Menu Plan for August 14-20

We're back into the routine of soccer practices, getting ready for school and pretty much running around like crazy. lol!

From now on, I've decided to list my menu plan without any days attached to the meals. More often than not, I end up switching some meals around during the week so this is just easier for me. I figure that as long as I'm making a 7 day meal plan and sticking to it, I'm doing ok.

spicy shrimp pasta, salad & italian bread - ate it  on Sunday

tex mex turkey pitas and spanish rice

red pepper and parmesan talapia, jasmine rice and carrots/spinach

crockpot beef & barley soup

sweet onion chicken teriyaki subs

baked ravioli and salad - ate it on Monday

pork souvlaki, pierogies and corn

Mother Nature's beauty after a recent storm. I took these pictures in our back yard:

SRC - Toffee Squares

My mission for this moth from the Secret Recipe Club was to choose a recipe from Nicole's blog, The Cookaholic Wife. Let me just start off by saying that I had such a hard time choosing just one recipe to blog about. Nicole and I seem to enjoy the same types of cooking and food. I started browsing through her blog and within a couple of minutes, I'd picked out four recipes to try.

I settled on baking the Toffee Squares. The recipe looked pretty easy, which was great because I needed a quick dessert for that particular evening and the sound of toffee in a cookie made my mouth water. Nicole mentioned that her bars were a little dry so I made note of her suggestion to use a bigger cookie sheet so that the "bar" part of the cookie baked up thin. The cookies sheet that I used measures 13 1/2 x 18 1/2 and it worked perfectly. I used candied pecans instead of plain pecans and then I drizzled caramel ice cream topping over the top of the bars.

I couldn't wait until evening to eat these delicious little bars so I cut a small square to enjoy just for myself. I have to admit that even after all of the changes that I'd made, the first bite was just ok, nothing special - just like Nicole had described hers to be. I wrapped tin foil around the pan and decided that I would see what my family had to say about them later that night.

I'm not sure what happened between the time that I wrapped the bars and the time that I cut them to serve to my family but whatever it was, was surely a great thing. Now the cookies had softened a bit and the toppings seemed to have melded together. An awesome transformation. The bars were delicious. The nuts were sweet and gave a nice crunch to the bar part of the cookie and the chocolate and caramel topping just melted in my mouth. I'm not the only one who enjoyed these toffee squares, everyone in the house really liked them. They're addictive little suckers. None of them went to waste.

This recipe would work well for picnics, parties, reunions or school bake sales. I'm sure that they would travel well, too, if you like mailing treats.

My changes to the recipe are in bold below.

Toffee Squares
posted @ The Cookaholic Wife

2 sticks butter, room temp
1 c. packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 c. flour
2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. glazed pecans, finely chopped
caramel ice cream topping, drizzled to liking

Preheat the oven to 350*.

Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in the egg, vanilla and flour. Mix until well combined.

Spread the mixture onto a cookie sheet until thin. (I used a 13 1/2 x 18 1/2 sheet)

Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over top of the baked cookie bar.

Return to the oven for 3 minutes. Remove and spread the melted chocolate over the cookie.

Sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Drizzle the caramel topping over the entire area.

Cool for 10 minutes. Cut into small squares.

** I recommend leaving the toffee squares in the pan and covering them with tin foil.
Leave covered for at least 3 hrs. before serving. Store leftovers covered with tin foil or
in a sealed container. **

If you would like to join us in the Secret Recipe Club, click here to find out more about it!

Amanda, our club leader, has broken our huge club down into smaller groups to allow for easier viewing of all of the recipes and to allow for more comments to be left on everyone's blogs! Each group will post at different times during the month. We love comments, so please take a moment to let us know what you think of our recipes! :)

Roasted Greek Chicken & Potatoes

This dish is wonderful enough to serve double duty as an easy weeknight dinner or as a special holiday dinner.

The chicken stays juicy, while the potatoes roast up crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Roasted Greek Chicken & Potatoes

I didn't measure any specific amounts for this recipe.
It can be made in small or large amounts, depending
on the number of people you are feeding.

thawed chicken pieces - I baked 8 leg & thigh pieces
red potatoes, cubed small - I used 8 medium potatoes
olive oil
lemon juice
Greek seasoning
minced garlic
oregano
lemon pepper seasoning (no salt added)

Use a roasting pan big enough to hold both the chicken and the potatoes.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken pieces. Lay the chicken flat in one side of the pan, skin side up.

Cube potatoes (I left the skins on) and lay opposite of the chicken in the other side of the roasting pan.

Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken and potatoes and then sprinkle both with lemon juice.

Sprinkle approx. 2 tbsp. greek seasoning and lemon pepper on top of the chicken and potatoes.

Sprinkle approx. 1 tbsp. oregano and minced garlic over top of both.

Stir the potatoes, making sure they're coated with the oil, lemon and herbs.

Preheat oven to 450*

Bake chicken and potatoes for 20 minutes.

Lower oven to 375*

Continue baking for 1 - 1 1/2 hrs longer, checking after 1 hour to see if the juice in the chicken are clear.

Once chicken is done roasting, remove it to a plate and keep warm.

Spread the potatoes out in a single layer in the pan. Stick the pan under the broiler for 3 -5 minutes or until the potatoes have browned a little bit.

Serve immediately.

Leftover chicken is delicious as chicken salad or on a sandwich. Leftover potatoes are great fried the next day.

Poor Man's Cookies

This cookie recipe has been handed down generation to generation in my family. I can remember my grandmother baking these cookies for all of our family reunions, for Christmas dinner, for Easter dinner and any other time that she was asked to bring a dessert to an event.

With just a handful of basic pantry ingredients, I imagine that the recipes comes from the Depression Era. Baking them takes me back to my younger years and the memories make me smile.

Poor Man's Cookies

1 c. golden raisins
1 1/2 c. water
1 stick of butter
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
3/4 c. walnuts, finely crushed - I used
glazed pecans because that's what I had
on hand

Add raisins and water to a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the stick of butter and stir until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool.

Mix together flour, sugar, salt. Stir in crushed nuts.

In a separate bowl, lightly whip the egg and vanilla, using a fork. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Add the raisins and all of the liquid in the pot. Stir until completely mixed together. Set aside and allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.

Spray a small baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the cookie batter into the baking sheet. Spread the batter out evenly.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Start checking the cookies after 18 minutes. Mine were done in exactly 20 minutes.

Cool the cookies in the pan. Glaze while still warm to the touch.

Glaze Recipe

2 c. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 tbsp. butter, very soft or melted

Beat all ingredients together until smooth.

Linking up to:


Gooseberry Patch Round 'Em Up & Take 'Em To Go!

Try Dannon Activia Selects - Get Your Coupon!

I'll admit it, I love trying new products and when the opportunity to try Dannon Activia Selects came along, I just couldn't wait to try them! My kids and I love yogurt! We like to make easy desserts by layering the yogurt with granola or the cereal bits that's left at the bottom of the bag.

There's 2 kinds of Dannon Activia Select to choose from:

French Style with bits of fruit on the bottom
OR

Greek Thick & Creamy with fruit


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