Meal Planning for Family Vacation

September 4, 2017September 3, 2017 RefreshHer6 Comments

For a fantastic ending to a great summer, we enjoyed our first Family Vacation! We were blessed to have our daughters, sons-in-law, and grandsons all join us for a two and half day get-away! Let me just start by sharing a few of the highlights:

Coming up with our hashtag for the time away! We wanted pics to remember this event by, so we needed a hashtag for Instagram! We settled on #hamfamvacay2017. Some of the other running options were – #picvacay2017 #hammingitup2017
Having time to just be together. When you have babies in the group, it’s just easier not to be running all over, and we were happy with that! We gladly opted to just stay near the condo and only go out one time. We truly just wanted to be able to visit and be together.
Having time in the Word as a family. My husband gathered everyone together on the patio and we opened God’s Word to read a chapter and share our “Ah ha” verses. How thankful I am that we could all contribute and share from the riches of the Bible. I do not take for granted having a family filled with believers!
Meal time! What’s better than home-cooked food, enjoyed at “home” with those you love?

It can be a little tricky feeding lots of people, but we came up with a plan that made it doable. Today I’m linking up with my daughter, Whitney to share how we managed six meals for six people, adding in the complications of two who were dieting, one who had a birthday, and one (kind of) picky eater!

Because we were staying at a Wyndham resort, we had cooking capabilities and decided we would eat all our meals “at home” rather than eating out. Aside from being a money saver, it’s also so much easier to visit in the quiet of the resort, than at a restaurant. But how do you bring enough food and give what everyone likes when there are six adults eating six meals? Here’s what we did:

I offered to make supper for both nights, knowing that they would be the more costly meals.
I suggested that the girls either:
~each take a day and make both breakfast and lunch on their day,
~one take lunches for both days and the other the breakfasts for both days. They chose the latter.

Another component in cooking for a crowd is dietary restrictions, or even likes/dislikes. One of the couples was on a diet that restricted grains, dairy, sugar, and several other things. One in our group isn’t too adventurous with foods. We decided that we would do our best to provide a main meat that everyone could have, and then let them fill the gaps with what they could/would eat. It can be nearly impossible to please everyone – right? This way, the options was theirs to eat what the cook provided, or add their own items to the meal.

We were glad to be able to cook, but no one wanted to be spending lots of time preparing the food. For my supper meals, I opted to do a grilled meat one night and an oven-prepared meal the next night. Here were my supper menus:

Night One:

Grilled Steaks
(Adding only grill seasoning and no marinade, due to the dieters)
Baked potatoes (done in the oven)
Corn on the cob
French Bread
Cupcakes

hamfamvacay17 3 jpg — Excuse the poor picture, but the picture taking was low on the list at the moment! =)

For that first supper, everyone ate the steaks and potatoes, but the dieters didn’t have corn, bread or cupcakes. We were celebrating a birthday that night, so I got creative with what I had and made a slice of a diet friendly birthday “cake” which also fell on the day of the eclipse!

Night Two:

Oven-Baked Chicken Fajitas –
(Everyone could add or leave off what they didn’t like)
Spanish Rice – (The dieters fixed Sweet Potato fries)
Refried Beans
Fresh Fruit

After everyone else left, my husband and I had the blessing of finishing out the week at the resort, so we needed breakfast and lunch meals for those days as well. To keep things easy, I tried to get double use out of items I brought. For example:

Bacon – Used for breakfast or BLT’s for lunch
Bread – Toasted for Steak night, Toast and jelly for breakfast
Leftover fajitas for lunch
Fresh tomatoes and fruit – salad, dessert and snacks!

Mealtimes were a huge success! There was no flurry of wondering where we would go or what we were going to eat. It was laid out simply and everyone had plenty of good food!

You can go here and check out Whitney’s post to see what she and her sister fixed for the other meals!

What does your family do to make mealtime happen on vacation?

With love from my country kitchen,

baking · Cooking · dessert · Family life · grilling · home · Home making · main dish · Main entree

Individual Berry Cobblers & What We Really Eat

July 3, 2017July 2, 2017 RefreshHer14 Comments

Happy Monday! First let me start with sharing a new recipe that I made as a special treat for my cobbler-loving husband! If you need a treat for Fourth of July these would be perfect. You can make one, or you can multiply the recipe to make as many as you need. These are Berry Cobblers, served in individual ramekins, making them a perfect size and also easy to serve!

I found the recipe here on this site. They were so easy to pull together, and with no sugar added to the fruit, I think they’re a really healthy little dessert, well, maybe the ice cream added some fat and calories, but you can’t eat cobbler without ice cream!

Individual Berry Cobblers

Ingredients

NOTE: These directions are per each serving so multiply it by how many servings you plan to make.
½ cup berries or fruit of choice
2 tbsp oatmeal
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp brown sugar, slightly packed
1½ tbsp softened butter
pinch of salt
pinch of baking soda
a couple drops of vanilla

Instructions –
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place berries/fruit In a ramekin or other small baking dish
In a separate bowl, Mix all other ingredients….oatmeal, flour, sugar, butter, salt, baking soda, and vanilla. Use your hand or a fork to make sure all ingredients are incorporated well.
Sprinkle oatmeal mixture evenly over berries/fruit.
Place ramekin on a baking dish (just in case it boils over a little bit) and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until topping is beginning to brown.

Do you ever look at people’s You Tube videos of their food and wonder if they really eat? I mean, sometimes it’s more about the tableware and presentation than the food. To me, the most important part of mealtime is the food! We really enjoy our food over here and I want it to be delicious and pretty – not just pretty!

So, I’m going to close today by giving you a little look at my plates from this past week so you can see what we really ate.
Here’s a real look at our meals:

wp-1498945762059 — Grilled Marinated Steaks, Twice Baked Potatoes, Berry Green Salad

0622171822 — Perfect Pork Tostadas, Spanish Rice, Fresh Fruit

0526171712 — Turkey Burgers with Chipotle Yogurt Sauce, Corn on the cob, Oven Garlic Fries

0626171753 — Chicken Fajitas, Refried Beans, Lime tortilla chips, Cantaloupe

0625171328 — Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus and Berry Green Salad

I don’t just take pictures of pretty food – we eat real meals every day at home. Presentation is part of that, but also good food, prepared and cooked at home to nourish body and soul! Also the time at the table, sitting and talking as we eat, sip on glasses of tea, or nibble on sweet treats like this berry cobbler! Meal time is a huge part of family time. Let’s make dinner delicious, nourishing, pretty and memorable!

What have you made this week that your family loved?

From my country kitchen,

Cooking · Dinner · main dish · Main entree

Perfect Pork Tostadas

June 26, 2017June 23, 2017 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I love to take the leftovers from a great entree and turn them into something completely different – you know hide the fact that we’re eating leftovers!

I found a great way to use pork tenderloin this week that was so delicious and so different from the way it was originally served, that there’s almost no way someone would have know that Sunday dinner was being revisited (isn’t that better than saying, “leftovers?!”).

Enter the Pork Tostada! I ask you – does this look like boring leftovers?

Grilled Pork Tostadas

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
2 Cups Chopped Pork Tenderloin, cooked
1 cup peppers, multi-colored, chopped
1/2 Cup Red onion, chopped
Tortillas
1 1/2 Cup Mexican cheese
Toppings – lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, cilantro, lime wedges, avocado

Combine oil, cumin and salt. Pour half of mixture over vegetables to coat. Pour the other half over the meat, stir to coat.
Cook vegetables in small amount of oil until tender. Add meat, cook until meat is warmed.
Brush tortillas with olive oil and place on baking sheet. Toast tortillas in 400 degree oven until crisp. Top with vegetables, meat, cheese and return to oven and allow cheese to melt.

Serve immediately. Serve with added toppings.

I served this with Spanish rice and fresh fruit and it was sooo good!!

Roast a tenderloin and grab the remains so you can make these!

Cooking · Dinner · grilling · main dish · Main entree

(L)Oven Monday – Grilled Chicken With Strawberry Salsa

June 19, 2017June 16, 2017 RefreshHer1 Comment

Everything about the recipe I’m going to share with you today is just right. Grilled chicken with crispy, charred edges and flavorful strawberry salsa on top – it’s just perfect! This was one of the new recipes I found while culling through magazines for inspiration for my menu last week. This one did not disappoint! This is from Kraft foods. The only tweak I made was that I didn’t purchase a vinaigrette; I made my own, and the recipe will follow.

Now on to that gorgeous chicken!

Grilled Chicken with Strawberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup KRAFT Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, divided
4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 lb.)
2 cups small strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup ATHENOS Traditional Crumbled Feta Cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Pour 1/4 cup dressing over chicken in shallow dish; turn to evenly coat both sides of each breast with dressing. Refrigerate 30 min. to marinate. Meanwhile, combine strawberries and remaining dressing. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Grill chicken 6 to 8 min. on each side or until done (165ºF).

Transfer chicken to platter; sprinkle with cheese and basil. Serve with strawberry salsa.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar.
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, optional* (See Cook’s Note)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic.
1/2 teaspoon salt.
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
3/4 cup olive oil.

Mix well in jar. Refrigerate leftover dressing.

Get a good meat thermometer to check the chicken to see that it’s cooked properly. If the breasts are thick, butterflying them will help reduce the cooking time.

I love grilling! Everything just tastes better with the added flavor and the charred ridges! Mmm! Any other grill fans out there?

Enjoy!

Denise Signature 150 px

Cooking · dinner in 30 minutes · Lunch · main dish

(L)Oven Monday – Fajita/Burrito Bowls

June 5, 2017June 2, 2017 RefreshHer9 Comments

burrito bowls 2a

If you love Mexican foods the way we love Mexican foods, the title of this recipe alone will draw you in! I mean what could be wrong with combining a fajita and a burrito? You have the sauteed vegetables, the rice, the fresh veggies and sour cream and cheese…yeah, you know what I mean! This past year I was introduced to the Burrito bowl. You take all the stuffings of a burrito and eat it out of a bowl rather than a tortilla. What a great lunch idea! I usually always have all the ingredients for this recipe on hand, so it’s a perfect addition to my menu!

Not only is this recipe DELICIOUS, it’s also super fast and super inexpensive! There is no meat in this fajita – instead there are black beans. Beans are a great source of protein and much cheaper than meat, so if you’re looking to reduce your grocery bill, adding a meal or two a week like this will really help you save! Here’s how you make it:

Fajita/Burrito Bowls
Ingredients:
1 {16 oz} can black beans rinsed and drained
1 sweet pepper sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 Cup Corn – Fresh or frozen
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Heat a medium sized skillet with vegetable oil and onion and peppers until cooked through. Add the beans, corn and all the spices and sauté for few minutes more.
burrito bowls
Remove from heat and add a little chopped cilantro (I forgot to add that!). Serve over a bed of rice. Serve with your choice of other burrito ingredients such as: