August 30, 2009

Menu Plan Monday 8/31

Its that time again already I moved everything around from last week and updated to this week. I planned everything out for the next month.. I hope it works out with minimal take out. Tuesday or Wednesday we plan to go visit my Mom, so we'll be outta town for the day possibly over night. We'll likely get some take out one of those days.

Monday- Whatever the kiddo and I can find.. daddy works 2-10:30 this day and tuesday. I'll likely make a breakfast before Daddy leaves at noon, and we'll find something to munch on later.

Tuesday- Cheeseburger hamburger helper with bread

Wednesday- Steaks, baked potatoes, and corn

Thursday- Chicken Gorditas

Friday- Meatball Subs with salads

Saturday- Veggie soup with crackers and/or grilled cheese sandwiches.

Sunday- Pork Chops with bagged noodles and peas

1 new recipe, for veggie soup. I am sooo excited for soup weather! :)

August 23, 2009

Food talk and Menu Plan

The baked ziti recipe was good, lots of cooking but good. I didn't like the turkey we tried. I thought we'd try ground turkey for this recipe since we haven't had it before, but I disliked it. Chris didn't mind it and Anthony only ate the pasta. I also made my own version of a Pioneer Woman's recipe. They were chicken on a roll, with bacon. I made them into Chicken BLTs. THEY WERE GOOOOOD! We'll definately have them again! We just had fries on the side but next time I might do some pasta salad. Chris really enjoyed them as well as myself.

This week we'll only have one new recipe if I make it. It was to be for today but since we went boating yesterday I am bumping it.. not sure which day it will be bumped too. The last week was sooo stinking hot I could hardly cook, but today is great, so I'll make some brownies to go with dinner. :) I can't wait for fall.. I even got Mums already out on the porch! Come September 1st, all my fall stuff is getting dug out, I can't wait!

Menu Plan

Sunday- Tacos, soft and crunchy, brownies with nuts
Monday- Taco dip with the leftovers or a pizza, since little bear is at his Gram's. Taco dip is actually a new recipe. I'll post later likely.
Tuesday- Calzone I keep bumping this, I need to make it with the pouches of pizza crust mix taking up room in my pantry.
Wednesday- Meatball subs with salad, and pineapple
Thursday- Grilled steaks, creamy green beans, and baked potato bar.
Friday- bbq chicken bites, rice, and corn
Saturday- Burgers, fries, pickles, and hot dogs
Sunday- Spaghetti with meatballs, and bread
Monday- Hamburger helper Cheese burger macaroni with bread
Tuesday- Leftovers
Wednesday- Chicken casserole
Thursday-Pork chops, bagged pasta, and peas
Friday-Leftovers
Saturday- SHOPPING DAY :)

A day away was just what the doctor ordered.

I'm not sure why, but the last few days I was cranky and tired. Likely my sleeping habits and still not having our little cottage just the way I want.. also having in-laws for neighbors has something to do with it. The past few days I just felt like blah.. there is one thing that made me smile big. We have a stray kitty hanging out from time to time that we call Charlie, and he is as sweet as pie. We also have mice.. so I think we're going to adopt Charlie. And I hope Charlie is a mouser, and will make Charlie perfect for us. This is our first home in the country so I was taken aback by the mice! They are tiny cute little nasty disgusting little buggers! Eww! I did catch one on a sticky trap and felt really bad for the nasty cute little disgusting thing.

Yesterday we got sometime away and it was amazing. We didn't do anything special. Just went out on the lake on the boat and drifted along for the day. I loved it.



See, the perfect cure for the funk.

August 19, 2009

New Recipe for Wednesday

Easy Baked Ziti
serves 8


Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
3 cups ziti, or your favorite pasta, cooked and drained (about 6 cups cooked)
1 (26-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large skillet, brown meat and drain. Stir in ziti, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Spoon into 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake 20 minutes.

Recipe Review: Golden Baked Pork Cutlets

They were good. I doubled the recipe. Next time I will be leaving out the sugar for sure. Also they burnt on the bottom a little bit and made what I anticipate will be a pain in the butt to scrub off my pan. I did remember the spray but they still stuck so next time I'll try the rack.

They coating was pretty crispy and good other than I think I accidentally added too much sugar. Also I'll make sure I have a better accembly line next time too. All in all they weren't too bad. We had them with peas and baked potato bar. I will take pics for my next review.

Rating on a 0-10 they were about a 6 in my opinion. My sweetie says they were an 8 and would like to have them again.

Golden Baked Pork Cutlets

New recipe for tonight:
Golden Baked Pork Cutlets

1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons canola oil
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Holding a chef’s knife at a 45° angle and perpendicular to the tenderloin, slice the pork into 4 long, thin “fillets.”
3. Mix breadcrumbs, sugar, paprika, onion powder and salt in a shallow dish. Drizzle with oil and mash with a fork until the oil is thoroughly incorporated. Lightly beat egg white with a fork in another shallow dish. Sprinkle cornstarch over the pork slices and pat to coat evenly on both sides. Dip the pork into the egg, then press into the breading mixture until evenly coated on both sides. (Discard leftover mixture.)
4. Place the pork on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until just barely pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 14 to 16 minutes.

My only changes are, I am using super thin pork lion chops, and instead of canola oil I am using either veggie oil or EVOO.

Tonight I think we'll be having it with rice and broccoli. That will all depend on what I find at Wegman's today too. I'll be back with a review later :)

I'll also be watching Obscessed tonight and I'll be back with a review for that one also. Happy Hump Day!

August 02, 2009

Recipe Update: Slow cooker pepper steak

Slow cooker Pepper Steak

INGREDIENTS

* 2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
* garlic powder to taste
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil-- I used EVOO
* 1 cube beef bouillon
* 1/4 cup hot water
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1/2 cup chopped onion--- no onions
* 2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce--- only a splash or two
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt--- left out

DIRECTIONS

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.


Now I should mention that I chopped up all my peppers and set them to the side for later so they didn't get mushy.. well I forgot them completely. However, it was good without them. I served them up with buttered egg noodles. My SO who doesn't like stewed tomatoes liked it, I used petit ones. I'll make this again sometime but probably with a cheaper cut of meat.