When I was working 10 to 12 hour days, I was usually exhausted by the time I walked in the door. Between work, school activities, and household duties, I was glad when I was out of the kitchen and had dinner on the table in 15 minutes. It meant more time with my family. My work schedule has changed quite a bit since then.

I have a bit more flexibility when it comes to making dinner now. If I choose to make a 30 minute meal on a weeknight,  I can without having the fear that I won’t get to spend time with my family and I don’t have to worry the kids won’t be in bed on time. For the nights we have the family activities like our 4-H meetings, I am able to throw a 15-minute meal together and we are to our meetings on time without having to rush through dinner.

This simple meal is one of those quick 15-minute meals that you can make on any weeknight or when you know you have any weeknight activity or meeting. And it’s a great recipe to use leftover rice from a previous meal.

Tex-Mex Skillet

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 12-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 hot red pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 cup cooked rice

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet, cook the sausage till brown. Drain off fat. Stir in tomato sauce, corn, red pepper, water, chili powder and onion powder. Bring to a boil.
2. Stir in cooked rice into the skillet mixture. Remove from heat. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Note: The red hot pepper adds just a bit of heat to this dish without the seeds but you can substitute a sweet pepper for the red hot pepper if you chose. This recipe can be adjusted to make 6 to 8 servings or another weeknight meal.

Here’s one of my favorite quick Mexican meals. This recipe is great because it keeps things easy, inexpensive, plus it freezes very well. So of course you could make them as a make ahead meal and freeze for a future meal. These burritos have refried beans, Spanish rice and leftover chicken from our Chicken Lime Tacos the other night, then then the burritos are blanketed with a lightly spiced tomato sauce.

You can change up this recipe any way you want depending on your tastes or what you have on hand. Add some grilled vegetables, leftover chili and rice, shredded beef or pinto beans.

 Smothered Burritos

Ingredients:

SAUCE

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup Restaurant Style Blender Salsa, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup tomato sauce

BURRITOS

• Leftover Refried Beans
• Leftover Spanish Rice
• Leftover Chicken
• 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
• sour cream (optional)

Directions:

To make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the water, salsa, tomato paste, cornmeal, chili powder and garlic powder. Mix until smooth Stir in the tomato sauce. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.

To make the burritos: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the sour cream among the tortillas, spreading it down the center of each. Top with refried beans, then Spanish rice and lastly the chicken along with 3/4 cup of the cheese. Fold the sides of each tortilla over the filling and face seam side down in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with the sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Other ways to change this recipe:

• use refried black beans
• use ground beef or no meat at all
• add cooked onions and peppers for a more “fajita style” burrito
• use green salsa

If most of you fellow foodies are like me and enjoy watching Ree (Pioneer Woman), then you must have seen her episode this past Saturday where she wakes up at the crack of dawn to throw a pork butt into the oven for a mouth watering lunch. I do mean mouth watering!

On my last grocery shopping trip, our grocery store was having a BOGO sale in the meat department so I stocked up. I added Ree’s recipe to my shopping list to try out and was on last night’s meal plan. I didn’t want to wait till the weekend totry out the recipe, so I improvised the recipe by using the crock pot. I cooked it on the low setting for 8 hours; little longer than the 6 hours her recipe called for and it still was falling off the bone, tender and juicy. I had used a 12 ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo and it was a bit spicy, even for my husband and I. (We love spicy food!) However, it was way too spicy for the kids. Next time I’ll cut back on the peppers to maybe half the can so they are able to eat it. I’m still trying to think of a way to balance the flavors a little better so one ingredient isn’t overpowering the other. Here’s the recipe:

Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

Servings: 18

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Large Onion
• 1 whole Pork Shoulder (“pork Butt”) – 5 To 7 Pounds
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 can (11 Ounce) (I used 12 ounce can) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
• 2 cans Dr. Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven. (I used the crock pot.)
3. Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.
4. Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.
5. Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, (6-8 hours using the crock pot and I didn’t touch it.) turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it’s not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.
6. Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it’s cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.
7. Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you’d like.

Recipe and from by Ree (Pioneer Woman)

For those of you who have tried the recipe, have any suggestions for balancing the flavors?

Homemade pizza is certainly a favorite dish in our house. It’s such a versatile meal that any toppings can work well. It’s on our weekly menu at least once a week. It’s super easy, fast and an inexpensive family meal which is one of my requirements when it comes to meal planning.

I’ve finally have perfected an easy pizza crust recipe that we all enjoy. I also use the recipe for making rolls, bread sticks, and regular sandwich bread.

A new favorite type of pizza of ours is Cheeseburger Pizza. If you add bacon, it becomes a Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza or Bacon, Onion Rings as toppings and BBQ Sauce, it becomes a Western Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza.

Cheeseburger Pizza

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground been or lean ground turkey
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• a pinch of salt to taste
• 1/2 cup ketchup, plus 2 Tablespoons
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups cheese (Cheddar, Colby Jack or Mozzarella-I like to use a  mixture)
• 1/2 cup dill pickles
• shredded iceberg lettuce
• bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
• homemade pizza crust

 Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 400.  Spread pizza dough onto a lightly greased bar pan for a deep dish pizza or on a regular pizza pan. Bake 7-8 minutes.
2. While the pizza crust is baking, brown the ground beef, garlic and onion in a skillet.  Drain off fat and season with salt and pepper.
3.   Mix in ketchup, mustard and worcestershire sauce.
4. Once the crust is out of the oven spread on the meat mixture and cover with tomatoes and cheeses.  Bake another 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is cooked through.
5. Top with pickles, bacon (optional) and lettuce.

We are moving into our first full week of summer vacation and I’m planning out some new summer meals for dinner to make it easier to be in the kitchen with the warm weather and easier at meal times. This month has already started off busy for me personally with the new membership addition to the site, summer book club and life as a working mom and managing the family.

So, I’m really looking forward to relaxing a bit more this summer with the family. We may just take a break from it all and go camping up at Sawmill. Located just up past Bowman Lake, it’s a beautiful, quiet and great for fishing. Since we love our family meal times together, I am hopeful the family will enjoy these easy summer meals and we’ll create some great summer memories.

I am very pleased how my summer meals will work well with my freezer cooking.

Sunday: Beans and Mexican Rice

Monday: Coconut Shrimp, Green Salad

Tuesday: Bliss Between Bread~Family Sub Sandwiches, Veggies, Homemade Baked Potato Chips

Wednesday: Grilled Cod, Broccoli Gratin and Quinoa Pilaf

Thursday: Pasta Salad with Chicken Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

Friday: Pizza Night; (Grilled Pizzas I hear they are really good!)

Saturday: Grilled Southwestern Chicken

Come back tomorrow to see what I cooked up this weekend and share what you’ve been doing, too, to fill your freezer.

Enjoy your family mealtimes!