easy dinner

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Lemon and Garlic

March 29, 2017 by Danielle

This creamy avocado pasta with lemon and garlic is ready in less than 30 minutes with the help of our sponsor, Barilla, available at Walmart.

You know when you’ve been so busy the whole weekend and then realize you completely forgot to come up with a game plan for dinner on Monday night? This is the meal I make when that happens. And wouldn’t you know? it happens more often than not.

Luckily avocados are in season right now and we can go pick a few off our neighbor’s tree (after asking of course) to use when we need them. Our lemon tree is doing quite well too so pairing the two flavors together make for a pretty delicious meal pairing.

One thing I love about this meal is that it uses ingredients I either always have on hand or have readily available with little effort. We try and stock our pantry with must-have items like Barilla Whole Grain pasta and sauces. Not only are they great for meals in a pinch, but I also know that my family is getting a meal that meets their nutritional needs.

Barilla Whole Grain pasta is a great source of fiber and is made with 100% whole wheat. My family is getting 56g of whole grain in each serving of pasta. It also pairs perfectly with lean proteins like salmon or chicken but can hold it’s own as a full meal as well, just like this recipe.

Normally we make creamy avocado pasta and pair it with salmon when we have it on hand, but if we don’t, we can forgo the lean protein and just eat this dish as a full meal. I’ve also been known to throw some shrimp into the dish as an alternative option. The creaminess of the avocado adds to the delicacy of the seafood. And who doesn’t love the flavor of garlic and lemon with salmon and shrimp?

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Lemon and Garlic

6 ounces Barilla Whole Grain Linguini
4 tablespoons olive oil (divided in half)
1/4 cup onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons Barilla pesto
1/2 avocado (diced & mashed)
salt to taste
Saute onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Set aside.

Saute onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Set aside.
Cook Barilla Whole Grain Linguini according to package directions. Drain and add to a heated pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Add sauteed onions and garlic and Barilla pesto to pasta and cook 1-2 minutes.
Add mashed avocado and stir to combine. Remove from heat and serve.

Serving size: 1/2 cup of pasta

What’s your favorite springtime flavor to pair with pasta?

Looking to save a little more than time on this quick and easy dinner? Grab a coupon from Ibotta to use at Walmart when you’re stocking up on your favorite Barilla pasta and sauces!

Find more great recipes to enjoy with your Barilla pasta and sauces by following this Pinterest board for simple, delicious pasta dishes inspired by Barilla.

Love this recipe? Check out a few more:

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Filed Under: Dinner, In the Kitchen, Recipes Tagged With: 30 Minute Meals, avocado, Barilla, Dinner, easy dinner, easy recipes, lemon, Pasta

Easy Dinner Slow Cooker Freezer Meals

October 28, 2015 by Danielle

Since having my third child, dinner is usually the farthest thing from my mind at the end of the day. Between working from home, dropping off and picking up the older kids, and entertaining my baby throughout the day, It’s just not as important as my kids or my work (unless making dinner is work!).

Over the past few months I’ve become a little pro-active in making sure that I don’t have to worry about anything once dinner time arrives by doing a lot of meal prep on the weekends! I’ve been stocking up on various oven and crock pot sauces to help me out and make dinnertime a breeze. All I have to do is remember to grab the right protein, veggie and sauce and I’m on my way to making a delicious meal for the family.

Our current favorite? Cheesy chicken and broccoli. So easy to make in a snap! Almost as easy as our favorite slow cooker freezer meals.

There are quite a few sauces that you can easily incorporate into your freezer meal plan. With these pantry staples you really can make dinner a quick and painless part of the day. And don’t get me started on the delicious oven sauces like the cheesy broccoli chicken featured above.

Today I’m sharing one of my favorites: Tavern Style Pot Roast! Not only is this slowcooker sauce amazingly delicious, it’s something I can keep in my pantry until I need it.

How To Prep Slow Cooker Freezer Meals

To create this simple slow cooker freezer meal all you have to do is gather up a few ingredients. I included a beef roast, chopped carrots, chopped potatoes, and one onion, cut into large chunks.

Then I simply labeled a gallon size freezer bag with the name of the meal and the date I’ve prepared it to freeze. That way I know exactly what meal to grab when I’m looking to start dinner. Once everything is ready to go I add all of the ingredients to the bag and pop it in the freezer for later. For other dishes that are just as simple I do a similar meal prep. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Hawaiian Pork – Add pork roast, green beans (fresh or frozen), and pineapple chunks to the bag. Stock up on frozen rice and serve pork and green beans over rice.

Beef Stew – Add beef, diced potatoes, carrots and, onions (fresh or frozen) to the bag. Serve with a nice salad.

Shredded Beef Tacos – Add beef roast, onions, peppers, kidney and/or black beans and corn to the bag. Use with taco shells or as a filling for burritos or enchiladas.

What’s your favorite freezer meal to prepare?

Filed Under: Dinner, In the Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: campbell's slow cooker sauce, campbell’s oven sauce, easy dinner, Easy Meal Ideas, easy recipes, Frozen Meals, Slow Cooker

Easy Meal Planning Tips plus a Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie recipe

January 26, 2015 by Danielle

Looking for easy meal planning tips and ideas for busy weeknights? We’re sharing a few of our favorites + this delicious deconstructed chicken pot pie recipe!

While many people are making resolutions for the New Year, I’m continuing with some resolutions I made last year. One of which is to stick to our monthly budget and reduce the amount we eat out. Being a gazillion weeks pregnant – ok… 38 weeks – means that I’ve turned to take out quite a bit over the past few months.

This year we’re resetting ourselves and bringing out my easy meal planning tips to ensure that we’re making the most of our budget AND cooking delicious dishes that the whole family loves. Luckily I have some great help from my well-stocked pantry.

Easy Meal Planning Tips

Try New Recipes – one thing that I love to do when meal planning is find new recipes I haven’t tried. This keeps things fresh so I’m not continually making the same go-to dishes I always make. This also helps me stock my pantry with fun ingredients I may not have thought to use regularly. It’s also a great way to slowly expand a spice rack.
Choose a day to meal plan and write it out – now this may seem simple and easy but it’s really the backbone to a good meal plan. I love to sit down Sunday morning with my husband, the Sunday paper, and any new recipes we’re trying out to plan out what we’re eating for the next week. By checking out the ads and coupons I can make sure we’re eating within budget.
Keep a list of items you run out of handy – We used to have a simple note pad on the fridge that we kept our grocery list on so that come Sunday I could simply grab it and add it to the list of items I was purchasing for the next week’s meals. Now we have a super cute chalkboard door on the front of one of our upper cabinets. Find something that works for your family and put it into place!
Keep a well-stocked pantry – Take inventory of the pantry items found in your favorite go-to recipes. Try and make sure you have those items on hand at all times to assure that they’ll be there when you need them. We always have a great selection of shelf stable sauces and mixes on hand to go with the frozen veggies and meat we keep in the freezer. This makes for a great go-to when recipes we try out don’t go as planned.
Have a little wiggle room – While meal planning every night of the week would be wonderful for our budget, it’s just not practical. With things that come up during the week we need a little wiggle room. And that means having a floating day for take out. More than likely that means pizza!

One of my favorite go-to’s for a busy week is this deconstructed chicken pot pie using a store-bought chicken pot pie flavored oven sauce packet. Not only is it delicious, I always have chicken breasts and mixed veggies in the freezer so I know I can simply grab everything and whip up a great meal.

And I only need 5 minutes to prep. I can grab all of the ingredients and put them together in the same time it takes for my oven to preheat. Simply add the chicken and veggies to an oven-safe dish and pour the sauce over everything.

Then I bake for 40 minutes. At the same time, I bake up some homemade biscuits to go with my deconstructed pot pie. Another easy shortcut? Refrigerated biscuits! Before I know it dinner is ready to go and I have a happy family.