SUNDAY: SAUSAGE "STROGANOFF" OVER RICE

If you all remember, last week I had my wisdom teeth out, so I'm still in the process of transitioning from mashed potatoes and jello to real food. So my sweet Mommy made us dinner Sunday night. We have a quick and easy "stroganoff" recipe that floats around our family (I think it originated with my brother-in-law) and is perfect for yummy dinner in a snap. We usually make it with egg noodles, but we voted on rice because of my teeth since it's smaller.

- 1 lb hot or mild sausage, browned and drained
- 2 cans cream of chicken
- 1 (8 oz) tub sour cream
- Egg noodles or rice

Brown sausage and cook noodles or rice according to package. While cooking those, warm cream of chicken in a medium pot. Add cooked sausage and mix well. Right before serving, add sour cream to meat mixture, mix well, and warm through. Serve meat mixture warm over rice or noodles.


MONDAY: DINNER WITH THE BLY'S

We had dinner over at a friend's house. Had a great time visiting with this sweet couple. Love them! They cooked us some fresh grouper and some delicious sides, and we brought rice and slaw from Zoe's and Steel City Pops. According to Casey, peach is DELICIOUS!

TUESDAY: BUFFALO CHICKEN CASSEROLE

I can't remember where I came across this recipe originally (probably Pinterest), but it's definitely a household favorite. Just a few ingredients, easy clean up, takes a little longer to cook in the oven than I typically prefer, but overall it's a winner. Plus it makes a TON, so there's plenty of leftovers -- especially when you're just cooking for two.

- 1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I actually used about 5 Publix frozen chicken tenderloins and stuck them in the fridge the night before to thaw...cheaper route and worked great)
- 1/3 cup Frank's hot sauce
- 1 (32 oz) bag frozen southern-style hash brown potatoes, thawed (I used Publix brand...you could probably get away with using about 3/4 of the bag. Sometimes it seems like a LOT of potato, but it's up to you)
- 1 cup light ranch dressing (or blue cheese if desired)
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 (10 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- A few handfuls of finely crushed corn flakes (you can make the crust as thick or sparse as your prefer)
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

In a large bowl, stir together the potatoes, ranch dressing, cheese, soup, salt and pepper; blend well. Spoon into a 9x13 greased baking dish. In the same bowl, stir together chicken pieces and hot sauce to coat. Arrange chicken pieces over potato mixture. Top with corn flakes and butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until the potatoes are tender and chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Broil for 1-2 minutes to make crust crispy.


WEDNESDAY: BEEF STEW & CORNBREAD

Who doesn't like hearty beef stew? I don't care if it is 100 degrees outside, I love beef stew. And you know what I love better than that? Using my beloved crockpot. I will seriously find any excuse to use my crockpot.

BEEF STEW:
- 1 1/2 lb beef stew meat (at Publix they have it already chopped up for you to just dump into the crockpot)
- 1/2 of a 1 lb bag of Publix baby carrots
- 5 to 6 Petite red potatoes, washed and quartered
- 1/2 large onion, chopped into fairly large pieces or else they will just dissolve
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Worcestershire sauce to taste
- 2 packets (1 box) Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Recipe Soup & Dip Mix
- 1 1/2 cup water
- Cornstarch and water to thicken gravy, if desired

Place all ingredients except cornstarch into crockpot and cook either on low for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours. If desired, you can remove the meat and veggies and thicken up the gravy with cornstarch at the end.

CORNBREAD:
CLICK HERE to see my previous post for jalapeno cheddar cornbread. When I make it with beef stew, I do the same exact things, but just skip the jalapenos.


THURSDAY: HOMEMADE CHICKEN, BACON, & RANCH PIZZA

When the husband lived in Tuscaloosa during college, we used to order this chicken, bacon & ranch pizza from a place called The Snappy Tomato. It was seriously the best pizza I have ever eaten. We tried to order it a couple of years ago, but found out that they closed. That was a tough blow for us. Please pause for a moment of silence for The Snappy Tomato pizza *tear*. Anyway, we tried to make it ourselves. It's definitely no Snappy Tomato, but it's an ever-evolving recipe that we try and perfect each time. The crust could definitely use some work - I go the cheap and easy route and use Pillsbury but it always seems to turn out chewy...

- 1 tube refrigerated Pillsbury pizza dough
- 1/3 cup ranch dressing
- Italian seasoning to taste
- Cooked chicken, cubed *See NOTE below
- Bacon pieces (about 3-4 strips, cooked)
- 3 medium or 2 large tomatoes, sliced thin
- 1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste

*NOTE: I thawed out about 3-4 Publix frozen tenderloins, threw them in a skillet with some olive oil, sprinkled some salt, pepper, and McCormick chicken seasoning, and cooked on medium to medium-high heat until the thickest piece was no longer pink in the middle. Some other options would be to use some pieces from a rotisserie chicken, or Oscar Meyer and Tyson sell pre-cooked chicken pieces close to the deli meats.

Pre-cook pizza dough according to package (I think it says pre-cook for 8 minutes, but I would cut it down a minute or two, bc by the time I fully cooked the pizza, the edges got a little burnt). Top with ranch dressing and sprinkle some Italian seasoning on top. Layer with tomatoes, onion, pepper, bacon, about 3/4 of the cheese, salt & pepper, then chicken, and top with remaining cheese. Finish cooking according to package, then turn to a quick broil and watch carefully at the end to give the cheese that "pizza oven char" look and flavor.


FRIDAY: DATE NIGHT

Sorry peeps...y'all are on your own! Everyone needs a date night every now and then...especially when you're married to this stud ;)