Weekly Meal List

The hubs and I are trying to incorporate more vegetables into our diet so I've decided to start planning out veggies out too!

Tuesday: Honey Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Rice and Cucumbers in Vinegar

Wednesday: Spaghetti Bolognese, Garlic Bread, and Caesar Salad

Thursday: White Chicken Chili

Friday: Shrimp Lo Mein

Saturday: Cheez It Chicken and Asparagus with Red Potatoes

Sunday: *I'm leaving this open. I'm supposed to receive a recipe to make as part of a recipe exchange*

Monday: Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Broccoli

Buffalo Chicken Chili

You know that feeling when you come home and your husband has just baked chocolate chip cookies (or in my husbands case, lit our birthday cake scented candle and let it burn) and the delicious smell has filled your house? I love that smell. Making this was nothing like that.

Instead, imagine the smell of buffalo wings filling your entire house. As delicious as they taste, I'd rather come home to a house that smells like birthday cake, not buffalo wings. But the hubby loved it and has suggested we invent a buffalo scented candle since Yankee Candle has yet to put one on the market. Yeah, we'll get right on that babe.

Buffalo chicken chili does taste as good as it smells though, as long as that smell is contained to the steam wafting from my bowl. The original recipe for this, from Prevention RD, called for it to be made over the stove but I had no time and no other crock pot meal on the menu for that week so chili it was. Prevention RD had made this recipe twice and the second time she followed the recipe exactly and put the chicken and veggies in the food processor and pureed it all up. It's all a matter of preference but the next time I make this I'll stick to simply chopping everything up. The chili was spicy and delicious and a great alternative to your usual chili but the weird texture distracted a bit from the taste.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 large carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 large red pepper

5 cloves of garlic (I substituted a little garlic powder)

5 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (or your preferred buffalo wing sauce)

2 15 oz cans tomato sauce

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can black beans, drained (I, of course, omitted because of hubby's deep dislike of beans)

1 15 oz can chili beans in sauce (once again, these were omitted)

salt and pepper to taste (I left this out and we just added as needed while we were eating)

Put chicken breasts in food processor to grind up. Rinse out food processor and add carrots, celery, garlic, and red pepper and puree. (You can just choose to cut up all the veggies/chicken if you'd prefer for a different texture). Add veggies and chicken to crock pot along with the rest of ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Mozzarella and Feta Cheese Pizza

This pizza was inspired by my favorite Mediterranean restaurant and hookah bar in Atlanta: Cafe Istanbul. I started going there in high school with my older sister and I've seen it go from a tiny two room building to a much larger space with a VIP booth in the back. Most of the seating is on the floor with low tables and pillows. If you go during the weekend, there are belly dancers that come out every hour. It's so much fun. If you're ever in Atlanta, check it out.

As fun as the atmosphere is, the reason I go is for the food. Specifically, the Turkish Kayak Pizza. Its topped with mozzarella and feta gooeyness and is absolutely amazing. Me and the hubs can finish the whole thing by ourselves along with a hummus platter.

There's not really a recipe for this one, but the next time you decide to have pizza night in your house try this combination. You'll be hooked!

Blue Ribbon Chili

I've posted before about hubby's deep dislike of beans and my love for them. I was craving chili- real chili with beans- so I added it to our menu and kept quiet about the beans. My husband exhibited 5-year old tendencies during this meal and ate around every single bean and dumped them in the trash can, all while giving me a slightly nasty look. He can be so cute sometimes.

Even though hubby wasn't a fan, I loved it. This is a perfect chili recipe and we'll definitely be making it again. Recipe from And a Cookie for Dessert.

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 ts garlic salt

2.5 cups tomato sauce

8 oz salsa

4 tbsp (1 packet) chili seasoning mix

15 oz can light red kidney beans

15 oz can dark red kidney beans

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the ground beef and onion and saute for 10 minutes, until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain.

Add the beef mixture along with the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

I saw these on Bakerella and knew I had to make them! Oreos were my favorite childhood cookie and any combination of chocolate with something is usually amazing. I took a quick break from studying to make a batch of these and they were gone by the next day- hubby took half of them to work but that still means the 2 of us consumed an embarrassing amount...

I had originally planned to make these for the Super bowl in the shape of footballs like Bakerella did here. However, mine looked more like the "footblobs" she posted so I gave up and just rolled them into little balls.

1 package oreo cookies (divided, use cookie and cream center)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

white chocolate bark (I used dark chocolate)

Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later. Crush the remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help combine the two together. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Refrigerate 20 minutes.

Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration. Once dry, refrigerate. Enjoy!

Chicken Brunswick Stew

I love brunswick stew but this was my first time making it. The only other times I've had it has been with my aunt. She's from South Georgia and makes an amazing brunswick stew. Actually anything she makes is pretty amazing. She even catered our wedding!

This isn't her recipe it's from Crockpot Tuesdays. It was delicious and easy as almost all crock pot meals are. It makes a ton so Neil took some for lunch and we froze the rest for a later date.

2 large onions, chopped (I used two medium onions and it felt like a lot of onion. But I'm not a huge onion fan)

3 chicken breasts

2 cans cream-style corn

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

12 oz bottle chili sauce

1 can chicken broth

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup butter, cut up

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp sugar

Place onions in the bottom of the crock pot. Lay chicken breasts on top. Add the rest of the ingredients, and carefully stir to combine (without disturbing the chicken and onions). Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Place chicken back in the stew and stir to combine. Enjoy!

Honey Balsamic Glazed Chicken

I recently posted another balsamic chicken recipe. Even though these two recipes shared a common ingredient, they had completely different taste. I preferred the thicker glaze and taste of this one while my husband liked the balsamic, garlic and onion sauce of the first. I made a little extra sauce and we served it with white rice. Recipe from Food.com.

1.5 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 breasts)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp honey

Combine first three ingredients and sprinkle over both sides of chicken. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken. cook 7-8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add vinegar and honey to pan. Simmer 1 minute or until glaze thickens. Stir constantly. Pour glaze over chicken. Enjoy!