Borrego family menu

My goal:
Have a menu of quick and easy meals that I cook a lot and am extremely comfortable making. Try to keep the ingredients on hand for the meals so we won't be tempted to eat out because of not having food in the house.

I am in the process of coming up with meals like this. I intend to buy chicken more in bulk, and put it in 1 lb bags in the freezer for future use. (Actually I like getting slightly under a pound - it's cheaper and we often don't need as much meat as recipes call for. I rarely notice the difference.)

I figure I'd like to get 10 meals to start with. That's 2 weeks worth, and I will make them over and over until I am not afraid to make them. I will slowly add recipes to my list as I get more confident. It will be eating a lot of the same stuff in the beginning, but I think it will pay off in the end with more homemade meals and more confidence in the kitchen.

So, here is my initial list:
1. Tacos. (Tortillas, ground meat, cheese, and taco seasoning on hand. I'd love to find a great taco seasoning recipe but in the meantime I can use the little packets. Will have to buy lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream.)
2. Busy-day Baked Fish (The only problem is that fish is a more expensive meat. Perhaps I could try this recipe with chicken? Fish is good for you though; it wouldn't hurt us to eat it more often. I could try to make an effort to get it when it's on sale.)
3. Easy Chicken Crock Pot (Chicken and cream of mushroom soup... It doesn't get simpler than this, provided that I remember to turn on the crock pot!)
4. Mexican Corn Bread (Another crock pot recipe. I'm wondering if this is too many ingredients, though. I hate cutting up onions even though it doesn't make me cry.)
5. Noodles with Chicken & White Sauce (something of my own creation; super easy and pretty good)
6. Cheese baked chicken (this recipe sounds so good, although my one attempt didn't turn out very well)
7. Hamburgers (I love love love hamburgers. The only problem is this requires us to buy buns, which come in packages of 8. Soo... we'll have to have hamburgers 4 times in two weeks so the buns don't get moldy. ;-))
8. Fajitas (I love this recipe. I often make this when people come to visit.)
9. Tuna Noodle Casserole (Once I remember that the noodles need to be cooked FIRST, I'll be doing great!)
10. Meatloaf (Easy to make, tastes delicious, goes with a variety of sides. The one downside: it takes over an hour to cook.)

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Mac

This is from the back of a box of Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner. I LOVE this recipe - but then again, broccoli is my favorite vegetable. :-)

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup milk
1 pkg. (14 oz) Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen broccoli florets, thawed

Directions:
1. Spray large skillet with no stick cooking spray. Add chicken; cook and stir on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until cooked through, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in 1 1/2 cups water, milk, and macaroni; stir until well blended. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 15 minutes or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add contents of cheese sauce pouch and broccoli; cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Italian Sausage Side-by-Side Calzones

This is a Pampered Chef recipe. This is not a shameless plug, it's just that I didn't start cooking until I started selling Pampered Chef and my husband looked through their cookbooks and started making a wish list. When I saw how happy good food made him, I started liking cooking a whole lot more! So here's one of his favorites, which also happens to be dinner tonight!

Ingredients:
1/2 c chopped onion
1lb hot turkey Italian sausage (about 4 links) Can't find "hot" turkey sausage at Wal-Mart, so ours is "sweet" :-D
1/2 c diced green bell pepper
1/2 c putted ripe olives, sliced
1 can (8oz) pizza sauce
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 packages (13.8oz ea) refrigerated pizza crust
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Tbs Pantry Basil Oil (I use olive oil - don't own Basil Oil, it's a PC thing)
1/4 c grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400. Chop onion. Remove and discard casings from sausage. Cook sausage and onion over medium-high heat 8-10 min until no longer pink, breaking into crumbles. Drain and set aside
2. Dice bell pepper. Slice olives (Ha! I buy mine sliced, thank you very much!). Combine Sausage mixture, bell pepper, olives, pizza sauce, and pressed garlic; mix well.
3. Lightly flour Rectangle Stone (I always forget this step, but it's all good).Unroll one package of pizza crust across baking stone. Gently stretch dough into a 10x14" rectangle. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over dough to form two length-wise rows, leaving a 2" separation between rows down center and a 1" border around outside edges. Scoop filling mixture evenly over both rows of cheese. Unroll second package of pizza crust and carefully place over first crust. match edges of dough around edges; press to seal around edges and down center.
4. Cut down center of dough to form two strips. Lightly spray dough with oil (or you could use a pastry brush). Grate Parmesan cheese over top of dough.
5. Cut five 2" slits in top of each calzone to vent. Bake 22-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes (I forget this step often as well, but it really does help to wait - makes it less liquidy). Serve warm.