Dresden's menu 8-27

We are headed to Wyoming this weekend to visit my aunt & uncle on their mission. We are very excited to learn more about the Pioneers and do a little camping :)

Until then, here is my menu for the week

Monday: Chicken Quesadillas with guacamole

Tuesday: Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

UPDATE: This recipe was delicious. My husband doesn't like rice and he had multiple servings of this. I halved the recipe and made it in an 8x8 pan. It took about an hour and 20 minutes to cook. I will for sure be making this one again.

image source

Wednesday: Hamburgers

Thursday: Cajun Chicken Pasta

Friday-Sunday: Wyoming!

Broccoli Pasta Salad

Hey everyone, it's Kari! 

I've posted on this blog before but that was pre-baby and now that I'm just barely getting back into blogging (my baby may or may not be almost 14 months old - oops!) Natalie asked me to post this recipe for a salad I made the last time she and her husband (and her bump) came to dinner!

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I first saw this recipe on Pinterest and posted it to my board in hopes to someday make it and I'm glad I finally did!

If you like the broccoli salad from Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes you'll like this too!

The original recipe was a little different from what I ended up making because I tried to use mostly what I already had on hand,

This is the original recipe:

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 (16-oz.) package farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
• 1 pound fresh broccoli
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup diced red onion
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
• 8 cooked bacon slices, crumbled 

This is what mine ended up being:

• 10 oz. bow-tie pasta (Instead of 8 oz. - I kinda wanted it to be more hearty)
• 1 lb. fresh broccoli
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup diced red onion
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (didn't have red wine vinegar)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups red grapes, halved
• 6 cooked bacon slices, crumbled (Instead of 8 slices - we ended up using some of the chewy bacon pieces for the burgers)
• 1/2 cup cashews (didn't have pecans - also didn't roast them)

Cook bow-tie pasta until it is al dente, let cool. While pasta is cooking cut broccoli into bite size florets.

Combine mayo, sugar, onion, vinegar and salt in a small bowl.
Toss pasta and broccoli and grapes in large bowl, pour mayo mixture over. (In the original recipe it says to refrigerate at this point for 3 hours - I didn't have time for this at first, but I do think the pasta was better second day, so if you have time to make it ahead you can stop at this point!)
Before serving toss in bacon and cashews.

It makes for a perfect summer salad and was delicious with burgers and corn on the cob!

Enjoy!

Turkey Kabobs (turkey tenders)

My husbands family has these every year on the 4th of July and they are quite popular. For some reason I haven't ever been a fan of turkey, but I really like these and I have slowly been liking turkey more and more.

These are really delicious & lean, and go great with any side dish.

Ingredients:

turkey tenders

1 c. 7-Up (I use Sprite)

1/2 vegetable oil

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. horseradish powder

Cut turkey into chunks and place in ziploc bag with remaining ingredients. Marinade overnight in the fridge. Grill over medium heat for 5-7 minutes each side, turning only once.

About the recipe:

I'll be honest, the first time I read this recipe I thought horseradish powder said worchestershire sauce, how that happened...I have NO IDEA!! So I still replace mine with 1/2-3/4 t. worchestershire sauce and we love it. So if you don't have horseradish powder, use worchestershire sauce.

The turkey tenders I found were in a package from Jennie-O and came in 3 large pieces. For the two of us I used 1 1/2 and froze the rest. The first time I cut them they were large enough to go on the grill alone, the second time they kinda fell apart so we skewered them so they wouldn't fall through on the grill. I recommend cutting them smaller for more flavorful meat. They taste great reheated as leftovers or even cold and shredded on a sandwich.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

This cookie recipe comes from my mom and it's my favorite. I don't like a lot of cookies, but I love these. I will warn you now...they are no where near healthy :)

Ingredients:

1 milk chocolate Betty Crocker cake mix

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (room temp)

1 cube butter (room temp)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cream cheese & butter.

Then add the remaining ingredients- cake mix, egg & vanilla.

Spoon dollops of cake mix on a greased cookie sheet, don't form balls, these are supposed to be kinda chunky and medium to big sized.

Bake for 8-10 mins, these are quite moist so be sure not to overbake them. Bake one sheet and let them cool enough to taste then adjust time from there.

My mom is also known for her cherry chip version of these cookies. Just replace the chocolate cake mix with Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake mix. My brothers love them.

With my mom half a world away these make her feel a little closer.

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

I'm so glad Kristine introduced me to this easy, yummy dessert all those years ago :)

It's the perfect summer dessert because it uses up all those perfect summer strawberries. I LOVE summer fruit. This shortcake is so easy and yummy- everyone I've ever made it for LOVES it.

All she does is follow the instructions on the side of the Bisquick box for the shortcake, but instead of making individual ones, she puts the dough into an 8x8 pan and tops it with the sugar. Then when it's done baking, you slice pieces. It's much faster and easier. Fill with sugared strawberries and FRESH whipped cream for a super yummy dessert. I feel like all of the guys I've served this to especially love it.

Easy Taco Salad

Every week I ask my husband what he wants for dinner, and every week he says "taco salad". It's kind of become a joke because I feel like it's such a random thing to crave all the time. I don't make it every week, but I try to fit it in as much as my taste allows. It's a super easy and fast dinner, and it's completely customizable which is good for us because we like a lot of different toppings!

Here's some things you need for 2 servings:
1 head Romaine, chopped small (or any leafy green. Spinach works too)
1/2 pound of Ground beef, cooked and drained (we eat everything cool on the salad, not hot)
1/2 can each Kidney and pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I freeze what we don't use for the next time)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Handful of crunched up tortilla chips on top
We top our salads with either a dollop of sour cream or homemade ranch dressing
I've also added olives, chopped tomatoes or salsa, cilantro, limes, diced onion or green onion and avocado!

The meat and beans are hidden underneath!

We pile everything up in a big bowl and top each salad with our favorite things. It's a fun dinner especially for guests, I think, because you get to pick and choose your toppings. Hope you enjoy!

Pot Roast- In the Crock Pot!

I think one of everyone's favorite Sunday meals is the trusty pot roast and vegetables. It was a common smell on Sunday afternoons when we got home from church. My favorite part was always the yummy, tender veggies. I think I thought it was a difficult dish to make, when really it takes less than ten minutes to get it all in the pot and cooking! I heart crock pot meals. I especially love buying a bigger piece of meat on sale for a meal like this and then I use the leftovers for one or more meal remixes. I turned this leftover meat into yummy fried shredded beef tacos.

Here's what you need:
Serves at least 4 people (just two of us ate this and I had a ton of leftovers)
3-4 pound chuck roast (depending on the size of your crock pot)
3 non baking potatoes (I really prefer the creaminess of yukon gold)
Half a red onion
1 cup baby carrots
Big handful of green beans, stems cut off
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon season salt
All I did was put the roast on the bottom of the pot, put the season salt on it, then threw in the veggies, potatoes and onion cut into big chunks and everything else thrown in on top. Then I covered them in the seasonings and salt and pepper. You can add other seasonings if there's a flavor you prefer- These are just the seasonings we like here. I put the top on, put it on high for four hours (or you can do low for six or more hours). When we ate, the meat was SO tender, the veggies were perfect and not overdone or soggy. I took some of the juice at the bottom of the crock pot, ladled it into a pot on the stove and simmered it on low to reduce it a bit for a quick pan gravy. Make sure to taste it for seasonings because I added a little more salt. Serve the meat with the veggies and top it off with a little of the gravy. It's an all in one meal pretty much. All it needs is a little bread on the side. I think this dinner is fancy enough for Sunday dinner but simple enough for a weeknight meal, like we had it last week. Yum!