Cooking and some nice family time!

I had an ambitious Sunday Soup Kitchen on the menu for today...but it didn't quite all happen like I thought it was going to.  That's okay though - thank goodness for a freezer filled with dinners!  I went in there later today and scooped up a couple of meals to thaw and use for this week.

We had a family gathering this afternoon, and between that and the kiddies swim lessons I only had time to pull off three meals today.

Oh - and did I say how much I love daylight savings time?! Nothing like an extra hour on a Sunday :)

As soon as I got up this morning I started out with a recipe that I pinned from Pinterest a couple months ago and have been wanting to try for awhile now.  It looked simple enough and it's from this great blog called "Budget Bytes".  This blogger will actually break down the price that it costs to make the recipe, and each of her dishes are CHEAP!

Greek Marinated Chicken

Thankfully chicken drumsticks were on sale at Loblaws this week and I got two flats for a total of $10!

I followed the recipe to a tee, and it turned out awesome.  Since I made a large batch I got to freeze half of it too!

Next up is a favourite of mine to make in the Fall and Winter - potato and leek soup!  There are many recipes out there but I've made up my own over the years to suit our taste (and also my lactose  of intolerance) as most of them call for heavy cream which I never cook with .

Potatoe and Leek Soup

4 medium potatoes
1 large carrot
1 celery stalk
1 clove of garlic
1 onion
3 large leeks
4 cups of chicken stock
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of milk (optional)

Peel the potatoes and carrots and chop roughly.  Chop the celery and garlic.  Take off the green stalky part of the leek and then slice.

In a large pot on medium heat melt the butter, then add the vegetables and let them "sweat" for about 8 minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock.  Bring to a boil then immediately reduce to simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from heat.  At this point you can add the milk, or choose to leave it out.

Let the soup cool completely, then I blitz it in the food processor for a smoother consistency.

Serve with fresh chives and/or grated cheddar cheese on top!

The last meal of the day was a slow cooker kind of dish - another Pinterest find!  Apple cinnamon slow cooker porkloin.

Decided to try this out since I had two pork tenderloins in the freezer.  This dish was easy, and only requires 3-4 hours in the slow cooker.  Talk about minimal ingredients too.  Pork, one apple, one onion, honey and cinnamon!  And it looked very pretty going into the slow cooker :)

Apple Cinnamon Slow Cooker Porkloin

My house smells amazing right now!

I also wanted to make another new dish this weekend but ran out of time - chicken taquitos!  That will be on the menu for next Sunday Soup Kitchen for sure.

What's on your meal plans for the week ahead?