Slow Cooker Tortellini Lasagna Casserole

We love red sauces in our family, and if they have sausage in them, all the better for Aaron. I knew this recipe would be a hit with everyone, and it was. We had Tortellini Lasagna Casserole, which is made in the crockpot.  It's fast, easy, and so worth the wait.  It was rated a perfect 10 from everyone.

The only changes I made were to add cheese to the top of the casserole, only about one ounce, and I used the ricotta instead of cottage cheese.  Someday I'll have a pasta maker, and can make our tortellini here at home, but since I don't have a pasta maker, I had to use store-bought tortellini, which is still really, really great.  I used homemade marinara sauce, and this just turned out so well.  The calories for 1/8 of the casserole are 493 calories. 
Tomorrow we're having some shrimp and potatoes, and a blueberry cake.  

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

We had Chili-Lime Steak Salad tonight, and it was delish! This was a fast, fresh meal, and I love the crisp veggies with the really juicy, flavorful steak.  The steak was my favorite part, and we just really enjoyed it.

Aaron gave it an 8, Noah and Owen and I gave the salad a 9 and the steak a perfect 10. This salad, which we split into 6 servings, with all the dressing and everything was 499 calories/serving. If you don't like ranch, like I don't, the dressing won't be a big hit, but Aaron and Noah both really liked it.


Tomorrow we're having a pasta dish.

Key Lime Donuts

We had key liime cream cheese donuts today for breakfast, and they were only okay.

They were easy and fast to make, but they weren't anything special, and we won't have them again. They received a 7 from all of us, and they were 286 calories per donut. Tomorrow we're having a steak salad.

Marlboro Man's Sandwiches

Although I oversalted dinner tonight (I'm not used to using salted butter :)), our Marlboro Man sandwiches from Pioneer Woman were still really good.

This is a simple, filling meal, and we really enjoyed it, although my boys' favorite part was the baked fries. Oh well :). We also served this with some of our garden green beans, not pictured, but it was a great dinner. The calories for 1/4 of the total was 305 calories, including our 135 calorie rolls. Aaron gave the sandwiches a 6, and the rest of us gave them an 8, since they were really salty. I love how easy this was, and it really was tasty, especially if you have a free hand with the hot sauce. Tomorrow we're having Key Lime Donuts that we didn't have earlier this week.

Chicken and Zucchini and Potatoes

So tonight was not one of our favorite dinner nights, but it was pretty good. We'll start with the chicken. The recipe was Chicken with Vinegar and Garlic, and the recipe is found in the Italian Slow Cooker cookbook and here's the recipe:
Chicken with Vinegar and Garlic
Skinless, bone-in chicken (we used 2 thighs and 2 legs)
3 3 inch pieces fresh rosemary
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 c beef broth (or red wine)
2 T balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Salt and pepper the chicken.  Place the chicken in the crockpot, arrange tomatoes, garlic, and rosemary around chicken.  Pour broth and vinegar over everything.  Cook on low for at least 5 hours, better if longer.

We liked this alright, it had a pretty good, if muted flavor, and it was super easy. Owen gave it an 8, and the rest of us gave it a 7. The calories are 305/serving.

Our veggie for tonight was not great.  It was also found in the Italian Slowcooker cookbook, and part of the problem was mine.  I didn't check which setting to place the crockpot on, so I put it on low and the veggies didn't get done.  Sigh...Anyway, here's the recipe:
Zucchini and Potatoes:
2 zucchinis
1 onion
2 potatoes
1/2 t oregano
1/4 c water
1 T olive oil

Place everything in crockpot and cook for 1 1/2-2 hours on high.  Make sure potatoes are done before serving.

I can't fairly rate this, because of having to microwave the veggies and still not having the potatoes done, but what we had only got a 3 from Aaron, a 4 from me, and Owen gave it an 8 and Noah a 5. Besides Owen we really didn't like this. The potatoes were bland, and everything except the zucchini was undercooked. The total calories for 1/6 of the total were 99. Try it and let me know if it's better when it's cooked correctly :).
Tomorrow we're having PW's Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich.

Pork, Potatoes, Rolls and Cookies

Tonight we had some delicious food! We had a recipe from Our Best Bites cookbook for pork, and this was so great. Here's the recipe:
Roasted Pork Tenderloin

4-5 cloves garlic, minced
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
1 lb Pork Loin Roast
1 1/2 t balsamic vinegar
2 t olive oil

Mix first four ingredients together and smoosh it all over the pork.  Place the pork in a sealable bag.  Mix together the vinegar and oil.  Pour over the pork.  Marinate for 4-10 hours.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes (according to the recipe, mine took a LOT longer) or until the pork reaches at least 135 degrees.  Let rest a few minutes, then serve. 

For six servings, the calorie count is 125/serving. Great, easy, and super moist and delicious. The boys gave this a perfect 10, Aaron and I gave it a 9.  Noah even asked for seconds.
Next we had Perfect Potatoes au Gratin from the Pioneer Woman.  This was also easy and delicious, and we will be having this again.  Aaron said it is his favorite potato recipe he's had in a long time.  The calories are 231 for 1/12 of the 9x13 pan.  Aaron and I gave this a 9, the boys gave it a perfect 10 again.

These rolls are fool proof and amazing.   They are Buttered Rosemary Rolls from the Pioneer Woman, and they are not even a recipe, just a really great idea for using Rhodes dinner rolls.  We loved these.  They are 135/roll (the calories depend on how many rolls you make, we made 9) and everyone gave these a perfect 10.  So good.

Last but not least come the cookies. We got this recipe from Baking From My Home To Yours from Dorie Greenspan. These are incredibly chocolatey and delicious. Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Chunkers
1/3 c flour
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
3 T butter, chopped into 3 pieces
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 eggs, at room temperature
2/3 c sugar
1 t vanilla
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 oz white chips (or milk chocolate chips)
1 c cherry Craisins (Dori calls for raisins or apricots)
(Dori also calls for 1 1/2 c coarsely chopped nuts.  Because I can't send any nuts to school, we went nut free)

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheet with parchment.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder.  (I just whisked them together, I missed the whole sifting thing :))
Melt butter and chocolate together til smooth and shiny.  Set it on the counter to cool.
Beat together the eggs and the sugar until pale and foamy, about 2 minutes with a stand mixer.  Beat in the vanilla and scrape down the bowl.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the chocolate butter mixture.  Mix until just incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl again and add the dry ingredients.  Mix until the dry ingredients disappear into the dough, which will be thick, smooth and shiny.  Mix in the chunks.  Drop by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes (I only needed 10), then remove from sheet to cool. 

My recipe made 24 cookies, and each cookie was 189 calories.  Aaron gave these an 8, saying he wasn't too sure about the fruit but thought they were great.  Owen and I gave them a 9, and Noah gave them a perfect 10.  It's nice he likes all my food so much :)  Don't those cookies look great!  I wish I could eat more of them, too bad they aren't calorie free.

Tomorrow we're having some crockpot chicken and crockpot veggies.

Sticky Sticky Buns

We had a birthday celebration for my mother today, and she doesn't like cake, so my father put me in charge of making the "birthday cake," and after remembering, fondly, our mutual love of Cinnabon, I decided to make her some goody sticky buns.  In the Throwdown cookbook they are called Sticky Sticky Buns, and they are divine.  I had never made brioche before, and I am now a changed woman.  Brioche is what all sweet rolls should be made out of, don't even bother worrying about the calories.  These buns are delicious.  My dad said out of 10 they were a 15.  My mother, myself and Noah gave them a 10, and Owen and Aaron (who does NOT like any kind of roll like this) gave them a 9.  So in other words, these were awesome.  The brioche recipe I linked to is a double batch, so either cut it in half or double the goo and filling ingredients.  I cut these way smaller than the recipe called for, the said to make 8 sticky buns and I made 20, so yeah, a lot different, but my sticky buns were only 340 (only!) calories, while the original recipe for 8 sticky buns was around 900/roll.  I think I'll stick with the smaller rolls :).  I didn't mind the large amount of proofing time, it was worth it.  These are special occasion food for us, since we can't eat all of them, but if you want some, call me up and I'll make you some and save one or two for myself :).

Tomorrow we're having some pork, potatoes, rolls, and corn from my dad's garden (thanks Dad!), and some cookies for school next week.  The donuts will have to show up later this week, we aren't having them tonight.