Chipotle Sausage Skillet Mac

This creamy, smoky and sweet, and healthier weeknight pasta dinner can be on your table in under 40 minutes...

Do you all ever get stuck in the weeknight dinner rut? You have some good ole stand-by dinner recipes that are perfect for busy weeknights, but you come home and even the usual favorites don't sound good. And then you start to reach for that phone or those car keys to order in or run out to pick up a pizza. Sound familiar? ;) 

If so, then you will love the recipe that I am sharing with you all today!  All you need is around 40 minutes to get this flavorful and creamy Chipotle Sausage Skillet Mac on your dinner table. And the best part? Since it is made with your favorite Hillshire Farms smoked sausage, there is no need to worry about making sure you have chicken defrosting for dinner before you leave the house in the morning.

This Chipotle Sausage Skillet Mac is creamy, hearty, smoky & sweet, and sure to please every member of your family...

Italian Style Buddha Bowl

This easy to make Italian Style Buddha Bowl is a protein packed, family pleasing weeknight dinner idea...

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Birds Eye® through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Birds Eye®, all opinions are my own.

I have to admit it, folks. Sometimes it is a struggle to get more protein and whole grains into my and my family's diet. I try, but sometimes convenience wins out and pizza gets delivered or a trip through the fast food drive-thru happens. 

It's not that I don't want to make sure that my family is eating healthier and getting all the good stuff that they need to grow and power them through their day. But there are days when I just run out of time or energy, and oftentimes both of those things happen at the same time. 

That is why I was so glad to recently discover Birds Eye® Protein Blends at my local grocery store! These quick and easy to make Protein Blends side dishes come in four delicious flavors- Southwest Style, California Style, Italian Style, & Asian Style. 

Since Italian food is a favorite in my home, I grabbed the Birds Eye® Protein Blends Italian Style and started brainstorming a quick and tasty way that I could use it to get more whole grains, protein, and veggies into my family's diet more often. This fresh and healthy Italian Style Buddha Bowl was the family pleasing end result! :)

It starts with the Birds Eye® Protein Blends Italian Style, a delicious side dish packed with a blend of whole grains, lentils, spinach, broccoli, white beans, & a tasty sauce. Then I filled the rest of the bowl with fresh baby arugula, whole wheat penne, ripe grape tomatoes, olives, and crunchy sliced almonds. Finish it off with a drizzle of oil & vinegar or your favorite light Italian dressing, and a healthy dinner is served in minutes... 

12 Easy Weeknight Chicken Dinners

If you happen to be looking for new chicken recipe ideas that will shake up that usual weeknight dinner plan, then this collection of 12 Easy Weeknight Chicken Dinners is definitely for you...

We all know that when it comes to making a dinner plan for the week or month that chicken is always a safe go-to option. Pretty much every member of the family loves chicken, and it is usually a budget friendly choice as well. But chicken can get, well... boring.  Especially if you just keep making grilled or breaded chicken breasts week after week. 

I run into this same predicament myself often when trying to plan my family's meal plan each week. So I decided that enough was enough, and I scoured some of my favorite recipe sites and food blogs to find a few new chicken dinner ideas that were not only tasty & different but easy and quick as well. And when I say quick, I am saying that just about all of these chicken dinner recipes can be on your dinner table in 45 minutes or less. 

Whether you are looking to jazz up your usual ho-hum meal plan or just love finding new and delicious ways to prepare chicken, then you are sure to find a recipe (or two or three!) that will soon become a new dinnertime favorite in this collection of 12 Easy Weeknight Chicken Dinners...

12 Saucesome Dinner Recipes

Ragú® sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine.

I will be the first to admit that my family and I do not always to get sit down around the dinner table every evening and share a meal and the day's happenings. Sometimes we eat at different times. And sometimes in different rooms even. But we do try to make a point to all sit down at the table as a family for dinner at least 2-3 times a week. Quick, tasty, and easy dinner recipes are one way to ensure that those family dinners happen in our home. My go-to dinner recipes for busy weeknights often involve a jar of one of our favorite Ragú sauces... 

6 Holiday Perfect Cookbook Gift Sets (Updated for 2022)

If you happen to have a foodie, an aspiring home cook or baker, or a wanna be pit master on your gift list this holiday season, you are going to love this collection of 6 Holiday Perfect Cookbook Gift Sets...

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

If you happen to have a foodie, an aspiring home cook or baker, or a wanna be pit master on your gift list this holiday season, then you are going to love today's post! 

I polled my food blogger friends to find out what are the must-buy cookbooks this year, and then matched each one up with the perfect gift to ensure that the your gift recipient actually puts that brand new cookbook to good use. 

Because let's face it- oftentimes when you give a cookbook for a gift, it finds it's way onto a shelf in the kitchen and then proceeds to collect dust. 

But pair that cookbook up with a baking pan set or a shiny new slow cooker, and bam! They have a little motivation to actually crack open that cookbook, am I right? ;)

Most of these cookbook gift combos I am sharing with you all today come in at under $40 making them totally budget friendly gift giving ideas, but I included a couple of splurges in this gift guide as well for those of you with more generous gift giving budgets this holiday season.

Whether you have a loved one who is looking to up their pie making game or a friend who is interested in getting in on the Instant Pot craze, I have the perfect holiday cookbook gift set for you... 

Black, Bleu, & Bacon Rice Casserole

I am partnering with Success® Rice today to bring you all this delicious family-pleasing Black, Bleu, & Bacon Casserole perfect for a busy weeknight...

If your family's weeknights are anything like the ones that we have in this house, then you are probably always on the lookout for weeknight friendly dinner ideas that go beyond the usual pizza, take-out, and quick frozen meals.  And let's face it- we are always searching for just about anything that can actually be claimed as homemade and can be on the dinner table in less than an hour.

And that is where Success® Rice can become your new weeknight dinner best friend. Their no-mess boil-in-bag rices can be ready in just 10 minutes- perfect for any quick weeknight dinner idea that you may have!  You can make their rices on the stove top or in your microwave. Plus, it is totally cool if they hang out up to 30 minutes in hot water while you prep the rest of your dinner.

And forget the standard chicken and rice casseroles! Not when you can have your favorite burger in a rice casserole form, like this simple yet flavorful Black, Bleu, & Bacon Rice Casserole... 

Weeknight Lasagna Soup

Enjoy all the gooey, cheesy goodness of a homemade lasagna in just 30 minutes with this easy to make Weeknight Lasagna Soup...

Having Italian roots and all, I am a sucker for homemade lasagna. It is just one of those classic Italian dishes that you just can't go wrong with. 

My only gripe about it? Making it. Call me lazy, but why does a good homemade lasagna have to take so much time to assemble and bake? 

From the browning of the meat, to the layering of the noodles with the filling, to the actual baking time, it can take up to two hours to whip up a dish of lasagna! 

And of course my homemade lasagna cravings always seem to hit me on a busy weeknight. The last thing I have on a busy weeknight is two hours to kill on making dinner. 

My solution? This easy to make Weeknight Lasagna Soup. :)

Seriously, folks. If you want all the gooey, cheesy goodness and flavor of a homemade lasagna without waiting hours for it, then this lasagna soup is about to become your new dinner time best friend...

10 Family Approved Dinner Recipes

These tried and true 10 Family Approved Dinner Recipes are meals that my family asks for time and time again...

I know some of you all have to wonder every once in a while if food bloggers actually end up making and serving the recipes that they share on their blogs often or just a few times for recent development and testing and then we post it and are done with it. Well, I am here to tell you all that the answer is BOTH. 

There are definitely recipes- delicious recipes- that I have shared on here that I have only made a handful of times. It isn't that myself and my family didn't like them or that we wouldn't want to eat them again, but for some reason or another those particular recipes just didn't become family favorites. 

But then there are recipes, like these 10 Family Approved Dinner Recipes I am sharing with you all today, that my family asks for over and over again and that appear on my weekly plan more than once a month. Not only are these dinner recipes tried and true, but I know these will be the meals that my children will remember years later and ask for when they come home to visit from college (and probably beyond that)... ;)

Weeknight Meat Sauce with Rigatoni

This rich & hearty Weeknight Meat Sauce with Rigatoni simmers away all day in your slow cooker & is ready to serve when you get home...

A big thank you to America's Test Kitchen for partnering with me today to bring you all this recipe for a flavorful and hearty slow cooked Weeknight Meat Sauce with Rigatoni.

There are definitely evenings after a particularly busy or trying day that it is totally appropriate to pop open some of that jarred pasta sauce, boil some noodles, and call it a night. Trust me, you all... I have been there. 

Several times. 

But let's be real- nothing can really beat a good homemade pasta sauce. And this Weeknight Meat Sauce with Rigatoni courtesy of America's Test Kitchen's Healthy Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook is definitely no exception to that rule.

Now this one does require a little prep in the morning, but you can make quick work of this by prepping the chopped onion and minced garlic the night before.  Typically I am not a fan of slow cooker recipes that require a lot of cooking before actually slow cooking, but trust me on this- the little bit of pre-saute work this recipe requires is worth it, friends. 

It builds layers upon layers of flavor, from the golden onions and garlic to the deglazing from the wine to the browning of the meat. It gives this hearty sauce all the flavor of a traditional long-simmered meat sauce minus most of the fat and extra calories...

Family Dinner-In with HERDEZ® Frozen Bowls & Mockagaritas

Thank you to the makers of HERDEZ® Cocina Mexicana Frozen Bowls for sponsoring and providing the tasty inspiration for today's post.  All opinions expressed below are my own.

You all know by now that most evenings of the week I cook for my family.

But let's keep it real- there are definitely nights when I don't feel like cooking.

Or nights when the day has been so trying and busy that I am tempted to pick up a pizza or take-out.  Not the healthiest or most budget friendly choice though.

I mean, what I really want to do on most evenings like those is take off for the local Mexican restaurant for dinner and margaritas, but that just isn't always in the budget for us.

That is why I am so glad that I recently discovered HERDEZ® Cocina Mexicana Frozen Bowls in the freezer section at my local grocery store.  

I will admit it- I am always skeptical of frozen meals. Often times, they are just okay or downright blech. But other times, you hit a tasty frozen food jackpot.

And these Herdez Frozen Bowls are one of those rare jackpots, folks. ;)

I was really impressed with the Beef Barbacoa Bowl- tasty, perfectly seasoned tender chunks of beef served alongside Spanish style rice. 

To make family dinner-in with HERDEZ® Cocina Mexicana Frozen Bowls a little more fun, I came up with a kid friendly Mockagarita recipe to share with you all...

Creamy Parmesan Basil Chicken Pot Pie

Compensation was provided by General Mills via Federated Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of General Mills. 
For more easy dinner ideas, visit http://progresso.com/Products/Recipe-Starters

You probably all think that the family of a food blogger eats something new and exciting every day of the week, don't you?  To be honest, we have a handful of tried and true recipes that are my go-to's week in and week out. Recipes that are no-brainers for me & that I know my family will not complain about, more or less.

But even food bloggers run into weeknight dinner ruts.  

In fact, I was in the midst of one just a week or so ago.  I failed to do my usual weekly meal plan just because I felt totally uninspired and unmotivated. 

I was winging it from one evening to the next- which I should mention that I loathe- but I just couldn't sit down and write out a menu for the week.  And all my usual go-to's just sound so, well... usual (aka, boring.)

Thank goodness for the Progresso Recipe Starters I happened to have in my pantry that week! I just needed a few ingredients, one of their tasty recipe starter sauces, and around 30 minutes to come up with a dinner idea that my family would love and that wouldn't bore my socks off.

Easy Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Soup

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Campbell Soup Company. 

All opinions are 100% mine.

Some of my favorite weeknight dinner recipes all have five things in common-

1. They are ready in 30 minutes or less, from start to finish.
2. They require 5 ingredients or less to make.
3. Need very little prep (if any at all) ahead of time. 
4. They are made in just one pot or dish (ahem- easy & quick clean-up!).
5. Everyone one in the family loves them.

Folks, this Easy Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Soup meets all five of those requirements. This has to be one of the easiest weeknight soups that I have ever served to my family, and it is all thanks to Campbell’s® Cheesy Broccoli Cheddar Oven Sauce. It just so happens to be the secret ingredient in this simple & satisfying soup recipe... ;)

Honey Buffalo Butterfly Shrimp Tacos

Crispy breaded shrimp are tossed in a homemade honey buffalo sauce & then wrapped up in warm flour tortillas with a creamy Ranch coleslaw in these Honey Buffalo Butterfly Shrimp Tacos...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SeaPak. All opinions & text expressed below are 100% my own.

October is always a busy month for my family and I. Between my son's cross country season wrapping up, our annual family trip to go apple & pumpkin picking, and all of the Halloween & fall festivities we like to be a part of, I need quick & easy weeknight (and weekend!) dinner ideas that my whole family will love. 

One thing that is always a winner with every member of my family is buffalo sauce. I can pour a good homemade buffalo sauce on just about anything, and my family will gobble it up. 

But one thing that I do struggle with to get my family to eat more of is seafood. My daughter will eat some seafood, but she can be picky. And I can only get my son & husband to eat seafood if it happens to be breaded and crispy. ;) 

Cue the SeaPak Jumbo Butterfly Shrimp which I conveniently picked up on my last shopping trip to my local Kroger! ;)

SeaPak's Jumbo Butterfly Shrimp always come out of the oven perfectly crispy making it a great quick addition to many of my family's favorite meals. 

For these Honey Buffalo Butterfly Shrimp Tacos, I tossed these crispy breaded shrimp in an easy to make honey buffalo sauce and then wrapped them up in a warm flour tortilla with a super quick & creamy Ranch coleslaw...

Slow Cooker Apple-Cranberry Bourbon BBQ Pork Loin Roast

This post brought to you by Campbell’s Dinner Sauces. Weekend-worthy dinners with only weekday-level effort needed! Learn more at http://www.campbellsauces.com/

Forget the ham and turkey this Christmas dinner, and reach for your slow cooker & a packet of Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauces in Apple Bourbon BBQ to make this delicious, tender, and easy pork loin roast...

I love lazy Christmases...  LOVE them.  I would be perfectly content hanging around the house all day in our PJ's, watching our fave Christmas movies on a loop, and smiling as the kids loved on their newly acquired toys and gadgets.  

But I still love that big Christmas dinner.... just not all the work that goes into it.  

No one in our families hosts a big ole dinner for us to go to either.  My parents stopped doing that years ago and took a cue from A Christmas Story and go to the local Chinese buffet restaurant on Christmas Day each year.

Sometimes we join them, but not this year...

This year I will be making this amazing, tender, and flavorful Slow Cooker Apple-Cranberry Bourbon BBQ Pork Loin Roast.

It is crazy easy- just 15 minutes of prep in the morning and then the slow cooker and Campbell's Apple Bourbon BBQ Slow Cooker Sauce does the rest! :)

Parmesan Chicken Corn Chowder

This creamy Parmesan Chicken Corn Chowder with its hearty potatoes, roasted chicken, and the addition of Parmesan cheese takes the traditional corn chowder to a whole other level of deliciousness...

I was provided a copy of 100 Creative Ways to Use Rotisserie Chicken to review. I was not compensated for this post in any other way. All opinions expressed below are 100% my own.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

One of my goals in 2016 is to get my family around the dinner table more often. Last year that rarely happened unless it happened to be a special event- like a holiday dinner. So, yeah. It was a pretty rare occasion. 

Often times, my husband and daughter eat dinner in the living room. Sometimes I join them, but more often than not I find myself having a working dinner at my laptop. My teenage son makes a beeline for his bedroom where he hides away with his dinner plate watching Netflix. So this year I have decided that I am taking back our family dinners around the kitchen table! 

And just how I am going to do that? For one, the kitchen table is no longer permitted to be everyone's dumping ground when they walk through the door after coming home from school and work. If the table is clear, then we are more likely to use it.

Another way I am working to achieve this goal is by finding more and more home cooked meals that I can make easily and more quickly. If I can get dinner on the table a little faster, then that means more time around the table as a family. That is why I am so glad that I was asked to check out & review my friend Trish's (from Mom On Timeout) new cookbook, 100 Creative Ways to Use Rotisserie Chicken. :) Her cookbook is packed with no fuss, delicious chicken dinner recipes- from casseroles to 20-minute dinners to slurpable soups. Since we are full swing into soup season, I chose to whip up a pot of her Parmesan Chicken Corn Chowder (on page 217). This creamy chowder with its hearty potatoes, roasted chicken, and the addition of Parmesan cheese takes the traditional corn chowder to a whole other level of deliciousness...

Easy Chicken Puttanesca Penne

You only need 30 minutes & 5 simple ingredients to whip up this family-pleasing Easy Chicken Puttanesca Sauce on a busy weeknight...

This recipe was created in partnership with Barilla, Walmart, & No Kid Hungry. All opinions & thoughts expressed below are 100% my own.

Is anyone else's head spinning from the fact that back to school is just a few short weeks away? And for some of you all, the first day of school has already come and gone! (<<My mind is still blown over that one.) 

While I am definitely looking forward to reclaiming my 6 hours of kid-free time on the weekdays, I am also a little sad that summer break is almost over. We had all these grand plans for this summer, but a few things (like that promised weekend camping trip in a tent) didn't get crossed off the family checklist this time around. That seems to happen just about every summer, right?

But now I am getting ready to switch gears from a summer break bucket list to all of those checklists that come with the beginning of a new school year. The school supply list, checking off all that required paperwork that has been signed in and turned in for kindergarten registration, shopping for the necessary back to school clothes, dorm room essentials, and last but certainly not least- weeknight meal planning. 

Tavern Style Shepherd's Pie

This Tavern Style Shepherd's Pie combines two traditional weekend classics into one delicious, family-pleasing meal...

I think you all pretty much know by now that if I can utilize my slow cooker during the day to help make evening dinner prep easier and quicker, I am all for it.  When I was approached to give one of Campbell's new Slow Cooker Sauces a go, I was more than game.  

I picked up a package of the Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauce in Tavern Style Pot Roast and started brainstorming how I could transform the well-loved, slow-cooked pot roast into an amazing and tasty weeknight meal.  

"Breaded" Buffalo Chicken & Rice Casserole

The casserole has been a weeknight dinner staple in American households since the 1950's. It is easy to see why...

They come together quickly.

You typically have your protein, starches, and veggies all together in one dish.

And more likely than not, they will make everyone in the household happy.

I love casseroles just as much as the next mother when it comes to feeding my family quickly and frugally.  What I do not like is how unhealthy some of these casseroles can be with their cream of this and cream of that, and butter, and tons of cheese.  

Don't get me wrong- that all tastes good, but I have been striving lately to make more healthier dinner choices for myself and my family.  

I love that Country Crock spread offers me a delicious alternative to all of that with their variety of buttery spreads that have 70% less fat than traditional butter per serving and contains absolutely 0 grams of trans fat per serving. :)

Feeding my family a tasty, healthy, and low effort dinner makes us all happy.

Casseroles generally are quick weeknight meals, but here are a few tips to get that casserole in the oven, on the table, and in your family's tummies just a little bit quicker...

• Cook any pasta or rice that the casserole calls for the night before.  Drain and place in a plastic container.  The next evening when you are ready to throw together the casserole, just run the cold pasta under hot water for a few minutes to loosen it up.  You can nuke the rice in the microwave for a minute or two. 
• Cook any meat that your casserole calls for in your slow cooker all day.  For my "Breaded" Buffalo Chicken & Rice Casserole, I threw 3 frozen chicken breasts in my slow cooker with a tiny bit of water and cooked them on low all day.  Then I just had to chop the chicken before making the buffalo chicken mixture for my casserole.  You can also do this with ground beef although I would suggest defrosting it first.  You don't want to come home to a huge clump of cooked ground burger. ;)
• Want to make a casserole, but are missing an ingredient or two?  Don't waste time making a quick run to the grocery store!  Use what you have on hand!  No bread crumbs?  Try crushed up crackers or potato chips instead.  Rice and pasta can be swapped out in casserole dishes easily.  No cream cheese?  Try sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.  Get creative.  

We are huge buffalo chicken fans in this house.  If it is buffalo chicken anything, it is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit with my family.  This "Breaded" Buffalo Chicken & Rice Casserole was a no-brainer for me. ;)

"Breaded" Buffalo Chicken & Rice Casserole

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

6053199

Ingredients (8 servings)

• 2-3 large chicken breasts, cooked & then chopped or shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups white rice, cooked according to package directions
• 1 8 oz brick cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat.)
• 1/2 cup hot sauce
• 1/4 cup Country Crock Spread, melted
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 2-3 dashes garlic powder
• 2-3 stalk of celery, chopped

For the "breaded" topping

• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp Country Crock spread, melted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray (or do as I did and just spread a little Country Crock spread around the sides and bottom).

Press your cooked rice into the bottom of your prepared pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken, cream cheese, hot sauce, 1/4 cup melted Country Crock spread, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, vinegar, and chopped celery. Drop the buffalo chicken mixture over top the rice in the pan, and then gently spread to even out.

In a small bowl, mix together the panko bread crumbs, 2 tbsp of melted Country Crock spread, salt, and pepper. Evenly sprinkle the breading mixture over top of the buffalo chicken mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the "breaded" topping is slightly golden brown.

Allow to cool & set up for about 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

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This "Breaded" Buffalo Chicken & Rice Casserole was a big hit with the family.  Even baby girl loved it!  And I loved knowing that I was feeding them all a healthy meal. :)

Do you have any tips for putting a healthy dinnertime casserole on the table even quicker?  I would love to hear them! 

Get more tasty, quick, and healthy casserole and dinner ideas by popping over and visiting Country Crock on Pinterest! 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.