Dinner, Lately: Volume 1

Okay, these don't LOOK all that appetizing, because I wasn't actually planning on putting these photos on the blog.. but what's a post without photos? Trust me there are some YUM options here. (Top: chicken marsala, left: shrimp and zucchini skillet, right: firecracker shrimp)

I saw a blogger start this series of posts on her blog and I absolutely love it. I don't know if I'm nosy, lack creativity, just plain hate picking what to make for dinner every night, or all of the above. But I do know that I enjoy seeing a peek into another gal's meal planing.
One tip I do have if you also hate meal planning (especially if you're husband also refuses to give ideas...) is to pick 3 separate proteins and then pick a meal using each of them. That definitely helps add variety. I also have whole lists of food we like to eat that I pick from. It helps for sure!

1. Grilled Hamburgers with Homemade Beer Battered Onion Rings.
This was a lot of work, so it was a Saturday afternoon meal. I wouldn't recommend this unless you have company. 2 onions is a LOT more than 6 servings, whatever the recipe said.
Onion Ring Recipe

2. Firecracker Shrimp
This is a favorite appetizer (also called bang bang shrimp) of ours from a couple local restaurants. I had to play with the ratios a bit to get the flavor I wanted, and I totally added sugar. It just needed it, in my opinion. I also used popcorn shrimp from the store and used my air fryer instead of frying my own.
Recipe

3. Pioneer Woman's Pan Fried Pork Chops.
The most flavorful chop you can imagine. I love this meal for easy cleanup and its overall quickness from start to finish. I use her cookbook, but this one was on the web!
Recipe

4. Chicken Fried Chicken w/ mashed potatoes and pan gravy
This is one of my most ordered meals at a restaurant, so I thought it was high time I made them at home. GOSH these were heavenly and SO unhealthy! lol! They reheated amazingly in my air fryer
Recipe

5. Creamy Shrimp and Zucchini Skillet
THIS IS HEAVENLY. When I made this, my kitchen smelled like Olive Garden, and I can say I loved this recipe way more than anything I've had at that restaurant. So delicious and decadent while also being filled with veggies. I roasted my own red pepper with my broiler and did add a little sweet blush boxed wine that I had in the fridge when it said to deglaze the pan with wine. Probably not the wine she had in mind, but it was so awesome. I will be adding this into our rotation, because it was so quick and simple, but absolutely divine. My husband thought this one was a winner as well!
Recipe

6. Chicken Marsala + Butter Parsley Noodles
This is for sure a favorite recipe as well. I've made it twice and both times turned out absolutely fabulous. My toddler ate and ate and ate this meal. Kid approved!

The Recipe I used is not online, but for sure get this cookbook if you need a new one, it's my fav.

-Looking to the future, I'm planning on french dip sandwiches, carrot ginger soup, biscuits and gravy, and working on the perfect at home cooked steak. I heard rumor there is a fantastic Gordon Ramsey YouTube out there on this, so I will be doing some research!
Hope this helped!

xoxo, Love.Haight