RECIPES Archives • Page 3 of 68 • New Nostalgia

Recipes I’m Making This Week – My Meal Plan

Recipes I’m Making This Week:

I love starting the week with food in my refrigerator and a good idea of what I am going to feed my family each week. It cuts down on food waste, helps me stick to our grocery budget, gives an answer to that dreaded question: “what’s for dinner?” and keeps me from visiting the grocery store more than once a week.

Meal planning is a time and money saver!

I personally do not plan out exactly what we are going to eat each day. My schedule changes, my 3 teenagers’ needs change each day, and I just don’t know what kind of food mood we will all be in.

Yes…that is a thing…food mood! Mine seems to change with the weather…if it is cold and dreary outside then I want soup simmering. If it is sunny and mild, I want something quick so I can get outdoors and enjoy it!

I follow a loose guide every week, with the below themes as my guide. Some weeks I hit all of the themes, some weeks I don’t. Flexibility works for me!

I start with knowing what is in my freezer, refrigerator, and pantry. I especially pay attention to any proteins we have so I can build meals around them. I then find recipes online that I have saved or look here are New Nostalgia at our fav go-to recipes.

Some weeks I try new-to-me recipes, some weeks I go to what is familiar.

I gather them, make a grocery list, and make sure I keep a list of links so I can reference it all week. I like sharing them here with you, so I can just come to this post when it is time to think about dinner. The recipes I don’t get to I will roll-over into the following week.

My Meal Plan

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

Oven Scrambled Eggs

Cranberry Banana Quinoa Oatmeal Bake

I have several bags of frozen cranberries in my freezer. This looks like a great way to use them.

TACO/MEXICAN MEAL

Mexican Chicken and Rice Salad Bowls

A new-to-me recipe. My girls are asking for something to take in their lunches besides sandwiches. I thought a hearty salad would make them happy. We shall see!

PASTA NIGHT

Magic One-Pan Spaghetti

A new-to-me recipe. I’m going to use chicken broth in place of water in this recipe, thanks to a tip in the comment thread of the video.

MEATLESS

Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup

My sister said this soup is amazing. I’m not sure how my family will do digesting so much dairy, but maybe I decided to try it! I am going to use almond milk in place of dairy milk, but will still use the cheese and cream.

ORGANIC CHICKEN MEAL

Mexican Chicken and Rice Salad Bowls

{for your pinning pleasure}

GRASS FED BEEF MEAL

One Pan Texas Hash

A new-to-me recipe. I have frozen grass-fed beef I want to use up and I love hash.

30 Minute Sloppy Joes

A go-to around here. You all love it too! It has gone very viral on Pinterest. Yay!

WILD-CAUGHT FISH MEAL

Seared Cod in Chive Butter

I’ve made this twice and it is DELICIOUS! The sauce is to die for…it uses white wine, shallots, butter, lemon and fresh herbs. You can use chicken broth in place of the wine. This recipe is a keeper!

INSTANT POT MEAL

None

SLOW COOKER MEAL

None this week, but you could try: Crockpot Bone Broth

ONE PAN MEAL

Sheet Pan Sausage Potato Pepper Hash

Magic One-Pan Spaghetti

It is kind of fun that I am trying 2 new one pan meals.

SOUP

Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup

SIDES

Easy Chopped Detox Salad

Seasoned Lentils

The Detox Salad is my new food crush. It makes a nice big bowl that keeps well in the refrigerator if you store the dressing separately. I eat it all week long!

Seasoned lentils make a great side dish. I buy cooked lentils from Trader Joes and flavor them up a bit using this recipe.

SNACKS

Restaurant Style Salsa – My family can’t get enough of this recipe!

Hall of Fame Cranberry Sauce – I can’t get enough of this recipe. I use often use it as a toast topping.

Banana Pumpkin Muffins – These are a great way to use up those ripe bananas. Super moist and makes a bunch.

Stove Top Granola – This is a new-to-me recipe. I love that it is stove top instead of the oven.

ESSENTIAL OILS RECIPE

Anxiety Away Blend — 5 drops Frankincense, 3 drops Orange, 2 drops Peppermint

Diffuse (my fav diffuser) into room or combine with a carrier oil in a roller bottle and put on temples and back of the neck.

INSTANT POT STAPLES

Instant Pot Yogurt

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

Instant Pot Quinoa

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Instant Pot Black Beans

Notice I also share a new essential oils recipe. I love to mix it up each week and try new scents!

Let me know in the comments if a weekly round-up of the recipes I plan on making is helpful to you

Also, keep an eye on my Instagram Stories to see some of the recipes. I often capture my cooking process!

RECIPES/ Sweets

No Bake Clean Eating Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispy Bars

These No Bake Clean Eating Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispy Bars are a play off one of the most popular recipe posts on New Nostalgia. That post is called Best Recipe I’ve Ever Messed Up has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

I’m feeling like a proud peacock because I took the base of that recipe and came up with another delicious recipe that you are going to LOVE! These bars are to die for!

Halloween/ Meals/ RECIPES

Instant Pot Cincinnati Chili With Dark Chocolate

This Instant Pot Cincinnati Chili with Dark Chocolate has been a family favorite for a while now. I’ve wanted to make an Instant Pot version and did so last night. It turned out great and was such an easy process.

Last night was Halloween AND our first snow of the season. It was so pretty with great big snowflakes drifting down. I sent a group text to my three teens letting them know dinner would be ready at 5 and that Grandma would be joining us so that she could see their costumes.

My oldest and her boyfriend dressed up to serve little kids candy at a church party. My girl teaches Kindergarten Sunday School every Sunday and was hoping to see some of “her kids” there. It was crazy seeing my girl in scrubs–it may be a glimse into the future as she wants to go into the medical field.

My youngest 2 girls dressed up and went trick-or-treating and to visit their cousin. It may be the last time they trick-or-treat, and it was crazy to watch them drive away on their own. Halloween feels so different now that they are all grown up!

Todd and I bundled up and walked our neighborhood streets, reminiscing about how it seemed like just yesterday that we took our 3 little girls were trick-or-treating down the same streets. My Todd would keep them out until the last porch light went out and they would come home with gobs of candy and spend the next hour sorting and trading.

Cincinnati Chili & Cinnamon Rolls

I knew my girls would be out and about on Halloween, so I was purposeful in bringing the family together early in the evening to eat some nourishing chili. When my Teagan heard we were having chili, she asked…”are you making cinnamon rolls?”

Did you know that is a ‘thing’ in Nebraska? It is. My local grocery store was out of cinnamon rolls and the grocer said…” sorry…I’m all out…lots of people eating chili on this snowy Halloween!”

The combination of chili and cinnamon rolls reminds me of the popular combo of chicken and waffles. Salty, spicy & sweet. I do think chili is a great excuse to make cinnamon rolls, but it seemed a bit much on Halloween when sweet candy will be in abundance, but my girl asked for it, and it IS tradition, so I stopped at another store and bought some, and that made her very happy.

Cincinnati Chili with Dark Chocolate

Cincinnati chili is typically served over spaghetti noodles and topped with cheese, onions, and crackers. We skip the pasta but enjoy a bit of cheese and crackers on top.

The reason I LOVE Cincinnati chili is that the flavor is so rich and complex, thanks in part to dark chocolate. It also has cinnamon, cloves, allspice, a bay leaf, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in the recipe. These layers of flavor make the chili dark and delicious!

Instant Pot Cincinnati Chili with Dark Chocolate Recipe

I love having an Instant Pot version of this recipe. It pressure cooks for 10 minutes, then uses a natural release.

You can make this in a pot on the stove, but it will need to simmer for 3 hours. If you make it in the crockpot, it can cook for 8 hours on low and 4 hours on high.

{for your pinning pleasure!}

Instant Pot Cincinnati Chili

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

Recipe Type: Meals

Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil (I use avocado oil)
2 small onions or 1 large chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 lb ground beef
3 cans beans I use kidney black, and pinto
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 1 oz square dark chocolate
1/4 cup chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1 bay leaf
1 quart water more or less depending on the consistency you would like

Instructions

Saute onions in oil on saute function on the Instant Pot until translucent. Add garlic and ground beef and cook until browned. Drain if needed.
Drain and rinse beans in a colander.
Add beans and the rest of the ingredients into the pressure cooker (can eyeball the water and use more or less depending on desired consistency) and stir well.
Pressure cook for 10 minutes, then use natural release. Open the instant pot and stir. If you need to thicken the chili, set to saute and let bubble until desired consistency.

Have you tried Cincinnati Chili? What do you think of chocolate and cinnamon in your chili? How about Chili and Cinnamon Rolls?

Beauty/ FUN/DIY/ HEALTH/ How-Tos/ Natural Products/ RECIPES

2 Ingredient Lemon Sugar Facial Scrub

I make this simple homemade 2 ingredient lemon sugar facial scrub about once a week. It is so easy to throw together, and it leaves my skin very soft, smooth, & exfoliated.

Start by juicing a half of a lemon. I like to use the lemons in my refrigerator that are on the verge of being too ripe to eat. This is a great way to use those lemons up!

AN EASY WAY TO JUICE YOUR LEMON

Don’t underestimate the power of a simple fork! I have several fancy lemon squeezing gadgets, but when I am just doing a lemon half, I grab a fork. It is amazing how much juice a simple fork can extract! Just stick it in the lemon half and give it a twist while squeezing the lemon with the other hand. Rotate the lemon and repeat.

It is amazing how much juice a simple fork can extract! Just stick it in the lemon half and give it a twist while squeezing the lemon with the other hand. Rotate the lemon and repeat.

This lemon facial scrub has organic sugar and organic lemon juice in it. That is it! I squeeze 1/2 a lemon right into the jar, add about 1/8-1/4 cup of organic sugar and stir.

I like to use organic pure cane sugar. Regular white sugar has been bleached and I don’t want that in my body or on my face!

This makes enough for several applications, but in time the sugar dissolves, so I usually let my girls know that I have homemade lemon facial sugar scrub. I’ve been making this since they were young and loved doing “facials” with it.

I remember when they were little they would end up putting lots around their lips so they could lick it off. Tastes just like lemonade!

It is delicious and ends up being a great lip scrub, too! You could also take leftovers in the bath with you for a great body scrub.

HOW TO USE LEMON SUGAR FACIAL SCRUB

I put some of the mixture into my palm, and rub in circular motions all over my face. It feels so good! I love a good scrub! I then let it sit on my skin a few minutes until it gets sticky and feels a bit hard. Then I get a washcloth nice and hot and just lay it on my face for a few seconds. The steam opens the pores and softens the sugar mixture. I then wipe off and rinse well. I will often follow with a dab of coconut oil for moisture.

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I let it sit on my skin a few minutes until it gets sticky and feels a bit hard. Then I get a wet microfiber facial washcloth — nice and hot — and just lay it on my face for a few seconds. The steam opens the pores and softens the sugar mixture. I then wipe off and rinse well. I follow with moisturizer.

Lemons do have a lightening quality about them and I notice it has faded sun damage that I have on my forehead. It is also great for breakouts. It seems to really help with blackheads and just clearing the junk out of my pores. I love it!

2 INGREDIENT LEMON SUGAR FACIAL SCRUB

1/2 organic lemon
1/8-1/4 cup organic sugar

Juice 1/2 lemon using a fork into a mason jar. Add the organic sugar and stir. Apply to face in circular motions and gently allow the sugar to scrub your skin. Let sit for a few minutes. Use a hot washcloth (I love a microfiber facial cloth–it is great for gently wiping away smudged mascara under the eyes) and lay on the face to steam for a minute, then use it to wipe of scrub. Rinse well & moisturize. Use the lemon sugar facial scrub once a week.

{For Your Pinning Pleasure}

You might also like:
Homemade Organic Eye Makeup Remover
Homemade Face Moisturizer
100% Natural Oil Cleansing Method
My Favorite Pre-Shave & Post Shave For The Softest Legs

Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sides

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

I cannot get enough oven roasted sweet potato fries lately. I made this pan and ate over half of them in minutes! Sweet potato fries satisfy my love for all things salty/sweet. The starch and fiber in them keep me nice and satiated.

If any do remain on the pan after my ‘straight from the oven’ snacking, I will use them in wraps (they pair well with black beans), top my salad or lunch bowls (they are great eaten cold), will tuck them away in an omelette, or on top of my avocado toast.

These are nice and crispy when they come out of the oven, but after being in the refrigerator they soften up…there is just no way around that.

I enjoy eating them soft and cold, and have even been known to grab a jar from the refrigerator and throw it in my bag for on-the-go snacking! I really like having them on hand, and they are becoming a staple part of my food week and have been added to my weekly food prep list.

My local health food co-op deli always has these sweet potatoes sitting inside their case–roasted, seasoned and ready to eat. I ordered them so often that I just knew I had to learn how to make them myself! My co-op always add a sprinkling of curry and I love the flavor, so I have been doing the same.

In the above lunch bowl, I have 3 foods that I have been prepping at the beginning of each week—-quinoa, ‘refried’ beans (without the refry!) and roasted sweet potato fries. This makes it really easy to make a quick and healthy lunch.

The salad above is greens topped with beans and quinoa for protein, sweet potato fries for a healthy starch, gluten-free chips (from Aldi!) for crunch, salsa in place of salad dressing and seeds sprinkled on top. Gotta get those daily seeds in! This salad bowl would be awesome topped with avocado for a nice healthy fat or even a poached egg for a breakfast salad!

You could take these ingredients and roll up in a wrap. Delish! Today I made the above bowl but without the greens–I topped quinoa (you could use brown rice or riced cauliflower if desired) with all of the ingredients in the picture and added guacamole. I then had my Everyday Green Smoothie later for a snack, so I still got my leafy greens in!

Roasted sweet potatoes fries are a great staple to have on hand! These are packed full of vitamin A and are a great way to add an orange food to your plate to achieve the goal of eating the rainbow throughout your day!

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

30 mins

Recipe Type: sides

Ingredients

1 sweet potato organic since you will be eating the skin
2-3 tbsp avocado oil a healthful oil that has a nice high smoking point, could use coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste
pinch of curry powder optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash, scrub and dry your sweet potato. Do not peel. There are great nutrients in the skin!
Place potatoes in a bowl and drizzle with avocado oil to cover.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss until coated evenly and thoroughly.
Lay them out onto a baking tray so that none of them are touching. This will help them caramelize and allow them to get that deep, delicious, golden-brown color.
Roast for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Don't be afraid to get some color on them...that will give them crispiness and flavor. Flip them over halfway through cooking.
Sprinkle with a pinch of curry powder to taste.

Recipe Notes

If you want the fries crispy again after storing in the refrigerator, you can lightly fry them in a cast iron skillet with avocado oil before eating.

RECIPES

Simple Go-To Crepe Recipe

You are going to love this simple go-to crepe recipe. We sure do. It is easy and so delicious! This is the first year that we have made crepes at home, but if I knew how simple they were to make, I would have started making them a long time ago!

Crepe Beginnings

Our crepe obsession started on a family trip to Breckenridge. This was a few years ago when our girls were young. We discovered the cutest little crepe shop in town and our girls were so enamored by all the choices of fillings and toppings. I remember their messy faces–you could clearly see what filling each one chose by what was left on their face!

They eagerly waited in line and once it was our turn to order, my youngest, Avery, would beg us to lift her up so she could watch the crepe maker swirl the batter. Her favorite part was when they would flip the crepe with a stick. Little did I know that years later she would be great in the kitchen and be flipping crepes of her own.

A Crepe Maker For Christmas

This past Christmas Avery received a crepe maker and she was delighted! I don’t like having too many kitchen gadgets, but I must say, this crepe maker sure has made the process easy and fun, and is worth having one more gadget!

It is the perfect size for crepes, has a lip that holds the crepe batter in while it sets up, and the crepes do not stick to it.

It came with 2 wooden utensils, one used to swirl and spread the batter evenly, which is really quite fun! The other is to lift and flip the crepe. I will include instructions for making crepes without the crepe maker, but I do recommend this crepe maker, especially if kids are helping in the kitchen. It makes for very easy and simple crepe-making.

Crepes For Special Occasions, or Not!

We often make crepes on special occasions or on a slow Saturday morning. Father’s Day was the perfect occasion to make crepes–Todd loved that! Avery woke up with the fun idea of making crepes for her Dad, and I drove straight to the store for fresh berries and whipping cream. The photos on this post are from that day–I love how she set all the toppings out pretty for a special Father’s Day brunch.

We made them a few times during the summer as an afternoon snack, when we wanted a sweet treat but didn’t want to heat up the house by turning on the oven. My oldest daughter was a Nanny this summer and she brought her kids over for some crepe-making. They loved it! Crepes are great for all ages.

Our Favorite Way To Top Crepes

Our favorite way to eat them is with berries and homemade whipped cream. If it was up to my Avery, we would have Nutella on hand at all times to smear on warm crepes then top with berries. She loves chocolate, and when I won’t give in to buying Nutella, she will melt a handful of chocolate chips and add a dollop of peanut butter, stir, then spread on her crepe. At the very least, she will sprinkle chocolate chips on top!

We now have a local cafe that sells crepes. It is fun to get crepe filling ideas from them. They make one that is to-die-for with cookie butter and raspberry jam, then sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar. That combo is delicious!

The same cafe also makes savory crepes. I am super inspired by them and eager to experiment with savory fillings. I will let you know when I do.

Crepe Recipe

We tried a couple of crepe recipes but stuck with this one because it is not too thin, not too thick, tastes amazing and turns out every time. It is also a super simple recipe. It is very similar to Martha Stewart’s recipe, but I cut the sugar just a bit. This recipe takes minutes to whip up, but be aware that this crepe batter rests for 15 minutes before cooking. This gives the protein in the batter time to relax and the starch time to expand.

I love that it can be whipped up in a blender (you could use a hand immersion blender). The recipe uses simple ingredients and ends up being a pretty good carb to protein ratio thanks to the high amount of eggs in the recipe. If we keep things simple with berries and a homemade whip made from organic cream, it really is a low sugar breakfast treat.

{for your pinning pleasure}

Simple Go-To Crepe Recipe

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tsp sugar

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1. In a blender, combine flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and butter.

2. Puree until mixture is smooth and bubbles form on top, about 30 seconds. Let batter sit at least 15 minutes at room temperature (or refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 day; whisk before using).

3. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly coat with butter. Add 1/3 cup batter and swirl to completely cover

the bottom of skillet. Cook until the underside of crepe is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Loosen edge of crepe with a rubber spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip. Cook 1 minute more. Slide crepe out of skillet and repeat with remaining batter. (Coat pan with butter as needed.)

What about YOU?

Do you love crepes? Have you made them homemade? What are your favorite fillings and toppings?

Meals/ RECIPES/ Uncategorized

Easy Steak Quesadillas

This Steak Quesadilla recipe is a keeper. I just made it for the first time last week, and it is a recipe that will for sure go into our frequent meal rotation.

What makes these tortillas so appealing is the brown, crispy outside of the tortilla. There is something about a crispy crunch into oozy gooey of cheese and the slight tender chew of the steak strips — this all makes the dish very memorable. It is texture heaven for the mouth!

The steak is well seasoned and smells amazing while cooking. Between the scent of seasoned steak and the aroma of bits of cheese that fall from the tortillas into the pan, your home will smell amazing and your people will come running!

My people did, and they all really enjoyed this meal. We are not huge steak eaters around here, so having a few bite-sized bits of steak in a crispy tortilla was perfect for our family. We also don’t do a ton of cheese in our meals, so I love that it is easy to control the amount of cheese in this dish. Just sprinkle your preferred amount!

I kept our steak quesadillas pretty plain, but they still had a ton of flavor! Dipping them in salsa adds more layers of flavor. If you use the suggested cilantro, tomatoes and green onions inside of the tortillas, even though not necessary your quesadillas will be colorful AND flavorful.

Don’t let the length of the recipe below make you feel like this recipe is hard. It is super easy and cooks quickly. You do need to cut and season the beef about 20 minutes ahead of cooking, allowing it to come to room temperature before putting into the hot pan.

Also, make sure you have all ingredients prepped ahead of time! This is key as the dish comes together very quickly and is done in a jiffy!

Easy Steak Quesadillas

(from How Jen Does It)

8-12 Flour Tortillas (or corn for gluten-free), cut in half.

1 pound Tri-Tip Steak, cut into thin strips against the grain

3-4 Tbsp Oil (I use Avodaco oil)

2 tsp Chili Powder

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Cumin

Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

1 c Shredded Colby Jack Cheese

1/4 c Fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

1/2 tomato, chopped (optional)

2 green onions, chopped (optional)

Salsa for serving

Sour Cream, for serving (optional)

Prep Ingredients:

Cut tortillas in half. You will be folding each half in half, which helps keep the filling from falling out.

Cut steak into strips against the grain. Sprinkle steak with seasonings and toss. Let sit and come to room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Prep all ingredients ahead of time, as the assembly and cooking process goes fast!

Cook Steak Strips:

Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add steak strips and cook just a couple of minutes until cooked through but DON’T OVERCOOK! It will get tough. Take off of the heat right after the steak is cooked through.

Assemble Steak Quesadillas:

Heat more oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.

Work with 4 tortilla halves at a time. Lay the tortilla halves in the hot pan with points touching each other in the center, and the opposite points of each tortilla half hanging over the pan edge.

Working quickly, add cooked steak onto each tortilla. Sprinkle each with cheese. Fold each tortilla in half, grabbing the point that is hanging over the pan and folding over the other point.

Cook until nice and brown and crispy on the bottom. Crispy is key! Do not flip prematurely. Enjoy the sizzle!

Flip and Fill Steak Quesadillas with Toppings:

Flip each steak quesadilla over. Once flipped, pull the top over and sprinkle with cilantro, tomato, and green onion, if desired. Then refold and cook until brown and crispy on the bottom and cheese is melted.

Serve with salsa and sour cream to dip. A big green salad is a great side to add color and vegetables to your meal.

To see a video of the cooking process, visit How Jen Does It.

{For Your Pinning Pleasure!}