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Well, it's been a week and I haven't done anything about my oven yet. I need to dig out my warranty and call GE. Even if the part I broke isn't covered they can at least tell me if the ignitor is the right part that I need to get. In the mean time, Cassandra from Tripping around the Sun told me that I could get a timer, like the ones that you'd use for Christmas lights, to put on my crock pot so that my food doesn't over cook. What a great way to make your own smart pot! I bought one for $5 from Walmart and I put two crock pot meals on the menu this week. Friday's menu is one I need to put in the oven, but I think it will fit in one of my smaller casserole dishes and I can throw it in the big 'ol toaster oven. Have I mentioned I love my toaster oven. Well I do. Just thought I'd announce that. On to the menu.
Monday
Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Tuesday
Easy Slow Cooker French Dip
Tater Tots
Wednesday
2nd chance Meals
Thursday
Slow Cooker Chicken Dinner
Friday
Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake
For more weekly menus, check out the Organizing Junkie.
it's another fun filled Menu Plan Monday. Woo Hoo! Last week I was MIA. I cooked a whole bunch of food for my son's birthday party and when the weather started to look stormy we canceled it. He was sad but we still had my mom and Pat's mom over, plus Pat's sister and her family stopped by to drop off a gift for him. However, that wasn't enough to plow thru the cowboy beans, fresh corn casserole, bacon wrapped jalepeno thingys, chicken wings and turkey roll ups, so we ate them all week long.
For the past few weeks I've been coveting Candi's diet menu. It sounds so tasty! It also made me want to go to Trader Joe's, which I did tonight. One of the things she is munching on is celery sticks or carrot sticks with almond butter. I know that Trader Joe's has almond butter so I went there to stare at it. LOL. I didn't buy it but I got several other things for my menu this week, like the Orange Flavored Chicken was in the Freezer section and the Fettucini noodles were bought there too. BTW, Candi is doing her diet thru www.perfectweightamerica.com. I signed up there too but don't expect to see any diet recipes up anytime soon, I have freezer meals to finish off. LOL. Here's the menu:
MONDAY
Fettucini Alfredo
Salad
Cheese toast
TUESDAY
Green Chicken Enchiladas
Spanish Rice
Refried Beans
WEDNESDAY
2nd Chance Meals
THURSDAY
Orange Flavored Chicken
Sushi Rice
FRIDAY
Crispy Baked Chicken
Mashed Potatos & Gravy
Cream Corn
For more menus check out the Organized Junkie.
- mood:
hot
MONDAY
Chicken, Spinach, and Pasta Bake
Cheese Toast
TUESDAY
Green Chicken Enchiladas
Spanish Rice
Beans
WEDNESDAY
2nd Chance Meals
THURSDAY
Tortillini in Alfredo
Salad
FRIDAY
Kielbasa & Cabbage
BONUS: I'm also cooking for a potluck at work this week so I'm making Baked French toast on Wednesday. With any luck I'll have a recipe up this week with a photo, but my track record lately isn't so good, so we'll see.
**Sneak Peak:
I'm not much of a knitter. I've been crocheting so long that anytime I've tried to knit I give up because crocheting just comes more natural to me. Luckily there are knitting looms and knitting boards. The above picture is of a sock on my sock loom. I've restarted that sock at least 5 times, including this weekend. I wanted there to be a pattern to this sock and was having a hard time keeping track of where I was in the pattern every time I set it down. This week, a new issue of "Loom Knitters Circle Magazine" came out and Isela posted a new sock pattern. This one is super easy so far and I've done 2 1/2 inches of the leg part done, I only started it Friday. Hopefully I'll get the heel done by Friday and I'll post more pics. There will also be some pics of my daughter in the new dress I made her. Too Cute!
- hideout:home
- mood:
sleepy
These beans are delicious and absolutely no cowboys were harmed in the making of them.
1 lg & 1 sm can Bush's Original Baked Beans
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 pound lean ground beef
4 ounces bacon, chopped (I just used the kind in the bag in the salad dressing eisle)
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 teaspoons Vidalia Onion dressing
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, or you can use a Crockpot. In a large skillet over medium heat fry the ground beef, bacon and onion together until ground beef is no longer pink. Drain the fat. In a large bowl combine the beans, ketchup, brown sugar, vidalia onion dressing and the beef mixture. Mix throughly. Pour the bean and meat mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Or, if you want to use the crockpot, put bean and beef mixture in crockpot and set on low four hours.
- mood:
rushed
Another week has come and gone. We didn't get around to a couple recipes last week so I'm going to repost them this week. If you see repeats thats why. Pioneer Woman was a hit last week. The Hot Crash Potatoes were so yummy that there were only about 2 left out of the dozen I made. This week's experiment that I'm excited about is the Pork Chops with Stuffing and Apples. It's sounds pretty easy and tasty. You brown 6 pork chops and prepare a box of stuffing according to the package. Next, take a can of apple pie filling and put it in a casserole dish, place the pork chops on top and then top with the stuffing. My recipe book is downstairs so I can't remember how long to bake it or at what temp. If it's good I'll post the recipe and picture.
I'm digging the Winder Farms. This week I ordered one of the pancake bundles. It came with a box of organic pancake mix, a quart of fresh all natural buttermilk, and we got winder farms boysenberry syrup. We loved them! I also got a half gallon of strawberry milk with a coupon. Next week I'm going to order the steakburgers made with Piedmontese beef which is suppose to naturally have "44% less calories, 71% less fat, 21% less cholesterol, but 28% more protein." We'll see how they taste. I've been impressed with everything else.
On Monday whe are having leftover cowboy beans which I made for my aunt's birthday party. They basically canned pork & beans with browned ground beef, a browned onion, some brown sugar, ketchup, and a bit of vidalia onion dressing. They are super good and I'll try to post the recipe with a picture this week. Here's my menu for the week, and if you're looking for more menus check out The Organized Junkie.
MENU
MONDAY
Hot Dogs
Tater Tots
Cowboy Beans
TUESDAY
Island Kielbasa in a Crockpot
WEDNESDAY
Pork Chops with Dressing and Apples
(One Dish Meal)
THURSDAY
Red & White Tortellini (alfredo from Winder)
Cheese Toast
FRIDAY
Easy Chicken Paprika
Green Beans
Rice Pilaf
It's been a busy week. Last Sunday was our anniversary and my husband and I took Monday and Tuesday off work. My wonderful in-laws (and I don't just say that because they stop by here sometimes) watched my children over night on last Sunday so Pat & I could go to dinner and a movie. Although going out messed up my menu planning for last week, it sure was fun to have a night out with the hubby. Tuesday night I didn't have to plan because we went to my nephew's graduation party and my sister-in-law (who is a wonderful cook, and I say that even though she doesn't stop by this site) fed us a really good meal. Outside of that we spent three meals at McDonald's this week so I can really see how menu planning helps my budget. Both my wallet and my pants are going to be feeling tighter than they normally do.
I also started a food delivery service by a company called "Winder Farms." What got me interested was the all natural milk comes from cows not treated with growth hormones. It's also fresh from the farm and lasts longer in the fridge. The website claims: "Fluorescent light on grocery store shelves destroys milk's nutrients. Because our milk never sees a store shelf it arrives with all of its nutrients intact." I have never liked to drink a glass of milk but their stuff is pretty good. The bread is also made without preservatives but I have yet to try it. The organic baby carrots and organic cherry tomatoes are on my standing weekly order. Unfortunately, they don't carry all the grocery items I need so I still have to go to the store. I wish I could get the Super Wal-mart to deliver.
Here's the menu for the week:
Monday
carne Asada Tacos
Rice
Beans
Carrot Cake
(leftovers from Mom's house)
Tuesday
Rib-eye Steak
Crash Hot Potatoes
Lettuce Wedge with semi-homemade ranch dressing
(I call this "Pioneer Woman" night since all the recipes come from her site)
Wednesday
Baked Ziti and Meatballs
Five Cheese Toast
Thursday
Hot Dogs
Tater Tots
Friday
Easy Chicken Paprika
Green Beans
Rice Pilaf
For more menu planning check out The Organizing Junkie, she does a wonderful job at hosting this every week.
Temperatures are now in the triple digits. According to weather.com tommorrow's high will be 105 degrees. I didn't feel like going to the grocery store so Monday's night's meal is just from my stock on hand. I also didn't feel like cooking tonight so hooray that there is an In-N-Out close by. I can usually feed everybody for under $15 but I got two shakes tonight and it was a little over $16. Not bad for 4 people, even if two of them share a burger. I love the secret menu too. I only want my burgers animal style now. Sometimes I get the fries animal style too. When I was pregnant with the girl I had diabetes so I would order my burger protein style and my sugars didn't seem to be affected that much by it. We got our fries well-done tonight. I didn't like In-N-Out fries before I discovered them well-done and animal style. I also learned that you can order a neopolitan shake where they layer the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors in the cup. I wish I would have remembered today because I would have tried. Well, this has been an exciting post hasn't it? On to the menu:
Monday:
Tri-Color Rotini with Meat Marinra Sauce
Salad with Ranch Dressing
Three Cheese Toast
Tuesday:
Country Style Chicken
Mixed Greens
Mashed Potatoes
Wednesday:
Teriyaki Pork Chops
Vegetable Chowmein
Thursday:
Leftovers
Friday:
Island Kielbasa in a slowcooker
Green Beans
Dessert: Butter Pecan Cake with Vanilla Frosting
More Menus at "I'm an Organizing Junkie"
And, just because I'm mean:
PS Ever notice this on the bottom of your cup?
- mood:
thirsty
I get requests for this recipe a lot so I thought I'd put it here. This recipe makes a lot of enchiladas. Feel free to cut it in half if you're not feeding an army.
24 white corn tortillas
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 bags of shredded Fiesta blend cheese
1 pkg queso/queso cheese, crumbled (found in the cheese aisle with the Latino foods)
1 pkg 8oz cream cheese
1 sm can chopped green chilies
2 large cans green chile enchilada sauce
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix 1 bag fiesta cheese, queso cheese, cream cheese and green chilies. Set aside for now. In a pan, on low, warm up enchilada sauce. Take a tortilla and dip in sauce, then place on a work area. Add about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture and thin layer of chicken. Roll tortilla and place in casserole dish, seam side down. Do this until you are out of tortillas. *Note, each casserole dish should hold 12 enchiladas. Add second can of enchilada sauce to enchiladas. Sprinkle any leftover chicken or cheese mixture over enchiladas. Sprinkle last bag of Fiesta a cheese over enchiladas. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 24 enchilada.
- mood: sleepy
Last week's menu planning had it's ups and down. It was great to know what was for dinner every night, but I planned too much. We had so many leftovers that I didn't make Thursday's meal (Thai Chicken and Sushi Rice) because I didn't want all of it to go to waste. Also, last week I planned a lot of meals around using my oven. Well, it's already too hot for that out in the dessert. This time I have more stovetop cooking planned and the couple of meals for the oven i did plan should fit in my oversized Toaster oven. Lastly, there was too much prep involved last week. I work alot of overtime and I just want something simple to create when I get home. Hopefully, I solved these issues with this weeks menu. So, here's my menu for Meal Plan Mondays.
Monday:
Tacos
Mexican Rice
Refried Beans
Tuesday:
Frozen Pot Pies
Spinach Salad
Wednesday:
Mustard Onion Pork Chops
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Thursday:
Alfredo Pasta
Spinach Salad
Cheese Toast
Friday:
Shake & Bake Chicken Strips - Ranch flavored
Shells and Cheese
Spinach Salad
Also, the menu planning is showing to be more time consuming than I thought. I was hoping to prep the dishes the night before then I just have to cook them when I get home but today I got home about 4:30pm and didn't get out of the kitchen till almost 8pm. That doesn't work for me. I'm going to have to plan quicker meals next week.
I didn't take a picture of tonight's Crockpot Chicken and Vegetables because it wasn't very pretty, but here's a pic of Sunday's dinner. We had Lasagna Alfredo Roll-ups and they were Yummy. Enjoy!
Just a quick post. I'm trying to get more organized so I've decided start menu planning for the week. I've been inspired to try this from the Organizing Junkie and here's my first stab at a menu. There is not a thing on here that my son will eat so we'll see how the week goes. Luckily I made a chocolate cake tonight to bribe him with.
Monday:
Crockpot Chicken & Vegetables
Applesauce
Spinach Salad
Tuesday:
Eileen's Meatloaf
Corn Casserole
Rice
Spinach Salad
Wednesday:
Bowtie Alfredo with Ham & Peas
Apple, Grape, and Walnut Salad
Cheese Toast
Thursday
Thai Curry Chicken with Onions and Bell Peppers
Sushi Rice
Friday:
Leftover Meatloaf Sandwiches
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli
Night!
