Michelle's Messy Musings

Gerber Generation Celebration! House Party

2010-10-12T21:27:00.001-05:00

So I've found this great new site where you get to try out new products from brands you love! I recently applied to host a Gerber Generation Celebration! House Party and I'm hoping that I will get selected. This seems like a perfect fit for us since we're always hosting playdates here at the house.

We were lucky enough to have been able to host the Bull's Eye BBQ Sauce and Boboli Beat BBQ Boredom parties and had a blast with our friends and family. If you love hosting parties and trying new products you should head over to HouseParty.com to get started!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-26T09:46:00.003-05:00

So last week ended up being a complete disaster as far as menu planning was concerned. I found out that Beauty & the Beast was playing at our local Opera House and just HAD to go!

It was quick spur of the moment and a nice treat, I went with my mom and so we grabbed drinks and dinner before the show downtown at a super yummy place called The Iron Cactus. So Wednesday's meal was shot and after that it was just all down hill. Thursday afternoon, little man came home from preschool with a fever and a rash so dinner was really just a mom & dad snack 'cause he didn't feel like eating. So this week I'll be playing catch-up with a few items....

Monday: Quick Roast Chicken, Yeast Rolls and maybe Chocolate Pie?
Tuesday: Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce, Crash Hot Potatoes and Grilled Corn on the Cob
Wednesday: Seven Veggie Tomato Sauce and Spaghetti, Garlic Toast
Thursday: Honey Teryiaki Salmon, Fried Rice and Orange Broccoli

Friday: Frito Pies! Hubby has requested this for awhile now so I'm giving in.
Saturday: Picasso's Pizza - It's Date Night! (well kinda, we'll still have the baby but the 'lil monster will be a grandma's)
Sunday: TBD I really need to do at least 1 new recipe to cut down my pile that's overflowing!

Check out I’m an Organizing Junkie for more meal planning inspiration.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-19T16:50:00.006-05:00

ROAR!

It's been a roar-ing weekend and I can't believe it's Monday already! I feel like these days just seem to fly by now and I don't know where the time goes. How can our days feel so rushed when we really don't have school activities and neither my hubby or I work outside of the home!?!

So anyways I've been scrambling to figure out dinners lately so I really need to get back to my meal planning. I started back up with freezer cooking this month and I've found it's super helpful already!

Here's what's on the menu for this week. (I'm just doing dinners right now since I've got a stockpile of breakfast freezer foods)

Monday: Parmesan Fried Chicken Cutlets and Ratatouille
Tuesday: Purple Hull Peas & Rice, Fried Okra and Skillet Ham Steaks (trying to use up the rest of my CSA bushel)
Wednesday: Pork Chops stuffed with Feta & Spinach with Herbed Pitas
Thursday: Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce, Crash Hot Potatoes and Grilled Corn on the Cob
Friday: Frito Pies! Hubby has requested this for awhile now so I'm giving in.
Saturday: Beer Brats, Summer Pasta Salad, fresh tomatoes
Sunday: Quick Roast Chicken, Yeast Rolls and maybe Chocolate Pie?

Check out I’m an Organizing Junkie for more meal planning inspiration.

July Freezer Cooking

2010-07-12T08:17:00.006-05:00

With 100 degree plus temps around here I'm really working to utilize my "pre-made" meals and crockpot. I've also found that if I can time things well, I can do some oven/stovetop cooking in the early morning before the temps soar. So this has meant that I've really started doing FREEZER COOKING once again. It came in handy when Cody was first born and I'm finding it useful again. The only thing I'm having trouble with is finding summertime recipes that really work for freezer cooking.

In addition to freezer cooking I've been testing my veggie variety. We been participating in a local CSA and I've gotten some great new veggies to experiement cooking with. Since I don't know what I get in each basket until I pick it up, it's thrown my meal planning for a loop.

However here's my tenative freezer cooking plan for July....

Breakfasts/Breads/Snacks
Pumpkin French Toast Sticks
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Cups (x2) (1 batch sausage, 1 batch bacon)
~~Cinnamon Rolls~~ (x3) (using Paula Deen's Recipe)
~~Frozen Fruit Cups~~
Chocolate Butterhorns
~~Zucchini Bread~~
Sausage Cheese Biscuits

Lunches/Dinners
Beef & Bean Chimichanga Meat
Empanadas
Calzones
Ham, Cheese and Corn Muffins (I'm adding frozen corn to this recipe)

I'm sure I'll find a few more things to add along the way, and as always I'll prolly make some spaghetti meat sauce or sloppy joes to keep on hand.

Review of "An Evening with Julia Child"

2010-06-05T17:04:00.003-05:00

I decided to really kick things up a bit in my cooking coutdown and threw an extravegant dinner party. One in which the guests (my brother and his girlfriend) were involved in the cooking process. It was a long drawn out evening in which we were extremely abitious and I created 6 course dinner. Yes you read that correct SIX COURSES! Cooking was to begin at 7:00 PM when they arrived and I was aiming for an 8:00 PM begin to our meal while the cooking continued in shifts. Here is what our game plan was....

L'Apéritif (Aperitif) During the first course in a French dinner, hosts invite guests into their living room and serve them light alcoholic drinks and small appetizers to stimulate their appetites for the meal ahead. A glass of champagne is the best alcoholic drink to be served during this first course in a french dinner. Nuts, olives and crackers are also served alongside these alcoholic beverages.

Pissaladiere Nicoise
(Onion Tartelettes with Anchovies and Black Olives)

Canapes au Fondue au Gruyere
(Cream Filling w/Swiss Cheese)

L'Entrée (Appetizer) While it is the second course, the entrée is the start of the dinner that is presented to guests. Appetizers in a French dinner vary from cold dishes such as beef carpacio, Roquefort flan, and salmon mousse with capers to hot dishes like French onion soup, cheese soufflé, and sole filet terrine.

Souffle aux Epinards
(Spinach Souffle)

Le Plat Principal (Main course) The main course of a French dinner typically includes either meat or fish, served with side dishes of salads, rice, or pasta. Wine is served throughout the meal – red wine to go with red meat and white wine to go with white meat or fish.

Poulet au Porto
(Roast Chicken Steeped with Port Wine, Cream, and Mushrooms)

Pommes de Terre Sautees
(Potatoes Sauteed in Butter)

Carottes Vichy
(Vichy Carrots)

Le Fromage (Cheese) There are more than 400 types of cheese in France, so it should not come as a surprise that cheese, in itself, can be a course in a French dinner. In this course, a cheese board is prepared, consisting of cheese of varying textures and flavors. The cheese board is accompanied by fruits, nuts, and baguette bread on the side, along with more wine, of course.

Brie
Various Cheese
Humboldt Fog
Various Cheese
Fresh Fruit
Candied Nuts & Figs

Le Dessert (Dessert) Since it is served towards the end of the French dinner, dessert is commonly light and small to prevent guests from feeling too full. Popular French desserts include chocolate profiteroles, chocolate mousse, and apple tarts.

Tarte aux Pommes
(Warm Apple Tart)

Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce

Le Café (Coffee) Each guest is served coffee in a small cup, accompanied by a square piece of dark chocolate or a chocolate truffle, which is believed to enhance the aroma and taste of the coffee.

Let me say that this was a LONG but fun evening. We drank, we cooked, we ate and didn't finish eating the last course until 1:00 AM! Recipe reviews to come....

Summer Hiatus

2010-05-28T10:03:00.002-05:00

So the temps are climbing higher, we're well in the 90's daily and the desire to turn my stove, let alone the oven on is completely gone. With that being said I'm forced to take a break from my Julia Child cooking. Almost all recipes require the stove or oven or both. So while the temperatures here are a blistering I'm going to resort back to my crockpot, the only method of cooking that doesn't heat the house up. I might try to do a few recipes, if I can find any that don't require the oven over the summer. And then when the weather starts cooling off again I can resume my French comfort food cooking!

Oh I still have lots of reviews to write up though so they're still to come.....

French Cooking Countdown.....

2010-05-03T17:36:00.007-05:00

I've been a bit slow in my cooking and even slower in my reviews or taking pictures. After 1 week of French cooking I needed 2 weeks of light cooking to keep the weight off!

Ouefs en Croustades a la Bearnaise (Poached Eggs and Mushrooms, Bearnaise Sauce) - this meal was absolutely delicious! Again I'm still working on my poaching skills, I'm not breaking yolks but they're still not as pretty as I would like. The best part of this dish is the mushroom mixture. I think we could have eaten it alone. I served the eggs on Crepes de Pommes de Terre (grated potato pancakes) since I had a ton of them leftover from the night before's meal (to be reviewed..). I had added mushrooms to the pancakes since I had some mushrooms that I needed to use. The pancakes were perfect with the eggs. Very similar to eggs and hashbrowns.

I'm really becoming an expert at making quiches, if I can brag. It's really something that seemed very complicated and difficult to me before I actually ever saw the recipe and attempted it. But now that I've made one I can't believe how easy they are! They have becoming my go-to dish to bring to a potluck. The crust is so simple and easy, especially using the food processor. And I always seem to have extra dough leftover so I'm cheating and I just wrap it back up and stick it in the freezer. So after a few batches I'll have enough leftover to make an complete batch from leftovers!

Quiche Lorriane (Cream and Bacon Quiche) - So you're supposed to use bacon in this recipe but you have to blanche it in water to remove it's smokey, salty taste. When I read this I just about died! Seriously how could one do this to BACON! Bacon is amazing and I pay good $$ for my bacon to taste just like that, why would I ever take that away from it. So in the fine print Julia mentioned you could use diced, cooked ham so that's what I did. I saved my bacon. :) I made this as a dish for a potluck brunch at my brother and his girlfriend's new loft. It was a great centerpiece to the fruit and cesar salads. Plus left plenty of room for the lemon almond tartlettes that I made for dessert. It was so creamy, no one could believe that there wasn't any cheese in it.

Quiche aux Epinards (Spinach Quiche) - Again another potluck take and I got rave reviews. The recipe was really simple and I was able to whip it up in the hour before I left. What was nice about this version is that it's veggie friendly. I have a few vegetarian friends who were able to eat this and asked for the recipe.

Poulet Saute aux Herbs de Provence (Chicken Sauteed with Herbs & Garlic, Egg Yolk & Butter Sauce) - This dish was delish! Although I did end up having to do it in 2 parts just because I didn't want to be eating at midnight. I cooked the chicken the first night. It was a quick and simple saute but the smell from the herbs was amazing! After the chicken was done, I let it cool for a bit then put it in the fridge for the next night. On the 2nd night I finished the sauce and reheated the chicken. It was a great meal, the chicken was flavorful and the sauce was rich and creamy. Which turned out to be great even on the Crepes de Pommes de Terre (grated potato pancakes). This was my second attempt at making potato cakes so I was a bit wary of how this would go. The 1st attempt came after grabbing one of those "Dinner for Two" from a local grocery store and they had these amazing potato cakes. So I foolishly thought that I could make some without knowing really what was in them or how to begin. That ended in disaster. This time I had a recipe though and my handy dandy food processor made shredding so much fun. Turns out the batter was very much like pancake batter with potatos just thrown in, that was my mistake the 1st time. My batter was basically potatos and a little bit of flour. The directions let you know that it will be very runny batter, which was super helpful. Since I had lots of mushrooms hanging out in my fridge I threw those in the mix for good measure. This was a breeze it turns out! 18 crepes really were not enough, we ate those babies with everything for the next few days.

Tarte au Citron et aux Amandes (Lemon and Almond Tart - Cold) - I did this as tartlettes instead and took these to the potluck brunch at my brother's new loft. The sugar crust was super easy to make and basically the same as making the quiche crust, except I added lots of sugar. The only thing that really took any effort was making the candied rind. Other than that it's the simple egg yolks and sugar mixture poured into the crust with pulverized almonds. These tartlettes were extremely sweet! So sugary and rich that even a tiny 4 in tartlette was too much for one person alone, unless you're really craving sugar or ate something very salty prior. They however were warmly recieved and were a great ending to the quiche brunch.

Recipe Review

2010-03-29T17:42:00.016-05:00

I promise I have been keeping up with my French Cooking Countdown, however I haven't been as diligent posting about it. So here's what I've been cooking up this past week.....

Quiche Lorraine (Cream and Bacon Quiche)

Okay so this turned into Flamiche - Quiche aux Poireaux (Leek Quiche) instead. I realized that I had an extra stalk of leek from the potato & leek soup so I used it to make my quiche. I must say other than the time it took to simmer the leeks, this was really an easy recipe. And was very rich and creamy, much better than any quiche I've had at a restaurant!

Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons (Fish Filets Poached in White Wine w/Mushrooms)and Riz a la anglaise (Rice cooked in butter).

I have never poached fish before but this seemed pretty easy. My fish however was not in great shape. It had a few bones and the skin on one side. This proved to be a disaster when it came to removing the skin, the fish was too thin to fillet well. And that's saying something because the hubby is an expert at filleting fish. Other than that the meal came together pretty easy. I ended up not cooking the asparagus because I was just too tired after dealing with the chaoes with the kids. And sadly my rice was mushy, I think if I had just used the cooking method on the box it would have been light and fluffy but it was just too saturated in butter. Overall it tasted good, rich and creamy. So rich and creamy that I ended up having to leave some on my plate.

Rapee Morv Andelle (Gratin of Shredded Potatoes w/Ham and Eggs and Onions).

This was such a simple dish I almost feel like it shouldn't even be considered cooking. I made this for a quick breakfast, and honestly shredding the potatoes was a cinch with my handy dandy food processor. A quick mix of potatoes, eggs, ham and onions and it was in the oven. We ate the whole gratin in one sitting (gasp). If I had felt up to it I could have served it with the asparagus that I should have cooked a few nights ago but I was just to lazy. This was a winner in my book!

Thon A La Provencale (Tuna Steaks w/Wine, Tomatoes, and Herbs) and Pommes De Terre Sautes (Potatoes Sauteed in Butter).

This started out as Tuna steaks but after thawing the tuna I had in the freezer I realized they weren't up to par so I shelled out the friggin $15.99 a pound for some Swordfish steaks. A quick sear in the skillet and then dumped back in the casserole dish where I covered it with the tomato mixture. Poached in wine in the oven and it smelled pretty good. I lucked out and found the potatoes Julia mentioned in the recipe and didn't have to peel and shape my potatoes from standard potatoes. Instead I had perfect olive shaped potatoes that were golden and just needed peeling. When the fish was finished poaching I made the sauce and then served it up on top of the fish and plated my potatoes with it. The steaks were good, like swordfish could be anything but good! The potatoes were buttery and delish but we couldn't help but noticing the similarities between the sauce and spaghetti sauce. And because of this I think the sauce was just too much for the fish. I think had it been just regular diced tomatoes and fewer of them, and no tomato paste, the sauce would have been better for the fish. I guess I just don't like spaghetti sauce on fish :)

Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee (Onion Soup Gratineed with Cheese)

Sorry no pictures. This also tuned into Soupe A L'oignon and Croutes au Fromage since I didn't have any bowls that are oven safe. Instead I just made the croutons, super simple. Oh but the smell of the onions carmelizing was wonderful! The soup was great but very strong and since the hubby doesn't care for onions I had WAY too much leftover. I think next time I make it, I'll take the reserve and use it to make a pot roast instead of the dry soup mix!

Carbonnades A La Flamande (Beef and Onions Braised in Beer) with Pommes de Terre Pour Garniture (Parsley Potatoes) and a green salad with Sauce Vinaigrette (French Dressing).

Cooking this meal was amazing. It made the whole house smell like warm carmalized onions, which isn't a really appealing smell other than it makes you hungry. I used my cast iron casserole pot for the whole cooking process. I was excited to finally have something to cook in it. I ended up cubing the beef because I didn't quite understand the recipe at first so my version ended up looking more like beef tips than beef steaks or slices but it still didn't matter because the taste was amazing. The beef was fork tender and melted in your mouth. And the Gravy, oh my, the gravy was heaven sent. It was sweet but salty and creamy and smooth like velvet on the tongue. I could have soaked up the gravy with just bread and been perfectly happy. The potatoes were a cheat on my part - I used the leftover potatoes from the swordfish meal and then just used some extra fingerling potatoes that I left the skin on because I thought the texture was better suited to this rustic meal. In the end I skipped the parsley on them so they turned into just regular potatoes. The green salad was just a bag of fancy mixed greens and a simple red wine vinegar mix with olive oil but it suited the meal perfectly.

Bavarois au Chocolat (Chocolate Bavarian Cream) and Creme Chantilly (lightly whipped cream). This was a mixed bag of feelings for me. It should have been a yummy dessert but somehow I was just turned off by it. It started out great and smelled good but after adding the boiling milk it just seemed a bit too "fluffy" to me. I was picturing something more like pudding I guess. And after adding the egg whites and whipped cream it was even more "airy". After chilling and unmolding, I was very disappointed. It looked like a weird giggly blob of chocolate whipped cream and well thats kind of what it tasted like. I might have to try this one again to see if anything changes and it gets better next time. And thus I'll spare you the picture.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-03-22T10:59:00.006-05:00

Last week was a bit crazy with the weather and life in general. We didn't make it to Cowboy Chow since it snowed Saturday, so I made the roast chicken and we ended up not making the hamburgers Friday night. So we'll have those tonight instead. We've got a busy week but I'm hoping to keep up with my "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" recipe countdown. One thing about this task is that it is a bit more expensive than my regular meal planning so some weeks I think I'll only do a few recipes or at least I'm going to have to wait and stock up on the meats when they go on sale. Plus I'm going through butter, eggs and cream like nobody's business and they aren't exactly cheap either.

Monday

Breakfast: Cereal

Lunch: Leftovers/Sandwiches

Dinner: Ranch Packet Hamburgers and French Fries

Tuesday

Breakfast: Rapee Morv Andelle (Gratin of Shredded Potatoes w/Ham and Eggs and Onions)

Lunch: Sandwiches at the park

Dinner: Thon A La Provencale (Tuna Steaks w/Wine, Tomatoes, and Herbs) and Pommes De Terre Sautes (Potatoes Sauteed in Butter)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Lunch: At the playdate

Dinner: something in the crockpot with chicken?

Thursday

Breakfast: Piggies in Blankets (Lil Smokies in Crossants)

Lunch: Chicken Fries and Mac & Cheese

Dinner: Mexican Beef Bake with Cilantro-Lime Cream

Friday

Breakfast: Pancakes and Bacon

Lunch: At a Birthday Party

Dinner: Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee (Onion Soup Gratineed with Cheese), Carbonnades A La Flamande (Beef and Onions Braised in Beer) with Pommes de Terre Pour Garniture (Parsley Potatoes) and a green salad, Bavarois au Chocolat (Chocolate Bavarian Cream) and Creme Chantilly (lightly whipped cream)

Saturday

Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls

Lunch: Out somewhere running errands

Dinner: Cowboy Chow, trying this again...

Sunday

Brunch: Oeufs en Cocette (Eggs baked in Ramekins) with Sauce Chasseur (Brown Mushroom Sauce w/Fresh Tomaties, Garlic and Herbs)

Dinner: Homemade Pizzas

For more meal plan ideas see Meal Plan Monday at the Organizing Junkie.

Oeufs a la Fondue de Fromage (Poached Eggs on Canapes w/Cheese Fondue Sauce)

2010-03-21T15:56:00.004-05:00

I've poached eggs before, I'm not great at it, they're not pretty and perfectly round or oval or whatever shape they're supposed to be. But I can say they poach and I haven't broken the yolk. So I attempted this recipe with some confidence but caution. I decided since we have TONS of green beans leftover (3 lbs of green beans are ALOT for only 2 adults and really only 1 of them that will eat them) to serve them with our brunch. it turns out they were a nice refreshing break from the salty ham and creamy slightly sweet eggs.

Again I served up some quick pan fried ham with my eggs. This just seems like a good match to sauces and creamy eggs to me. I couldn't imagine having greasy sausage with such an already heavy egg. It was mentioned that I could place the ham on the canapes and put the egg over it but I decided to stick with the traditional recipe. It'd be too much like Eggs Benedict that way.

The sauce came together rather quickly and the aroma of the shallots and vermouth cooking was great. It made waiting for the water/vinegar mixture to come to a simmer nearly impossible. I ran out of white bread so I used sourdough to make my canapes and I just did the oven method since I was concentrating on boiling my water. Maybe a little too hard 'cause I burnt the 1st batch. Oh well half a loaf of sourdough bread down and I finally had perfectly crisp canapes for my eggs.

Poaching is tricky, I don't think I'm good at it. It looks like a big mess to me when I do it. In my head the egg would slip in and the whites would fold over perfectly. Instead I get these stringy wavy things and only half of the whites stay with the yolk as I'm gently spooning them over. Still I guess it's a success since they turn white and the yolks don't break. My OCD brain makes me spoon up the floating strings of egg white before I can poach another. I quickly have 4 poached eggs and I dry them off using the slotted spoon and towel trick. I delicately place an egg on my canape (aka toast) and spoon the sauce over it. Sprinkle with Swiss cheese and I cut up 1 Tbsp of butter into quarters and place one quarter on top of the cheese. A quick run under the broiler and we're done. They look pretty good, I'd be proud to serve these to friends or family.

Turns out I think they'd be eaten pretty quickly by friends and family too. They were GREAT! The eggs were perfectly smooth, the yolk broke and spread to cover some of the ham and blended with the cheese sauce. It all melted in my mouth, sooo yummy! Although the first few bites were a bit awkward at first, I had to adjust my brain to the sauce. I'm very used to hollandaise sauce on poached eggs so my mouth was expecting something more like that. However the shallots and vermouth gave a slightly tart but sweet taste to the sauce and made the dish completely different than Eggs Benedict. I would easily make this again. And since I have so much sauce leftover I think I will serve it over the leftover green beans of maybe the asparagus for this evening.

Poulet Roti a la Normande (Roast Chicken w/Cream, Herb and Giblet Stuffing)

2010-03-21T14:57:00.006-05:00

This week didn't go quite as planned, see the chicken dinner was supposed to be Thursday night but it got pushed back to Friday because I was just too tired! Well then Friday the hubby decided to spend 18 hours fishing and didn't make it home Friday night until 10 PM and there was no way I was going to start cooking the bird then. And I had decided earlier that day that I didn't want to cook it to be ready at 6 PM and him not be home to eat it, then have to re-heat it for him the next day. So Saturday it was!

But I did go ahead, since I was home alone after the lil monster was put to bed and the baby was sleeping in the swing, and made the sides that were to be served with it. (Okay so I don't have this whole 1st, 2nd, and 3rd course thing down yet)

Haricots Verts a l'Anglaise (Buttered Green Beans): These were super simple really and not much different than the way I usually make them. I blanched them 'til they were perfect and then buttered them. Tossed them all into a covered dish and they were ready for tomorrow's dinner. The hubby isn't a fan of crunchy green beans so this worked out well since they had a chance to get more mushy during reheating.

Gratin Dauphinois (Scalloped Potatoes with Milk, Cheese, and a pinch of Garlic): Basic scalloped potatoes, the processor made light work of slicing the potatoes for me, I couldn't imagine trying to slice potatoes exactly 1/8th of an inch thick. I did take a knife class but I'm not THAT good yet. I layered and then poured the milk over eveything and put it in the oven 'til it was bubbling and browned on the top. It looked great and tasted pretty good. I do think it was a pretty simple recipe and not nearly as creamy as my "gourmet scalloped potatoes" recipe. Granted I used Swiss cheese as instructed for this and in my recipe I use Gruyere (which technically is a type of Swiss, specifically a French Swiss) so I could have used it in this as well but I was trying to pinch some pennies.

Saturday afternoon I started the chicken. I began by chopping up the gizzard and heart, I didn't have any livers so I added extra hearts or gizzards 'cause I don't know which was which. I also didn't know how to peel it so I just chopped, then sauted them. They looked good, guess I should have tasted them 'cause I would have realized they were very chewy, like calimari. Not sure if this was the desired outcome. I mixed the stuffing which looked good and stuffed it into the bird. After that cooking the chicken started out rough, somehow I ended up with a gimpy chicken with one leg that the ankle was broken off so trussing was a nightmare. Since I didn't have a trussing needle I tried to truss the old fashioned way. Something I have honestly never done. I have roasted chickens and turkeys plenty of time before but never trussed them. I usually just through them in the pan on the rack and twist the wings back and go. So trussing was not fun but I persevered. I slathered that baby up with butter and threw it in the oven. 10 minutes later I attempted to turn it on it's side. HA HA HA, yeah right, how is that really acomplished without taking it out of the oven. I think I spent 15 minutes trying to get that bird on it's side. It just wanted to slide around in the pan. Finally I got it, threw it back in the oven for 5 minutes. 5 minutes later I was trying again to flip the bird, hehe. But to no avail that sucker would not flip. (this was the gimpy side) so I gave up and decided it'd just have to roast breast side up. It was either this or a good chance the bird would end up on the floor with me trying to use oven mitts to make it flip. Roasting and basting went pretty quickly, about 20 minutes 'til complete I started basting with the cream. The chicken looked great!

By this time the onions and carrots (I think I was still supposed to do this step) in the pan were black and the pan I had to use couldn't be used on the stovetop so I put my bird on the serving platter and scraped the drippings into a saucepan. Quickly made the gravy, decided to strain the carrots and onions out of it since I wasn't sure what to do with them and I didn't think they were supposed to stay in the gravy.

All of the dishes were done and I opened up a bottle of wine to serve with it. Something the grocery store guy said would go with it since they were limited on their French wines and didn't have a white Burgandy or Graves. It seemed to go well, at least to my simple tastes. The chicken was juicy and moist, not extremely flavorful but the gravy more than made up for that. The stuffing was good, not something I'd make again though the hubby loved it. Something about the chewy texture of the gizzards bothered me. And then I was overwhelmed by the cream cheese. If I do make it again I think I'd make my own version and use more breadcrumbs and maybe sausage instead or just leave the gizzards out completely, using only their drippings. Overall it was a pretty good meal, nothing spectacular just a good homecooked meal. Something usually reserved for Sunday dinners I would say.

Reine De Saba (Chocolate and Almond Cake) with Glacage au Chocolate (Chocolate-butter Icing)

2010-03-19T08:14:00.006-05:00

Thursday was hubby's birthday and I had great intentions of cooking a big meal for him but things just didn't pan out. Since he likes to sleep in I decided to take the lil monster and baby monster to the park. I met up with a friend and we walk the trails, then let the kiddos play and have a picnic. Since we ate at the park I decided not to make the quiche, hubby isn't a big fan of them but will eat them. But if left alone for lunch it wouldn't have been what he chose to eat, so instead my plan is to make the quiche and take it to my brother and his girlfriend on Saturday, they're "fru fru" like that. But I digress....

So after spending half the day in the fresh air and walking a mile or more carrying a 13 lb baby and pushing a stroller with a 28 lb 2 year old in it, I was BEAT! I mean I haven't done any real exercise since before getting pregnant so I am sorely out of shape. Hubby had leftover shrimp & grits casserole to eat anyways, so I decided to push the chicken meal to today. But I did make the chocolate cake since it was his birthday and all!

Let me begin by saying that Julia Child has got nothing on me! Let me see her try to "master the art of French cooking" while trying to keep an eager to help 2 1/2 year old toddler from eating the chocolate out of the bowl, touching the oven or stove, or pushing a kitchen chair around the kitchen from counter to counter while she attempts to make a cake. I continually had to keep moving everything out of his reach, and remind him that he could not eat the creamed butter or whipped egg whites. "Please do not stick your fingers in the melted chocolate!" All the while trying to put everything up as I used it, since that's the only way I could make sure he didn't get into something while I was working on the next step. Oh did I forget to mention that my 2 month old was fussing in the background? Yeah you'd have thought I was octomom (no not the 8 babies mom, but had 8 arms) the way I was having to move around my kitchen so I'm going to give myself props for this feat alone.

After I turned the batter into the pan and set it in the oven to bake I felt pretty good about it. Not too time consuming really, would have gone MUCH faster without the toddler underfoot. The smell waifting through the air as it baked was great and when I pulled it from the oven it looked perfect. I was a little upset that when it had puffed up and the top was a little cracked but I figured I'd just flip it and serve it bottom up. Waiting for it to cool was nearly impossible, the lil monster kept asking to eat it every 5 minutes. When it was finally cool enough to ice I was disappointed, the great puff was gone and it looked like the cake had sunk, not sunk like had a pit in it but sunk like was flat and compressed. Was it supposed to do this? There were no instructions as to if the puff was supposed to stay. Anyways I quickly iced the cake with the chocolate butter icing (which was so simple and pretty plain it's not worth discussing) and pushed the leftover crushed almonds around the edges to make it "fancy". Then I pressed a design of almonds over the icing, really just a simple flower with whole almonds in the center. It looked good, now would it taste good? After the essential singing of happy birthday, I sliced it up and served us all a piece. It was still slightly warm, not enough to melt the icing though! It was great, warm and rich while the icing was light and fluffy. It was good on it's own but I really think it would have tasted even better with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream too.

It wasn't until after the lil monster had gone to bed and things settled down for the night that I had a chance to read and realized that I was supposed to have added a tbsp of sugar to my almonds as I crushed them, supposedly to keep them from clumping together. Oh well they didn't seem to clump on me in the first place. No harm no foul I guess since that was the only thing that I missed in my madness.

Please excuse my horrible photography skills!

Oeufes Brouilles (Scrambled Eggs)

2010-03-17T14:36:00.002-05:00

I know scrambled eggs. I know that slow and low is best, I know that adding a splash of milk makes them creamy and that salt is key to the right flavor. I make scrambled eggs at least once a week. My lil monster LOVES scrambled eggs and I like that it gives us variety to the monotonous cereal mornings. So I figured I'd start with the most simple, most comfortable recipe from Chapter Three.

I gaulked when I saw 2 tbsp of butter in the recipe! I have NEVER, NEVER EVER used butter when making my scrambled eggs. But I went ahead since this is supposed to be a learning experience. Granted I was supposed to use a 7 to 8 inch skillet but sadly I don't have one that small, so my 10 inch omlette pan would have to suffice. 2 tbsp of butter into the pan and in went the 8 eggs (remember this is breakfast for 3). I figured we'd have leftovers, right. :) My eggs came together nicely and as instructed I added the cream at the end of the cooking process, something I had never done before either. When I add milk/cream I have always put it in prior to cooking. The eggs were done and looked pretty yummy. I quickly fried up a few pieces of ham and made toast to finish off our meal.

Let me say after one bite I was impressed! These were the best scrambled eggs I've ever had, seriously! So creamy and soft, they just melted in your mouth. I think you could eat them without having to chew. And I was not the only one, my family of 3 ate a meal supposed to serve 5. My lil monster couldn't get enough, he ate his plate and then ate half of daddy's and half of mommy's. I can only imagine how great these eggs would be had I added cheese or any of the suggested items. But really they were just perfect on their own.

Now as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE these eggs I don't think my waistline or heart would love these eggs as much if I made them this way everytime. See I'm supposed to be losing the baby weight, crazy I know to think I'm going to lose weight while cooking my way through a French cookbook! However to take advice from Julia herself "the way to a full and healthy life is to adopt the sensible system of small helpings, no seconds, no snaking, and a little bit of everything." So I will make them again but just not every week.

Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup)

2010-03-16T16:15:00.002-05:00

So it's potato soup right, that "souper" easy, hehe. I know corny but forgive me I couldn't help it. I've made lots of potato soups before, I LOVE potato soup, it's thick, it's creamy, it fills you up and warms your bones on a chilly afternoon.

The recipe was simple and straightforward: potatoes, leeks, water, salt and cream/butter. I simmered for the required time, so far so good. Now I don't have a vegetable mill, and Julia specifically said not to use the processor, so I figured the blender was out as well. She mentions mashing by hand with a fork but something about leeks mashing didn't work well in my head. So instead I used my mixer with the paddle. Hey it mashes my potatoes for mashed potatoes perfectly, why not! And I could always adjust the speed so not as to "over blend". I drained the veggies, keeping the broth in a pitcher, and pitched them in the mixer. Mush with a few chunks and lots of leek strings, I started adding the broth back in. Seemed like a lot of water to put back in the soup! I reseasoned, and I must admit I had to add a TON of salt, and I'm not a big salt person.

It did not look like potato soup that I'm used to by any means, it looked like water with green onions. And it tasted that way too. VERY watered down compared to my idea of potato soup. So I added the cream, and well at least it began to "look" like potato soup.

Verdict is iffy, maybe it's supposed to be thin and I'm just used to soup that can hold bacon up on top. It's not bad, and prolly much more carb friendly than my old version. I'm hoping that it'll be a bit better reheated since there is a TON. Maybe I'll cheat and use my leftovers for variations on the recipe.

Meal Plan Monday!

2010-03-15T18:36:00.001-05:00

Monday
Going to the store today so it's a quick fix meal from the pantry!

Tuesday
Breakfast: Frozen Waffles
Lunch: Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup) with hot ham and swiss sandwiches
Dinner: French's Crunchy Onion Chicken, Roasted Red Potatoes and Steamed Green Beans

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oeufes Brouilles (Scrambled Eggs), Pan-fried Ham and toast
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Shrimp and Grits Casserole, Lima Beans and Cherry Tomato Salad

Thursday
It's the hubby's birthday so I'm going to fix him a special dinner & double up on my recipes today.

Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Quiche Lorraine (Cream and Bacon Quiche), "Salad" and French Bread
Dinner: Poulet Roti a la Normande (Roast Chicken w/Cream, Herb and Giblet Stuffing), Haricots Verts a l'Anglaise (Buttered Green Beans), Gratin Dauphinois (Scalloped Potatoes with Milk, Cheese, and a pinch of Garlic), Reine De Saba (Chocolate and Almond Cake)

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Prolly something quick like mac and cheese since we've got a full day of playgroup stuff.
Dinner: Ranch Dressing Packet Hamburgers and Curly Fries

Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes or French Toast with Bacon
Lunch: Cowboy Chow with my brother
Dinner: Leftovers, if anything 'cause we'll still be full from lunch.

Sunday
Breakfast: Oeufs a la Fondue de Fromage (Poached Eggs on Canapes w/Cheese Fondue Sauce)
Dinner: Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons (Fish Filets Poached in White Wine w/Mushrooms), Asperges Au Naturel (Boiled Asparagus) with Beurre au Citron (Lemon Butter Sauce) and Riz a la anglaise (Rice cooked in butter)

Out of the Fog!

2010-03-15T17:33:00.003-05:00

I did it! I made it through the last weeks of pregnancy and have another wonderful little man in my life. I must admit the first 2 months have been rough, lack of sleep, dealing with colic and reflux, an overbearing big brother who alternates between acting out for attention to being a great helper and inamored with his baby brother. But I'm finally feeling like I can get some time for myself again. I was actually able to read a book this week! And I'm attempting to plan menus again now that we've officially depleted my freezer stock of meals. Which I'm happy about truthfully because I was getting tired of the boringness of just reheating our meals (not that I could have even mustered the brain power or energy to cook something before now). I'm excited about trying out new recipes and honestly I was inspired by the movie Julie and Julia to try to work my way through the classic books as well. I'm feeling more prepared for it than when I first started cooking but I think I'd still like to master technique, something that I'm sure I'm sorely lacking in.

Proof in point, I took a knife technique class 2 weeks ago. Until now I had considered my knife skills adequate, still a bit afraid of the knives, I knew I couldn't peel a potato or apple in my hand well, well with just a pairing knife . I made due with all things but still felt clumbsy about the whole process most of the time. So I decided to learn from the pros. It was great! I learned that sadly I wasn't even holding the knife correctly. Once I figured that out, things seemed to be almost second nature!

So I'm hoping that while I'm comfortable roasting a chicken or baking a ham, I can make crepes from scratch, have made homemade cinnamon rolls and pizza dough and regularly make my own stocks and sauces, I know that my technique is rustic to say the least.

So flipping through the pages of the classic book I realized too that it would be really really boring cooking one chapter at a time, can you imagine a week of eggs? So instead I'm going to do 1 recipe from each chapter a week, like in the Julie/Julia project. And just because I love sweets I might double up on the desserts. But because I still have baby weight to lose I will be adding light recipes and family friendly recipes to our weekly menus. As much as I love butter, cream and Julia I have to keep us healthy too!

What I'm working with...

2009-11-18T19:39:00.006-06:00

Stockpiling my freezer is well underway and I'm feeling great about my accomplishments. But I thought I'd share with you my little secret. I don't have a deep freezer, I know I really need one but instead we have another fridge/freezer combo out in the garage. It's the standard old top freezer. It works well enough, and prior to becoming boring parents who had no lives, the fridge part was really needed too. We have a pool table & darts in the garage, so the fridge was used for storing cases of cokes and beer. Along came baby #1 and the get togethers sadly ended and the fridge part is now empty, except for the occasional extra gallon of milk or packages of butter.

But I have found that as long as you're organized, my little outside freezer works. Prior to my "baby stockpiling" the outside freezer was used only for storing meats, while my kitchen side-by-side style freezer housed convenience foods and frozen veggies. Since I'm now stockpiling I'm slowly transforming the outside freezer into my "go to meals" freezer and hoping to use up most of our frozen meat since I know I WILL NOT be doing any scratch cooking for at least a month when baby #2 comes.

And until then I'm storing those scratch cooking basics in my inside freezer. So here's the progress of my baby stockpiling and what I'm working with....

The Official "Feed the Freezer" List

2009-10-27T18:50:00.012-05:00

So baby #2 will be here in January and I know that I will have my hands full with a new baby and a rambunctous two year old so I'm feeling the need to have a freezer full of fast go-to meals for our first few weeks at home. I will be trying to gradually cook the items on my list since I'm already exhausted after cooking normally nowdays. And of course if I find more items they'll be added to the list, some ideas of which I still need to find recipes too.

Breakfasts:
~~Gingerbread Waffles~~
Ham & Cheese Muffins
Breakfast Tacos/Burritos
French Toast Casserole
Ham & Cheese Quiche
Savory Breakfast Casserole
Pancakes (a couple of different varieties)
French Toast Sticks
Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Raisin Muffins
Applesauce, Bran, and Oatmeal Muffins

Lunches:
Chicken Taquitos
Sloppy Joes
Beef & Bean Chimichangas

Dinners:
Chicken Enchiladas
Manicotti & Sauce
Chicken Pot Pies
~~Shepherd's Pie~~
~~King Ranch Chicken~~
~~Veggie Meatloaf~~ & ~~Mac 'n Cheese~~
~~Chicken Spaghetti~~
~~Three Bean Chili~~ & Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
Sausage & Spinach Soup
Chili Cornbread Casserole
~~Lasagna~~
LaBamba Casserole
~~Chicken Broccoli Casserole~~
~~Chicken Florentine Bake~~
Turkey & Artichoke Stuffed Shells & Sauce
~~Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage~~
Chicken Stroganoff
~~Beef Daube Provencal~~

A quick update

2009-09-10T09:25:00.004-05:00

So it's been FOREVER since I've done an update. Yes I'm still laid off but honestly not putting much effort into the search since we'll be having a new baby arrive in January. I mean who can really afford to put 2 kids in daycare unless you're making well over 6 figures? Anyways I've been loving staying home but it doesn't leave much time for me. The first 4 months of this pregnancy were really rough, the hubby and monster ate fast food everyday since the thought of food was horrible. But I have been feeling better now and have been cooking more so I wanted to share just a few of the recipes I've tried lately. I'm sure that I'll forget some but then I can blame it on pregnancy brain right?

Breakfasts:
Paula Dean's Cinnamon Rolls
Pioneer Woman's Orange Marmalade Rolls
Ina Garten's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Dinners:
Seared Salmon with Sorrel Sauce & creamy horseradish mashed potatoes
Quick Roast Chicken
Bobby Flay's Veggie Meatloaf, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower & Steamed Green Beans
Kroger's Veggie Lasagna Roll-Ups
Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
Paula Dean's Old Fashioned Meatloaf with Ina Garten's Mac & Cheese
Emeril's Chili Mac
Tilapia Fish Tacos

Desserts:
Flu Fighter Cookies
Bread Pudding w/Bourbon Sauce

Okay I'm back now for the recipes that I didn't get to before (9/13/09)

Quick Roast Chicken
3-4 lb roast/fryer chicken, preferably already cut up
1 to 2 small to medium quartered white onions
1 lemon
1 lb of quartered red potatoes (can use more if you want)
1 lb baby carrots (ditto)
fresh sage, rosemary & thyme
olive oil
salt & pepper

In a large roasting pan place the potatoes, onions and carrots. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Tossing well to coat. Layer the pieces of chicken over the veggies. Slice the lemon and squeeze the juice over the chicken. Quarter the squeezed lemon and place under the pieces of chicken. This will allow the lemon to steam through into the chicken. Generously sprinkle your fresh sage, thyme and rosemary over the chicken & veggies. Sprinkle the chicken with salt & pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and roast in a 400' oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower (aka sneaky mashed potatoes)
1 lb fresh or frozen cauliflower
1/3 c cream
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cream cream (optional)

Steam the cauliflower until tender, when tender remove from heat and shock in an ice water bath. When cooled, drain and place in food processor. Blend cauliflower until desired texture, should resemble chunky mashed potatoes. Place the mash into a stockpot and add remaining ingredients. Stirring occasionally until well heated. At this point you can add the cream cheese if desired, blending well until melted.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
1-2 lb boneless skinless ckn thigh meat
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 chopped white onion
1 can of mushroom soup
1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
1 c chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
dried parsley flakes to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 c sour cream

Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes and place in slow cooker. Add mushrooms, onions and remaining ingredients thru thyme. Slow cook over low heat for 8 hours, stirring occasionally. About 30 minutes prior to serving add the sour cream and stir until well blended. Serve over egg noodles.

I'll fell off the edge of the Earth!

2009-04-20T11:29:00.003-05:00

Ok so not really but kind of. I apologize to those few people who might have actually enjoyed reading my nonsense. I have found that it's really hard to find time to play around on the internet when I'm staying home all day with my lil monster. I rarely have time to do anything but check my email and other most important things. Menu planning has become a struggle too - but I persevere, just not as far out planned. So here's a quick update about what I've been up to....

1. Laid off, yup.

2. I decided to start a direct selling business. I'm a Tastefully Simple consultant now and loving it! This is a great fix for my lack of menu planning. It's open and serve stuff that I can throw on chicken or veggies and I've got a meal!

3. Had a lovely trip to Mountainview Arkansas for the music festival. My grandpa was up there so we went to see him, some neat mountain scenery and hear bluegrass music.

4. I've made some new yummy recipes of course so I'll have to update you on them after my monster goes to bed tonight.

5. The CSA I joined is about up and running, the 1st bushels should be ready in May. I'm super excited since I'm not paying a lick for a year's worth of fresh organic fruits and veggies! They've also got free range chickens so I think this is where I'll be getting my chicken too!

Big News

2009-03-11T14:12:00.002-05:00

I apologize in advance for the lack of the shopping list. I had some crazy events happen the week I posted my month's menu. I was (dum dum da dum dum) laid off! Yes tragic I know, however I'm actually much happier. Granted this is said while I'm still on the payroll and have a severance to look forward to in addition to collecting unemployment. I truly believe this was a blessing in disguise and I pray that God will provide for my family. In the meantime I'm loving staying home with my lil monster and playing the happy homemaker. I believe it's want I was meant to do. So in light of the changes to our schedules my menu has and will be changed. And for the first time in my life I'm having to plan breakfasts and lunches for us all. (Before monster was fed at daycare and the hubby and I skipped or ate out)

As if there wasn't enough change in our lives, the hubby and I recently went to see a dietitian to figure out what and how much he should be eating, and of course thus me as well. So after our meeting I'll be working hard to pack quality lunches and snacks for my man.

Since I have little experience when it comes to breakfasts and lunches any ideas for either one of my men would be greatly appreciated!

Applesauce, Bran, and Oatmeal Muffins

2009-03-04T18:02:00.002-06:00

Applesauce, Bran and Oatmeal Muffins

I just have to rave about this recipe I tried today. I made a double batch so that I could freeze one batch. Super yummy w/o being bland. I was afraid they might be too heavy and "germy" tasting but these are great! I love the fact that they are sugar free (I used sugar free applesauce and agave necter instead of corn syrup). The bran and oats are a much better alternative to the flour based muffins for my diabetic hubby. You have got to try these, my lil monster just gobbled them up!

Please forgive my inadequate camera skills.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-02-27T10:41:00.008-06:00

It's that time again. Time to plan the menus for the month. This month I'm really trying to find a good balance between economical meals and healthy habits. The hubby is diabetic so we really should be limiting the number of starches and sugars he's eating, however as most realize, healthy food is not cheap. Foods that tend to stretch your budget seem to be those pastas, potatoes and rice. So in addition to finding this balance I'm working to incorporate new recipes. New dishes like the Cabbage Rolls really bring some variety and introduce our family to a variety of ethnic and cultural cuisines. Ok maybe that's stretching it but still, we're very Tex-Mex so maybe something different than that will be a change.

For this month I purchased the Angel Food ministries Regular box and February Special #5.
Here is what we will be working with....

Regular Box
1.5 lb Sirloin Strip Steaks (4x6)
2 lb Tray pack Chicken Breast
1 lb Boneless Pork Chops
2 lb Breaded Chicken Nuggets
28 oz Salisbury Steak Entree
12 oz Sliced Bacon
1 lb All-Meat Hot Dogs
1 lb Stir Fry (Broccoli, Red Peppers & Onions)
1 lb Carrots
8 oz Breakfast Cereal
32 oz 2% Shelf Stable Milk
35 oz Crinkle Cut Fries
7.25 oz Mac 'n Cheese
1 lb Rice
1 lb Bean Soup Mix
1 Dozen Eggs
Dessert

February Special #5 (Fresh Fruit and Veggie Box)
3 lb Premium Idaho Baking Potatoes
3 lb Premium North Carolina Sweet Potatoes
2 lb New Crop Western Grown Yellow Onions
9 oz Premium Raisins
1 lb California Grown Carrots
1 Green Cabbage Head
3 lb Red Delicious Apples
2 Anjou Pears
1 Golden Pineapple
3 lb Valencia Oranges

Items from the boxes will be in blue

This month's baking and feed the freezer will be:

Applesauce, Bran, and Oatmeal Muffins x2 to freeze half, I will also be substituting the corn syrup for Agava Nector since the hubby is diabetic. (See Review)
Coffee Cake Muffins by Martha Stewart
Carrot and Sweet Potato Pancakes x2 to freeze half
New York Style Cheesecake (for the hubby's birthday) Review: Well this bombed, it cracked all over while cooking and then didn't even cook all the way through using the suggested time in addition to cooking for longer than suggested. I'm not sure if it was the change in ingredients or what but I WON'T be trying this recipe again. My full fat cheesecakes never have this problem.

Saturday, February 28th
Lunch: Sandwiches & Soup
Dinner:~~Hamburgers, Potato Salad and Grilled Corn on the Cob~~

Sunday, March 1st
Dinner: Chicken Fried Steaks, Mashed Potatoes (Idaho Potatoes) and Gravy

Monday, March 2nd
Dinner: Chicken Stir Fry and Brown Rice

Tuesday, March 3rd
Dinner: ~~Paula Deen's Swiss Steak (onions) and Rice~~
Review: This was a pretty good quick recipe, the meat turned out very tender w/o having to cube it. Not high on the taste scale but a good solid meal.

Wednesday, March 4th
Dinner: ~~Pasta e Fagioli~~ ~~(bacon instead of pancetta, carrots) and French Bread~~

Review: Well I butchered this one, I did it in the crockpot and forgot about the noodles. I put them in about 30 minutes prior to turning it off but forgot about it all together and so the noodles ended up mushy and ruined the soup. Overall I think I prefer a fagioli with spinach in it too.

Thursday, March 5th
Dinner: ~~Mole-Style Pork Chops~~ ~~with Black Beans and Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes~~

Review: This was amazing! The mole turned out great, I thought it'd be a dry rub but while cooking it turned saucy and was perfect. The sweet potatoes were the perfect compliment to the pork. A real nice meal.

Friday, March 6th
Dinner: Steak and Blue Cheese Pizza with Mixed Greens Salad

Saturday, March 7th
Breakfast: Something Quick - Swimming Lessons at 9AM
Lunch: Family Fishing Ministry Day - Pack a Picnic
Dinner: Out to Eat, it's my Birthday!

Sunday, March 8th
Dinner: Breakfast for Dinner! ~~Sweet Potato~~ ~~Hash~~ ~~(bacon and eggs) with Spicy Hollandaise Sauce~~
Review: I love breakfast for dinner nights, it just fills you up so well! This recipe was delish, I will definitely be trying this again. It was the 1st time I've poached eggs so I'll need the practice. I think the hash was a bit too sweet so I'm going to omit the maple syrup next time and just stick with the spicy savory combo.

Monday, March 9th
Dinner: ~~Sausage and Spinach Soup~~ ~~with crusty French Bread~~
Fresh herbs are added after the soup cooks so they'll retain their bright color and flavor. You can substitute 1 teaspoon dried herbs for each tablespoon fresh, but add them with the tomatoes. Serve with a toasted baguette.
Review: This soup was SUPER. Quick and easy to make and choc full of nutrients. It's a broth base so its low on carbs and my hubby could eat his weight in it w/o worry about his sugars. I loved soaking up the crusty french bread with the leftover broth.

Tuesday, March 10th
Dinner: ~~Traditional Tuna Casserole~~

Wednesday, March 11th
Dinner: Sizzling Salmon Salad and Crunchy Crackers

Thursday, March 12th
Dinner: Leftover (Frozen) Mexican Lasagna

Friday, March 13th
Dinner: ~~Grilled Sirloin Skewers with Peaches and Peppers~~ ~~and cilantro lime rice~~
Review: Oh this was so yummy! We used deer sirloins (of course) so I soaked them in milk prior to skewering them (this gets rid of gamey tastes in the meat). The peaches just melted in your mouth and really added great flavor to the steaks. This was a great filling meal that didn't give you that overfull feeling.

Saturday, March 14th
Breakfast: Something Quick - Swimming Lessons at 9AM
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Smoked Paprika Pork Chops and Roasted Veggies

Sunday, March 15th
Dinner: Spanish Style Grilled Chicken with Spanish Rice Stuffed Peppers

Monday, March 16th
Dinner: Ham and Bean Soup with Biscuits and Greens

Tuesday, March 17th
Dinner: All American Chili Dogs Night (hot dogs)

Wednesday, March 18th
Dinner: ~~Salisbury Steak~~ ~~Entree and Mashed Potatoes~~
Review: This was a boxed dinner, well except I made homemade mashed spuds. For a box meals it was great, my lil monster loved it! He's picky on meat textures but he ate this right up. Had lots of extra sauce to use as gravy on the potatoes.

Thursday, March 19th
Dinner: Stuffed Pork Chops and green beans, stay tuned for this recipe

Friday, March 20th
Dinner: Grilled Salmon, Sweet Potatoes and Orange Zest Broccoli

Saturday, March 21st
Breakfast:Something Quick - Swimming Lessons at 9AM
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Sirloin Steaks? and roasted cabbage side? stay tuned for this decision

Sunday, March 22nd
Dinner: Mock Thanksgiving - whole deep fried chicken w/cajun injector, creamed spinach, stuffing and glazed carrots

Monday, March 23rd
Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Chili and Blue Cheese Cornbread

Tuesday, March 24th
Dinner: Crockpot Breakfast Casserole and fruit salad

Wednesday, March 25th
Dinner: Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken and veggie?

Thursday, March 26th
Dinner: ~~Turkey Mini Meatloaves~~ ~~and Sneaky Smashed Potatoes~~
Feed six by doubling the ingredients and shaping the mixture into one eight by four-inch loaf. Bake time may increase to about 45 to 50 minutes; use a thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165°.

Review: These were a great alternative to traditional meatloaf. I loved how they were perfectly portioned so I could keep the hubby from eating too much. Very flavorful with the hint of kick from the hot sauce.

Friday, March 27th
Dinner: Stomboli and Salad

Saturday, March 28th
Breakfast: Something Quick - Swimming Lessons at 9AM
Dinner: Out to Eat?

And as usual for other great menus check out the Organized Junkie!

Shopping List will be updated by the end of the day.

Photos courtesy of CookingLight, FoodNetwork and RachelRay.

Feed the Freezer and Pantry.

2009-02-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

I can see the writing on the wall and hence I'm feeling the urge to stockpile. Plus I've just got that cooking feeling again. I've decided that I need to jar some of my own marinara sauces instead of spending $3.50 a jar for the store bought stuff. So this week I'm going to make a batch of various marinara sauces, some simple and some more fancy. I'm new to this whole canning/jarring thing so I'm just going to use a big stock pot since I don't have a canner. I however am going to invest in a pair of canning tongs.

Here's a great guide for how long to let your jars boil.... CanningUSA.com

The National Center for Home Food Preservation has lots of tips and guides on how to can and jar your own foods. They as well have trusted recipes.

Following their advice I'm going to use the "approved" recipes and then I'll make some of the non-approved recipes and freeze those instead. Lord knows I don't want to mess with botulism.

Non-Approved Marinara Recipes:

Basic Marinara Sauce by Tyler Florence

Heart Healthy Marinara Sauce by Giada De Laurentiis (I say healthy because it has yummy carrots in it)

And I plan on finding a good marinara sauce with mushrooms, since this is what we always buy from the store brands, but I'm going to have to wait and find a good deal on mushrooms.

In addition to the canning, I am going to make some homemade ice cream. There's just something about the thought of making it myself that gets me excited. I absolutely LOVE ice cream and the hubby and I got an electric ice cream maker as a wedding gift that we have yet to use. I always thought it'd be a time consuming, and expensive process but after doing some research on it it seems like a piece of cake, or wait maybe a scoop of ice cream!

Ice Cream Recipes:

Butter Pecan by Elise at Simply Recipes

Fudge Brownie Ice Cream by CookingLight.com

Better than Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream by Betty, the low carb guru (I'll be trying this one out for my hubby since he needs sugar free ice cream)

My goal by the end of the week is to have a stockpile of yummy ice cream and marinara sauce sitting in my freezer and pantry!

D.I.Y. Friday - "Kiddie Kitchen Korner"

2009-02-18T13:35:00.003-06:00

Ok so this posted early so happy Hump Day!

I love my lil monster and I love LeapFrog's refrigerator toys. However what I don't love is the obstacle that they create when I'm in the kitchen trying to cook. The Fridge Farm keeps my son busy and away from his leg warmer tendency but I'm the type of cook who gets things in and out of the fridge on an "as need" basis. So having my leg warmer sitting in front of the fridge poses a hazard. 1) I have to spend 5 minutes to manuver the farm and all its animals to one side of the fridge (we have a double door fridge) or 2) I scoot the leg warmer out of the way for a minute to open the door and he sees all the goodies, tries climbing in or grabs anything he can reach and refuses to move so that I can close the door. Either way something had to change. Idea! Magnetic Chalkboard.

I've seen sheet metal at a reasonable price for squares at the hardware store and I know that they have great new chalkboard paint as well. Thus my plan was hatched.

I started out by deciding where this chalkboard needed to go, I chose the end of our cabinets (obviously a lower cabinet as my son isn't 8 ft tall). This end happened to be opposite the stove/oven and far away from the fridge. There is plenty of room for him to stand in front of this cabinet and I can still get into any cabinet I want. After measuring the space where the chalkboard would go I headed up to Lowe's and purchased 2 sheets of 18x26 sheet metal, metal primer and chalkboard paint.

Now when painting metal surfaces it's very important to use a primer. I chose a simple gray spray paint primer. I laid the sheets out and lightly coated one side with the primer. Following the directions I let it dry for about 2 hours before applying the 1st coat of chalkboard paint.

I let the 1st coat of chalkboard paint dry for a day, because I had to work, before applying the 2nd coat. After the 2nd coat dried I grabbed my adhesive squares and went to work. Instead of attempting to cut the sheet metal (which you should only do if you have the right equipment) I overlapped my sheets to fit snuggly in the space. After the sheets were secure, I rubbed chalk on them and wiped it off. This sets the paint or something like that, hey I just did what the box told me to do.

I decided I need to add a piece of molding on the bottom to create a finished look, and catch any chalk dust so I'm working on getting that painted and attached. But for now I have a great place for my lil monster to play and stay safe and clear in the kitchen.

Calling out the Cabbage

2009-02-09T10:59:00.003-06:00

So while rummaging through the fridge this weekend I realized, lo and behold I had a head of cabbage that I had forgotten about. It came courtesy of the Angel Food Ministries and I neglected to add it in my meal plan. It was about a week old and looked like it needed to be cooked quickly. But I've never bought, let alone cooked anything with a cabbage. I was really at a loss. So after scouring the internet I found a unique concoction called Cabbage Rolls. An interesting take on meatloaf was my first thought. This would be easy and I had all the ingredients in my freezer/pantry already. At first I was a little concerned about how to core the head but I found a great youtube video that showed how to make the rolls from start to finish.

After checking out the video I found my old buddy Emeril on FoodNetwork.com and followed his recipe.

Cabbage Rolls

I was so surprised by how yummy these rolls were, even my picky toddler ate them up. Cabbage and all! This is a must for a hearty, pretty cheap and filling dish. I think next time I might add some celery and carrots to the meat mixture to sneak in even more veggies!

Of course so this means I've done a little rearranging of the menus but that's never set in stone and we'll make it up next month.

Going Organic

2009-02-05T10:55:00.008-06:00

I feel comfortable to say that 2008 was the year of "Going Green", it became trendy and popular. Everywhere you turned everyone was talking about conservation and companies jumped on the band wagon. In addition to the "Going Green" trend, the market was flooded with the “organic” label. And with the fancy title of organic fruits and veggies doubled in price. I’m sure you’ve all read about the benefits and touts of how great organically grown items from fruit to open range meat so I will spare you. However since the economy is tumbling down most can’t afford to splurge on these new luxury items, and in turn many local farmers are having hardships. There is a solution and behold the CSA also known as “Community Supported Agriculture”. CSA’s are a great advantage to the community and yourself. For cheaper than you’d pay at the supermarket, you can get a bushel full of fresh, organic produce delivered or available for convenient pickup. And you’re helping out another family farm! What better satisfaction is there knowing that you’re helping to sustain a family’s livelihood.

Now I understand that sometimes the subscriptions/membership can seem steep, however I have found that if you are willing to put a little “sweat equity” into the farm they are more than willing to drop the price or work out a labor for food system. After all, these families would have to pay others to help harvest their crops otherwise.This barter system is what I have set up for my family this year, and I’m so excited. I come from a family of farmers/ranchers and am eager to get back out in the country and do a little work. The CSA that I am working with will be a one-stop shop will produce, fresh honey, open range poultry, pigs and cattle (Top Texas beef). So not only will we get these great fruits of our labor, my lil monster will have the fun experience of farm life once a week. I’m waiting for the picture perfect photo of him chasing those chickens, hehe.In addition to the CSA that I’m working with, I have found a Fruit Farm. And like the CSA Farm, this fruit farm needs helpers. So I will be working with them to help care for the peach trees and come berry season my lil monster can come get his fill on fresh peaches and berries of all kinds.

Now for the savings portion. By working together with these CSA’s I imagine that I will be saving at least $1000 in produce expenses alone. I’m looking forward to filling my pantry with preserves, jams and pickled items and saving on these items as well. Of course one could argue that time is money and though I might be saving money in my pocketbook, my hourly worth is much more than the benefits of produce. I am looking at it another way, this time will be quality time spent in a somewhat charitable contribution to my family and my community. And best of all it is time that we will be working together. And a family that does things together, stays together.

To find you own local CSA to get involved with or just become a member of one check out these links.

http://www.localharve st.org/csa/
http://www.csa.com/

More on Angel Food Ministries

2009-01-27T10:20:00.002-06:00

Since I've started using Angel Food boxes I thought I'd share a few other websites that have great recipes and ideas of how to make the boxes last and what meals they make out of them.

Jen has a great website with printable menu's and grocery lists as well.

The Hillbilly Housewife is an amazing site that not only lists great money saving recipes, she's got tips for cleaners and learning how to keep a cost-cutting home.

Of course like everything you can pay to have menus at your disposal found here at Menu Planning Central.

Menu Plan Monday, ok so Friday but whatever

2009-01-23T10:26:00.003-06:00

It's that time again - Menu Plan Monday!

Everywhere you turn people are tightening their belts, and like the rest we are too. I posted earlier about my attempts to get a better handle on our finances and what I've been doing to help. While some things are a fixed cost like rent and our car payments, others can easily be changed. One of the easiest ways to cut costs is in the food bill. Granted we hadn't been eating out alot there are still ways to cut back even for us.

We're lucky that the hubby hunts and fishes for practically nothing and then can process and fillet the fruits of his labor so that we have a freezer full of meat. This enables us to cut our grocery bill in half I'd estimate. For any meal that uses hamburger, roast, stew or even steaks we can use venison and save the raising cost of beef. The only thing that I buy true hamburger meat for is meatloaf or hamburgers. So this leaves just pork and chicken for us to purchase out of pocket. Even so those pockets are running emptier lately and I needed to find a way to cut our costs even more.

The answer is AngelFood Ministries. I stumbled upon this by accident really and I believe this will really help our family cut costs. I compared prices and decided that purchasing 1 or 2 boxes (designed for 1 week's use) could help get us through a month of groceries. Granted I'll still have to make a trip or two to the grocery store but I believe we could come in under $150.00 for a month's worth of meals.

For the month of January I purchased the Regular box and the January Special #5. Items used from the box can be found in blue and like before you'll find the supplemental grocery list at the end.

Saturday, January 24th
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Tomato Soup and Grilled Tomato, Smoked Turkey and Muenster Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner: Steakhouse Night - Grilled Ribeye Steaks, Loaded Baked Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli

Sunday, January 25th
Breakfast: Everything but the kitchen sink Omelets (eggs) and Toast
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Cheese Filled Manicotti with Homemade Marinara Sauce, Cesar Salad and Breadsticks

Monday, January 26th
Dinner: Pinto Beans, Honey Cornbread Muffins and Collard Greens

Tuesday, January 27th
Dinner: Chicken Fajitas with Bell Peppers and Spanish Rice

Wednesday, January 28th
Dinner: Slow Cooker Venison Stew and cheddar biscuits

Thursday, January 29th
Dinner: LaBamba Casserole (ground turkey)

Friday, January 30th
Dinner: Pork Ribs (recipe tbd), Scalloped Poatoes and green beans

Saturday, January 31st
Breakfast: Pigs'N Blankets, Blueberry Muffins and Oranges
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Lady & Sons Lasagna, salad and garlic bread

Sunday, February 1st
Breakfast: French Toast, Bacon and Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Super Bowl Sunday dinner at my parents' house

Monday, February 2nd
Dinner: Pastor Ryan's Mexican Lasagna and a southwest salad

Tuesday, February 3rd
Dinner: Grilled Chicken, Chicken Flavored Rice and Brussel Sprouts

Wednesday, February 4th
Dinner: Fend For Yourself, Mommy's tired

Thursday, February 5th
Dinner: Fried Chicken with Red Beans & Rice

Friday, February 6th
Dinner: Take 'n Bake Pizza and salad

Saturday, February 7th
Dinner: Hamburgers and Potato Salad

Sunday, February 8th
Dinner: Fried Fish, Coleslaw and French Fries

Monday, February 9th
Dinner: Maple Glazed Salmon, Baked Sweet Potato and Broccoli

Tuesday, February 10th
Dinner: Venison Stroganoff

Wednesday, February 11th
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie (carrots, peas and potatoes) and Spinach Salad (tangerines if left over)

Thursday, February 12th
Dinner: Spaghetti and breadsticks

Friday, February 13th
Dinner: Chicken Enchiladas and black beans

Saturday, February 14th
Breakfast: Waffles and fruit
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Out to Eat for Valentine's Day!

Here's this month's supplemental grocery list, and as always there may be items that I have in my pantry that I didn't include in the list so double check the recipes so that you don't miss an ingredient.

Grocery List

And as always be sure to check out the rest of the group's menus at the Organized Junkie.

Beef and Beer Chili

2009-01-20T14:00:00.002-06:00

What a great long weekend! I wish everyone could have had Monday off, its so great to have MLK Day off because it really helps to break up the dull after Christmas. Anyways the weather was a bit chilly outside so we decided to stay home and what's better to curl up with on a cold day than a bowl full of chili? This is a new recipe that I tried and I think it turned out really great. Its a different spin on chili, it's not a red chili but it's not a white chili either. It's more of a broth chili, is that even a type? Anyways it was great and I think it would taste great finished with cilantro and monterry jack cheese but I didn't have either of those and it wasn't called for in the ingredients though. But trust me add these to your bowl!

Picture and recipe from CookingLight.com

Beef and Beer Chili

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped red onion (about 1 medium)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 small) *I didn't have one so I omitted this
8 ounces extralean ground beef *substituted venison
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (19-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained *I used pinto instead
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth
1 (12-ounce) bottle beer (such as Budweiser)
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, cumin, sugar, and salt; cook 1 minute. Add oregano and next 4 ingredients (through beer) to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in cornmeal; cook 5 minutes. Stir in juice.

Very Sneaky Veggies

2009-01-15T08:30:00.003-06:00

I know we all struggle to eat our veggies, let alone the mountain of a task in getting a picky toddler to as well. With such a fast paced life I have found that we end up feeding Chase quick fix foods, and what's a quicker fix than chicken nuggets or raviolis? But I hate feeding him full of fatty foods and God knows what else is in those things. And of course who would want to eat those weird looking green things when you've got yummy chicken nuggets in front of you. I know that all mom's have a fun time trying to get our kids to eat fruits and veggies so I have collected a few of my no-fail tricks.

Jessica is an artist when it come to disguising food, her book Deceptively Delicious has great advice and recipes on how to sneak veggies into common foods. And likewise Missy, The Sneaky Chef uses purees to hide those important ingredients.

While making your own purees is a great idea, and maybe I'll start doing that this year. But I honestly just found it much easier to buy jars of baby food. But the recipes still work with the jarred stuff.

So one of my favorite recipes is from Jessica and it's making your own chicken nuggets! This is an ingenious idea and works wonders. Instead of using chicken chunks like her recipes called for, I blended my all of my ingredients together and made it the consistency of a crabcake or salmon patty. A quick dip in the skillet and they're ready to eat. OR you can make bunches (with different veggies) and freeze them. Then you've got your own go-to chicken nuggets. I did find however that they work best if you put them in the oven for reheating.

Pancakes with power are a great way to start the morning off right. Jessica also has a sneaky recipe for pancakes, or waffles work too, that includes blending sweet potato puree into the mix. This makes the pancakes a fun orange color, perfect for Halloween, and they taste great with cinnamon and nutmeg. Or is you have little girls, try using beet or plum puree for pink and purple pancakes. What better idea for a girls slumber party.

Of course I've already told you guys about my Pea-za. Where I sneak pea puree into spaghetti sauce for mini pizza. This is a fun way to cook with your kids too, just make sure they don't see the pea puree.

And what kid could resist a sloppy joe? Cooking Light has a yummy sloppy joe recipe that includes green bell peppers and corn. I just make sure to chop the peppers up really well, and even though you can see the corn, my picky toddler loves it.

Cauliflower is the miracle veggie. I say this because you can puree it, and then sneak it into almost any dish. It quickly takes on the flavor of anything it is used with. So stick it in your mashed potatoes or mac'n cheese.

I recently got an email from Parents.com about some more easy ways to get kids to eat their veggies and I pulled out my favorites for you...

Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Puree a 12-ounce jar of roasted red sweet peppers packed in water (drain it first) with a garlic clove. Heat puree, 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, and 3 tablespoons tomato paste on medium until warm, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon fresh basil, a smidge of honey, salt, and pepper.

Crinkly Carrot Fries
Slice 1 pound of carrots into 1/2-inch-wide sticks using a crinkle cutter. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft, on a parchment paper-lined pan.
Tip: Great for toddlers 12 months and up.

Mini Vegetable Cakes
Combine half an 8-1/2-ounce package corn-muffin mix with 1 egg white and 3 tablespoons water. Stir in 3/4 cup shredded zucchini and 1/2 cup chopped canned beets. Drop batter by the tablespoon into 2 tablespoons hot canola oil. Cook 2 minutes; turn and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, until browned.

Sweet Potato-Parsnip Mash
Peel and cut 12 ounces of sweet potato and 2 parsnips into 1-1/2-inch pieces. Boil in lightly salted water for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and return to pot with 1/3 cup apple cider, salt, and pepper. Mash until nearly smooth.

Pumpkin-Peanut Butter Soup
Cook 1/2 cup chopped onion in 1 tablespoon hot olive oil on medium for 4 minutes, or until tender. Stir in a 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/4 teaspoon curry powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; heat through. Swirl plain yogurt on top of each bowl.

Breaded Asparagus
Dip 8 ounces trimmed asparagus spears first in all-purpose flour, then in beaten egg, and then in panko bread crumbs. Drizzle asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake in a single layer at 450 degrees F. for 10 minutes, or until golden. Serve with honey-mustard dip. (I think this would work with green beans too!)

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash
Place half of a 2-1/2-pound de-seeded spaghetti squash, cut side down, in a baking dish with 2 tablespoons water; cover with wax paper. Microwave on high for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender. Let cool slightly, then scrape strands from squash. Toss with 1 cup pasta sauce and 3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese.

Who knew there were so many ways to eat veggies? I hope these ideas help you as much as they have helped me fix my finiky eater.

Baby steps to resolutions

2009-01-14T14:55:00.003-06:00

New Years Resolution number one is to cut costs and handle our accounts better. Its always a tough task when, honestly there's more money going out than coming in. And of course we've only ourselves to blame, I've never been great about controlling my spending. I've had my ups and downs, learned my lesson in college, paid my debts off after college and was doing great. Met my hubby and out came the downward spiral again. And to hubby's benefit, I don't think he was ever taught financial responsibility either. So entering a relationship with a spender enabled my "spender" habits and now here we both stand. And here are the things that I have done to work towards our 1st goal.

I have made sure that I am contributing the percentage amount to my 401k to ensure that my company is matching. This has never been an issue, so instead I just increased it to match half of what my salary increase was. This was it'll be like I got a smaller raise than in actuality and I'll never miss the "extra" money I would have gotten each paycheck. I increased the hubby's contribution to ensure he recieved his company match, because that's free money and we'll need it in the future!
I have gone back to the days before online banking and debit cards. I have a duplicate checkbook and use my register! For items that I pay online at their website, I still assign a check to and log it in my register. For gas and other expenses I use cash. I've chosen a bank that only has 3 locations in proximity and of which take 30 minutes of my time to get cash from. This has really helped in curbing my spending, I know I've only got so much cash and that I should save it should an emergency arise.
I closed my Napster account. Yes I love music and it's what helps me get through the work day but alas I could just listen to the radio. And that $15 a month could be used for gas or my ever increasing toll fees.
I drive close to 100 miles a day for work. Yup it sucks but that's life, and my job pays me good money. Much more money than could be found closer to home. And don't get me started on the benefits, I've looked around, been offered other jobs but when it came down to it I stayed because of the benefits. But I digress, so I spend enormous amounts of money in gas and because of where I live I have to drive a toll road. Driving this toll road daily equates to a weekly average of $40 spent in tolls. That's a ton of money just to use a road! I have determined that if I skip 2 toll booths and drive the side road for part of my to and from work each day I could save about $3 to $4 a day. What a savings! Now I just have to tell my brain that that money is really worth the extra 20 minutes in the car. :)
Cable isn't all that it's cracked up to be, really. I mean what channels do you usually end up watching most of the time anyways? If you're like me its the standard Fox, ABC, NBC and PBS so why shell out the extra money for shows you occasionally watch but really won't miss. Now the hubby is obsessed with football so each fall we end up having to upgrade to at least have ESPN but I'm working on him for this one. But for now we're back down to basic cable.

Financially Fit

2009-01-14T14:47:00.001-06:00

Just a quick heads up for those looking to get financially fit this year. Oprah has once again struck a deal with the non nonsense money adviser Suze Orman and Suze's latest book is available online until January 15th. So hurry up and download your copy!

http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081119_tows_suze

New Year and New Resolutions

2009-01-12T14:26:00.003-06:00

All I can say is I am thankful that 2008 is done and over with. Yes there were plenty of great times but more often than not it was a rough year and I'm hopeful that 2009 will like Obama's campaign (though I am a republican) will be the year of change! So here are my new years resolutions, better late than never....

Get a better handle on our financial situation. Keep our accounts in the black; make sure that we're contributing to our 401ks even though it would be nice to have that $$ in our paychecks; if at all possible start actually saving $$; cut our expenses as much as possible; cut the debit cards and stop impulse spending.
Prepare for the future. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the 1st resolution but meaning we need to get on top of our wills, setting a trust up and making sure the hubby gets his life insurance policy increased.
Take charge of our health. The hubby is a diabetic and has not been doing too well with it lately, blood sugar crazy high, depending on the insulin and well he's a stick figure as a result. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I am now heavier than I've ever been, excluding when I was pregnant. I was lazy after my pregnancy and ate whatever I wanted because it all melted off while I was breastfeeding. But 8 months after the nursing has ended and I'm a whale still eating like I was while nursing. I'm dedicated to eating better and starting to use my gym membership that I purchased!
Have a happy and healthy relationship. I'll admit the hubby and I fight more often than not, and I strongly believe alot of it stems from stress. Stress about all of the above issues has taken its toll and we need to get back to enjoying each other and communicating. Even if we don't accomplish all of the above goals, if we just started communicating better I think it would help, so we're going to work on that.

So that's it, just 4 little resolutions right? Not some long drawn out list but I know these will be tough to conquer as they are deeply ingrained and inbeded in our everyday thinking. But I am determined and taking inspiration from Oprah, this is the year!

Cost Cutting Christmas Gifts

2008-12-23T08:48:00.005-06:00

Times are tough, I don't have to tell anyone that. But what makes it feel even worse is when its Christmas time, Christmas is the time of the year when people are always compelled to splurge and shop and give great gifts to their friends and family. While the idea is great most people end up going overboard and putting themselves in debt. Which I have been known to do myself in the past. Its hard to limit myself. I want to give the people that I love and care about lots of things, the things that they want and that I know would be a very special and extravagant gesture. However I just can't afford to do that anymore. And as much as it hurts me, I know it would hurt much worse if I went ahead and made those large purchases. And then in turn it would hurt those friends and family as well because the financial struggle would be evident in the coming months. So no this year I'm sticking to my game plan and my budget. Instead of going out and getting each of my bosses and coworkers and then there's the lil monster's daycare teachers, ah the list goes on, $20 gifts a piece I cut back drastically. I decided to make homemade gifts and take my chance at doing some home canning. A task I'll admit had seemed like too much work, a little hokey and well kind of gross. I mean I grew up on Smuckers! But instead of doing pickles or jam, I found this great chutney recipe. (Yes the recipe I made for Thanksgiving) It was such a hit and I've bought chutney for friends as gifts before, so why not try my hand at it.

Let me tell you, this was the easiest present I've made! Literally it took less than an hour from start to finish and cost less than $20 for 6 jars! That's 6 people for under $20! I just used a big pot I had to boil the jars (which I had purchased for $7) instead of using a canner. I followed the recipe like usual and when it was complete I pulled the hot jars out of the water and filled the jars up. Put the lids back on and then sat them all back into the pot of water. Made sure the water covered the tops and let it boil for about 15 to 20 minutes. I didn't have a rack to lift the jars out of the water so that was fun trying to use a pair of tongs, but it worked. I sat the hot jars on a towel and let them cool overnight.

Instead of spending any money on wrapping my gifts I went "green" and used brown paper lunch sacks as my bags and went without the waste of tissue paper. I printed some cute holiday labels and placed them on the front of the paper bags. Then I printed out the nutritional information and some sample uses along with a recipe to use the chutney with. A simple homemade heartfelt gift that I know my friends will enjoy. And instead of breaking the bank I stayed in my budget!

Of course you can use any chutney recipe you find but I used the Cranberry-Pear Chutney from CookingLight. And then I found some helpful tips on canning at BellaOnline. I hope you all have happy and fun holidays!

Menu Plan Monday - December 1st

2008-12-02T13:39:00.008-06:00

Ok so we're still eating up the leftovers from Thanksgiving so we'll be good with those until this weekend. So I guess my menu planning actually won't start until the 8th. The weather's turned chilly so I'm feeling like lots of warm-you-up meals. Plus its the holiday season and you just have to splurge, of course the budget's super tight so we'll be trying to reign it all in. And since its a new month you'll see some of our repeats. And I know it's not complete but I've been sick so please forgive me :)

Monday, Dec 8th
Dinner: Sloppy Joe's with Corn and potato wedges

Tuesday, Dec 9th
Dinner: Stromboli and salad

This was a huge hit with both the hubby and my lil monster! I didn't really follow any recipe just threw a bunch of ingredients together. I used refrigerated pizza dough, rolled it out, threw some spaghetti sauce on it, chopped up some green onions and onions, opened a can of mushrooms, added some pepperoni and salami and covered it with mozzarella cheese. Then folded it over, brushed it with egg and sprinkled parmesan cheese on top. Bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the dough is crisp and golden.

Wednesday, Dec 10th
Dinner: The Duggar's Tator Tot Casserole

I've been meaning to try this ever since I first saw their show. It seems like a really yummy dish, of course not healthy though. I can't imagine my lil monster not liking it so that's whats important. I've seen some recipes adding peas or corn so I think I might try that, oh or maybe green beans?

Thursday, Dec 11th
Dinner: My lil monster's holiday show is this night so we'll prolly just grab something and go.

Friday, Dec 12th
Dinner: The Award Winning Chilifest Chili Recipe served with flour tortillas and gaucamole

Of which I have been sworn to secrecy for, ok well not really, but I'm not going to post it on the internet 'cause it a recipe that's been passed around just friends.
Saturday, Dec 13th
Breakfast: Sweet Potato Pancakes
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Turkey Tetrazzini (to find recipe)

Sunday, Dec 14th
Breakfast: Cream Cheese Apple Muffins
I found this recipe on Kate's blog and it sounded super yummy, plus I love the idea of being able to make a bunch and then freeze them. And with apples being dirt cheap right now, I can grab a bag for next to nothing. Oh I'm I'm also going to make the Apple Cinnamon Pancakes and freeze them too.
Dinner: Mexican Lasagna (following the big recipe to freeze)

Monday, Dec 15th
Dinner: Crockpot Maple Dijon Chicken

I found this yummy recipe on Stephanie's crazy blog. Can you believe she's using her crockpot everyday for a whole year? I love my crockpot but not enough to continuosly clean it everyday by hand. Anyways this meal sounds super yummy so we're gonna try it.

Tuesday, Dec 16th
Dinner: Chicken Enchilladas

Wednesday, Dec 17th
Dinner: Spaghetti

Thursday, Dec 18th
Dinner: Venison Stew with biscuits ontop

Friday, Dec 19th
Dinner: Lasagna (x2 to freeze)

Saturday, Dec 20th
Breakfast:
Lunch: Soup & Sandwiches
Dinner:

Sunday, Dec 21st
Breakfast:
Dinner: White Chicken Chili

Monday, Dec 22nd
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday, Dec 23rd
Dinner:
Wednesday, Dec 24th
Dinner: It's Christmas Eve so we're going to my parents' house and we'll have appetizers and open presents!

Thursday, Dec 25th
Breakfast: It's undecided if we'll be at my parents' still so we'll see
Dinner: At hubby's brother's house so I'll just bring a side dish if need be

Friday, Dec 26th
Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls
Lunch: Soup & Sandwiches
Dinner: Pizza - I'm not cooking! Lets order a pizza!

Saturday, Dec 27th
Breakfast:
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Tyler's Ultimate Mac & Cheese

Sunday, Dec 28th
Breakfast:
Dinner:

Monday, Dec 29th
Dinner: Crockpot Pepper Steak (Venison) and mashed potatoes

Tuesday, Dec 30th
Dinner:

Wednesday, Dec 31st
Dinner: New Year's Eve and our plans are up in the air so I'm not planning on cooking

Thursday, Jan 1st
Dinner: New Years tradition to eat black eyed peas so I've got a bbq black eyed pea recipe that I love and it turns it into a yummy meal.

Leftovers Galore!

2008-12-01T09:06:00.007-06:00

Thanksgiving was great this year! My family was all together, well at least my side was with us. I didn't feel too stressed out at all, and everything seemed to go pretty smoothly. I think it helped that my mother brought the dressing and another veggie side so I wasn't trying to cook everything all at once. As soon as I can I'll update my thanksgiving day menu and post pictures. I must admit I was pretty proud. My turkey came out looking perfect and was the best tasting one I've ever had! So after all the fuss and muss we had a ton of leftover so I decided to get creative. 'Cause honestly you can only eat the "turkey day" plate for some many meals afterwards. Here is what I made with my leftovers....

Emeril's Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie: This was a great recipe because it really changed the ingredients up and made a totally different style of meal. Super yummy and clever why to use up those leftovers. But of course we never have any mashed potatoes leftover so I just whipped up a new batch for this meal.

Robin Miller's Stuffing Frittata: We always have a ton of leftover stuffing and never know what to do with it all. We end up with leftovers for weeks simply because we make half with oysters and half w/o so then we have tons leftover w/o the oysters. I found this recipe and knew it'd be a great way to use up those leftovers, well at least some of them. Plus it made Sunday morning breakfast a piece of cake, or better yet, frittata!

"Leftover Creamed" Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas: This originally is a favorite recipe from CookingLight that I like to make. I ended up not loving my creamed spinach recipe from Thanksgiving so there was a bunch leftover. I had a package of mushroom leftover from the shepherd's pie as well so in come a variation of my Mexican favorite.

"Ain't no Chicken Spaghetti" - a Pioneer Woman mix-up: Hubby loves Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti so its a staple in our menu now however with the plethora of turkey I figured why not give it a go with turkey, chicken's cousin. They're both poultry and I can't imagine it tasting anything but good. So for this yummy recipe all's the same except I substituted turkey for chicken!

Emeril's Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onions
2 carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
1/4 teaspoon Essence or Creole Seasoning, recipe follows
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 ounces mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean, and sliced
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 to 2 1/2 cups chopped or shredded roast turkey (white and/or dark meat)
1 1/4 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
1/2 cup green peas
4 cups leftover mashed potatoes or Basic Mashed Potatoes
3/4 cup grated sharp or medium Cheddar
Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square or 2.2 quart baking dish with the butter and set aside.
In a large saute pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, Essence, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 20 seconds. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are soft, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the flour and cook, stirring, until thick, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the meat and stir well to combine.
Gradually add the stock and then the peas, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the mixture is thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Carefully transfer to the prepared dish and spoon the potatoes over the meat mixture, spreading to the edges. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake until the cheese is bubbly and the potatoes are crisp around the edges, 22 to 25 minutes.
Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Stuffing Frittata

Cooking spray
2 to 3 cups leftover stuffing
1 cup shredded Cheddar (regular or reduced-fat)
6 large eggs
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preheat broiler.
Coat an oven-proof nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Put stuffing in the bottom of pan to warm and stir to break up a little.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, milk, mustard powder, and nutmeg. Pour mixture over stuffing and cheese to cover stuffing. Sprinkle Parmesan over top. Cook on stovetop over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to the broiler and broil for about 2 minutes, until egg is cooked through and cheese is golden and bubbly. Sprinkle cheese over top.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. Serve with sliced tomatoes.

"Leftover Creamed" Spinach and
Mushroom Enchilladas

Sauce:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (10-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (8-ounce carton) fat-free sour cream
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained

Enchiladas:
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion (already in the spinach mixture)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt (already in the spinach mixture)
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (we're using leftover creamed spinach instead)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped seeded plum tomato
1/4 cup chopped green onion tops

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare sauce, combine first 4 ingredients; stir well.
To prepare enchiladas, (here's where the variations begin: heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add jalapeno and saute. Proceed to step 4) Add onion and jalapeño; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.
Add mushrooms; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Now add the creamed spinach and ...Stir in garlic powder, cumin, omitting the salt, and spinach; cook 5 minutes or until heated. Combine spinach mixture and another 4 oz of creamed cheese, leftover from original recipe, because I didn't think it was creamy enough...or 1/4 cup cheese in a large bowl; stir to combine.
Spoon 1/2 cup sauce into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup spinach mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up. Place filled tortillas seam sides down in the baking dish. Spread remaining sauce evenly over tortillas; top with 3/4 cup cheese.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Top with tomato and green onion.

Now of course I've still got quite a few leftovers so I'm still scheming and scouring ideas for my leftovers so we'll see what else I can find and/or get creative with!

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight.com

Turkey Day Madness

2008-11-24T09:12:00.006-06:00

Ok I know it's a little late but better than never. I just have to brag about how well my turkey day went. It was absolutely amazing! We were expecting a large crowd this year, but who knew how many we'd actually end up with. Hubby's family is great however they can never seem to get their plans lined up even the day of an event. So just in case we bought the biggest turkey the store had, a great big 20 something pounder. And like always hubby's family bailed out and itwas just be my side but that's ok 'cause that meant more leftovers for me! Ok enough blabbing and on to the good stuff. The menu, I really wanted to do it up this year since it was the first year we would be hosting Thanksgiving and I had new place settings and serveware. I had to make my table look fabulous, well as much as I could on a Walmart budget, and I think I achomplished it. Anyways here's what was on the menu.....

Served on cold salad plates: Pear, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

Cranberry - Pear Chutney

Buttermilk Brined Turkey - now I used the Williams-Sonoma Turkey Brine, this stuff is amazing! I love just opening it up and smelling it. All the flavors are perfect, made the whole house smell absolutely wonderful while I was prepping my bird. I also am a huge follower of the buttermilk marinade for any type of poultry so I went ahead and did Williams-Sonoma's recipe.

Here's my beautiful turkey bird! (Oh I didn't fill it with stuffing)

You have to get this stuff for your turkey! I imagine you could prolly make some yourself but I don't really think it'd be cost effective unless you already have all the spices.

Oyster and Cornbread Dressing (old family recipe that mom brought)

Reisling Gravy

Creamed Spinach
I wasn't thrilled with this version of creamed spinach either. It was supposed to be a "copycat" of Boston Market's version but it still fell flat in my opinion. It just wasn't creamy enough. So this make year 2 that I've struck out with the creamed spinach. I believe I'm going to start going through recipes this year in order to find the perfect one for next year.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
No real recipe to this one, just add butter, buttermilk, salt and
pepper and mix to your desired consistency.

Strueseled Sweet Potato Casserole

This is always a show stopper! And who would have guessed it was a CookingLight recipe? Now granted its still not great by any means but its a far cry from the overloaded candied yams we're all familiar with but tastes so much better!

Brussel Sprouts (mom's specialty, I think they're a mustard and parmeasan)

Dad's Deviled Eggs (dad's specialty)

Rolls (brother brought)

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

This was by far the best cheesecake I've ever made. And I mean really made, we're talking homemade and baking in the oven then chilling. I modified the directions a little by accident, added all the sugar in at once but you really couldn't tell the difference. And the crust was so different, everyone loved it. You must try this recipe.

So here are a couple pictures of our yummy table before we all sat down. Please note my brother's girlfriend was the first to sit down, very ready to digg in :) Oh and my lil monster in the back alreday scarfing down mashed potatoes!

I hope everyone had a happy and health Thanksgiving with friends, family, and those they love!

Menu Plan Monday - November 3rd

2008-11-05T09:53:00.004-06:00

So I've been really busy and lazy at the same time. I hadn't been to the store really in over a month so we've been living off our pantry and freezer. But we're down to the bottom now and I've got to restock and prepare for Thanksgiving at our house. Since we've got such a tight budget I try to plan out at least 2 weeks to a month worth of meals at a time. So since that's what I do I'm going to go ahead and list our meals for the month starting with today. Of course the shopping list is much longer this time. Now since produce can't last a month I do pick up salads and a few parishables every so often. And since Thanksgiving is this month, I'll be picking up stuff for that closer to the week.

Wednesday, Nov 5th
Dinner: I'm having dinner with my younger brother for his birthday, so hubby is fending for himself.

Thursday, Nov 6th
Dinner: Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Coleslaw and Baked Apples
I'm going to do the double duty pork again, I'll be putting the pulled pork on sandwiches for this meal though. And as before I'm using the crockpot instead of a slow grill. A coworker went to her family farm last weekend and brought home bushels and bushels of apples so she brought a bag full to me. What a yummy treat!

Friday, Nov 7th
Dinner: Three Bean Chili and Cheddar Biscuits

I'm going to try this recipe as a variation of our tradition, Texas Style (NO BEAN) chili. Lil monster needs some veggies and I think he just might eat this. I'll be making a little blander version for him though.

Saturday, Nov 8th
Breakfast: Oatmeal and oranges
Lunch: Sandwiches and or leftovers
Dinner: Pulled Pork Fajitas and spanish rice (boxed)

This is the yummy 2nd meal from my double duty pork.

Sunday, Nov 9th
Breakfast: Kitchen Fridge Omelets
Dinner: Lasagna and ceasar salad (bagged)

This is leftover that I had frozen from when I originally made the recipe.

Monday, Nov 10th
Dinner: Meatloaf Stuffed Green Bell Peppers, garlic mashed potatoes and corn

This is a yummy yummy recipe that reminds me of my mom and family dinners. I've got to make it quick so I used boxed mashed potatoes and open a can of corn.

Tuesday, Nov 11th
Dinner: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas and black beans

I loved this recipe from Kim, only this time I'm going to skip the step of mixing the leftover marinade in with the topping sauce. I thought it was a little too overpowered with the honey. So we'll see how this turns out.

Wednesday, Nov 12th
Dinner: Traditional Beans & Ham with cornbread and skillet fried potatoes

Nothing says country more than this meal. I used to pretend I was a pioneer girl back in the early days when my mom would make this. Yeah I know I'm silly. I could just see families eating this back then.

Thursday, Nov 13th
Dinner: Maple Glazed Salmon, Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli

Its salmon night and my favorite salmon meal!

Friday, Nov 14th
Dinner: La Bamba Casserole

I went ahead and pre-made this when I got home from the grocery store and then froze this so all I'd have to do was reheat it and top with tomatoes and onions! Super easy.

Saturday, Nov 15th
Breakfast: Rice and bananas
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Crockpot Traditional Yankee Pot Roast

Now this calls for stove-top cooking but as always I use the crockpot and it's just so much easier!

Sunday, Nov 16th
Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy with fried eggs
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Chicken Spaghetti

A staple in our home now, hubby loves The Pioneer Woman!

Monday, Nov 17th
Dinner: Traditional Tuna Casserole and slices peaches

What's more to say?

Tuesday, Nov 18th
Dinner: Ham and Pineapple Sandwiches
Another mom's recipe from when I was a little girl. I think lil monster will really like these.

Wednesday, Nov 19th
Dinner: Make-Your-Own Baked Potatoes

I've got some big baked potatoes and we can fix them how we want, maybe add some broccoli cheese or bbq?

Thursday, Nov 20th
Dinner: Chicken Stir Fry and rice

Don't you just love frozen bagged dinners!

Friday, Nov 21st
Dinner: We've got tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet! So lil monster will be going to grandma's and we'll be eating out!

Saturday, Nov 22nd
Since lil monster's gone for the weekend hubby and I will prolly just scrounge around :)

Sunday, Nov 23rd
Since lil monster's gone for the weekend hubby and I will prolly just scrounge around :)

Monday, Nov 24th
Dinner: Sloppy Joe's with Corn and potato wedges

I just buy canned sauce and then spice it up a little, then proceed to finish the recipe as is.

Tuesday, Nov 25th
Dinner: Stromboli and salad

I remember mom making this and I loved it so I'm going to try it for my lil monster!

Wednesday, Nov 26th
Dinner: Texas Chili (NO BEANS)

Since the weather cooler and since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I don't want to be cooking. I'm going to throw this together in the crockpot and then while our guests are in town they can have turkey leftovers or chili if they get tired of the turkey.

Thursday, Nov 27th
Breakfast: still undecided as to what I'll make, some easy and doesn't need to cook hopefully
Dinner: see Thanksgiving Menu

Friday, Nov 28th
Breakfast: still undecided as to what I'll make, some easy and doesn't need to cook hopefully
Dinner: Leftovers Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Ok so that brings us up to the weekend after Thanksgiving, I'm sure we'll still have lots of leftovers so we'll munch on those and then if we need anything else we'll prolly order out.

Stay turned for recipes and I'll have the shopping list up here by tonight!

Tis the season!

2008-10-21T08:43:00.003-05:00

So I know its a little early but you've got to start early when you have an extremely tight budget for Christmas. So I've got my list of people and I've got my ideas and the bargain shopping has begun. But alas it seems that no one (specifically the hubby) knows what to get me. And quite honestly I'm tired of telling him, and then getting exactly that, nothing more nothing less. Where's the fun in that? So I'm going to have my running "wishlist" of items and things that I love and would love to have whether it be for Christmas, anniversary or birthday. Or oh god forbid maybe just a surprise! And who knows maybe you'll find a few things to add to yours, and of course if you have a favorite something you know I'd love let me know!

Back from the dead

2008-10-20T14:23:00.002-05:00

Ok so I'm barely recovering from my bout with the porcelain god, of whom won. It was a defeat of which I ended up with an IV and meds because I couldn't stop praying to that porcelain throne. So needless to say last week's menu didn't survive as the hubby had to fend for himself as the lil monster was shipped off to grandma's. So thankful I have a close family! I'm still not up to par, I've had a bagel and tea today so we're gonna call it a "please be kind, and rewind" week. Hoping that I'll feel well enough by Wednesday to pick back up there with the lasagna rolls.

Menu Plan Monday - October 13th

2008-10-15T11:03:00.003-05:00

Ok, so yes I know that it's Wednesday but I've been a little slow and besides I haven't been to the store umm since before our trip to MO about 3 weeks ago. I've been lazy and using up my pantry. So here's what we had and will have for the rest of the week.

Monday - It's the hubby and I's 1 year anniversary!
Dinner: Out to eat in celebration and the top tier of our wedding cake

Tuesday
Dinner: Spam has it's rewards! One of my favorite restaurants, Blue Mesa, is turning 20 yrs old and they are having a birthday celebration. Free all you can eat buffet, cash bar and live band. Lets party all week long!

Wednesday
Dinner: Leftovers Lasagna Rolls

I've got leftover cottage cheese and lasagna noodles, still have some of that marinara sauce (plus canned if I need it). I think I'll pick up some frozen spinach (but I do have canned, wonder if that will work) and some mozzarella cheese. Of course I've got leftover hamburger meat and parmesan cheese too.

Thursday
Dinner: Mama's Makeshift Chicken Casserole and Oh Yeah Baby Glazed Carrots

I've got some celery and a bag of carrots that need to be used. Some frozen breaded chicken tenders and cream of mushroom soup. I think we're set for coming up with something on the fly whether its rice or noodles and some frozen corn. Maybe we'll see what else is in the freezer for veggies. And to add more veggies I'm gonna add Emeril's glazed carrots as a side.

Friday
Dinner: Grilled Chicken, rice and steamed veggies

Simple standard, using boxed chicken style rice and whatever veggie is in the freezer.

Saturday
Breakfast: biscuits and gravy
Lunch: sandwiches
Dinner: Fabulous Fried Fish and french fries

We made this batter recipe for my lil monster's 1st birthday party and it was by far the best fried fish recipe ever!

Sunday
Breakfast: Sweet Potato Pancakes and sausage patties
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Going to the store so we'll see

Ok so the recipe is actually for pancakes but I'm out of pancake batter so I'm going to use waffle mix and turn them into waffles instead. We all like variations. And what's better is this is a great recipe for getting my picky eater to eat veggies.

So here's what I'm going to pick up on my way home: mozzarella cheese and frozen spinach! See that's it, oh well and maybe more milk.

Pulled-Pork Fajitas

2008-10-09T15:47:00.002-05:00

So easy, I love this. My pork is doing double duty so all I have to do is throw it together and serve since it was cooked ahead of time.

Menu: Pulled Pork Fajitas and all the yummy fixin's

Pulled-Pork Fajitas

Ingredients:
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (ground red) pepper
About 2 pounds leftover roast pork
8 flour tortillas
Fresh cilantro leaves
Avocado wedges
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped red onion

Combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne pepper in a medium saucepan. Heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cut pork into 1-inch-thick slices, then shred it by hand. Stir the pork into the sauce, cover, and heat through, stirring occasionally.
In a large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast the tortillas one at a time until crisp and slightly charred around the edges, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. (You can use the microwave if you choose instead)
To serve, spoon some pork into the center of a tortilla. Top with cilantro, avocado, tomato, and onion. Roll.

What's better than a no fuss meal?

Carolina Pulled Pork with Lexington Red Sauce

2008-10-09T15:38:00.003-05:00

Sorry I'm just now posting this - week got away from me but anyways here's what I did...

Menu: Carolina Pulled Pork with Lexington Red Sauce on hamburger buns with store bought potato salad

Carolina Pulled Pork with Lexington Red Sauce

Ingredients:
Pork:
8 hickory wood chunks (about 4 pounds)
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (I just used brown sugar)
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (5-pound) bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt)
1 cup cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups water, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon canola oil
Cooking spray

Sauce:
1 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

To prepare pork, soak wood chunks in water about 16 hours; drain. (Nix this if you're doing the crockpot)
Combine turbinado sugar and next 4 ingredients (through ground red pepper); reserve 2 tablespoons sugar mixture. Rub half of the remaining sugar mixture onto pork. Place in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and refrigerate pork overnight.
Remove pork from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Rub remaining half of sugar mixture onto pork.
Place the pork in the crockpot and combine reserved 2 tablespoons sugar mixture, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt, and oil in a small saucepan; add this to the crockpot OR cook over low heat 10 minutes or until sugar dissolves.
Skip this step if crockpot cooking: Remove grill rack; set aside. Prepare grill for indirect grilling, heating one side to medium-low and leaving one side with no heat. Maintain temperature at 225°. Pierce bottom of a disposable aluminum foil pan several times with the tip of a knife. Place pan on heated side of grill; add half of wood chunks to pan. Place another disposable aluminum foil pan (do not pierce pan) on unheated side of grill. Pour remaining 2 cups water in pan. Coat grill rack with cooking spray; place on grill. Place pork on grill rack over foil pan on the unheated side. Close lid, and cook for 4 1/2 hours or until a thermometer registers 170°, gently brushing pork with vinegar mixture every hour (avoid brushing off sugar mixture). Add additional wood chunks halfway during cooking time. Discard any remaining vinegar mixture. Preheat oven to 250°. Remove pork from grill. Wrap pork in several layers of aluminum foil, and place in a baking pan. Bake at 250° for 2 hours or until a thermometer registers 195°. Remove from oven. Let stand, still wrapped, for 1 hour or until pork easily pulls apart. Unwrap pork; trim and discard fat. Shred pork with 2 forks.
To prepare sauce, combine 1 cup vinegar and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1 1/4 cups (about 5 minutes). Serve sauce warm or at room temperature with pork.
After your pork has cooked, shred it and take 1/2 of the meat and seat aside for Thursday night's Fajitas. Then mix with the bbq sauce and serve!

I served this on hamburger buns with store bought potato salad. Super yummy

Menu Plan Monday - October 6th

2008-10-06T11:13:00.004-05:00

Gosh this weekend was so hectic and I'm sitting here back at work and can barely even think about what we're having for dinner. This week is definitely going to be pulled together from what we've got in the pantry 'cause I'm not going to the store yet. Maybe I'll go next week. So lets see what I can scrounge up....

Monday
Dinner: Traditional Tuna Casserole

(picture is courtesy of the recipe's original creator Campbell's soups)

Tuesday
Dinner: Carolina Pulled Pork with Lexington Red Sauce

I'm trying a new pulled pork recipe, hoping that it can pull double duty for me this week. And as usual I'll be adapting it to cook in my crockpot other wise -- You'll need to start this recipe a day ahead to allow ample time for the wood chunks to soak and the flavors of the dry rub to penetrate the meat. Slow, low-heat cooking is key to tender pork that shreds easily. While the pork is still warm, shred it into uneven shards, mixing together some of the crisp, dark outer meat with the moister interior meat. Combine the classic Piedmont sauce--a thin, vinegar-based mixture--with the meat for a tangy kick, or mix it with shredded cabbage for Lexington coleslaw.

Recipe and photos courtesy of CookingLight

Wednesday - It's state fair time in Texas and we're going to see old Big Tex today. Hubby and lil monster are gonna meet me downtown at noon and we're gonna gorge ourselves on those famous corn dogs, chicken fried bacon and fried banana splits! Needless to say we'll not be eating anything for dinner after our overload.

Thursday
Dinner: Pulled-Pork Fajitas

I'm planning on pulling half of my meat that I cooked on Tuesday out before I add the sauce to it and then using it in this recipe. That way my pork will do double duty and I've got minimal cooking time on Thursday. 'Cause it's tv night and I can't miss my favorite shows!

Photo and recipe courtesy of RealSimple

Friday
Dinner: It's pizza night so either we'll order one or I'll grab a frozen one at the store on the way home.

Saturday - we're heading out to a local farm for their fall festival so lunch and dinner will prolly be eating out.
Breakfast: Oatmeal and toast
Lunch: TBD
Dinner:TBD

Sunday
Breakfast: Big Country Breakfast (biscuits & gravy, fried eggs and chicken fried steak)
Lunch: Sandwiches or leftovers
Dinner: Chicken Parmesan

Semi homemade chicken parmesan, a few steps more than my super fast version (store bought breaded chicken breasts) but oh so much yummier. I've still go leftover marinara sauce so this will be a great pantry meal.

Since this week is from my pantry there's no shopping list. If you don't have pork tenderloin or boneless skinless chicken breasts you might want to pick some up. Otherwise its all your basic ingredients like ckn stock, diced tomatoes, usual spices, cider vinegar, parmesan cheese. Really shouldn't have to buy anything this week.

And we have a winner!

2008-10-06T09:06:00.007-05:00

Congrats to #4 - heatherf! I have to agree Tyler's clam chowder is amazing.
I really hope you enjoy the festival and Tyler Florence's new book. Please email me to claim your prize!

Thank you to everyone who entered and I appreciate your support. Now remember if you didn't win you can still win and bargain of a deal on tickets to the festival. Just log on to

http://store.gourmetshows.com/

and receive $5 off by entering "SIDEWAYS" into the comment box when purchasing your tickets.

My Favorite Florence - Friday

2008-10-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

We're rounding up our week of Favorite Florence recipes and the contest will come to a close tonight, so you'd better get your entries in. Now I thought it'd be appropriate to end our week and kickoff our weekend ready for some football, or baseball, which ever you fancy with the ultimate tailgating menu. You know a man who can cook up a mean bbq chicken (one of his most famous recipes) would definitely know how to throw a guys' guy kind of tailgating menu. So sink your teeth into these game ready recipes!

Crisp Chicken Wings with Chile Lime Butter
Chili Dogs
Potato Salad

And don't forget to get your entry in for the contest!

My Favorite Florence - Thursday

2008-10-02T11:54:00.002-05:00

There's a been a change in the weather and it's really truly feeling like fall again. Whenever this happens I get that urge to made warm and hearty meals. You know those comfort foods that fill you up. And one of my favorite comfort foods is chicken pot pie. There's just something about a perfect pot pie. One that's not too runny, with a perfect flaky crust. Not too greasy, but not so dry that it soaks up all of that yummy sauce and you end up with a dry glob. Well of course you know that Tyler would have perfected the perfect chicken pot pie. I remember when I first saw this episode I ran right out to the store and bought everything to make this recipe, including the side dishes that he prepared with it. Horseradish and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes and Watercress Salad with Dried Fruit and Almonds, I mean really you could get a better feast for your soul.

Tyler's Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie

Ok can I go home now, I don't want to work, I want to go make this and eat it all up.

My Favorite Florence - Wednesday

2008-10-01T07:40:00.001-05:00

It's day three of our contest and continuing with our theme for the week I have yet again, another favorite recipe from Tyler Florence. Have I told you yet how my hubby loves to fish? Oh yes lets get this straight my hubby isn't an average joe, "hey lets go fishing" kind of guy, oh no he's very serious about the sport. Yes that's right I said sport, or at least he thinks its a sport. I can't tell you how many rods/reels the man owns. Just know that its more than enough to make our garage (mind you he has a friggin boat storage for this crap, that's overflowing, thus its made its way to the house garage) an obstacle course to maneuver through. And don't even ask about the bags of frozen fish bait in my freezer! His GPS is of lakes and fishing spots. Anyways one of the few good things about his addiction is we always have tons of fish to eat, so appropriately I'm always looking for a good fish recipe. Something besides the old greasy spoon fried catfish. So when I found Tyler's Ultimate Fish Tacos I was in heaven. Could it be true a blend of our love of TexMex and fish?! Oh how my mouth began salivating at the very thought. And oh how my mind couldn't even do the taste in real life justice.

Tyler's Ultimate Fish Tacos

Now I know the recipe calls for Mahi Mahi, which I imagine is great, but we can't really catch that in the lakes around here so we use crappie (pronounced "croppy" is a very light and mild flavored fish) I imagine any mild fish you can get your hands on will work just fine, or if you can find some mahi mahi at the store grab it. Though I'd strongly suggest you STAY AWAY from using catfish in this recipe. Trust me!

My Favorite Florence - Tuesday

2008-09-30T12:33:00.004-05:00

Have you figured out how much we love TexMex food yet? Oh you hadn't? Where have you been this whole time? Anyways my family loves Mexican food, my hubby begs me to make all our meals consist of chicken, corn tortillas and cheese, so of course another one of my favorite Florence recipes is Tyler's Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa, yes I know I said Tyler's Tradition Chicken Enchiladas were my favorite but you see they both are, one is with traditional red enchilada sauce and well this is with tomatillos sauce. So see VERY VERY different enchiladas and I love them both. Oh enchiladas how I do love you!

Tyler's Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas
w/Tomatillo Chile Sauce

Now hurry up and grab a fork to dig into this oh so good recipe.

Giveaway!

2008-09-30T08:25:00.002-05:00

It's my first giveaway and I'm super excited because I'm teaming up with an event that I've been dying to attend myself and celebrity chef Tyler Florence!

I have long since been a fan of Tyler Florence when he first appeared on Food 911. I'll admit it though, back then I wasn't really focusing on the amazing recipes but more like how amazingly hot he was. What can I say, I had a crush. And rightfully so since he was named “Sexiest Chef Alive” by People Magazine. But after a few shows I began to take him seriously and realized what a great chef he was, and how I could really do these amazing recipes of his. Since then I've been hooked. I've enjoyed watching his career progress through his still running hit show Food 911 to his huge hit, Tyler's Ultimate series. My appreciation of him over the years turned from that "oh my what a hottie who can cook" to a real admiration for a guy who loves food and his family. There's just something about him, that when you watch his shows he seems, real, down to earth. Something that makes you really connect with him and trust that this food is gonna be great! That's what I love about him, not only does he take great classic recipes and make them better, but he makes them so that even a novice can master them. I've always wanted to make up a food 911 emergency just so I could watch him in person, but alas I'm really the shy type (at least in real life) and would prolly stumble all over myself and cut a finger off. However I've found the perfect solution to my dreams, Tyler is making an appearance at this year's Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival!

Gourmet Shows has been hosting this annual event for a few years now and it's really taken off! I mean how could an event that features celebrity chefs giving demonstrations up close and personal, along with the chance to eat their amazing food all in one place not be a huge hit? These types of things are always my favorite because its really like a smorgusboard of food and even better its got WINE! Hello, you'd better designate a driver 'cause you're gonna be drunk on good times. (hehe and maybe some of the best wine in the country but I didn't say that about the drunk part).

The 2008 Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival is gonna be huge this year because my Favorite Florence is going to be there! He's going to be doing 2 live performances along with cooking an exclusive Dinner & Dessert event, along with celebrity baker Duff Goldman. Seriously you do not want to miss this once in a lifetime event!

This 3 day festival is going to be huge with foods, wines, spirits and of course tons of specialty merchandise from your favorite chefs along with their live performances. In addition to my favorite Florence, Duff Goldman, Guy Mitchell, J. Geoff Johnson, Darryl Harmon, Ron Duprat, Vincent Tropepe, Eric Villegas, Rocky Fino, Lenny Strobel, Maria Liberati, Barry Sexton, Michael Ronis, and James Parker will be doing appearances thoughout the weekend so check out the fun filled schedule.

Okay okay and now for the good stuff! Gourmet Shows has been super generous and is allowing me to give away a great package to attend this amazing festival! If you win you will get...

2 general admission tickets
2 tickets to either the Saturday or Sunday performance of Tyler Florance

and

1 copy (your choice) of one of Tyler's not yet released books

Check out the two highly anticipated books that he will be debuting at the 2008 Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival, that one lucky winner will grab and be able to have personally autographed while at the festival.

For a chance to win this package all you have to do is leave a comment letting me know what your favorite Florence recipe is. It could be something as simple as a 911 emergency food fix to one of his decedent ultimate recipes, just whatever is your favorite. Contest will be open from Tuesday, September 30th until 5:00 PM (central time) on Friday, October 3rd. Winner will be selected using random generator and will be announced at 8 AM (central time) Monday, October 6th. (Yes I know its a long time to wait for the results, but I'll be oot w/o internet access)

So for those of you who just can't wait and want to go ahead and grab your tickets, we've got a special for you. Receive $5 off by entering "SIDEWAYS" into the comment box when purchasing your tickets at....

http://store.gourmetshows.com/

Goodluck!

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

2008-09-29T20:46:00.000-05:00

I love watching the show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay", its always lots of fun and a great forum for delish foods. Now as much as I love Bobby, I have to admit that in the episode where he went up against a firehouse cook, you knew who was gonna win that one, at least in my mind. Firemen KNOW how to cook. I mean what is it about them, they all know how to make mean meals. God love firemen! So when Keith Young made his chicken cacciatore I knew I had to try it out, and sure enough it has never failed to please. But because I'm always short on time I'm going to try and change it up a little. So bear with me and cross your fingers that my beloved crockpot can "stand the heat" and fire up this fireman food! Hehe, ok enough of the fireman puns, lets get cooking. (ok sorry I just had to do one more)

Menu: Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore over white or brown rice

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

Flour, to coat chicken
2 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) chickens, cut into 8 pieces with the breasts cut into 1/3's (remember I'm using leftover drumsticks)
3/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
10 to 12 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced into 1/2-inch strips
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced into 1/2-inch strips
1 cup dry white wine
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, with their juice, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Place the flour in a shallow dish and coat the chicken pieces, shaking off any excess.
Add the chicken to the crockpot. Add the garlic and the mushrooms. Add the onion and bell peppers.
Add the wine and the chicken broth, tomatoes, crushed red pepper, salt oregano and tomato paste.
Allow to simmer on a low heat setting. Depending on your time needs and crockpot we want to watch to make sure that our veggies don't turn to mush but we want the chicken to be fully cooked and falling off the bone.
If you want to thicken it up, remember the cornstarch trick and give it 30 minutes before adding in the fresh basil just before serving.

This dish goes well with any pasta or rice and tastes even better the following day.

My Favorite Florence - Monday

2008-09-29T12:17:00.004-05:00

Ok here we go, kicking off our week of My Favorite Florence recipes is Tyler's Ultimate Chicken Salad Sandwich. I absolutely love a great chicken salad sandwich! Now I'm not super picky like some people and will only eat a savory style or only eat a sweet style, I am a fan of both styles and love to try out lots of different versions. Tyler's Chicken Salad aired way back in Season 3 of his hit show (shows how long I've been a fan, eh? anyways) and his version immediately kicked my traditional chicken salad's butt big time. I mean how could it not when his is served on scrumdillyumptious cranberry brie toast! His chicken salad is a labor of love, like all of his ultimate recipes, but it is so worth the extra time if you can do it.

Tyler's Ultimate Chicken Salad

Now of course if you just don't have the time to poach your own chicken you can always pick up a roasted chicken at your local grocery store. I'd look for one that has a mild flavor.

Menu Plan Monday - September 29

2008-09-29T09:37:00.003-05:00

Its that time again and fortunately I did this week with last week's menu. However because of the contest I will be hosting this week I'm going to add a few of my favorite recipes from Tyler Florence. Though technically I will not be making these this week, I'll post the recipes for them.

The theme behind our contest (to begin 9/30) is My Favorite Florence! Tyler Florence that is!

So stay tuned this week for some of my favorite recipes from this yummy celebrity chef along with a contest featuring him. And of course for a refresher of what I have on the menu for this week check out MPM September 22nd.

Breakfast Casserole

2008-09-26T19:10:00.003-05:00

I love breakfast, it's always been one of my favorite meals of the day. Ok who am I kidding, I love all meals, but anyways breakfast has always held a special place in my heart. Saturday or Sunday morning breakfasts were always something special when I was growing up. It was the one time my dad got in the kitchen, and the one time we weren't all running in a zillion different directions. So that meant we always did it up right, and now I like to carry on that tradition with my own family. Now if only I could get my hubby up before noon so that he could actually partake in the meal without having to reheat it. But I digress, this casserole is a warm and hearty breakfast that is deserving of taking its place on my weekend morning ritual. What's great about it is you can prep the night before and then just pop it in the oven before you've even had coffee. I'm definitely not one for waking up at dawns first light to cook up my yummy breakfasts.

Menu: Breakfast Casserole and some nice fresh fruit

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 (16-ounce) package frozen turkey sausage, thawed (such as Louis Rich) I'm just using breakfast sausage
8 (1 1/2-ounce) slices sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 8 cups)
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
1 cup egg substitute
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed 30% reduced-sodium, 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring well to crumble.
Arrange bread in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top evenly with cooked turkey sausage and cheddar cheese. Combine 2 1/2 cups milk, egg substitute, and Dijon mustard, stirring with a whisk. Pour over bread mixture in dish. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350'
Uncover casserole. Combine remaining 1/2 cup milk and cream of mushroom soup, stirring with a whisk. Pour over bread mixture. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Chicago Style Pizza

2008-09-26T15:36:00.006-05:00

Fridays always feel so hectic, why is that? Anyways because they seem so hectic and I'm always usually beat by the time they come around so I lean on the family staple that Friday night means pizza night. Now about half the time I'll stick with a good frozen standby but occasionally I like to do one from scratch especially if its quick and simple. Let me tell you, this one fits the bill. You can vary this recipe up anyway you like whether it be tame or flaming and feisty but regardless its a great HEALTHY pizza that all will enjoy.

Menu: Chicago Style Pizza and caesar salad (go on I won't tell grab a beer too!)

Chicago Style Pizza

Ingredients:
2 (10-ounce) cans refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 1/4 cups cooked Atsa Spicy Pizza Sausage
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 450°.

Unroll dough portions onto a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray, slightly overlapping the edges. Pinch edges together to seal. Pat the dough into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with sausage, basil, and tomatoes.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pepper.
Bake at 450° for 2 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 425° (do not remove pizza from oven), and bake an additional 12 minutes or until cheese melts.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

La Bamba Casserole

2008-09-24T08:17:00.004-05:00

La Bamba Casserole will make your mouth want to do the mambo! It is one of my favorite recipes. It just always blows people away whenever I first serve it to them, they love it. This recipe goes way back, again to college, when I found it, made it, loved it, therefore made it for my Spanish class as a demonstration and needless to say I got an A. I love it because its so easy and versatile too. First off it can be as healthy as you want to make it or it can be semi-unhealthy. But since I'm (not on a diet) doing a healthy lifestyle eating, I try to make it the healthy way. And since we love spice I kick up the full spice on this baby.

Menu: La Bamba Casserole and can be served with a side salad and/or tortilla chips

La Bamba Casserole

Ingredients:
1 (5.25-ounce) can whole green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (aka rotel, hot or mild your choice)
2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1 (16-ounce) can fat-free refried beans
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut green chiles in half lengthwise. Arrange chiles in a single layer in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add turkey, onion, chili powder, cumin, salt, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add diced tomatoes; cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates.
Spoon turkey mixture over chiles. Top with corn. Carefully spread beans over corn. Sprinkle cheese over beans.
Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes; top with chopped tomato and green onions.

I just can't express how much I love this dish! I usually add a dollop of sour cream and scoop it up with a few tortilla chips. It works great as a meal but you could just as easily serve this as a dip at a party. Ok I'm going to stop blabbering and scarf up this yummy yummy!

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Turkey Bolognese

2008-09-22T19:30:00.002-05:00

Menu: Turkey Bolognese and a ceasar salad with garlic bread sticks

Turkey Bolognese

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 pound shredded cooked turkey (preferably dark meat)
3 cups marinara sauce (frozen from a few weeks ago)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti
Freshly grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the carrot and celery and saute until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and saute 1 minute.
Add the marinara sauce.
Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, stirring often. Stir in the basil. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. (The sauce can be made 1 week ahead. Cool the sauce completely, then transfer it to a container and freeze for future use. Bring the sauce to a simmer before using.)
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes.
Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten as needed.
Serve with the Parmesan.

Now serve it up with some crunchy garlic breadsticks and a cool crisp ceasar salad. And viola!

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Charitable Causes

2008-09-22T13:24:00.002-05:00

You'll notice a new section in the sidebar today. I thought it appropriate that I add a section for community based charitable organizations. I have always been very involved in various organizations and volunteering is a big part of my life. I believe volunteering helps not only others around you, but it helps you become a better person. It gives you a sense of purpose in this crazy hectic world. There is no better feeling than when you volunteer your time or money for a cause greater than yourself and I believe all people who are able to should get involved in an organization or cause. So each week or possibly as long as a month, I will highlight a great organization that needs your help. Many will be Texas based (well because thats where I am) but others will have national and local chapters you can find in your own community.

And now just because I'm very proud of myself.... I designed our firm's 1st Annual Volunteer Fair flyer.

Meal Plan Monday - September 22nd

2008-09-22T10:42:00.005-05:00

I apologize for the lateness of this post and forgetting to post the recipe for last week's Shepherd's Pie. Time just flew by last week and it's been super hectic. I'm sure you all are the same way. Anyways this week's theme is "Tried and True" over at the Organized Junkie so I'll be using recipes that I've tried and our family loves! Well ok somewhat, I've always got to have a few experiments a week right ;) And since it's going to be crazy this week I'm going to go ahead and do my full 2 week menu, like I always do but usually only post them 1 week at a time.

Monday
Dinner: Turkey Bolognese, side salad and garlic breadsticks

I want to use up the rest of the marinara sauce we made a few weeks ago and I know it needs to be something hearty that can stand up to the robust sauce. Since the recipe was from Giada, we'll use a recipe of hers.
Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Tuesday
Dinner: Chicken Stir-Fry

The ultimate quick fix meal at our house. I use store bought frozen stir-fry veggies and frozen boneless skinless chicken tenders. I've got a meal in less than 15 minutes. Make it even healthier and use brown rice.

Wednesday
Dinner: La Bamba Casserole (serve with tortilla chips if you want)

This is definitely a "tried and true" recipe at my house. It has my hubby's favorite staples AND its healthy for you. A great alternative for those looking to stay away from breads (carbs), it's just meat, beans and veggies! Made with ground turkey you could easily use ground chicken as well.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Thursday
Dinner: Leftovers

It's season preimer week and I'm so excited! My favorite shows are finally back on and I plan on being glued to my tv tonight. So we'll be eating up all those yummy leftovers.

Friday
Dinner: Chicago Style Pizza and ceasar salad

This recipe is a great win for adults and kids alike. It comes together in a few simple steps and tastes great. And its a perfect alternative to your favorite greasy pizza. You can mix it up by using either turkey or chicken sausage, store-bought breakfast sausage or make your own.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Saturday
Breakfast: "lego my ego" blueberry waffles and sausage patties
Lunch: Oktoberfest so we'll pick something up there
Dinner: prolly grab something on the way home

Sunday
Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole
Dinner: Dinner at Parents' house

This satisfying recipe is perfect to make for weekend guests. Assemble and refrigerate the casserole the night before, and just pop it in the oven the next morning. Look for turkey sausage near other breakfast-style sausage in the frozen foods section.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Monday
Dinner: Sizzling Salmon Salad

This salad is a great way to jump start your week. With a bed of spinach, corn with red bell peppers and button mushrooms you can't help but feel good about eating good. Plus we eat with our eyes and this feast is a sure sight!

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Tuesday
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

I've got leftover chicken drumsticks so I think we'll finish them up with this great recipe. It's a firehouse tried and true, so you know it's gotta be good. And of course the original called for hours in front of the stove but I just don't have that kind of time so a few shuffles and I'll be dumping it in the crockpot.

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Wednesday
Dinner: Leftovers
The hubby and I are finally going on vacation, leaving Friday morning so we need to clean out the fridge. Definitely don't want to come home to a stinky fridge.

Thursday
Dinner: Eat out or leftovers

Same as Wednesday night, besides my favorite shows will be on and I'll be glue to the tube while I'm packing the cooler for our trip!

Friday
Breakfast: Breakfast burritos for on the road
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Dinner at Devil's Pool Restaurant

Saturday
Breakfast: Muffins
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Dinner at the Worman Steakouse

Sunday
Breakfast: Brunch
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: pick something up on the road

So here's our 2 week shopping list!

September 22nd List

D.I.Y. Friday - Family Photo Wall

2008-09-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

There is a huge trend right now for great looking photo walls. Whether it be a look down memory lane or recent pictures, everyone wants a put together look. Something like you'd find at Pottery Barn, and I was no different. As a somewhat, History major, history buff, family stories finder, legacy looker, geneology fan I knew I had to create a photo wall with my husband and I's family history. It really started when we were planning our wedding and I decided it'd be a great idea to have pictures of our parents' and grandparents' wedding pictures on a table at our wedding. Something about showing the long line of love that we came from, yeah yeah sappy I know. So thats when I started collecting the photographs and since then I've found a few more. Since the majority of old photographs are in black and white I went with that style and recreated b&w's for those photos that were in color. I grabbed some great black frames and various white matts at good old Wal-Mart and we were on our way. I found the perfect quote in vinyl lettering on ebay from awristacrafts and had our last name's initial cut from Woodland Manufacturing. This way I was able to select the exact size, color and font for the letter!

Now that I had all of the photos, frames, my letter and quote it was time to layout my wall. First I laid everything out on the floor so that I could figure out exactly how I wanted the items to look. Then I cut magazine pages to match the sizes of my items. The magazines would represent my frames and I would be able to tape them on the wall without the fear of messing up my wall if I needed to make adjustments.

Once the magazine pages were up and I was set on my design I began replacing the pages with the actual frames and items. Instead of using nails that would ruin my walls, I use foam adhesive mounting squares. This made the task even easier since I could just line my picture up and press. Super simple and easy.

Pottery Barn has great tips and tools for creating your own memory wall. For design ideas check out their "Creating a memory wall style guide".

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

2008-09-17T08:31:00.005-05:00

Paula Deen is the queen of home cooking and our week just wouldn't be right without a recipe from her. I seriously thought about doing our favorite "Lady & Son's Chicken Pot Pie" but that's not a crockpot recipe and I really needed something I could just walk away from today since it's gonna be super hectic at work. So I decided to grab her stove top dumpling recipe and change it to cook in the crockpot. Oh and because I'm too lazy to make dumplings from scratch we're using store bought biscuits.

Menu: Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings and cinnamon apples (I know it wasn't on the list but I'm adding it)

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 (2 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces (we're using the leftovers from my "Already Married Chicken")
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of celery or cream of chicken soup

Set crockpot to low, either 6 to 8 hours depending on your time needs.

Place the chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, bouillon, cream of celery and House Seasoning in the crockpot.
Add 4 quarts of water (might want to add a little less than this if your pot isn't that big).
About 30 minutes prior to serving take your biscuits, cut them in half and place in the pot.

Cook's Note: If the chicken stew is too thin it can be thickened before the dumplings are added. Simply mix together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water then whisk this mixture into the stew.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Boston Market's Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:
3 each Apple golden delicious
2/3 cup of water
1/2 tbsp of flour
1 tsp of cornstarch
2 teaspoon Butter crumbled
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 dash Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350?F / 180?C.

2. Peel and core the apples. Cut each one into 16 slices and arrange the slices in an 8"x 8" baking dish.

3. In a small bowl, combine the water with the flour, cornstarch, and Butter Buds and stir until the dry ingredients are dissolved and not lumpy. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and stir until smooth.

4. Pour the cinnamon mixture over the apple slices, cover the dish with foil, and bake for 40 minutes. Stir the apples every 10 minutes.

Oh now we've got a meal "that'll make you slap your mama", just kidding but it will make your mouth water and your mind take you bake to those family gatherings when you were a kid. So eat up and enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

2008-09-16T14:29:00.006-05:00

My hubby will be happy with this meal, its got his basic favorites as you all should know by now. And I'm just so excited to be able to use my oven again! I woke up this morning and it was in the 50's can you believe that? It's actually Fall! So in an effort to make some fall comfort food I've turned to Tyler Florence and his great recipes. Plus I'll admit it, when he first made his appearance on tv, I had a bit of a crush. There I admitted it, a hottie's caliente recipe. Now eat it all up!

Menu: Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas and spanish style rice

Tyler's Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless breast
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
5 canned whole green chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
16 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.
Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.
Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.
Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Ultimate Mac 'N Cheese with Bacon and Peas

2008-09-15T10:15:00.009-05:00

What is it about Mac and Cheese that just makes kids and grown ups alike swoon at the first taste? Something about the warm cheese that just melts on your mouth and fills your insides up. When you pair it with bacon, ah yes now you're just in heaven. Okay okay enough dreamin' lets get to the good stuff.

Menu: Ultimate Mac 'N Cheese with Bacon and Peas

Ultimate Mac 'N Cheese with Bacon and Peas

Ingredients:
1 pound elbow macaroni
kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups warm milk
5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
freshly ground black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
Leaves from 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
2 cups frozen peas, thawed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 pound elbow macaroni and cook until al dente, about 8 to 9 minutes, and drain.
Melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming.
Gradually whisk in 4 cups warm whole milk. Whisk vigorously, and continue to cook until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in 4 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese and continue stirring until the cheese is melted. Season the cheese sauce with salt and pepper, then add cooked macaroni to the pan. Mix well until macaroni is fully coated with the cheese mixture.
Heat a 2-count of olive oil in a saut? pan. Add 4 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips, 1 large onion (diced), 2 garlic cloves (smashed), and leaves from 1/4 bunch fresh thyme and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion is softened.
Fold in 2 cups frozen peas (thawed under cool water), and season with salt and pepper.
Scrape contents of both pans into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle the top with (OPTIONAL) a few slices of tomato, handful of breadcrumbs and 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Remove mac & cheese from the oven.

Allow plenty of time to cool because nobody likes a burnt mouth and cheese can burn like nobody's business. I'd serve with a big glass of milk and maybe a can of peaches.

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Menu Plan Monday - September 15th

2008-09-14T16:26:00.008-05:00

Do you ever get that feeling that your life is just passing you by? Sometimes I stop and think how in the world did I get here and I can't believe its fall of '08 already. It feels like just yesterday I was pregnant but now I've got a crazy maniac of a 14 month old son. I get these feelings when the weather starts to change, you know that smell, or when you look outside and the sunshine seems familiar. It's the thing that brings back memories. I've definitely got that feeling so in honor of my trip down memory lane this week will be full of yummy comfort foods. Some tried and true, others a new take on but I promise they will all have you reminiscing, whether its an old memory or just the last bite I can't promise.

Monday
Dinner: Ultimate Mac 'N Cheese with Bacon & Peas

There's nothing better than a huge spoonful of ooey gooey mac and cheese on a cool fall day. We're adding salty smoky bacon and crisp peas to make this a meal in itself. Heck we might even add some tomatoes and breadcrumbs on top too!

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.

Tuesday
Dinner:Chicken Enchiladas

You can't go wrong with traditional chicken enchiladas when you want something spicy to warm up your insides. We're sticking with our theme and bringing Tyler Florence's ultimate recipe home this week with this TexMex staple.

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.

Wednesday
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

An adaptation from the queen of home cooking herself, Paula Deen. I'll be using store bought biscuit dough and of course, changing it to cook in the crockpot. I'm using the leftover chicken from our "Already Married Chicken".

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.

Thursday
Dinner: Beef Shepherd's Pie

Hearty and heart warming version of an Irish family staple. Potatoes, peas and beef, you just can't go wrong.

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.

Friday
Dinner: Hamburgers, Green Bean & Potato Salad

Easy peasy weekend classic American staple. I think I might make this yummy potato salad to go with them too.

Photo courtesy of CookingLight

Saturday
Breakfast: Early morning at a balloon festival, we'll be eating breakfast out for my dad's birthday!
Lunch: Prolly eating out again!
Dinner: NCAA Football Night Nachos

Tradition started back in the 90's when the Cowboys had the Trio (Akman, Irving, Smith) and I was in middle school. We'd always fix nachos. Nothing fancy, just taco meat, refried beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream. Simple but tastes great when you're cheering on your team! Gig'em Aggies! and begrudgingly, Hook'em Horns (for my hubby)

Sunday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, toast and jelly
Lunch:Leftovers
Dinner: TBD, that just seems so far away right now to me.

No shopping list this week, since I have everything I need on hand as its mostly leftovers. But just in case you don't I'd suggest picking up a few cans of enchilada sauce, canned chipotle in adobe, frozen peas, WHITE cheddar but regular cheddar will work just fine too, and a can of biscuits. Oh and ground beef and chicken if you don't have any left.

Already Married Chicken

2008-09-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

The legend behind this dish is a little sketchy, some date this as 22 years back but others state this as a recent phenom but we do know that in its January 2004 issue, Glamour printed instructions on how to make Engagement Chicken, a dish that at that time had inspired the boyfriends of three women to pop the question. Since then the magazine has received numerous letters from women who say this simple meal was the magic trick that got them a rock.

“I made Engagement Chicken for my live-in boyfriend and less than two months later, I’m wearing a wedding band. This chicken is serious stuff. But please keep me anonymous — my husband doesn’t know he was reeled in by a chicken!” a Woburn, Mass., woman wrote to Glamour recently.

So what is so special about this recipe as Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s More Classic Italian Cooking? This simple and easy dish is basically one whole chicken, lemons and seasoned with salt and pepper so how could a plain chicken make a man pop the question?

I believe it's all about the setting, and the scene. There is something about pulling a whole roasted chicken out of the oven, picture June Cleaver, and doesn't every man deep down want his very own June Cleaver? But still why would the chicken make a man propose marriage? Jon Suder, said the well-dressed bird put marriage on his mind because it seemed like a wifely concoction. "It's a meal your wife would make. It got me thinking," said Suder, who now has three children with the chicken-maker.
While I did not cook this concoction up to get my ring, I have cooked this since and I have to agree. My man did swoon at the sight of his little wifey looking like June Cleaver or Martha Stewart. But since I am already married I realized that I needed to spiffy up this basic chicken in order to really impress my man. So after a little research and guidance from the queen of the home herself, Martha Stewart, here's my "Already Married" (but I want a great gift or bigger ring) Chicken.

Menu: Already Married Chicken, rosemary roasted potatoes and lemon butter asparagus

Already Married Chicken

Marinate the chicken for at least four hours and as long as two days for the best flavor and texture. A salt rub not only seasons the meat but tenderizes it as well.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coarse salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 five-pound roasting chicken
Gremolata (see below)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 fresh, or dried bay leaves
4 lemons, quartered lengthwise, plus 3 lemons halved (optional)

In a small bowl, combine salt and lemon juice. Loosen the skin of the chicken from the flesh. Rub mixture under the skin and in the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag; chill at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse all of the salt off the chicken with cold water; pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine gremolata and softened butter. Rub two-thirds of the gremolata mixture under the chicken's skin; rub the rest on the outside. Stuff the cavity with the bay leaves and the quartered lemons.
Place chicken in a large roasting pan, breast-side up. Tuck the tips of the wings under the bottom of the bird. Transfer pan to oven. After 40 minutes, baste. If using lemon halves, place in pan, cut side down. Cover chicken with a 14-by-18-inch piece of aluminum foil. Reduce heat to 375 degrees.
Cook, basting occasionally, until the skin is crisp and golden, 40 to 45 minutes more. The juices should run clear when the chicken is pierced; an instant-read thermometer should register 170 degrees.in the deepest part of the thigh when done. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Gremolata

Zest of 6 lemons, grated or finely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped roughly fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped shallots (about 2 medium shallots)

On a cutting board, chop lemon zest, garlic, parsley, and shallots until well combined.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds small red or white-skinned potatoes (or a mixture)
1/8 cup good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Dump the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into 1 layer; roast in the oven for at least 1 hour, or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking to ensure even browning.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, season to taste, and serve.

Lemon Butter Asparagus

Ingredients:
24 thin asparagus spears
1 lemon
2 tablespoons butter
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Wash asparagus and line them up on a cutting board with the tops even. Cut off tough bottom ends.
Bring a skillet or oval casserole filled half full with salted water to boil. Dump in asparagus all at once.
When water returns to the boil, cook asparagus until crisp-tender, about 1 to 3 minutes, depending on size. Drain. Return asparagus to hot pan, squeeze lemon juice over top. Add butter and a drizzle of olive oil, tossing to coat. Add kosher salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

Once everything is ready place on a candle lit table and serve up this fancy but simple chicken dinner. I'd even open up a bottle of white wine.

Now if you're feeling really happy homemaker go ahead and make a sweet dessert to wash it all down with. Possibly and apple pie with vanilla ice cream or maybe a chocolate cake.

Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole

2008-09-12T18:26:00.001-05:00

This breakfast is a classic at our house. We absolutely love it. It's served for special ocassions and a few regular days. It is so sweet and saucy that it feels like you're eating dessert instead of breakfast. I gurantee your family will beg for more and making this casserole saves you the trouble of standing over a griddle flipping individual slices of French toast. Assemble the dish the night before your gathering, and pop it in the oven the next morning. Be sure to serve each slice bottom-side up so the pecan mixture is on top.

Menu: Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole and a big glass of milk 'cause your gonna need it.

Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
Cooking spray
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
2 large eggs
12 (1-inch-thick) slices French bread (about 1 pound)

Combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup; pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over sugar mixture.
Combine rind and next 7 ingredients (rind through eggs); stir with a whisk. Arrange bread slices over pecans in dish; pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Carefully turn bread slices over to absorb excess egg mixture. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Crockpot Apple and Onion-Stuffin' Pork Chops with Orange-Pineapple Gravy

2008-09-12T08:06:00.007-05:00

I saw this recipe and I knew I had to try it out. It seems a little labor intensive so I decided to go ahead and make some tweaks to it and try doing it in the crockpot along with stuffing. This is definitely an experiment so we'll see how it turns out.

Menu: Crockpot Apple and Onion-Stuffin' Pork Chops with Orange-Pineapple Gravy and steamed green beans.

Crockpot Apple and Onion-Stuffin' Pork Chops
with Orange-Pineapple Gravy

Ingredients:
4 (1-inch thick) pork chops
2 slices bacon, roughly chopped
1 large sweet onion, 1/2 chopped and 1/2 in wedges
4 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced thin
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons pineapple-orange juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, zested
2 teaspoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Set your crockpot to 6 to 8 hours depending on your time needs.

Gently cut pockets into chops by slicing horizontally in the side. On a plate, place salt and pepper. Dredge chops in seasoning.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the bacon, chopped onions, thyme, and sage until the bacon is almost crispy and the onions are beginning to caramelize around the edges, about 10 minutes.
Using this skillet we will make the gravy, add 1/2 cup of pineapple-orange juice and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and parsley. Transfer to a storage container and put in refrigerator until serving time.
Pour mixture into a bowl. Add apples, butter, 2 tablespoons of pineapple-orange juice and cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper.
Stuff each chop with apple mixture and hold together with skewers.
Place chops in the crockpot. Add boxed stuffing mix and amount of butter per directions (I used cornbread) Add 2 cups pineapple-orange juice and remaining onion wedges around the chops. Season with salt and pepper.
Allow to cook until thoroughly done. Remove pork chops from pan and let rest 10 minutes.
Reheat gravy made from earlier in the day and pour sauce over pork chops & stuffin'.

Now please remember this is an experiment and you might want to watch your crockpot. Make sure that the stuffing doesn't get too dry, maybe add some water or more juice if you think it needs it. If I make an adjustments I will be sure to let you know.

Serve these chops up with a bag of steamed green beans and you've got a meal that even your mother-in-law will love!

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Remembering

2008-09-11T10:42:00.003-05:00

Remembering 9/11, there are few times in history where an event causes the nation and the world to stop in time. An event that every person who was alive knows exactly where they were and what they were doing. You can ask anyone older than 50 where they were on Friday, November 22, 1963 and they can tell you. And you can ask anyone older than 12 where they were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and they can tell you.

I was walking into my accounting class at Texas A&M. I sat down unaware of anything that was happening over a thousand miles away. I overheard classmates talking about how they couldn't believe what just happened but I didn't really understand. My professor walked in and his exact words "Needless to say we won't be having class today" and he walked out. I was stunned, walked out of the room, walked to the bus stop and dialed my mom. I asked what just happened, she told me, there was fear and panic in her voice. The paranoia that more was going to happen, would they strike again, should they leave the city? Off the bus, I got in my truck and drove home to find my roommate panic stricken, her father was at the Pentagon, she couldn't get hold of him. We sat glued to the tv watching in disbelief. We watched as they replayed the events, and we watched as suddenly the towers collapsed. It was like a disconnect, your heart and head just can't wrap around what your eyes are seeing. Together we sat there with that stunned silence, a feeling that we had felt together once before. See we were together when the Bonfire collapsed as well. Finally after hours my roommate got the relief she needed, her father had been at breakfast across the street from the Pentagon.

Funny how you can remember things like this. I remember it with such vivid details, the sky, the bus, the darkness of my accounting room, the smell in the air. All of this and I can only imagine what it must be like for those who were in the thick of it all. So for those who were there, those who lost their lives please take a moment today and remember. Remember where you were, remember those who died, remember those families dealing with the effects, remember those who fight now for the events of that day.

Crockpot Chicken Piccata

2008-09-10T08:12:00.003-05:00

If you haven't figured out by now, my family survives on quick fix meals. I absolutely love the convenience of microwavable meals but the quality and content of them can make even the hardest at heart jump out of their skin when you read the labels. The sodium content alone is usually enough to make me start to sweat so to my husband's discontent I've been refraining from buying those go-to dinners. Nowdays I come home from the store and he looks around asking "well what did you buy?", because he doesn't see anything he can grab and eat out of the box. But I know that not only are our homemade meals healthier they are actually cheaper. Because my man can eat and those out-of-the-box meals end up only satisfying him as a snack, whereas I can make much more myself! Case in point is tonight's recipe. Michael Angelo's dinners are absolutely amazing. I love them, what can I say, they're the next best thing to homemade, HOWEVER, they cost an arm and a leg. I usually buy a 2 pack of their Chicken Piccata at Sam's for about $12.00, and we end up eating both packs for 1 meal. Whereas I can make my own with twice as much for less than $5.00! So after a little research and compiling a few recipes I've created a yummy Crockpot Chicken Piccata.

Menu: Crockpot Chicken Piccata, garlic mashed potatoes and seasoned peas

Crockpot Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:
4 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and ground black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, quartered
1/4 cup drained capers
1/2 can of diced tomatoes

Set your crockpot on low for 6 to 8 hours, depending on your time requirements.

Place chicken in zip-top bags and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until 1/4-inch thick.
Remove chicken from bag and season all over with salt and black pepper.
In a shallow dish (or plastic bag), combine flour, lemon zest, paprika, and garlic powder. Mix well. Add chicken and turn to coat.
Remove chicken from flour mixture and shake off excess flour.
Add chicken to crockpot. Add lemon juice, wine and chicken broth. Add artichoke hearts, tomatoes and capers.
Allow to cook thoroughly, once chicken is cooked through you're ready to serve. If the sauce is too running use the cornstarch trick.

When your chicken is done prepare a box of garlic mashed potatoes per its directions and pop a bag of seasoned peas in the microwave. I like Bird's Eye Garlic Peas. Plate your chicken, potatoes and peas! What a yummy home cooked meal!

Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-09-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

I found this on a friend's blog and it's so interesting so I thought I'd join the fun.....

The Omnivore’s Hundred is an interesting list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life. He offered this list with the following instructions:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Here's my list!

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak Tartar
5. Crocodile
6. ~~Black pudding~~
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41.Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. ~~Louche absinthe~~
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

And I can say I'm not very experienced in the cuisine of the world!

Pan-Seared Salmon with Pineapple-Jalapeno Relish

2008-09-08T19:58:00.002-05:00

I like to keep from getting bogged down in the chicken rut by making sure that we do a fish at least one night every week, sometimes it goes every two weeks. But it still helps to keep our menu fresh and fun. I really like this recipe because its sweet yet spicy and when paired with coconut rice your taste buds don't believe that you're eating healthy!

Menu: Pan-Seared Salmon with Pineapple-Jalapeno Relish and coconut rice

Pan-Seared Salmon with Pineapple-Jalapeno Relish

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped pineapple
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1 finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets

Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chili powder, and black pepper, stirring well; sprinkle evenly over fish. Add fish to pan, skin side up; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with pineapple mixture.

Quick Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked basmati rice
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped green onions

To prepare rice, rinse with cold water; drain. Combine rice, coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; stir once. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes; stir in onions.

Super yummy and super simple salmon dinner. Now eat up!

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Menu Plan Monday - September 8

2008-09-08T08:13:00.009-05:00

Phew last week was a whirlwind! As a former waitress I will say with great emphasis that I was in the WEEDS! Mostly it was while at work so by the time I got home I was to tired to do anything. You should see my house, it's a wreck. On second thought I'd never let anyone see that disaster. The Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas were delicious, a little too sweet for our tastes though. I think next time we'll leave the remaining marinade out of the cream sauce. Other than that everything went just as planned with the exception of my sandwich on Saturday. I forgot to take the meat out of the crockpot before I left for the rehearsal and of course hubby didn't even think about it. So that was a bust. I'll be trying it again another time when I can babysit it. This week should be calm in comparison so I'll be trying out lots of new yummy meals.

Monday
Dinner: Pan-Seared Salmon with Pineapple-Jalapeno Relish served with coconut rice

Another great CookingLight recipe: Tangy, spicy and fruity, this inviting recipe belies its simple preparation. Seed the jalapeño pepper if you prefer a milder dish, and serve over coconut rice accompanied by a crunchy salad.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight.com

Tuesday
Dinner: The Best Lasagna Ever!, crisp ceasar salad and garlic bread
I'm always looking for a great lasagna recipes, not sure why it's been so hard to find one that I'm in love with, so I'm giving the Pioneer Woman's lasagna a shot. Seems pretty simple and simple is always a win in my book.

Recipe and photo courtesy of PioneerWoman

Wednesday
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken Piccata, garlic mashed potatoes and seasoned peas

My take on chicken piccata, adding artichoke hearts and using my favorite cooking convenience, my crockpot.

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

Thursday
Dinner: Chicken Spaghetti and steamed green beans

Another recipe from the Pioneer Woman. I'm trying out some of her recipes because I know she feeds a large crew and well I need all the leftovers I can get this week since the boys will be fending for themselves this weekend.

Recipe and photo courtesy of PioneerWoman

Friday - Rehearsal for tomorrow's wedding, I'll be home late but the boys will have stuff ready for them.
Dinner: Crockpot Apple and Onion-Stuffin' Pork Chops with Orange-Pineapple Gravy

Found this recipe on the FoodNetwork but I think I'm going to play around with it and turn it into a crockpot recipe and add boxed stuffing to it. I'm not making any promises on this concoction but in my head it sounds delish!

Photo courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

Saturday - Another wedding so the boys will be fending for themselves.
Breakfast: FFY
Lunch:FFY
Dinner: Leftovers

Sunday
Breakfast: Orange Pecan French Toast Casserole (you'll think you died and went to heaven)
Lunch: Sandwiches, if we really need anything after breakfast
Dinner: "Already Married Chicken", roasted potatoes and asparagus (an advanced version of "Engagement Chicken" for those gals who have already "scored" their man and are looking for a diamond upgrade or of course just want to be sweet)

And of course here's your shopping list for the week....

September 8th Shopping List

As always, stay turned for the recipes to be posted bright & early each morning, or the night before.

Crockpot Bourbon Chicken

2008-09-04T10:51:00.005-05:00

After many raves and reviews of how great this recipe was I finally got around to picking up some chicken legs and decided to give it a try. I didn't really prepare for this recipe well other than getting the chicken. I actually barely looked at it before putting it on our schedule and I should have known better. So last night when I threw it all in the crockpot, well I didn't have all the ingredients. Oh well here's how it went I combined version 1 and version 2 ingredients based on what and what quantities I had on hand....

Menu: Bourbon Chicken over rice, steamed broccoli

Crack on Rice (aka Bourbon Chicken)

Version 1 Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces (I used chicken legs instead)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 garlic clove crushed
2 tablespoons ketchup or chili sauce (depending on how hot you like stuff)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Version 2 Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 small hot chili pepper, slit open, seeds removed (I used dried)

Set the crockpot on low between 4 to 6 hours.

Dump everything in the crockpot and walk away. I ended up adding a 2nd tbsp of cornstarch since the sauce wasn't getting thick enough.

So now it's all ready for dinner tonight and all I have to do is fix a few servings of white rice (or brown) and pop a steamer bag of broccoli in the microwave and we're ready to go. I can't wait!

My Favorite Things: Part 5

2008-09-03T15:13:00.002-05:00

I apologize in advance for last week's edition getting skipped. In all the chaos of back-to-school traffic, late nights at the office and monster being exhausted and well quite frankly a monster since changing rooms in daycare I barely had time to eat. So instead to fix it I'll do another double edition! Stay Tuned.....

I originally stumbled upon these outrageous collars at the TipJunkie. It was love at first sight, and that really says something because I had been searching for the perfect collar for my 100 lb chocolate stud-muffin for YEARS! Yes, you heard me right, I said years. Because after all a collar is the most important part of a dog's identity, it reflects who they are. It reflects who their owner is, what type of relationship they have and the dog's place in the world. Ok, I know I'm putting way too much into this but for some reason it mattered to me. When Noah, that's my beast's name, was a puppy I found the cutest collar that was red and white floral patterned. Think surfer dude. And it was a great fit because he's laid back and goofy, so as he grew I just kept getting the next size up of the collar. It was HIS collar and he wore it well. But after the years it got gross and was discontinued. I looked high and I looked low for a collar that would be right for my mini bear but to no avail and I quietly gave up my search. Noah was getting old and you know it would be fine to have an old collar too, or at least I told myself. Until the day I found Mimi.

Not only are the collars unique and very hip looking, the were born out of the love for a rescue pup. Handmade and no two are exactly alike. They are tough and sturdy using large D-rings with contoured buckles.

Because Noah's a hip cat, check that, I mean hip dog, I had to go with the "hip dog Jackson collar". It reminds me of his old surfer collar but it's still manly enough with it's yellow, green, brown and blue combo. And I can already tell the difference this fashionable collar has made on my pup. Before he was old and worn out like his poor collar, but the minute I snapped this "puppy" around his neck it's like he got a burst of energy and pride again. He struts around the house and neighborhood like he's the handsome dog he has always been.

Now I know we've all got precious pooches so show them some love and catch the great Summer Sale at Mimi Green. You can save 15% off of orders over $50 by using the coupon code MIMI50+ at checkout. And tell her Michelle and Noah sent you ;)

Smiles like this are contagious!

2008-09-02T21:42:00.002-05:00

I can't help but smile and giggle whenever I see this picture of my lil monster. Makes me wish I could remember when I was as carefree and got such joy out of a simple thing like swinging. Whenever he's being a true monster I try to remember this face :)

Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

2008-09-02T16:53:00.005-05:00

I apologize for the late posting of this - I don't know what happen, lost track of time and forgot, hey today's not Monday, it's Tuesday! So on that note, the first day back after a long weekend can mean a rushed and hectic day so dinner needs to be something quick and simple. These yummy salmon cakes are a fresh approach to the traditional. With less fat and more kick they'll get your taste buds jumping and butt in gear ready for the rest of the week. I'm serving them with a big heaping of yummy bean salad. What goes better than smooth and creamy than something crunchy?

Menu: Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce, Asian Style 3 Bean Salad

Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

Ingredients:
6 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread
2 (15-ounce) cans salmon, drained, skin and bones removed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 scallions
1/2 cup finely chopped canned water chestnuts
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce, recipe follows

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil over a medium heat.
Add 6 patties and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the cooked patties to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil to the pan, and cook the rest of the salmon cakes, 5 minutes on each side.
Remove crusts from the bread, break into pieces, and process in a food processor until you get a fine bread crumb. In a large bowl, flake apart the salmon with a fork.
Add the egg and mix well.
Finely chop 4 of the scallions and add to the bowl. Add the water chestnuts, cilantro, pepper, and the bread crumbs and mix well.
Shape the mixture into 12 patties.
Chop the remaining 1 scallion. Serve salmon cakes with the sauce and garnish with scallion.

Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce:

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt, or 6 tablespoons nonfat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

If using regular yogurt place the yogurt in a strainer lined with a paper towel. Put the strainer over a bowl and place in the refrigerator to drain and thicken for 30 minutes.
Place drained yogurt or Greek-style yogurt into a small bowl. Add mayonnaise, ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Whisk until smooth.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Asian Style 3 Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 pound string beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 (10-ounce) bag frozen shelled edamame (green soy beans)
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup 100 percent fruit apricot preserves
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 scallions, sliced
Salt

In a small bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, apricot preserves, sugar and ginger. Add the black beans and scallions to the other beans, drizzle with dressing, and toss to coat. Season with salt, to taste.
Put the string beans and frozen edamame into a steamer basket and steam them for 4 minutes. Transfer the beans to a large bowl and put them into the refrigerator to cool for 15 minutes or longer.

Oh I'm so hungry I gotta get in the kitchen and make these babies up!

Photos and recipes courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

Menu Plan Monday - September 1st

2008-09-01T08:27:00.010-05:00

Last week's menu went off primarily without a hitch. The only night that got shuffled around was Friday, because I didn't feel like cooking so we ordered a pizza instead. And then made the breakfast pizza for breakfast instead! On Saturday evening we ended up trying out a new restaurant down the street, Lochrann's. It was amazing! It's a traditional Irish pub and they serve traditional Irish items like Shepherd's Pie and Corned Beef Sandwiches. I had a sandwich called the Lochrann and I fell in love, I keep talking about how yummy the Guinness gravy is. I'm going to try to recreate it this week. This upcoming weekend will be kind of hectic since I won't be home alot. I'll be checking on my parents' dog while they're out of town and then I've got a wedding to work on Sunday so the boys will be fending for themselves, hopefully without much fuss because I'll have quick meals for them to reheat.

Monday - Labor Day!
Breakfast: Cereal
Labor Day Party:

Hamburgers with Double Cheddar Cheese, Grilled Vidalia Onion and Horseradish Mustard

Bush's Baked Beans

Perfectly Grilled Corn on the Cob

Grilled Pineapple with Pound Cake and Rum-Caramel Sauce

Photos and recipes courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

Tuesday
Dinner: Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce and Asian-Style 3 Bean Salad

A fresh take on the traditional salmon patties. Out with the fat and in with the cool and healthy. I'm serving it with a heaping full of antioxidants and energy.

Photo and recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

Wednesday
Dinner: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish style rice & a kicked up salad

I saw this yummy recipe on Kim's blog and knew we just had to try it out. It sounds perfect for my husband who loves anything that is cooked in a casserole dish and contains salsa and tortillas.

I'll serve it up with quick and easy boxed rice and a traditional Mexican restaurant style salad of avocado, tomatoes and lettuce.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Kim

Thursday
Dinner: Crockpot Bourbon Chicken, broccoli

This recipe is known as "crack over rice" by a group of my friends. It's so good you'll become addicted to it and keep coming back for more. This will be our first official time trying the infamous recipe by Katie. And as usual we'll be adapting to the crockpot instead.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Katie

Friday
Dinner: FFY

My parents are oot so I'll be stopping by their house after work to look after their puppy Taylor. I'll be spending the night so that I can feed her in the morning as well, so the boys will be left to their own defenses, heaven help them.

Saturday
Breakfast: FFY
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: "Take Me Back to Ireland" Sandwich with chips

Traditional beef tips sauteed with caramelized onions, Guinness gravy served over a hot toasted hoagie with melted Swiss cheese.

Sunday
Breakfast: FFY
Lunch: FFY
Dinner: Crockpot meal? Will figure out in a bit and post.

No shopping list this week, the template's at work and I don't have much time to recreate it today. I'll update it on Tuesday.

As always, stay turned for the recipes to be posted bright & early each morning, or the night before.