Category: main dish

Dinner · entertaining · Family life · home · Home making · hospitality · main dish · Main entree · Make-Ahead · refreshment at home · Side dish

(L)Oven Monday – Successful Sunday Dinner Finale

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Baked chicken 1.jpg

Today is the last post for Successful Sunday dinner.  I will continue to share my recipes and what I served at my house, but as far as the 1,2,3’s, we’re going to wrap it up and get you ready to dive into that great Sunday meal for your family!

Remember that if it’s your desire to make Sunday dinner special at your house, it’s going to take some intentional effort and planning. Here were the three crucial steps before getting the meal going:

  1. Ponder the needs –

  2. Plan the menu 

  3. Prepare ahead

  • Ponder the needs -Consider any allergies or health concerns, like diabetes.
  • Plan the menu around those needs, your time and budget.  Typically if I’m making a main dish or a bread that requires lots of time, I’ll make another part of the meal easier to prepare.
  • Prepare ahead by doing everything you can on Saturday (or before).  It will lessen your stress level!
    • Set the table
    • Chop all veggies
    • Marinate meat
    • Prepare the salad
    • Prepare the dessert
    • Get the side dishes started

Let me give you a little rundown on how my week may look when I’m hosting a typical Sunday dinner…

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Early in the week – 

Wednesday – 

  • Make Rolls and freeze
  • Check to see if tablecloth or napkins need ironing

Saturday – 

  • Prep chicken dish and  go ahead and bake it.  All it needs on Sunday is to be warmed up. I wouldn’t leave this dish in the oven during church – it would dry out.
  • Peel potatoes and place in water overnight
  • Cut up apples for salad and place in lemon juice/water mixture overnight
  • Make Vinaigrette for salad
  • Wash and slice strawberries
  • Make tea
  • Set table
  • Set out serving dishes

Sunday – Before church

  • Mix salad ingredients, except dressing
  • Put potatoes in crock pot, turn on high
  • Set rolls out to rise

Sunday – After church

  • Set out a light snack for guests, if needed
  • Warm chicken either in a large pan on the stove or in the microwave on a med setting.
  • Prep asparagus for roasting
  • Mash potatoes and keep warm
  • Bake rolls – Keep warm
  • Roast asparagus
  • Put into serving dishes

Enjoy the meal!!!

Serve dessert and then pray someone volunteers to help with the dishes!

I hope this series has helped you to see that you CAN make Sunday dinner something special and memorable.  Start out small and work your way into more complicated menus.  Do what you feel comfortable with and keep trying to improve your game plan.

 

Remember that the most important ingredient of any meal is THE PEOPLE!  Don’t make it about you and your inadequacies.  Make them feel welcome and important and they will love their time around your Sunday dinner table!

Is there an unanswered question that you have?  I’d be happy to address it!  Leave me a comment here and I promise to answer you!

Let’s eat!

Denise Signature 150 px

 

 

 

Dinner · dinner in 30 minutes · Home making · main dish · Make-Ahead · Sunday Dinner

(L)Oven Monday 30-Minute Meals for Sunday

RefreshHer3 Comments

Happy Monday and Post #4 about Successful Sunday  Dinners!

I’m posting late today because I got home from Michigan very late last night and couldn’t finish this post until today!  I can’t wait to tell you about my special weekend, but let’s move on with Sunday dinner!

Today I’m going to give you some 30-minute meal ideas for Sunday’s. Sometimes having a meal in the oven or crock pot isn’t feasible, so these menus are a great option!

Things to remember when making 30-minute meals:

  • As with any other menu, you should still prep anything ahead of time that you can. You may even reduce the time to under 30 minutes!
    • Marinate meat
    • Chop veggies
    • Get ingredients together so you can grab them easily
  • Set the table ahead of time.
  • Find make-ahead sides
  • Make a dessert before-hand, if that’s part of the menu

Here are some ideas to get you thinking…

Stir Fry – Stir-fry is cooked very quickly, making it great any time you’re in a hurry. This recipe for Orange Chicken was new to me and we loved it! I used her Original recipe she mentions, because I wanted lots of orange flavor!  It was super good! This picture does NOT do it justice, so please try it anyway!!!

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Recipe from The Gunny Sack
  • Brunch foods
    • Waffles – How about making these waffles up ahead and freezing them.  Then after church, toast as many as needed and having all kinds of fruit toppings for them!  Add a side of bacon and you have a great meal!
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  • German Pancakes – These are a nice twist on regular pancakes and they are soooo good!

So, step out of the traditional Sunday dinner mold and fix a new kind of menu for your family after church.  This could become a family tradition that everyone prefers!  It’s certainly one they’ll all enjoy! Who doesn’t love waffles and pancakes?!

I hope these dinner ideas are helpful for you.  Let me know if I’m aiding your abilities, or if I still need to address other areas for Successful Sunday dinner!

Lovingly,

Denise Signature 150 pxf

Crock Pot · Dinner · main dish · Make-Ahead

(L)Oven Monday – Successful Sunday Dinner with Delicious Sides!

RefreshHer4 Comments

Yankee pot roast a.jpg

Welcome back to the Successful Sunday dinner series!  Today I want to address two more questions/problems people mentioned in regards to Sunday dinner –

  1. How can I have everything done at the same time?
  2. What sides can you make that will be ready for a Sunday meal after church?
  •  An easy way to answer both of those issues is to make a dish where the meat and the veggies are one dish in themselves. They are baked/roasted together, so they’re finished at the same time.  That doesn’t mean it has to be a casserole!   Here are a few suggestions of those kinds of meals:
    • Lemon Greek Chicken – Chicken, Potato wedges and Red onions make up this delicious meal – all in one dish!
    • Baked Chicken Fajitas – No grilling needed – the chicken, peppers and onions are all cooked together and are ready to get wrapped in a tortilla shell!
    • Yankee Pot Roast – What would a Sunday menu be without  a Pot Roast recipe?  This one is so delicious with not only vegetables, but also a gravy that is effortless!
    • Short Ribs and Limas – Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!  I don’t like limas unless they’re in this dish!  There’s a scrumptious gravy that covers the meat and the beans, making it so savory!

The main idea with the recipes above, and ones like them, is that all you need to add is a salad and perhaps bread.  If the salad is made ahead of time, your meal is ready within minutes of your arrival home!

If you have a meat in the oven, but also need a potato, you could make your baked potatoes in the crock pot.  Here’s how:

  • Spray the inside of your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.  Clean potatoes really well, rub with olive oil and then coat with kosher salt.  Place in slow cooker.  Cook on high for about 4-6 hours.

Another suggestion I would make is, find a couple recipes like these that you can master.  Stick with them until you get the hang of getting it all ready ahead of time, then move on to more challenging menus.  Find one your family loves and that you do well.  It will be your signature dish!

If you missed any of the other posts for Successful Sunday Dinner, you can find them here and here.

My menu yesterday was:

Beef Enchiladas ( All done the night before and baked once I got home),
Refried Beans – Done in the crock pot during church
Banana – Pineapple Salad

Who’s attempting Sunday dinner?  I’d love to hear what you made yesterday!

With love from my country kitchen,

Denise Signature 150 px

 

Crock Pot · Dinner · main dish · Main entree

(L)Oven Monday – Sunday Dinner, Part 2

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chicken enchildadas 1.jpg
Chicken Enchildadas!

Last week I began with sharing the three things that are essential to having a successful Sunday dinner.  You can go here to find the details of those  important ingredients –

  1. Ponder the needs
  2. Plan the menu
  3. Prepare ahead

After you have done #1, and you know your budget, the needs of your guests and any other needs, such as time constraint, you can plan the menu.  Today, I’m going to share a few menu suggestions and I’ll put them into a few categories to help you get started.

  • Low Budget, Large crowd – 
    • Pasta dishes are great.  Here are some of my favorites that are inexpensive, feed a crowd, and can be made ahead:
      • Spinach Lasagna – You can even make this with no meat
      • Spaghetti Pie – This recipe makes two pies!  It has all the flavors of lasagna with less prep.
      • Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cheese – This link will not only show you the recipe, it will also tell you the whole menu I served on a Sunday when I made this, and the steps I took to get it ready for after church.
    • Chicken dishes, using roasted chicken done in the crock pot.  Here’s the method to cook the chicken breasts in the crock pot.
      • Chicken Enchiladas – This link will, again, show you my whole menu and method to serve this on a Sunday.
      • Savory Crescent Chicken Squares – To make these for a Sunday, prep the meat and cream cheese mixture and have it waiting in the fridge.  When you get home from church, put it into the crescent rolls and bake!
      • Hot Chicken Salad
  • Healthy Choices that can be made ahead –
    • Roasted Vegetable Frittata – Brunch food is great for Sunday!  Many restaurants are filled with church-goer’s looking for brunch!  Frittata warms up great.  I would bake the whole thing on Saturday and simply warm it up after church.
    • Baked Potato Soup – Make it ahead and keep it warm in the crock pot.  You can make this a hearty meal by serving a big bowl of salad and a light bread with it.
    • Katie Brown Chicken – This is a traditional kind of Sunday dinner, and soooo yummy!  It’s really my favorite meal!
    • Chicken Taco Salads – If the chicken is cooked, and the other salad ingredients prepped, you could put this together in minutes.
  • Crock Pot Recipes can be a life saver on Sunday! This is probably the best way to start out putting a great Sunday meal on the table.  Put everything in the crock pot and head to church.  There may be a little to do when you get home, but not much!  Here are some delicious main dish favorites:

I hope this second edition of Sunday Dinner will better equip you to put together a menu that fits your needs!  Give one of these recipes a whirl this Sunday and let me know how it goes!

Did you fix Sunday dinner yesterday?  What did you serve?

Denise Signature 150 px

Dinner · entertaining · main dish

(L)Oven Monday – Hot Chicken Salad

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hot-chicken-salad-2

If you thought Chicken Salad only came in the cold variety stuffed onto a piece of bread, I have news for you – there’s a hot chicken salad that is totally a comfort food perfect for winter dinner!

 In my hunger for some good ol’ American comfort food after our trip to the Middle East, I pulled out this old recipe last week.  It’s one I often made for company because it’s a great do-ahead dish.  Southerners love their chicken salad, and this is a hot version!  Hot Chicken Salad is the best chicken salad with a cheesy addition.  That cannot be a bad thing!

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If you keep roasted chicken breasts in your freezer, you could whip this together in minutes!  The  potato chip topping is both crunchy and a little salty – a perfect addition to the creamy/cheesy chicken salad underneath!  Without further ado, I give you the recipe:

Hot Chicken Salad

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken breast meat, cubed
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar Cheese
2/3 cup crushed potato chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, celery, almonds, salt, pepper, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and cheese. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Spread the crushed potato chips on top. Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

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Add a potato dish and a salad and the meal is complete!  It’s a picnic to make, but you’ll be glad you don’t have to wait until picnic season to enjoy this recipe!  

With love from my country kitchen,

Denise Signature 150 px