stretching your budget

Easy Weeknight Slow Cooker Recipe: French Onion Meatballs

I wanted to share this easy slow cooker meal on the blog! I timed myself and it only took me 5 minutes (not counting cutting the onions but you can buy some frozen from the grocery store too!) to dump everything and go! This was easy and flavorful and can even take the leftovers and add to bread with some cheese for a delicious sandwich! Hope you enjoy!

French Onion Meatlballs

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen meatballs

2 cans French onion soup

1 large onion thinly sliced (optional)

4 tablespoons of butter

1/2 packet of au jus gravy mix

1/4 -1/2 packet of ranch fry mix (this can be salty, you can add some and then add more if needed)

2-3 cups of beef broth

Directions:

Add meatballs, onions, soups and seasonings to the slow cooker and mix. Add butter and broth and then set on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours (depending on your slow cooker)

Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and veggies or on a bun for easy sandwiches. Enjoy!

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

Come cook with me on IG Live – Steak Bites and Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Hi y’all! Tomorrow December 13th, 2020 I will be hosting another free cooking class on Instagram Live and we will be making another easy delicious meal! I will go live at 2:30 pm CST and below if the recipes for what we’ll be making! Hope to see y’all there for some fun!!!

Ingredients for Steak Bites:

2-3 boneless steaks (I prefer Ribeye) – cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch cubes
2-3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion sliced into half moons
1 ½ cups of sliced mushrooms
Steak Marinade – Use any from your local grocery store, however if you use A-1 steak sauce use sparingly as it can be
salty
Seasonings – You can use any steak seasonings you prefer, I used Tony’s Creole Seasoning, garlic and onion powder, garlic and herb seasoning and Montreal Steak seasoning

Ingredients for mashed potatoes

4-5 Russet Potatoes
1 block of cream cheese at room temperature
Garlic powder, Salt, Dry ranch dressing mix, Pepper
½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 stick of butter
½ cup of heavy whipping cream (can also use half & half or milk)

Directions:

For Steak Bites: Take cubed steak and season
with preferred seasonings and add steak marinade to a gallon zip loc bag. Refrigerate at least one hour. Set out on counter at least one hour prior to cooking. Heat olive oil
and butter in skillet or pan with non-stick coating on medium heat. Once pan is hot add onions and mushrooms and sauté until semi soft and remove from pan. Turn heat to medium high and add steak. Sear steak bites on both sides
and then turn heat back to medium low and add back onions and mushrooms. Let simmer in pan for about 5 more minutes and then turn off pan but do not remove from burner.

For Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Instant Pot):
Add potatoes to the instant pot and fill with enough water to cover. Set on manual for 12 minutes and don’t forget to set vent to sealing. Once done perform quick release (set vent to venting to release steam). Open instant pot and drain water from potatoes. Can place back in Instant Pot (make sure it is
turned off or it will keep cooking! Ask me how I know!) and then add cream cheese, butter, seasonings and mash. Add grated parmesan cheese and mix well. Add heavy whipping
cream gradually depending on how thick and creamy you desire.

Love Ricki

Philly Cheesesteak Ring – Yes another Ring!

Hi y’all I am back this week with a not so original recipe but DEFINITELY a fav! Listen we love rings in this household. The crescent roll dough is delicious and easy to work with and you can take just about any filling you can think of and add it for a delicious combination. Of course I’ve made Cheesesteak sliders here and Cheesesteak egg rolls here so naturally a ring was next. This recipe was super easy and you can add chips and fruit for easy sides and dinner is done! Let’s cook!

Ingredients:

Thin sliced steak
1 yellow onion sliced into half moons
1 pepper sliced into strips
2-3 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of olive oil
Sliced mushrooms (optional)
1-2 tsps of minced garlic
Seasonings: I used Tony’s seasoning, onion and garlic powder and steak seasoning
2 cans of crescent rolls
5-6 slices of provolone cheese
4-5 slices of Gouda (this is optional, you can use all provolone or any cheese you like. Smoked Gouda would have bee delicious here as well)
Cooking spray

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Add butter to skillet on medium high heat. Add peppers and then after a minute or so add onions. Sauté veggies and turn heat to medium. I add a little salt to this mixture to help it sweat and give a little flavor but that’s optional. After veggies are softened add mushrooms and minced garlic. Sauté til mushrooms are softened. Turn heat on high and add steak. I season steak while in the pan but you can season ahead of time as well and just add seasoned meat. Once cooked thru which should be 3-5 minutes, turn off burner and take pan off heat and set aside. In a round pizza pan or cookie sheet spread triangles of crescent dough around until it forms a shape resembling a sun (see pics). Add veggies and meat mixture and then add cheese on top. Bring points of the triangles to the center. Spray with cooking spray to help crust brown. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and completely baked thru. Slice and serve.

We will be making this again and believe me I am dreaming up more ring recipes to add to the blog! If you try this please tag me on Instagram @severalpeoplesmama

Love Ricki

Chicken Pesto Ring

Y’all know I love a good ring made with crescent rolls! Y’all seem to love them too and this one will be no different! I mean one of the things I’m most known for is the infamous Taco Ring lol. So I decided to take the Chicken Pesto Ranch recipe we enjoy so much and added to a ring and it was the bomb.com (do people still say that? well I just did). I came about this when I made pepperoni rolls and because my kids are greedy I decided to make a chicken version as well. Sometimes their greed pays off lol. Let’s make this ring!

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins
Jarred pesto
1/2 cup to Half and half or heavy whipping cream
2 cans of crescent rolls
1-2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup to 1 cup of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Dry ranch dressing mix
Seasoning- I used Montreal Chicken, garlic powder, garlic salt
1-2 tbsp of lemon juice
Bacon bits (optional)
2 tbsp of butter

Directions:

Preheat oven on 375. Season chicken with seasoning, ranch dressing mix, and you can also add a tbsp of pesto. Cook chicken on stove or grill or in the oven until cooked thru. Set aside to cool. Don’t chop until cooled or you will dry it out. Now let’s make a sauce. Melt butter in saucepan on medium high heat, then add half and half or heavy whipping cream. Add garlic salt, 2 tbsp of pesto and bring to a simmer. Whisk in Parmesan cheese until melted. Turn off sauce and it will thicken when it cools. Chop chicken in bite size pieces. Lay out crescent rolls in star pattern in sheet pan. Add thin layer of sauce. Add layer of chicken then bacon bits of using and then cheese. Fold over crescent rolls points. Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until crescent rolls are baked fully.

I paired this with Caprese salad and it was soo good. Easy to make too so it’s perfect for a Saturday meal or lunch. Make sure to tag me if you make this @severalpeoplesmama on IG!

Love Ricki