Everyone loves dinner when you’re serving mouthwatering classics like Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls and Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole! Balance it with a quick, casual meal of Tuna Salad, Cauliflower Soup and a crunchy Broccoli Salad with Strawberries! With these dinner ideas, time around the table is sure to be the favorite time at your house!
This Week’s Secret To Success
- The recipes in this week’s dinner ideas are perfect for making in the same week together! They share lots of the same ingredients, making grocery shopping and prep easy and efficient!
- Plus, we’ve got a healthy balance of a sit down, Sunday dinner-type meal and a more casual soup, salad and sandwich option. This keep dinner interesting, and avoids the dreaded meal-time ruts we all fall into occasionally.
- Buy the larger cartons of strawberries, a bag of apples, the big bag of chopped broccoli and pecans and the larger bag of bacon bits.
- Use chunk pineapple for both the ambrosia and trifle, instead of chunk for one and crushed for the other, and save a bit by buying the larger can. One bag of coconut should cover all you need for both recipes also!
In The Know
Not having the right tools might be the reason you don’t like cooking.
For years, I cooked using whatever I had. Prep took longer and was harder than it had to be. But the biggest frustration was I didn’t always get the end results I wanted.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been sharing some of my favorite kitchen tools that have made cooking so much quicker and easier. They help me get the kinds of results I want, and that makes cooking SO MUCH MORE SATISFYING.
This week, I’m recommending a having a great trifle bowl on hand. It’s perfect for salads, deserts, even punch. Here are 2 of my favorites:
Here’s what I’ve shared in the previous weeks:
- the first knives I bought
- the cutting board I still use
- this oil to care for it, wooden spoons and anything with a wooden handle
- bench scraper/knife. It makes transferring chopped veggies, fruits and nuts from the cutting board to bowl or cooking pot SO QUICK & EASY!
- 8 cup mixing bowl with a spout. I measure ingredients in it; it’s a constant for mixing and prepping almost every recipe.
- a good box grater. It’s size and sturdy shape making grating through a block of cheese an easy 30 second- 1 minute job. It’s also easy to clean by popping it into the dishwasher.
- 12 inch cast iron skillet. They’re easier to care for than you think, and they hold and distribute heat better than anything else you can buy.
How I’m Setting My Table
Tasty & convenient recipes are only half of any dinner equation! So, don’t forget to make a plan for your family table with your meal plan!
Having a few things at the ready you really love is THE KEY to making every meal time enjoyable and inviting others over stress free. Here are my suggestions with links you can shop!
Menu 1- Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls
This recipe speaks for itself- buttery, flaky crescent rolls, stuffed with a cream cheese and chicken filling and smothered in a cheesy cream sauce. In short, Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls are quite simply divine. There are one or two other versions of this recipe floating around the Internet, but there is nothing that comes close to this one  my mamaw brought home from her little Louisiana beauty shop. Serve it with fluffy whipped Ambrosia (also adapted from one of her recipes she called "fruit medley") and Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole.
Menu 2- Tuna Salad, Soup and Side
 Chock-full of chopped apples, ribs of celery, and buttery southern pecans, this tuna salad makes an ever so subtle nod to a classic Waldorf. It’s perfect on a croissant or on a bed of lettuce with some lovely multi-grain or wheat crackers. Serve it with Shortcut Cauliflower Parmesan Soup and Broccoli Salad with Strawberries for a casual meal that satisfies! Struggle with what to make for lunch? This is perfect for that too!
Dessert This Week
What could be better than scooping up a delicious ray of sunshine? That’s just what you get when serve this dreamy Coconut Pineapple Trifle with it’s layers of crushed pineapple, tender yellow pineapple cake, rich cream cheese pudding filling, all piled high with whipped topping and toasted coconut. Get ready for a little taste of paradise!
Breakfast Made Easy
Waffles have never looked or tasted so good! This quick and easy recipe uses frozen waffles, strawberries, pineapple tidbits and a fluffy whipped cream mixed with a touch of Greek yogurt to create gorgeous Fruit & Waffles Parfaits guaranteed to make any brunch occasion special!
Snack of the Week
This Southern Pimento Cheese Ball is always the most requested appetizer for holidays, tailgates, parties and weekends! Rolled in pecans, bacon, chives and punctuated with zesty pimentos, this classic is all about everyone’s southern favorites.Â
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