Menu Plan Monday ~ 27 September

I bet you thought I wasn’t going to post a menu plan today… didn’t you? Since I posted on another topic this morning, you probably thought I was slacking off… Well, it would be understandable given the fact that I got home from out of town last night and had no clue what was in my fridge and pantry. But a quick survey remedied that.

Here’s what I’ve got planned for the week:

Tonight: Beef Stew (grilled cheese sandwiches & chicken noodle soup as “plan B” for the monkeys if they don’t eat this – but they’d be crazy not to.)
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Pork Butt in the crock pot, sticky rice (from the drippings) & veggies
Thursday: TBD – something chicken, though
(Maybe BBQ Dry Rub chicken or Beer Can Chicken if the weather is nice and I can grill)
Friday: leftover pork butt transformed into BBQ sandwiches
Saturday/Sunday night we have company – both nights – so I don’t know yet what I will cook. Still thinking about it but I have time.

What’s on your menu this week?

Join us over on OrgJunkie.com for a link up of menu plans for the week!

Menu Plan Monday ~ 20 September

Planning out this week’s menu wasn’t too difficult.

I knew I wanted something special on Tuesday (it’s my birthday) and then I had a list of recipes I’d flagged from other menus I’ve seen – so it was just a matter of pulling it all together into a single list.

Big Girl is home sick today so I think I’m going to change my original plan and make some soup for tonight’s dinner. Here’s what’s on the agenda for the week:

Pasta Fagioli (this is major comfort food for me – my grandma used to make this)
Grilled steaks, boiled & buttered potatoes, steamed broccoli (This is my birthday dinner)
Stir Fry Chicken (a friend made this for us for dinner Sunday night – it was yummy) I’ll make this with whole wheat pasta and maybe add some more stir-fry veggies.
She also made this for dessert – it was sooo good. I will be making it here at home as soon as I get the ingredients. I think I can make a sugar-free version that would be just as good. If you like Reese's peanut butter cups, you need to try this. It tastes like a cold, pudding version of a peanut butter cup.
Meatball Subs (I’ll make a variation of this recipe and let the girls help me make the meatballs. I think they will like that.)

Friday, we will be eating out and the weekend will be filled with SuperMan’s high school reunion activities.

What are you eating this week? Join us over at orgjunkie.com and link up your Menu Plan Monday.

Flying by the seat of my pants

My menu plan was out the window this week. Between travel over the weekend and the Labor Day holiday AND a raging cold, thinking about what to eat/cook this week was just beyond my capacity on Sunday or Monday.

So, I’ve been winging it. Which is a little stressful, a lot more expensive, but is also blossoming my creativity. What can I cook with what I have on hand and without a trip to the fast-food takeout joints?

Tonight’s dinner?

Chicken Parmesan.

YUM.

I love Chicken Parm. It brings back memories from my (Italian) childhood. Lots of cheese, garlic, tomato sauce, and of course, chicken.

Today I tried a crock-pot recipe for Chicken Parmesan recipe. I checked out several “traditional” recipes and a few crock-style recipes and invented my own version.

One thing I did differently was that I did not bread my chicken. My grandmother may be watching from up above thinking this is a sacrilege but I was trying to eliminate the extra carbohydrates and I figured that was an easy way to do it. Besides, in the crock pot, the breading would’ve just turned to mush. And I don’t need bready mush – ever.

I also didn’t make my traditional tomato sauce that I use for spaghetti and most anything else Italian I make. (Grandma may decide to disown me now.)

I figured I was going to try the super-easy, super-simple method and see how it turned out. So, I just used an extra-large can of crushed tomatoes and seasoned them with some garlic, Italian seasoning and my Houston House Seasoning.

And, I used high-protein pasta. I like Barilla Plus. They have an angel hair pasta, so that made the decision easy for me. I like the fact that I’m feeding my family the extra protein and vitamins without the white flour and fillers in regular pasta.

The verdict?

Major yumminess. And major easiness, too. A win-win as far as I’m concerned.

The kids loved it, too.

I served it with garlic bread and SuperMan will probably get a salad with his (when he gets home from work, that is)

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
4-6 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)
Houston House Seasoning
Italian seasoning
Garlic (I use diced garlic in the jar but you can press 2-3 cloves fresh garlic)
1 tsp sugar
pinch of celery seed
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 pound of angel hair pasta
Garlic Bread (you can’t eat this without it!)

Preparation:

Season chicken breasts with Houston House Seasoning.
In a large skillet, brown chicken breasts in olive oil.
In a large bowl, mix the crushed tomatoes, sugar, celery seed, about 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning and 2 Tbsp of minced garlic.
Add your chicken to the slow cooker.
Pour tomato mixture on top.
Set your slow cooker on low and let the chicken cook for 6-8 hrs.
When you are ready to serve, boil your pasta water and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
While the pasta is cooking, place the chicken breasts in an oven safe dish and top with about 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture on each breast.
Sprinkle some of the cheese on top of the chicken.
Bake in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.
Serve the chicken on a bed of pasta that has been topped with about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce that is left over in your slow cooker.

And here’s a link where you can print your own copy.

And, as my grandpa would say… mangi!

Menu Plan Monday ~ 30 August

Happy Monday, everyone!

This week will be an interesting one for us. SuperMan is going on a new work schedule and won’t be home until after 7 each night (boo!) which means that the girls and I will be on our own for supper most nights. This will be a challenge for me. What to cook that the girls will enjoy/eat and will still be appetizing for SuperMan when he gets home…

Here’s what I have planned for the week:

Twice-baked potatoes with a salad
Chicken Parmesan
This will be a new one to try on the kids. I don’t know if they will like it or not.
Steaks cooked on the grill with fresh veggies and buttered potatoes
This is usually a SuperMan-cooked dinner. It will be interesting to see how I do cooking steaks.
Pizza Braid
I saw this recipe last week when I was perusing other Menu Plan Monday posts. Have to try it.
Sloppy Joes with homemade french fries & fresh fruit
Kid-friendly & fast – good for one of those nights we have dance classes.
Chicken Pomodoro
I have had this on my list for two weeks and haven’t made it yet. Maybe this week?

What are you cooking this week?

Join us over at orgjunkie.com and share your menu plan!

Menu Plan Monday ~ 23 Aug

Got lots going on this week.

So glad I have planned out my menus. We have dance classes on Monday/Wednesday and Friday this week, plus curriculum night/PTO on Wednesday night and a knitting session for me on Thursday evening.

Without the plan, I think we would devolve into eating a lot of junk and fast food. This way, I know my family is getting healthy food and I can control fat, protein, and portion sizes. Not to mention we have great leftovers for lunches.

As you can see we’re back into the chicken routine. I’ve been finding chicken thighs on sale at the grocery and substituting them for the breasts in menus where I can. They are juicier than breasts and easier for my tummy to digest. The rest of the family doesn't seem to mind, either.

Here’s what I have planned for the week:

Shepherd’s Pie
“Rotisserie” chicken in the crock pot
Pasta Pomodoro w/ Chicken
Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
Grilled Shrimp with Grits (maybe – if I can find some good shrimp at the store)
Rotel Chicken Pasta Bake

I’ve included links to all the recipes since so many of you have asked me for them. Most are mine, a few other folks’. All are posted on AllRecipes.com so it should be easy for you to access and print.

Join us over at Menu Plan Monday on orgjunkie’s blog – you can get some great ideas for your own dinners and share what you’ve got planned as well! There are some great recipes over there – I was picking up a few ideas myself this morning that may show up in my own menus in the next few weeks.

Another one for the crock pot!

We tried another new crock pot recipe this week. It turned out very, very well. Even the littlest of the household proclaimed it “yummy.”

I am really enjoying this new habit I’ve accidentally started. We’re trying out a new crock pot recipe every week.

And you know what I am really loving about it? The fact that my kids come home from school and the house is filled with the smell of whatever is cooking in the crock pot. They are already hungry and they start asking what's for dinner right away. By the time dinner is ready, they've been smelling it for 2 or 3 hours and they can't wait to dive in!

It works great for luring picky eaters into trying something new. Hee hee.

I’ll continue to share with you the recipes that make the cut in the house. The ones we reject, I will save you from. How does that sound?

And, since I’m going to be doing this, I am going to have to get better about remembering to keep my camera close by so that I can take pictures of the dish as I go. I totally forgot again yesterday. Oops. So, you will have to trust me when I tell you this turned out really well. I’ll do better next time, I promise.

Since I'm so slack, I scanned the picture from my cookbook so you would at least have an idea of what it looked like. I am not one to try a recipe if I haven't seen a picture, so I figure this is better than nothing. It's a little grainy, but you get the idea.

Here is the recipe:

Slow-Cooked Pork Loin

1 boneless whole pork loin roast (3-4 lbs)
1 tbs canola oil (I used olive)
1 med onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 envelope brown gravy mix
1 c water
1 c unsweetened apple juice
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Houston House Seasoning

Cut roast in half (I didn’t do this, mine was already in two pieces)
In a large skillet, brown roast in oil.
In the same skillet, sauté onion and celery until tender.
Add roast and vegetables to slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine gravy mix & water.
Stir in other ingredients and pour into crock pot.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Skim fat from cooking juices; thicken if desired (I didn’t)

And here are the few things I did differently than the recipe.

I generously seasoned the roast with House seasoning before browning and again after I added everything to the crock pot.
I used 3 celery ribs. One seemed like it would be lonely in the crock.
I have a big giant thing of brown gravy mix (thanks Costco!) and so I used 2 tbs in what I made.
I poured a little of the gravy into the skillet to cook off the fond on the pan and then poured that into the crock
I poured the gravy onto each serving of meat as I fixed each plate. It was so good!
We served with mashed potatoes and veggies.

I am looking forward to “repurposing” the leftovers. Wondering if it would do well in some BBQ or maybe Brunswick Stew. SuperMan has an awesome Brunswick Stew recipe. Maybe one day I will sweet-talk him into letting me share it here.

Ok, that’s it for now. I hope you enjoy!

Yummy for Your Tummy

I tried a new recipe today – another crock pot recipe. I’ve told you I am big (*huge*) fan of the crock pot. I mean, seriously, why wouldn’t you be when it takes a cheap cut of meat and makes something scrumptious out of it with little to no effort on your part?

And this was definite scrumptiousness. SuperMan said it reminded him of something his mom would’ve cooked. High praise, let me tell you, and something I have never heard with regards to my cooking in almost 20 years of marriage.

So, this one is worth trying out. Ok?

I actually had both crock pots going tonight. I had the big one with a batch of tortilla soup that I had made earlier in the week and felt like it needed a little more “doctoring.” So, I added a can of enchilada sauce and put it back on to simmer for a while. The little one had tonight’s dinner yumminess in it.

The recipe comes from a Taste of Home Slow Cooker recipe book. It’s called “Beef in Onion Gravy” but I think that sounds way too bland for how this tastes.

Here’s the recipe, and my modifications are noted as well. (because I hardly ever cook anything exactly like the recipe, unless I’m baking)

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used the low fat variety)
2 Tbsp Lipton Onion Soup Mix (I used the whole pack)
2 Tbsp Beef Broth (I used about 1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
1 lb beef stew meat (I used 1 1/2 lbs)

(I seasoned my meat using Houston House Seasoning and then browned it off in a skillet for about 10 minutes)
In a 1 1/2 quart slow cooker, combine the soup, soup mix, tapioca, broth. Let stand 15 min (I let stand while I browned the meat)
Stir in the beef. (I also used about 1/4 cup water and deglazed the skillet and added that yumminess (the fond) to the crock pot)
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hrs (I cooked on high for 4 1/2 hrs)
(While it was cooking I thought the gravy mixture was too gelatinous so I added about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of water and mixed it in. )
I cooked some egg noodles al dente and dumped them in the pot with the beef and gravy just before serving.

We served it with a salad.

My 8 year old said, “Mom, when I first saw this I thought it looked gross. Then, I tasted it and it’s YUM!” She proceeded to clean her plate.

So, kid-tested and hubby-approved.

I hope you give it a try and let me know how your family liked it!

What’s for dinner?

What’s for dinner at your house tonight?

I have been trying to come up with something creative, appetizing and quick/easy for us tonight. My attention has been a little distracted the past week with a little person who is under the weather (hence the less-frequent-than-normal posts, too.)

I just stumbled across this recipe for Stuffed Pizza Bites on a blog I follow: Our Best Bites (have you heard of them? If not, you should check them out – they have a lot of yummy recipes.

I’ll post some pictures and let you know how the munchkins and SuperMan like it tonight.

Crock Pots are a Girl’s Best Friend

With the cold winter days upon us it is nice to have something hot and hearty for dinner. And it's especially nice when that hot and hearty something doesn't involve standing in the kitchen for an hour to cook it!

I am a big fan of the crock pot. I love being one step ahead when that witching hour comes and the kids are cranky and hungry and I'm tired and we all just need a break. I love the way it makes my house smell like "home." I love how I feel like I'm providing healthy meals for my family and it's so easy to do. And economical. Most of my crock pot meals are multi-night affairs… or night and a few lunches at a minimum.

Here's one of our all-time favorite crock pot recipes. I hope you enjoy as much as we do. (Oh, and this makes a great gift meal for someone if they are sick or need a helping hand.)

Fresh Vegetable Beef Stew
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat
1 small green bell pepper chopped (I use 1/2 bag frozen)
3/4 cup green beans (fresh, or I use 1/2 bag frozen)
3/4 cup onion, chopped (I use 1/2 bag frozen)
3/4 cup carrots, sliced (I use frozen – see a pattern here?)
3/4 cup frozen corn
4-6 red potatoes, washed, cut into pieces (about 1 inch)
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt / 1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp thyme (fresh) or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 1/2 cups beef broth (2 cans or 1 carton)
2 cans diced tomato w/ garlic
1 can tomato sauce

Add all ingredients in slow cooker – I usually put potatoes on the bottom, vegs in the middle, meat on top.
Cook
low 8-9 hrs or high 4-5 hrs

I also season my meat with my own homemade "House Seasoning" (recipe below) (Who says Paula Dean is the only one who can have her own house seasoning?)

Houston House Seasoning

1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/4 cup onion powder

Mix all thoroughly. For storage, reuse a large seasoning bottle (I reused my leftover garlic powder jar) or a Ziploc-type baggie.

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