Kiy's Recipe Box

Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie is taking a blogging break this week (good for her!) so Laura (is that a theme?) at Heavenly Homemakers is hosting Menu Plan Monday in her stead. Still the same deal, sign up and post your menu if you want, or just visit everyone and get all their great ideas for fab summer menus. And sometimes, if you are really lucky, nab a great recipe. Like the one this week I can't wait to try, Quick Spinach Roll-Ups, courtesy of Three Ladies and a Dad. I love the name of her blog, by the way, too darned tootin' cute. I love love love folks who either link to their recipes or post them. I am a long-time recipe collector and just can't have too many. Plus, with computers now, the sky's the limit. I don't have to worry about running out of space. In fact, one of my long-term projects is to get *every* recipe (that I want) from *every* recipe book I own into my computer. Saves space in our little house. That way I don't have to worry about losing them, if I can remember to back up my computer that is!

Here's this week's menu. Everything is easy and crock-pot, grill or no-oven (or rather, no regular oven ... convection only!). Oh, that reminds me, here's a picture of my new toy! --->

• 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 Homemade Pizza Night: Malaysian Chicken Pizza & Thai Chicken Pizza, green salad. How is it possible to not get to pizza night?!

• Monday: Fresh fish (whatever looks good at Yokes), pasta with Parmesan cheese, peas and carrots

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

• Wednesday: Slow Cook Thai Chicken, steamed sticky rice, steamed green beans (peas for Emi) (also a holdover)

• Thursday: Leftover Buffet

• Friday: Happy July 4^th! Almond Chicken Salad, lettuce leaves, rolls

• Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (June 29 – July 5)

Quick Spinach Roll-Ups

These tempting little packets of spinach and cheese rolled in a lasagna noodle are just the thing for a spring supper. Add a loaf of crusty whole-grain bread and a crisp salad and you have a nourishing and healthful meal: these Quick Spinach Roll-Ups are rich in eye-helping lutein and they’re low in fat!

8 lasagna noodles
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 15-ounce container reduced-fat ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt
1 bunch baby spinach leaves, chopped
¼ cup snipped fresh chives
1½ cups reduced-fat spaghetti sauce
½ cup finely shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the egg whites, ricotta, Parmesan and salt. Set cheese mixture aside.
3. Lightly spray an unheated large skillet with olive oil no-stick spray. Add spinach and chives. Cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add spinach mixture to cheese mixture, stirring until combined.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 12-inch by 7½-inch by 2-inch baking dish.
5. To assemble, place one noodle on a piece of parchment paper or wax paper. Place ¼ cup of spinach mixture in a mound ¼-inch from the short end. Roll noodle around the spinach mixture. Carefully remove bundle from parchment and place it, seam side down, in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles and spinach mixture.
6. Pour remaining sauce over the roll-ups in the baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella and cover with foil. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until bubbly.

Serves 4

Kiy Note: Going to try my new convection oven out on these! My plan is to bake at 325F for 20 minutes, then check them. Most likely, will be watching during the whole thing!

New addition to my menu plan is 'What I Didn't Get to Last Week' Sundays. Sadly, I should have been doing this for quite awhile. I didn't make two of the planned meals, the other was the Chinese Lemon Chicken Crock Pot. I just never got around to remembering to buy the lemonade. With any luck, I will remember this week and add it back onto my menu for next week. It looks really good and super easy. These days, that's pretty much the requirement. Exciting kitchen news, I broke down and bought a convection oven. The jury's still out on how I like it as I am still getting used to it. I did read (on-line, the oh-so-unhelpful owner's manual didn't share any secrets) that I should reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees and the cooking time by about 25-30%. If anyone reading this knows differently or has any tips/tricks, I am all ears .... errr, eyes. {smile}

As always, don't forget to head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more great 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 the Pork with Sweet Onion Marmellata. I have no idea what I am serving with this, probably just steamed sticky rice and some frozen vege. Easy and all ingredients are on-hand.

• Monday: Fusilli with Spinach and Asiago Cheese (one pot meal)

• Tuesday: Homemade Pizza Night: Malaysian Chicken Pizza & Thai Chicken Pizza, green salad

• Wednesday: Slow Cook Thai Chicken, steamed sticky rice, steamed green beans (peas for Emi)

• Thursday: Leftover Buffet

• Friday: Fresh fish (whatever looks good at Yokes), pasta with butter and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, peas and carrots

• Saturday: Free Nite
• We tend to go out one nite a week, or 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 (June 22 - 28)

Thai Chicken Pizza
Rachael Ray

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

1 pizza dough, any brand
½ cup duck sauce or plum sauce
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 package (2 cups) shredded provolone or Monterey Jack cheese
½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 rounded tablespoonful peanut butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning) eyeball it

4 chicken breast cutlets, ½ pound

2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
¼ seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks

4 scallions, chopped
1 cup bean spouts, a couple of handfuls
Palm full cilantro leaves, chopped
¼ cup chopped peanuts, 2 ounces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet (Kiy Note: OR do what I do and use a ready made pizza crust!). Top with duck or plum sauce - spread it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some crushed red pepper flakes then top with cheese and peppers. Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 to 17 minutes.

Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use the microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce, 10 seconds ought to do it. Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Let stand 10 minutes then grill chicken cutlets 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until firm. Slice chicken into very thin strips. (Kiy Note: I just sauté these, time saver.)

While chicken cooks, mix honey and vinegar and add the cucumber. Turn to coat evenly.

Top the hot, cooked pizza with chicken, scallions, sprouts and cilantro. Drain cucumbers and scatter over the pizza. Garnish pizza with peanuts, cut into 8 wedges and serve.

Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

PREP TIME 30 Min
COOK TIME 1 Hr
READY IN 1 Hr 30 Min
SERVINGS: Original recipe yield: 1 - 9 inch pie

INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (Kiy Note: I have a 10-inch pie dish, so that's what I used)
½ cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup water
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced (Kiy Note: It seemed like a lot, so I only ended up using 5 apples but they baked down so next time I will try to add at least one more, if not two.)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

3. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

Kiy Note: This has got to be, hands down, the *best* apple pie I've ever made. I have never made a pie that calls for pouring the sauce over the crust, but wow, what a difference! It was easier than I thought it would be, and while my lattice top wasn't picture perfect, it was my first ever attempt and I didn't think it turned out too shabby. I took a picture but it's still on the camera card. As soon as I get it off I will add it here.

Orange-Ginger Chicken
Cooking Light, June 1997

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
½ teaspoon chili oil
4 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
½ cup orange marmalade*
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon water
2 garlic cloves, minced

Preparation:
Heat oils in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Add marmalade and remaining ingredients; cook 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat.

*Kiy Note: I use low-sugar marmalade and add a bit of orange peel (spice or fresh)

Yield: 4 servings

Nutritional Information:

CALORIES 247(11% from fat); FAT 3.1g (sat 0.6g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 27.1g; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 547mg; FIBER 0.0g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.3g

I am not really sure where last week went. I spent a lot of time just hanging with Emi and not getting diddly-squat done in the house. She seemed to need more mama-time and darned if I wasn't going to give it to her! Lately she's been hanging with me more, but still very very busy. She has also developed an interest in stuffed animals and such, hugging them and carrying them all over the family room. She chatters to them constantly. I wonder, can it *finally* be time to break out one of the dolls we have for her?! We are going to give her a couple of days and then probably introduce her to one of them. I don't want to overwhelm her with toys, and like to add things carefully. Funny enough, she was completely ignoring them so it had been my plan to take them out of her play area and put them away for awhile, bringing them out again in couple of months. Patience mama, patience. I have photos from this past week that I need to post, I just need to get them off the camera card.

So, here is our menu for next week. As always, don't forget to head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more great MPM!

• Sunday: Father’s Day
• Brunch: Ricotta Pancakes with blackberries and raspberries, maple sausages, and warm maple syrup
• Dinner: We haven’t decided what we are going to do about dinner. We really, really want to spend the afternoon at the park, so we may end up just going out. (Update, we did indeed end up going out. Nothing fancy, we were pooped from a great time at the park!)
• Dessert: Grandma Ople's Apple Pie, Vanilla Ice Cream (Jeff's fav dessert is apple pie, I went looking for a quick and easy recipe and found this one ... yum!)

• Monday: Orange-Ginger Chicken, steamed sticky rice, Balsamic Roasted Asparagus (on the grill!)

• Tuesday: Pork with Sweet Onion Marmellata, steamed fresh green beans, homemade mashed potatoes with Barefoot Contessa’s Homemade Gravy

• Wednesday: Chinese Lemon Chicken (Crock Pot), steamed sticky rice, stir-fry vege’s

• Thursday: Leftover Buffet

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

• Saturday: Free Nite

Original Post: Menu Plan (Jun 15 - Jun 21), Emi update