Week Two Dinner Plan

Week Two Meal Plan is loaded with recipes by The Pinstriped Pantry, I hope you enjoy them! My favorite hamburger seasoning, grilled tilapia, and pulled pork sandwiches will be coming soon, so keep an eye open for those recipes!

Monday- Hamburger BBQ
Tuesday- Grilled Tilapia cooked with Lemons and Garlic with Quinoa and corn
Wednesday- Yummy Ritz Cracker Chicken with rice and Cooked Carrots
Thursday- Loaded Spaghetti with turkey kielbasa and steamed squash
Friday- Grandma's Chicken Marinade with Sweet Potatoes and steamed broccoli
Saturday- Quinoa Chicken Nuggets with Seasoned Oven Fries and frozen peas
Sunday- Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Pasta Salad

No-Bake Raspberry Lemonade Dessert

Oh my, this dessert is amazing!! My mom received this recipe from one of her co-workers and we have loved it since then. Right after I graduated from high school, I competed for Miss Utah representing our county and we had a send-off party and served this dessert there because it was such a favorite of ours! I like how easy it is to make and it can serve quite a few people too. Who would've thought that putting Ritz Crackers and frozen lemonade together would taste this amazing? It's like a Better Than Anything Cake in a light, fruity form. And if you haven't tried Better Than Anything Cake, you have to make that one too, it's the real chocolaty goodness you need in your life! This dessert is one of those that, if you make it for yourself, you keep going back to the fridge to take just another small slice, and it's gone by the end of the day. This recipe was given to my mom by one of her coworkers and has been passed around for a while, I added the raspberries for a fun little texture change!
I'm all about light summer desserts because it seems like there is always another party to go to during the summer. I'm a Mormon (you can learn more about our religion here, and no....we don't practice plural marriages) and when boys turn 18 and girls turn 19, they are given the opportunity to choose to serve a mission for our church. And since everyone is out of school for the summer, many of them leave during those months. Coming from a small town, everyone knows everyone else, and we attend a meeting where the person leaving or returning gives some remarks and then afterwards, we have a dinner and visiting afterwards. So, it seems like almost every Sunday, there is a dinner going on that you can contribute to. So, desserts and salads are on repeat for about five months, and I really don't mind.

Loaded Spaghetti Sauce for Two

Spaghetti is one of my favorite meals ever! I love how tasteful and filling it is every time you eat it! I am very used to cooking it with pre-made marinara sauce, but thought it would be nice to try a sauce by myself. It's been gloomy here for the past while with scattered rain showers and cloud coverage for the last couple of weeks, with the occasional sun peeking in through the clouds every once-in-a-while. So, a warm and filling meal is exactly what we needed!  I also realized that taking photos when the sun is peaking out of the clouds isn't the best idea for spaghetti sauce, lighting was pretty off when I was taking these photos, but I think that they ended up turning out okay!
I like my spaghetti sauce to be filled with everything, but you could easily take those things out and it wouldn't make that much of a difference. I changed this recipe up a bit from Fox and Briar. Her recipe is marinara sauce and it is about double the amount as mine, so try that one if you want a little more of a simple marinara sauce!

Summer Salads

I am so excited to share this recipe round-up with you all! I have been working on this for the month of July and it's such a great collaboration! I will be posting once each month with these bloggers to share with you recipes that we love! So, keep an eye open for some new recipes to try and introduce yourself to new flavors!

These summer salads are tried and true by these bloggers and they will for sure be a hit at your summer get-togethers. I love salads in the summer because they work for pretty much anything. Make them for yourself and you have lunch for a few days, or for a potluck BBQ.

Chicken Stir-Fry for Two

Making dinner is the summer is a struggle some days! When it's so warm outside, you just don't want to turn your oven on and cook food. But sadly, you just have to eat! I have tried for months to make a stir-fry that I have actually really enjoyed. Most of the time, I just choose to make the frozen bags because it cooks so much better! I try so many different recipes and they have not worked for me. They're too spicy, soggy, meaty, etc. and I just haven't found one that I'd like to use again. It's also so difficult to find one just to feed two people! So, I decided to try one for myself, and I personally really enjoyed it. Michael said it was his favorite one yet too, so that makes two...all we need in our house!

I had to fix the problems that I didn't like. Soggy stir-fry is not something I like AT ALL!! I don't like mixing foods very much because they all mush, so I decided to cook the stir-fry and sauce seperately. I made the teriyaki in a pot and it turned out just fine! My favorite teriyaki recipe is from Food.com. There is extra sauce, but I usually save it for a couple of days and put it on leftovers and rice. I also wanted a good amount of meat to veggies. I used one chicken breast and cut it into larger pieces. I also limited the veggies what we wanted and cooked them all together! 

Week One Dinner Plan

I'm excited to start sharing dinner plans with all of you. One of the hardest things for me when we were first married was planing meals. My mom did a wonderful job of it growing up. She would let each child pick a meal they wanted from a list and we would help make that meal on the night it was planned for. She let us help with shopping at times, and it was always fun to be part of the whole meal process. After a while into our marriage, I decided I wanted to plan meals a little better and did just what my mom did, planning meals and shopping once each week for all of them. This actually saves money, because taking daily trips to the sotre, you don't see how much money you are spending on food, where when you take one trip you see how much you are putting towards your groceries, and make sure that you're only purchasing needed items.

Lemon Bread

This lemon bread is fantastic! It makes one loaf, so that's perfect for a small number of people. This is, of course, more of a dessert bread, so the one loaf works great for me so I can make sure not to overeat like crazy. Bread is one thing that Michael and I can eat a TON of (and sadly, it doesn't even matter which kind). This lemon bread has been a favorite of mine for years. One of our family friends made it for us every year for Christmas, and it was one of my favorite Holiday treats. After we were married, Michael tried some and absolutely LOVED it, and even asked for it on his birthday instead of a cake. So, it's now on repeat for our treats we choose every once-in-a-while. 

This bread is pretty simple to make. I use my KitchenAid to mix it. Honestly, I use my Kitchen Aid all of the time. For breakfast, I like to beat pancake or waffle batter in it, and it always leaves it perfect. Muffin mix in this thing is great too, especially if you're using fresh fruit, because it doesn't mash them up too much. I also use it to mash motatoes (instead of actually mashing them) and it whips them up to make them super creamy. You can also knead bread in your KitchenAid! And, of course, I use it for all of my desserts that I love: cookie dough, brownie and cake batter, breads, and cupcakes. It's my go-to, and I am always so excited to find something new to do with it. 

Garden Rotini Pasta Salad

For a family get-together, my aunt brought this wonderful pasta salad. She told me how simple it was, and I HAD to make it! This is my new go-to for gatherings. I also like to make it and eat it for almost every single meal throughout the week...it's just that good. I like this recipe too because you can really cater it towards who you are feeding. If you're at an adult gathering, use more of a specialized dressing, spicier pepperoni, and sharper cheese. For kids, use a more simple dressing and flavors that aren't as strong. If you've ever had Suddenly Salad, this is pretty much the same thing, but tastes more fresh! When we were younger, my mom used to make a pasta salad like this, and my siblings and I used to call them "Hakuna Matata Noodles" because they reminded us of the food Simone and Pumba ate on The Lion King. Pretty smart on my mom's part to get us to eat our lunch!
Really, this recipe is so simple. I like to use Kraft dressing because it has a really good taste! I buy the garden noodles to make them a little bit more nutritious, they use spinach and other veggies mixed into the noodles!

Spinach and Basil Lasagna

This was my very first time making lasagna and I loved it! We usually opt for Stouffer's Lasagna, but thought that we would like a healthier option. We also knew exactly what was being put into this dish, and that's a lot more reasurring than eating frozen food. I found this recipe from Healthy Seasonal Recipes and I love how it can be catered toward your preferences of cheese, noodles, and beef. The spinach is also a plus, spinach is always a plus actually!
I halved this recipe, and it still could've fed 4-6 people. We had leftovers and then some. But, it's a great aount of lasagna for two people still, it would easily last three meals! We really loved this recipe and I am so excited for you all to try it!
I was surprised at the simplicity of this lasagna, I think I have always thought it was a very difficult meal to prepare, and while it did take more time than some meals, it wasn't the most difficult meal I have prepared, and didn't take up a lot of my time. This recipe is your meat, carbs, and vegetables all rolled into one. I still steamed some broccoli for more veggies, but I spend about the same amount of time in preparation of this meal as most meals, it just took a little longer to cook. It tasted fresh, healthy, and warmed us right up. I'll definately be keeping this meal on our meal plans!