I managed to get this week's menu written down on paper early last week... even though it's more than halfway through the week now before I managed to get it posted here.
Sunday - breakfast for dinner: pancakes and turkey bacon
Monday - rigatoni and hot sausage sauce
Tuesday - open faced hot turkey sandwiches & pierogies
Wednesday - crockpot chicken cacciatore over rice
Thursday - *new recipe - Greek chicken* & pasta salad
Friday - Kids cook - club sandwiches & tater tots, pickled beets & corn
Saturday - My hubby's BD - his choice
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Cookie Carnival - Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies
I couldn't decide whether or not I was going to bake this month's cookie selection because I was afraid that I would be the only one in my family who would eat them. I've stared at the recipe the entire month and finally today I decided to make them. I'm really glad that I did.
Even though my cookies seemed to have flattened out more than the others I've seen, they were still really good. My husband started eating them while they were still cooling on the racks.
I had to stop him from eating some of them so that I could try them with the cream cheese filling.
Which version did we like better - the plain carrot cake cookies or carrot cake cookies with cream cheese and honey filling?
The verdict:
My husband and I both liked the plain cookies much better. Neither of us were crazy about the cream cheese filling. We both thought that the cookies were plenty sweet enough without it.
I'm really not sure what caused my cookies to flatten out so much. The only change that I made was to sub more raisins for the nuts. Oh well, at the rate he is eating them, they won't last long anyway!
You can view the recipe for the March Cookie Carnival here.
If you would like to join us in the Cookie Carnival, you can sign up here.
I'm looking forward to seeing what April brings! :)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Breakfast for Dinner
Well....after the first week of menu planning, we only missed Wednesday's meal. Believe me, that's GOOD for us. lol!
I decided to use Wed's dinner plans for 'breakfast for dinner' for this week.
We had planned on pancakes, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and Rye toast--things got busy and we ended up eating pancakes and turkey bacon.
My husband was not thrilled but he ate it--and with the mood I was in, it's a good thing that he did or he would've been cooking for himself. (Did I just write that?!?)
I used to have the world's best pancake recipe that called for seltzer water instead of regular water or milk. My computer got infected with a virus a few years back and I had to have it reformated. I think that I lost the recipe during this time. (this was long before I became computer literate or whatever it is that you can call me now.) Be nice here!
Anyway....
I was searching the 'net for a good recipe. I came across this one on Martha Stewart's website. Now, I am not a fan of MS so I don't make it a habit of using her recipes...BUT this particular pancake recipe has received lots of rave reviews so I decided to try it.
I followed the directions to a "T", only adding a bit of vanilla to the batter. In the end, I was disappointed in the taste of them--I thought that they were really bland. Also, they weren't fluffy like I like my pancakes. That said, my kids really liked them and my husband ate them (or possibly choked them down - the whole time not saying anything.)
They look good and they taste ok --I'm guessing that it was just me.
I'm still seaching for the "BEST" pancake recipe. If you have one that you are willing to share, I would love to try it out!
I decided to use Wed's dinner plans for 'breakfast for dinner' for this week.
We had planned on pancakes, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and Rye toast--things got busy and we ended up eating pancakes and turkey bacon.
My husband was not thrilled but he ate it--and with the mood I was in, it's a good thing that he did or he would've been cooking for himself. (Did I just write that?!?)
I used to have the world's best pancake recipe that called for seltzer water instead of regular water or milk. My computer got infected with a virus a few years back and I had to have it reformated. I think that I lost the recipe during this time. (this was long before I became computer literate or whatever it is that you can call me now.) Be nice here!
Anyway....
I was searching the 'net for a good recipe. I came across this one on Martha Stewart's website. Now, I am not a fan of MS so I don't make it a habit of using her recipes...BUT this particular pancake recipe has received lots of rave reviews so I decided to try it.
I followed the directions to a "T", only adding a bit of vanilla to the batter. In the end, I was disappointed in the taste of them--I thought that they were really bland. Also, they weren't fluffy like I like my pancakes. That said, my kids really liked them and my husband ate them (or possibly choked them down - the whole time not saying anything.)
They look good and they taste ok --I'm guessing that it was just me.
I'm still seaching for the "BEST" pancake recipe. If you have one that you are willing to share, I would love to try it out!
Pizza Roll-Ups for Friday Family Fun Night
For the last few weeks we've been having "Friday family fun night" at our house. I usually blog about our Fridays on my other blog, but I wanted to comment on our dinner from last Friday.
My kids and I made pizza roll-ups using frozen bread dough and our favorite pizza toppings. Since my son had plans for a sleepover at school, we needed something for dinner that would be quick and easy to put together. This did the trick. :)
1 loaf of frozen bread dough = 6 big pizza roll-ups
pizza sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese
canned mushrooms - I know that some people hate these on pizza but they're a favorite here
Thaw the frozen bread dough on a baking sheet and covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before you are ready to make the roll-ups so that the bread can rise.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Lightly cover with pizza sauce, making sure to go all of the way to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle cheese over the entire surface of the sauce. Top with your favorite toppings - in this case mushrooms.
Starting at one of the short ends of the dough, roll the it up tightly jelly roll style. Slice the loaf into 6 equal pieces (or if you want smaller roll-ups, cut it into 8 equal pieces). Lay the slices onto a greased baking sheet. Make sure to tuck the loose ends under so that the rolls stay together when they are baked. Place 3 inches apart on the sheet-do not crowd the rolls or they will stick together when they bake.
Bake at 350* for 40 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from baking sheet immediately.
This is a very kid friendly meal! They will not only like eating this version of their favorite pizza but I bet that they will want to get in there and help make it, too! I know that my kids had a fun time helping out.
We served these roll-ups with a simple salad with homemade balsamic dressing.
Simple Balsamic Salad Dressing
Whisk olive oil with a good quality balsamic vinegar @ 2:1, oil to vinegar - I used 1/2 C. oil & 1/4 C. vinegar.
Whisk in 1 tsp. of sugar, 1 -2 tsp. of Dijon mustard and 3 tsp. Italian seasoning blend.
My kids and I made pizza roll-ups using frozen bread dough and our favorite pizza toppings. Since my son had plans for a sleepover at school, we needed something for dinner that would be quick and easy to put together. This did the trick. :)
1 loaf of frozen bread dough = 6 big pizza roll-ups
pizza sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese
canned mushrooms - I know that some people hate these on pizza but they're a favorite here
Thaw the frozen bread dough on a baking sheet and covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before you are ready to make the roll-ups so that the bread can rise.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Lightly cover with pizza sauce, making sure to go all of the way to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle cheese over the entire surface of the sauce. Top with your favorite toppings - in this case mushrooms.
Starting at one of the short ends of the dough, roll the it up tightly jelly roll style. Slice the loaf into 6 equal pieces (or if you want smaller roll-ups, cut it into 8 equal pieces). Lay the slices onto a greased baking sheet. Make sure to tuck the loose ends under so that the rolls stay together when they are baked. Place 3 inches apart on the sheet-do not crowd the rolls or they will stick together when they bake.
Bake at 350* for 40 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from baking sheet immediately.
This is a very kid friendly meal! They will not only like eating this version of their favorite pizza but I bet that they will want to get in there and help make it, too! I know that my kids had a fun time helping out.
We served these roll-ups with a simple salad with homemade balsamic dressing.
Simple Balsamic Salad Dressing
Whisk olive oil with a good quality balsamic vinegar @ 2:1, oil to vinegar - I used 1/2 C. oil & 1/4 C. vinegar.
Whisk in 1 tsp. of sugar, 1 -2 tsp. of Dijon mustard and 3 tsp. Italian seasoning blend.
Crockpot pork chops and gravy
Geez...sometimes life just gets in the way. I have lots of catching up to do.
Let's start with my recipe for
Crockpot pork chops and gravy:
12 pork chops --I used the bone-in type because
I got them on sale for a really good price. ;)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/2 C. milk
2 small cans of mushrooms
a splash of Kitchen Bouquet
garlic and onion powder
Whisk together soups and milk. Stir in mushrooms and set aside.
Layer pork chops in crockpot, seasoning the chops with garlic and onion powder. Pour the soup mixture over the chops and cover with the lid. Cook on high for approximately 4 hrs.
Once the chops have fully cooked, remove them-one at a time-from the crockpot , removing any bones. Cover plate with foil to keep them warm until the gravy is ready. Leave the soup mixture in the crockpot.
To make gravy: stir together 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with enough cold water to make a thickener. Stir this into the liquid in the crockpot. Mixture should thicken pretty quickly. If it doesn't you might need to add more of the cornstarch mixture.
**This is where I add a splash of the Kitchen Bouquet to the white gravy to make it brown so that my husband will eat it. He detests any kind of white gravy. Gotta keep 'em happy, ya know?
I served the pork chops with egg noodles and green beans.
The leftover meat went into the freezer to be used in a stir fry or soup later on.
Let's start with my recipe for
Crockpot pork chops and gravy:
12 pork chops --I used the bone-in type because
I got them on sale for a really good price. ;)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/2 C. milk
2 small cans of mushrooms
a splash of Kitchen Bouquet
garlic and onion powder
Whisk together soups and milk. Stir in mushrooms and set aside.
Layer pork chops in crockpot, seasoning the chops with garlic and onion powder. Pour the soup mixture over the chops and cover with the lid. Cook on high for approximately 4 hrs.
Once the chops have fully cooked, remove them-one at a time-from the crockpot , removing any bones. Cover plate with foil to keep them warm until the gravy is ready. Leave the soup mixture in the crockpot.
To make gravy: stir together 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with enough cold water to make a thickener. Stir this into the liquid in the crockpot. Mixture should thicken pretty quickly. If it doesn't you might need to add more of the cornstarch mixture.
**This is where I add a splash of the Kitchen Bouquet to the white gravy to make it brown so that my husband will eat it. He detests any kind of white gravy. Gotta keep 'em happy, ya know?
I served the pork chops with egg noodles and green beans.
The leftover meat went into the freezer to be used in a stir fry or soup later on.
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