Dinner Ideas

D.,

This is a great weekly menu recipe site:http://www.menus4moms.com/

The site will send you a FREE weekly menu's, the recipes and a shopping list for the items. The shopping list total is usually no more than $80.00 for the week! We love it!

Happy eating!
E. B.
wwww.greaterlewisvillemothersandmore.org

I love allrecipes.com You can type in indredients and get recipes and it is usually stuff you already have around the house.

My new favorite website is www.allrecipes.com. There are hundreds of recipes and they are rated with comments. It is wonderful to search when you need new ideas and/or you have certain ingredients in the pantry and need to use them up rather than run to the store!

www.recipezaar.com
Use it all the time and Loooove it! Enjoy,
T., Flower Mound

D.~
I am a long time user of the website: www.epicurious.com
You can go to the site and type in keywords or ingredients that you are wanting to use..such as,"chicken casserole" or "pasta with shrimp"...it has everything from appetizers,desserts to drinks. It is a GREAT source. Hope this helps!!

One of my favorite sites is www.savingdinner.com. It's run by a nutritionist and she provides a menu and shopping list each week. There are several free samples of the weekly menu so you can try before you buy. I found it to be a lifesaver since I work full-time and don't always have time to plan my meals. I subscribed for 6 months and kept the menus and reused them.

Lay 3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot. Dump a 16 oz jar of your favorite salsa (I like Pace Chipotle). Cook on low 8 or even better 10 hours. Shred with a wooden spoon. Serve rolled up like burritos in flour tortillas, letting each person assemble their favorite extras into it like shredded cheese, pre-packaged guacamole, sour cream, whatever. Heat up some black beans and rice and you have a very yummy fast meal with no chopping.

Hi D. ~
Try this too:

http://www.menus4moms.com/

great website!

Good luck ~
C.

Here's a REALLY great recipe I use often, because it's easy and tastes GREAT. It's called a Dr. Pepper pot roast:

In a crockpot, combine the following ingredients, in the following order:
2-3 pound roast (I think beef works best, but you could do pork)
4 tsp. worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. garlic powder
4 potatoes cut into quarters or 1/8s (but I usually do about 6 new potatoes, which are smaller)
1 small onion cut up
1 cup ketchup
3 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. onion powder
1 can Dr. Pepper

It seems to do best if you let it cook in the crockpot for 8 or more hours...those have turned out the best for me. But you can also cook it in the oven for at 300 degrees for 3 hours instead, although it never seems done enough or the potatoes are not done. It is so easy becuase you just throw it in the crock pot in the morning (which I did this morning), and let it cook all day.

Hope you like it.

B.

Hello, you might want to check out Food Network.com
Endless possibilities!

Familyfun.com has a Month of Meals planner. It's a calendar with a meal for everyday of the month with a list of ingredients you'll need.
Here's the link for September's meals:
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/meal-planner/index.html

Betterrecipes.com is another site.

Happy Cooking!

D.,

Hi. I go to foodnetwork.com a lot. I watch the shows when I can and some of the recipes are fast and easy. Good luck.

D.

Check out this website...it's one of my favorites.

http://allrecipes.com/

Your question is what created my new website

It Takes a Village...
Where Dallas Moms go for Food, Family and Fun

In the Market Menu section I review some of our local grocery stores circulars and give you great new ideas for menu options that will be easy to make and that your family is sure to love.

http://www.ittakesavillagedallas.com/It_takes_a_village/M...

I am just a Dallas Mom writing about what I love to help others in my area.

It takes a village to raise a child

This is a bit late, but one of my favorite sites is www.lunchinabox.com, a blog about bento (japanese lunch), if you like unusual not-entirely-american food, this is a great site made by a san fransisco mom who lived in japan for a few years. not entirely asian food, lots of healthy stuff. lots of recipes as well as fun ways to make food interesting.
also, you may enjoy www.flickr.com 's cooking groups (http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=food) full of food made by real people with recipes, comments and great photos.
<3

I 2nd www.allrecipes.com! It is absolutely my favorite. In addition to what the PP said, you can sign up to have a recipe mailed to you each day. What I find helpful is to get the recipe, do a once over and if it seems like something my family would like, I quickly check out the reviews. Not only do the review give insight as to if people liked the recipe, they also give tips to make it better -- more of this, less of this, can substitue, etc. Another thing nice about this site is you can search by cooking method - such as slow cooker. I'm a working mom and use my slow cooker on a regular basis, so I love being able to easily find related recipes.

Most major packaged food companies have recipes on their sites - so campbells soups, swanson broths, knorr, etc. Again, you can sign up to get recipes by email or search on their sites. I have not been as impressed with these in comparison to allrecipes.com, but every now and then I find something good.

About.com is a new site that I just found and it looks good. You know what I started doing is that I buy the meat that is on sale for that week then I google recipes for it and that way I have loads of different recipes that I try for dinner. Example a couple of weeks ago Tom Thumb had London Broil on sale I got several packages even though I have never made anything with it before and I am trying new recipes out with it. I have been in the dinner rut before, but not anymore!

Hey D., I have just gotten myself out of a food rut. It took creating a routine for myself and making a couple lists. I would be happy to share my idea with you if you are interested. I use the allrecipes.com site and kraft site too. Hope I can help!

Do you have a George Foreman grill? It's a lot healthier and quicker to cook on there.

We just grill up some veggies (squash, zuccini, mushrooms, red/green peppers) and pineapples and some chicken, shrimp, steak... and put some rice in the rice cooker. Easy!

Make them kabob style even.

I use allrecipes.com sometimes. They have good recipes with ratings. I always pick the 5 star ratings so I know it's good!

Hi D.,

I am a Homemade Gourmet Distributor and would love to help you with meal ideas and planning. We carry mixes that require 5 ingredients or less and 15 minutes or less prep time. Please e-mail me your addresss and I will drop off a catalog to you.

Thanks
A.
____@____.com

Yes, as was mentioned before, allrecipes.com. Have fun! :)

I am addicted to www.allrecipes.com and swear by it. Good luck.

www.allrecipes.com is great! You can use the ingredient search option to find a recipe using stuff you have around the house. Most of the recipes have been reviewed by users so that helps too. I also like the www.foodtv.com website too. They have all the recipes from the Food TV shows on there. Most of the recipes on that site have also been reviewed too.

If you want prepared meals, go to the Dinner Station and you can make a weeks worth in an hour.

Or use my favorite bored with food trick.....you just look at the menus of places like The Dinner Station or Super Suppers to get ideas. I love them and use them, but not all the time, so I look at their site for ideas on what to make, then search for recipes.

Same with any of your favorite restaurants... just look at their on-line menus, then go to allrecipes or one of the other suggested sites and look for a similar recipe.

I googled Le Madaleine's Tomato Basil Soup recipe and found it. I still go there to eat but sometimes I just want to make things at home.

Two of our dinner favorites:

Catalina Chicken
16 ounces Catalina dressing
14 ounces whole berry cranberry sauce
2 ounces lipton dry onion soup mix
4-8 chicken breasts (I use boneless, skinless)

Mix ingredients together.
Place chicken in 9x13 pan
Pour sauce over chicken.
If sauce does NOT cover chicken, keep basting frequently.
Bake uncovered for 2 hours at 275°F

CHICKEN W/BLACK BEANS & CREAM CHEESE

4-5 boneless chicken breasts, frozen

1 – 15 1/2 oz can black beans, drained (I use two to stretch meat)

1 – 15 oz can corn, drained (I use frozen corn and frozen Spinach is also good)

1 – 15 oz jar salsa, any kind

1 – 8 oz package cream cheese

Take chicken breasts and put into crock pot. Add black beans, drained, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of corn, drained. Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours (or on low for 8-10) or until chicken is cooked (usually doesn’t take that long). Add 1 pkg cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour. Stir and shred chicken (just use a big wooden spoon to split it up) Serve with lots of good tortillas or over rice.

The leftover filling is good in enchiladsas--I just roll up filling in flour tortillas and put in baking dish. Top with a can of enchilada sauce and shredded cheese and bake.

I always tell my friends that they need to buy a pressure cooker and the cook book Pressure Perfect. The pressure cookers today are not a hazard like the old kind and you can make great one pot meals in about 10-15 min.

D.,

I like www.foodnetwork, www.rachaelray.com

Hope that helps

D.

This isn't recipes or a website, though I love all the websites that other momma's have suggested.

I just started something on Monday with three friends that I think is going to revolutionize my family's life. It's a Dinner Co-op. Each of us take turns preparing dinner one night, Monday through Thursday. So on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday dinner is delivered to my door. Thursday I cook, and deliver dinner to the other three familes. We met last week to plan out our menus through the first of November.

The "trick" is to partner with three friends with similar sized families who live near enough to you so that delivering is not a problem. One of the advantages that I can see is that we'll have more variety as I tend to get stuck in a rut cooking the same 10 or so dishes over and over again.

I think it's going to be fabulous! My friend who has done it for years swears by it. She says that her kids have learned to try new things, and she saves money in her food budget.

I like recipes that are quick and simple. My 2 year old daughter and 1 year old son both loves these two recipes.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 cans mixed vegetables, drained
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. milk
1 large can chicken, drained
salt and pepper to taste
Pillsbury pie crust (Located in the refigerator section in the grocery store) - 2 come in a box (I use the Walmart brand)

Mix all ingredients and pour into 9 X 13 pan. Take 2 Pillsbury crusts and cut into strips to cover the top of the filling. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Depending on your oven.

Easy and delicious.

2nd Recipe - Chicken Quiche

1 9" deep pie shell - frozen section
1 BIG can chicken, drained
1/2 cup of real mayonaise (I use light mayo)
2 eggs
1 tbsp. starch
1 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of onion, optional
dash of pepper
dash of salt

Open can of chicken and drain. Blend next 4 ingredients. Stir in chicken, cheese, onion, salt and pepper. Put in pie shell and sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

This is good with a side salad and some fruit. Enjoy.

M.

I subscribe to a couple of cooking magazines, then each month when they come in, I clisp the ones I am interested in and put them in a folder. (That keeps me from just letting the magazines pile up). Then each week I makse sure to try at least a couple of new receipes from the folder. If I like it, I add it to my regular recipe collection, and if not, I toss it.
Good luck!

D.,
I use www.recipezaar.com IT is full of everything from the ordinary to the gourmet. It does take longer to find something you are looking for because there are so many recipes, but it is well worth it. Have fun.

J.

My favorite recipe!!! I gave this recipe to my mother who is like the best cook in the world and it impressed her....so this is a keeper!

Serves 2:

2 porkchops about 1 - 1 1/4 in thick
3 T Honey dijon mustartd
3 T apricot preserves
1 c baby carrots
1/2 white or red onion, into big cubes
4 red potatoes cut into 1" thick slices
2 t olive oil

mix carrots, onion and potatos with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste

mix honey dijon mustard and apricot preserves in small bowl well, place pork chops on rimmed baking sheet and salt and pepper both sides. Put two heaping scoops on each side of each porkchop.

place veggies all around pork chops in a single layer and bake at 400 degress for 25 min!

It takes 5 min to prepare and 25 min to cook, cant beat that!

Hi D..
I did a 3 month subscription to http://www.whatscookinmama.com/. Once a week they email you a weeks worth of dinners and even a shopping list. The subscription was not very much and I got a lot of new dinners!
If you go onto the website you can get a trial week sent to you for free!
Good luck!
C.

My FAVORITE recipe site is www.allrecipes.com. It's user-rated, so you can see how many users have tried that recipe and how well it has been received. Also, the users that try those recipes will often leave notes that say "I didn't like this about it, so I changed it and it was much better this way..."
There is also a place that you can put ingredients (things you have in your refrigerator or cupboard that you need to get rid of) and it will pull recipes for you with those ingredients included. I use it for everything and I love it! Be sure and check it out.

K.