OK...I am in a dinner rut...ideas please!!

This recipe is a little long, but you can modify it to suit your needs. Nobody will ever know there isn't any meat in it. Every time I make this, there are no left overs! It does take a little longer to make because you need to cook the lasagna noodles first. Italian Vegetable pie 1 cup of each sliced: green bell pepper onion mushrooms 2 TB minced garlic 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning 1 tsp fennel seeds 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper 1 package firm tofu- drained and crumbled 1(25.5 oz) bottle of marina sauce 6 cooked lasagna noodles cut cross wise shredded cheese 1. preheat oven 2. heat oil in large skillet and saute peppers, onions, mushrooms and garlic- about 3 minutes. Stir in sauce and seasonings and tofu. Cook for about 10 minutes. 3. Spray cooking spray inside a pie pan(9 ")Arrange noodles in a spokelike pattern in a pie pan. Spread 3 cups of mixture on the bottom. 4.Fold the noodles over the top and then cover with remaining mixture. Then top with shredded cheese. 5. Bake for 20 minutes at 375*.

We love this one at our house. It was given to me by someone else. Chicken Triangles Ingredients: 1. 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/2 pounds) 2. 2 tubes crescent rolls 3. 10 ounces cream cheese, softened (1 1/4 packages) 4. 1/2 package Hidden Valley Ranch sald dressing, dry 5. 1 small handful of your favorite grated cheese (the extra thing) To Make: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil the chicken in a pan for about ten minutes. 2. While chicken is cooking, open crescent rolls and place on baking sheet to make squares. 3. Cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. 4. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 5. Place chicken mixture in the middle of the squares, leaving room on the outside edges. 6. Fold square in half to make triangle and bake for twenty minutes. (If that doesn’t make sense, basically it means to put the mixture in the middle of one crescent roll triangle and then fold another triangle over it to make a hidden pocket kind of meal. 7. With about five minutes left to bake, open the oven, sprinkle cheese on top of the crescent rolls. Finish baking.

Easy and fast beef and tomato 1/2 - 3/4 lb beef steak, flank or round. Sliced thinly across the grain. dash of pepper 1tbsp tapioca (corn) starch 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1tbsp sugar 2 cloves garlic crushed and skinned 4 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into sections of 6ths 2 stalks of green onion cut into 2 inch lengths 1/2 tsp salt drops of sesame (or other oil) oil Serve over egg noodles. 1. Marinate beef with starch, soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. 2. Use a small bowl to prepare starch solution with 1 tbsp starch and 1/4 cup of water. 3. Heat wok or frying pan on high heat. Put in garlic to brown then add beef. Stir fry until beef is no longer pink. 4. Put in tomatoes, sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup of water. Cover with a lid and cook on high heat for a few minutes. 5. When done add green onions and starch solution. Bring to a boil and serve hot. Probably my all time most favorite meal

Another good one. Easy Beef Stroganoff 2 tbsp margarine 1 lb beef stir fry strips 2 cups sliced mushrooms 1 pouch onion soup mix 2 cups water 2 tbsp flour 1/2 cup sour cream In a large skillet, melt margarine over medium heat and brown steak with mushrooms. Remove from skillet and keep warm - I don't take them out of the frying pan. You can mix the gravy in with the meat. Blend soup mix with water and flour in skillet, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened. Return beef and mushrooms to skillet and sour cream and heat. Serve over hot egg noodles.

I can't wait to try some of these recipes. Here is one we do--easy! Quesadillas2 cans of beans--1 black bean and 1 pinto bean.shredded cheesetortillasoptional: chicken pieces, tomato pieces, ground beef, or vegetarian crumbles Preheat oven 400-425.Spray cookie sheet with non-sitck spray.Place tortillas one layer on sheet.Mash beans or blend in food processor.Spread on beans.May add optional ingredients if you have time.Shredded cheese next.Place a tortilla on top of each.Bake about 10 minutes, turn over, bake until edges start to brown.

I do roast chicken a lot, because it's good, easy and you can do so much w/ the leftovers. 1. Rinse 1 whole chicken and remove neck & "innards" package if it's in there. 2. Sprinkle salt (I use kosher salt) and pepper into the cavity and outside of the bird.3. Cut 1 or 2 lemons into wedges4. Chop fresh rosemary if you've got it, or use 1T dry, sprinkle into cavity. 5. Stuff lemon wedges into cavity Roast at 400 until juices from the thigh area run clear (about 45 min. for a 3 lb. bird.) Quarter some red or Yukon Gold potatoes, toss w/ olive oil, salt, pepper and a couple cloves of minced garlic, put in a baking dish and throw them in the oven w/ the chicken (they only need about 25 min.) Get some salad in a bag and you've got dinner, plus leftovers for soup or chicken sandwiches the next day. You can also do an extra chicken and use the meat to make homemade chicken pot pie later in the week. Chicken pie: 1 lb. roast chicken, shredded (or cheat and use canned if you must) 2 stalks celery1 onion2-3 cloves garlic, minced1 1/2 c frozen green peas & carrots2t dried thymes&p1 can cream of mushroom soup2 frozen 9" pie crusts (I like the whole wheat ones)1 egg, beaten Chop and saute onion and celery and garlic. Add frozen peas & carrots, saute 1 more minute. Combine sauteed veggies, soup (don't dilute) thyme, salt & pepper w/ roast chicken. Place mixture in pie shell, top w/ 2nd crust & crimp edges to seal. Cut slits in crust, brush top w/ beaten egg. Bake for 40 min at 350. (You can also double the recipe and freeze one pie before brushing w/ egg.)

Corn soup:1lb ground beef, browned (with finely chopped onions & garlic - to taste).1 cup of frozen corn (or canned)2-3 cups of potatos, diced2-3 cups of chicken boullion1-2 tbsp semolina for thickeningCombine it all in a pot and boil until the potatos/corn are done.You can add egg (scramble an egg, take the pot of soup off the fire and slowly pour in the egg, stirring it until it's evenly mixed in).The kids love it.Bits of chopped red pepper, or some chopped parsley make it look pretty! By the way, the meat can be left out and the chicken boullion substituted with vegetarian boullion. Cheese is good with it, too!

i go to a place called Dream Dinners. they are all over the country. you set up an appointment online and choose your dinners. then when you get there everything is all chopped and diced and you assemble the dinnners. my family is big so i double everything. they come in 3 or 6 serving sizes. then i put them in my freezer and have dinners for 3 -4 weeks. in the morning i just get out what i want to eat and its all set. i dont have to plan meals or keep searching for ideas. the store opened about 1 1/2 years ago and i havent missed a month of going there. i honestly love it!

So easy and I love them. Buy the big bag of bonless skinless chicken tenders at costco, and the big can of pace salsa. put 8-9 pices of chicken in crockpot add 16 onces of pace, let cook for 10 hours on low or 8 on high. Pull apart chicken with fork and make taco's with all your taco ingredents. So so good, I love it. Rachel

Since my husband went into the surprise heart failure (viral..it can happen to anyone...scarey!) we've had to seriously watch his sodium intake. We bought a couple of low sodium cook books and they are amazing. I honestly challenge you all to watch your sodium! They are linking it more and more to obesity. Do you know they add salt to most orange juice? What about your bottled water? Some have added salt! I know in the rush of everyday life, sometimes it's hard enough to throw SOMETHING on the table, but once you read up on it, it's the same amount of work to make the same meal, but lower sodium. Seriously...hubby just made low sodium sausage gravy and biscuits :) We've both lost 25 pounds since we started, and we aren't even dieting, just watching the sodium! Once I started looking, I was so shocked at how much you consume in a day, even eating normal foods. Anyway, just some "food" for thought :)

When my husband and I are in a dinner rut I take a trip over to the library and check out one or two cookbooks, choose a few new recipes and copy them. Then, we just put them in our rotation. It's a great way to try new ingredients (DH discovered the joys of cooking with Swiss chard last week). Also- why not check out a book that is different than what you would normally look at. For instance, my family is vegetarian and I actually looked at a BBQ cookbook at the library...it was GREAT! Most recipes are adapatble and they had great gilling ideas for veggies, fruits and even desserts....mmmm...maple roasted pineapple...

cooks.com is a great place for recipes and you can even add your own in there if you want. Here lately, I will choose meat already prepared in the frozen section of the store and then pop it in the oven then make homemade sides to go with it. In our part of the country there are these men that drive these trucks full of frozen things called Schwan's...some of their stuff is pricey, but very yummy. I buy a bag of their prepared meatballs and add them to my sauce for spaghetti/meatballs...we also get these cheesy filled breadsticks from there that melt in your mouth...and frozen marinara sauce in cubes so you just melt in the microwave about 10 cubes and you have breadsticks with dipping sauce. Oh their stuff is so good...some of it you can find cheaper at the regular grocery store, but it doesn't taste as good. Blessings, Michelle

The sodium in stuff is scary!!! I watch it like crazy for TJ. I like to make my own goulash for him and use no salt added tomatoes and all his canned veggies are no salt added. The best things are those new steamer bags you put fresh veggies into. I love to do califlower and eat it like mashed potatoes! He is 19 months, but I still do a lot of the toddler foods like the meat sticks and stars in sauce b/c they have low sodium counts. I too, use one of the make-your-own dinner places once-in-a-while. The one's where I live are Freezable Gourmet and Super Suppers. Check your area. I don't make them, you can order them premade or rummage through their freezer. It really isn't too expensive and it is portioned controlled. They give you a nutritional list. Freezable Gourmet is even coming out with a line for diabetics.

These recipes are just awesome, does anyone know if there is a way to export this thread into Microsoft Word (or Notepad etc)?

I usually make a few quiches at the beginning of the week: spinach for the kids, onion/mushroom for us, and then we snack on them the rest of the week. Or you can make soups, those also are great for making, saving, and serving later, heated up.