Dinner Menu July 29-Aug 4, 2012

This is my dinner menu this week, I chose things that could reheat easily since the boy child has theater school Mon-Thurs. and since the hubby works late on Tues and Thurs. Follow the links to the recipes.....and happy dinner!

Crock pot Lasagna...go here. This one I have personalized, mostly because I detest Ricotta cheese. Feel free to make it your own too.
Cheesy Potato and Sausage Casserole....available here. Fair warning, I have not ever made this before.
Angel Chicken......right here. Again, this is a newbie for me, but it looked good on Pinterest.
Mexican Pizza.....can be found here. A first timer again (good bye dinner rut!) but Travis made me laugh and these look amazing.
Baked Egg Rolls....I don't really use a recipe but if you need one, this one looks decent. At our house I would omit the carrots (food allergy) and the water chestnuts (hubby dislikes them) and add chopped mushrooms and ground turkey. But whatever rocks your boat! If I had a dollar I would bet there will be some of these zucchini fries to go with the egg rolls seeing that we have tons of zucchini coming out of our garden.

If you try anything let me know what you think.....or if you have a favorite meal, leave it in the comments. I am always looking for a new dinner!

***End of the week notes:
 Cheesy Potato and Sausage Casserole got good reviews from the hubby. The kids said they didn't like the chunky potatoes to which I said whatever! I liked it. I did not use the Velveeta cheese, because of the daughter's issue with annatto (coloring agent) I just used 8 ounces shredded cheddar to make the cheese sauce. I think it was good. Maybe a little hearty for July/August but will be a great Fall menu item.

 Mexican Pizza was delish. My son was very skeptical, but ended up loving it. It's pretty basic, if you like tacos or enchiladas, this is a sure hit. I also cheated and used pre-made enchilada sauce. Hey, a girl has to cheat sometimes.

Angel Chicken.....didn't happen. for no other reason then it just didn't, we really didn't have dinner on Friday because of a late lunch and a ton of errands. I intend to add it back into the menu later in the month.

Chicken Meatballs

After scouring the internet, I never found a recipe that I liked, so I made up my own. These meatballs won rave reviews from both the children and the husband.

Chicken Meatballs
1 pound ground chicken
1 egg
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup onion, sauteed until soft in a little olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1-2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp dried oregano

mix all ingredients together, form into rounds. Brown lightly in on the stove top in a little olive oil and finish off for 10 min in a 400* oven until cooked through. Internal temp should be 175*. Serve as desired. (I served mine with tortellini and alfredo sauce)

Buttermilk Syrup

I don't like maple syrup. Not much anyway. So in my searching, I found this recipe in many places and referenced many time. Trust me, it is soooo good.


Buttermilk syrup

1 1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla

add all but sugar to a large pan, bring to a boil and boil 7 minutes stirring regularly. after seven minutes remove from heat, stir in vanilla and serve.

I store my leftovers in the fridge.

Menu Time

In an effort to eliminate some of the craziness around here, and also the eating-out bill, I have been making a real effort to planning out our evening meal a week at a time. I am not going to lie, there are times when this little plan of mine works out better than others, but for the most part it has been great. Part of my planning includes not only picking what we will eat, but making the grocery list, and trying something new. A new dish, a new side, a whole new meal. Safe to say, that has also not always been a hit. For the most part, I truly believe that my six year old is really half Mexican. That boy is happiest consuming tacos, enchiladas, anything with a Mexican flair. And truly for any meal. Bless his heart. Meanwhile, the three year old is game for anything, including salad. At which she will point and ask if it has "cawats" in it , because she has learned just how sick they make her.

So here is last weeks meal plan, if you are interested:

Monday

Pork Roast with red potatoes and asparagus


Tuesday

Chicken Manicotti Ole with salad


Wednesday

Ham and Noodle Casserole


Thursday

Corned beef and Cabbage with Red Potatoes

Friday

Ramen Skillet Supper



And really we have hit 4 out of 5 days. I am pretty impressed and the reason that we skipped out on Tuesday was Greg's parents wanted to take us out to dinner. Who am I to argue with that? But since I had already gotten the ground turkey out for Tuesday, I am moving the Ramen Skillet Supper, to next week and the Chicken (turkey) manicotti from Tuesday to Friday. See, I really am flexible.

I will post the recipes for the Ham and Noodle Casserole and the Chicken Manicotti Ole as soon as I can. And there is a bonus with the Ham Casserole, it makes 2 8x8 pans, so you can freeze one for later, if you do not have a huge family.....or send one home with your brother when he picks up his twins, which is what I usually do.

Upside Down Pizza Bake

Poor neglected blog. Yikes.

This is a fun recipe. My kids liked it and so did my husband. Tastes sort-of like pizza, is easy to make, and super versatile. You can change it up any which way you want. The original recipe came out of the Simple and Delicious Magazine Sept/Oct 2008.

1/2 pound Italian sausage links, cut into 1/4" slices (I just used bulk ground sausage)
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup julienned green pepper (I left this out, my family would not eat it)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup baking mix (Bisquick type)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

1. in a skillet brown sausage until no longer pink, drain.
2. pour spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a greased 8x8 baking dish, top with mushrooms, peppers, sausage and 1/2 of cheese.
3. in a small bowl combine baking mix, egg, and milk. pour over top of ingredients in baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered at 400* for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serves 4.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was published in the local paper in the past few weeks. I made them and these cookies won rave reviews. They are supposed to be similar to the old ZCMI cookies, but since I never had one of those, I wouldn't really know. So here you go, enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 bags chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, mix and match)

Preheat oven to 350*

Ina bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes.

In another bowl combine the salt, soda, powder and flour. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until all the flour is incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Roll in to balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake just until cookies begin to crack about 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool fully.

Makes 72 cookies.

Taco Nuggets

As I was beating my head against the wall the other day while trying to figure out what the heck to fix for dinner, my sweet hubby reminded me of this number. We saw it on a Food Network cook-off/challenge thingy, gave it a whirl and it is a winner. Fun to change up the normal tacos we eat here allllllll the time. So here you go. And if you want to see the full and original recipe go here. And, if you are a GF family, there are really no worries. Super easy. I serve mine with Mexican style rice and refried beans.


Taco Nuggets
adapted from the original by Patrice Hurd.

1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
1 can (4 ounces) chopped mild green chilies, drained (optional, I do not use them)
16 (1/2-inch) cubes cheese (cheddar or Colby jack)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
2 cups finely crushed chips (I have used Doritos (cheese and ranch kind), BBQ potato chips and sour cream and cheddar potato chips)

Combine ground beef, taco seasoning, and chilies (if using) in a large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Divide beef mixture into 16 portions; shape each portion around a cheese cube, completely covering the cheese.
Beat egg white with water in shallow dish until blended. Place chips in second shallow dish. Dip each meatball into egg white mixture, then into chips to coat completely. Press each meatball with palm into a flattened nugget shape, generously coating both sides of nugget with chips.
Spray a large baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place nuggets in baking pan; spray tops of nuggets generously with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until meat registers 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer; meat should not be pink and juices should run clear.


So thanks to the brilliant mind of Patrice Hurd. I bow to anyone who can change up dinner at our house with a gem like this.