Recipes of the Week: THREE Easy Dinners

It's been a bit since I've posted a recipe, so I'm going to make it up to you all by giving you an idea for THREE nights of dinners.  I did this a couple of weeks ago and it was SO nice!  I put a bit more work into making dinner the first night, but then I used the leftovers from that dinner to make dinner the next two nights.  It was easy, yummy, and so nice to just have a three-night plan for dinners!  Wish I did this more often.  I love new, easy recipes, and I love using my crockpot, so if you do, too, then this is for YOU!

Here is the meal plan...

Night One:
Balsamic Chicken - in the crockpot (recipe below...SO yummy)
Mashed potatoes (I made 5 pounds of the red potatoes...did you know that if you use red potatoes, you don't have to peel them??  Brilliant!  I just mash them with milk and butter.  For our dairy-free family currently, I mashed them with non-dairy butter and rice milk and even my hubby didn't notice the difference!)
Garlic Carrots (Recipe HERE.)
Fresh bread with olive oil

Night Two:
Balsamic Chicken (just throw in a skillet and reheat from the night before)
Spaghetti (or any kind of pasta)
Steamed Broccoli (I often cheat and just throw a frozen bag in the microwave.)
Garlic Bread (I always make my own on french bread or whatever bread I have with butter, garlic powder, a little garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and parsley.)

Night Three:
Shepherds Pie (using the leftover mashed potatoes from Night One!)
Salad or Vegetable Side (I literally think we just did frozen corn.)
Rolls


Here are the recipes you need...

Balsamic Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion thinly sliced (not chopped)
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 tsp each: dried oregano, basil, and rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
ground black pepper and salt to taste

Pour the olive oil on bottom of crock pot.
Place in chicken breasts; salt and pepper each breast.
Put sliced onion on top of chicken.
Add all the dried herbs and garlic cloves.
Pour in vinegar and top with tomatoes.

Cook on high 4 hours; serve over angel hair pasta.  (I cooked on low for 8 hours...worked great.)


Easy Shepherds Pie

1 pound ground beef (I always use ground turkey)
1/3 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (does anyone really know how to pronounce this??)
8 ounces frozen mixed vegetables (such as carrots, peas, corn, etc.), thawed
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar (optional)
1 16-ounce package refrigerated or frozen and thawed mashed potatoes (but I make my own)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the beef in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until no trace of pink remains.  Spoon off and discard any fat.  Stir in the ketchup and Worcestershire.  Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, for one minute.  Spoon the beef mixture into a baking dish.  Mix the cheese (if using) with the potatoes in a bowl and spread over the beef.  Bake until heated through.

ENJOY!