Dinner Ideas on a Simply Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!  I will forever think of Emily P. Freeman every Tuesday.  If you've never read that book with the title Simply Tuesday, I recommend it.  It's such a great read, and I love her style of writing.  She has a blog, too.

Is anyone else in a major dinner rut?  Come January, I only want soups or stews, but the people in my house do not agree.  That being said, dinner is sometimes a struggle.  I thought I'd share what I made last night, and what I'm making tonight, and then give you a few ideas of what I do when I need a quick, go-to meal.

Last night, I pulled out the Instant Pot my hubby bought back before Thanksgiving.  Until about a week ago, it had been sitting, unused and in the box, in our tornado closet.  Todd pulled it out a week ago, though, read the instructions and did a trial run, then he made some hard boiled eggs.

He'd been wanting to try it, so I figured I'd make something with it last night.  After a quick search for Instant Pot meals, I found one for orange chicken and rice.  Here's a link for you.  

First, I remember reading that it always takes longer than just the recommended time the recipe says.  It has to pressurize (I think?) and that takes at least fifteen minutes.  We added all the chicken, covered with the sauce and started it up.  All in all, I think it took thirty minutes.  And look how pretty dinner looked!

It was just okay.  One boy loved it, and five of us thought it was good, but not great.  I think there needs to be salt added into the recipe, because though all the sauce ingredients pack a major flavor punch, flavor and salt are not the same thing.  I would definitely add salt.  And maybe adjust the sugar amounts.  I'm not sure.  I threw the recipe away this morning.  

Tonight is one of my family's very favorite meals: beer cheddar Joe's.  I got the recipe from Shay at Mix and Match Mama.  Here's a link for you.  My whole family loves this meal.  When I make it, I serve it with just plain old white bread.  I do make one adjustment to this  recipe, and again, it's salt.  I add about half a teaspoon of salt to the mixture when it's cooked, but start small and adjust, if you need to do that.  It may sound like a lot, that half a teaspoon, but I usually make a double recipe of this.  I also add in a little dash of hot sauce at the end, and I shred my own cheese.  I never buy the bagged stuff, thanks to the inspiration of The Pioneer Woman.  

Tomorrow night is church, so Todd and I will eat leftovers of something, and my boys will eat out after church.  On Thursday night we're going to my in-love's for dinner, and to help them put some things back into their attic, so I won't be cooking then, either.  I'm not sure about the weekend yet.  

My family loves breakfast for dinner, but last week, I made a breakfast casserole, instead, and then we had chocolate chip pancakes as well.  Here is a link for the one I make.  The only adjustment I make is that I leave out the peppers.  Nobody likes bell pepper in the house, except for me.  For the pancakes, nothing beats them made with Bisquick.  

Another go-to dinner is spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, and garlic bread.  (For the picky eaters, I also make some Alfredo sauce.)  I use the Barilla brand for everything.  For the bread, I like to buy a loaf of French bread from the bakery at my grocery store, slice it, then add butter and a sprinkle of garlic powder.  I bake it at 350 for about five minutes, then I turn the oven off and let it sit inside there for ten more.  (We like it softer.)  We also do pizza nights on the weekends usually, and French dip sandwiches with au jus.  (Slice the hoagie rolls, add the meat and cheese, bake for about ten minutes, and I use the packets of au jus.)  There are other meals I make on repeat, but I figured this would be a good start, if anyone is looking for a little dinner inspiration.  

For the rest of this day, I have a bunch of texts to send out, I have a meeting at church at ten with some sweet ladies, I have bible study homework to complete before we meet tomorrow, I'm having lunch with my friend, Eileen, and I have laundry to finish.  It's a bit of a busy day!  

Thanks for reading my blog!  I hope your day is great.  Love to all!