Vietnamese Chicken Pho. It’s good every time. This time I made the broth just using chicken breasts (tastes just as good!). It was a lot faster since I didn’t have to de-bone and there wasn’t as much fat. I’m definitely going to do it this way from now on.

Black Bean Soup. Another favorite of ours. During this cooking week, I made a batch so big that I stuck a couple bags in the freezer. I took it out and had instant dinner!

Week of 9/9 – 9/13
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Tacos (or Sopas)
Wednesday: White Chicken Chili
Thursday: Leftovers (for dinner club)
Friday: Pizza/sushi night

I had diverted a bit from my planned menu. I was craving soups, which is pretty crazy because it’s over 100 degrees outside. I’m strange like that sometimes. We also didn’t have dinner club this week, so I didn’t need to make a giant batch of anything so my plan for this week is changed to next week. What was your favorite meal this week? Mine was the Pho. It’s just so good!

Baked Spaghetti. I made a couple pans of this and it was perfect for making for a large group. The group seemed to like it, but my girls on the other hand, they didn’t like it. They weren’t big fans of the ricotta cheese. I used whole wheat spaghetti in it, but maybe the thinner noodles might have been better. Either way, I liked it, but it’s not on my top 10 list to make again.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts. We love Brussels sprouts! You really can’t go wrong with roasting vegetables.

Mexican Pizza. One afternoon I made a several balls of pizza dough and popped them in the freezer. I really should do that more often because it makes for an easy meal.

Caramelized Onions & Prosciutto Pizza. We had a package of prosciutto sitting in our fridge for a couple months now and once I made a batch of pizza dough, I knew the prosciutto would make a great pizza topper. This is our first time trying prosciutto and it’s like a milder form of bacon. That combination of salty with the sweet from the caramelized onions made a really good pizza. This is going on my list of favorite pizzas.

Chicken Tikka Masala. This was my first meal made in my crock-pot. Woot! Woot! It did take some time to chop everything, but it was nice to just throw it in. Erin sent me this recipe (thanks Erin!) and it was definitely a good first recipe to try! I doubled it for our dinner club, but my batch needed more salt. I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to salt and this one definitely needed more than I put. Other than that, it was so tasty! Plus, it was spicy, which usually guarantees we will love it. Love this recipe!

Week of 9/2 – 9/6
Monday: Sopas
Tuesday: Vietnamese Pho
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: White Chicken Chili (crock-pot night!)
Friday: Pizza/sushi night

I’m really excited about my new crock-pot and can’t wait to try the recipes that some of you sent me already. If any of you have any other good ones to try, do share! I’d love to add more to my list!

Turkey Meatloaf and Mashed Cauliflower. It’s not a particularly good looking meal, but it’s yummy. I made 3 pans full for our Tuesday Dinner Club and I think most liked it. If they didn’t, they were gracious guests and pretended they liked it! The mashed “potatoes” did make them a little nervous because they were all used to the super buttery kind with lots of potatoes, so they were thinking I was giving them soy potatoes or something. HA! They ate that too, so mashed cauliflower can’t be that bad, right?!

Week of  8/12 – 8/16

Monday: Avocado Pasta
Tuesday: Chicken Tagine (if Ben gets me a crock pot in time!)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Seafood Medley Pasta
Friday: Pizza/sushi night

Ben’s finally looking into getting me a crock pot! Yay! I’ve been telling him for the longest time that I wanted one, but there weren’t any with particularly good reviews or ratings when he looked awhile back, but I think this time around he might have found a couple. I can’t wait to try it out! I loved the suggestions some of you gave last week and if you have a particularly good recipe to cook in a crock pot, just email me directly because I really would love to try it! Thanks friends!

Fish Tacos. For the breading, I use whole wheat breadcrumbs, a little bit of cornmeal, parmesan cheese, and salt. It’s so simple and so good! I roast red onions and serranos together until they’re really crispy and top our tacos with it. The girls have theirs without the heat.

Black Bean Chili. I made a giant pot of this for our Tuesday Dinner Club with some people from our church family. We topped it with queso fresco, cilantro, avocados, and bacon (turkey and soy options). It was a good time of sharing life over a spicy meal!

Week 8/5 – 8/9

Monday: Probably left over Black Bean Chili (I made a giant pot)
Tuesday: Some pasta dish
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Vietnamese Pho
Friday: Pizza/sushi night

What are good dishes to cook for about 10 people? We want to keep our dinner club going weekly at our house, so I need some ideas of some easy things to cook for a large group (a big pot of chili was good for this week). I told Ben I need a crock pot because I think that would work well for a big dinner, but I’m kind of stuck and need more ideas. If you have any to share, I’d love to hear it!

I set out to make the girls some blueberry cookies, but as I was making it, I discovered that I didn’t have all the ingredients. I continued on my own merry way making it with what I had and guess substituting things I didn’t have. After all was said and done, the cookies came out like scones. Oh well!

I used this recipe, but I didn’t have sugar, so I left it out, and didn’t have sour cream, so I used greek yogurt. I didn’t have enough egg, so I went with what I had and well, don’t do what I did. Make sure you have all the ingredients before you set off to make something.

They just came out not really sweet and scone-like. It didn’t taste bad, but it wasn’t what I had in mind. Apparently, my girls didn’t mind one bit. They liked it, so I guess that’s all the matters.

Kimchi Fried Rice
approximately 6 servings 

Ingredients:
1. 4 cups day old rice
2. 1 egg per person
3. 2 chopped green onions (white portion for the fried rice, green for garnishing)
4. 1/2 can chopped turkey spam (optional, but I admit I’m a fan of spam)
5. 1 packet of seasoned seaweed (optional)
6. 3 cups good kimchi with its juices
Note: Look for deep red coloring in the juice, and the older the better! This can’t be made with fresh kimchi. If the kimchi you buy looks fresh (the cabbage leaves look white and not very flavorful), leave it outside on your kitchen counter overnight.
7. 2 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:
1. Heat up the sesame oil and add in the kimchi (save the juice and set aside). Sauté together, add in the spam, and continue combining it all together.
2. Add in the rice, and break it up mixing it with the kimchi.
3. Add the kimchi juice and the white parts of the green onions. The kimchi juice should turn the rice red.
4. Crumble or cut the seaweed and sprinkle it over and continue to combine it all together.
5. Taste and then season with more kimchi juice if needed.
6. Fry an over easy egg and add that on top. Garnish with the remaining green onions. Plate. Boom. Done. Enjoy!

This recipe is shared and made by my BFF. I just took pictures as she cooked it for us the day I had my little surgery to get my cyst taken care of. She’s such a pal! It was totally a minor procedure, but she came for moral support and to make us lunch. I’m thankful for her (and all the yummy food she’s ever introduced me to).

Seafood is my favorite type of food to eat, and Korean and Japanese are neck in neck right after. Korean food is just bomb diggity bomb. No joke. If you’ve never tried it, start with their Korean BBQ, and then work your way up to the bolder flavors. The first time I tried kimchi, it was too strong, but now I absolutely love it! There is much good flavor and spice. Spice! By now you all know how much we love spicy!!! Every time Linda has come over with dinner, it’s a new instant favorite and Ben and I are always trying to recreate it. Thanks for sharing the recipe Lin!!!