Time in the Kitchen

You guys! My little teeny slice of the internet is typically reflecting what’s on my mind, what’s going on in my life, or is just meant to bring a little smile to your face. This blog post wasn’t on my blog calendar but when I look back at our weekend and what’s put a huge smile on my face is….MARLA’S KITCHEN! Who knew I’d miss cooking after not having a kitchen for months? hahaha! Well, the truth is I just miss eating REAL food complete with sides making it a full blown meal! One thing led to another and BAM…a little time in the kitchen post is here. 🙂

If you need a little inspiration in your kitchen, let me share what we’ve had to eat over the weekend and upcoming week…

Saturday-Tab was off all weekend and he was just as giddy as I was to have REAL food so I made Shay’s Brunswick Stew for lunch but I subbed the pork for chicken. We had cheese, crackers, apple slices, and summer sausage along with this sausage dip for our football watchin’ snacks that afternoon. Guys, that dip is a MUST this football season. SO EASY! And my people gobbled it up! Later that evening, Tab made steaks and we popped baked potatoes in the oven. We all went to bed with big smiles on our faces!

Sunday-The boys camped so the girls had TACO NIGHT! {I could eat tacos for EVERY meal!}

Monday-I made Mississippi Roast but I tweaked it a bit and will never go back. A baseball mom friend told me she makes that recipe but uses stew meat instead of the roast. I’m not a fan of slicing into a big hunk of meat so I tried just what she recommended. I even asked my butcher for lean stew meat and he was amazing! He grabbed some filets and cut those up for me. I browned the stew meat that morning and after cooking in the slow cooker all day it was so tender you could cut the pieces with a fork and there wasn’t any fat to sift through. When I make that roast, I always buy…

The FAMILY SIZE Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes….they’re pre-made so a quick six minutes in the microwave and you’re set and they also happen to be delicious!

And this frozen brown rice. It comes with three 10 ounce bags inside. For our group of eight {along with the Bob Evans potatoes}, I made two of the bags and it was perfect. You pop a bag in the microwave for three minutes and your rice is ready. I serve the roast and juice over the potatoes or rice, your preference.

Tuesday-Our local grocery store is typically where I do grocery pick-up each week. This week they accidentally sent me home with four ready-made chicken pot pies {and told me to keep them} so we’re had those along with a few leftovers after Nixon’s football game.

Wednesday-White Chicken Chili is on the menu for tonight. This is one of Tab and I’s favorites. We add some dashes of Tabasco and are SET! I’m also making Mummy Dogs because ‘Tis the Season and the kids love those! They’re the perfect addition to a fall soup.

Thursday-Cheesy Ranch Taco Bowls are on the menu. I’ll have taco shells on hand for the kids because they’d prefer that but give me ALL THE RICE! We have a BUSY night so I’ll probably make the meat early and will have it warming in the slow cooker so anytime a group shows up for dinner it’ll be ready!

Friday-We’ll ALL deserve a night off of cooking and doing the dishes! The kitchen will be closed and we’ll go out for dinner.

I’ve been SHOCKED at how giddy I’ve been about REAL FOOD! Can you sense my excitement through the words as you read? Our own kitchen finally has COUNTERTOPS! EEEK!! Things are moving along so we’ll be cooking in our kitchen soon!

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

XO