What to eat this week? a.k.a Recipe Sharing Sunday

No one really likes seeing pictures of ME this messy, but think my Lil Man is just adorable when he is!  So, I thought I would share him on this blog about food!

It's Sunday night, which means Monday is looming!  My husband has been working furiously getting ready for the college students to return/arrive.  All that happened this weekend!  Now we are staring down another busy week!  This week husband's schedule picks up, classes begin tomorrow, work study will start back up...for me and the kids, we have one week of dance under our belts and the homeschool co op starts back this week, oldest's soccer practices start this week, and daughter's got extra practices for the fair and a competition in 2 weeks!  Suffice it to say, I'm looking to make things enormously easier in any way that I can!  The crock pot, the budget sheets and the menu planning/grocery shopping calendar are coming back out!  So far I have about half of the week planned out!  We're doing pretty good!  Now if everything will work out in life as good as it's working in my head and on paper!!!

One thing I love to do is share!  Pinterest is a wonderful wealth of recipes, another favorite place I like to hit is Skinnytaste.com!  Let's not forget my collection of cookbooks!  Pampered Chef's are some of my favorites!!  They include quick and easy recipes fit for just a couple of people or even a bigger family.  Sometimes they will even tell you how much the recipe breaks down in cost per person.

Tonight I'm going to share a couple of "southwest" inspired recipes.  The first, I can't remember where I got it...I think it was in a Season's Best from Pampered Chef cookbook, but I can't find the book that I thought it was in.  I've put my own twist to it here and there, but my family loves it!  We simply call it "Polenta Bake".  I've taken to putting it on our menu a little more often as we are trying to switch to gluten free, or at least our daughter will be, to see if it helps some of her digestive issues that she deals with from time to time.  So, yes, this is a gluten free recipe!  And if you make it just so, it's fairly reasonable in the low calorie/low fat category as well!

POLENTA BAKE
(for our family of 5, this makes about 1 meal)

1 pkg polenta
1 can beans (black or pinto are best...in our opinion!)
1 jar salsa
1 can corn or approx. 1/2-3/4 bag of frozen
1 lb of ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey...we have also used 1 pkg of Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo and that's really good in this as well!)
2(ish) cups of shredded cheese (cheddar, colby jack, Mexican blend...use your preference!)
garlic (fresh or ground)
onion (powder or about 1/2-1 fresh onion chopped)
cumin
cilantro (fresh or dried)
Sour cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a rectangular cake pan (spray with cooking spray if glass or metal), slice up half the package of polenta in the bottom.  Cook your ground meat of choice in a skillet, breaking it up as you cook.  While I cook my meat, I season with the garlic, onion, cumin and cilantro.  I didn't put measurements as I tend to season to our liking.  Roughly, I probably use 1-2 teaspoons.  If you are using fresh onion cook along with the meat, or prior too cooking the meat and then mix in when the meat is close to cooked.  When the meat is done, spread it out on top of the polenta.  Then put the beans, corn and salsa on and spread everything evenly over the polenta and meat.  Sprinkle some of the cheese over top.  Then, slice the rest of the polenta on top of everything and sprinkle on more cheese.  Set some aside if you like for after the dish is baked.  We typically put all the cheese on top.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until everything is bubbly around the edges.  Serve with sour cream.

Tweak for your family's tastes!  My family usually leaves little to no leftovers, so I could probably increase the measurements some so that there were leftovers for lunch the next day and make them all very happy!

The second recipe I am going to share is one for the crock pot.  It uses several of the same or similar ingredients, but the end result is a tad different.  PLUS, you get to dump it all and forget it for several hours!  :)

CROCK POT SANTA FE CHICKEN
By Gina @ SkinnyTaste

• 24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast (I use the frozen chicken out of a bag, and no I don't thaw...UNLESS I forget to put this together in the morning, and then I will run it through the defrost cycle on my microwave!  Pork would also be good in this recipe I think!)
• 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies (I use 1/2-3/4 of a jar of salsa)
• 15 oz can black beans (or pinto)
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 3 scallions, chopped (I don't usually add this and add some extra onion powder)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste) (I usually omit this as my daughter doesn't like the added spice)
• salt to taste (I don't always add this if I use the salsa)

Put everything in the crock pot and then put the chicken on top of everything else.  Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, shred the chicken and add back in the crock pot.  Season more if needed.  Serve over rice, in tortillas or on top of corn ships and add your favorite toppings, like sour cream or shredded cheese (our favorites!).