For a while, I will be adding a family menu + my low carb dinner menu.
Family Menu
M - hot meatloaf sandwiches - turned into homemade spicy chicken sands because we were shopping later than expected
T - pork soulvaki, spaetzles, & corn
W- chicken tacos & rice
H- skirt steak, salad & another side
F - pasta & sauce
A - grilled chicken, chicken rice, salad & green beans
Low Carb Menu
M - sloppy joe stuffed peppers
T - pork soulvaki, sauteed fresh green beans & cucumbers w/dressing
W - grilled chicken salad - grilled chicken, mushrooms & cheese over salad
H - skirt steak, grilled zucchini & salad
F -mexican omelet
A - chef salad
For lots of great inspiration in menu planning, check out Menu Plan Mondays.
{Edited: This is going to be one of the those crazy weeks where I rearrange the menu. To me, it really doesn't matter what day we eat the listed recipes, just making the menu and shopping for all of the supplies, really helps me out!}
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Chili Cheese Dog Tortilla Sticks
Yesterday I had to come up with a snack for my husband to eat while he was watching his JETS advance in the NFL playoffs. (insert boo, hiss and gag here since my Steelers didn't make it).
Since I usually go shopping on Sundays, there wasn't a whole lot left in the cupboards or frig.
I had chili on the stove cooking for dinner and a few hot dogs in the freezer--chili dogs came to mind but there wasn't any hot dog buns. I managed to dig up a pack of soft tortillas. I needed a "holder" for the chili and dogs so I figured that the tortillas would work.
These little sticks became a big hit with my family. I wrapped up what was left and stuck them in the freezer. They will work for a quick grab for lunches for the kids or for my husband.
Chili Cheese Dog Tortilla Sticks
8 boiled hot dogs
8 small soft tortillas
chili
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped onion
Layer the ingredients of your choice onto 1/2 of the tortilla, starting with the cheese, then chili, onions, and then ending with the hot dog.
Do not over fill the tortillas or they will not stay closed. Start rolling up from the full side, making sure to tuck in the sides half way through.
Place the tortillas, seam side down, into a hot frying pan. Cook just one or two at a time so that you will have plenty of room to turn and brown the sticks on all sides. Watch the sticks carefully because they will brown very quickly. Remove to a plate.
Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap and freeze to warm up in the microwave.
Wrap leftovers in foil and freeze to warm up in the oven.
These sticks can be sliced into pieces for little appetizer bites.
Since I usually go shopping on Sundays, there wasn't a whole lot left in the cupboards or frig.
I had chili on the stove cooking for dinner and a few hot dogs in the freezer--chili dogs came to mind but there wasn't any hot dog buns. I managed to dig up a pack of soft tortillas. I needed a "holder" for the chili and dogs so I figured that the tortillas would work.
These little sticks became a big hit with my family. I wrapped up what was left and stuck them in the freezer. They will work for a quick grab for lunches for the kids or for my husband.
Chili Cheese Dog Tortilla Sticks
8 boiled hot dogs
8 small soft tortillas
chili
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped onion
Layer the ingredients of your choice onto 1/2 of the tortilla, starting with the cheese, then chili, onions, and then ending with the hot dog.
Do not over fill the tortillas or they will not stay closed. Start rolling up from the full side, making sure to tuck in the sides half way through.
Place the tortillas, seam side down, into a hot frying pan. Cook just one or two at a time so that you will have plenty of room to turn and brown the sticks on all sides. Watch the sticks carefully because they will brown very quickly. Remove to a plate.
Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap and freeze to warm up in the microwave.
Wrap leftovers in foil and freeze to warm up in the oven.
These sticks can be sliced into pieces for little appetizer bites.
Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Before Christmas, my son discovered a chocolate chip pie on a menu where we were eating. He knows that I refuse to pay $5.00 or more for a slice of pie so he asked me if I would bake something like this for him. I forgot all about it until he mentioned it last week. I searched online and through a couple of cookbooks that I have here, but nothing grabbed me. All of the recipes called for nuts. Even though my family is "nutty", they are not big fans of nuts in desserts. I found a 1/2 bag of Heath Toffee Chips in my cupboard so I used them in place of the nuts. The results were extremely good.
Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Ingredients:
1 refrigerated 9-inch pie shell, slightly prebaked*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup toffee baking pieces
Toppings:
ice cream or whipped cream, optional
Directions for Prebaking Pie Shell:
I like using a 10" pie pan to hold a 9" pie crust when making a pie like this. It leaves room at the top of the pie plate to hold
whipped cream or another topping.
Preheat over to 425*
Place the pie crust into the pie pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake for 7 minutes or until very lightly browned.
Directions for Pie:
Preheat oven to 325° F.
In a large bowl, whip eggs until light and foamy.
In a seperate bowl, stir together the sugars and flour. Spoon the dry mix into the eggs a little at a time until well blended.
Mix in butter. Continue mixing untill smooth.
Stir in chocolate chips and toffee pieces. Spoon into pie shell.
If using a deeper pan like I do, bake for 45 mintues or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. If using a regular
pan, it will probably need to bake for 5 - 10 minutes more.
Cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped
cream.
While this pie is delicous served plain or just with whipped cream....why stop there?!?
Check this out...
MMM!!! It's out of this world topped with chocolate ice cream & drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrups.
Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Ingredients:
1 refrigerated 9-inch pie shell, slightly prebaked*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup toffee baking pieces
Toppings:
ice cream or whipped cream, optional
Directions for Prebaking Pie Shell:
I like using a 10" pie pan to hold a 9" pie crust when making a pie like this. It leaves room at the top of the pie plate to hold
whipped cream or another topping.
Preheat over to 425*
Place the pie crust into the pie pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake for 7 minutes or until very lightly browned.
Directions for Pie:
Preheat oven to 325° F.
In a large bowl, whip eggs until light and foamy.
In a seperate bowl, stir together the sugars and flour. Spoon the dry mix into the eggs a little at a time until well blended.
Mix in butter. Continue mixing untill smooth.
Stir in chocolate chips and toffee pieces. Spoon into pie shell.
If using a deeper pan like I do, bake for 45 mintues or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. If using a regular
pan, it will probably need to bake for 5 - 10 minutes more.
Cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped
cream.
While this pie is delicous served plain or just with whipped cream....why stop there?!?
Check this out...
MMM!!! It's out of this world topped with chocolate ice cream & drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrups.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Pasta e Fagioli
I was so lucky to grow up in a town full of different ethnicities. That's were I found my love of Italian, Greek, Polish, German & Slovak foods. We grew up celebrating all nationalities with different street fairs & church events that always included homemade food.
One of my favorite soups from these events is Pasta e Fagioli. Until now, my family wouldn't touch it because it had beans in it. Once I decided that I was going to try a Rachel Ray recipe for this dish, I knew that I would have to make some changes in it for it to work for everyone in my house. Her recipe was simple so it wasn't hard to make some changes and additions to it. We ended up with a hearty, delicious soup.
Pasta e Fagioli (my changes in blue)
* 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/8 pound (about 3 slices) pancetta, chopped - I subbed 1 lb of boneless pork steaks, cut into tiny pieces.
* 2 (4 to 6-inch) sprigs rosemary, left intact
* 1 (4 to 6-inch) sprig thyme with several sprigs on it, left intact
* 1 large fresh bay leaf or 2 dried bay leaves
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 small carrot, finely chopped - I grated the carrot into the soup
* 1 rib celery, finely chopped - I grated the celery into the soup
* 4 large cloves garlic, chopped - I used 2 1/2 TBSP of minced garlic in olive oil
* Coarse salt and pepper
* 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans - I did not add the beans to the soup. Instead I warmed them and added them only to my dish.
* 1 cup canned tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes - I used 1 lg. can of crushed tomatoes
* 2 cups water
* 1 quart chicken stock - I used 32 oz of chicken stock
* 1 1/2 cups ditalini - I used 3/4 of a lb.
* Grated Parmigiano or Romano, for the table
* Crusty bread, for mopping
Directions
Heat a deep pot over medium high heat and add oil and pancetta. (pork in my recipe)
Brown the pancetta (pork) bits lightly, and add herb stems, bay leaf, chopped vegetables, and garlic.
Season vegetables with salt and pepper.
Add beans(no!), tomato sauce, water, and stock to pot and raise heat to high.
Bring soup to a rapid boil and add pasta.
Reduce heat to medium and cook soup, stirring occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente. (this took about 12 minutes)
Rosemary and thyme leaves will separate from stems as soup cooks.
Remove herb stems and bay leaf from soup and place pot on table on a trivet.
Let soup rest and begin to cool for a few minutes.
I spooned some beans into my bowl before the soup.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with lots of grated cheese.
Pass crusty bread for bowl mopping.
**I will be making this again soon. The only changes I will be making is to sub dried herbs for the fresh ones. My husband was not found of the Rosemary pieces in the soup.
Leftovers should be refrigerated. Add more chicken broth and crushed tomatoes the next day before heating thoroughly.
One of my favorite soups from these events is Pasta e Fagioli. Until now, my family wouldn't touch it because it had beans in it. Once I decided that I was going to try a Rachel Ray recipe for this dish, I knew that I would have to make some changes in it for it to work for everyone in my house. Her recipe was simple so it wasn't hard to make some changes and additions to it. We ended up with a hearty, delicious soup.
Pasta e Fagioli (my changes in blue)
* 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/8 pound (about 3 slices) pancetta, chopped - I subbed 1 lb of boneless pork steaks, cut into tiny pieces.
* 2 (4 to 6-inch) sprigs rosemary, left intact
* 1 (4 to 6-inch) sprig thyme with several sprigs on it, left intact
* 1 large fresh bay leaf or 2 dried bay leaves
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 small carrot, finely chopped - I grated the carrot into the soup
* 1 rib celery, finely chopped - I grated the celery into the soup
* 4 large cloves garlic, chopped - I used 2 1/2 TBSP of minced garlic in olive oil
* Coarse salt and pepper
* 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans - I did not add the beans to the soup. Instead I warmed them and added them only to my dish.
* 1 cup canned tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes - I used 1 lg. can of crushed tomatoes
* 2 cups water
* 1 quart chicken stock - I used 32 oz of chicken stock
* 1 1/2 cups ditalini - I used 3/4 of a lb.
* Grated Parmigiano or Romano, for the table
* Crusty bread, for mopping
Directions
Heat a deep pot over medium high heat and add oil and pancetta. (pork in my recipe)
Brown the pancetta (pork) bits lightly, and add herb stems, bay leaf, chopped vegetables, and garlic.
Season vegetables with salt and pepper.
Add beans(no!), tomato sauce, water, and stock to pot and raise heat to high.
Bring soup to a rapid boil and add pasta.
Reduce heat to medium and cook soup, stirring occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente. (this took about 12 minutes)
Rosemary and thyme leaves will separate from stems as soup cooks.
Remove herb stems and bay leaf from soup and place pot on table on a trivet.
Let soup rest and begin to cool for a few minutes.
I spooned some beans into my bowl before the soup.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with lots of grated cheese.
Pass crusty bread for bowl mopping.
**I will be making this again soon. The only changes I will be making is to sub dried herbs for the fresh ones. My husband was not found of the Rosemary pieces in the soup.
Leftovers should be refrigerated. Add more chicken broth and crushed tomatoes the next day before heating thoroughly.
Some New & Exciting Changes Coming Soon!
I have had so much fun with this cooking blog over the last year. I love trying new recipes. Unfortunately, my waist line does not like what is happening from all of the goodies that I have been cooking.
After giving it a lot of thought, I've decided that I am going to divide my blog into 2 sections, per say - one half of it will continue to show recipes that I am trying out for my family and the other half will showcase my low carb adventures.
I've decided that it's time that I buckle down and get serious about losing weight. I've done low carbing before and it works for me. (But the devil on my shoulder constantly reminds me of how much I LOVE to bake sweets!)
I figure that posting my experiences along the way will help to keep me honest. I will post about low carb dishes as well.
My family, on the other hand, will not be low carbing with me. I will continue to cook regular meals and desserts for them....and hopefully add some new, healthy foods along the way!
I hope that you will continue on this journey with me!
Hugs,
Tami
After giving it a lot of thought, I've decided that I am going to divide my blog into 2 sections, per say - one half of it will continue to show recipes that I am trying out for my family and the other half will showcase my low carb adventures.
I've decided that it's time that I buckle down and get serious about losing weight. I've done low carbing before and it works for me. (But the devil on my shoulder constantly reminds me of how much I LOVE to bake sweets!)
I figure that posting my experiences along the way will help to keep me honest. I will post about low carb dishes as well.
My family, on the other hand, will not be low carbing with me. I will continue to cook regular meals and desserts for them....and hopefully add some new, healthy foods along the way!
I hope that you will continue on this journey with me!
Hugs,
Tami
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