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.

Crisp Cucumber Salsa

I needed a snack for a meeting, and I found this in my Taste of Home Simple and Delicious June/July 2010 issue. I made a minor change to the recipe, but I think that Charlene Skjerven (the woman who submitted the original) was on target with this one!

Cucumber Salsa

2 cups finely chopped, seeded, peeled cucumber
1/2 cup finely chopped, seeded tomato
1/4 finely chopped onion (called for red, I used spanish sweet)
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
4 1/2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup sour cream (called for reduced fat, I used the real stuff)
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp chili powder

tortilla chips for serving

In a small bowl combine first 7 ingredients. In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (except for chips), stir well. Keep veggies and sour cream mixture seperate until just ready to serve. Then stir gently together. Serve with chips.

***Use disposable gloves when working with jalapeno, unless you are into that burning sensation. Do NOT touch your face when woring with pepper!!!

The original says to serve immediatly. I think this is beacuse the cucumber will begin giving off liquid once it has the seasoning mix on it, especially the salt. But as I could not make and serve immediatley, the directions I gave work well. I prepared the veggies about 3 hours before and mixed it all together right before service. I also think , but have not tried whirling everything in the food processor if you want to make a larger batch. But be very careful not to over process.

Cookie Dough Cheese Ball

My husband works in a grocery store. This, on occasion, causes me grief. Usually it is very convenient. Me, picking up phone and dialing "Honey, would you bring home X, Y and Z." Honey, "Sure let me make a list." and to his credit I get what I asked for about 90% of the time, and to be fair to him, he works 12 hour shifts, so if he might forget an item, I will probably give him a bad time in the morning but rarely do I make him go back for it. But that little exchange is not what causes me grief. That comes from the fact that his department stares out at the book and magazine display. So, sometimes when they get a little bored in the evenings, I end up being brought home photocopied or hand written recipes out of said books. This is one of those recipes. Sometimes he makes things at work, but seeing that he didn't have all the stuff to make this at work, and he knew we did at home, I busted this one out at 10 p.m. for a turn around shift. The staff liked it. I am going to give it to you with my modification, and sadly I have no idea where the original came from, so I have no one to source it to!

Cookie Dough Cheese ball

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla (I used a full tsp. the hubby likes the vanilla)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (I used more like 3/4 cup)
3 TBSP brown sugar, packed
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped pecans, optional

Blend together first 3 ingredients until creamy. Add powdered sugar and brown sugar, blending well. Fold in chocolate chips cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours.

Shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Roll in pecans before serving. Makes about 3 cups.

*We skipped the whole rolling into a ball and the pecans part. Hubby doesn't care for the nuts. I served it with graham cracker sticks and it was darn tasty.

Links on the go..........

My Kitchen Cafe has moved! I love this site and have linked to it, so I want to make sure you can find Mel if you are looking for her! She is now at http://www.melskitchencafe.com/ stop and see what she is cooking !