Odd week, menu-wise (but then, these days, when isn't it?). I worked on last week's plan on Saturday, thinking I was ahead of the game and quite impressed with myself. Then, I went shopping on Monday afternoon, and found different sales. Oops, that's right. Sale stuff changes on Sundays (mental head smack). Okay, regrouped and bought stuff on sale and decided to punt for the week. And actually, I didn't do too bad. But the question is, can I remember what I did? Um, no actually, I cannot. I do remember one thing I did, however.
I made stuffed pork chops, and they rocked! I bought thin ones and the dude behind the meat counter must have been in a good mood as he offered to slice a pocket in them for me. Color me happy! I also bought a box of mushroom and onion stuffing mix. (Seriously, did you think I was going to make homemade stuffing? I did that for Thanksgiving, once a year is plenty!). I don't really have a recipe for the stuffed pork chops. I added a bit of thyme to the stuffing mix 'cause I like thyme! Then I sprinkled the outsides of the chops with salt, pepper (freshly ground, of course) and thyme. Seared them in a very hot pan with some oil on each side, stuffed them and tossed them in a baking pan (sprayed with Pam, or Pam substitute). Pushed a meat thermometer in one of them and baked at 400 degrees for about 30 or 40 minutes (just before the done mark on the thermometer - we like our pork a bit pink, but it has to be done - not like how we like our {beef} steaks .... moooooving!) . They turned out GOOD! Of course Emi only ate the stuffing (and the peas that I also made). She eye-balled the chops but didn't touch them, not surprising, she still isn't really into meat. But I don't care, as long as she loves fruits and vege's I can get protein into her other ways.
I used the leftover chops (bought four, we didn't each finish one - they are huge this way!) for a pork lo mein dish. I'd post the recipe but I am not sure I would use it again. Lots of steps. Plus, I really want to try Gina's yet so want to see which is our favorite. Emi also loves lo mein. Okay, truth-be-told, Emi loves noodles. She could give a fig what you do to them!
Gosh, I use commas a lot. BUT, I do know that a lot is TWO words. That has to count for something, right? :)
Oh, another thing I did do: Steaks on the grill with Thai Cowboy Steak Marinade. Oh my, yum. Seriously, if you haven't tried this marinade do it! And for those that freak at the oyster sauce, you can't taste the oyster. I promise. I don't eat oysters. Yuck!
So, since I made very little from last week's menu, there is a bit carried over. Sorry folks, no reason to make a completely new menu! Wow, it sure is a crock pot kind of week I have planned.
P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!
- Tuesday: Breakfast Nite! Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, melon slices
- Friday: We are going out for a Chinese New Year party - yay, no cooking!
- Saturday: Free Nite (actually, since we are going out on Friday, I am going to do the Leftover Buffet on Saturday)
We tend to go out one night a week. Scratch that. Trying to not go out as much. But I am going to keep this as my ‘whatever night’ as we still will probably need a night of not making dinner for various reasons. I am factoring this in my menu plan each week, but it won’t necessarily always (or often) be on a Saturday. We may use this as our leftover night if there are any by this time.
Original Post:
Menu Plan (Jan 25 - 31)
2:48 PM |
Category:
Menu Plan Monday
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Chicken Chili (crock pot)
4 chicken breasts
2 cups water
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon olive oil**
1 teaspoon minced garlic (jar)
2 large onions, chopped
¼ cup lime juice
4-ounce can diced green chilies
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1-tablespoon chili powder
2 cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
1 cup shredded jack cheese
- Cook chicken in broth and drain reserving liquid.*
- Shred the chicken and set aside.*
- In the olive oil, sauté the garlic and onion until caramelized.*
- Place chicken, garlic and onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- In the reserved broth stir in the lime juice, seasonings and chilies.
- Pour over the chicken mixture.
- Cook on low for 2-4 hours.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with cheese.
- Enjoy!
*If you're in a hurry you can skip these steps, cut the chicken into small chunks and increase cooking time to 6-8 hours. We prefer the caramelized flavor of the garlic and onions and shredded chicken versus chunks.
**Omit if not sautéing.
1:07 PM |
Category:
Birds,
Crock Pot
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I made a longer post today (here) so this is a quick and dirty post. Post the menu plan and go to bed! We've had a fun weekend, but
Emi's sleep is still
disrupting and thus,
disrupting mine too.
Oy, this gal's beat! Have a great week folks.
P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!
- Sunday: Chicken Tortilla Bake (Yes, it's still on the menu, Emi has been a handful later in the day, so I last week there were a few toss together meals that didn't require me to stay in the kitchen long. While this is a great recipe, it takes a bit of time. Something Emi wasn't willing to give last week. Making this on a night Jeff is home to play with her.)
- Tuesday: Breakfast! Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, melon slices, maybe toast
- Thursday: Leftover Buffet
- Saturday: Free Nite
We tend to go out one night a week. Scratch that. Trying to not go out as much. But I am going to keep this as my ‘whatever night’ as we still will probably need a night of not making dinner for various reasons. I am factoring this in my menu plan each week, but it won’t necessarily always (or often) be on a Saturday. We may use this as our leftover night if there are any by this time.
Original Post:
Menu Plan
2:49 PM |
Category:
Menu Plan Monday
|
Last week was an odd week, cooking-wise. I ended up not making most of what was on my plan, but still cooking each night. Or rather, cooking part of what was on the menu plan. Take the ham steak and hash brown casserole for example. We ended up having the casserole, with eggs! It was a mood thing. Not sure I am joining to buy another ham steak again, maybe it's a mood food or something, but for whatever reason it's been in the fridge for a couple of weeks and I still have yet to make it. I think I need to make it for one of our breakfast dinners, so that's my plan!
What I didn't get to (besides the ham steak):
Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia, Chicken Melt on a Bed of Spinach, and the Chicken Tortilla Bake.
I also have a strange hankering for baked apples. Now, usually I would just toss them in the microwave but Steph has been a bad influence on me! Now my first thought tends to be can I make it in the crock pot? So I had to wander over to see if she had made these this past year, and she had! So, one night this week we will have baked apples - crock pot style. This is still keeping in plan with my 'eat smarter' plan. It's not a 17 layer cake with ice cream (oh my, bad visual on that one, sorry folks). It's still a sweet, but not a totally bad one - depending on how much brown sugar one uses (and I tend to hold back on sugars a bit, both Jeff and Emi like their sweets not so sweet, so that helps me too). CrockPot Stuffed and Baked Apple Recipe
They are all going back on this week's menu as I have all the ingredients on hand.
Here is the plan:
- Monday: Breakfast! Ricotta Pancakes adding a cup of pumpkin and a teaspoon or so of pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg and ginger - omitting the blueberries, honey, most of the sugar and will use half the vanilla. Ham steak (question of the week, will I really use this? The death date is 2/01/09 so I still have a few weeks, haha!), eggs (if Jeff wants any).
- Tuesday: The quiche was such a hit last week (even Emi ate it!) that it's back on the menu again. Does this count as two breakfast dinners? :) Not sure what all I will add to the quiche but it won't be bacon (I don't cook bacon!). Probably onion and spinach again, as it's rare not to have some on hand, cheese of some sort (whatever's on hand) and if there is any ham left over I will chunk that up and toss it in here. Yummm, this sounds good already!
- The other thing I am going to do with this is to make two. Not that much more work, we all love it and it's an easy lunch for taking to work or nuking at home.
- Thursday: Leftover Buffet
- Saturday: Free Nite
We tend to go out one night a week. Scratch that. Trying to not go out as much. But I am going to keep this as my ‘whatever night’ as we still will probably need a night of not making dinner for various reasons. I am factoring this in my menu plan each week, but it won’t necessarily always (or often) be on a Saturday. We may use this as our leftover night if there are any by this time.
P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!
Original Post:
Menu Plan (Jan 11 - Jan 17)
2:50 PM |
Category:
Menu Plan Monday
|
Boy, did I learn my lesson! Never again will I not
really plan a menu for the week. It was almost too loose last week, and we kept on just goofing off and not eating what was on the sort-of-plan. Mostly as I didn't have it really planned out, so none of the prep would get done (mainly, defrosting). So, a good lesson but one I hope I don't have to learn again.
BTW, a couple notes from things I actually DID make last week. First off, the catfish. Whoa, we had forgotten just how amazingly good this is, I am not a huge fan of catfish and I loved it! Jeff picked up three fillets, one on the smaller side for Emi. She ate the whole thing, and then ... had some of mine! She was put off at first at the looks of it (she's not into crumbly textures right now), but I shared a bite of mine and then she couldn't get enough. We had wild rice (a fav of her's) and peas (another fav), she barely touched either. It was fish fish fish! This is another SUPER easy dish to make. Really, it's hard to not make it just right. I set up two wide bowls, one for the butter (I halved the amount) and one for the breading mixture (used less than the recipe called for on the bread crumbs as I wanted to really be able to taste the cheese). Then the baking pan (spray it good) was next in line. Took no time at all! This is a recipe that would lend itself very well to a few people or a crowd. It was just like having it breaded (heavily breaded, not lightly like this was) and deep-fried. It was tender on the inside and crisp and fun on the outside! I think you could use any fish that can hold it's shape, I wouldn't use Tilapia or sole as they are pretty thin, but the catfish was perfect and I'd even try it on salmon, grouper, sea bass, halibut, etc.
The other thing I did was make the Stuffed French Toast, but I did it MY way and thought I'd share. See the
recipe for my changes.
In keeping with my post on Saturday, I am looking for healthy foods and recipes for this week but also want to keep working on clearing out the freezer, fridge and pantry. Jeff and I talked about what we wanted to do this week, so here is the plan we came up with:
- Monday: Leftovers from last week (we still have spaghetti left and some odds and ends)
- Thursday: Ham steak (I never used the one I bought a couple of weeks ago), quiche (not using the bacon, going with mushroom, onions and zucchini with maybe some ricotta cheese as I still have quite a bit left in the fridge)
- Friday: Chicken Tortilla Bake (requested) – one-pot meal!
- One change I make to this, I halve the amount of refried beans. Jeff's not crazy about them and I don't need them!
- Saturday: Free Nite
We tend to go out one night a week. Scratch that. Trying to not go out as much. But I am going to keep this as my ‘whatever night’ as we still will probably need a night of not making dinner for various reasons. I am factoring this in my menu plan each week, but it won’t necessarily always (or often) be on a Saturday. We may use this as our leftover night if there are any by this time.
P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!
Original Post:
Menu Plan (Jan 4 - Jan 10)
2:51 PM |
Category:
Menu Plan Monday
|
Island Chicken on a Bed of Spinach
Kiy Note: This is my version, I have found various recipes for this all over the web but I have found that this is tastier and easier done my way!
1/15/2009: I made this tonight and realized that I had forgotten all about the cheese, hence the 'melt' part of the recipe. However, I made it without and it was just as good. In fact, we didn't miss it at all. So, saving the calories, I am reworking the name! Was: Chicken Melt Now: Island Chicken
Oh, and really, this is SO good. And for those that don't really like mustard (mom) you don't taste it. I had to add a bit more to get the mustard kick.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (or equiv)
1 can of sliced pineapple –OR- 1 (1 pound) piece peeled, cored fresh pineapple, cut crosswise into serving slices
¼ cup Dijon Mustard
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 (10 ounce) bags baby spinach
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds (optional)
Directions:
1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Arrange chicken pieces and pineapple slices in a single layer on rack in a baking pan (I use a 9x13 pan).
2. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine mustard, honey, oil, and lime juice. Spoon half of the mixture evenly over chicken and pineapple; set remaining mustard sauce aside. Bake chicken in a 450º about 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place spinach in a large frying pan or even a wok works well. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of water (sometimes I will use soy sauce, oyster sauce or fish sauce if the mood strikes). Cook over high med-heat, turning the spinach often, until leaves are softened/wilted (2 to 3 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper (or if you used one of the sauces, skip this). Pour spinach from pan into a colander, drain (some recipes say to press a spoon against the spinach to really get the water out, I don’t but some might way to).
4. Microwave remaining mustard sauce, stirring once, on high (100% power) for 30 to 45 seconds or until heated through.
5. To serve, top spinach with chicken and pineapple. Drizzle with sauce, sprinkle with nuts (optional).
12:51 PM |
Category:
Birds
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