What’s for Dinner?!

Every December to wrap up the year of blog posts I like to ask you guys for your feedback. And this year I got lots of requests for what I’m making for dinner. Many of you asked specifically for what I’m making on busy nights when we have practices and all the things. I have five great winter meals to share with you! I must tell you that I periodically repeat things in the kitchen but it’s way more enjoyable for me to cook every night if I’m trying out new things.

A couple things I do when I’m meal planning…

1. I look at my calendar to see each evening and how busy we’ll be. Will I have time to spend in the kitchen? Or will it be a night I need dinner ready from the slow cooker?
2. I then search for new recipes {mostly Pinterest} using that criteria.
3. I try to make a variety of meats/protein each week.
4. I might have a crazy busy night but can carve out twenty minutes mid-morning to assemble a lasagna for dinner. So that’s when I do it! Or it might be one night as I’m cleaning the kitchen I make something for the following night. I pre-plan this and am always thinking about it but then it makes our week roll so much smoother!
5. Like I said, I have way less eagerness about cooking dinner when I’m making the same repeat meals. That’s just not exciting to me so in order to have a great attitude, I change it up quite often.
6. I sit down {usually every Sunday}, plan our meals and immediately order the groceries I’ll need. I usually have those delivered at some point on Sunday so I’m ready to go for the week.

Here are five great dinner suggestions we’ve had recently. If I were meeting you for coffee or to go for a walk, I’m positive I’d ask what you’ve made for dinner that was great lately so I’m sharing first….{and I hope you tell me something you’ve loved in the comments}

Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice Tortilla Soup-I typically love Half Baked Harvest’s recipes and this soup didn’t disappoint on a really cold day. We added avocados, cheese, and Greek yogurt to top it off…delish! I served mine with quesadillas for the kids and it was a delish winter meal! I made this in the slow cooker and it was very much a dump everything in that morning and enjoy it at dinner time kind of meal.

Crockpot Short Rib Bourguignon-Sounds way fancy, doesn’t it? ha! I added mushrooms {like in the recipe} and chopped carrots and fresh green beans to the slow cooker too. My people eat vegetables REALLY well anytime they’ve cooked in the slow cooker all day. Then I served it over mashed potatoes {the Bob Evans kind you just heat up} and my people were fans! I do think next time I’d use a leaner meat. I’ll try this with lean stew meat and probably will enjoy it even more.

Sloppy Joe Bowls-This is a thirty minute kind of meal. My family enjoys a “bowl” type of meal over a sloppy joe on a bun so this is always a hit. I’ll put out random things people can add to their bowl. It’s really just depending on what I have but maybe peas, sweet potato tots, {I just put out one carb so either tots or rice}, avocado, cheese, etc.

Bang Bang Shrimp Bowls-I’m not exactly sure this qualifies as a “winter meal” but I’m going with it. We’re FANS of bang bang sauce so when I came across this recipe I knew I had to try it! My kids can scarf down some shrimp so it didn’t disappoint. Another thirty minute kind of meal…instead of tossing the shrimp in the sauce we just ate it more like a dressing in our bowls. My kids love edamame in these {and I get it from the frozen section so I’m just heating it up-EASY! Plus I love it because they have lots of protein.}. Sliced cucumbers, red onion, etc. Our favorite shrimp ever is the Argentinian Shrimp from Trader Joe’s. HIGHLY suggest!

Beefy Cottage Cheese & Spinach Lasagna-I was a little nervous about this one. The name isn’t the most appetizing but IT WAS DELICIOUS! The cottage cheese all cooked just looked like cheese so I didn’t even mention to my kids they were eating, “Beefy Cottage Cheese & Spinach Lasagna”. ha! I actually assembled this lasagna as I was making breakfast for kids before school so all I had to do that evening was bake it. We had enough leftovers for two servings {Tab and I ate it the next day for lunch}. That’s it!

I’d love to hear what you’ve been making lately for dinner that’s been a hit!?

Happy Monday, Friends! See you back here on Wednesday for another Let’s Look!

XO