Since I thawed out the pasta sauce with meat (surprise!) the other day I felt the need to use it up quickly.  As we’ve been eating a lot of pasta lately, I wanted to come up with something pasta free, but still pasta like.  I had an idea, all I needed to do was execute it.

FAIL.  I sliced zucchini long ways and used it for lasagna noodles.  It took the zucchini too long to cook in the lasagna and they gave off too much liquid, making the lasagna watery.  Next time I’ll saute the zucchini noodles first to give them a nice brown-ness and dry them out a bit.

DINNER - Zucchini Lasagna - Thin wide slices of zucchini layered with a tomato meat sauce and lots of cheese.  An Italian-style side salad came along for the ride.

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Guess what’s for dinner tonight?  If you guessed chicken you’ve been reading this blog the past couple of days.  This will be the last chicken meal for a couple of days, it’s one of our favorites, a recipe developed by D himself!

DINNER - Chicken Marsala - Lightly breaded chicken breasts in a mushroom / Marsala wine sauce served on a bed of linguini.  I served it with a side of steamed broccoli.

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It’s mostly freezer meat but every so often I freeze a meal.  I always fail to label or date it as I’m sure I’m going to eat it in the next few days and I’m sure I’ll remember what it is.  I never do.  I had 10 ounces of ground turkey that I needed to use and I saw what I thought to be homemade pasta sauce in the freezer so I thought I’d combined them.  As the sauce began to thaw in the pan I realized it already had meat in it.  What kind I have no idea.  I’ll have to make another pasta-type dish later in the week, or something like it.  I’ve got a plan…

DINNER - Rotelle with Meat Sauce - Corkscrew pasta covered with meat sauce and lots of Parmesan cheese.  An Italian style side salad added the vegetable requirement.  Yes, veggies are a requirement at almost every meal, Jude.

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I’m sure it’ll be no surprise to anyone reading this blog that we’re having chicken for dinner.  Tonight we’re having a dish I’ve been meaning to make for weeks, but just got around to.  Perfect on a cold, rainy day like today.

DINNER - Beanless Chicken Chili - Although it’s called chili, it’s really just a tomato based chicken stew.  Big chunks of white meat chicken, onions, bell pepper and tomato seasoned with chili seasonings.  Served over rice cooked in chicken broth and topped with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Yes, that is a side salad!

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I bought several family packs of chicken last week and if you noticed we didn’t have very much chicken then.  That light you see isn’t the end of the tunnel, but the CHICKEN EXPRESS!!

DINNER - Dijon Tarragon Chicken - Boneless, skinless chicken breasts poached in homemade chicken stock and then nestled in a Dijon tarragon sauce made from the poaching liquid.  It was served over brown rice cooked in chicken broth with roasted asparagus on the side.

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D has been asking for mashed potatoes for the past couple of weeks, so tonight I decided to fix them for him.

DINNER - Swiss Steak - Braised round steak with sauteed onions and mushrooms and served with mashed potatoes and gravy made from the braising liquid.  Steamed broccoli served on the side.

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I recently picked up 2 20 oz packages of ground turkey.  I froze one and split the other in 2.  I decided to use the first 10 oz package tonight and I needed to come up with something quick and easy.  No problem!

DINNER - Nachos - Thinned refried beans topped with cheese topped with chips topped with seasoned ground turkey topped with more cheese topped with sliced black olives and green onions.  Served with guacamole, sour cream and salsa, of course.

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In my meat buying spree the other day I picked up a 6-pack of top sirloin steaks.  That’s 4 meals worth!  Meal 1 is tonight.

DINNER - Steakhouse Dinner - Top sirloin steak, baked botato and salad with blue cheese dressing.

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I almost had the freezer meat beat.  I could see the light at the end of the freezer meat tunnel.  Then I went to the store and just went crazy.  I spent a couple hours today portioning out meat for the freezer and I have a couple more hours tomorrow too.

DINNER - Fish & Chips - Beer battered cod deep-fried with home-cut French fries and cole slaw.  Like this meal?  You’ll be seeing it again soon because there’s more cod in the freezer!

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Happy Birthday Brenda!

D has been asking for French onion soup for quite some time.  I keep trying recipes, but they just aren’t what we were looking for.  I think I found THE ONE!

DINNER - Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwiches with French Onion Soup - Turkey ham, Swiss cheese and Dijon mustard on French bread served along side French onion soup from a nearly 20 year old recipe I found online.  Bingo!

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