My marriage is a whole hand today!  Adam and I have been married for five years.  Sure, in the grand scheme of things, that isn’t that long but considering we’ve been together about seven years, that is a pretty decent amount of time. 

To celebrate our anniversary, we decided to head to Tennessee for a mini vacation.  I’ve been to Tennessee a few times, but usually on day trips when we visited my grandparents in Mississippi.  We decided it would be fun to get a cabin and explore the Smoky Mountains as well as everything else the Pigeon Forge area has to offer.  It will be REALLY nice to get away from everything for just a few days.

I thought I would share some of my favorite weekend meals while I’m away doing Tennessee things.  So often we get caught up in figuring out the fastest/easiest/tastiest/healthiest weeknight meal that other dishes fall by the wayside.  The dishes that might take a few additional steps or longer than 30 minutes to throw together.  There is nothing wrong with making a super fast meal, heck I do it most nights, but there is also something to be said for slowing down and really cooking a meal.

These recipes are some of my favorites to make on a weekend when I have a little extra time.  I enjoy the whole process of putting them together and somehow I think that makes the meal taste even better.  I also tend to make more than we can eat in one sitting so I can freeze the leftovers and have a quick weeknight meal that tastes like it took a long time to make.  Win-win.

If you have a little extra time this weekend, give one of these recipes a shot! 

Caramelized Onions– Ok, I know this is done in a slow cooker so it really doesn’t require much effort BUT it does take 10 hours to cook. Trust me, it’s worth the 10 hours.

Sweet Potato Dumpling Salad– The dressing doesn’t take that long to make but the dumplings require a little extra time.  Make a bunch though because they freeze well.

Tomato Sauce– Add this to your meal prep line up and use it throughout the week.  You will never regret using homemade tomato sauce instead of canned.

Dumpling Soup– Apparently I like dumplings.  But who doesn’t?  This soup is totally worth the extra time.

Butternut Squash Korma– I love the way Indian cuisine just builds on flavor after flavor and it always tastes better the next day.

Baked Taco Ravioli– The first time I made these it was a total disaster and took for-ev-er.  But after a few tries, I got it down and they are one of my favorite weekend meals!

Taco Casserole– Please excuse the awful photo, but this was one of the first recipes on my blog and still one of my favorite weekend meals.

Dairy-Free Lasagna– It doesn’t get much better than lasagna.  And double bonus, you can use your homemade tomato sauce!

French Onion Casserole– If I could marry a casserole, this would be the one I would choose.  I know that sounds weird, but make this and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Pumpkin Cookies– These are one of my favorite cookies from childhood that I remade to be gluten and dairy free.  Still one of my favorite cookies.

Cranberry Coffee Cake– Ok, this one doesn’t take an exorbitant amount of effort either but it’s delicious and I wanted to put it on the list!