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It was 2 days after Christmas and I had never craved fruits and vegetables more in my life. I think I ate my weight in Christmas cookies this year! I totally got off track on my meal planning, due to so many holiday parties and family gatherings. It’s time to get back to healthy family dinners, starting with these black bean and chicken burritos.  

But first, how about a little Christmas recap? 🙂

The kids couldn’t even open their stockings until Mommy took the “Stand in Front of the Tree” pic. I love how in the second one John is trying to nab Johnny’s pacifier, haha! He’s determined to potty train the little guy AND break him of the paci over winter break. I’m excited for when we get him out of diapers!

We were blessed with so many great gifts this year. Each of them was a winner. I was pretty stoked to come across this shirt for Logan. It’s from Etsy. Anyone get the reference? 😉  

The girls got tons of great gifts, all of which are their new favoritest thing ever. Oh, and Emily wore a party hat for most of the morning. Happy birthday, Jesus!

Johnny’s aunt gave him a Thomas the Train play set. He just turned two and it’s the perfect gift for him.  

John got me concert tickets (he’s so cool!) and a tripod for my camera. I can’t wait to break it in! I didn’t use it on this black bean and chicken burritos recipe, unfortunately. 

Black Bean and Chicken Burritos  

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Black Bean and Chicken Burritos

Ingredients

• 1 Tb. olive oil
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, diced
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can whole tomatoes with juice
• Flour tortillas
• Avocado (optional)
• Salsa (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Saute the chicken, bell pepper and green onions in oil until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Stir in the cumin and cook for about 1 minute.
4. Add the black beans and tomatoes. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula, break apart the tomatoes as you stir.
5. Remove from the heat.
6. Arrange about ¾ cup chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla and top with salsa and avocado. Roll the tortillas into burritos.
7. Tip: Use a tortilla warmer to keep tortillas hot until ready to serve!

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This dinner was pretty quick and easy to put together. My little guys liked it, but they’re not very good at eating burritos so I cut their tortillas into pieces and made them burrito “bowls”. 😉

Next week I’m going to use up the leftover turkey in some enchiladas. Yum!

Creamy potatoes, flavorful Italian sausage and vegetables make this dish one of our family favorites. The ingredients are very versatile, and you can add more or less of them as you like. 

To get the best flavor out of the sausage and potatoes, you really have to brown them first. Simply add a little olive oil to your pan to cook the Italian sausage in, then cook the potatoes in the sausage drippings for added flavor. 

A word of caution, though: The ingredients call for a hefty amount of vegetables. I have a pretty large 12 inch skillet, and I had to cook the vegetables in two batches because there were too many to fit in the pan.

I love the flavor of Italian ground sausage. It adds that Olive Garden garden-style taste to any meal. I only used one package of meat for this this recipe because I used a can of white beans as a cheap way to add in some extra protein. If you’re not sure about adding beans to a dinner, don’t worry! They’re very light in flavor and practically blend in with the rest of the ingredients. However, you could use a second package of ground sausage instead of beans. 

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 (16 ounce) package ground Italian sausage
¼ cup olive oil
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 green bell peppers, chopped with ribs and seeds removed
2 green bell peppers, chopped with ribs and seeds removed
1 white onion, diced
1 cup chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°.
For the 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the sausage in oil until browned and cooked through, breaking it apart with a spatula. Transfer the sausage to a plate and keep warm. Add the 1/4 olive oil to the pan and cook the potatoes and yams in oil, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until they begin to brown. Remove the potatoes and yams and cover to keep warm. Add the bell peppers and onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to soften (about five minutes). To avoid overcrowding the pan, I suggest cooking the vegetables in two batches. Mix together the potatoes, vegetables, sausage, beans, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. (you actually don’t need very much salt unless you’re using low-sodium chicken broth). Dump the whole mixture into a 9” x 13″ baking dish. Try using a foil-lined dish because the potatoes will stick. Pour the chicken broth over everything. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy! 

This is a great one-pot meal for the whole family. When I serve this dish to our family of 5 (that have teeth, anyway), there are usually plenty of leftovers. You can use pre-cut stew meat to save on time, but I find that the pieces are too big and it makes for a more chewy texture. For my methods behind quick stew meat cooking, read this article on best, quick, browning techniques. 

2-3 lbs. roast beef or other beef portion
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 mushrooms, quartered
2 cups uncooked wild rice
2 (10.5 oz.) cans lower sodium beef broth
2 cups frozen peas
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
½ tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups water

Dust the beef with flour and sear in a Dutch oven in hot oil until browned on all sides, then remove from the heat (leave the oil in the pot) and allow to cool before cutting into bite-sized chunks. While the meat is cooking/cooling, prepare the veggies.  

Sauté the onions in the oil for 3 minutes or until they begin to soften, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the beef and the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

 Viola! Only one cooking pot gets dirtied and you get 3 food groups in one meal!

Growing up as the oldest of 6 kids, we used to joke about how every dinner was some variation of chicken, rice, and broccoli. Now that I’m a busy working mom of 4, I understand what my mom was up to way back then. It’s a challenge to find filling meals that work for everyone and are easy on the budget!  If you’ve just come home from work and decide to bake a chicken divan casserole, it’s going to take upwards of an hour and a half. Pre-baking the chicken is essential to getting dinner on the table in a timely manner. I do my pre-baking on the weekend or on a night when I don’t need the oven for the meal I’m serving.

Things go a lot faster for dinnertime prep when all you have to do is dice up the chicken that’s already cooked, but if you didn’t pre-bake your chicken simply stick it in the oven in a greased casserole dish at 350° for 25-30 minutes (or until the meat reaches 165° internal temperature). I usually get enough chicken for this meal from 2 chicken breasts.

Chicken divan is a very easy casserole to make. Once you have your ingredients assembled (defrosting broccoli ahead of time helps speed up the prep, too), it’s really just a matter of layering them. I bake all my casseroles in a dish like this one. I love that it’s pretty AND holds enough servings for our family of 6!

Chicken on the bottom  
Broccoli next  
Top that with sauce and cheese    This recipe is similar to the one my mom used when I was a child. My sisters and I have altered it to our tastes, but we all include these basic ingredients. My family likes to serve chicken divan over brown rice. It’s great comfort food that both my older kid and toddlers enjoy.

Oven Temp: 350°
Ingredients:
2 cooked, diced chicken breasts
1 10.75 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1 10.75 oz. can cream of chicken soup
¼ cup lemon juice
16 oz. frozen broccoli florets, defrosted
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

Spray a 13”x9” baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread chicken evenly in the dish and layer broccoli over the chicken. In a medium bowl, mix together the cans of cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, and the lemon juice. Spread the sauce mix over the chicken and broccoli in the dish. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and cover with foil. Cook at 350° for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

If you’re looking for a quick, easy family-pleaser, I encourage you to give this pasta with kale and Italian sausage dish a try. Kids love the penne pasta and have no idea that you’ve snuck in nutrient-rich kale leaves! Bonus: It’s low-calorie and budget-friendly!

Ingredients
1 lb. penne pasta
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. mild, ground Italian sausage
1 can low-sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale, chopped with tough center stalk cut away and removed (about 12 cups)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid.

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add garlic sauté 1 minute, then add sausage. Break the sausage up as it cooks, and sauté it for 4-6 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

Add chicken broth to the skillet, set to high heat and bring to a boil. Add the kale, stirring until wilted. Boil for about 5 minutes or until kale is tender and stock is reduced to about ½ cup.

Combine pasta with kale and reduced stock and sausage mixture. Stir ingredients together and mix in Parmesan cheese. Add in about ¼ cup of reserved pasta water to loosen as needed.

As the days grow longer and hotter, I find it to be more of a struggle to get a home-made meal on the table. Sometimes it’s just too hot to cook! As a child, my mom would make taco salad on these steamy summer evenings. It requires only about 15 minutes stovetop use, and it’s ready in a flash. While not the healthiest version of a salad*, this taco salad recipe is darn tasty and I know your family will gobble it up! ¡Olé!

Ingredients:
½  lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 (1-oz.) packet taco seasoning mix
1 head green leaf lettuce or Romaine lettuce, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 (6-oz.) can sliced black olives
1 (15-oz.) can red kidney beans
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
Fritos chips, crushed
1 avocado, sliced (optional)
Ranch or Catalina dressing

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet. Brown the ground beef in oil, drain, and add taco seasoning, following the directions on the packet.

To assemble the salad:

Divide the lettuce between 4 salad plates. Top with ground beef, tomatoes, olives, ¼ of the red kidney beans, and ¼ cup cheese. Sprinkle with some crushed Fritos chips and serve with Ranch or Catalina dressing.

For a healthier version of taco salad, substitute

• Ground turkey instead of ground beef
• Bearitos Blue Corn Tortilla Chips (made with organic blue corn) for Fritos
• A small amount of olive oil for salad dressing. There is a lot of flavor in the taco seasoning mix, dressing isn’t even all that necessary!