Quick Dinners

Thought I would share some of my easy dinner ideas that I've been making lately. It's hard to get home at 6pm and still plan dinner, so I like to throw things together from what I already have in my pantry. This is to help those that may not feel creative sometimes! These recipes are easily modified to please your individual taste buds!

Greek Chicken Pasta

- Rotisserie chicken (shredded - or about 2 cups or pre-cooked chicken that you may already have!)
- Pasta**: whatever amount to feed your family (again, making it easy, I usually buy the 6 pack from costco so I'll use whatever I have on hand, also delicious with whole wheat penne for those of you who like it)
- Black olives (you could buy kalamata olives if you like them, but since I usually have black in my pantry, I'll use those)
- Spinach
- Feta Cheese (I use a whole container 5oz container)
- Greek Salad Dressing (you could make homemade but that's pretty much the only dressing we use!)
- Optional: Red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, sunflower seeds

Cook pasta as directed. Once cooked, drain and toss in chicken (if you haven't just shredded a rotisserie chicken I would heat your chicken up), a few handfuls of spinach (use raw spinach and the heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach a little), the whole 5oz container of feta, half can of olives (halved). If you want to add onions and tomatoes go for it, I just don't like them. Toss a little greek dressing on it and it's ready to eat!

**I use 1/2lb of pasta when I make it and it serves 4. This is great served hot but also really good leftover cold right out of the fridge! It's nothing fancy but it's one of my go-to quick dinners.


Kraft Recipe Makers!

So I recently discovered these Recipe Makers that are so awesome! They do have an expiration date (so not ideal for food storage) but I like to pick one up at the store when I know I have a busy week ahead. They have a HUGE variety of flavors and inside the box there is 3 recipes using the sauces it comes with. They're probably not the healthiest but it's nice to have something that tells you what to make but also gives you options! The Verde Chicken Enchilada has become one of our favorites. I have made an enchilada casserole using ground beef and also regular enchiladas using chicken. The possibilities are endless. Another one our favorites is the Sweet and Sour Chicken flavor. I made turkey meatballs (frozen) and used the simmer sauce to cook them in, then added onion, red pepper and pineapple to the sauce. I served it over rice and topped it with the finishing sauce and viola! Just another quick dinner idea!

I have discovered this is becoming my niche so as I come up with more, I will keep sharing! I don't know about the rest of you, but I am always looking for easy AND delicious. I like to fool people into thinking it was more work than it really was ;-)