Happy Tuesday! I keep thinking it’s Monday because of the holiday…arg.
We have a lot going on at Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza HQ this week – doctor’s appointments, playdates, after-school activities, etc. That means the meals this week have to be easy and/or make-ahead in the crock pot. Also, it’s going to be cold here this week, so I’m aiming for cozy, warm, wintry meals. Here’s this week’s menu:
Tuesday: Baked ziti; salad; garlic bread. Baked ziti is one of my go-to meals, because I usually have all of the ingredients on hand.
Here’s the recipe for the baked ziti. Keep in mind that I don’t really measure; I adapted this from a recipe from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from a billion years ago, and that’s from where the original measurements came.
Preheat oven to 375.
Brown 1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey or sausage – I’ve used each and they’ve all worked fine. You can also sauté vegetables for this, with or without the meat – it’s good!) in a skillet. Once the ground beef is all cooked (no pink), drain it.
At the same time, boil water and cook 3 cups dry ziti (yields 6 cups cooked ziti). Drain.
Stir together (I use the same pot in which I boiled the pasta) the cooked ziti, meat, 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I use Newman’s Own Marinara or Tomato and Basil), 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Spoon into 9×13 dish. Top with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and/or more mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake 20 min.
Voila!
Wednesday: Crock pot BBQ chicken; rolls; roasted broccoli.
Couldn’t be easier: put chicken breasts in the crock pot – they can even be frozen when you put them in! Add a bottle (or most of a bottle – you judge) of your favorite BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. I serve it with little rolls for slider-type sandwiches.
Thursday: Chicken quesadillas, made with the leftover crock pot chicken; corn pudding.
Again, easy-peasy. I make the quesadillas on our stove-top griddle with the leftover chicken and cheddar cheese. A crowd favorite at our house.
Here’s the recipe for the corn pudding (it’s our family recipe):
Ingredients:
- 1 can cream-style corn
- 1 heaping tablespoon flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/2 stick butter, melted
- 3/4 c. milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 can corn
Preheat oven to 350.
Beat eggs. Dissolve flour in cold milk. May have to pour through a strainer to get the lumps out (I don’t think I’ve ever done that, but that’s what the recipe says). Mix all ingredients together. Butter 1 1/2- or 2-quart casserole. Pour mixture in.
Bake 1 hour at 350 (until no liquidy wiggle on top).
Friday: Not sure yet. I might make the cheeseburger pie again because it was such a big hit!
What are you cookin’ up this week?
Thanks for stopping by!
My people love corn casserole!
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