Easy Weekly Dinner Menu #23 – Big Taste, Small Cleanup.

Last week our dishwasher washed its last load.  After paying $55 for the repairman to tell us the bad news, we went to order a replacement that very afternoon. These things take time I guess, so we had to wait almost a week for the new one to be delivered and installed. You will not hear me complain about having to hand wash dishes for a few days. I realize that there are many people in this world with real problems in their lives, and this was just a minor inconvenience. Still, we did try to limit the number of dishes we used to cut down on the work. This is reflected in this week’s menu with lots of baking sheets covered in foil and one-dish meals. Those are always nice to make life easier though, even with a functioning dishwasher!

Before we get to the menu, I wanted to make a public service announcement: Google Reader is going away on Monday! If you haven’t already found a new RSS reader to keep up with your favorite blogs and other sites, I recommend Bloglovin. They make it really easy to import your feeds from Google Reader. I get a daily email digest of new posts on all the blogs I follow, and I’ve found this to be the best way to keep up with everyone. It would be just peachy if you could follow me while you are there.

Now, let’s get to the easy weekly dinner menu full of simple recipes!

1. Layered Southwest Chicken Casserole – This satisfying casserole with rice, black beans, chicken, and tomatoes uses easy-to-find ingredients and takes only a few minutes to assemble.
2. Steak with Lemon Couscous Salad – This couscous salad tastes great and is perfect for making ahead to make dinner easier. Next week I’m going to tell you an easy trick to getting a great charred crust on your steaks, but for now you can cook the steak your favorite way.
3. Super Simple Meatball Sandwiches – I didn’t write a recipe for these because they are too easy for that! Just simmer frozen meatballs in marinara sauce until the meatballs are heated thoroughly. Meanwhile, scoop the inside bread out of sliced French rolls to make little boats for the meatballs.  Scoop meatballs and sauce into half of the roll, lay sliced mozzarella or provolone on the other half, and bake for about 10 minutes. Serve with fries and sugar snap peas.
4. Bacon Wrapped Chicken Roll Ups with Goat Cheese and Spinach – This is a tad more involved than my usual recipes, but it is still pretty easy and worth the extra effort if you ask me.  I have a step-by-step photo tutorial to make it simple, and the prep only takes about 15 minutes.  Serve with rice and sliced tomatoes for a great dinner for the family or guests.
5. Almost Too Easy Honey Mustard Salmon with Roasted Vegetables – This salmon really defines an easy recipe. No measuring and no cleanup! We had some cold days earlier this week, so I served this with roasted butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms. If you are looking for something more summery, serve with a side salad instead.
6. Japanese Inspired Noodles with Shrimp – This dish is quick, easy, healthy and DELICIOUS! If you don’t like shrimp, try it with chicken instead.
7. Ranch Turkey Club Salad – This salad is low on mess AND cooking.  If you use a rotisserie chicken and microwave your bacon, you won’t heat up your kitchen on a hot day to enjoy this tasty club salad with avocado and ranch.

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