What's for dinner {February 2019}

I am sitting here finally getting to my coffee, which is much needed after a crazy day and daylight savings.  I am going to look on the bright side and enjoy the lighter evenings and savor these last few cooler days.   It's the beginning of the week and I besides being tired (I'm just assuming we are all in the same boat), we still have to feed our families.  They need food. Always.  And with that, let's talk talk meal inspiration.  This is one of those posts where I fill you in on some yummy recipes we discovered during the previous month.  In order to make to this post, they have to be recipes that I would want to make again and think that you should too.

So, let's talk food.  And drool.  And maybe do some menu planning while we are at it. 

 Sheet Pan Fajitas were just the easiest things ever!  Not to mention, I really REALLY love sheet pan meals!  This one made enough for two meals so another win and a night off from cooking for me!  It also didn't take a ton of time to prep and everything cooked at the same time and everyone could eat what they want.  Seriously, this was a definite win!  Another perk of sheet pan dinners. . . minimal dishes: cutting board, knife, and sheet pan.  Seriously, easiest thing ever! Also, because it's technically a whole 30 recipe (we added tortillas), the ingredients are super clean. . . no yucky stuff here!  After this sheet pan dinner, I may never make fajitas

You can find this recipe here.

Pineapple Teriyaki Meatball Skewers
Let's be honest.  Not all recipes come from a perfectly curated Pinterest board or a fancy recipe book.  And not everything can be made from scratch all the time.  Like you, we are busy.  There are practices and climbing classes and doctors appointments, and tons of other things that keep you busy (It's why we drink coffee at 3:00!).  Sometimes, you just need to keep some go-to products in your freezer that you can just grab on nights like these.  Costco is my favorite place to grab random quick dinner starters, like the Aidells Teriyaki Pineapple Meatballs.  On the back of the package is a picture of pretty kabobs.  I remembered the pineapple. . . not the peppers.  They were still good.  I made a random pinterest teriyaki recipe (that I forgot to save. . . oops) and served them over rice.  Ethan even begged to eat them in his lunch the next day. 

Note: WESTON couldn't eat this because even thought we use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, the meatballs have soy sauce in them.  He did eat the rice with some sauce on top and some chicken nuggets and was a happy camper.  If you have kids with food allergies, sometimes chicken nuggets are a thing. 

The official recipe for these is here.

Marinades are my favorite for making dinner super tasty, especially when we are at the point of cleaning out the fridge.  This particular dinner was the last 3 sweet potatoes that baked, the last of the romaine and some kale from the garden, croutons I made with the last few pieces of sourdough bread and some New Primal Ceasar Dressing.  The chicken, I grilled after it sat in marinade for a few hours.  This dinner ended up being fabulous, not a ton of work, and I didn't have to go to the store to get anything.  My favorite Marinades are these two:

Basalmic & Honey

Best Ever Chicken Marinade

Panini nights have been reappearing more and more lately. Probably because they are so easy and everyone is happy with their dinner.  NO ONE COMPLAINS about anything!  Not to mention, we've discovered some really neat new dairy free cheeses that MELT and Taste good! QWNo joke.  The non dairy industry is getting really good at making delicious options.  But that's another story, for another day (soon, I promise!).  There are tons of recipes on Pinterest, but the reality is. . . some good lunch meat (we love the Plainville Farms Roasted Turkey), some Pesto, and your favorite cheese.  Then, you can add whatever your heart desires: bacon, roasted red peppers, tapenade, grilled onions. . . the list could keep going! 

And to make it even easier, we keep a bag of frozen tater tots or sweet potato fries.  Definitlely one of the easiest meals. 

It's lemon season and one of our favorite things to do is make lemonade.  I'm pretty sure my kids could live off the stuff.  This year, I found this recipe and I think I'm going to make it again tomorrow.  It's delicious and super refreshing!  Plus, so easy.  There's no simple syrup making or anything. 

You can find it here.

I finally got around to making No Crumbs Left's famous marinated onions.  Seriously, the best things ever.  I put them on everything. . . salads and sandwiches instantly become so much better (even if they were good before!).  Plus, they just sit on your counter and marinate.  Then, after you are all done with the onions, you just use the marinade for your chicken breasts or a salad dressing.  Nothing goes to waste.  THESE NEED to be in your menu plan this week. 

You can find the recipe and a video here.


And that's February's wrap up.  You can see what i'm cooking up each week on my instagram feed and in my instagram highlights under "what's cooking."

Have you discovered a recipe that you think NEEDS to be on my table?  Leave a comment with a link and maybe it will be on my menu plan.