Welcome back to the very first installment of "Misty Creek Acres Kitchen: Weekly Dinners Made Simple!" This week, I’m excited to share a few dinner recipes that have been big hits in our household. These meals are straightforward, nourishing, and perfect for busy weeknights when you want something delicious without spending hours in the kitchen. As always, I’ve included the original Pinterest recipes that inspired me, along with the tweaks I made to suit our family’s tastes. Let’s dive into what we’ve been cooking up!
Also, don't knock me for my food photography skills....that's not what this is about but I'll try to keep getting better!
1. First up is Farmer's Casserole. Don't we all like breakfast for supper sometimes?
Check out the Pinterest link for the exact recipe Farmer's Casserole.
This was a really easy meal to make. I have a few suggestions and ways you can tweak it. First you can shred your own potatoes or buy frozen ones. It's very hard to find frozen potatoes without preservatives or other added ingredients so you have to figure out your priority with that. I went for frozen this time. Also, this recipe is not dairy free, but it is gluten free. You very well could make it dairy free by substituting the evaporated milk with a full fat can of coconut cream. I did add probably 2-4 teaspoons of Redmon's Seasoning Salt to this as well. I love that stuff. This would feed a family of 4 but maybe not if you are all adults. You could easily double this recipe. You could also throw in a handful of spinach or half a bell pepper to add some veggies.
2. Chicken and Dumplings. Something cozy for a cooler day.
I'll be honest, Gavin wasn't a fan of this one, but Jeff and I really liked it. This is essentially a Gluten Free chicken and dumplings recipe if you buy the right ingredients. The recipe calls for potato gnocci which was really good, and I opted for the mini ones. It also has cream of chicken and cream of celery which I found those in the gluten free section. That was more important to me than the low sodium or low-fat kind. Also, if you follow the recipe exactly it is very high protein. I halved the amount of chicken, and I thought it was the perfect amount of chicken. The herbs and spices were perfect too! I had it for leftovers the next day for lunch and it was still good!
3. Creamy Spaghetti with Italian Sausage - better than you think it will be!
This one is soooo good and it can easily be GF and DF! I used Banza noodles for us as it is gluten free but also high protein. I did sprinkle some parm shredded cheese on it too. Add a little garlic toast and you're golden! It does call for "low sodium broth"; I just used our chicken bone broth that I make and it was perfect. Again, a good bone broth will add extra protein to your meal plus all the other added benefits of a good bone broth. We had a good bit left over because Jeff and I were the only ones eating it that night. But I had it for lunch the next day and Gavin had it for dinner another night - Still Good! Also, don't be scared of using fennel it tasted great. I do try to get most of our pork from a local farm. You should definitely try that if you can, it tastes so much better.
4. Slow Cooker Beef Tips & Gravy - Crockpot meal on a busy night.
Jeff loves red meat, so I have to throw that into meals for him. Gavin loves meat and rice, so this was a good combination. I did this on a night that I had to take Braelyn to soccer practice. It worked out perfectly. We don't have a microwave so I had to cook the rice on the stovetop, but it would be a super quick throw together meal if you have the 90 second microwave rice. Same with the green beans. I you have canned green beans you can pop that in the microwave too. I had frozen green beans. I put them in a pot to simmer for about an hour with a couple pieces of bacon and it was yummy. For the rice, I use 1 cup of rice with 2 cups of chicken bone broth. Don't forget to rinse your rice to get that arsenic off! I substituted the All-Purpose Flour for a GF All Purpose Flour, I substituted the soy sauce for coconut aminos, and of course used beef bone broth that I canned instead of the storebought beef broth.
5. Cauliflower Rice Taco Casserole - Whole 30!
This was another hit. I did a little taco bar on the side with shredded cheese, avocado, olives, lime slices and tortilla chips. The recipe itself is a Whole 30 or Paleo recipe but since we don't have to follow all the rules for that we add on ingredients as needed. I did use the cumin even though it says optional. I also used venison instead of beef for this one. I usually get the organic tortilla chips which really made this meal yummy to me! I did use Siete Tortillas. They are usually in the freezer section.
I hope these recipes bring a little extra ease and flavor to your dinner table this week. Don’t forget to check out the Instagram reel for a quick visual recap, and feel free to share your own tweaks and experiences in the comments. Also, tag me on social media if you make any of them - I'd love to see it!
See you next Monday for more simple, delicious dinners from Misty Creek Acres Kitchen!