.

Menu Plan Monday - October 19, 2020

We're only have one new dinner this week (Monday) and the rest are recipes I've made before, but I am excited for the new breakfast and dessert/treat recipes too. It was nice to have fall break last week and no school for me (because I finished my Masters on October 6) and no school for the kids. Virtual kindergarten is no joke and does take up a good portion of the day. But it's really cool to see Mason being a little sponge and learning so much and getting that glimpse into how kids are learning nowadays. Teachers are seriously superheroes.

Monday - Million Dollar Chicken Alfredo Bake
Tuesday - Taco Ring
Wednesday - White Chicken Chili
Thursday - Crockpot Beef & Broccoli
Friday - Stuffed Crust Pizza
Weekend - Salted Caramel Parfait // Ultimate Bangers & Mash // Cinnamon Pumpkin Pretzels

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to the recipe in the comments!

Italian Vegetable Soup

This hearty soup is full of vegetables and a little bit of Italian sausage.

This vegetable soup reminds me a lot of minestrone soup but I do like it because yes to all the veggies! I love the straight up crazy amount of vegetables in the soup. I do like that it has a little bit of meat in it and that it's a tomato-y broth with Italian seasonings. I mean honestly I can't ask for anything more. As a kid, I hated the canned vegetable soups, so it's nice to find something so great.

Caramelized Cashew Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

Marinated chicken and caramelized cashews add so much flavor to this stir fry!

I feel like I've made a lot of stir frys over the years and continue to save stir fry recipes even if they aren't something crazy different. What was a little different about this particular stir fry is that the chicken gets marinated before lightly breaded. In addition to the marinade, you make really lovely, totally addictive caramelized cashews to go on top. I mean, these cashews are good on their own. They'd be a great snack. But they are even better on top of this stir fry.

Upgraded Instant Ramen

There are so many ways to upgrade instant ramen and this is our favorite way!

Since the initial lockdown back in March, we've kept ramen on hand as much as humanly possible. I have 2 big kids that make their own lunch and since we're all home, leftovers get eaten quickly. Ramen is super nice to have on hand because it's so cheap and super quick. We've taken to adding tuna and hardboiled eggs and either spinach or kale if we have it too. My personal favorite tuna is the lemon pepper tuna, but spicy and sweet tuna is good too.

Menu Plan Monday - October 12, 2020

Honestly there is a lot to be excited about this week, but it's all basically completely overshadowed by Monday. I love spaghetti and I love love this particular recipe. So whatever about the rest of the week. I'm ready for dinner tonight!

Monday - Bacon Cheeseburger Spaghetti
Tuesday - Slow Cooker Tex Mex Chicken
Wednesday - Sausage, Potato, & Spinach Soup
Thursday - Doner Chicken Kebabs
Friday - Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Weekend - Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins // Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf // Creamy Rosemary Cauliflower Mash // Caramel Stuffed Pumpkin Cookies

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to the recipe in the comments!

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Have leftover mashed potatoes? Make this quick shepherd's pie!

I was a little surprised that taco seasoning was one of the ingredients for this shepherd's pie, but look, I've learned by now not to knock something until I try it. It turned out so well and while it does have an element of taconess to it, it still tastes like a shepherd's pie and really delicious. I love that there is an option for using leftover mashed potatoes because I often have them. I mean honestly this would be perfect for a dish after having tacos AND a big dinner with mashed potatoes. I think leftover taco meat would be super great in this and then you get to skip a few more steps. :)

Peanut Butter Lover's Cookies

This is the perfect cookie for the pb-obsessed person in your life!

I love these cookies and I think the reason is the peanut butter chips and the honey roasted peanuts. They really make the cookie! I don't get enough recipes with peanut butter chips and I love them. The crunch of the honey roasted peanuts is the best. Plus you have bits of Reese's cups in there too with a peanut butter cookie base. It's sweet and salty, soft and crunchy. They really are the best cookies for a peanut butter lover!

Best Chili Ever

Bacon makes everything better including this chili!

 I like trying new chili recipes and I feel like I often stumble upon a lot of "best ever" "family favorite" "world's best" type recipes and one of these days I need to do a huge chili cook off and find the best best one. I really like this one because of the added flavor the bacon adds and the added smokiness from the ancho chili powder and smoked paprika. Nothing too crazy and out of the ordinary, but a super solid recipe!

Menu Plan Monday - October 5, 2020

This year has flown by and lasted what seems like the span of 12 years, but here we are in the last quarter of the year. I notice my meal plan is turning into more comfort food, warm goodness type meals. And, of course, pumpkin foods!!

Monday - Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Tuesday - Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Wednesday - Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Chili
Thursday - Ground Turkey Quinoa Bowl
Friday - Pizza Braid
Weekend - Pumpkin Oreo Donuts // Root Beer Pulled Pork // Loaded Scalloped Potatoes // Pumpkin Spice Scotcheroos

What are you having for dinner this week?
Feel free to leave a link to the recipe in the comments!

Eggs Benedict

The most decadent breakfast out there with toasted muffins, ham, a poached egg, and rich hollandaise sauce.

I am back finally about 2 years later to post a successful eggs benedict! I did it!! :) I posted about my first attempt that was super stressful and didn't end up in a successful hollandaise or poached egg. I did a lot of research and had already tried to figure out what to do if the sauce broke. This video helped me a ton. I played it over and over again when I was preparing and while I was doing it. I tried my best to learn the timing of how to do it, so I didn't mess it up. Time management is key! I used a combination of Gimme Some Oven and Gordon Ramsay for this recipe. I want to say I would remove my sauce from the heat and whisk with a small splash of boiling water in vigorously until it came back together. I had to do it multiple times but it did finally work and was a beautiful sauce!

Caprese Tomato Salad

This salad is so addictive and perfect for a side or snack!

I can't remember who made this for a family dinner last year but it was either my mother-in-law or sister-in-law and Nick and I immediately wanted it ALL THE TIME. We started making it with lunch on the weekdays and eating it with naan (we just had it by itself at family dinner). It doesn't need to have naan but it's so good with little mini naans especially.