Easy Weekly Dinner Menu #102: Recipes You Should Have Tried in 2014!

This menu of easy dinner recipes features some of my favorite dishes that didn’t get much attention in 2014!

Hi, everyone! Happy New Year! I can’t say that I’m ready for it to be January 2nd. I was still enjoying the Christmas season, which went by all too fast, and I always feel sad that I have to wait almost a year for the holidays to come again. I’m just going to eat some chocolate out of my (still hanging) stocking and try to get excited about Valentine’s Day I guess.

While I’m feeling sorry for myself, why not feel sorry for seven easy dinner recipes too? Today’s dinner menu is full of seven recipes from the last year that I absolutely loved but that didn’t get much attention. I’m hoping if I tell you again about how good these dinners are, you’ll be convinced to try them. If not, feel free to tell me (nicely) in the comments why they aren’t your favorites!

1. Chicken Sausage Gumbo – This recipe makes me sad. It is seriously one of the best things I cook, but it hasn’t gotten much love here. I saved it up for a year before posting it and was so excited to share it! I think maybe it’s too time consuming? It’s definitely not a weeknight meal but a great Sunday dinner. If you like gumbo, you should try it!
2. Chicken Parmesan Casserole – I thought this easy, tasty dinner would be popular. Everyone loves chicken parmesan, and this casserole is a simple way to make it. Womp. Womp. This one was only a hit at our house!
3. Franks and Beans with Sweet Potatoes – Love this dinner, love the photos. Maybe franks and beans just doesn’t sound appealing. I promise this dish is flavorful and good for you, and you should try it!
4. Gluten-Free Thai Chicken Pizza – I know having the words “gluten free” in a recipe title might say, “Don’t look at me!” to everyone who can eat wheat, but here’s the thing: This recipe works just as well with any crust! The “gluten free” part is completely optional. If you like Thai flavors, you’d love this pizza.
5. Layered Mexican Barley Casserole – I get it that this one sounds weird. Who eats barley anyway? This one is so good though. I couldn’t wait to eat leftovers the next day!
6. Open-Faced Turkey over Cornbread – This one may win for most ignored recipe of 2014. This is really good! Are there too many words in the title? Do you not like the photos? We’re talking about turkey and homemade gravy on top of easy seasoned cornbread. Plus, it only takes about a half hour! You need to try this one. 
7. Spicy Pepper Jack Cheese Rice with Turkey – Maybe this one isn’t shown well in the photos, or maybe it sounds weird. For some reason, this easy rice bowl was not a hit, but it should have been! If you like meat, cheese, rice, and spice, you should really try this. (Even if you don’t like spice, you could leave that part out.)

Thanks so much for your patience the past two weeks while I took a break from writing new dinner recipes. I enjoyed spending time with my family, and now I’m energized and excited about lots of recipes I will share with you in the coming weeks! Talk to you soon!

Are you looking for a new way to find and collect recipes from around the web? Try Yummly! If you like sites like Pinterest, FoodGawker, and ZipList, it’s like the best of all those rolled into one. You can set up your feed to only show the types of recipes you are interested in, search for something specific, and save recipes to your recipe box from any site. You’ll see the little “Yum” button at the top and bottom of all my recipes, or you can add a Yum button to your browser to save any recipe you find anywhere. See my recipes on Yummly and start your own profile!