Kiy's Recipe Box

2011-10-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

October 16, 2011

Back to menu planning? Who knows, but going to give it a try!

Fall is officially here in South Carolina. Finally. I've had my crock-pot and soup on my mind for weeks, waiting for the perfect weather. I have selected four family favorites that I can either toss together quickly or crock-pot. It's going to be a GREAT week!

Utility Belt Penne
Tomato and White Bean Soup
Jules' Homemade Tomato Soup
Cinnamon-Beef Noodles

Pillsbury Monkey Bread

2011-02-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe I made this. However, I am not surprised the family devoured it!

Caramel Monkey Bread

You won't believe how five simple ingredients can combine to make a heavenly breakfast pull-apart!

Prep Time: 25 Min
Total Time: 1 Hr 30 Min
Makes: 12 servings

Ingredients:

¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 cans (7.5 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated biscuits
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
¾ cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

* 1: Grease or spray 12-cup Bundt® cake pan.
* 2: Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon in 1-gallon bag. Separate dough into 10 biscuits; cut each in quarters. Shake quarters in bag to coat; place in pan. Mix butter and brown sugar; pour over biscuit pieces.
* 3: Bake at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Turn upside down; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Chinese New Year

2011-02-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

This year, Chinese New Year (Year of the Hare!) fell on February 3rd. With Emi's birthday on the 2nd, that was just too much going on in two short days. Add to that, both Jeff and Emi had the flu, no one was really interested in doing much except sleeping. So we decided to do our celebrating this weekend.

Planned menu:

Simple noodles - I found some fun curly long noodles and will serve them unbroken (long life) with soy sauce, which is Emi's favorite way to eat noodles
Eggrolls
New Year Dumplings
Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia - Emi has just recently rediscovered her love of Tilapia and since this marinade is SO amazing, it's a perfect fit for our special dinner
Chocolate Won-Tons

BTW, we made Chinese Tea Eggs last year. They were a lot of fun, but none of us really liked the taste. I've decided to not make them this year, mainly as time is getting away from me. But they are so fun to make, and the house smells so wonderful - so if you have time, go for it! (Emi and I may make them for a 'rainy day' project later this week, not to eat, just to do the project and then display them. They really are quite pretty!)

We aren't doing the entire menu that many do, there are just the three of us after all. But, if you are looking for a good go-to menu, more ideas or just "why eat that for CNY", I found this post: What to Eat for Chinese New Year. I am sure in years to come we will attempt each dish, they look amazing!

Feast For One: Utility Belt Penne

2011-01-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

Feast For One: Utility Belt Penne

Kiy Note: I have many authors that I love. I wait patiently (yeah, right) for their new books to come out, marking the date on my calendar, salivating. But I have a TOTAL favorite. Dana Stabenow, specifically when she writes her "Kate" books. I can't get enough of Kate and Mutt. The fact that she writes about life in Alaska and I still like her books, is amazing. You see, I am not a fan of snow. AT.ALL. However, she makes me dream of someday seeing Alaska, and actually living there (not that that is going to happen). If you haven't found the wonderful Ms. Stabenow and enjoy suspense/thriller, be sure to pick up her first Kate novel, A Cold Day for Murder.

Thankfully, I follow her on Facebook or I would have never known that she also has a very cool cooking blog. Here is a soup that she posted today. I can't wait to try this, I know we will all love this and while it's "cooking for one", I can see it will easily double or triple. I wonder if Emi will let us have any. That gal and soup, a true love affair!

Utility Belt Penne

You know how Batman always has everything he needs fastened to his all-purpose, super-duper utility belt? In the same way, you've always got everything you need in the refrigerator for one-dish pasta.

Start with some olive oil. Add some chopped onion of any kind, yellow, green, sweet. Saute for about two minutes.

Add a couple of cloves of sliced garlic, and a couple of sliced anchovies. Saute for another minute.

Add four or five Roma tomatoes, chopped, or a can of stewed tomatoes, or a can of chopped tomatoes. Add some hearty shakes of dried Italian herbs, stir, and cook down for a minute or two. Add salt, but only a little because there is plenty in the anchovies and capers and cheese, and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of sugar if you feel like it.

Add a cup or two of chicken broth. It's better if you make your own, but canned is fine. Add a glug or two of wine, red or white, whatever you have on hand.

Bring to a simmer, and add a couple of handfuls of penne pasta. Yes, I know you're supposed to cook it separately, but why dirty another pan, especially when the pasta will soak up all that lovely broth you're putting together?

Bring back to a simmer and let cook for twelve minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Feel free to test, you'll know it when you bite into it.

Just before serving, toss in a tablespoon or so of capers. Garnish with parmesan, the good stuff, the stuff you should always have on hand, and serve.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

2011-01-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

Found this today and didn't want to lose it. Looks work trying!

Creamy Mushroom Soup

prep time

15 min

total time

45 min

makes

10 servings, 1 cup each

2 Tbsp. butter

1-1/2 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 lb. baking potatoes (about 2), peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 cups)

1 qt. (4 cups) water

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth

1/2 tsp. pepper

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

MELT butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add mushrooms, onions and celery; cook 6 to 8 min. or until onions and celery are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

RESERVE 1 cup vegetable mixture. Add next 5 ingredients to vegetable mixture remaining in skillet; stir. Bring to boil; simmer on medium-low heat 15 min. or until potatoes are tender.

ADD 1/3 of the potato mixture to blender; blend until smooth. Pour into large saucepan. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.

WHISK in Neufchatel; cook and stir 2 min. or until melted. Stir in reserved vegetable mixture and parsley.

Menu Plan

2009-05-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

To my regular readers: Yes, lots of new posts today. I was looking for ideas for this week and realized it made more sense to post my menu plans over here. Since I started them on RC&T, I will continue to post them there and then copy them here. I fed them in on the original dates published but those that read in google reader or other formats will most likely see 50+ posts from me today. Sorry about that! (And yes, I plan to try to get back into the MP saddle. I’ve been slacking!)

Menu Plan

2009-05-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well, back in the MP saddle again. I may not get to this every week, but going to try to do better. We eat healthier, cheaper and frankly, just plain better when I take the time to meal plan.

We are going to try to do fresh fish at least twice a week, sometimes adding a third night of fish if we feel like it. Jeff and I were talking meals and realized that we love fish and really don’t have it as much as we used to. Add to that it is SO good for us, seems silly not to.

We have a great fish monger near Jeff’s office so he is going to stop on his way home to see what looks good that particular night. Whatever looks good will decide how it’s made. Here are the choices:

Billie Ruth’s Catfish
Asian Marinade (our fav fish marinade - great on any fish!)
Ginger-Soy Marinade

Don’t forget to check out Laura’s for more MPM!

~~~~~

Mother’s Day: Jeff is in charge and is making one of my fav meals! Steak on the grill (with Cowboy Thai Marinade), baked sweet pots, corn on the cob

Taco Salad - perfect for a hot night when I don’t feel like cooking. What we like in ours (I put all the stuff on the counter and we sorta buffet-it): ground beef or turkey with taco seasoning, taco chips of some kind, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, canned corn (rinsed and chilled), pineapple (I know it’s odd, but it really works!), sliced olives (for Jeff & Emi), shredded cheese and salsa (both mild and whatever Jeff is eating at the moment, varies from medium to oh-my-gosh stomach walls burned away).

Chicken Tortilla Bake

Spaghetti and Meatballs - Nothing fancy, jarred sauce with tons of chopped vege’s tossed in, frozen meatballs. Easy, simple, can be tossed together in less than 15 minutes.

Shortcut Lasagna

And the two nights of fish.

Original Post: Menu Plan

Menu Plan (Mar 22 - 28)

2009-03-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

So last week went pretty well, menu-wise. Except, I still haven't made this: Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms! How is it possible. It looks divine. It looks easy. Magi made it, I know it will rock. What's up with me? It is, again, on my menu plan this week. I *must* make it!

The birthday 'boy' selected fish, rice and butternut squash for dinner last night along with blueberry pie. Not surprising. At all. We had this marinade for the fish - salmon for him, tuna steak for me, we made Emi a Tilapia fillet and she rejected it! We were amazed, but since the whole brown rice discovery, nothing comes between Emi and her rice these days. She even said no to the butternut squash, which she loves. We are going to have to hide the rice steamer from her to get her to eat something else first. Go figure, since this is the little gal that for the first year she was home with us wouldn't touch rice (well, she'd devour wild rice).

Since my fiasco with the Stuffed Pork Loin, I am once again going to attempt it. No, it wasn't on sale. I just can't get it off my mind. We love us some pork, and stuffed ... yum. That and it's Barbara's recipe, I know I can't go wrong (as long as the meat doesn't spoil!).

So, for next week:
Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms
Stuffed Pork Loin
Chicken Tortilla Bake (doubled for leftovers)
Grilled Chicken Breasts using this marinade
Quick Spinach Roll-Ups

Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Original post: Menu Plan (Mar 22 - 28)

Blueberry Pie

2009-03-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

4-5 cups blueberries - fresh or frozen

2/3 cup granulated sugar ~OR~ 1/3 cup each: sugar Splenda
¼ cup tapioca (or 7 tablespoon corn starch)
½ tablespoon cinnamon
½ tablespoon allspice (optional)

3 tablespoon water (or grape juice)
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 teaspoons of minced lemon zest (optional but SO yummy!)

1 9-inch deep-dish pie crust (2 crusts for double crust pie or 1 crust for a crumble topping pie, see below)

Crumb Topping (optional)

¼ cup sugar ~OR~ 1/8 cup each: sugar and Splenda
½ cup flour
¼ cup butter or margarine, chilled

Instructions:

Use your favorite pie crust recipe or cheat like I do and buy the one pre-made in the handy red box found in the dairy section of the grocery story. I make a terrible pie crust and over the years have learned to make do with the boxed kind. It’s not as oh-my-gosh delicious as a truly wonderful homemade one, but it’s far better than any of mine have ever turned out. (Remember to take it out about a half an hour before you want to use it.)

I used frozen blueberries as it’s not blueberry season right now, and blueberry pie was specifically requested by the birthday, um, boy.

Rinse in a colander under cool water, it’s not necessary to defrost and actually I prefer not to as I feel it makes them mushy and disgusting (but that’s my opinion).

In a small to medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients combining sugar, tapioca, and spices in a bowl. Then mix in the lemon juice and water. Do NOT mix the blueberries with the bowl ingredients!

Fit the bottom crust gently into your pan (I usually spray my pan first with Pam and dust a bit of flour).

Now, take your blueberries and pour them into the piecrust, mounding a bit as needed. Pour the bowl mixture over the blueberries trying to hit each berry as best you can.

Here is where you would make the crumble topping if you want this option. Just mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and then cut in with a pastry blender (or two butter-type knives) and then sprinkle all over the pie. That is actually my fav way of making just about any pie. Jeff likes a more traditional pie with a piecrust topping so that is what I used this time.

Fit the top crust over the berries, either using a lattice design or a single crust that you would then put slits in the top. Make sure to seal the edges well and flute as desired.

Something I do that some would cringe at – gently spray a bit of Pam (most folks would melt some butter) over the top of the crust and dust with sugar.

Bake at 375º for about 1 hour until the pie is all bubbly; start checking at about 45 minutes as all ovens are different (mine took about 1 hour 20 minutes - I hate electric ovens!). Cool on a rack for an hour or so (if you can bear to, we never make it that long!). Yum.

Menu Plan

2009-03-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, first. Gosh you guys are brutal! lol On the hair front, Emi and I have a lunch thing to go to at Jeff's office tomorrow so I will have to do it - and do it well! If it turns out, I will try to remember to have Jeff take our picture. IF the picture turns out, I will post it.

On to the menu planning. Well, needless to say menu planning didn't happen yesterday. I wish weekends would slow down! First, the crock pot fish chowder was so-so at best. Not sure if it was the fish I used or if we had different expectations but Emi was indifferent to it (she drank the broth), I didn't care for it at all and Jeff liked it well enough. So, I am moving that recipe to my so-so category and will keep looking. If anyone has a great (easy) crock pot recipe for clam/fish/corn chowder please share it with me!

I didn't get to the Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms, that's my plan for tonight. The Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini as always, was totally wonderful. I do use fresh spinach that I chop, and use half the cheese and fat-free half and half for the cream and it is wonderful. Now that I've made it a few times, it takes about 20 minutes tops. Easy and yummy. If you haven't tried it, it's a keeper for us. (Well, except for Emi. It's a bit too much for her, so I leave some tortellini's out for her and usually give her a vege and/or fruit to go with it.)

Something I that I was seriously bummed about, was the pork loin. I actually remembered to take it out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge (too many years spent in the restaurant biz - I am crazed about thawing meats, I never ever ever thaw on the kitchen counter). So Monday I make the stuffing and while it's cooling down I take the pork loin from the fridge, open the package and .... yuck! Eight dollars worth of pork loin had gone bad at some point. All we can think of is that it happened at the store, before I bought it. I am also crazed about meat handling. I buy it last when shopping, even though it requires backtracking. I always put it away first. So, I know it wasn't me. But, when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter, my dinner was trashed. Jeff ran back to the store and picked up some ready-made chicken (yum), I tossed a vege in the nuker and with the stuffing, that was dinner. But, at least we didn't scrap it totally and call out for pizza. Although I am not sure where running out for rotisserie chicken falls into 'not eating out'. But, it worked in a pinch.

Meals for this week:
Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms
Udon-Beef Noodle Bowl (with chicken)
Quiche (yes, it's that easy)
Breakfast (grits, eggs and turkey or chicken sausage most likely)

Only four meals planned as we have a birthday to celebrate this week. Jeff's! I still haven't decided exactly what to make and since I want it to be a surprise - I can't post it! Nope, not duck again. I am hoping for something different.

Original Post: Hair Update and Menu for the Week

Menu Plan

2009-03-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

So, menu-wise, meals went better than expected last week. We did send Jeff out for pizza once and go out once. Not good, I really want to step on that. If I am too pooped to cook, I want to at least do 'vege night' which we did do once. And hey, we lived through it and enjoyed it. AND ... it didn't set us back $20-30. We need to do more of that, and we will.

So, Emi and I headed off to the grocery store with almost no plan in place (not good). Fortunately, a very nice tuna steak just jumped into my cart. Since that happened, I decided to add a nice piece of salmon for Jeff (I love and adore tuna steaks, even more than beef or bison!). Emi, for once, refused fish. But I am wondering if it was just because she was too busy with the (gasp) brown rice, and peas. I can't believe I now LOVE brown rice. We finally broke down and bought a new rice steamer and whoa, does it rock. It takes forEVER to make the rice (both white and brown) but it's worth the time. Oh, and it makes the best ever sticky rice. Ahhh, heaven. But now that I've discovered brown (nice nutty flavor, needs extremely little butter!) we rarely do white any more. And, as a bonus, Emi loves the brown and is quite indifferent to the white. The recipe used was the Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia. (Not suprised?) YUM!

What else did we have? Jules' Homemade Tomato Soup and grilled sandwiches, Vege Nite (udon noodles with a bit of ginger and soy sauce, corn on the cob on the grill), um ... well, we did eat, I just can't remember what else!

BTW, I can't remember if I posted about the Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce. If I did, just skip this as it will be a repeat! It was amazing. Really really amazing. Emi picked through and ate the pasta, wouldn't touch the peas ... she kept trying to get the sauce off them (yes, the same sauce that the pasta had on it). I finally gave up and nuked her some plain ones. Kids. :) But Jeff and I almost climbed into the pan, it was that good. I did use Lythrum's hints - the ham was a very nice touch, but the biggie was using less pans. I hate to do dishes and clean up, so that was a great tip. Oh, and I thought it was a pretty easy and fun recipe to do. It's a keeper here. (Oh, and Serdmom's Apple Crisp has been banned from the house ... oh my, I didn't want to share! Seriously though, total yum and quite easy. Too easy.)

So, now the question is, what are we having this week? I have no idea! Going to figure it out as I type. But it has to be quick and easy, which seems to be a theme these days.

CrockPot Fish Chowder Recipe
Emi has been on a chowder kick lately. No, really - every time we go out for lunch or dinner, this is what she's been eating. I ordered it once awhile ago and she wanted to try it, she ended up eating the whole bowl. So I've been toying with trying my hand at making it at home. HA! I just knew Steph at A Year of Crockpotting would have something. I am going to attempt this this week. If I get to it, I will report in. (Oh, and it's not just chowder - you mention the word soup and she's ready to eat. Heh, go figure.)

Pork Loin
I have one in the freezer that I bought when our grocery store was having a big sale. I may just bake it (it's a pre-marinated one, lemon zest I think) but I am seriously toying with trying this. If I do, I will report in. But since it's a Barbara recipe I already know it will rock.
Update: I decided to add it to my Recipe Box, it just looks too good not to try. But I will still report in! Stuffed Pork Loin

Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms, Mashed Potatoes
I had hoped to make this last week and I didn't get the chance. With luck, I will give it a go this week. It looks total yum!

Quiche
We actually didn't have this last week (I know, I'm shocked too) but now, I can put in on this week's menu. I am thinking cheese (whatever we have), spinach and mushrooms. Maybe a nice loaf of specialty bread and call it dinner.

Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini
I didn't get to this the other week and still have the tortellini in the fridge. This is so easy, there is no reason not to make it. I am determined! :)

There, five meals! Between leftovers, rice in the rice steamer, udon noodles and tons of frozen vege's, breakfast for dinner - there should be absolutely NO reason to go out or have Jeff pick up anything on the way home. Let's see how I do, shall we? Maybe a little challenge? Anyone up for it? A whole week of only eating at home (dinners). Hmmmm, this could work!

Original Post: Menu Plan (March 8 - 14)

Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms

2009-03-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

BALSAMIC CHICKEN & MUSHROOMS
Courtesy of Magi @ Kaffee Klatsch
(Her comments are in red.)

2 tsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces (cut into strips)
2 cups mushrooms, small, halved (sliced crimini mushrooms)
1/3 cup canned chicken broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crumbled (discovered that this is the only herb known to mankind that is NOT in my spice cabinet, just left it out)

In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of oil.

In a medium bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar, the mustard and garlic. Add chicken and turn to coat.

Transfer chicken and marinade to skillet. Saute chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in skillet. Saute mushrooms for 1 minute. Add broth, thyme and remaining tablespoon of vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deep brown, about 2 minutes longer. (I added the chicken back to the pan, covered, and let it simmer for another minute. I then turned the heat off and left it covered until the mashed potatoes were ready.)

Serve chicken topped with mushrooms. (I served mashed potatoes with this. It's the perfect accompaniment.)

Stuffed Pork Loin

2009-03-07T22:16:00.001-08:00

Stuffed Pork Loin
Head over to Barbara's (click link above) for awesome step-by-step photos!)

From Barbara: Stuffed tenderloin is easy, yet elegant looking. It can even be assembled quickly on a weeknight. The beauty of it is in the presentation. I used ground mustard because I was serving with a mustard sauce, but feel free to adapt the spices to what you are serving on the side. Be sure to separate the 2 cups stuffing from remaining stuffing to avoid cross-contamination as you are touching the raw meat. I must have washed my hands 20 times so I could touch my camera, see what I do for you.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

INGREDIENTS
2.5 lb pork tenderloin (this was 2 tenderloins in a pack for me)
2 cups stuffing, prepared
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground mustard
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh-ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425
Stuff tenderloin
Drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle with mustard, and remaining salt and pepper
Cook at 425 for 20-25 minutes, or until meat thermometer reaches 170.

Also from Barbara:
Ok, I cheated a little... stuff tenderloin, that's it? No instructions???

There are a few ways you can accomplish this, 2 works best with a thicker tenderloin with less risk of poking through the side:

1) BUTTERFLY: Arrange tenderloin on a work surface with thinnest end nearest you. Starting at thickest part, make a lengthwise incision down center of tenderloin, cutting two thirds of the way through thickness of meat, adjusting depth of incision as tenderloin tapers, be careful not to cut all the way through. Open tenderloin. Turning knife horizontally, cut tenderloin open on either side like the flaps of a book jacket, being careful not to cut all the way through. Season inside of tenderloin with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Layer stuffing on tenderloin, roll up and secure with toothpicks.

2) HOLE IN CENTER: Make a hole for stuffing that runs lengthwise through pork loin: Beginning in middle of 1 end of roast, insert a sharp long thin knife lengthwise toward center of loin, then repeat at opposite end of loin to complete incision running through middle. Open up incision with your fingers, working from both ends, to create a 1 1/2-inch-wide opening, then pack with all of stuffing, pushing from both ends toward center.

3) ROLL: Arrange tenderloin on a work surface with thinnest end away from you. Starting at thickest part, make a lengthwise incision starting 1/3 of the way down the short side down edge of tenderloin, cutting two thirds of the way through thickness of meat, adjusting depth of incision as tenderloin tapers, be careful not to cut all the way through. Rotate knife 90 degrees and continue to cut into tenderloin until 1/3 through, rotate knife and cut into tenderloin 1/3 through. Unroll tenderloin. Season inside of tenderloin with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Layer stuffing on tenderloin, roll up and secure with toothpicks.

Remember, follow the link above to see step-by-step's of these.

CrockPot Fish Chowder Recipe

2009-03-07T22:07:00.001-08:00

CrockPot Fish Chowder Recipe

Day 46.

Friday fresh fish, all you hungry bloggers come and eat it up...

although the fish I used wasn't fresh, it was frozen.

The kids went through a phase where they ate a can of Progresso Clam Chowder every day for lunch. It was a very easy time for me.

This tastes remarkably similar without chemicals, a tin-can taste, or boatloads of sodium.

And it was easy.

The Ingredients:

--1 lb of white fish (I used frozen Orange Roughy from Trader Joe's)

--3 cups of chicken broth (I'm now officially out of my homemade stuff. I'm kind of bummed.)

--9 baby potatoes (or 10. but not 11.)

--1 cup frozen roasted corn

--1/2 white onion

--handful baby carrots

--heart of celery

--3-4 cloves of garlic

--1/2 t black pepper

--salt (to taste, especially if using homemade broth)

--2 cups frozen shrimp (to add later)

--1 cup heavy whipping cream (to add later)

The Directions:

--chop up all the vegetables. I used my handy-dandy Pampered Chef chopper because I like it and it reminds me of when I used to be invited to those kind of parties. How come people don't have those any more?

--cube the fish, it's okay if it's still frozen.

--dump everything except the cream and the shrimp into your stoneware insert

cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the potatoes are tender. If your veggies are too big for your taste, use an immersion blender to smooth it out.

30 minutes before serving, stir in your cup of cream and the frozen shrimp. Turn your crockpot to high for the last 30 minutes.

Serve with a bit of fresh parmesan cheese.

The Verdict:

Instant hit. We all loved it.

Menu Plan

2009-02-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

I am SO uninspired this week. I had to actually make myself sit down and do this. Jeff said to just blow it off if I wanted, but we still have to eat. If I don't come up with a plan I know we will just eat out or do take out. The budget (and waistlines!) just can't afford that simply because I am feeling lazy. I think it's the time of the year. Blah. February/March is probably my most unfav time. Grey skies, cold and rainy (or worse, cold and snowy!), cooped up in the house all the time. Gosh Kiy, whine much? But I think that most of us feel that way about now (well, except for my friend Christina who lives in Australia who is enjoying her summer right now, and the lucky folks who live in places like Key West!).

I am carrying some things over from last week, again. We have some projects around the house that we are working on and I find myself with limited time. I can either work on those or watch/play with Emi. Emi 'helping' is a scary thing! So, instead of working on dinner during nap times, I am working on the projects. So, the next several weeks I will be doing massively simple and easy, tried and true, and crock potting. I want healthy, fun and yummy ... with none of the work! I can fuss over meals another time (like summer and fall when it's fun) but right now, it's all about getting a meal on the table.

With that said, here's the plan with no specific days mapped out. What we have will be determined by how much time I have on any given day.

Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce (carry-over from last week), possibly something in reserve for Emi in case she turns her nose up at this - but I doubt she will, except for the meat these are things she loves - pasta, sauce of some kind and peas! I am so determined to make this. It looks amazing and fun and yummy, and I have all the ingredients in the house except .... the noodles! In fact, I went to make it last night and found out, no pasta. How is that possible in this house? But, sent Jeff to the store today so we now have the pasta!

Chili with a Little Sass (also a carry-over from last week), cornbread, frozen vege (Is it summer yet? I sure do miss the Farmer's Market!)

Garden Vege Burgers on the grill, Oriental Salad (this can also be used as a stand-alone meal, but using it as a side dish will allow for leftovers and take-to-work lunches for Jeff)

Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini (One pot meal although I will toss together a frozen vege for Emi who is not a big fan of spinach OR artichokes. In fact, I will probably save out some pasta plain for her so I do not have to pick through the dish to get what she will eat).

Jules' Homemade Tomato Soup and grilled sandwiches

Bison Burgers on the grill, frozen vege (for Emi), Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad (I've been craving this!)

Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Original Post: Menu Plan (February 22 - 28)

Menu Plan

2009-02-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

How sad is this. Last week's ENTIRE menu, is being carried over this week. And, I can honestly blame it on Emi. No, she wasn't in charge of cooking (although, I am sure that time will come!). She came down with a cold last Saturday, which meant little-to-no sleep for Mama and Daddy on both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, I could have cared less what we ate Sunday night, we may have had one of my stand-by's: eggs and grits. Considering that I think of myself as a northern gal and Miss Emi most definitely is not from the American south, we all love it and have come to think of that as a sort of comfort food. Funny how finally learning how to cook grits (several minutes longer than the package states and at a lower temp) can make a person fall in love with them.

Miss Emi woke on Monday morning with most of her cold gone. Hurray! Sadly, Mama had the beginnings of it that same morning and it was raging by afternoon. Daddy had it by Wednesday. Emi had her cold for 48 hours (roughly), Jeff and I had it most of the week and still are feeling a bit off. Figures. But, that works as this one kicked me in the butt and caring for both Emi and I while sick would not have been fun. Although she was quite herself all week, which made keeping up with her interesting!

We lived off whatever we could find in the fridge and pantry. Also, I hate to say, take-out. Although no MickeyD's or anything like that. We had Japanese one night (miso soup and yakisoba noodles, yum ... Emi can almost eat/drink us under the table with miso soup, she loves it!). We did have the bison burgers (as they are easy - grill food!), and Jeff brought Applebee's home one night. I know we had something else but darned if I can remember what!

So, here is last week's menu this week. I am *determined* to make each and every thing on this. So help me! :)

I am not going to link up my menu plan this week, as there's nothing new but if you are looking for inspiration head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Chili with a Little Sass

Cinnamon-Beef Noodles

Toasted French Toast & Oven Poached Eggs

Bison Burgers on the Grill

Billie Ruth's Catfish Parmesan

Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce

Extras:

Stuffed French Toast

Serdmom's Apple Crisp

Original Post: Menu Plan (February 15 - 21)

Menu Plan

2009-02-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentine's Day (reminder: next Saturday), I am doing a special Friends Week. This is a week full of recipes that I have been given (or 'borrowed') from friends, some I have tried and some are new (the recipes, the friends are all old ... err, wait). I am not going to pick days, just list the recipes in no particular order). I haven't decided yet which meal will be on which day (hey, today I am going to be lucky to get this post done at all!) :)

Meals:

Chili with a Little Sass - this recipe is incredible and we always get a smile when we have it. For one thing, Barbara (Candy Hearts & Paper Flowers) posted it and I totally had to try it. For another thing, poor Jeff's life is filled with a little sass (both wife and child). I love Barbara's site. I rarely do what she has going on as, I will never ever have a love of housework (yikes, don't read this mom!) even though I love a neat, tidy and clean house. Keeping house is a chore to me, something to get done as quickly as possible. Barbara really cares about doing it well and right, I just want it done and forgotten about! However, I do think if I followed along on her daily ideas that maybe the house wouldn't be such a chore to me. Maybe. Some day.

Cinnamon-Beef Noodles - Gina (Olivia, Opinions & Occasions) shared this recipe with me. I have only made it the one time, but we loved it! I have been wanting to make it again, and this week is the perfect time. I am toying with saving this for Saturday night, as I want something special but not something that keeps me in the kitchen all day long. Gina and I met through the adoption of our two girls. Sadly, we were not in China at the same time but we have made a friendship that makes me *know* that we will meet someday! I love her sense of humor and I find the longer we know each other, the more in common we have. Head on over to her site, meet the ever-wonderful Olivia. She's a delight and her parents are just simply great people!

Toasted French Toast & Oven Poached Eggs - I've tried a variation of Tamy's (3 Sides of Crazy) french toast before (mainly, toasting the bread) but wanted to give the whole thing a whirl. This is the week. She has also raved on her baked eggs and I seriously have wanted to try them. I keep getting stuck at the bacon. Oh, I love bacon but not the mess. But, this once, I will make it and see how it goes (probably in the microwave, however). I can't remember exactly how I met Tamy. It was either from menu planning, or quite possibly, through Barbara. But we continue to chat in short emails (almost like IM'g without the, you know, IM!) and I have enjoyed getting to know her better.

Bison Burgers on the Grill - Two of my very best friends do not have blogs (hi Aunt M and Uncle R!). The she part of the couple doesn't like to cook all that much (although I hear that is changing a bit!), and he does but I am not sure he is a recipe kind of guy. But, one of my fondest memories is when we had cookouts at their home. He makes a mean ANYthing on the grill. No, really, he does. Their home feels like home, every time I walk in. Which, sadly, isn't as often as it used to be as we live on opposite ends of the country (working on that!). Their home continues to be one of my most fav places to be. I could spend hours on their back patio, drinking sweet tea, soaking up their wonderful landscaping, and chatting. Some friendships become family, this is one of those. In their honor we are having yummy bison burgers on the grill this week. We love them and while we have not had these burgers with this couple, I know they'd love them!

Billie Ruth's Catfish Parmesan - I am actually making this for a friend, rather than getting the recipe from a friend. That friend would be my very best friend, my husband. My life is richer for having him in it. I am happy, contented, loved and so very very lucky.

Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce - Lythrum (Goblins in My Garden) shared this recipe with me several years ago. I keep wanting to make it but then forgetting about it. I found it again today when I was wandering through my recipes. Lythrum and I seemingly have very little in common, yet have a lasting friendship. We can go awhile without chatting (emailing) and then pick up like we talked yesterday. We are both (sorta) new moms learning our way, with our girls just about a year apart in age. My one big wish is that we lived closer, as I would love to have my backyard look a teensy bit like hers (okay, I'd love it if it looked a LOT like hers but I am just not willing to do what it takes!).

Extras:

Stuffed French Toast - Not everyone is lucky enough to call their mom, friend. I am. And I know it. This recipe is a memory trigger. It reminds me, of course, of my mom but also of one of Jeff and my first Christmases together. I have just recently started making it again for special occasions and we love it. It also is a hit with Miss Emi. My current plan is to make this Friday evening for Valentine's Day Breakfast. Mom and I talk, almost every day. Someone once asked us, separately, what we talked about. Everything and nothing. We have a special relationship that has formed into a friendship. I don't take this for granted, and neither does she. And no, it wasn't always like this. See above, Chili with a Little Sass. But I grew out of it, or rather the teen sass, the adult sass is here to stay. :)

Serdmom's Apple Crisp - Serdic (Tritely Banal) has many recipes (ginger sparklers!) but he tends to like to fuss more than I have time for these days (I'm told he is an *amazing* cook and his baking - ooh la la!). This is quick and easy, and I am not sure that I have ever told him I've made it (oops). Serdic is a friend that I made long ago, who also lives far away. He was there from day one when we started our paperchase for Miss Emi. He always had a shoulder, ear and heart to lean on when needed during that time. He has also been one of our biggest cheerleaders (yikes, visual, sorry - no short skirts were involved!) when it came down to 'do we stay in the program or give up'. Thankfully, we stayed in. Now, Miss Emi has an Uncle Serdic (and Aunt TheSinger @ Reports from the Dewey Decimal Zone!). They love her dearly, and we love them.

I have more recipes from other friends, but only so many days in a week. This was so much fun I think I will do it again! I hope you have enjoyed meeting my friends.

Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Original Post: Menu Plan (Feb 9 - 14)

Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce

2009-02-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce
Thanks to Lythrum for this recipe!

1/4 c. chopped pancetta or bacon
1 tsp. olive oil
1 c. diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 c. 1% low fat milk
1/4 c. (2 oz) 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 1/2 c. frozen green peas, thawed (Note from Lythrum: I use baby ones)
1 1/4 c. (5 oz) grated fresh Parmesan
1/3 c. chopped fresh basil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
5 c. hot cooked pasta (I like farfalle for this)

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add pancetta; cook 1 minute or until browned. Place pancetta in a large bowl. Heat oil in pan. Add onion and garlic; sauté 7 minutes. Add onion mixture to pancetta. Place flour in pan, gradually add milk; stir with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 5 minutes); stir constantly. Add cream cheese; stir until cheese melts. Stir in peas, 1 c. Parmesan, basil, salt and pepper. Add cheese sauce and pasta to pancetta mixture; toss well. Sprinkle with 1/4 c. Parmesan.

Note from Lythrum: I have found that about 1/2 c. of thinly sliced, chopped ham is outstanding with this. I saute the onion and ham in the bacon drippings, then add in the peas (because I always forget to thaw them) and cover the pan for a few minutes to let the peas cook. I add the flour to the pea-onion mixture and stir it, then add the milk. This gives you less chance for flour lumps to show up. I make the cheese sauce in with everything else, because it works fine and makes for easier clean-up.

Had this for dinner tonight, it's pretty quick, and really good. It's from Cooking Light, so it's healthy as-is. If you use my ham suggestion at the end, it will add to the fat content a bit, but I think it's worth it.

Serdmom's Apple Crisp

2009-02-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Serdmom's Apple Crisp
Thanks Serdic!

3 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Place apples into glass baking dish, 11 X 7 x 1.5

Sprinkle with the following:
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves

For the crisp:
3/4 C flour
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar

Mix these together and form crumbly mixture. If it's not crumbly enough, put it in the fridge for a bit. Once it's crumbly, sprinkle over the apples.

Bake for 30-35 min at 350F.

Let cool, and enjoy.

Oven Poached Eggs

2009-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

Oven Poached Eggs

2 Jumbo eggs per person
1 tablespoon butter per person
2 slices bacon per person
grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook bacon until crisp.
Melt butter and coat entire inside of ramekin or muffin tin.
Break 1 egg (try not to break the yolk) in each ramekin or muffin slot.
salt and pepper.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until just set.
Top each egg with a slice of crumbled bacon and then grated cheddar cheese.
Bake another 3 minutes.
Serve with chilled juice and toast.

I use oven safe ramekins at home, but when we're camping I use a cupcake tin.

Toasted French Toast

2009-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

Toasted French Toast ~ We hate soggy French Toast and this recipe conquers that.

8 slices thick white bread (Kiy Note: I will most likely use wheat or a wheat mix, it's a rare thing for us to have nice, wonderful, yummy white bread in the house. Bummer. I hate eating healthier!) :)
1 1/4 cup milk
5 egg yolks
1/8 cup flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Toast bread, but not browned.
Preheat griddle and coat with a small amount of butter.
Whisk together the egg yolks, milk, salt, vanilla, butter and cinnamon.
Whisk in flour until smooth.
Pour milk mixture into a baking dish.
Soak bread pieces for a few seconds on each side.
Grill for several minutes on each side until golden brown.
Serve with warm maple syrup.

Overnight Grits CrockPot Recipe

2009-02-03T21:02:00.001-08:00

Overnight Grits CrockPot Recipe

Day 134.

I am not from the south, which means I am not very familiar with grits. I did watch a southern cooking show on the Food Network that discussed grit cooking methods, and I love "My Cousin Vinny"---so I know that any self-respecting Southerner stays away from instant grits.

But that's pretty much where my knowledge ends.

So I turned to the experts: the blogosphere. I ran a google blog search for crockpot grits and found The Kitchen Madonna. She has a recipe for overnight crockpot grits.

And it's perfect.

The Ingredients:

1 cup grits

5 cups of water

1/4 cup butter

1/2 t kosher salt

The Directions:

I used my mom's 4qt round crockpot for this recipe. I haven't given it back since Easter. sorry, mom!

Combine all of the ingredients. I didn't spray the stoneware, or bother to melt the butter. I just threw it all in (butter floats!).

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

This cooked for exactly 7.

Stir well and top with desired fixens'. The kids and I used a bit of shredded cheese the way that The Kitchen Madonna recommended. My mom likes to stir in preserves.

The Verdict: Wow. I like grits! They weren't slimy the way I imagined them to be, and the texture was really nice in my mouth. The big kid wasn't terribly impressed, but the little one ate almost a whole bowl. I loved how easy they were to prepare, and that they are naturally gluten-free.

I have quite a bit of the package left over, and grits are now going to make it into the regular breakfast rotation.

Chex Mix (Crock Pot Style)

2009-01-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

Chex Mix (Crock Pot)
Kiy Note: Gina emailed me this morning asking if this was on my recipe box yet. Nope, I kept forgetting to put it up. Thanks for the reminder Gina! Oh, and we love this but I have to add extra Worcestershire sauce, at least double. Jeff and Emi like their Chex Mix extra spicy.

The Ingredients:

5 Cups General Mills Rice Chex Cereal
1-2 cups of dry roasted peanuts (salted or not, your choice)
2 cups pretzel sticks (I used Glutino)
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t seasoned salt
3 T butter
1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrins is GF)

The Directions:

Put the butter into the bottom of your crockpot.
Turn it on low
Add the onion powder and seasoned salt
Add the Worcestershire sauce
Add dry ingredients
Stir. If the butter is still clumpy, it's okay
Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring every 45 min or so

Dump out onto a cookie sheet to cool. (Kiy Note: Jeff is usually standing there, picking out yummies to eat at this point, even though it's too hot to handle.)

Serve and enjoy.

The Verdict: We ate every last ounce of this in one day. It is seriously addicting. The kids liked it immensely, and have requested me to make it again today. But with less peanuts.

The recipe that I have written here has less butter than the original Chex Party Mix recipe, and I was pleased that it was still enough to coat the cereal, peanuts, and pretzels nicely without a layer of grease left on my hands. Or the kids hands. Because then the couch stays clean.

Menu Plan

2009-01-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

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!

Sunday: Chicken Chili (from Tamy @ 3 Sides of Crazy), cornbread and green beans

Monday: CrockPot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe, fresh bread from the local bakery

Steph's year of 365 Crock Potting has come to and end but I am still using her great site! I am going to try this as it looks so wonderful and perfect for a cold winter's nite!

Tuesday: Breakfast Nite! Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, melon slices

Wednesday: CrockPot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe, wild rice, some kind of vege

Thursday: Chicken Merlot with Mushrooms (crock pot), noodles of some kind, and a vege (frozen peas?)

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)

Chicken Chili (crock pot)

2009-01-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

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.

CrockPot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

2009-01-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

CrockPot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

The Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
2 T olive oil
2 small medium onions, or 2 T onion flakes
4 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
2 small apples, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon

The Directions:

Use at least a 5 quart crockpot for this soup.

Cut the squash in half long ways. This is terribly hard to do. If you microwave the entire squash for 2 to 5 minutes on high, the skin will soften, but you will still need to use a pretty powerful knife. If you can find already peeled and cubed butternut squash use that.

I couldn't believe how difficult it was for me to cut the squash. My knife got stuck.

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. Brush olive oil on the inside of the squash and roast it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until you can peel the skin away from the flesh.

Plug in your crockpot and turn to high. Add the broth, and the onion and apple. Stir in the spices. Cover to let heat.

When the squash has finished roasting, add it to the pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for about 4.

Blend in small batches with a stand blender, or carefully blend with an immersible wand.

The Verdict: This is a comfort soup. I like to curl up with a mug and watch TV. My mom, grandma, and I all like squash soup, but we're the only ones who do in the family. This is what I'm going to have for lunch this week.

Menu Plan

2009-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

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.)

Monday: CrockPot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe, fresh bread from the local bakery

Steph's year of 365 Crock Potting has come to and end but I am still using her great site! I am going to try this as it looks so wonderful and perfect for a cold winter's nite!

Tuesday: Breakfast! Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, melon slices, maybe toast

Wednesday: CrockPot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe, wild rice, some kind of vege

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Steaks on the grill with Thai Cowboy Steak Marinade, wild rice, steamed carrots

We both have a craving for steak!

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

Menu Plan

2009-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

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:

Sunday: Chicken Tortilla Bake (requested) – one-pot meal!

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.

Wednesday: Chicken Melt on a Bed of Spinach, wild rice, vege for Emi (will offer the spinach, the other vege can be an extra if she likes the spinach)

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia, wild rice, miscellaneous vege

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)

Menu Plan

2009-01-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

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:

Sunday: Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia, wild rice, miscellaneous vege

Monday: Leftovers from last week (we still have spaghetti left and some odds and ends)

Tuesday: Hamburgers, grilled onions and mushrooms, spinach salad

Wednesday: Chicken Melt on a Bed of Spinach, wild rice, vege for Emi (will offer the spinach, the other vege can be an extra if she likes the spinach)

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)

Island Chicken on a Bed of Spinach

2009-01-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

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).

Menu Plan

2008-12-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

I am still working on a Christmas post but did want to recap Christmas dinner. The crock pot duck was a HUGE success. Anyone out there hesitating on whether or not to try it, go for it. It was massively easy. I did not skin it and Jeff said it was really good. Not 'under the broiler' crisp, but crisp considering that it was in the crock pot. Also, (he says) between sitting up on a rack and being in the crock pot it wasn't fatty and was moist and tender. Couldn't have been better. I meant to take a picture of the 'after dinner' duck as .... he ate almost 3/4 of the duck (!!) but forgot. Granted it was a small one, but I'd say that was a success, any way you slice it (haha). Oh, and no, I wasn't brave enough to try it but my steak was perfect!

I made the Stuffed French Toast for Christmas morning and this is another very easy recipe that is so doable, even by non-cooks. Jeff and I loved it but Emi ... adored it! She couldn't get enough and ate two Emi-sized squares (without maple syrup). It's been requested again for this week and seeing as how Jeff is off all week, I don't see why not. It takes about 15 minutes the night before you want to serve it, and most of that is just cutting up the bread in cubes. Secrets to success: (1) Make sure you get bread that will hold up to cubing and soaking all night in the egg mixture, that white Wonderbread isn't going to cut it! I use an oatmeal/grain but a wheat combo also would work, just not soft white bread. And (2) make sure your cream cheese is COLD (oh, and I use the 1/3 less fat stuff ... you know, the one that no one can pronounce). Right before I am going to cube the cream cheese I pop it into the freezer for about 5-7 minutes - and set the timer, if you forget to take it out give up on slicing it. Just saying.

Both of the crock pot chicken recipes rocked. I was so happy I finally got to make the brown sugar one - and it's so easy there was no excuse for it being on my menu plan for weeks! It was a huge hit, even Emi (the no meat gal) gobbled it up! I did make the pork loin but it was only so-so, I think I should have marinated it longer than an hour (I forgot to start it the night before, which is how I usually marinade - big mistake!).

P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Our menu for the week is going to be pretty loose. With Jeff home, we just want to hang out and not worry about anything - but we still have to eat! I am also going to try and whittle down our freezer, fridge and pantry. In no particular order, here is a general plan for the week:

Leftovers (!!) - and we have lots!
A big pot of Barbara's chili
A big pot of soup
Spaghetti
And, if I can find any, catfish for New Year's Eve for Jeff ... we don't go out and this year we are planning on watching a movie together that night
Last, but not least, it was requested that an apple pie get put onto this week's menu. So, I made it this afternoon. Oh my goodness, does the house smell divine! I wonder if we can just have pie for dinner tonight?

Oh, and because what's a menu plan without a picture of a little cutie cooking?

Come back in a day or so for more cute Emi pic's from Christmas!

Original Post: Menu Plan (Dec 28 - Jan 3)

CrockPot Peking Duck Recipe

2008-12-21T19:50:00.000-08:00

CrockPot Peking Duck Recipe

From Kiy: About two weeks ago I had a brainstorm (scary, yes). I decided I wanted to surprise Jeff with a duck for Christmas dinner. He loves it and I've only made it once in our 15 years of marriage. You see, it completely trashes the inside of the oven. Grease and yuck *everywhere*. So, while he says it was tasty I never again attempted to make duck as the cleanup was so over-the-top. Seriously.

At first, I was thinking make it in one of those baking bags. But then, got to thinking of Steph over at A Year of Crockpotting. I searched and searched her blog but could not find anything about duck. So a quick email later, I had my duck recipe. Not only that, but she make duck TWICE! I am telling you, this gal rocks! She made two, both of which look amazing. I chose the one I am posting but linked to both as they both do look good (if I were to actually eat duck, which I don't). Thanks Steph, you made it possible for me to give my sweet hubby the Christmas dinner I wanted for him!

CrockPot Peking Duck Recipe

(This was her first post on crockpot duck.)

Day 351.

I have cracked the duck-in-the-crockpot code. You need to use a rack. Too much liquid forms in the pot, and the meat needs to be up above it. I used a little round rack that came with my rice cooker, but you could use anything---an inverted ramekin to lift the bird up out of the collected juice, a collapsible steamer basket, foil balls, etc.

This duck tastes great, is seasoned nicely, and held up in the crockpot. Here's how to make traditional Peking Duck, and here's how I made it crockpot-friendly:

The Ingredients:

4 to 5 pound duck
5 whole green onions
4 star anise
1 inch ginger, peeled
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (or you can make your own)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 T honey
2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are GF)

The Directions:

Use a 6 quart crockpot, and insert a cooking rack of some sort in the bottom of your pot. Wash the green onions and lay on top of the rack.

Skin the duck the best you can. Peel ginger and stuff inside cavity, with the star anise. In a small bowl, combine dry spices. Rub all over the bird, inside and out. Place the duck inside your crockpot, breast up. (I did breast down yesterday, and that was a mistake. It got too soggy.) Drizzle on soy sauce and honey.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with plum sauce.

I made a down-and-dirty plum sauce:

1/3 cup plum jam
1 T soy sauce (La Choy is GF)
1 T sugar
1 tsp garlic powder

The Verdict:

I was much happier at how this duck held up in the crockpot, and how most of the grease dripped away. The meat was nicely seasoned, and tasted great. We really liked the plum sauce. The kids ended up eating little smokies in bbq sauce because it was the Girl Scouts Holiday Party and that was our offering (done in a crockpot, of course).

~~~

Question was asked in her comments: Does the duck need to be skinned.?

Steph’s reply: It needs to be skinned *for me*---I have weird skin issues.

I think the skin on top will brown, but the skin on the sides and bottom will be pretty soggy. If you're up for it, you can remove the bird and broil it for a bit to brown and crispify the skin.

~~~

Menu Plan

2008-12-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Update: I forgot this was also Family Favorites Edition!

Well, here we are, the Sunday before Christmas. Everyone ready? Me either.

Well, to be truthful, I am 'mostly' ready. All the gifts are purchased and all the ones that needed to be mailed are gone (whooohooo!). The kitchen is about half put together (for us, that's ahead of schedule!). I still have a few gifts incoming, a few things for Jeff and a couple little things for Emi (or is that Mama?) that I saw and just couldn't resist (although, I may hold those for her birthday). I still haven't decided - they were last minute add-ons when things went massively on sale at amazon. But other than that and wrapping those few things, the gifts are done. It seemed real easy this year and once again, no mall shopping. Sweeeeet! Emi and I went once for the Santa photo (isn't that sweet?) but never quite found the time to go back. I wanted to go back and just wander around to look at all the decorations and to see if I could get another pic of Emi with Santa. But, that's okay.

The good news is, even with the huge amounts of snow we got this weekend, I got to the grocery store this afternoon! I was going to wait and go tomorrow, but they are forecasting even more snow all week. So we are going to hunker in and stay warm. Well, Emi and I are. Jeff has to go to work Monday and Tuesday but then he is off until January 5th. I am SO excited! We have nothing special planned for that time, just hang out and enjoy being together (and not on the road!). Emi has been unimpressed with the snow this year (yay me!) so going out adventuring isn't on the list of things to do. If the mood hits we may go and get a sled to pull her around but we aren't sure she'd even be happy about that. Maybe just hang out at home and let her cook for us for a change. :)

So, that's the news here. Menu-wise, meals went great last week. Except ... I kept forgetting to start my chicken in the crock pot each morning! What's up with that? I'd think of it oh around 2-3 pm each day. I made myself a sticky note for tomorrow as I am determined to make it. It sounds delish ! (And easy.)

Here's the menu for the upcoming week. I have lots planned, but still simple. The exciting thing on the menu is Christmas dinner.

Jeff, if you are still reading ... STOP NOW! It's a surprise.

I involved Steph over at A Year of Crockpotting as my partner in crime, and she rocks. Not only did she make this dish once in very short notice, but twice!

Have a wonderful week. And to those celebrating Christmas, however you celebrate, have a wonderful day.

P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Menu Plan for Week of: December 21 – December 27

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal.
This week it was the CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken. However, it is on the plan for Monday (see reason for this above). We decided to really goof off – cheese, meat, crackers, apples, and milk for Emi. Fun and easy!

Monday: CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken Recipe, steamed rice, sugar snap peas

Tuesday: Breakfast! Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, melon slices or grapes

This is a biggie on family fav's - even Emi loves and adores grits!

Wednesday: Christmas Eve – Ham steak, Hash Brown Casserole, baked carrots

Thursday: Christmas!

Breakfast: Stuffed French Toast, chicken sausages, fruit salad
Not only a family fav, but a memory trigger of Chirstmases Past

Snacking: Crockpot Chex Mix
This very quickly became a family fav!

Dinner: Crockpot Peking Duck for Jeff and Steak with Thai Cowboy Marinade for Kiy (who knows if Emi will eat either although she will be offered both). Wild rice (made by Uncle Ben, I love that guy – he can come to dinner any time!), Cranberry-Orange Sauce, butternut squash, Emi’s making muffins again (probably out a box) and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (also out of a box – this year, next year I hope to get back to ‘real’ baking!).

Friday: Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki, steamed rice, a vege of some kind

Saturday: Pork Loin (going to use this recipe), pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese, green salad

Note: With Jeff home most of this week, I am purposely not counting on leftovers for dinners this week. Leftovers, it’s what’s for lunch!

Original Post: Menu Plan (Dec 21 - Dec 27)

CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken Recipe

2008-12-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken Recipe

From the CrockPot Lady) Steph @ A Year of Crockpotting

Day 231.

It should be noted that this chicken has been named "Candy Chicken" in our house. I don't think my kids have ever eaten so much chicken in their lives. If you are bored with dried out, boring chicken, you must try this.

You simply must.

Go.

Now.

Go to the store and buy the ingredients.

Go.

The Ingredients:
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless breast halves
1 cup brown sugar (it's okay. you can brush your teeth after.)
¼ cup lemon-lime soda (stay with me...)
2/3 cup vinegar (I used white wine, but think regular white would be fine)
3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat free are GF)
1 tsp ground black pepper

The Directions:

Use a 5-6 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

The Verdict: Seriously. Go to the store. This is what's for dinner.

Udon-Beef Noodle Bowl

2008-12-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Udon-Beef Noodle Bowl

Cooking Light, MAY 2002

This entrée falls somewhere between a soup and a noodle dish. You can eat it with chopsticks, but be sure to have spoons around to catch the broth.

8 ounces uncooked udon noodles (thick, round fresh Japanese wheat noodles) or spaghetti
1½ teaspoons bottled minced garlic
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 (14¼ ounce) cans low-salt beef broth
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons sake (rice wine) or dry sherry
1 tablespoon honey
Cooking spray
2 cups sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 4 ounces)
½ cup thinly sliced carrot
8 ounces top round, thinly sliced
¾ cup diagonally cut green onions
1 (6-ounce) bag prewashed baby spinach

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.

Place garlic, pepper, and broth in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Combine soy sauce, sake, and honey in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and carrot; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in soy sauce mixture; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vegetable mixture to broth mixture. Stir in beef; cook 2 minutes or until beef loses its pink color. Stir in noodles, green onions, and spinach. Serve immediately.

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: about 1½ cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 306 (16% from fat); FAT 5.6g (sat 1.8g, mono 2g, poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 22.4g; CARB 36.6g; FIBER 2.4g; CHOL 39mg; IRON 3.4mg; SODIUM 707mg; CALC 59mg;

Cooking Light, MAY 2002

Menu Plan

2008-12-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

With our event from last week, I didn't get two of our meals made. I did make one tonight, but only because Jeff was home to sit with Miss Emi.

She is feeling a bit better today, and now is quite clingy. Her temps were down all day, but still is quite grouchy, hungry then not hungry, tired then over tired. Poor baby. We are wondering, now that she is feeling sort of better, if she is remembering the events from Thursday. It was *not* a good day, and so very scary for her. Thank goodness they allowed us to stay with her, and hold her through all those tests. 'Back in the day', they didn't. I don't know how I would have handled that.

It was hard not to sit and cuddle with her all weekend. So you know what? I did! The tree still isn't decorated, the boxes are still waiting with the rest of the decorations for around the house but my darling girl needed me, so they waited. She is enjoying the Christmas tree as it is, with lights, tree skirt and the angel. So if that is what gets done this year, that is enough. Last weekend we put a tiny tree in her room that I found for $8.00! With tiny decorations (the tree came pre-lit) the whole thing cost about $12. Priceless. She loves it and already knows what "Christmas tree" is.

I do have cookies on my to-do list for this week (Monday and Tuesday). I want to take a couple of plates by the fire station, with Emi, as a small thank you. Sure, we (or rather our insurance) will get a bill, but the EMT guys were so amazing. Both with Emi and with me. A small token, a tiny gesture. I know now that Emi was never not going to make it through that, but at the time I thought they (and the 911 gal) saved Emi's life. I will never forget that.

If I actually do get those cookies made (all depends on how Miss Emi is doing), I will post my recipes. Each one is new, but supposed to be ultra-easy. Seeing as I want Miss Emi to be part of this, that is key.

So, after a quiet weekend, we expect a pretty quiet week. Emi has a follow-up with her ped on Tuesday. I have a feeling (and a huge hope) that by then she will be completely back to normal. We also have Jeff's holiday party on Wednesday. I really really hope she is up for that. She always loves the functions at Jeff's office, and of course tends to be the center of attention (that she laps up!), so we'd really hate for her to miss it. We will see.

Back to menu planning. Quiet week equals simple meals. Which, these days seems to be my norm. I think my days of elaborate and fancy meals are gone with a toddler in the house. All too soon I will have the time, and wish I didn't.

As always, don't forget to hop on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal.
This week it was Chicken Tortilla Bake. ((Yum, it was so good. I really need to make this more often!))

Monday: Jules’ Homemade Tomato Soup, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, grapes

Note: This is probably our favorite soup. It's just as easy as opening a can of Campbell's but OH!, so much tastier!

Tuesday: Breakfast! Eggs, grits, kielbasa, melon slices, maybe toast

Wednesday: Jeff’s Office Holiday Party

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Chicken Pockets, green salad (another hold over from last week)

Saturday: Udon-Beef Noodle Bowl

Original Post: Menu Plan (Dec 7 - Dec 13) and Update

Menu Plan

2008-11-23T15:01:00.000-08:00

Somehow, without my knowledge, someone put Thanksgiving on the calendar for *this* week. Eeps! I thought I had one more week in November, good thing our plans this year are simple.

Oh, and before I forget, I tried a new (better) omelet recipe instead of the one I posted last week. Much easier, fewer ingredients and we thought it was tastier. Ha! Pluses in my book. Here is the new recipe.

I am going to try to do some prep this week, as time allows. However, we have a pretty busy week in the days leading up to Thursday.

Grocery Shopping on Monday (need to remember to take the bird out of the fridge today!)
Max has a grooming appointment on Tuesday. In a perfect world, this would not be a most of the day adventure. However, the best (and most wonderful) groomer is about 30 minutes drive from our home. Just far enough that it's not worth coming home while she is taking care of him, so Emi and I end up needing to kill about 1.5-2 hours in a town where there is nothing to do. At least in nice weather there is a little park where we can take a picnic and run around. Now, nadda. This should be fun. Back to the picnic idea (in the car!) and dvd's. Hoping the day is sorta nice and not rainy, that way I can bundle us up and at least take a walk.
Wednesday is my (hopeful) baking/prep day. It's only the three of us, so it's not like I am planning this big elaborate meal or anything. But because it's just us, I like to make a bit of a big deal out of the holidays. It's harder, when we can't be with our loved ones at this time of year but we are pretty much getting use it to. Mostly.
I also want to not to have to do too terribly much on Thursday morning. One of my favorite childhood memories is watching the Macy's Parade in the mornings. Emi and I watched last year, but it went right over her head. This year, she is so into balloons and (of course) music. She will be lovin' this. Hope the talking heads keep it to a minimum, that's a big pet peeve of mine. I want to see the parade, not them.

My current plan for Thanksgiving:

Psycho Chicken (That's right, no turkey again this year - we like chicken so much more!)
Stuffing (Usually I just make a box, but this year I am SO tempted to try this. However, I wonder if Jeff can handle a non-stuffed bird? hmmmm)
Homemade Gravy (Seriously, I am not a gravy person {yuck!} but I love this stuff!)
Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Yams/Sweet Potatoes (Just out of a can, nothing fancy - heat and add a splash of orange juice, a dash of maple syrup, a sprinkle of pecans and just a bit of brown sugar, NO marshmallows!)
Acorn Squash (One of our all-time fav's and I really don't make this enough.)
Mom's Apple Muffins
Grandma Ople's Apple Pie (Probably the *best* apple pie we've ever had!)
Pumpkin Ring Cake (Not for the day, but sometime over the weekend. It's just not possible to have Thanksgiving without something pumpkin. Yuuuuum, pumpkin.)

With all this going on, the rest of the week is going to be S.I.M.P.L.E. We still have so many leftovers from last week, and since I need the fridge cleaned out so I can shop, we are having our Leftover Buffet early in the week!

Please notice how blasted early this is up! I woke up at 4am and was not able to go back to sleep. After goofing off for too long, I decided to get this done. Woooohoooo!

Oh, and don't forget to check out I'm an Organizing Junki e for more MPM (later today).

Sunday: Leftover Buffet

Monday: Tuna Salad Sandwiches (left over tuna steak from Friday night dinner!), fresh bakery bread, lettuce, some kind of cold salad and probably frozen peas for Emi

Tuesday: Easy Asian Beef and Noodles (either beef or pork, depends on what I have/is on sale this week)

Wednesday: Breakfast (keeping it simple!): Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, maybe toast

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday: Chicken Pockets, green salad

Saturday: Chicken Tortilla Bake (using some of the leftover chicken)

Original Post: Menu Plan (November 23 - November 29)

Chicken Pockets

2008-11-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

Chicken Pockets
(Kiy Note: I have no idea how long I've had this recipe, nor where I found it. I came across it in my recipe stash while looking for something fun and different to do with leftover chicken. Keeping my fingers crossed!)

Ingredients:
3 oz cream cheese (I use fat free)
3 T melted butter
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1/8 tsp salt and pepper
1 T chives or green onions
1 pkg crescent rolls (I use reduced fat)
½ c. Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Blend cream cheese plus 2 T butter until smooth; add the chicken, salt, pepper, and chives; mix. Separate crescent rolls into triangles. Spoon meat mixture into center of each triangle. Pull corners together and twist slightly and seal edges. Brush tops with reserved butter and roll in Italian breadcrumbs. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

These can be made in advance and frozen; thaw for 1 hour before baking or cook at lower temp for 30-35 min.

CrockPot Corn Bread Stuffing Recipe

2008-11-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

CrockPot Corn Bread Stuffing Recipe

From The Crock Pot Lady:

Day 318.

Dude. I so love my crockpot. It has gotten me to think out of the box, and I now have a refrigerator full of 2! TWO! kinds of perfect crockpot stuffing.

I think I need to bronze the crockpot after this year.

I've never had cornbread stuffing before, so I turned to the master: Paula Deen.

The Ingredients:

8 x 8 pan of baked cornbread (I used the Whole Foods 365 brand of GF cornbread mix)
4 slices of toasted bread (I used the GF Food food For Life brand in the pink bag)
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 beaten eggs
1 T poultry seasoning
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable!) --and another 1/4 cup if desired, later

The Directions:

I changed Paula's recipe quite a bit, but tried to keep the basics exactly the same.

I used a 6-quart crockpot. If you only have a 4-quart, toss the stuffing together in a huge mixing bowl, and then transfer to your 4-quart.

Bake the cornbread according to package directions (or by all means, make it by scratch!)

If you have a few days to let it go stale, do that. Other wise, cut into slices and bake at 300 degrees until toasty (along with your bread slices). It took about 30 minutes in my oven.

While the cornbread is toasting, chop up the onion and celery. Put the pieces into your crockpot. Add the seasoning.

Melt butter in the microwave, and mix together with 3 beaten eggs. Stir well into the veggies and seasonings in the crockpot.

Cut the cornbread and toasted bread into cubes, about 1/2 inch square.

Toss the cubes of bread and cornbread well with the ingredients in the crockpot.

Pour in 2 cups of broth. Stir gingerly to combine. The cornbread will break up more than the bread did in the other stuffing, but try to keep a few pieces whole for texture.

Cook on high for 2 hours. This can be on warm successfully for up to 2 hours.

If you'd like a more moist dressing, add another 1/4 cup of broth before serving.

The Verdict.
Tasty. Delicious.
I think we have a new member at our dinner table this Thanksgiving!

Quick Quiche

2008-11-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

Quick Quiche

(Kiy Note: Made this on 11/20/2008, quicker, easier and tastier than my previously posted recipe. I will be using this one from now on!)

PREP TIME: 15 Min
COOK TIME: 35 Min (Kiy Note: Mine took closer to 50 minutes and probably could have used another 5-7)

Ingredients:
8 slices bacon
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted (Kiy Note: I did not use)
4 eggs, beaten
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup all-purpose flour (suggested: ½ cup pancake mix - Kiy Note: I used Reduced-Fat Bisquick)
1½ cups milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

3. Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

Menu Plan

2008-11-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

Last week I was looking for suggestions for a crock pot meal for my boneless, skinless frozen chicken breasts. Karen over at Mommy I'm Home suggested the A Year of Crockpotting's (Stephanie/The Crockpot Lady) Teriyaki Chicken recipe. Oh my! It really is as easy as it looks, more so! I dumped my frozen chicken in, dumped teriyaki sauce over it (I had some ready-made stuff in the fridge I have been wanting use up anyway - bonus!) and 4.5-5 hours later had THE most tender and moist chicken breasts ever. They didn't look like they would be (they actually didn't look all that great and I was concerned) but yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum! I posted this recipe and my notes on my recipe blog, you can find it here.

Because of my on-going issues with it getting dark at 430pm (and now, earlier!), quick and easy is my plan. Also, I am going to try to do some of the pre-prep earlier in the day (ie: for my quiches, mix up the ingredients and put them in the fridge). I wonder how well that will actually work, but I need to do something different! Although, I didn't do too badly last week. The only thing I didn't get to were the burgers last night. But, there's a REALLY great reason for it. I hope to put up a post about it early this week ... if Emi naps (which is hit or miss these days, ouch!).

Don't forget to check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM.

Sunday: Teriyaki Burgers on the grill with pineapple slices, buns, Oriental Salad, homemade baked fries

Monday: Tiki Tiki Pizza, Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad

Tuesday: Baked Meatballs, linguini (easier for Emi to eat than spaghetti) and jarred marinara sauce with Kiy adds of: zucchini, onions, artichoke hearts and any other vege I can find (we like our marinara sauce well hidden with vege’s!), leftover Oriental Salad, garlic bread (mainly as if I don’t serve it, Jeff won’t eat the spag!)

I make the world’s worst meatballs. That said, I need to work on this so I am going to try this recipe. If it works, I will add it to my recipe blog. If not, I will keep looking for more hints!

Wednesday: Breakfast! Quick-and-Easy Quiche (made in mini muffin pans for fun), cheese grits (regular grits with grated sharp cheddar cheese added in the last few minutes of cooking), melon slices

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia (but since both salmon and tuna steaks are on sale this week, that’s what we will be having), wild rice and a vegetable or salad of some kind

Saturday: Free Nite
We tend to 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.

Original Post: Menu Plan (November 15– November 22)

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe

2008-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe

Special thanks to Karen over at Mommy I'm Home for suggesting this!

The Ingredients:

Chicken pieces - I used frozen wings and drumettes, but you can use whatever body parts you have on hand.
If you have bottled teriyaki sauce, you are done. Just make it the lazy way--and use about ¾ of a cup.

I wasn't lucky enough to be lazy, because we were out of bottled teriyaki, and I wasn't about to put off cooking "the best food ever."

I used this:

½ cup soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free, and so is Tamari Wheat Free)
3 T brown sugar
1 T sherry (I think tequila would work, too)
3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

The Directions:

plop your chicken in the crockpot
cover it up with the sauce

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. If you are using frozen pieces, it will take longer than if you are using thawed or fresh chicken. Different pieces of chicken also have different density, and that will also effect cooking time. If you are going to be out of the house, cook on low. You can always switch it to high later.

Notes from Kiy: I used 4 skinless, boneless (frozen) chicken breasts (about 2.5 pounds - they were monster breasts!) still in the frozen condition. I tossed them in the bottom of the crock pot and dumped about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of ready-made teriyaki sauce over them. Setting on low for about 4.5-5 hours. Then I took them out, covered them with foil to keep them warm. Using cornstarch and a bit of water, made a paste and added it to the sauce in the crock pot (turn it up to high or put in on your stove if you are able). Boil it for a few moments and then let it sit a few moments, nice think almost-but-not-quite gravy consistency to ladle over the chicken. YUM! The only thing I will do differently is to not use the bottled sauce, way too salty for our taste.

Menu Plan

2008-11-09T15:03:00.000-08:00

I am still working on my Seattle post, but wanted to get this up. With Jeff still gone, Emi and I are going to have pretty simple meals until his return on Wednesday. I have little-to-almost-nothing in the house to eat, so a grocery run is in order first thing tomorrow!

I had wanted to toss something (frozen) chicken breast based into the crock pot for Wednesday, but could find nothing that tempted me or wasn't too involved (or didn't require a cream-of-something soup, not a fav of ours). If anyone has something totally divine, please let me know! Seriously, because if not ... poor Jeff will be springing for dinner out that night. :) (Oh, and btw, I did check out A Year of Crockpotting, but nothing really grabbed me there either. Maybe it's not the recipes, but that I wasn't hungry when I was looking).

So, here is out menu for the week. Simple, easy, trying to use up a lot of what we have on-hand with just a bit of grocery shopping for fresh fruit/vege's and milk/yogurt. As always, don't forget to check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM.

Menu Plan for Week of: November 9 – November 15

Sunday: Pumpkin/Ricotta Pancakes, applesauce

I just add a half to three-quarters of a cup of pumpkin puree, dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg

Monday: Boxed Mac & Cheese, peas, pear slices

Tuesday: Leftover pancakes, peaches

Wednesday: (Jeff home!!!!) Hopefully a chicken crock pot something or else dinner out

Thursday: Breakfast! Eggs, chicken sausage, Cracker Barrel’s Hashbrown Casserole

The casserole is one of the very few things I make with cream-of soups. I'd love to find an alternative but I have found nothing so far. Suggestions welcome!

Friday: Teriyaki Burgers on the grill with pineapple slices, buns, some kind of cold salad (still haven’t decided yet), homemade baked fries

Saturday: Free Nite

If we need, Leftover Buffet, if not …
We tend to 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.

Original Post: Menu Plan (November 9 – November 15)

Menu Plan

2008-11-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

Um, oops. When I woke up this morning I realized it is Monday! Where did the weekend go? The weekends that Jeff has Friday off (every other weekend, and it's so wonderful!) we always end up goofing off more as we both keep thinking 'we have a free day'. Also, I had NO projects set for this weekend, which was a nice change.

Jeff leaves for Tampa on Wednesday at 430am. Ouch. He's decided to take a cab to the airport. I love this man! Although, the only reason is that we don't want to wake Emi up that early, but I will take it. Ahhh, bliss. I will get up with him, kiss him goodbye, wave at the taxi .... and run right back to bed!

We did 'whatever' for dinner last night, and for Monday and Tuesday will probably do much of the same. I am planning on Pasta with Spinach and a frozen vege for Emi for tonight. Yep, it's from last week, I didn't quite get to it. Actually, I didn't get to Marinated Roast Chicken, roasted baby red potatoes and peas either. I wasn't thinking when I set up the menu plan last week about our Forever Day celebrations (and that we'd probably want to go out to our fav Chinese restaurant - which we did), and totally forgot about Halloween and what that does to dinner. Basically, Emi had peas (of course), applesauce and a grilled cheese sandwich. I think Jeff and I had baby Snickers and Mounds bars. Oops. :)

So, I sort of have a plan for Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday through Saturday is another matter. First of all, I am planning yet another adventure for Emi and I while daddy is gone. But that, is another post! So I guess what all this is to say ... no menu plan this week!

In fact, I am not going to link up at I'm an Organizing Junkie because of that. But make sure if you are looking for more MPM's to head on over - I bet there are a lot to see!

BTW, I did indeed make Barbara's Chili with a Little Sass and Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread. Oh my, total yum. But be warned, oh my gosh that chili recipe makes a LOT! Next time I am going to halve it, and we will still have tons of left overs!

Original Post:

Chili with a Little Sass

2008-10-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

This isn't quite Chili with a Kick, not too spicy... More like Chili with a Little Sass, just enough attitude without being too spicy. ~ Barbara @ Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers *and* Kitchen Comforts

Chili with a Little Sass

INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, diced
32 oz can of tomato sauce
32 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans of light red kidney beans
2 15 oz cans of dark red kidney beans
2 4 oz cans of diced green chilis

SEASONING:
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt

-OR-

2 packets of your favorite chili seasoning

TOPPINGS (all optional)
sour cream
shredded cheddar
tortilla chips
diced jalapenos

DIRECTIONS:

Brown the ground beef, strain the drippings

Keep the ground beef in the strainer while you sauté the diced onion

Once golden brown and slightly translucent, add ground beef back and rewarm

Mix together the seasoning (or use the packets)

Rinse the beans in the strainer

Add beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and seasonings to the ground beef mixture

Mix thoroughly, and simmer over medium low heat for 8-10 minutes

Serve with toppings

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

2008-10-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

Nothing goes better with Chili then a little cornbread. Especially when said cornbread is sweet buttermilk cornbread, hot out of the oven, slathered with butter and drizzled with honey, with a crispy outside from a hot cast iron skillet. Is your mouth watering yet? I'm going to share my cornbread secrets with you, and I've been told many a time that my cornbread is the best! ~ Barbara @ Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers *and* Kitchen Comforts

Cornbread Drizzled with Honey

Secret #1: Buttermilk

Secret #2: Honey

Secret #3: Hot Skillet

Don't have buttermilk? I keep a buttermilk powder on hand for baking when you want the buttermilk flavor, without added liquid. However, you can use it to substitute in a pinch.

Now, this week I got to up the secret factor, because I got to use some AMAZING honey, and I don't know if I'd ever be able to live up to it with any old honey again. I got my honey from Haff Apiaries (701.663.1619‎) in Mandan, North Dakota, it's raw unpasteurized honey and the best I've ever tasted. I also used White Lily White Buttermilk Cornmeal Mix, this is hard to find up here in North Dakota, so I order it online. While I do think it makes a better cornbread, you can use whatever corn meal you have.

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups White Lily White Buttermilk Cornmeal Mix
-OR-
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour

1½ cup buttermilk
-OR-
1½ cup milk
2 Tbsp buttermilk powder

1 egg, lightly beaten
4 tsp honey
¼ cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:

Generously grease 8-10" cast iron skillet (I use butter flavored shortening for this, butter just doesn't do as good a job).

Preheat skillet in oven to 425

Measure cornmeal (and flour, if needed) into a bowl and stir (with a wooden spoon) it up to break up large clumps.

Add remaining ingredients and mix until just moist, it will have some clumps.

Pour into skillet and put in oven for 20 - 30 minutes (depends on the skillet size, start checking on it at 20 minutes. You want the top to get to a nice deep golden color.

Note: Barbara said: Kiy: You can use a cake round, you just won't get quite as crispy a crust. Or any oven safe skillet.

Marinated Roast Chicken

2008-10-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Marinated Roast Chicken

Originally submitted by Sandy Schreiber and modified by Kaboose.com

This sweet marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger infuses chicken breasts, thighs and wings with intense flavors and makes for moist, succulent chicken in the oven or on the backyard grill.

Ingredients:
2 cups soy sauce
2 cups brown sugar
1½ cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
5 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips

Kiy Note: I am halving this recipe!

Cooking Instructions:

In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sugar, and ginger. Place chicken into the
mixture. Chill in the refrigerator 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
Place marinated chicken in the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven at least 1 hour, or until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Nutrition Facts:
Servings per Recipe: 10
Amount Per Serving:
calories: 562cal
total fat: 5.5g
cholesterol: 129mg
sodium: 3045mg
carbohydrates: 77.5g
fiber: 0.5g
protein: 49.9g

Preparation Time: 30 min.
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ready In: 9 hours and 30 min.
Servings: 10

Menu Plan

2008-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Quick post as I am beat and SO ready for bed! Last week's menu went really well. I made a new (to me) version of the Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas, I will try to post about it later this week.

So, without much chatter, here's our menu for the week. Oh, and don't forget to head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for MPM!

Sunday: Jules’ Homemade Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (by request)

Monday: Marinated Roast Chicken, roasted baby red potatoes, peas

Tuesday: Chili with a Little Sass, Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread, green salad (probably this one)

Wednesday: Pasta with Spinach, frozen vege for Emi (who isn’t wild about spinach)

Thursday: Breakfast! Grits, eggs, chicken sausage, toast

Friday: Leftover Buffet

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (October 26 - November 1)

Menu Plan

2008-10-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, Miss Emi and I made it home yesterday morning. We are pooped, but happy to be home with daddy and Max. I hope to have a blog post up early this week detailing our adventure but I just want to say that Emi was a true trooper and good as gold. She handled all the changes that we tossed at her, charming all she met along the way. I am so proud of our little girl!

On to the menu for the week. Needless to say, after two basically sleepless nights on the train I am still playing catch-up on sleep. I am going to take this week very easy, meal-planning-wise, and try to use up stuff in our freezer and pantry.

Jeff thought he'd be in charge of meals the first few days (does this fab man of mine know me or what?!), so he had Saturday, Sunday and Monday meals all planned out.

Saturday's lunch he wanted to go all out, so we had marinated steaks on the grill with Rice-a-Roni (15+ years of marriage and I had no idea he loves that stuff!) and corn.

Saturday dinner was dog's on the grill with baked fries and cole slaw.

Sunday's brunch I actually was up to doing something, so he made coffee (oh, glorious wonderful coffee) and emptied the dishwasher (sweet sweet man) and entertained Miss Emi while I make pancakes. {I have to admit, I don't really follow this recipe any more, I just use it as a guideline. Typically I use 3 cups of the wheat pancake mix, about 4 oz of ricotta cheese, 2 eggs and 1.25 cups of milk - we think they are light and fluffy, sometimes I add a splash of water as the batter can get a bit thick. This makes a pretty big batch but I also make some tiny Emi-sized pancakes for later in the week usage.}

Sunday dinner was garden veggie burgers on the grill, mac and cheese, and applesauce.

What a treat to not have to worry about meal planning. Yes, they were odd meals for us and we used some convenience foods but we didn't order a pizza or send Jeff out for Quiznos or Chinese (our downfalls!). So we feel we did well this weekend.

Monday's dinner is something we like to do now and again. It's a bit pricey but not as pricey as ordering a pizza. Jeff picked up a couple of gourmet frozen pizzas. Yep, odd, but we like them. We did this much more when we lived in Japan as our lives were nuts back then. Mainly because I was on so many committees and rarely home. Now that life has changed (insert Miss Emi!), we are still nuts but in a different way. :)

Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Sunday: Garden Veggie Burgers on the grill, mac and cheese, applesauce

Monday: Gourmet frozen pizzas, grapes & apples

Tuesday: Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas, cantaloupe slices

Wednesday: Easy Asian Beef and Noodle s (chicken instead of beef), fresh fruit salad

Thursday: Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini, leftover fruit salad

Friday: Leftover Buffet

Saturday: Free Nite

We tend to 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.

For those who have made it all the way to the end, here is a teaser of blog posting to come. Miss Emi in one of the shops we hopped to! Thanks to my mom, she is much more organized than I am and already has all her photos downloaded from her camera and (I am sure) sorted into folders on her computer. Me, I still need to unpack my camera! :)

Original Post: Menu Plan & HOME!

Menu Plan

2008-09-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight's post is short and sweet, for some reason I am completely zonked. As soon as Emi is well and truly asleep, I am heading to bed. Must be all that cool, crisp autumn air. :)

As always, if you are looking for more great recipes and menu plans head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal.
This week it was Mexican Lasagna, sliced nectarines and peaches. We ate the peaches and nectarines all week (and loved every bite!), so while at the farmers market again on Friday I picked up some more.

Monday: Breakfast! Eggs, sausages, grits and toast or hashbrowns

Tuesday: Chicken Tortilla Bake, some kind of frozen vege

Wednesday: Burgers on the grill, homemade sweet potato fries (scroll down in the link for my how-to), zucchini slices on the grill

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Fish Nite is back! Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia, steamed rice and sugar snap peas

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (September 28 – October 4)

Tiki Tiki Pizza

2008-09-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

Tiki Tiki Pizza
A fav at a local pizza place I am trying to recreate.

pizza shell (premade, make your own, or refrigerated)
½ - ¾ cup pesto sauce (make your own or use jarred)
½ pound chicken breast or tenders
2-3 tablespoons BBQ sauce (use your fav, thicker is better)
pineapple, canned (we prefer the tidbits as they are easier to eat on pizzas)
artichoke hearts, chopped (canned, packed in water)
feta cheese, crumbled
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breast or tenders (tenders cook quicker) and sauté until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat. When chicken is cool enough to handle, dice chicken (should be about a cup). In a small bowl, toss chicken with 2-3 tablespoons barbecue sauce (depends on how saucy you like yours). Set aside.

Spread pesto sauce evenly over pizza dough, leaving about half an inch for the crust. Sprinkle with chicken, pineapple, artichoke hearts, feta and mozzarella cheeses. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheeses bubble. Let sit for about 5 minutes, cut and serve.

Mexican Lasagna

2008-09-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Mexican Lasagna
Rachael Ray

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast (Kiy Note: Sometimes I use turkey)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ red onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas
2½ cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
2 scallions, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.

Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

Kiy Note: This dish is a family fav, it's easy and very tasty!

Menu Plan

2008-09-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

First off, the Tiki Tiki pizza was a huge success. I doubled the recipe so we would have leftovers (isn't that the real reason everyone loves pizza?). We didn't expect Emi to eat it, but she ate most of it (except the chicken, she still isn't really a meat gal). Recipe link is below (Friday).

Also, I finally made the Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini. Oh My Goodness! Jeff and I about fell into the pan lapping it up, it was so good. I tried to take a picture but it looked like a green and white blob of yuck. A food photographer, I will never be. But seriously, try this. It is much easier than the recipe reads, just take it step by step. Make sure you have all your ingredients out and lined up, chop-drain-etc everything in advance (by the way, I do this with all my recipes, I think it makes cooking much easier ... I also put away as I use). I can also see using this as just an appetizer without the tortellini, maybe spread on baguettes or something. Very very good! Oh, and I made some changes (big surprise there, I can't leave any recipe alone!). I did not use the butter in the first step, just the olive oil. Also, there was no way I was going to use heavy cream. I used half-and-half, fat free! Lastly, I used only about a half a cup of the cheese, and forgot to put more on the table to sprinkle on, we didn't miss it at all. I didn't tell Jeff until after dinner and he said leave it that way, it rocked just the way I made it.

Emi has been a bit under the weather the last few days. Nothing major that we can tell, just runny diapers and her appetite is off a bit (except for fruit, which we have been trying to limit - not easy with Emi!). She is still her happy busy self, but every now and again will stop what she is doing, cry a bit, and need a hug or cuddle. It looks like there could be a molar working it's way up and in, and that could be all it is but it's always a bit worrisome when Little Bit is off.

So with that in mind, I am making dinners early in the week that are quick and easy. This week is family fav's week at I'm an Organizing Junkie. Every meal I have planned is one we've had before (and love). We do have some additional fav's that completely rock:

Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia
Pumpkin Ring Cake
Orange-Ginger Chicken
Jamaican Banana Bread (I always double this!)
Gail’s PSYCHO CHICKEN

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal.

This week it was nothing, I made everything I had planned. However, tonight we are going to just do a ‘whatever’ night as Emi is a bit under the weather. Jeff is running to the grocery store for some basics, and with luck I will be cooking the rest of the week.

Monday: Jules’ Homemade Tomato Soup, grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit salad

Tuesday: Taco Salad (one ‘pot’ meal)

What we like in ours (I put all the stuff on the counter and we sorta buffet-it): ground beef or turkey with taco seasoning, taco chips of some kind, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, canned corn (rinsed and chilled), pineapple (I know it’s odd, but it really works!), sliced olives (for Jeff & Emi), shredded cheese and salsa (both mild and whatever Jeff is eating at the moment, varies from medium to oh-my-gosh my stomach walls have burned away).

Wednesday: Mexican Lasagna, sliced nectarines and peaches

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Homemade Pizza Nite: Tiki Tiki Pizza and a green salad (probably the Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad)

This is by request (Jeff). Yes, much to my delight, it really was that good!

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (September 21 - September 27)

Menu Plan

2008-09-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is going to be quick, 'cause it's 930pm here and I am pooped! Miss Emi is not sleeping well at all lately, and the last three nights it has just been easier to move her into our room to finish the night. That seems to settle her down, so she must need something right now. I have a feeling we have more teeth coming in, poor baby. Thank goodness Jeff and I are slackers and the co-sleeper that we keep meaning to take down is still up and attached to our bed. At this point, we've decided to leave it up for awhile. There just isn't room in our queen for all three of us. Especially since the smallest of the three takes up the most room, and covers!

Dinners were odd last week, so I have two hold-overs. I am also going to try my hand at making a pizza that is a fav at our local pizza place. We are going to seriously try to not laze out and call out for pizzas. We tend to do that, mainly as the day gets away from me and Jeff offers to call. Plus the fact that their pizzas are truly amazing, so there isn't much arm twisting from either one of us. But, between the cost of the pizza(s), the (new) delivery and gas charges, tax and tip ... ouch. So that little extravagance is being tossed out the window. Now it's Kiy's Pizza Place, tips required! ;)

So, since I can hear my pillow calling, here is our menu for the week. It's a pretty busy week so not much cooking. Don't forget to check out Organizing Junkie's for more MPM!

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal.
This week it was Shortcut Lasagna with sautéed zucchini and onions AND Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini (one pot meal, will serve an additional vege or even a fruit for Emi, just in case)
Tonight we had the Shortcut Lasagna with sautéed zucchini and onions

· Monday: Homemade Pizza Nite (always a hit!): Tiki Tiki Pizza and a green salad (probably the Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad) {{If this pizza works, I will post the recipe later this week.}}

· Tuesday: Special Lunch at Jeff’s office, not sure what we are doing for dinner

· Wednesday: From *WIDGTLW: Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini (one pot meal, will serve an additional vege or even a fruit for Emi, just in case)

· Thursday: Our 15^th Anniversary! Not sure what we are doing yet, we have nothing planned but hey, at least we both remembered. Many a year we both forget until days later!

· Friday: Leftover Buffet

· Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (September 14 - September 20)

Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini

2008-09-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

*Update September 21, 2008: I made this last week and made some changes, see below*

Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini
30 min | 30 min prep | SERVES 4 -6

Ingredients:

* 1 (10 ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon butter (Kiy Note: I did not use)
* 3 garlic clove, chopped
* 1 small onion, grated
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1 cup heavy cream (Kiy Note: I substituted fat free 1/2 and 1/2)
* 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 (14 ounce) can water-packed artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
* 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese (Kiy Note: I used about 1/2 cup)
* 1 lb cheese tortellini

Directions :

Heat a deep skillet over medium heat with the oil and butter.
When butter melts, add garlic and grated onion. Saute for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and cook for 1 minute.
Whisk in the broth, then the cream and bring to a bubble.
Season the sauce with nutmeg and reduce heat to low.
Separate spinach into pieces as you add it to the sauce.
Stir in the artichokes and cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook the tortellini in salted boiling water according to package directions, about 7 minutes.
Drain and toss with the spinach artichoke sauce.
Serve immediately with additional grated cheese and diced tomatoes, if desired.

Menu Plan

2008-09-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last week went well, cooking-wise. Had a few things pop up (like sparkling pretty weather!) so that found us again ditching planned meals and running out the door. Friday night we took Emi to Concert in the Park. It's pretty awesome with a live (usually local) band and then when it gets dark they show a family friendly movie. She had a great time, and so did we! They have this all summer long, every Friday night, but we thought Emi was too young. And, she really is but we thought with taking a late nap, we'd give it a go. We are thinking by next summer she will enjoy it more and be able to handle a later night once in awhile. We supported the Lions Club and bought dogs and sodas, and brought Emi a small picnic of yogurt, fruit and cheese. We decided from now on we'd bring a family picnic and just donate money to the Lions Club. Better on our waist lines! (Although, they were grilling the dogs and the smell alone was divine!)

We had the Zesty Cheese Ravioli last week and if you haven't tried it yet, go for it. I forgot how totally, insanely easy it is to prepare! And good, ooooooh, SO good. Only, use a larger pot than you think you need. I always forget when I make this that I have to add mounds of chopped spinach that starts out huge and then wilts ... but you have to be able to gently mix it into the pasta without mashing either. Larger pot! And really, I am not sure where the 'zesty' comes in. It isn't spicy at all, just darned good eatin'.

Last week, Gina asked how I make my sweet potato fries. I do nothing all that special, and since we bought the convection oven they've been sort of hit or miss (I am still perfecting my temps and times with the oven). But here is what I do in our regular oven:

I figure one large potato per person: Cut them into 1/2 inch wedges and toss with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil (may need to adjust this depending on how many potatoes you are making) and 1/4 teaspoon of salt (I use Kosher salt, but regular table salt works too). In a single layer, arrange on a baking sheet gently coated with cooking spray. Place in a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes, turning once or more as needed. (We like ours EXTRA crispy so the last 10-15 minutes I crank the heat up to 500ish.) That's it, nothing fancy.

This week the weather is again supposed to be really nice, so I am purposely planning easy, VERY-quick-to-make meals. As always, if you are looking for more great recipes and menu plans head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!
This week it was the Hamburgs on the grill (beef farmer burgers), homemade sweet potato fries, peas and/or carrots.

Monday: Shortcut Lasagna with sautéed zucchini and onions

Tuesday: Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini (one pot meal, will serve an additional vege or even a fruit for Emi, just in case)

Wednesday: Orange Mandarin Chicken, udon or soba noodles, sugar snap peas

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Homemade Pizza Nite: Thai Chicken Pizza with a tossed green salad (will make Emi an omelet or something)

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (September 7 - September 13)

Zesty Cheese Ravioli

2008-08-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Zesty Cheese Ravioli
Cooking Light

Ingredients:
½ cup water
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (9-ounce) package fresh cheese ravioli (such as Contadina)
2 cups finely chopped spinach (5 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Add ravioli; cover and cook 5 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 5 minutes or until done.

Stir in spinach, sugar, and pepper; cover and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Yield

(Ky Note: I double this every single time!)

2 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 505(26% from fat); FAT 14.5g (sat 8g,mono 4.1g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 25.8g; CHOLESTEROL 107mg; CALCIUM 476mg; SODIUM 640mg; FIBER 7.4g; IRON 5.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 69.7g

Elizabeth Taliaferro , Cooking Light, APRIL 2000

Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad

2008-08-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad
Cooking Light, Quick Dinners, December 2001, page 16

8 cups torn spinach, (about 1 [10-oz] bag)
1 8-oz pkge presliced mushrooms
2 12-oz cans mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese (about 1 oz)
2 Tbsp chopped pecans
½ cup fat-free raspberry vinaigrette (ie: Girard’s) (Kiy Note: We use Marie's)

1. Place 2 cups of spinach on each of 4 plates. Arrange ½ cup mushrooms and 1/3 cup oranges over spinach. Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese and 1 ½ teaspoon pecans; drizzle each with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette.

Yield: 4 servings

Kiy Note: We tend to eat this a lot, I just didn't think to post it. It's easy and a bit more special than a regular green salad, but takes no more time to make. I always have the ingredients on hand and have used feta in place of the blue cheese quite often. I have even used shredded cheddar for a friend who was so sure she wouldn't like the feta. Lately, I have taken to chopping up an apple and tossing it in too. Nice crunch and extra goodness!

Menu Plan

2008-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I made the Cinnamon-Beef Noodles. Oh gosh! Seriously, try this dish. Even Emi ate the meat, and Emi doesn't really eat meat all that much. Make sure you let it simmer until it's nice and tender, that is definitely the secret. For those that cannot imagine cinnamon with a beef (or meat dish) you really cannot taste the cinnamon. I was concerned about it, but decided to give it a try. There is a hint of something, but I couldn't tell it was the cinnamon. It really is an amazing (and easy) dish to make. And, it must be fool-proof. I didn't read the ingredient list as closely as I should have. It calls for rice wine or sake, NOT rice wine vinegar (big difference). I looked on-line and there really isn't a sub, but 'the powers that be' think that possibly a sweet white wine could be used in a pinch. None of that in the house either, but I did have some Merlot. Not sweet, not white but ... wine! It seemed to work just fine, but I do have rice wine/sake on my grocery list. Seems I am going to need it in my pantry as this recipe is a serious keeper! Thanks Gina, keep those yummy recipe ideas coming!

Emi is finally down for the night, so I am going to cut this short and steal a couple of hours for ME! I have finally picked up my stitching again and it's calling my name. Have a wonderful, and safe, holiday weekend.

Don't forget to stop by Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday.

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!
This week it was the Fresh Salmon and Tuna Steaks from our newly found fish monger (using the Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia recipe), lo mein style noodles, sautéed zucchini from the farmer’s market. However, we didn’t have that tonight as our fish monger closed on Sunday’s. We will have it later in the week, on a day that is convenient for Jeff to stop on his way home (last week, there wasn’t a day that was for him).
Instead, we had CORN (haha!). I finally got to use this, thanks to many who told me about it, especially Tamy at 3 sides of crazy. We ate up ALL the leftovers, made Emi a cheese omelete, and made me happy to have a mostly empty fridge. Off to the grocery store tomorrow, yes on Labor Day!

Monday: Steaks on the grill with Thai Cowboy Steak Marinade, baked potatoes, Spinach and Mandarin Orange Salad (I’ve been craving this salad!)

Tuesday: Cooking Light’s Zesty Cheese Ravioli, probably some frozen peas for Emi

Wednesday: Salmon and Tuna steaks night, I hope!

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Hamburgs on the grill (beef farmer bugers), homemade sweet potato fries, peas and/or carrots

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (August 31 – September 6)

Menu Plan

2008-08-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

We ended up getting our hot weather back for the weekend so I've taken some liberties (it's my MP after-all!) in switching things around. I didn't get a chance to make the Chicken Tortilla Bake last week (spent too much time playing outside with Miss Emi, the weather was SO nice!). And since I want to double it for leftovers and lunches it will never fit in the convection oven. It ended up being just this side of hot today, and neither of us was willing to shut up the house and turn on the a/c just for dinner! So I am moving that dish to later in the week and we are going to cook out tonight. Yum!

My friend Gina shared a recipe with me last week that I just can't get out of my mind. So, I have it on the menu for this week even though buying yet more beef was not in my grocery budget. Check out the Cinnamon-Beef Noodles, doesn't that look totally yummy?

Jeff had last Friday off, so he went to the farmer's market with Emi and I. While we were there, we talked with the fish guy. Come to find out, he has a store here and it's quite near Jeff's office. A fish monger, just like Alton Brown! Sweet, we are quite thrilled with this latest development. Now if we could just find a pork and chicken farmer, we'd be set! Oh, and the fish monger has a local source for buffalo. We love buffalo steaks, ground meat, just about anything!

The Orange-Ginger Chicken recipe is an oldy but goody. I used to make it all the time and for some reason got out of the habit. It's quick and very easy, and extremely tasty! It's one of those, no-one can mess it up recipes!

Don't forget to stop by Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday!

Sunday: *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!

Sunday: Hamburgs on the grill, homemade French fries, Oriental Salad, cantaloupe slices, grapes

Monday: Cinnamon-Beef Noodles, frozen peas for Emi, green salad for Jeff & I

Tuesday: Fresh Salmon and Tuna Steaks from our newly found fish monger (yes, probably using the Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia recipe, yum!), lo mein style noodles, sautéed zucchini from the farmer’s market

Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Bake – this week’s *What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Orange-Ginger Chicken, steamed rice, sugar-snap peas

Saturday: Free Nite

We tend to 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.

Original Post: Menu Plan (August 24 - August 30)

Cinnamon-Beef Noodles

2008-08-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon-Beef Noodles
Nina Simonds , Cooking Light, JANUARY 2001

Kiy Note: My friend Gina shared this recipe with me. Told me it's a family favorite so I knew I had to try it. I am excited as I have never thought to pair beef and cinnamon. I bet it's really tasty and different!

Kiy Update (02/2008): After making this now twice, I have come to realize ... it's a soup! Go figure, I thought I did something wrong the first time but nope, it came out exactly the same the second time. The flavor is simply amazing and honestly, it does not taste like cinnamon. I can't tell you what the cinnamon does but it definitely adds to the dish! YUM!!!

In this classic version of red-cooking, the meat is simmered in a soy sauce-based mixture for a long time until tender. Seasonings such as ginger, garlic, and cinnamon provide extra flavor. This method can be used to cook a variety of meats, including pork, lamb, chicken, and duck.

Ingredients:
5 cups water
1½ cups rice wine or sake
¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1½ inch cubes
8 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cinnamon sticks
1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach, chopped
4 cups hot cooked wide lo mein noodles or vermicelli (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)

Preparation:
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Set aside.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add half of the beef, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and beef. Return beef to pan; add water mixture, onions, garlic, cinnamon, and ginger. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard ginger slices and cinnamon. Stir in spinach; cook 3 minutes or until wilted. Serve over noodles.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup beef mixture and ½ cup noodles)

Nutritional Information:
CALORIES 403(14% from fat); FAT 6.2g (sat 2.3g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.3g); IRON 5.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 44mg; CALCIUM 80mg; CARBOHYDRATE 50.4g; SODIUM 1080mg; PROTEIN 30.5g; FIBER 2.9g

Menu Plan

2008-08-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Last week went well, menu plan-wise. I actually made (ready for it...) everything! Not necessarily on the night it was listed, that rarely happens, but everything was made. I am still tweaking the Chicken Merlot. I swapped the amounts of merlot and chicken broth, that was too much Merlot, so next time I think I will use half a cup of each. It was still very good, and Jeff loved it, it was just a bit much for me. Oh, and Emi loved it too. Go figure. The maple chicken was good, but we couldn't taste the maple at all, just the bbq flavor. It memory serves (rarely does!) there is maple flavoring in the spice isle, I may try that next time. It will also save on some of the sugar/calories. I will just taste the mixture to make sure it doesn't need any sweetener or something.

Something new this week, beef! We don't eat a lot of it so we decided, if we are going to eat it at all eat the good stuff! At our farmer's market there is a local beef farmer guy (like my technical terms?) who has okay prices, a bit higher than the grocery store but we know where THIS beef comes from! We ordered about 20 pounds (some steaks, some hamburg patties, some ground beef) and it arrived yesterday - he delivers too! So, steaks are on the menu for Monday. Yum!

As always, don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Sunday: What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!

This week it’s: Nothing! Plus, we are going out to dinner with friends. No cooking for Kiy!

Monday: Fresh steaks with Thai Cowboy Steak Marinade, baked potatoes, Jerk-Grilled Corn on the Cob

Tuesday: Breakfast! Ham & Cheese Omelets, hash browns, fresh fruit salad

Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Bake (one pot meal)

I will double this and freeze most for leftovers and easy lunches, this has become a huge fav in our household

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia (sick of seeing this yet? we aren't sick of eating it ... it's that good!), wild rice, Eggplant-Tomato Gratin (fresh eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini from the farmer’s market)

Saturday: Free Nite

Dinner with friends (rescheduled from last weekend)

Original Post: Menu Plan (August 17 – August 23)

Menu Plan

2008-08-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

Portland and Menu Plan

Portland Classical Chinese Garden

Well, if you thought last week's menu was lacking, wait 'til you get a look at this weeks! Jeff is still gone this week (home on Saturday, whooohoooo!) so I don't need to cook 'real' meals. But Darling Emi and I still need to eat.

But, instead of eating ... we are going on a road trip! I am that kind of gal, and want Emi to enjoy taking off to find new and fun things to do (at almost the drop of a hat). Jeff and I came up with a budget our checking account could handle. Everything had to be in this budget: Gas, hotel, admissions to whatever, food, and all the little etc's that happen along the way. Emergency's (should they dare to occur) are not included. So with that in mind, I instantly thought of Portland. Not too far a drive, and I really want to see both the Chinese and Japanese Gardens (have for quite awhile now). So I sat down to planning and found all kinds of stuff to do in Portland. I know we will have to go back, there is so much to do there! (above: Portland Japanese Garden)

We leave early Monday morning, drop the doglet off at our great (GREAT!) kennel. Then a 'quick' 4-5 hours drive (depending on how Emi does) to Portland. Here is our plan (with a toddler, it's a loose plan!):

Monday: Portland Japanese Gardens
Tuesday: Oregon Zoo
Wednesday: Portland Children's Museum - specifically the Water Works Exhibit (and yes, I'm bringing an extra set of clothes for Emi)
Thursday: Portland Classical Chinese Garden

The zoo and the museum are for Emi, the gardens for me but I do think she will enjoy the gardens too. Monday and Thursday are travel days, with Tuesday and Wednesday being our long days of sightseeing. My thought is to hit both places in the morning, back to the hotel for lunch, nap and swimming. However, if we are both loving where were are we will just stay. I am going to pack our lunch both days, we can either eat them out or back at the hotel. (above: Children's Museum - Water Works)

While it seems ambitious, I am pretty laid back and really, it's all about Emi. If we wake up Monday and she's not having a good day I will cancel or push back Max's kennel and our hotel reservations and play it by ear. But, unless she comes down with something I doubt I will need to do that. She loves an adventure and going bye-bye, but the long car ride should be interesting.

Okay, we really are eating (were you wondering?). To keep this under (or rather, at) budget, I am taking our food. Breakfasts are covered by the hotel (nice perk and I only looked at hotels that did this). Also, the rooms all have a fridge and microwave in them, that was also one of my requirements. I figure we will eat pretty big breakfasts as the other two meals will be a bit skimpy. Lunches and dinners I am bringing: whole wheat bread, smoked turkey, sliced cheese, peanut butter, strawberry preserves, yogurt, nectarines, grapes, bananas, apples, crackers, chunk cheese (to slice for cheese and crackers), and graham crackers for Emi.

I am also going to steam, rinse and refrigerate some frozen peas. Emi loves them cold as a snack and they are perfect for when she needs something and is in the stroller. The other thing I am going to do is to cook some small cheese-filled tortellini. Same thing, rinse and fridge them. They will make a good munching lunch or dinner. Depending on how the budget is doing, I may splurge on dinner out one night but maybe not. I am thinking that once we are back at the hotel, we won't be interested in going out.

I am very excited and it's killing me to wait to leave until Monday. But I really didn't want to do touristy stuff on the weekends and while most kids are still out for the summer, I think that there will be fewer crowds on the week days vs. the weekends. We shall see!

Signing off (Jeff has the laptop). But I promise to take lots and lots of pictures and blog about our adventure when we get back. Once I've recovered. :)

P.S. Oh, and for more (real) menu plans, head on over to Laura's. She ever-so-kindly hosts MPM each week.

Original Post: Portland and Menu Plan (Aug 3 - Aug 9)

Billie Ruth’s Catfish Parmesan

2008-07-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Billie Ruth’s Catfish Parmesan

8 skinned, pan-dressed, catfish, fresh or frozen
1 c. dry bread crumbs
¾ c. grated Parmesan cheese
¼ c. chopped parsley
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. whole oregano
¼ tsp. whole basil
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ c. melted butter
Lemon wedges
Parsley

Pat fish dry. Combine bread crumbs, cheese and seasonings; stir well. Dip catfish in butter and roll each in crumb mixture.

Arrange fish in well-greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley. Serves 8.

Kiy Note: This was SO easy and very yummy. Was like eating deep-friend catfish (close, not exactly, but close) and the breading was light and very tasty. Easy easy easy!

Menu Plan

2008-07-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Last week's menu went okay. I didn't get to the taco salad (froze the meat) because when I ran into the grocery store for a quick few items the most beautiful catfish fillets jumped into my basket. I had to take them home. Then, I had to make this!

I actually did make our Chinese appetizer dinner last week. However, I decided not to make the satay, as we just would have had too much food. Looking back, I should have as we didn't really care for the egg rolls too much and didn't like the soup at all. Lesson learned. The dumplings rocked though, and we had them for leftovers all weekend ... cold, reheated in the oven, nuked ... we weren't fussy. They were that good!

The one meal I so wanted to make, Maple-Flavored Barbecue Chicken, I just completely forgot! I never printed out my menu plan and posted it on my fridge (like I do, every single week). Big mistake. I kept running back to our (home) office to check my computer for what I should make, when it would have been smart of me to just print the darned thing out already! I think the fence guys must have cut some of the wires to my brain too ... it was that kind of week. (Tempted to make it this week, even though it's just Emi and I ... depends on my lazy-level, lol!)

Jeff leaves Tuesday morning for an unplanned trip to Virginia. Since we are all getting up at o'dark thirty to take him 2.5 hours (each way) to the airport (ugh), easy meal on Monday and then NO real cooking the rest of the week. I hereby declare the kitchen mostly closed! He will be gone almost two weeks, the longest he's had to be gone since we've been home with Emi (in fact, except for a short two-day trip to Denver in December, he's not had to travel at all ... that's huge!). I do think this trip will be harder on him than on her, but I have some ideas floating around in my head for things for Emi and I to do while he's gone hoping that she won't quite realize that daddy isn't 'at work'. Sooner or later I am sure she will start to wonder, I mean I guess she will, right? But all I can do is try to repeat that daddy had to go to Virginia and he will be home soon.

Don't forget to zip on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

· Sunday: What I Didn’t Get to Last Week
o No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say, “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!
o This week it’s: Pizza! Go figure, but it’s true. We were going to do the taco salad but since I needed to run to Target and didn't even leave the house until 5 pm .... Taco salad wasn't going to happen (it takes me awhile when I go to Target). We’ve decided we are too cheap to order delivery from now on (local folks are great, but they have had to add a substantial amount for a delivery charge and we are only a half a block away). So, usually we will just run up there and pick it up. So while Emi and I were at Target, I grabbed a couple of frozen pizzas. Boy, have they come a long way! Not as good as the local folks but better (to us) than the big chain pizzas. Emi and I had a roasted Portobello mushroom and spinach pizza (yes, she adored it … but she also had a ‘real’ meal of mashed potatoes and chicken with nectarines first, who knew she’d like that pizza?!). Jeff had some of ours and a pepperoni pizza. (Yick)

· Monday: Going to make a half pot of Jules’ Homemade Tomato Soup. That way, Emi and I can have it for leftovers through the week. Whatever we haven’t finished by the end of the week I will put into freezer containers for lunches or quick dinners. Along with the soup I will make some kind of grilled meat and cheese sandwiches (both Emi and Jeff are huge fans of grilled sandwiches).

· Tuesday thru Saturday: From here on out, it will be leftover soup, sandwiches, quickie cheese and chicken quesadillas with fruit, scrambled eggs with toast and fruit, Morning Star farms (fake) chicken nuggets with some kind of pasta and a frozen vegs (these things rock by the way), other MSFarms ‘meats’, etc. I am so not cooking elaborate meals for just the two of us.

Original Post: Menu Plan (July 27 – August 2)

Maple-Flavored Barbecue Chicken

2008-07-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Maple-Flavored Barbecue Chicken

Ingredients:
1 c. ketchup
½ c. maple flavored syrup
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
4 boneless, skinned chicken breasts

Instructions:
Place all ingredients in slow cooker/Crock Pot and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or until chicken is done. Remove meat, shred and return to sauce. Place on buns for sandwiches or serve over hot rice. Serves 4 to 6.

Menu Plan

2008-07-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last week was odd, cooking-wise. I didn't cook a whole lot, and much of my menu went right out the window. Mostly as I never quite got to the grocery store! Early in the week was Emi-grumpy time and then later in the week my sweet gal was back and all I wanted to do was enjoy that time. I need to find a balance between mommy-hood and household responsibilities, it's not coming easy to me. I'd much rather play with Emi than mop the kitchen floor or cook, and I love to cook!

I am purposely setting up a *very* easy week, as it's getting hot again and I know I won't want to mess too much. Plus, we set up the little pool for Emi over the weekend and she adores it. So, if I am in the backyard with her, I can't be in the kitchen cooking.

Here's the menu for the week, for more MPM's head on over to Organizing Junkie's.

Sunday: What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!
This week it’s: Quick Spinach Roll-Ups. I made it tonight and ooh-la-la it is ever good! The first time it takes a bit longer (all recipes do, at least for me, the first time) but I can see where this would actually be an easy weeknight meal or a fancy entertain-the-boss type meal. It looks amazing and tastes even better.

Monday: Taco Salad – perfect for a hot night when I don’t feel like cooking. What we like in ours (I put all the stuff on the counter and we sorta buffet-it): ground beef or turkey with taco seasoning, taco chips of some kind, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, canned corn (rinsed and chilled), pineapple (I know it’s odd, but it really works!), sliced olives (for Jeff & Emi), shredded cheese and salsa (both mild and whatever Jeff is eating at the moment, varies from medium to oh-my-gosh my stomach walls have burned away).

Tuesday: Another meal I didn’t get to last week: Chinese Appetizer Dinner: Homemade Egg Drop Soup, Egg Rolls, Sesame Chicken Satay, New Year Dumplings

Wednesday: Maple-Flavored Barbecue Chicken (crock-pot), rolls, frozen vege (probably peas or carrots as Emi loves both)

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Fresh fish (whatever looks good at Yokes), usually grilled with some olive oil, a bit of ginger and soy sauce, served with udon or soba noodles, sugar snap peas or other vege

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (July 20 – July 26)

Menu Plan

2008-07-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

Last week, nothing much happened. Nothing blog-worthy at least. The fence, that was on it's last leg and was scheduled for replacement, blew down. Luckily we were already on the fence folks' schedule. Jeff called them and they said they'd move us up in the schedule. Thank goodness! Other than that, the weather started off too hot to go outside but then by the end of the week it was nicer (from 106 to 85 in a week!). Didn't really matter as Emi and I have been battling whatever it is that is going around. Not near as bad (thank goodness) as Casa Salsa, but bad enough to keep us both wanting to stay close to home and not doing much. Just lazing around in pj's, reading books, coloring, watching a bit of Diego and Backyardigans.

Wednesday we have our six-month post-placement visit (yes, to those counting the months, we are late). We have been trying to neaten up the house for that, but really, we live IN our house. It's not a show-place and it's not going to pretend to be one. We love our little house, and it looks like us ... well lived in and happy. At best, my house is clean. Things mostly end up in the place they are supposed to be. That's another reason we are tossing and Goodwilling up a storm. The less stuff we have, the neater our house is. Plus, we just don't need all this stuff. Living overseas taught us just how much we don't need.

Also, the Before & After has been postponed ... and not by me! Seems BooMama has something previously scheduled for then so she is giving us a bit more time (whooohooo). I have added and added and added to my list (poor Jeff), so I can't wait to show off all we've done. But I am going to wait to post any photos of our progress until the B&A date, tentatively rescheduled for Labor Day weekend. I can't wait. Our house is really coming together and I am loving it!
Back to MPM, I didn't even cook ONE meal last week! I did make the Oriental Salad as it's super easy and Jeff likes to take it for lunch. But other than that, nada. I am tossing together the Almond Chicken Salad for lunch today and the Hawaiian Skillet Chicken is the plan for tonight. I have big plans for cooking for this week. I've missed it (yeah, I know, sick huh?!) and really like the whole menu plan thing. It makes it so easy. I rarely make the meal on the day it's listed, maybe I should just list the meals and no days. Hmmmm, going to think on that one. But I love having the week's meals figured out ahead of time and, usually, the shopping planned out or even done for the meals.

So, that's our week in a nutshell. Here's our planned menu for the week. Hope I can do all this! Don't forget to stop by I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday!

Sunday: What I Didn’t Get to Last Week

No matter how much I plan or promise myself I won’t laze out and just say “scrounge night”, it happens. At least once a week. So, I end up with a menu and (usually) ingredients for one meal (sadly, sometimes more than one). So here is my plan to not waste anything and to use up that meal. If, on the other hand I am fabulously organized and manage to make all planned meals … I hereby declare Sunday nights PIZZA night. Order in, Kiy does nothing, Pizza night!
This week it’s: Hawaiian Skillet Chicken, steamed sticky rice, vege
We are having the Almond Chicken Salad for lunch today, I never got to it last week! It was actually pretty darned easy to make (gotta love that) as I used a pre-roasted chicken from the grocery store. It was light and summery, and definite addition to our summer menu ('course I had to taste it while I was making it!).

Monday: Breakfast! Eggs, grits, turkey sausages and Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole

Tuesday: Quick Spinach Roll-Ups, bread or rolls, green salad

Wednesday: Chinese Appetizer Dinner: Homemade Egg Drop Soup, Egg Rolls, Sesame Chicken Satay, New Year Dumplings

Thursday: Leftover Buffet

Friday: Asian-Style Grilled Tilapia, wild rice, carrots

Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: MPM (July 13-19) and Last Week

New Year Dumplings

2008-07-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

New Year Dumplings
(Kiy Note: I cannot remember where I found this.)

1 small head Napa cabbage (about 1½ pounds)
1 teaspoon salt
½ pound lean ground pork or chicken
1/3 pound garlic chives or scallions
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine or sake
1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cornstarch for dusting
40 round won ton or gyoza wrappers
Vegetable oil (peanut is good) for frying

FOR DIPPING SAUCE:
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar

1. Wash and dry the cabbage leaves. Stack and slice lengthwise and widthwise into a 1/4 dice. Toss the chopped cabbage with the salt and let sit for thirty minutes. Drain and squeeze out all excess water with your hands.

2. Mince the garlic chives or scallions and the ginger. Combine these with the drained cabbage, ground pork or chicken, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or sake, and cornstarch.

3. Dust a cookie sheet or cutting board with cornstarch for a work surface. Place a small spoonful of the filling at the center of each round wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper and fold in half. Crinkle the edges of the half moon shape to seal.

4. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan to 350 degrees. Have a cookie sheet lined with paper towels ready for draining the cooked dumplings. Carefully drop the dumplings into the hot oil using a slotted spoon. Do not crowd the dumplings. Fry them in shifts. Don't disturb them too much while they are frying. Turn once if needed. Remove the dumplings once they are golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat if oil starts to smoke. Drain on paper towels before transferring to a serving dish. Eat promptly with the dipping sauce.

Makes 40
Per dumpling (not including dipping sauce): 90 calories, 2 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 160 mg sodium, trace fiber. Calories from fat: 67 percent.

Sesame Chicken Satay

2008-07-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sesame Chicken Satay
Recipe courtesy Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Sesame oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
25 chicken tenders, halved on the bias
½ cup chopped scallions plus 2 tablespoons, for garnish
½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
¼ cup black sesame seeds, for garnish
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped for garnish

Special Equipment: 6-inch bamboo skewers

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine vinegar, peanut butter, soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil, to taste, sugar and ginger in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth. Toss 1½ cups of the peanut butter mixture with the chicken tenders in a bowl until the chicken is well coated. Spread the chicken out in a baking pan in a single layer. Bake until the tenders are firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Let cool.

Thread a skewer into each tender. Arrange on a platter and garnish with sesame seeds and chopped herbs. Put the remaining sauce into a small bowl and serve.

Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole

2008-07-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole

RECIPE BY: kleigh83
My parents worked on a Cracker Barrel training video (which they use to train the chefs) and got this recipe a few years ago. Cracker Barrel's recipe seems to have changed a bit over these few years but not for the best. This is their recipe though and has become a family favorite. We usually have it now for Easter and Thanksgiving and its also great for a brunch. Happy Cooking!
Posted on: Sep 3, 2003

Ingredients:
1 bag oreida potato shreds hash brown (they only make one size)
1 onion, chopped or diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
3 tablespoons margarine
½ lb colby cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.
Mix potatoes, onion, celery and mushroom soups, and 1/2 of the cheese.
Coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with spray oil.
Spread mixture into dish.
Sprinkle other ½ of cheese evenly over top.
Dot margarine evenly over the cheese.
Bake at 350*F for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until cheese starts to brown at peaks.