I am posting two recipes that we actually did not eat this week. I have had strep throat the past two days so I haven’t been cooking like I had hoped. I will be back to cooking again today though, but here are two dinner ideas in the meantime!

Slow Cooker Night: Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
Serves Six

Make sure those potatoes are sliced thinner than thin or you will have uncooked potatoes in this dish. If you can’t get them thinly sliced (maybe you are knife deficient like me?) then diced small will also work well.

Italian Turkey Burgers
Courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine.
Makes Four Patties

1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground turkey
4 buns (use leftover buns from when you had the Chicken BBQ)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (meatless variety)

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Curmble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four 3/4-in.-thick oval shaped patties. Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Grill patties, uncovered, over medium heat for six to eight minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink. Place each patty on a bun and top with spaghetti sauce.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals 306 calories, 12 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 92 mg cholesterol, 680 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 25 g protien. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.

(Amy’s Notes- I prepared these on my indoor grill. The patty is very delicate so you have to be careful when flipping these to make sure that they don’t fall apart. If you are worried, you could throw in a handful of bread crumbs to keep them together. These taste like a giant meatball!)

Italian Spiced Oven Fries

Prepare the oven fries as directed, but this time spice them up with 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1-2 tsp oregano. These could be dipped in the sauce, but we just served them with a generous shake of Parmesan cheese.

Chicken BBQ Pizza

Pull leftover Chicken BBQ from the fridge and the extra pizza crust you prepared.  Parbake crust as was directed. After you pull the crust from the oven, spread the Chicken BBQ over the crust. Top with mozzarella cheese (as much as your family prefers). Place bake in the oven and bake fifteen minutes. Slice and serve with a garden salad.

Note: The only ingredient unavailable at Aldi is the yeast. The cheapest place to purchase the yeast is at Sam’s Club. The price on two pounds of yeast is $3.87. The cornmeal is available in the baking section of the store.

This crust recipe yields enough for one pizza and a small order of breadsticks. I prepare my breadsticks by rolling out the dough and scoring the dough into breadstick size pieces. I then drizzle with a little olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic salt, and top with some cheese. Use the extra sauce for dipping! The kids love these breadsticks more than they do the pizza.

You can save time later this week by making an extra crust. We will be having a Chicken BBQ pizza later in the week!

Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp cornmeal
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Add ingredients to bread machine, according to manufacturer’s settings, and run dough setting. After the machine beeps, roll out the dough. You can roll the dough into two 9×13″ pizzas (great for kid’s lunches!) or into two medium pizzas or a large pizza and an order of breadsticks (as instructed above). Parbake the crust with a drizzle of olive oil on it at 450 degrees for ten minutes. Remove the crust and add sauce and toppings. If making breadsticks, add your breadsticks at this time. Place into the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes or until golden and bubbly. Enjoy!

Pizza Sauce

1 (6 ounce) can   tomato paste
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1  tablespoon mixed Italian herbs (oregano, basil, and parsley combined)
1   tablespoon olive oil
Salt
1 1/4  cups water

Mix the first six ingredients together. Spread evenly on prepared dough.

We have fast food on occasion over here. The typical type of fast food we have is something I can throw together without really thinking about it. Last night ended up being a fast food night and even though it isn’t really a recipe per se, it is still something that you can have on hand for a night when you don’t have a lot of time or you are short on groceries.

Fazoli’s Night: Plain Old Spaghetti
Serves Six

1 jar of your favorite type of spaghetti sauce (mushroom, meat, three cheese, or plain)

1/2 a box of thin spaghetti (Aldi’s packages their boxes of spaghetti in two pound boxes, so you only need half of one for this dinner)

Prepare pasta as directed on the box. Heat spaghetti sauce. Drain pasta and toss the pasta with the sauce.

Cheap Cheesy Bread
Serves Four

Leftover bread from the loaf used for French Toast night (I even use the heels of the bread loaf for this)

Spreadable butter

Garlic Salt

Handful of Italian Cheese blend cheese

Preheat broiler. Arrange slices on a cookie sheet. Spread butter on them. Sprinkle with garlic salt & cheese. Toast under your broiler for two minutes or until the bread is golden & toasty.

Chicken Tacos
Serves Six

1 package taco seasoning mix
1 cup chicken broth (I prefer the Fit & Active brand because it is lower in salt)
1 pound chicken breasts – boneless & skinless (in the Frozen section of the store)

Dissolve taco seasoning into chicken broth. Place chicken breasts in slow cooker and pour broth over them. With two forks, shred the chicken meat into bite-size pieces. To freeze, place shredded meat into freezer bag with juices. Press out all the air & seal.Serve with tortillas, taco shells, lettuce, cheese, & sour cream.

I served these with a side of carrot sticks.

Nutritional facts per serving (daily value): Calories 99kcal; Protein 18g (36%); Total Fat 2g (2%)(Sat. 0g (2%)); Chol. 44mg (15%); Carb. 2g (1%); Fiber 0g (0%); Sugars 0g; Calcium 12mg (1%); Iron 1mg (4%)