Tag: meal planning

Greek Chicken and Veggies Sheet Pan Dinner

My goal for the summer is to spend the least amount of time possible in the kitchen and the perfect way to accomplish that is to cook meals that require me not standing around the stove! Sheet pan dinners are perfect for this!

Now this meal did require some prep but you can cut down by not marinating the chicken ahead of time or preparing during a weekly meal prep. Let’s cook!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken tenders and thighs to cut down on cooking time. If you use larger pieces or skin cook for an extra 20-25 minutes or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees)
  • 1 cup Greek Vinaigrette (I used Ken’s)
  • 2-3 tablespoons of oregano
  • 2-3 tablespoons of garlic salt
  • 2-3 tablespoons of all purpose seasoning (I used Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute but Italian seasoning can work here as well)
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
  • 8-10 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1/2 red onion finely chopped
  • 1 lemon
  • 1-2 cups zucchini sliced into coins
  • 1-2 cups yellow squash sliced into coins
  • 1-2 cups of yellow potatoes quartered

Directions:

Place chicken in bowl and add 1/3 of olive oil, 1/3 cup of Greek vinaigrette, 1/3 of minced garlic, 1/3 garlic salt, 1/3 oregano, 1/3 all purpose seasoning & 1/3 red onion. Add juice of 1/2 lemon. Add all of red wine vinegar. Mix until chicken is coated and set aside to marinate for at least one hour. When ready to cook, pre heat oven to 400. As a shortcut I pre-cooked my potatoes only in the microwave for 3 minutes so they would be fork tender. In another bowl add potatoes and 1/3 of Greek vinaigrette, oil, seasonings, garlic and red onion. Mix to coat and add to sheet pan sprayed with oil. Repeat with zucchini and squash in same bowl and then add to sheet pan. Add juice of the other half of the lemon over veggies. Cook in oven for 45-50 minutes or chicken reaches internal temp of 165 then (you may want to check and turn the chicken and veggies about 20 minutes into baking). Set oven on broil and broil for 5-8 minutes. I garnished with crumbled feta cheese, kalamata olives, and banana pepper rings. Then dinner is done!!!

The flavors of this meal were amazing and we all enjoyed it. It was even better the next day as leftovers. We will definitely add this to the rotation. Make sure you check out my reels on Instagram to see how I made this!

Love Ricki

Cajun Sausage Ravioli

Recently I was gifted some delicious sausage from a friend and I challenged myself to come up with a quick 30 minute meal using it. The sausage is Lord & Barrett Sausage Co. Creole Style Green Onion Smoked Sausage & I highly recommend because it was delicious and I’m personally not a big fan of smoked sausage. Let’s make the recipe!

Ingredients:

  • Smoked Sausage (sliced)
  • 1/2 medium onion chopped
  • 1/2 cup of peppers chopped (I used a combo of red, yellow and orange mini sweet bell peppers but you can certainly just use a green bell pepper)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
  • 2 packages of fresh ravioli – I only used one but you definitely need mor because not a lot come in the package
  • Seasonings- I used Cajun seasoning, garlic & onion powder
  • 1-2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1-2 tbsp of butter
  • Chopped fresh or dried Basil (optional)

Directions: Prepare water to boil for pasta according to package. Heat skillet on medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil and sauté sausages until crispy or cooked though which took me about 5-8 minutes. Remove sausage and drain oil excellent for about a teaspoon. Add butter and cook onions, garlic & peppers until soft. Make sure once water boils to add ravioli and cook til al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water in case you need to thin your sauce out later. Season lightly & then add heavy whipping cream to onions and peppers mixture. Let cook until simmering and then add sausage, cooked ravioli and Parmesan cheese. Taste for more seasoning and add if needed. Top with more cheese and Basil.

This recipe is delicious, quick, doesn’t require a lot of ingredients and easy to make. Perfect to get you in and out of the kitchen during the summertime! I also made a video to show how I made this on Instagram. Follow me @severalpeoplesmama Let me know if this is something you or your family would enjoy!

Love Ricki

Stuffed Salmon with Cajun Shrimp Sauce

If you know anything about me and my family we are not big salmon eaters (we prefer trout) but since I have been intentionally shopping on a budget and salmon was on sale I decided to purchase it instead of our regular which is trout. I wanted to try a new recipe with it and went searching the internet and settled on making a stuffed salmon. A lot of the recipes I found included crab or shrimp in the stuffing and that’s something I didn’t want to make due to a shellfish allergy. Sometimes recipes have to be adapted to fit your family’s dietary needs. I decided to instead make a simple stuffing and make a sauce to include shrimp (you can add crab to it as well) to pour over top if you want to. And believe me you’ll want to. Let’s get cooking!

Ingredients for the Stuffed Salmon:

  • Salmon
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 stick of butter cut in tsp slices
  • 1 block of cream cheese
  • 4–5 fresh garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 handful of fresh spinach
  • 1/2 juice of lemon and 1 whole lemon sliced
  • 1-2 sun dried tomatoes chopped
  • Seasonings: I used Tony’s, ranch dry mix, garlic salt, onion powder, Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start by adding olive oil and a tsp of butter to a sauté pan on medium high heat. Add spinach, then a tsp of minced garlic and the sun dried tomatoes. Mushrooms would be great but I didn’t have any. Once spinach is wilted turn off heat and add mixture to a bowl with softened cream cheese. Mix and then add seasonings and lemon juice. Once mixed throughly set aside and prepare salmon. I like color on my food so I decided to cut a slit for the stuffing and then season my salmon and sear the top in a pan on medium heat with 1 tsp of olive oil first. Then I set on a sheet pan and added the stuffing to the salmon (if you have any stuffing left over just set aside for now). I added lemon juice, lemon slices and butter to the top and placed in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. While baking I made the sauce.

Ingredients for sauce:

  • 1-2 tbsp of butter
  • 1/3 cup of Mirepoix mix (onions, celery and green pepper)
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 tsp of Tony Cachere’s dry roux mix
  • Shrimp
  • 1-2 cups of heavy whipping cream
  • Juice from half a lemon
  • Seasoning (I used what I used on the salmon)

Directions for Sauce:

Melt butter on medium heat in sauce pan and add mirepoix mix. Cook until softened and add garlic then dry roux mix. Mix thoroughly, add more butter if needed. Then mix in leftover stuffing. Season shrimp and add to pan. Once shrimp is cooked whisk in heavy whipping cream. Simmer for about 1-2 minutes and then reduce heat. Taste for seasoning and add if needed. Remove salmon and spoon sauce over top.

I served this over zucchini noodles for a low carb option but it would be great with a salad, pasta or whatever side you enjoy. Since this meal had a lot of steps I recorded a reels video to walk you thru. Just check my Instagram @severalpeoplesmama. Save and share the video and please tag me if you make it!

Love Ricki

Birria Queso Tacos Y Consommé in the Instant Pot!

Birria Tacos on Taco Tuesday! I think I timed this post perfectly. Except it’s the week of Thanksgiving. And while I do want you to make these tacos (like for real, they slap as those several people say) they are work and I wouldn’t suggest you make them this week. But definitely next week! So let’s make Birria Tacos!!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium size beef Chuck roast and 2 beef shanks. Make sure you at least get the beef shanks with the bone. That helps with flavor. This was about 3 lbs of meat total.
  • 6-8 dried chilies (I used Ancho and Guajillo, I couldn’t find Pasillo but I would use that as well.
  • 1-2 Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
  • 1 clove crushed
  • 3 tbsp of Mexican Oregano
  • 3-4 bay leaves
  • 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
  • 1-2 tsp of onion and garlic powder
  • 2 tsp of seasoning salt (I used Tony’s)
  • 2 tsp of all purpose seasoning
  • 1-2 tsp of black pepper
  • 3-4 tbsp of beef bouillon (powder form)
  • 2-3 cups of beef broth
  • 1-2 cups of water
  • 1 large carrot, cleaned and chopped in quarters
  • 1 block of mozzarella cheese, shredded (don’t use the pre shredded stuff)
  • 2 medium size white onions chopped
  • 6-7 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
  • 1-2 limes cut in wedges (optional)
  • 1-2 tbsp of vegetable or olive oil
  • Corn tortillas

Directions:

Start by seasoning your roast and beef shanks with seasoning salt, garlic and onion powder, beef bouillon & all purpose seasoning. Set aside. Next cut open your chilies and remove seeds and stems. Place in a pot with enough water to cover and boil. After boiling for about 5 mins, turn off heat and let chilies steep in water for about 20 mins. While chilies are steeping set your pressure cooker on the sauté function. Add oil and sear your beef. Make sure to wear one at a time, you want brown not for the meat to steam. After searing turn off and return all the meat to the pressure cooker.

Remove chilies from water and add to a blender. Add 1-2 Chipotle chilies and 1 cup of water. Blend until it forms a paste/liquid. Strain over meat in pressure cooker with a mesh strainer so none of the skins that may have not blended well get added. To pressure cooker also add minced garlic, 1 onion chopped, more beef bouillon (I used about a tablespoon), carrots, oregano, pepper, bay leaves, clove, cinnamon, beef broth and enough water to cover the meat. Set pressure cooker on high pressure for 35 minutes. Once done let it naturally release which will take about another hour. Once all pressure has released, open the lid and you should have tender meat. Remove meat and shred in a boil. Taste your beef and broth and add additional seasoning if necessary. Skim fat from broth and add to a separate bowl.

To make the tacos dip the corn tortilla in the skimmed fat and add to a skillet on medium heat. Fry the tortilla for about 1-2 mins in the pan. Then add meat, cheese, onions and cilantro to one side of the tortilla and fold over. Once cheese is melted, flip taco and add more skimmed fat, these should be wet tacos. Add to a plate and then repeat with other tortillas. You can add more onions and cilantro if you like. Pour broth in a bowl and add onions and cilantro. Dip taco in broth and enjoy!

Because there were so many steps I made a video to accompany this post on Instagram. Make sure you are following me @severalpeoplesmama to watch the video on IGTV! If you make this please tag me, I love to see how you make it!

Love Ricki

Instapot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

I’ve been trying to make this soup for weeks and I’m so glad I finally did! Instapot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup is easy, doesn’t require a lot of work (use real bacon bits instead of cooking some and save yourself even more work) and was delicious and filling. Perfect for a cold fall or winter day. Let’s cook!

You’ll also need ground beef and half and half
Seasonings I used

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
  • 1/2 cup of chopped onions (I buy frozen from Kroger)
  • 1/2 to 1 cup half and half
  • 6 slices of uncooked bacon chopped (or use bacon bits)
  • Seasonings (you will season to taste)
  • Velveeta (I used a 1/4 of a 16 oz block)
  • 1 cup Colby Jack cheese shredded
  • 2 cups chicken broth or beef broth
  • 1-2 cups of water
  • 1 package of frozen southern style hash browns (cubes, or you can use the potatoes ‘o brien)
  • Your favorite cheeseburger toppings such as tomatoes and pickles

Directions:

Set instapot on the sauté function and spray or oil pot. Add uncooked bacon and fry til crispy. Remove bacon and bacon fat. Add grown beef and cook til almost brown. Add onions to cook with beef until completely brown. Drain fat and add seasonings. Don’t overseason as you can add more later to taste. Turn off sauté function. Add velveeta cheese, bacon (reserve a little to top your soup later) frozen hash browns and then add broth and water (if needed) making sure it’s enough to cover the ingredients. Place lid on the Instapot and set on high pressure for 10 minutes. Make sure valve is set to seal. Once done go ahead and turn valve to vent for a quick release. Once pressure is released remove lid and mash potatoes. Add more cheese and then half and half. Stir and taste to see if more seasoning is needed. Serve with cheeseburger toppings.

I made a short reel on Instagram to show exactly how I made this soup so make sure you are following me @severalpeoplesmama to watch! Also tag me there if you decide to make this recipe! I definitely think you should!

Love Ricki