What’s For Dinner?

I’m well into the habit of taking a photo of my plate every night. What I’m not doing so well with is getting around to writing these What’s For Dinner posts on a weekly basis. And that is why there are three weeks’ worth of meals in this post. I do apologize if this takes forever to load. I’ll try to do better…I promise! Or I may just drop this series altogether. Let me know in the comments whether these posts are at all helpful or interesting to you. I promise I won’t be offended if they aren’t. 

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What’s For Dinner? – 21 Meal Ideas!

Every Tuesday around here is “Taco Tuesday”, or at least some sort of Mexican food. Most of the time I use lentils or black beans for our tacos but this night I used grass fed organic ground beef. I served them with refried beans, chips and salsa. Always a family favorite!

 

 

Now that the weather is warm we are grilling outdoors once a week. I’ve been alternating hamburgers and hot dogs. This night we had Black Angus burgers from Aldi. I thinly sliced an onion and caramelized it to top our burgers, along with lettuce, tomato, bread and butter pickles, mayonnaise and mustard. I served these with homemade coleslaw and seasoned fries. 

 

This night I made a vegetable curry and rice, topped with plain yogurt, mango chutney and raisins. I served it with fresh pineapple spears on the side. I thought I had naan bread in the freezer but I was mistaken. 

 

One of my favorites is chicken in a white wine cream sauce. I served it with a baked potato and fresh asparagus. 

 

I have to admit I’m entirely certain what this next one was. It’s some sort of soup, probably from leftovers. And those are quesadillas along side. This one more reason I shouldn’t wait so long to do these posts. 

 

I had homemade waffles on the menu but opted for French toast instead since I had some bread that was a bit stale. Waste not, want not! I served it with sausage links and fried eggs. 

 

Grilled hot dogs were on the menu this next night. Fresh corn on the cob is delicious this time of year and homemade coleslaw makes a good side dish for this meal. 

 

Black bean enchiladas, rice, chips and homemade guacamole hit the spot on this “Taco Tuesday”.

 

David requested his favorite – Sweet and Sour Meatballs. I normally top this with crunchy chow mein noodles but we didn’t have any. I did, however, have some French fried onions and that made an adequate substitute. I served it with roasted zucchini and a green salad with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing. 

 

I cooked some frozen chicken tenderloins in the Instant Pot and shredded them. I then cooked pot of beans, also in the Instant Pot, and added the shredded chicken, along with salsa and lots of seasonings. I served this mixture in softened corn tortillas topped with cheese, tomatoes, green onions and hot sauce. It was a busy day so that’s all I made. 

Ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, homemade cranberry sauce and deviled eggs almost felt like a holiday meal. 

The best part of last night’s meal? Leftovers! I added some Stove Top Stuffing and a salad this night. 

David decided I deserved one of my favorites for Mother’s Day. Pre-coronavirus, we usually ate lunch at a local Mexican restaurant each Sunday after church. It’s the one thing I’ve mentioned missing repeatedly. David called in our orders and picked it up curbside. It was delicious and the break from cooking was much appreciated. 

 

Another of David’s favorites – spaghetti and meatballs. I served it with crusty Italian bread and a salad. And if you’re wondering about the butter, I usually put butter, garlic salt and shredded parmesan on part of my pasta. 

 

I had some corn tortillas that were a bit too crumbly to hold together for tacos so I made a Mexican casserole instead. I served this with a salad, chips and salsa. 

 

Smothered pork chops, cheesy baked cauliflower, salad and homemade cranberry sauce made a tasty Wednesday night dinner. 

 

I love sheet pan dinners for their easy cleanup. Aldi has some delicious chicken and apple sausages. I used those plus quartered red potatoes, carrots, onion, red and green bell peppers. When almost done I sprinkled some sharp cheddar cheese on the potatoes. All we needed as a side was a tossed green salad. 

 

Another grill night. Cheeseburgers, baked beans, seasoned french fries and more delicious corn on the cob – yum!

 

In my efforts to avoid food waste I’ve been making soups from leftovers periodically. This one included the leftover Mexican casserole (rice, corn, black beans, corn tortillas), leftover pork chop (diced), leftover sheet pan dinner and leftover baked beans. When I told David what I was making he joked that it was a good thing he had finished the leftover spaghetti for lunch. But when he tasted the soup he stopped teasing me. He and Chris both raved about it and said it was probably the best soup they had ever had. Too bad it will never happen again – ha! I served it with quesadillas. 

 

I usually do some form of “Breakfast For Dinner” on Sunday nights. I switched it up a bit this time. I cooked a sliced onion and an orange bell pepper until just softened and set aside in a bowl. In the same skillet I cooked a pound of breakfast sausage and set it aside in another bowl. Again, in the same skillet I scrambled half a dozen eggs. I served the sausage, eggs, onions and peppers in fried corn tortillas and topped with grated cheese, green onions, salsa and sour cream. Delicious! And I only had one skillet to wash. 

Finally, we wrap up this edition of What’s For Dinner with pork tenderloin, roasted red potatoes, broccoli and green salad. I tossed the cut up potatoes in olive oil, garlic salt, seasoned pepper and Creole seasoning then placed on a foil-lined sheet pan. I roasted them for about 20 minutes then added the tenderloin to the same pan I had rubbed it with olive oil and the same seasonings as the potatoes. The only other pan I needed was a sauce pan for the frozen broccoli. Can you tell I’m getting a bit tired of doing dishes? 

 

And there you are…21 dinners from Chez Piercy! 

I’d love to hear what’s cooking at your house these days. I’m ready to transition to lighter meals for summer. Our local farmers market opens up tomorrow. If people are practicing good social distancing I plan to put on my mask and start loading up on locally grown produce. We are entering my favorite season for meals and I am more than ready for all the wonderful summer fruits and vegetables.