Tag: Recipes

Menu Plan Monday ~ 20 August 12

 

Hello, and Happy Monday to you all!

It was another busy weekend at our house, filled with Saturday baths for the puppies, car washes and grass cutting.  And some great times with great friends on Saturday night.  The weekend was capped off by the very best part – Picking up Big Girl on Sunday from her Boot Camp weekend.  It’s a weekend retreat the church does just for sixth graders – to focus on them for one whole weekend as they transition to middle school.

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Little Bit has been sick with a cold.  And has tried to share it with us big people. I have been running a low fever today so I think she may have been somewhat successful. Big Girl sent me a text at 1AM on Sunday telling me she was all stuffy and had a sore throat. I guess she got infected before she left us on Friday. Sad smile

Regardless, it was a good weekend.  And I think she had a good time as well at her retreat.  Sunday was the best day of the two – of course – because Big Girl came home.  I couldn’t wait to see her!

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She was exhausted (of course) and ready for a hot shower and some peace and quiet.  We were all in bed by 7 last night! The power went out because of storms so we just all decided to turn in early.  I think we all needed the rest.

This week, I’ve got some comfort food planned for the first part of the week – at least until we kick this virus to the curb.

Here’s what’s on my menu plan this week:

I’m also making some homemade bread – trying this new recipe out.  Big Girl is making some brownies for lunch snacks and I’ll probably make some other lunch snack/sweet later in the week.

What’s on your menu this week?

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Bourbon Street Chicken

 

With the new schedule for the girls’ schools and after-school activities, I’m on the hunt for some new, easy recipes to cook. The after-school schedule is different enough that I’m having to get creative with some dinner routines. I’m shooting for 6:00 for suppertime, but that doesn’t work on the nights that Big Girl has dance classes because they are later in the evening. I think she and Super Man will be eating late dinners together those nights and Little Bit and I will eat together earlier. It’s a juggling act and we’re just going with the flow for right now.

Last night, we tried something relatively new for dinner.  I’ve made it once before, but no one seems to remember eating it and I can’t remember if everyone liked it or not!  As I cooked, I was wondering if I was making something I was just going to throw in the garbage because of this, but it turned out to be a success and everyone loved it.

This will definitely go into my list of regularly-cooked menu items, I think.  It’s a sweet and tangy glazed chicken dish – reminiscent of some of the chicken dishes I remember having at the quick-cook Asian restaurants when I worked downtown.  It’s not technically Asian in origin and I think the original recipe hails from Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

Regardless, it is really good and worth a try!

(sorry for the grainy cell phone picture – I forgot to take a “real” one before we ate!)

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Bourbon Street Chicken

4-6 servings

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts; cut into bite-sized pieces
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 heaping tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy)
1/4 c apple juice (I just used an apple/grape juice box I had in the fridge for kids’ lunches)
1/3 c brown sugar (or 1/4 c Splenda brown sugar blend)
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 c water
1 Tbs corn starch (to thicken sauce)

  1. In a large skillet, sauté the chicken pieces in the olive oil.
    (I seasoned mine lightly with Houston House Seasoning)
  2. While chicken is cooking, whisk remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Once chicken is browned, pour in the sauce. Stir to coat chicken and bring to a rolling boil.
  4. Reduce heat and simmer on low, uncovered, for about 15-20 minutes. (Until sauce thickens)
  5. Serve over rice.

I also served mine with some steamed veggies.  It was a huge hit – Big Girl even ate two helpings!

I think next time I might even toss some sesame seeds on the chicken right before serving.

 

Pesto Palooza

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a good weekend. We did. It was full of friends and fun – and a little date night for SuperMan and I as well. So nice.  We went to a local German restaurant and the food was incredible.  We enjoyed our dinner so much, lingering over our food with just one more glass of wine and some great conversation, that we totally missed our movie!  It was just as well. I told SuperMan I’d rather sit and talk with him than watch a movie any day.

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Sunday afternoon the girls and I spent a few hours with our good friends – they invited us over to make homemade pesto!  Cindy and I both have prolific basil plants and we had been talking about making some pesto with the leaves.

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I had never made pesto, so Cindy offered to give us a lesson.  Our other good friends joined in on the fun and we had PESTO PALOOZA!

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All of the kids got involved, from mincing the garlic to loading up the food processor, measuring the ingredients and spooning the finished pesto into the storage containers.

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Many helpful hands make small work …

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Our junior chefs –

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The house smelled SO GOOD – one of Cindy’s sons came home as we were in the middle of a batch and he said the house smelled like spices. And it did! Such good spices…

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I think we ended up with ten or eleven cups of pesto by the time we were finished.  Each family took a batch home to freeze and enjoy this fall – and I know whenever I take a container out of the fridge to use for cooking this winter I’ll remember the fun we had on that Sunday afternoon.  Good friends and good times.

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We enjoyed our first batch last night for dinner. I grilled some chicken and served it with some sun-dried tomato pesto pasta. SO good.

Here is the recipe in case you want to make some of your own:

Basil Pesto

from Family Fun Magazine

Makes about 1 cup of pesto

2 c firmly packed basil leaves (fresh)
1/3 c walnuts of pine nuts
3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
2 small cloves garlic (or 1 large)
1/4 tsp each salt/pepper
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil

  1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except the oil. Pulse until a thick paste forms.
  2. With processor on, drizzle in oil in a slow stream until mixture is well combined. You may need to clean the sides of the processor to ensure all ingredients are mixed in.
  3. Transfer to an airtight container. Cover with lid, refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Black Bean Soup on a chilly Monday

It’s chilly here today – almost like Spring and Summer got mixed up. It was warm in February/March and now that we’re knocking on the door of May it decides to be cool and windy. Go figure.

Because it was in the 40’s this morning and my little toes were frozen, I decided soup would be a good bet for lunch today.  And because I have been craving black bean soup from my favorite restaurant and they only make it on Wednesdays (and I never seem to get out on Wednesdays for lunch) I decided that I’d make some here at home.

Traditionally, I make black bean soup from dried beans. It’s a labor-intensive, time-consuming process which is really not worth it because I’m the only one in my house who really likes black bean soup.  SuperMan will eat it, but it probably isn’t his first choice of things to eat.  The girls are grossed out by it and won’t even give it a try (hoping one day that changes)

So, because of this, I rarely make black bean soup at home – and eat it out almost as rarely because, as I said earlier, my favorite place to eat it only makes it once a week and I am not usually there on that day to eat it.

I decided today to do a little experiment and try making some using canned black beans. I keep these on hand all the time as I love them in chili and in my quesadillas, etc.  So, why not, I thought?

The result was yummy goodness.

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I thoroughly enjoyed my little bowl of goodness and have enough for lunch all week, unless SuperMan decides to sample some himself one day.

Super easy and super quick to make. I think I made it from beginning to end in less than 20 minutes.  It would make a great meatless meal one night.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes (you can substitute a jar of salsa or can of diced tomatoes with chilies if you don’t have these)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup minced onion (about 1/4 of a small onion)
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cilantro (dried)
~ 1 cup chicken broth
olive oil
salt/pepper

  1. In a small stock pot, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion & garlic until onions begin to become translucent. Be careful not to burn the garlic. (use medium heat)
  2. While this is sautéing, rinse your beans and dump them, along with the tomatoes, in a food processor.  Pulse a few times until the beans are slightly creamy. You can determine how “chunky” or creamy you want this to be.
  3. Add the tomato/bean mixture to the stock pot.
  4. Add chicken broth until soup is desired consistency.
  5. Add cumin, chili powder, cilantro & salt/pepper.  Simmer 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything is hot & flavors combine.
  6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some tortilla chips.
I also added about 3-4 tsp of my favorite tomatillo salsa to my soup when I ate it.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 9 April

Happy Monday!

… at least I think it is – my monkeys are not so sure, either. It’s the first day back to school after spring break and none of us wanted to get up early this morning.

One thing I do have in hand this week is our menu plan, though. Big Girl went shopping with me on Saturday and helped me to plan out what we’ll eat for the week. It was nice having her with me to help.

Here’s what we have planned:

I also made SuperMan some broccoli salad to eat on during the week and we have leftover honey ham from Easter dinner that we’ll have for lunches this week.

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for some more menu plan ideas.

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Chicken Fried Rice

I had a hankering for fried rice on Tuesday.  I had planned to do leftovers (quesadillas) for dinner, but I kept thinking about the fact that I needed to pre-cook some chicken for Wednesday night’s dinner and if I was going to do that, why didn’t I just make some stir-fry chicken and fried rice?

So, that’s exactly what I did.

And I have to say, it was one of the best stir-fries I have made and most definitely the best fried rice. Totally awesome.

I made it in stages – making the fried rice first and storing it in a pre-heated sauce pot (heated by boiling some water in it and then pouring the water out) while I cooked the chicken stir fry.

I found the source recipe for my fried rice here, but, of course, I modified it to suit my family’s tastes and what I had in the pantry.  The only change I think I’ll make next time I make it is to add some toasted sesame seeds and maybe try to sneak in some more veggies. (diced teeny tiny so the kids will eat them)

This would be a good meal all by itself. With the edamame (soy beans) and eggs, you have your proteins and the addition of some veggies would make it a good, rounded meal. And it tastes SO GOOD.

You can find the edamame in the freezer section at the grocery store. Just be sure you get the hulled version. I wouldn’t want to be shelling soybeans if I didn’t have to!

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Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
1 cup rice (cooked, yield ~2 cups)
Sesame Oil
~ 1  cup carrots, diced fine
1 cup shelled edamame
1/2 onion, diced fine
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce (reduced sodium)
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Instructions:

  1. Cook rice. Let cool.
  2. In a large skillet or wok, spray pan with nonstick spray. Add your egg and cook until scrambled.  Remove to plate and clean skillet.
  3. In the same skillet, heat approximately 1 Tbsp sesame oil.
  4. Add vegetables to the skillet & sauté until the onions begin to become transparent, stirring frequently. (about 4-5 min)
  5. Add rice to skillet.  Cook until the rice is browning and becoming crispy. Depending on how hot your skillet is, this can take 5-9 minutes.  The pan does not need any additional oil or moisture at this time. You are trying to brown the rice.
  6. While the rice is browning, whisk together the ginger, garlic, soy sauce & brown sugar.
  7. One the rice is browned, add the egg and the soy sauce mixture to the rice/veggies and stir well.
  8. Drizzle the rice with a little more sesame oil and serve.

I served it to the girls with some of the chicken I cooked for the stir fry that SuperMan and I ate with the rice. They gobbled it up happily.

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(that’s a o sooo good food MB says) – I found this typed in my blog writer after I got back from taking the girls to school. I guess that is her editorial contribution. Smile

I’ll share the stir fry recipe later this week. It was the perfect accompaniment to the fried rice. I can’t wait for lunch today to eat the leftovers!

Six New Recipes to Try Soon

 

The weather is changing, and so is my palate – out go the heavy soups and stews and in come the lighter foods – grilled fare and salads.

Here are a few recipes that are on my list of things to try out soon:

  1. Asian Chicken Salad – this one was served by a friend at a get-together last week. It was soooo good. We all enjoyed it and the guys went back for seconds! She serves it “buffet style” so that everyone can put the things they want in there and leave out the things they don’t.  I will definitely be adding this to our menu plan soon.
  2. White chicken enchiladas – this is another one a friend made and we fell in love with. I actually made this one for dinner last Saturday. The girls loved it – as did SuperMan and I.  However, the tortillas get gummy when warmed over so this is not one to plan for having tons of leftovers. Freshly cooked, it’s delicious, though. And super easy. Deutsch: Tortilla-Chips, salsa, und guacamole ...
  3. Warm Bean Dip – thinking I may try this one night for a meatless dinner option. The girls are not much for beans, so it will be interesting to see how they like it. But, smothered in cheese may make it worth trying. We will see. I may serve it with some type of salad or just make it a “dip” dinner and serve with some tortilla chips and salsa.
  4. Another easy dinner idea (and a favorite around here) is baked potatoes and salad.  Here’s a nifty baked potato idea I may try one night.
  5. Grill cooking means hamburgers at some point in the month, too, but I always have a hard time with the bun – breads like buns and I don’t get along anymore. So, when I found this recipe, I decided it is also a must-try-soon recipe – Hamburger Wraps – where the “bun” is a tortilla! I love, too, that we can fix each one to suit everyone’s tastes.
  6. The girls have recently discovered the chocolate-chip granola bars at the grocery store – I have let them have them as a treat but have been on the lookout for my own version of this treat so that I can better control the contents and (lack of) additives that they have. I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest and think I’ll give it a go one day soon.

How about you? Have any good recipes you’ve been wanting to try – or that you have tried and would like to share?

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you are having a good week so far. The girls and I are counting down the days until Spring Break – we’re ready, truthfully, for school to be out for the year. It’s these last couple of months that get really hard – the weather gets pretty and we stay outside later and later. It makes bedtime slip later and then we don’t want to get up in the mornings.

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It’s so pretty outside right now – it’s like nature is just showing off, revealing more and more beauty as the weeks progress. Dormant plants turn to buds. Buds turn to blooms, erupting in color and delighting our eyes.

Of course, there’s the pollen and allergies that go with it – but I think that the girls and I are getting a handle on that – thanks to Allegra!

Here’s what we have on our menu for the week this week. Trying to finish off some leftovers we had from the weekend and last week… along with some requests from the family.

  • Monday: Chicken Parmesan (with leftover spaghetti sauce)
  • Tuesday: BBQ chicken, mac & cheese & veggies (leftover from Sunday dinner)
  • Wednesday: Rotel Chicken Pasta bake(Big Girl’s request)
  • Thursday: Asian chicken stir fry (Little Bit’s request)
  • Friday: Seafood (SuperMan’s request) –maybe low country boil or salmon croquettes
  • Saturday: Hamburgers & Hotdogs (if the weather is nice)
  • Sunday: Ham, rice & black-eyed peas

I also made some beef stew in the crock pot last night so that SuperMan has something warm to eat for lunches this week.

NEED MORE IDEAS?

You can find more yummy recipes on  orgjunkie.com where you can find some great recipes and menu plans.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some updates to my Project Life pages and then later this week I’ll be sharing a recipe for something new we tried over the weekend that was a huge hit with the family, thanks to Pinterest!

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Menu Plan Monday 1.30.12

Well, hello, there, Monday!

Nice to see you again (not really) – and I’m all ready with my menu for the week, so I’m one step ahead of you. (nanny-nanny-boo-boo!)

Taking it easy on the spices this week – Big Girl is still not feeling well (we’re headed back to the doctor today) and so I am trying to fix things that will be easy on her tummy.

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Here’s what I have planned for our week:

  • Monday: Meatloaf, macaroni & cheese, veggies
  • Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake
  • Wednesday: Crock Pot Sesame Ginger Chicken (new recipe) with rice & stir-fry veggies
  • Thursday: leftover night
  • Friday: not sure yet – it is the annual Father-Daughter Dance at school and they may go out for dinner.
  • Saturday: kids- pizza, grown ups- date night (yippee!)
  • Sunday: Small Group dinner here. Still finalizing the menu.

I also made some of my baked oatmeal for breakfasts and am planning another batch of bread for later today. Probably make some muffins for the girls or their favorite chocolate-chocolate chip bread.

What about you? What are you planning this week?

I made these chicken fingers twice last week (they were that good) and everyone loved them.  img_1223And this potato soup, which was a toss-up. They ate it but I don’t think they loved it. Little Bit said it was like a potato milk shake. (hee hee) And since I can’t have the carbs, it will probably not get made very often around here. I was trying for something soothing for upset tummies.

Just thought I’d share!

You can find more yummy recipes on  orgjunkie.com or Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, where she has her Pantry Challenge going on again for another month!

tasty tuesday larger logo1 Tasty Tuesday: Pantry Challenge Update

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A few recent recipe successes

I thought I’d share some recent recipe successes I’ve had – things that were new to us to try – and mostly stuff I’ve found on Pinterest. It’s my favorite new recipe site!

  • Super easy super yummy crock pot soup: can of rotel, can of corn, can of black beans (drained & rinsed), 2 frozen chicken breasts, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 packet dry ranch dressing, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder. Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook 6-8 hours. Shred chicken, and enjoy! not sure this soup has a name, but if it did, it should most definitely have cheese in the name of it. It’s kinda like Chicken Tortilla soup met cheese dip and had a baby and this is the love child.  Very good and great on a cold winter day.
  • I made these biscuits for breakfast one morning.  The kids wouldn’t eat them (I think because they were both sick and I made them with whole wheat flour) but SuperMan and I loved them. (I made me-maw’s biscuits from this post)
  • I made these sausage balls a while back (for Christmas) and they were a huge hit. The secret is cream cheese in the mix. Makes them very moist. And heck, if you’re eating sausage balls, what’s a little cream cheese? It’s not exactly diet food. Smile

And here are some things I want to try but haven’t yet:

  • yumI was planning to make these cheesy garlic biscuits for dinner one night (or, rather, with dinner. Not for dinner, although I could certainly get on board with cheesy biscuits for dinner.)
  • And this pasta is called Angel Pasta. I’m thinking it looks an awful lot like an adulterated Alfredo, but I’m going to give it a try.
  • New and improved coconut and pineapple cakeAnd this cake just looks divine. I’ve already decided it’s going on the menu for the next get-together I have. Oh.my. I need an excuse to make it, have one piece and give the rest away.

What about you? Any recipes you’ve tried lately that your family has enjoyed? Any you have on the list of “to try soon?”

Join me on Pinterest for some fun!

But, I warn you… It is addictive.

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