This past Sunday my best friend from high school came to visit me with her two gorgeous kids.  It was so nice to spend time catching up with her.  I love how even though we don’t talk very often we can still pick right back up where we left off.  She is pretty awesome.  The kids got along well except for at the end of the visit when my evil dog from my last post bit her sweet little girl.  I felt so bad, I even cried.  Let me know if you know anyone who wants a naughty dog…..

Anyways, my favorite question to ask people these days is what they make for dinner.  I want to know what people are really cooking for dinner.  Not what they pin on pinterest or recipes that have with a million ingredients.  I am talking about what are you whipping up on a Monday night after a long day.  If it wasn’t obvious I am a little obsessed with food.  Right after I had SJ, when family would come to visit and help, all I really wanted was for them to make or teach me to make one dish.  I knew that now that I had a family, I was going to be cooking a lot and I wanted new ideas.

So naturally I asked my dear friend this same question and I got something magical.  A gluten free (her son is intolerant so this is her domain now) mexican casserole.  It basically consists of pre-made Trader Joe’s goodness, which is amazing in itself.

Lauri’s Mexican Casserole:

Ingredients:

Corn Tortillas

Trader Joe’s salsa verde

Trader Joe’s premade asada chicken

Black beans

Frozen spinach

Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease the bottom of a pan and then top it with a layer of salsa verde (maybe 1/2 a cup).  Next cover it with a few corn tortillas, topped with a little more salsa.  Next layer with chopped asada chicken, spinach, black beans, and a little cheese.  Continue layering and once done pour a healthy dose of cheese on the top. I also added some sliced olives.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.

I topped mine with sliced avocado but you could add sour cream if you like that stuff.

And for the rest of the week this is what is on the menu:

Sunday: Steak, veggies, sweet potatoes, and wild rice (slight adjustment to the above)

Monday: Lauri’s Mexican Casserole

Tuesday: Red beans and rice

Wednesday: Baked lemon chicken, veggies, quinoa (Baking chicken with some fresh squeezed lemon, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  In the same dish adding zucchini and broccoli to bake along side it).

Thursday: Turkey tacos again, tortellinis, or something easy.  It is just me and SJ this night.

Friday: We are going to the annual San Mateo crab feed.  It is delicious and oh so fun.  Now we just need to find a babysitter still….

So, what does everyone else make for dinner?  Any easy favorites?