Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I absolutely loved this. Seth liked. The boys - not so much but I just heated up some red and/or white sauce for them while I put this on top of pasta.

I honestly did not really measure anything. I remembered seeing the recipe somewhere so I kind of just guessed and threw things together.

cherry tomatoes, cut in half
minced garlic
couple pinches of sugar
salt
pepper
basil
olive oil
shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients, except the cheese, in glass baking dish. Mix to combine. Roast at 375 for 10 minutes. At least that's what mine was, but my oven runs hot so it maybe should be like 400. You can turn on broil for a couple minutes at the end if you want.

As soon as it comes out sprinkle the cheese on top so it melts. Spoon on top of pasta for a main dish or just eat it as a side. Yum!!

Beef and Gravy

This was super flavorful and yummy. Cole saw it and started complaining that he hates gravy but once he ate it, he really liked it. We put ours on top of mashed potatoes, but it would be yummy on rice, pasta, probably even quinoa or something else a little more healthy. ;)

• 2-3 pounds beef, like a chuck roast (cut into 2 or 3 pieces)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ cups beef broth or stock
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1/3 cup flour
• 6-7 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Place the meat, salt, pepper and onion in a slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the garlic salt, Worcestershrie sauce, beef broth and ketchup. Pour over the meat.

Cook for 7-9 hours on low, or 4-5 on high. (Or as I often do, a combination of both.)

About 30 minutes before serving, combine the flour and water in a small bowl, whisking to combine well. The roux should be thick but still pourable. Pull out the chunks of meat from the slow cooker. Pour the flour mixture into the slow cooker, whisking quickly to mix in the roux with the juices and to avoid lumps. Shred the meat with 2 forks and put back into the sauce.

Cook on high for 30 minutes. Stir in ½ cup sour cream right before serving.


If it makes way too much, I'm sure you could freeze portions in ziploc bags and then thaw the day before in the fridge and reheat over the stove. 

Lentil and Rice Casserole

I don't even know that I'd call this a casserole, but that's what the recipe is called, so I'll stick with it. But this is an incredibly easy dinner. All my boys liked it. Even Seth. And he didn't even mention missing any meat, which is huge. I like to try and make a couple meals a month that are meatless and this is a perfect one. (Mom and Mandie tasted the leftovers of this at my house months ago and both really liked it too.)

Lentil and Rice Casserole
3 C. chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
3/4 C. lentils, cleaned and picked over
1/2 C. brown or white rice, uncooked
3/4 C. fresh onion (the recipe calls for that much, but I only do like 1/4 cup because it seems insane to put as much onion in as lentils and I worry it would overpower everything and my boys wouldn't like it, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad?? And one time I only had onion powder so I didn't put any fresh onion in.)
1/2 t. basil
1/4 t. oregano
1/4 t. thyme
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/2 C. cheese

1.  Combine all ingredients except cheese in a casserole dish.

2.  Cover and bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.

3.  At the last 20-30 minutes of baking, sprinkle cheese all over, bake uncovered.

Serve with any of the following: avocado/guacamole, sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips, cilantro or olives. (I've never put all of those at once, just chosen a few.)