Weekly Line Up - 5/30-6/5

I can't believe that today is the last day of school for my kiddos!! We are looking forward to a lot of fun activities this summer and I can't wait to be able to hang out with my kids a bit more... Special supper planned for tonight since it's the last day of school and my second boys' birthday is tomorrow so he got to pick whatever he wanted to for supper. Not a lot of effort on my part, but hey - whatever floats his boat! :) Have a great week, here's the line up for us...

Friday - *Ground Beef Totchos
Saturday - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches/Spaghettios/Grapes/Chips/Vanilla Sundaes (Beau's Birthday Dinner)
Sunday - Birthday Party
Monday - Spaghetti and Meatballs
Tuesday - Crockpot Cheeseburgers
Wednesday - Round Steak Casserole
Thursday - Pick Your Own

* = New Recipes

Potato Mice

Last summer we started letting the kids pick out their own meal, once a week on a rotating basis. They have a tendency to pick the same things over and over so I wanted to be able to pick some of the meals also - you know how I like to shake it up a bit every week with something new! I gave them a cookbook that I had gotten at a book fair and let them choose recipes from there as well. Brody found this super cute recipe and we made it up one night. They turned out really fun and the kids enjoyed them, even though they didn't eat all the "add-ons" - at least they ate the potatoes!

Potato Mice
(recipe found in Mama and Me Cookbook)

4 baking potatoes
radishes
cherry tomatoes
raisins
green onions
chives
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 tablespoons butter

Wash potatoes and pat them dry. Prick the skins with a fork and put the potatoes on a baking sheet. Brush them all over with oil. Bake the potatoes until they are soft. Remove from oven and let cool until you are able to handle them. Cut the tops off and carefully scoop out the centers. Mash the soft centers with butter, milk, 3/4 of the cheese, salt and pepper. Then put the mixture back into the potato skins. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the potatoes and cook under the broil for a few minutes until golden,. Make a nose and whiskers with half a tomato held in place with a toothpick and chives tucked behind it. Finish decorating with raisin eyes, radish ears and green onion tails.

Guilt Free Apple Dessert

I have been trying harder to get in a few extra servings of fruits and vegetables in and this was a great way to do it! It tasted like a sweet dessert without being full of sugar... Definitely a good snack that I have had a few times since the first time!

Guilt Free Apple Dessert
(recipe found on pinterest)

apple
cinnamon, to taste
1/4 cup water

Using apple corer, core apple and arrange slices in microwave safe bowl. Add water, cover and microwave for two minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza Soup

I love when a recipe is super yummy and easy to throw together... Although this one was a little higher in calories then I wanted, it was really tasty and the oldest 2 boys and I slurped it right down. The younger 2 weren't so excited about it, but I think that they are going through a not eating stage - they don't finish anything lately!! Drives me nuts, but they are still growing fast so I don't worry about it too much...

Barbecue Chicken Pizza Soup
(recipe found on pinterest via picky-palate.com)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
1 (11 ounces) can corn with peppers, drained
2 (12 ounces) cans chicken, drained (I just baked up chicken breasts and chopped them before adding them to the soup)
1 1/2 Cups chicken broth
1/2 cup berbecue sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped


Heat oil into a medium pot over medium heat. When hot, saute onions for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic, corn and chicken breast; mix to combine. Pour in chicken broth, barbecue sauce, salt, pepper, garlic salt and cilantro leaves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until ready to serve.

Pepperoni Pizza Lasagna Roll Ups

For some reason I enjoy lasagna roll ups much more then regular lasagna. They might take a litle more effort to prepare in the beginning but they are fabulous! When I saw this pepperoni pizza version, I knew that my family had to try this recipe because I figured that they would love it and I was right!! They dug straight in everyone wanted more. I would definitely double this recipe next time because there wasn't enough for everyone to have more than 1 and there definitely wasn't enough for leftovers the next day. Definitely a redo though!

Pepperoni Pizza Lasagna Roll Ups
(recipe found on pinterest via rachelcooks.com)

10 traditional lasagna noodles, cooked, drained and rinsed with cold water
2 cups pizza sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 ounces sliced pepperoni (50-60 slices)

Preheat oven to 350. Cook noodles according to directions on package and rinse with cold water. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and spread 1/2 cup of pizza sauce into the bottom of the pan. Set aside. Meanwhile, prepare filling in a large bowl by mixing beaten egg, ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, parsley and pepper until well combined. To prepare lasagna rolls, lay out one lasagna noodle and spread it with about 2 tablespoons of cheese filling. Lay out 5-6 pepperoni on top of cheese filling. Roll up each noodle starting at one of the short ends. Place in prepared baking dish, seam side down. Repeat until all noodles have been filed and rolled. Pour 1 and 1/2 cups pizza sauce over the rolls and top with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes (remove foil for last 10-15 minutes) or until hot and cheese is melted. Let stand about 10 minutes prior to serving.

Weekly Line Up - 5/23-5/28

Busy week this week with the end of school, my mom's birthday, Memorial Day, the hubs' birthday and one of my boys' birthday party!! Trying to not go too crazy with extra goodies, but I will have enough to get done without anything extra! :) Here's the line up...

Friday - Slow Cooker Pulled Beef Sandwiches
Saturday - Pick Your Own
Sunday - *Snickatella Pie (Mom's birthday dessert)/Grilled Cheese and Spaghettios for supper
Monday - *Bunkouse Beans, *Clown Cupcakes, *Salted Caramel Frosting (Memorial Day contribution and my son's birthday treats...)
Tuesday - *Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Ribs, Corn Casserole, Chocolate Pie (Hubs birthday dinner)
Wednesday - *Slow Cooker Rustic Italian Chicken
Thursday - Cheese and Chicken Stuffed Shells

* = New Recipes

Extras: Reese's Popcorn (Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Gift)

Cat in the Hat Skewers

These cute Cat in the Hat skewers were also on my list for Dr. Seuss night at ECFE. They were super easy to throw together - I only had a red food coloring pen and couldn't find a fine point black edible pen at the store that I was shopping at, so I wasn't super impressed with how the faces turned out but they got the idea when they were scarfing them down! :)

large marshmallows
strawberries
bananas

Follow the picture for directions on how to recreate these skewers!