Weekly Dinner Menu

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2010-11-04T20:41:00.002-05:00

Here is a new cookie recipe I found on AllRecipes

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
40 Servings

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

**Here are a few tips after making this recipe. Put the peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer while making the cookies. This makes them easier to unwrap, and also not melt as quickly when you press them into the cookie. Other reviewers said to take the cookies out at 8 minutes even if they don't look like they're finished. I followed these instructions but mine were still a little over cooked. Be sure to take them out a minute earlier if your oven cooks quickly.

Back in the Kitchen

2010-10-21T11:45:00.003-05:00

Now that I'm finally settled after the move to a new city, I'm back to cooking most nights of the week. I'm going to start posting new recipes I try out and my family enjoys. Here is one I discovered a few weeks ago. It's already been put into the regular rotation!

AllRecipes - Easy Slow Cooker French Dip Recipe
Serves 9

Prep Time = 10 minutes; Cook Time = 7 hours

Ingredients

4 pounds rump roast
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
6 French rolls
2 tablespoons butter
Sliced Swiss cheese (optional)

Notes: Reviews suggested using a darker beer so I chose Shiner Bock. If you don't normally purchase dark beer, you might try stores like HEB or World Market which allows you to buy individual beer bottles in the "create your own 6 pack section". Also, I got the idea from my mother-in-law to put Swiss cheese on the bread before putting it in the oven.

Directions

Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
Slice the meat on the diagonal, and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping.

Hope you enjoy!!

Yummy Cookie Recipes

2010-01-10T17:00:00.002-06:00

I attended my first cookie exchange over the Christmas holiday! It was a lot of fun to see what cookies people made - and surprisingly, we had no repeats!

My friend Jenny passed on one of her favorite cookie recipes which I made for the exchange.

Cake Mix Cookies - 2 Dozen

1 box of cake mix (Funfetti cake mix is delicious for this recipe!)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 to 2 tablespoons water
1 container of icing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix all ingredients thoroughly (don't mix in icing!)
Drop by rounded spoonful on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes

Once cooled, ice with your favorite icing!

These cookies are delicious, and so quick to make!! They remind me of the thick iced sugar cookies you buy at the grocery store.

These peanut butter chocolate cookies were brought to the cookie exchange, and were a big hit!!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Treats

Ritz Crackers
Creamy Peanut Butter
Chocolate Bark (or chocolate chips if you prefer)

Put a generous amount of peanut butter between two Ritz crackers and press together. Be sure to create all of your peanut butter sandwiches before melting the chocolate.
Place wax paper out for after you dip the crackers in chocolate.
Melt chocolate bark as directed on package (Mine said to microwave for 1 min. Stir thoroughly. Microwave after that in 15 second intervals until fully melted)
Using fork, dip crackers in melted chocolate, covering both sides. Place on wax paper until chocolate sets up and can be removed from paper easily.

I also just found this cookie recipe on AllRecipes - imitation Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies!!! I can't wait to go out and buy some peppermint extract so I can try these out.

Thin Mint Crackers - 40 Cookies

1 pound bittersweet chocolate
80 buttery round crackers
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Using a double boiler method, melt the chocolate coatings over hot tap water for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir . Do not cook or get water into the chocolate.
After it is melted, stir in a couple drops of peppermint flavor into the chocolate.
Dip crackers into the melted chocolate and then place onto a cold cookie sheet and put into the refrigerator to set. (A freezing tray to rest the dipped cookies will keep the bottoms neat looking.)
In a few minutes take them out and package in candy cups. The cookies are best kept at room temperature or a cool dry place away from any odors.

Here are a few tip I found in the reviews for the Thin Mint cookies:

"Don't put the peppermint extract in the chocolate until it is fully melted. If you put the peppermint extract in the chocolate and then melt it in the microwave the extract burns the chocolate and makes it crumbly and hard, hence those reviewers having to use oil to make it smooth again. Once the chocolate is fully melted stir well and then put your extract in!"
"So easy! What a great idea...that I kind of changed. Instead of Ritz crackers, I used Nabisco Famous chocolate wafers and melted Andes mints. I am not even kidding how great these were!"
"Could NOT be easier! Kids can make this in a snap. I bought the Andes baking chips from my grocery store, melted a couple handfuls in the microwave in a creme brulee cup for about 30 seconds, then mixed it with a fork to be sure it was all melted through. I just dropped my reduced-fat Ritz crackers into the creme brulee cup with melted chocolate (perfect size cup for a Ritz) and used two forks to turn and coat the cracker. Set on paper plates (out of wax paper) and put the plates in the freezer for about two minutes. THAT'S IT FOLKS!! Clean up is a snap! In all fairness, there is a teeny tiny, very faint salt taste from the crackers if you really examine them -- but not enough to detract from the taste in any way. I will keep my eyes peeled for plain chocolate wafer cookies. You could buy a bag of Oreos and twist apart each cookie to use the two chocolate wafers; you'd have yourself a true thin mint then."

New Recipes for 1/3 - 1/9

2010-01-07T17:28:00.003-06:00

Since I recently went back to work, it's been difficult to find time for my normal blog posting. Rather than post the entire menu from this week, I'm going to post the new recipes we are trying.

Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole - 8 Servings

1 1/3 cups uncooked white rice
2 2/3 cups water
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups mild salsa

Place rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, place chicken breast halves into a large saucepan, and fill the pan with water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 20 minutes, or until done. Remove chicken from water. When cool enough to handle, cut meat into bite-size pieces.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses. In a separate bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, onion, and salsa. Layer 1/2 of the rice, 1/2 of the chicken, 1/2 of the soup and salsa mixture, and 1/2 of the cheese mixture in prepared dish. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly.

Debdoozie's Blue Ribbon Chili - 8 Servings

2 pounds ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
4 tablespoons chili seasoning mix
1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans
1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired.
Add the ground black pepper, garlic salt, tomato sauce, salsa, chili seasoning mix and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.

Weekly Dinner Menu December 27th - January 1st

2009-12-27T13:22:00.002-06:00

An amazing thing happened last night...

I frequently struggle with planning meals each week. My hubby offered to help and plan our dinner menu. After he read off his list, I realized he had pulled up this blog and picked some of his favorite recipes. He also found one new one on All Recipes. He wrote them down, I made the grocery list, and I headed to the store for ingredients. It was great to get his input, and it only took him a few minutes to put together the meals!

Sunday - Lime Chicken Tacos
Monday - Broiled Tilapia Parmesan (new)
Tuesday - Mongolian Beef
Wednesday - Chicken Fajitas
Thursday - Black Bean Burritos

Sunday - Lime Chicken Tacos - 10 Servings

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa

Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomato, lettuce, cheese and salsa.

Monday - Broiled Tilapia Parmesan - 8 Servings

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Tuesday - Mongolian Beef - 4 Servings

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 pound beef flank steak, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 large green onions, thinly sliced

Whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Toss beef with marinade, cover, and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
Heat peanut oil in a wok or large, nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the green onions, and cook for 5 to 10 seconds before stirring in the beef. Cook and stir until the beef is no longer pink and is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

Wednesday - Chicken Fajitas

We buy the pre-seasoned fajita chicken meat from Kroger. We follow the cooking directions on the package but use a skillet on the stove rather than the grill.

Thursday - Black Bean Burritos - 2 Servings

2 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon minced jalapeno peppers
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

**Original recipe doesn't call for chicken but I'll add some diced cooked chicken in with the cream cheese.

Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven heated to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Place onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapenos in skillet, cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour beans into skillet, cook 3 minutes stirring.
Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to skillet with salt. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir cilantro into mixture.
Spoon mixture evenly down center of warmed tortilla and roll tortillas up. Serve immediately.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!

A Few Dinner Recipes

2009-12-17T09:17:00.002-06:00

My sister-in-law passed on these 2 dinner recipes. I'll definitely be giving them a try after the holiday craziness!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin - 4 Servings

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sherry
1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch garlic powder
2 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloins

Place soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, dried onion, cinnamon, olive oil, and a touch of garlic powder in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal, and shake to mix. Place pork in bag with marinade, seal, and refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.
Preheat grill for high heat.
Lightly oil grate. Place tenderloins on grill, and discard marinade. Cook 20 minutes, or to desired doneness. Slice into medallions, and serve.

*She boiled the remaining marinade to create a gravy which she said was great!

Extra-Easy Spinach Lasagna - 8 Servings

1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3 cups Prego® Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce
6 uncooked lasagna noodles
1/4 cup water

Mix ricotta cheese, spinach and 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles and half the spinach mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining pasta sauce. Slowly pour water around inside edges of baking dish. Cover.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes Uncover. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 minutes or until hot. Let stand 10 minutes.

*She added ground beef to the mixture but thought if you add meat you should up the sauce and cheese. She also recommended seasoning either the meat you add or the mixture with salt, pepper, oregano, etc (your favorite Italian seasonings)

Weekly Dinner Menu December 1st - December 6th

2009-11-29T20:02:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

Notes About Last Week's New Recipes:

Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic - I'm not a huge sweet potato fan but my husband loves them (and he requested this dish). They turned out great!

Grandma's Green Bean Casserole - This is a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com. They were very tasty!! My husband thought they were too creamy so this dish might not be for you if you don't like sour cream.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake - This was a huge hit! It was more of a cheesecake with a light pumpkin flavor. I followed other people's reviews and used 3/4 cup of pumpkin pie filling since it was already seasoned. For more of a pumpkin flavor, I would just use more pie filling. I ran into a little bit of drama with this recipe though...Thanksgiving Eve around 10:00pm, I start on this dessert. As I'm ready to start pouring the first layer into the prepared graham cracker crust, I accidentally knock the crust off the counter and it shatters everywhere!! Luckily, my mother-in-law had some graham crackers so I just made my own crust. For a spring form pan: about 15 crushed graham crackers and 2 to 4 tablespoons of melted butter pressed into the pan. For a pie pan: about 5 crushed graham crackers and 1 tablespoon of melted butter pressed into pan.

We will be traveling again this week so there isn't much of a menu to share. BUT I do have one new recipe to pass on to everyone. My mother-in-law made a delicious soup while we were there!! I usually like creamy soups but this broth based Italian Meatball Soup was great!

Italian Meatball Soup 4 to 6 Servings

1 bag (16 oz) frozen Italian meatballs
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cans (15 oz each) Cannellini beans, undrained
1 can (16 oz) stewed tomatoes Italian style
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth
1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Peel carrots and slice thinly. Cut ends from zucchini and discard. cut zucchini in half lengthwise and then into thin slices.
Heat oil in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium-high heat. Saute carrots and onion 5 minutes. Add zucchini, beans, tomatoes, beef broth, and frozen meatballs. Stir and bring to a boil.
Cover pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes - stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, chop basil. Stir basil, salt, and pepper into soup and cook 2 more minutes.

My mother-in-law's notes: she left out the zucchini and basil altogether. She also used Great Northern beans instead of the Cannellini beans.

Weekly Dinner Menu for November 23rd- November 29nd

2009-11-22T11:20:00.001-06:00

Since we will be leaving town for Thanksgiving, we will mostly be making dinners out of ingredients we already have at the house.

Monday - Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

Tuesday - Spinach Quiche

Notes About Last Week's New Recipes:

Kelley's Quick Quiche - This turned out great! I bought a 2 pack of frozen 9 inch pie crusts. When I was ready to start cooking, I took one crust out of the freezer and let it thaw on the counter. By the time I was ready to pour the quiche into the crust, it had thawed plenty. I guess I didn't pay attention to the pie size when I decided recipe to go off of - the 8 inch scaling or the 9 1/4 or 10 inch scaling. I went with the larger size, but I realized this was a mistake as I started to pour the quiche into the crust! It overflowed my crust size! I had to pour some of the liquid mixture out, and was left with tons of cheese and bacon. The quiche was still delicious and was jam packed with the good stuff! I'll definitely make this again, but next time I will use the 8 inch scaling ingredients.

Homemade Pizza - We loved this!! The crust was just as thick, but we liked the flavor better with the original homemade crust recipe I use. Be sure to use extra sauce if you make this thick crust.

4 Meals from One Pack of Pre-Seasoned Chicken Fajita Meat - this turned out great! The package is 2 lbs of chicken, and turned out to be almost 6 breasts. I had plenty of meat for all four meals - all for $6.99 at Kroger.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes - 8 servings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Spinach Quiche - 8 servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
5 eggs, beaten
3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (some reviews mentioned you could use any cheese you had. I'll use a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Thanksgiving Recipes

I'm making a few sides and a dessert for our Thanksgiving meal. Here are the recipes I'm going to use:

Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic - 8 Servings

5 sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.
In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Grandma's Green Bean Casserole - 10 Servings

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 cup sour cream
3 (14.5 ounce) cans French style green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Add green beans, and stir to coat.
Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake - 8 Servings

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving

**The reviews stated that you can use a can of pumpkin pie filling instead of the pumpkin puree and the spices - since the pumpkin pie filling is already seasoned.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Be sure to visit Evie Adventures - there is currently a giveaway for free Christmas Cards!

Weekly Dinner Menu for November 16th- November 22nd

2009-11-15T10:18:00.004-06:00

Monday - Chicken Nachos
Tuesday - Date Night
Wednesday - Chicken Quesadillas
Thursday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Friday - New Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Leftovers
Sunday - Quiche

Notes About Last Week's New Recipes:

Chicken Noodle Casserole - This was a good, easy recipe. It tasted a lot like that chicken and rice casserole dish. I made the full recipe so we had this for 2 dinners...next time I'll just make a half portion.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken - We didn't like this recipe at all!

Foil Packet Tilapia Slow Cooker Recipe - This was ok, I don't think I'll make it again

*I found both the orange chicken and tilapia recipe on the Year of Slow Cooking website...not 100% sure I'll try another. Please let me know if you find a good recipe from this website so I can give it a try.

*I purchased the pre-seasoned fajita chicken meat and am planning on using it for 4 meals...nachos, quesadillas, and 2 meals of green chile chicken enchiladas. We'll add several sides to each meal as well. Luckily, we love Mexican food! I'll let you know next week if this works out - the meat costs about $6.99 so it would be a great way to save money on meat.

Monday - Chicken Nachos

Tuesday - Date Night

Wednesday - Chicken Quesadillas - 2 Servings

Diced cooked chicken
8 flour tortillas
About 1 cup of cheddar or Mexican Blend cheese
Diced jalapenos (optional)
2 tablespoons of butter

I use a griddle to make my quesadillas (since that way I can make them all at once) but a skillet would work great too. If using griddle, I set to 350 degrees. If using skillet, heat over medium high heat. Butter one side of each tortilla. Place tortilla butter side down, spoon and spread chicken, sprinkle cheese and diced jalapenos. Cover with another buttered tortilla - place butter side so it's on the outside of quesadilla. Turn once tortilla has browned to your liking. Repeat same steps for the rest of the tortillas.

Thursday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas - 8 Servings

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
garlic salt to taste
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half
1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
Season chicken with garlic salt. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed. *I don't do this step. I just warm the tortillas in the microwave.
Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. In a small bowl, mix all of the chicken, 2/3 of the cheese, and all of the sour cream. Layer half of this chicken/cheese/sour cream on top of the tortillas. Cover mixture with 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce
Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

Friday - New Homemade Pizza

My husband is a HUGE pizza fan!! He recently found this thick crust pizza recipe so we made it last week. We couldn't believe how amazing the crust was!! Just as thick as normal pizzerias!! Our only complaint was that the crust didn't have as much flavor as we liked. This week I'm going to make another thick crust pizza but by using my normal homemade crust recipe. My recipe calls for one packet of dry yeast, which I usually use for 2 different crusts...but this time I'll just use it for one. With such a large crust, we will only need one pizza...usually my family goes through 2 thin crust pizzas!

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 jar Ragu Pizza Sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-4 cups pizza cheese/mozzarella cheese
your favorite pizza toppings!

To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Sauce: Pour half of the Ragu Pizza Sauce into a bowl and mix in 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. This will be enough sauce for both pizzas.

Coat pizza pan with cooking oil spray. Take dough and roll onto pan. Spread sauce/brown sugar mixture onto crust. Cover with either pizza blend cheese or mozzarella cheese. Finish with your favorite pizza toppings (my current favorite is pepperoni and the diced jalapenos you buy in a can). Bake in oven for about 20 minutes...until cheese has melted and crust is baked to your liking.

Saturday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Leftovers

Sunday - Kelley's Quick Quiche

**If using a 8" thawed unbaked pie shell...

4 slices bacon or thick sliced ham
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
dash salt
dash cayenne (red pepper)
1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon flour

**If using a 9 1/4" or 10" thawed unbaked pie shell...

8 slices bacon or thick sliced ham
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
2 dashes salt
2 dashes cayenne (red pepper)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons flour

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine egg, milk and seasonings. Mix well. Toss cheese with flour. Add cheese and bacon to egg mixture. Pour into pie shell. Bake 40-45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Bake a little longer for larger pie.

Kelley's Notes:"I used the larger pie shell. I used 1 cup+ swiss and 1 cup +sharp cheddar. I also used an entire pack of pre-cooked bacon instead of the 8 slices."

Breakfast/Brunch Recipes

2009-11-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I'm a part of a mom's group that meets twice a month. Each meeting, a different table is in charge of bringing the breakfast food. Here are two great recipes that were served this past week! I couldn't help but get the recipes so I could pass them on to you!!

Alexa's Monkey Bread

3 or 4 rolls refrigerator biscuits
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 stick margarine
1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut each biscuit in fourths. Combine sugar and cinnamon in plastic bag. Shake biscuit fourths in bag of sugar and cinnamon till coated.
Pile fourths in tube pan. Melt margarine and brown sugar together. Pour over biscuits.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Alexa's notes: "1) I used 3 cans of jumbo buttermilk biscuits. 2) I used a fluted bundt pan. 3) You may have to cook it longer than what the recipe says... it took mine about 40 mins to bake, don't know why, but when you check them, use a fork to pull the top biscuits back and check to see if the lower biscuits are done."

Kelley's Quick Quiche

**If using a 8" thawed unbaked pie shell...

4 slices bacon or thick sliced ham
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
dash salt
dash cayenne (red pepper)
1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon flour

**If using a 9 1/4" or 10" thawed unbaked pie shell...

8 slices bacon or thick sliced ham
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
2 dashes salt
2 dashes cayenne (red pepper)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons flour

Dessert Heaven

2009-11-09T14:00:00.000-06:00

Here are some recent recipes I've made or had at a friend's house

Blonde Brownies - 12 Brownies

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Mix well and set aside.
Melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and mix well. Cool slightly.
Add egg (beaten) and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.
Gently mix in chocolate chops
Spread in 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

My friend Jenny made these next two recipes - both were delicious! I wanted to pass them on so everyone else could enjoy them too!!

Pumpkin Streusel Bars

1 ¾ cup All purpose flour

1/3 cup Brown sugar; packecd

1/3 cup Sugar

1 cup Cold Butter; cut up

1 15 oz. can pumpkin

1 cup Pecans; chopped

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp. Allspice

½ tsp. Salt

Heat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl combine flour and sugars. Cut in butter till coarse texture. Stir in nuts. Reserve 1 cup of mixture and press remainder firmly into the bottom and half way up the sides of a 12X7” backing dish. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Mix well and pout over crust. Top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 55 minutes or till golden. Cool. NOTES: Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some whipped topping if desired.

Trifole Dessert

1 Yellow Cake Mix

2 boxes of instant choc. pudding (use less milk here, we don't want soupy pudding)

1 large (12 oz.) Cool Whip

Heath Bits Candy (crunched up)

After baking the cake in a 9X13 pan, cut the cake into 2 inch squares

Layer cake, then pudding,then cool whip, then sprinkle Heath bits on top of cool whip. Repeat until all is gone!

**I'm really excited about this recipe because it's so good, but so easy!! And you can change it around...brownies instead of yellow cake, or even a Christmas twist with peppermint bark!

Weekly Dinner Menu for November 9th - November 15th

2009-11-08T10:30:00.005-06:00

Monday - Breakfast Tacos (Bacon, Egg, and Cheese; Potato, Egg, and Cheese)
Tuesday - BBQ Chicken Baked Potatoes
Wednesday - Chicken Noodle Casserole
Thursday - Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Friday - Chicken Noodle Casserole Leftovers
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Foil Packet Tilapia Slow Cooker Recipe

Monday - Breakfast Tacos

I will use 1 to 1 1/2 eggs per taco. Fill flour tortillas with scrambled eggs, shredded cheese (I'll use a Monterrey Jack/Cheddar mix), and crumbled bacon. Another variation will have the eggs, shredded cheese, and potatoes. I bought a bag of frozen tater tots. I'll bake those as printed on the bag, then crumble them for the tacos.

Also try with sausage or jalapenos!

Tuesday - Zesty Slow Cooked Chicken Barbecue - serves 6

This is my "go to" meal for families that have just had a baby. I'll be taking some out to a friend, and we'll have some for dinner too!

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (I use Jack Daniel's Original Recipe Sauce)
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

** I usually make this recipe with 3-4 chicken breasts, but still use the full amount of sauce/Italian Dressing/brown sugar/Worcestershire mixture...I think it gives the chicken more flavor! You might alter the recipe to be 1 1/2 times the sauce for 6 breasts.

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Wednesday - Chicken Noodle Casserole - 6 Servings

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 ounces egg noodles
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1/2 cup butter
*I'm going to add some chopped broccoli as well. Other reviewers mentioned that peas, onion, and celery were also great additions.

Poach chicken in a large pot of simmering water. Cook until no longer pink in center, about 12 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside. Bring chicken cooking water to a boil and cook pasta in it. Drain. Cut chicken into small pieces, and mix with noodles.
In a separate bowl, mix together mushroom soup, chicken soup, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Gently stir together cream soup mixture with the chicken mixture. Place in a 2 quart baking dish.
Melt butter in a small saucepan, and remove from heat. Stir in crumbled crackers. Top casserole with the buttery crackers.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30 minutes, until heated through and browned on top.

Thursday - Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cut in 2-inch chunks
1/2 cup flour
olive oil, for browning the chicken
1 tablespoon kosher salt **less if using iodized salt!
6 ounces (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup

Use a 4 quart slow cooker for best results. Dredge the chicken pieces with the flour, and shake off the excess. Go ahead and throw away any remaining flour, we won't need it. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on the stove and brown the chicken on all sides. There is no need to fully cook it, just sear it enough for the flour to stick and get a nice coating.

Plop the chicken pieces into your slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, combine the orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Taste. If you'd like the chicken to be a bit sweeter, add a touch more sugar. Pour sauce mixture evenly over the chicken, and toss gingerly to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3 to 4. Serve over white or brown rice.

Friday - Leftover Chicken Noodle Casserole

Saturday - Off

Sunday - Foil Packet Tilapia Slow Cooker Recipe

3 or 4 filets of Tilapia (or other favorite white fish)

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Note from the original recipe: "I used cheddar. I've made it before with Parmesan and it was amazing. If I was planning a trip to the store specifically to get ingredients for this dish I would pick Parmesan.")
juice of 2 lemons
4 chopped garlic cloves
pinch each of salt and black pepper

Mix mayonnaise, cheese, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl
Lay out a piece of foil
Rub sauce mixture on both sides of fish
Fold foil over and make a little packet for the fish
Put all the packets into the crock pot
Cook on LOW for 2-4 hours; fish should flake easily with a fork

*Foil packet will be very hot when you take it out of the crock pot and open it!

Crock Pots are Gifts from God

2009-11-06T07:45:00.001-06:00

My mother-in-law knows how much I love slow cooker recipes, so she sent over this amazing website!! . This woman made a New Year's resolution to use her slow cooker every day for a year! We are all to benefit since she posted every recipe!!

I've already spent a good amount of time looking through the main course recipes and deciding which ones I'm going to try first. I think the orange chicken recipe may win...sounds great and doesn't call for too many ingredients.

Enjoy!!

Weekly Dinner Menu for November 2st - November 8th

2009-11-01T14:00:00.002-06:00

Sorry about my absent post last week!

How many of you keep a monthly budget for your finances? If you do, I'm sure you've experienced the "it's the end of the month and I spent too much money at the beginning of the budget cycle!" I'm going to try to spend less at the beginning of each month on groceries, to set myself up for success at the end of the month!

Notes about previous recipes:

Slow cooker Pepper Pork Chops - We really didn't enjoy this meal. My grocery store had pork chops (no bones) on sale so I used those instead of the called for bone-in pork chops. They were ok but I'm not sure if I would make this again.

Monday - Cheese and Jalapeno Quesadillas
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Homemade Family Pizza
Thursday - Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork
Friday - Cheese Enchiladas
Saturday - Leftover Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork
Sunday - Off

Monday- Cheese and Jalapeno Quesadillas - 2 Servings

8 flour tortillas
About 1 cup of cheddar or Mexican Blend cheese
Diced jalapenos (optional)
2 tablespoons of butter

I use a griddle to make my quesadillas (since that way I can make them all at once) but a skillet would work great too. If using griddle, I set to 350 degrees. If using skillet, heat over medium high heat. Butter one side of each tortilla. Place tortilla butter side down, sprinkle cheese and diced jalapenos. Cover with another buttered tortilla - place butter side so it's on the outside of quesadilla. Turn once tortilla has browned to your liking. Repeat same steps for the rest of the tortillas.

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - Homemade Family Pizza -makes 2 pizzas
(you really can't half this recipe for just one pizza since you make your own crust from active dry yeast - for one crust, buy the instant pizza crust bag or a premade crust)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 jar Ragu Pizza Sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-4 cups pizza cheese/mozzarella cheese
your favorite pizza toppings!

To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

Sauce: Pour half of the Ragu Pizza Sauce into a bowl and mix in 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. This will be enough sauce for both pizzas.

Coat pizza pan with cooking oil spray. Take half of the dough and roll onto pan. Stick with fork, then bake in preheated oven for 4-5 minutes. Remove crust from oven and spread half of the sauce/brown sugar mixture onto crust. Cover with either pizza blend cheese or mozzarella cheese. Finish with your favorite pizza toppings (my current favorite is pepperoni and diced jalapenos you buy in a can). Bake in oven for another 8-10 minutes...until cheese has melted and crust is baked to your liking.

Repeat with other half of dough

Thursday - Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork - 12 Servings
This is family favorite!! So good!!

1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
3 pounds boneless pork ribs **I don't use ribs - I buy the Hormel Pork Center Cut Loin Filet in Mesquite Barbecue Flavor. It's 27.2 ounces. I still follow all of the same directions.
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce

Pour can of beef broth into slow cooker, and add boneless pork ribs. Cook on High heat for 4 hours, or until meat shreds easily. Remove meat, and shred with two forks. It will seem that it's not working right away, but it will.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Transfer the shredded pork to a Dutch oven or iron skillet, and stir in barbeque sauce.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

We will use hamburger buns to make BBQ Pork Sandwiches

Friday - Easy Cheese Enchiladas - 3 Servings

10 oz can of red enchilada sauce
1 - 1 1/2 cups of Mexican blend or cheddar cheese
6-8 corn or flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat enchilada sauce over stove until slightly bubbling. Pour about a 1 inch layer of red sauce in the bottom of a glass 8x8 Pyrex pan. If using corn tortillas, I usually microwave groupings of 3 for about 10 seconds so they wrap easier. Fill tortilla with cheese and wrap. Place wrapped tortilla with the folded side down into the sauce. Repeat with remaining tortillas and arrange side by side. Pour the remaining red sauce over tortillas (be sure that every part of the tortilla is covered so it won't dry out while baking). Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the sauce covered tortillas. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Saturday - Leftover BBQ Pork

We'll either make more sandwiches or put it on top of loaded baked potatoes

Salt Rubbed Baked Potatoes with Crispy Skin

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash potatoes and poke all over with fork. While damp, rub all over with salt. Place straight on oven rack uncovered. Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on the thickness. This gives you a tasty skin that's salted and crispy!

Sunday - Off

Weekly Dinner Menu for October 19th - 25th

2009-10-18T08:42:00.002-05:00

Monday - Going Out
Tuesday - Maple Salmon
Wednesday - Tomato Chicken Parmesan
Thursday - BBQ Chicken
Friday - Going Out
Saturday - Asian Orange Chicken
Sunday - Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops
**Last week was pretty hectic so I didn't get to any of my menu items. I'm hoping this upcoming week will be better!

Notes About Last Week's New Recipes

Pasta Pomodoro - I wasn't too impressed with this recipe! My husband liked it fine - but he also covered his plate with Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper flakes. I thought the ratio of sauce to pasta was off. I would suggest doubling the sauce if you try this recipe.

Monday - Going Out

Tuesday - Maple Salmon - 4 Servings

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

**Some good tips I read from other reviewers:

Never let fish marinade for longer than 30 minutes - it's different than other meats that soak in the flavor for hours and hours.
You should cook salmon based on thickness. Bake uncovered in a preheated 450°F oven for 4-6 minutes for each .5 inch of thickness (done when fish easily flakes with fork)
To help soak in flavor & cut down on clean up: Place salmon on foil, pour on the sauce and wrap it up so there will be maximum coverage of sauce on salmon. Please wrapped tin foil on shallow baking dish or glass pie pan.
If you want a dry, crispier outer crust: Place salmon on foil, cover with sauce, and wrap up foil. Bake in foil for 15 minutes and then break open the foil under the broiler for the last 4-5 minutes

Wednesday - Tomato Chicken Parmesan - 6 Servings

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
7 ounces seasoned bread crumbs
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces pasta sauce
6 slices Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Pour beaten eggs into a shallow dish or bowl. In another shallow dish or bowl, mix together the grated Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Dip chicken breasts into beaten egg, then into bread crumb mixture to coat.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add coated chicken and saute for about 8 to 10 minutes each side, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
Pour tomato sauce into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Add chicken, then place a slice of Monterey Jack cheese over each breast, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.

Thursday - Zesty Slow Cooked Chicken Barbecue - serves 6

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Friday - Going Out

Saturday - Asian Orange Chicken - 4 Servings

Sauce:

1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.
Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.
Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sunday - Slow Cook Pepper Pork Chops - 4 Servings

2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine the vegetable broth, 1/2 cup kosher salt, brown sugar and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, then remove from the heat and add the ice. Place the pork chops into a 2-gallon zip-top bag along with the mixture and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside

Place the apples in the slow cooker.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples.

Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan followed by the onions and saute until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer this to the slow cooker, set to high, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4 hours and 30 minutes or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone.

Weekly Menu for October 12th - October 18th

2009-10-11T09:50:00.002-05:00

Monday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Tuesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Leftovers
Wednesday - Maple Salmon
Thursday - Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops (new)
Friday - Going Out
Saturday - Tomato Chicken Parmesan (new)
Sunday - Asian Orange Chicken (new)

Notes About Last Week's New Recipes:

Chicken Fried Steak - I had never used this recipe and was very pleased with the outcome! The gravy was really good too! Anytime I cook battered/fried food, I end up with a million dirty bowls and flour/breading all over the counter. I would say this recipe was worth the mess!! : )

Pasta Pomodoro - I'm making this tonight so I'll comment on it next week

Japanese Style Deep Fried Shrimp - I was a little weary of this recipe since I've never tried a fried shrimp recipe. They cook super fast and the batter stays on the shrimp really well! If you're going to try this recipe, you definitely need to have a good dipping sauce. I didn't even think about making a sauce for the shrimp! They were good, but would have been great with a sauce! Just a little bland without one.

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos - This was a quick and easy recipe! Hubby really liked the flavor!! I cooked everything in a cast iron skillet instead of a saucepan so that changed how the dish "simmered". It still turned out great though! Since I'm only cooking for 2 adults and a one year old, I always reduce recipes down. I'll definitely make this recipe again, but next time I'll use a small saucepan so the ingredients can actually simmer : )

This Week's Menu:

Monday & Tuesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas - 8 Servings
(My husband has been asking for this meal ever since I made it a few weeks ago. I'm going out of town so I'm making this dish for his M & T meals. To say he was excited when he found out about the meals would be an understatement!!)

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
garlic salt to taste
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half
1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
Season chicken with garlic salt. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed. *I don't do this step. I just warm the tortillas in the microwave.
Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. In a small bowl, mix all of the chicken, 2/3 of the cheese, and all of the sour cream. Layer half of this chicken/cheese/sour cream on top of the tortillas. Cover mixture with 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce
Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

Wednesday - Maple Salmon - 4 Servings

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

**Some good tips I read from other reviewers:

Never let fish marinade for longer than 30 minutes - it's different than other meats that soak in the flavor for hours and hours.
You should cook salmon based on thickness. Bake uncovered in a preheated 450°F oven for 4-6 minutes for each .5 inch of thickness (done when fish easily flakes with fork)
To help soak in flavor & cut down on clean up: Place salmon on foil, pour on the sauce and wrap it up so there will be maximum coverage of sauce on salmon. Please wrapped tin foil on shallow baking dish or glass pie pan.
If you want a dry, crispier outer crust: Place salmon on foil, cover with sauce, and wrap up foil. Bake in foil for 15 minutes and then break open the foil under the broiler for the last 4-5 minutes

Thursday - Slow Cook Pepper Pork Chops - 4 Servings

2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside

Place the apples in the slow cooker.

Friday - Going Out

Saturday - Tomato Chicken Parmesan - 6 Servings

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
7 ounces seasoned bread crumbs
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces pasta sauce
6 slices Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Pour beaten eggs into a shallow dish or bowl. In another shallow dish or bowl, mix together the grated Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Dip chicken breasts into beaten egg, then into bread crumb mixture to coat.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add coated chicken and saute for about 8 to 10 minutes each side, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
Pour tomato sauce into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Add chicken, then place a slice of Monterey Jack cheese over each breast, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.

Sunday - Asian Orange Chicken - 4 Servings

Sauce:

1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.
Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.
Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Weekly Menu for October 5th - October 11th

2009-10-04T14:28:00.008-05:00

Monday - Frozen Pizza
Tuesday - Chicken Fried Steak and Buttermilk Cornbread
Wednesday - Pasta Pomodoro
Thursday - Jalapeno Bacon Cheeseburgers with Homemade Potato Chips
Friday - Japanese Style Deep Fried Shrimp
Saturday - Lime Chicken Soft Tacos
Sunday - Baked Omelet

Notes About Last Week's New Recipes:

Fry Bread Tacos - These tacos tasted great but I had a difficult time with the fry bread. I guess I didn't flatten my dough thin enough because during frying, they began to puff up. Be sure to flatten these thinner than you actually think necessary...as thin as you can! I ended up slicing the puffed fried bread in half because it was so large. Later that night, I used the leftover fry bread to create little funnel cakes. I warmed the bread up in the microwave, covered with butter, then sprinkled powdered sugar on top. Delicious!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup - Great and easy recipe! I used frozen chicken breasts and shredded the meat with about an hour left in the cook time. I opted for the 3-4 hour cook time on high. Heads up: this recipe is very spicy! If you don't like super spicy foods, you might want to make some alterations...you could use mild enchilada sauce and substitute out the green chile peppers (or just not use the entire can).

Monday - Frozen Pizza

Tuesday - Chicken Fried Steak - 4 Servings

4 (1/2 pound) beef cube steaks
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable shortening for deep frying

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Pound the steaks to about 1/4-inch thickness. Place 2 cups of flour in a shallow bowl. Stir together the baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt in a separate shallow bowl; stir in the buttermilk, egg, Tabasco Sauce, and garlic. Dredge each steak first in the flour, then in the batter, and again in the flour. Pat the flour onto the surface of each steak so they are completely coated with dry flour.
Heat the shortening in a deep cast-iron skillet to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Fry the steaks until evenly golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Place fried steaks on a plate with paper towels to drain. Drain the fat from the skillet, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid and as much of the solid remnants as possible.
Return the skillet to medium-low heat with the reserved oil. Whisk the remaining flour into the oil. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release solids into the gravy. Stir in the milk, raise the heat to medium, and bring the gravy to a simmer, cook until thick, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Spoon the gravy over the steaks to serve.

*If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, I read some great substitution ideas:
add 1-3/4 tablespoons of cream of tartar to a cup of milk, or add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a cup of milk and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. In many baking recipes, you can also just use plain yogurt or sour cream instead of buttermilk

Buttermilk Cornbread - 9 Servings
I decided to make 2 recipes that call for buttermilk to maximize this ingredient that I would never have on hand.

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Or if you have a cast iron skillet - Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 in. cast iron skillet with vegetable oil and put it in the oven while you assemble the recipe. When the batter is finished, pour it into the hot skillet. Then bake it for 25 minutes.

Wednesday - Pasta Pomodoro - 4 Servings

2 (8 ounce) packages angel hair pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 (10.75 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
crushed red pepper to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Pour olive oil in a large deep skillet over high-heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, vinegar and chicken broth; simmer for about 8 minutes.
Stir in red pepper, black pepper, basil and cooked pasta, tossing thoroughly with sauce. Simmer for about 5 more minutes and serve topped with grated cheese.

Thursday - Jalapeno Bacon Cheeseburgers with Homemade Potato Chips

My new favorite ingredient is pre-cooked bacon! I love how I can throw a few slices in the microwave for 20 seconds, and out comes crispy, tasty bacon! Best part = no bacon grease clean up!!

I'll top our burgers with a slice of cheddar cheese, a few slices of bacon, and sliced jalapenos!

Homemade Potato Chips - 2 Servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 potato, sliced paper thin (peel optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Pour the vegetable oil into a plastic bag (a produce bag works well). Add the potato slices, and shake to coat.
Coat a large dinner plate lightly with oil or cooking spray. Arrange potato slices in a single layer on the dish.
Cook in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, or until lightly browned (if not browned, they will not become crisp). Times will vary depending on the power of your microwave. Remove chips from plate, and toss with salt (or other seasonings). Let cool. Repeat process with the remaining potato slices. You will not need to keep oiling the plate.

Friday - Japanese Style Deep Fried Shrimp - 4 Servings

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled (tails left on) and deveined
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko crumbs
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Place the shrimp in a bowl and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and paprika. Place eggs and panko crumbs into separate bowls.
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Dip each shrimp into the flour mixture, then into the egg, and finally into the panko crumbs to coat. Fry a few at a time until golden brown. This should take no longer than 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels before serving.

Saturday - Lime Chicken Soft Tacos - 10 Servings

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa

Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomato, lettuce, cheese and salsa.

Sunday - Baked Omelet - 5 Servings

8 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
3 ounces cooked ham, diced
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon dried minced onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8x8 inch casserole dish and set aside.
Beat together the eggs and milk. Add seasoning salt, ham, Cheddar cheese, Mozzarella cheese and minced onion. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes.

**I read several reviews saying this recipe tastes great with bacon or sausage instead of ham (depending on your preference).

Time for Dessert

2009-10-03T08:23:00.001-05:00

Here is a great cheesecake recipe! I made it this afternoon to take to a dinner at a friend's house. Unfortunately, mine cracked during the cooling process. I've made this recipe several times...sometimes it cracks and sometimes it doesn't. It still tastes great though! If you are wanting a beautiful cheesecake, here are some tips I read online:

Grease the sides of the springform pan, along with the bottom - be sure to cover the entire pan
Overbeating causes the cheesecake to crack. Beat cream cheese with sugar only until smooth. Proceed with a wooden spoon for the rest of the recipe.
Follow baking & cooling instructions closely! Set a timer for 60 minutes and walk away - once your timer goes off, turn the oven off and let the cheesecake cool for the full 5 to 6 hours. Once you close the oven door to start the baking, you shouldn't open it again for another 6 to 7 hours!

New York Cheesecake - 12 servings

15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

When serving, I put a slice cheesecake on the plate - then spoon strawberry dessert topping on either side of the cake. I top with a fresh strawberry, and have a bowl of strawberries at the table as well. Enjoy!!

Weekly Menu for September 28th - October 4th

2009-09-26T15:10:00.011-05:00

Monday - Pizza Casserole Leftovers (recipe from last week)
Tuesday - Fry Bread Tacos (new)
Wednesday - Good Old Fashioned Pancakes
Thursday - Chicken Stir Fry
Friday - OFF
Saturday - Chicken Tortilla Soup (new)
Sunday - Mexican Meal

Notes about last week's new dishes:

Lazy Day Cheeseburgers - I made the recipe allowing enough time for the meat and cheese to cook for about 6 hours. I scaled the recipe down, so it was about 1/2 lb of ground beef and 4 ounces of Velveeta. The cheese was melted in about 1 1/2 hours. After cooking for 2 hours, I spooned the meat and cheese mixture into a tubberware container, and refrigerated until dinner. I thought it turned out ok...nothing amazing...but still a really easy and quick recipe! My husband really liked it, and thought that bacon might be a good addition to the mixture. He thought the parts of the meat that were crispy and cooked longer were the best - so maybe next time I'll keep it in the slow cooker longer. If I made the full recipe, I think I would let it cook closer to the full 6-7 hours.

I hosted a play date at my house this past week, and served the BBQ Chicken from a previous weekly menu. I had enough leftovers of the chicken to make BBQ Chicken Pizzas that night for dinner (another previous weekly menu item). The Pizza Casserole got bumped to Sunday and Monday night meals.

Monday - Pizza Casserole - 7 Servings

2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
16 ounces pizza sauce
4 tablespoons milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cook noodles according to package directions.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir in the noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce and milk, and mix well. Pour this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, top with the cheese, then bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Tuesday - Fry Bread Tacos - 4 Servings

TOPPINGS:

1 pound ground beef
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, with liquid
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup picante sauce

FRY BREAD:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 cups oil for frying, or as needed

Combine beans and 2 tablespoons of picante sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until heated through. In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef with taco seasoning mix according to seasoning mix package directions. Cover, and keep warm while you prepare the fry bread.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, and mix until the dough comes together. Add more flour if necessary to be able to handle the dough. On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, at least 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
Heat oil in a large, deep heavy skillet to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C). Oil should be about 1 1/2 inches deep. Break off 3/4 cup sized pieces of dough, and shape into round discs 1/4 inch in thickness, making a thinner depressed area in the center. Fry breads in the hot oil until golden on both sides, turning only once. Drain on paper towels.
Top fry bread with beans, ground beef, lettuce and cheese. Spoon picante sauce over. You can also top with other of your favorite taco toppings, such as onion, sour cream or guacamole.

**The recipe also mentions using any leftover fry bread as a dessert. Just coat with cinnamon and sugar; drizzle with honey.

Wednesday - Good Old Fashioned Pancakes - 8 Servings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

I've made this recipe several times, and really enjoy it! I love having breakfast for dinner!

Thursday - Chicken Stir Fry - 2 servings

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cooking sherry
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound broccoli
1 small onion, sliced
1 bell pepper (any color), sliced
1 teaspoon hot chili paste (optional)
1/4 cup peanuts

**The hot chili paste and peanuts make the dish taste like Kung Pao Chicken! If you don't have hot chili paste, you could add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Combine soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, garlic and 1/4 cup water in small bowl; set aside. In wok (or skillet), stir fry chicken in hot oil for 2 minutes. Add broccoli, onion, and bell pepper; stir fry for 4 minutes. Add soy mixture; cook and stir until thickened. At this time, I add the hot chili paste as well as the peanuts.

After prep, the entire dish is ready in about 10 minutes. I serve this with a 10 minute bag of brown rice - so I'll get the water boiling while I'm cutting the chicken and veggies. Once I'm ready to start cooking, the water is usually boiling for the rice. I can throw the bag of rice into the pot, and have an entire meal ready at the same time!

Friday - OFF

Saturday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup - 8 servings

1 pound frozen chicken breasts OR shredded cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 corn tortillas; tortilla chips work great too
vegetable oil

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

*Other reviews said that they used frozen chicken breasts instead of having to cook and shred prior to starting the recipe. They shredded the meat towards the end of the cook time. Also, they said that using tortilla chips rather than making your own helped save some time.

I'm going to try and create my own bread bowls for the soup. I'll just look around the bakery section, and see what would work best to carve out the center for the bowl.

Sunday - Mexican Meal

We love Mexican food so there are several ingredients I always have at the house: tortillas, tortilla chips, cheddar or Mexican Blend shredded cheese, a can of diced jalapenos, salsa and a can of red enchilada sauce.

I'll put together a meal depending on what sounds best. Sometimes it's an appetizer of nachos with a meal of soft tacos, enchiladas or quesadillas. Depending on how much chicken I buy, I may reserve a breast to use for this meal. We'll also have leftover chicken tortilla soup.

Need to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth!?

2009-09-23T13:41:00.008-05:00

I love hosting at my house, or needing to bring food to an event - mainly because I love trying out new "sweets" recipes!!

It was my turn to host the playgroup so I was excited to start planning the menu. I decided on slow cooker zesty barbecue chicken (from a previous post), giant baked potatoes, fruit salad with dip, and a chocolate bundt cake for dessert!

Fruit Dip
8 oz container of cream cheese
1 cup of packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons of vanilla (adjust vanilla based on how "cream cheesy" you want it to taste...less vanilla if you want the cream cheese flavor to stand out)

Mix all 3 ingredients in a medium to large bowl. I use a hand mixer to speed the process along.

Too Much Chocolate Cake - 12 servings

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

And for a glaze...

Satiny Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put chocolate chops, butter and corn syrup in a Pyrex measuring cup (or any microwave safe bowl). Heat for 45 seconds. Mix until smooth - this may take a second. Add vanilla. You could even double the glaze recipe if you want a lot of icing on the cake!!

If you don't want to ice the cake, you can always just dust it was powdered sugar.

I was also supposed to bring something to my moms group meeting. The meeting starts around 9:30AM so I wanted to try out a new breakfast recipe.

Clone of a Cinnabon - makes 12 to 16 cinnamon rolls

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (I heat this in the microwave for about 35-45 seconds)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups **bread flour** (be sure to by this specific type of flour - don't use All Purpose)

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 200 degrees
Dissolve active dry yeast in warm milk. Mix in white sugar, melted butter, eggs and salt. Gradually mix in the bread flour. Knead the dough with your hands and a rolling pin. TURN OVEN OFF! (You want the dough to rise in a warm place so you are creating that with a lightly heated oven that is then turned off.) COVER the bowl with a moist paper towel or moist kitchen towel , and put in the oven for around 1 hour (the dough will almost double in size)
After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter (I microwaved the butter for 5 seconds, then spread it on the dough with my hands) and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 - 16 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch glass baking dish.
Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

**I completed steps 1-4 the night before I needed the cinnamon rolls. I covered the pan with Saran Wrap and refrigerated them over night. The next morning, I took off the Saran Wrap, and placed the pan straight into the COLD oven. I then turned it on to 350 degrees and kept them in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Note: When you mix the icing (I used a hand mixer) it doesn't look like it will be enough to cover all of the rolls - but it ended up being the perfect amount!

These got great reviews from my husband (he had to try one before I left the house) and my friends!

Weekly Menu for September 20th - September 27th

2009-09-20T11:05:00.008-05:00

Some notes about last week's menu since it was the first time I made the Green
Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Mongolian Beef, and BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole - We loved this dish!! Hubby said it had to be put into the rotation! I added this suggestion into the previous post, but instead of layering chicken, cheese and sour cream, mix the three in a bowl and use the mixture as the layer. It's tough to smoothly layer sour cream so this makes that step quick and easy!
Mongolian Beef - If you like Asian cuisine, this is definitely worth making. I added the optional 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes...gives it a kick! As you eat the dish, it makes your lips burn. We like spicy - so this was a good thing! So, if you don't like spicy - you should omit this completely. Hubby suggested that next time I cover broccoli with the marinade and then stir fry that with the beef.
BBQ Chicken Pizza - This was another WOW dish. So simple...especially if you make the BBQ Chicken the night before, and use leftover meat! I loved the balance of half the pizza sauce and half BBQ sauce for the base pizza sauce. I made 2 pizzas, and we didn't have a single piece leftover. Even our 1 year old ate an entire large slice!

For this week, I'm going to post Sunday to Sunday so I can change my grocery shopping day to Mondays. I enjoy shopping during the week - so the stores aren't so crowded. Sundays might be the worst day to go grocery shopping!

We have a lot going on this week at night so I'm going to try to maximize leftovers. I'm usually not a fan of leftovers, but I do love how a home cooked meal can be ready in under 5 minutes!

Sunday - Ground Beef Quesadillas (instead of the previously posted hamburgers)

Monday -Cheesy Slow Cooker Hamburgers

Tuesday - Black Bean Burritos

Wednesday - Black Bean Burrito Leftovers

Thursday - Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings

Friday - Buffalo Chicken Salad (use leftover chicken from Thursday)

Saturday - Pizza Casserole

Sunday - Pizza Casserole Leftovers

Sunday - Ground Beef Quesadillas - 2 Servings

About 3/4lb ground beef
Taco Seasoning packet
8 flour tortillas
About 1 cup of cheddar or Mexican Blend cheese
Diced jalapenos (optional)
2 tablespoons of butter

Brown beef in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain meat and return to skillet. Add taco seasoning packet, and follow directions on packet. You could also add chopped onion or peppers in with the seasoned meat. I use a griddle to make my quesadillas (since that way I can make them all at once) but a skillet would work great too. If using griddle, I set to 350 degrees. If using skillet, heat over medium high heat. Butter one side of each tortilla. Place tortilla butter side down, spoon and spread beef, sprinkle cheese and diced jalapenos. Cover with another buttered tortilla - place butter side so it's on the outside of quesadilla. Turn once tortilla has browned to your liking. Repeat same steps for the rest of the tortillas.

Monday - Cheesy Slow Cooker Hamburgers - 8 Servings

1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 ounces Velveeta cheese, grated
8 sandwich buns

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef. Drain the browned meat and season with salt and pepper. Put the browned meat in the slow cooker, add the cheese, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours. Spoon the burger mixture onto the buns.

**I made the recipe this afternoon - allowing enough time for the meat and cheese to cook for about 6 hours. I scaled the recipe down, so it was about 1/2 lb of ground beef and 4 ounces of Velveeta. The cheese was melted in about 1 1/2 hours. After cooking for 2 hours, I spooned the meat and cheese mixture into a tubberware container, and refrigerated until dinner. I thought it turned out ok...nothing amazing...but still a really easy and quick recipe! My husband really liked it, and thought that bacon might be a good addition to the mixture. He thought the parts of the meat that were crispy and cooked longer were the best - so maybe next time I'll keep it in the slow cooker longer. If I made the full recipe, I think I would let it cook closer to the full 6-7 hours.

Tuesday/Wednesday - Black Bean Burritos - 2 Servings (so I'll double the recipe)

2 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon minced jalapeno peppers
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

**Original recipe doesn't call for chicken but I'll add some diced cooked chicken in with the cream cheese.

Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven heated to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Place onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapenos in skillet, cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour beans into skillet, cook 3 minutes stirring.
Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to skillet with salt. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir cilantro into mixture.
Spoon mixture evenly down center of warmed tortilla and roll tortillas up. Serve immediately.

Thursday/Friday - Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings
Note - when we go to a restaurant, we order "hot" wings, so we've adjusted the recipe to create that spiciness. To make them more or less hot, adjust the ratio of the butter to hot sauce...increase butter in ratio for less "hot" wings.

oil for deep frying
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup hot sauce - we use Frank's Hot Sauce
2dashes ground black pepper
1 dash garlic powder
30 saltine crackers
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dry potato flakes
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup flour (to dip chicken)
About 1/2 cup vegetable oil - enough to cover chicken in skillet
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or tenderloins. I used tenderloins and chop each tender into about 3 pieces.

Place crackers in a large resealable plastic bag; seal bag and crush crackers until they are coarse crumbs. Add flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, and pepper to bag and mix well.
Beat egg in a shallow dish or bowl. Put the 1/2 cup of flour in a separate bowl.
One by one, dip chicken pieces in flour, then dredge chicken pieces in egg beat, then place in bag with crumb mixture, seal bag and shake to coat.
Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
I cooked the tenders in a cast iron skillet. Heat oil on high until it pops if you sprinkle a few drops of water onto the oil. At this point, you will want to turn the heat down to about medium.
Fry coated chicken in hot oil for about 3 minutes on each side, or until they begin to turn brown. As pieces of chicken are finished cooking, I put them in a large Pyrex bowl and cover with a plastic lid (foil would work too) - to keep the chicken warm. I continue to cook the remaining chicken, as well as start on the sauce.
Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.
Pour the sauce into bowl with chicken, secure lid on top, and shake well. Or if you don't have a lid, mix chicken and sauce until evenly coated.

Saturday/Sunday - Pizza Casserole - 7 Servings

2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
16 ounces pizza sauce
4 tablespoons milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cook noodles according to package directions.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir in the noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce and milk, and mix well. Pour this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, top with the cheese, then bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Hope you enjoy!!

Weekend Breakfast

2009-09-19T09:59:00.004-05:00

This weekend I baked some banana bread for our breakfast. I'm not a huge banana fan, but I love buying them...just to wait for them to be ripe enough to make bread or muffins!

Family Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 c. flour

1/4 oil

l tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mask bananas in a small bowl and set aside. Mix all the other ingredients together in a separate bowl; add the bananas and bake in a greased loaf pan for 1 hour or when you can pull a toothpick smoothly out of the middle.

Weekly Menu for September 13th - September 19th

2009-09-13T20:55:00.008-05:00

Sunday - Breakfast for Dinner! French Toast
Monday - Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue
Tuesday - Barbecue Chicken Pizza
Wednesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Thursday - Mongolian Beef
Friday - Alaska Salmon Bake with Pecan Crunch Coating
Saturday - Hamburgers and Family Baked Beans

Sunday - French Toast serves 3

6 thick slices bread
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat together egg, milk, and cinnamon
Heat a lightly oiled griddle of skillet over medium-high flame.
Dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, soaking both sides. Place in pan, and cook on both sides until golden. Serve hot.

I'll serve this with some fruit and precooked bacon that you can pop in the microwave

Monday - Zesty Slow Cooked Chicken Barbecue serves 6

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

I'll serve on hamburger buns. It's also great for a loaded barbecue chicken baked potato!

Tuesday - Barbecue Chicken Pizza (use leftover chicken from Monday) Makes 2 pizzas

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 jar Ragu Pizza Sauce
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
2-4 cups pizza cheese/mozzarella cheese
leftover barbecue chicken
2/3 cup thinly sliced red onion

To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

Sauce: In a small bowl, mix barbecue sauce and pizza sauce

Coat pizza pan with cooking oil spray. Take half of the dough and roll onto pan. Stick with fork, then bake in preheated oven for 4-5 minutes. Remove crust from oven and spread half of the sauce mixture onto crust. Cover with either pizza blend cheese or mozzarella cheese. Finish with barbecue chicken and red onions. Bake in oven for another 8-10 minutes...until cheese has melted and crust is baked to your liking.

Wednesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas serves 8 **We ended up leaving for our trip on Friday afternoon so I never made this last week

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
garlic salt to taste
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half
1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
Season chicken with garlic salt. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed
Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. Top with 1/2 the chicken, 1/3 cheese, 1/2 the sour cream, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce
Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

**Update after making this recipe: it's easier to mix the cooked, shredded chicken in a bowl with the cheese and sour cream rather than trying to layer them...way too hard and frustrating! Then spread the mixture whenever the recipe calls for the chicken, cheese, sour cream layers. Also, be sure to save a little cheese to sprinkle on top.

Thursday - Mongolian Beef serves 4

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 pound beef flank steak, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 large green onions, thinly sliced

Whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Toss beef with marinade, cover, and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
Heat peanut oil in a wok or large, nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the green onions, and cook for 5 to 10 seconds before stirring in the beef. Cook and stir until the beef is no longer pink and is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

I'll serve this with brown rice and steamed broccoli

Friday - Alaska Salmon Bake with Pecan Crunch Coating serves 6

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons butter, melted
5 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
6 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
salt and pepper to taste
6 lemon wedges

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, butter, and honey. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with mustard-honey mixture. Cover the top of each fillet with bread crumb mixture.
Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at thickest part, or until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork. Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

I'll serve this with green beans

Saturday - Hamburgers and Family Baked Beans

Seasoning for 2 burgers

2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle on hamburger patties before cooking.

Family Baked Beans:

2 15 oz. cans of Van Camp's pork and beans (drained)

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs. liquid smoke

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp. onion flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix drained beans and all other ingredients in a 9x13 pyrex dish. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.

Great Lunch Option

2009-09-09T19:28:00.006-05:00

Hubby requested a broccoli cheese soup for lunch over Labor Day weekend so I went to my trusted friend, AllRecipes.

Broccoli Cheese Soup
(this soup was great! maybe even better the second day!!) Recipes makes 6 servings.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed
1 cup milk (recipe calls for milk but after reading reviews I used 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/3 cup cornstarch

In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with 1 and 1/2 cans of the chicken broth (reserve 1/2 can for later). Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in milk (or 1/2 and 1/2) and garlic powder.
In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into remaining 1/2 can of chicken broth until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick.

Labor Day Baking Extravaganza

2009-09-09T15:02:00.004-05:00

We didn't have any plans over Labor Day weekend so most of our time was spent at the house. This resulted in most of my time being spent baking in the kitchen. Here are some recipes I enjoyed:

Banana Crumb Muffins from All Recipes (Wow! Wow! Wow! I love this recipe! In my opinion, the best way to use 3 overripe bananas!!) Recipe makes 10 muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies from AllRecipes (this recipe is perfect for rolling and cutting out cookies) Recipes makes 60 cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

**Other users on AllRecipes suggested adding an additional cup of white sugar (making it 3 cups) and an additional teaspoon of vanilla (making it 2 tsp). I followed these suggestions when making my cookies. My hubby loved the cookies but I wish I would have followed the original recipe first to see how that tasted.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie from AllRecipes Recipe makes about 18 cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips - I used the mini chocolate chips...they are so cute!!

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

**Be careful not to over bake the cookies or you'll lose the "chewy". Unfortunately, I left mine in the oven a few minutes too long so they were still great, but more crunchy! : )

Weekly Menu for September 6th - September 12th

2009-09-07T09:41:00.018-05:00

Here is my menu for this week:

Sunday - Family Pizza
Monday - Shrimp Etouffee
Tuesday - NY Strip Steak, Garlic Green Beans, and Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes
Wednesday - Cajun Chicken Pasta
Thursday - Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Friday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Saturday - OFF

Recipes:

Sunday - Family Pizza: makes 2 pizzas (you really can't half this recipe for just one pizza since you make your own crust from active dry yeast - for one crust, buy the instant pizza crust bag)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 jar Ragu Pizza Sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-4 cups pizza cheese/mozzarella cheese
your favorite pizza toppings!

To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

Sauce: Pour half of the Ragu Pizza Sauce into a bowl and mix in 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. This will be enough sauce for both pizzas.

Coat pizza pan with cooking oil spray. Take half of the dough and roll onto pan. Stick with fork, then bake in preheated oven for 4-5 minutes. Remove crust from oven and spread half of the sauce/brown sugar mixture onto crust. Cover with either pizza blend cheese or mozzarella cheese. Finish with your favorite pizza toppings (my current favorite is pepperoni and diced jalapenos you buy in a can). Bake in oven for another 8-10 minutes...until cheese has melted and crust is baked to your liking.

Repeat with other half of dough

Monday - Shrimp Etouffee: serves 6 so scale accordingly

1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 pound cleaned shrimp
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a 2 quart microwave safe dish, combine margarine, onion, green onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Heat on High settings for 8 to 9 minutes.
Stir in parsley, tomato paste, soup, shrimp, salt, hot pepper sauce and cayenne. Heat on High setting for 5 minutes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Serve over white rice.

Tuesday - Baked Steak, Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Green Beans

Steak Seasoning and Cooking Instructions

Steak Seasoning is for 4 servings so scale accordingly

4 steaks - whichever cut you prefer (we use NY strips)
8 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons paprkia
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon coriander (I never have this spice so I leave it out)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (I never have this spice so I leave it out)

I took an old tall spice container and mixed a large amount of this seasoning to keep on hand. You can also just mix up for each use. Mix seasoning ingredients and rub on both sides of the steaks.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees and place cast iron skillet in oven while it's preheating. Leave in oven for about 20 minutes. While the skillet is heating up with the oven, turn an oven burner on high and let that heat up. Once the skillet has preheated, remove from oven with mitt and place on preheated oven burner. Sear steak (about 2 minutes on each side). Turn the oven up to broil - we use Broil Low. Put the cast iron skillet with steaks back into the oven and bake according to how you like your steak cooked (about 3 minutes for Medium Rare to 7 or 8 minutes for Well Done)

Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes serves 6 so scale accordingly

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups mashed potatoes (prepared with milk and butter)** already mashed
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a small skillet, saute onion and green pepper in oil until tender. In a large bowl, combine the onion mixture, mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup cheese, bacon, salt and pepper. Spoon into a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Garlic Green Beans

I don't have exact measurements of ingredients - I eyeball based on how much we like each ingredient

Green beans
Diced garlic
Chopped red bell pepper
Chopped white onion

Prepare green beans (I prefer to steam for about 7 to 8 minutes). Immediately run green beans under cold water to help keep crispy. Heat 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil in skillet, and saute garlic, red bell pepper, and onion. Add green beans and cook together for a few minutes.

Wednesday - Cajun Chicken Pasta serves 2 so scale accordingly

4 ounces linguine pasta
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.
Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Thursday - Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings serves 8 so scale accordingly

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 onion, finely diced
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

***I always read the other user reviews on AllRecipes. This one mentioned that you might want to use partially frozen chicken breasts, cook as whole breasts, then shred chicken when you put in biscuits to keep chicken moist. Also, other users suggested covering with 1 14oz can of chicken broth rather than water so you don't dilute the flavor.

Friday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole serves 8 so scale accordingly

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
garlic salt to taste
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in half
1 (28 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
1 (16 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
Season chicken with garlic salt. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside.
With metal tongs, char each tortilla half over the open flame of a gas stove burner for about 1 minute, until lightly puffed.
Pour about 1/2 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish, and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer. Top with 1/2 the chicken, 1/3 cheese, 1/2 the sour cream, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce
Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

Saturday - OFF

I hope this menu helps give you some ideas on meals to cook! Please share any of your favorite recipes too!!