Easy homestyle mashed potatoes

My kids, especially my boys, love mashed potatoes! I have moved to using red potatoes all the time because I don't have to peel them - just scrub and cut. I like to use a pressure cooker to make them because it's fast, but it would be fine to boil them, too.

My latest experiment involved throwing in half a cauliflower with the potatoes in the pressure cooker. It was a roaring success that made me wonder why I waited so long.  My boys now ask, "Are these cauliflower mashed potatoes?" and then gobble them down without caring to wait for the answer.

Hearty Mashed Potatoes with Cauliflower 
7-10 large red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into quarters or eighths
1/2 head cauliflower, washed and separated
butter
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder (optional)

Put the potatoes and cauliflower in the pot and boil/steam until soft. (In my pressure cooker, it's 8 minutes once the whistle starts.) Drain the water. Mash the potatoes and cauliflower, adding *butter (I add 1/4 cup), salt and pepper, and a dash of garlic salt if you wish. Devour with your favorite dishes. (Tonight we had them with peas, porkchops, and apple sauce.)

*When I do mashed potatoes without cauliflower, I always add milk and butter, but I find that with the cauliflower, milk makes the texture too thin for my preference.

Are you a veggie hider? Please share your favorite veggie recipes in the comments. 

RSBC 2013

Run Swim Bike Cook 2013 has begun. For answers to all your questions (what? how? who? when?), please visit the amazing Chou at her blog.

Total miles run in February to date: 8 ! My plan for this week is to alternate running and biking.

As for rosemary, it is quite possibly my favorite herb. I concocted some delicious grilled sandwiches on rosemary bread which included a tangy artichoke bell pepper spread (a failed spaghetti topping that I had made a few days earlier), thinly sliced pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, tomato, and fresh spinach. My 10 year old refers to them now as gourmet sandwiches and has requested them several times already. I bought the bread from Costco and the pepperoni came off a pizza before baking. Alas, I was so focused on eating that it did not occur to me to take a picture.

I also made chicken and butternut squash quinoa stew. I followed Mel's recipe and added rosemary. It was quite tasty, despite what the picture might make you think!

a few meal plans

We are still waiting for baby girl to make her appearance, but mom is leaving and real life is going to hit hard. I have a c-section scheduled for Monday morning (42w + 1) if baby girl doesn't arrive before then. Because I have 2 previous c-sections, the risks of induction are too high...

Sorry, no food pictures today. This is 41 weeks.

Breakfasts:
pancakes
waffles
omelettes (w/bell peppers, mushrooms, and spinach)
oatmeal and yogurt
cold cereal

Lunches:
peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers (or roll-ups)
grilled ham and cheese sandwiches (or roll-ups)
soup

Dinners:
Moroccan chicken and vegetable couscous
spaghetti and green beans
soft shell tacos or taco salad
bbq pulled pork sandwiches and green salad
fajitas
pork chops w/baked potatoes, green beans, squash and green salad

Brown butter toasted coconut dark chocolate chip cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest from Breanna's Recipe Box and decided to try them out. The name is a mouthful, and they require a bit more effort than regular chocolate chip cookies, but they are probably worth it every once in a while.

I have never browned butter before, so I was a bit concerned about that. I used a low temperature because I didn't want to burn it, so it took probably 15 minutes to brown the butter. If I do it again, I will use a higher temperature. Here are a few photos of the butter in its various stages:

Melted and sort of separating (you can see it's more clear around the edges):

Getting foamy:

Very hot (boiling):

Cooling in a bowl, still a bit foamy, but definitely brown:

I ran into trouble toasting the coconut. My coconut was burned to a crisp in the 6 minutes Breanna recommended. My second batch I timed at 3 minutes and it was about right. Word to the wise - check your coconut often!

Breanna does a great job of giving clear and step by step instructions. I followed her recipe very closely. Here are her ingredients and instructions.

Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, melted and browned

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/4-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (start with 2 1/4)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/2 cup toasted coconut

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper, spread out shredded coconut.  Toast coconut in oven for about 6 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from oven and place in a small bowl, set aside.

Brown your butter: Melt butter in a small/medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty.  Stir frequently, scraping up any bits form the bottom as you do.  Keep your eyes on it; it burns very quickly after it browns.  Once butter is browned, place in a small bowl.  Allow the butter to cool for a few minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, measure sugar and brown sugar.  Add the brown butter and beat together, on medium speed, for about 2 minutes.  The sugar may still look grainy.  Add the egg and egg yolk and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  The mixture should become smooth.  Add vanilla extract and beat.

With mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients. Beat until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the toasted coconut and chocolate chips.  Dough will be thick.

Cookies can be baked immediately, or the dough can be left in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Spoon balls by the tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets.  Bake for 10 to12 minutes, until golden brown but still slightly soft in the center.  Remove from the oven.  Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.  Eat while warm, sooo good!

I will probably wait until these cookies are requested before making them again, but I doubt that it will be too long. Scott, my 7 year old, pronounced them the best cookies he had ever eaten in his entire life. I wouldn't go that far, but I did like the flavor of the brown butter. These are also the first and only cookies that I preferred cool rather than fresh out of the oven.

Menu for the week of 3/26

We will see how this week goes. I am 6 days away from my due date, although historically I take a week or two longer to go into labor. Trying to keep things pretty simple.

Monday: taco soup with tvp (I have never tried this before, but we ordered a #10 can for long-term food storage and tonight we will give it a trial run)  - topped with tortilla chips, tomatoes, avocados, cheddar cheese

Tuesday: Penne with artichokes w/crusty bread and green salad

Wednesday: Dijon chicken stew with potatoes and kale

Thursday: taco salad

Friday: homemade pizza (I think we'll do one pepperoni pineapple and 1 spinach bacon caramelized onion)

Saturday: French chocolate granola for breakfast, Chinese food for lunch (I got a gift card from a violin gig), sandwiches or whatever for dinner

Sunday: chicken pot pie crumble

As always, visit orgjunkie.com's Meal Planning Monday for more ideas...

Guest post: How to make Pierogi

Photo from wikipedia commons

I am delighted to have a guest post today from Trudy Abood, VP of  GourmetGiftBaskets.com, all about pierogi. You can read more about Trudy at the end of the post. My husband is half Polish, so I've heard about these, but never tried making them. You can bet I'll be trying out this recipe. This post is sponsored by gourmetgiftbaskets.com.


Pierogi may not seem like a fashionable food, but they’re all over the place (and pretty delicious).  Freezers at the super market are stocked full of them and they even come in special gift baskets.  But, if you have a little time to spare, you can make your own.  The ingredients are incredibly nonthreatening – you basically can’t get anymore simplistic. 

And though it’s thought of as a traditional Polish food, it isn’t.  Perogi recipes can be found all over the globe. 

I come from a German household and so does the recipe I use.  As is usually the case with old family recipes, I pretty much had to steal this from my mother years ago when I attempted to make it for the first time.  Yeah, sure, it looks simple, but make no mistake that turning out a perfect batch of these took me the better half of a day.  This recipe also yields about 3 dozen pierogi – kind of a lot.  So, have a party, freeze them, or make some gift baskets of your own.

Dough:

4 cups flour

3 eggs

½ tsp of salt

½ cup of water

On your counter, make a well with the flour and add the eggs and salt.  Mix it all together and add enough water to make a slightly soft dough.  Knead this mixture until small, blisters begin to appear.  (At this point, your dough should be pretty soft).  Divide your dough into two parts, rolling out one portion at a time until it’s quite thin, and cut into 2-inch squares.  Place about 1tsp of filling on each square, and fold the dough in half.  Dip your fingers in water and pinch the edges of the dough shut to create the perfect Pierog (that’s actually the singular form).

Filling:

You can pretty much fill them with whatever you’d like.  From spinach to fruit, there’s a recipe.  My great-great-someone’s recipe is classic and has two options for fillings.

Cheese Filling: ½ pound of cottage cheese mixed with 1 egg and beaten.

Potato Filling: 1 pound of mashed potatoes, 3 tbsp butter, ¼ pound of yellow cheese, and ½ tsp of salt.

After you’ve stuffed the dough with whatever you want, drop your perfect pockets of doughy goodness into salted boiling water.  Let them cook in the water until they begin to rise to the top, which takes about 10 minutes.  From there, brown them in a pan with butter and onions.  Comfort food never tasted so good.

About the author: Trudy Abood is the VP of GourmetGiftBaskets.com, one of the top suppliers of quality gift baskets. She is a mom of 2 boys, one of which founded GGB and the other is also VP at the company. She formerly owned Chalifour's Flowers in Manchester, NH; the largest flower shop in the state.

Meatloaf, one to cook and one to freeze

After the rave reviews I got for my meatloaf last Sunday, I decided to make it again. It's fast, it's easy, and this meatloaf is moist. I think the secret is the can of V8. I've also made it with tomato soup before or tomato sauce, but I found this was the most tasty. This recipe is based on my mom's recipe.

Here's the recipe - it makes 2 loaves (I made one to cook tomorrow and one for the freezer):

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
1.5 - 2 cups oatmeal
1 onion, chopped OR 1 package Lipton onion soup OR 1/2 cup dried onions (depending on which one of these you use, you will need to adjust how much salt you put in)
1 can V8
1 egg
salt and pepper, as much as you feel like
several dashes of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
a dash of parsley flakes (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Divide evenly between 2 loaf pans. Bake for 75 minutes. Depending on your beef, you may need to drain the meatloaf when it comes out of the oven. Serve hot!

If you want to freeze one, line your loaf pan with wax paper before putting in the meat mixture. Put it in the freezer for a few hours, then carefully remove it from the pan. Wrap in plastic wrap, then foil, or put in a freezer bag. The night before you want to eat it, unwrap it and put it in the loaf pan. Let it thaw overnight, and then follow the regular cooking instructions.

Strawberry crisp

I got a link to this recipe for strawberry bars in a local farmers' market email, and they looked so good that I made them the same day. None of this "pin it", think about it, drool over it, never get around to it! It may have been part of my nesting urges (other posts coming on the amazing things that I got done this weekend).

The original recipe called for some ingredients that I did not have, so I modified it. My version turned out as more of a strawberry crisp, as you can see in the photo.

We ate the whole pan for breakfast (hey! Oatmeal is a breakfast food, right?) on Saturday, and then I made them again on Sunday for dessert following our family dinner. Rave reviews and requests for more!

Ingredients:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup water
2 cups strawberries, thinly sliced (I used frozen strawberries and they worked well. It's easiest to slice them if you let them warm up for a few minutes).
1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×9 pan or use the butter wrapper.

Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add flour and baking soda and mix well.
Stir in the oats and the water, by hand.

Spoon and press half of batter into a pan.

In another bowl, mix together the strawberries and white sugar, mashing the berries slightly so that the juice runs.

Spread the berries over the first layer of batter in pan and top with remaining batter.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and serve warm! They would probably be delicious with vanilla ice cream, too, if you need more sweetness in your life:)

Whole wheat bread

Yummy homemade wheat bread!

I love bread. My kids and I have enjoyed homemade artisan bread for quite a while. Lately, though, they've been requesting loaf bread, so I asked around and got this recipe from my sister-in-law who got it from a mutual friend. Thanks, Jan!

This recipe is very easy and makes 4 loaves. Here they are ready for the second rise:

The bread looked beautiful and tasted fabulous. We devoured a whole loaf for breakfast this morning. I like it best toasted with butter and honey, but it's also good with a bowl of soup or in a pbj.


Ingredients:
5 cups warm water
1 c dry milk
2 tbsp yeast

Mix, then add:

2 tbsp salt
1/2 c honey
1/2 c shortening (I used 2/3 stick of melted butter because I never buy shortening)

Then the flour
6 c. freshly ground wheat (I used 5 because I didn't have time to grind more)
6 c all purpose flour, enough to make a good bread dough. (I used about 5 1/2)

Knead either by hand or in a mixer for 8 minutes. (I did it by hand.) Let rise once in an oiled bowl, then shape into loaves & rise again. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Do you make bread? Do you have a favorite bread recipe?

Menu for the week of 3/12

Let me just say that things did not go as planned last week. I don't remember what we ate exactly - sandwiches and cereal and whatever else we could find without cooking. My 2 year old broke her foot jumping off our bookshelf - she is quite a spunky monkey! A sweet friend of mine brought us dinner on Saturday, we were invited to dinner on Sunday, and thus ended the week.

This week will be different!

Monday: pasta w/butternut squash sauce (saute an onion, a carrot, a bell pepper, and butternut squash. Add some chicken broth, a little milk, and purée when vegetables are tender).

Tuesday: potato kale soup w/gruyère and broccoli cauliflower cheese soup (I have some friends coming for lunch). Also baking wheat bread for toast and sandwiches the rest of the week.

Wednesday: taco salad

Thursday: smoothies and supernachos


Friday: baked potatos, mini meatloaf, green beans


Saturday: beef fajitas


Sunday: Quick coq au vin with crusty bread

For lunches, we're eating leftover bean burgers, pbjs, grilled cheese, ham sandwiches, and we're snacking on popcorn, smoothies, apples and string cheese.

What are you eating this week? For more meal planning tips and ideas, please visit orgjunkie.com's Meal Planning Monday.

Menu for the week of 3/5

I love this crustless quiche, especially because I can saute the vegetables in this pan, add in the eggs & cheese, then put the whole thing in the oven and bake it!

Evidently, I am craving soup, soup, and more soup, for I have put it on the menu 3x this week. Two of them are tried and true; the new one is Moroccan chicken and butternut squash soup. It sounds delicious, and I already have most of the ingredients.


Monday: crustless quiche and green salad

Tuesday: Broccoli and cauliflower cheese soup with crusty bread

Wednesday: spaghetti, green beans

Thursday: West African peanut soup with chicken

Friday: Moroccan chicken and butternut squash soup

Saturday: baked potato bar, lemon pig cake (birthday party last Saturday was postponed due to illness among the guests)

Sunday: pancakes and/or leftovers

What are you eating this week? For more meal planning tips and ideas, please visit orgjunkie.com's Meal Planning Monday.

Chocolate zucchini bread

I found this recipe at Our Best Bites and had to try it. I did modify the original recipe somewhat - subbing some applesauce for oil, using 1 real egg and the equivalent of 2 additional eggs in egg substitute. I loved the crispy outside and the moist inside - excellent texture. My taste buds were confused, though, because I tasted a chocolate mint combination, when it should have been chocolate cinnamon, with just a hint of orange from the orange zest. Any explanation for that?

All 3 of my children loved it, even though they knew it had zucchini in it. I guess it's hard not to love something warm, gooey, and chocolatey that tastes nothing like zucchini:) Here is my modified version:

INGREDIENTS:
2 C flour
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 C canola oil
1/4 C apple sauce
1 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 C egg substitute 
2 t vanilla
1/2 C sour cream
3 C grated zucchini
3/4 C chocolate chips

Topping:
2 T brown sugar
2 T white sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside. Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat oil, apple sauce, sugars, egg and egg substitute until combined. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined.

Gently stir in the grated zucchini.
Take a spoonful of the flour mixture and stir in with the chocolate chips (that will help keep them evenly distributed.) Stir remaining flour mixture into batter and mix just until combined.  Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Divide the batter between the two pans and sprinkle topping over each.

Bake in your preheated 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. Try setting the timer for 45 minutes and then keep an eye on it for the remaining time. Test for done-ness (it IS a word) with a toothpick. It should come out clean. 

Let the pans cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and then remove the bread from the pans. 

Menu for the week of 2/27

These are the beautiful contents from the box of produce I received a week and a half ago from our produce co-op. This Thursday, it is my turn to go downtown to the produce market and order for 12 families. I will definitely post on the experience!

I need to clean out the fridge and not spend any more money on groceries until the new month starts, so I am keeping it simple this week. I have spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, cauliflower, tomatoes, chicken breasts, and leftover cooked rice to use up. I have spent $536 on groceries this month, BUT that includes $110 for our annual Costco membership. (Last year our membership ended up costing only about $15 thanks to the 2% annual reward.)

Monday: chicken fried rice, green salad (chocolate zucchini bread for dessert)

Tuesday: Spinach and cheese strata

Wednesday: cauliflower crust pizza

Thursday: homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on crusty bread

Friday: leftover bean burgers from freezer, baked sweet potatoes and cottage cheese, green beans

Saturday:  pizza and a pig cake (my son's birthday party)

Sunday: leftovers or pancakes

Looking for ideas or tips for meal planning? Check out Meal Planning Monday at orgjunkie.com .

Chicken rollatini with zucchini and mozzarella

This recipe was a fabulous Pinterest find from skinnytaste.com: chicken stuffed with zucchini and cheese, then dipped in lemon juice/olive oil and Italian flavored bread crumbs to form a delicious crust! I had leftover mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce from our turkey dinner last Sunday AND I had zucchini in the fridge about to go bad, so it was an easy decision to try them together.

Mine were not as beautiful as those on the original site, but perhaps if I had left them in the over just a bit longer, the outside would have darkened up a bit. This was also my first attempt to pound and flatten chicken breasts into something rollable. I put them in a heavy duty plastic bag and pounded away with my hammer, but there must be another way that yields a thinner, more even chicken fillet. Please give me your tips if you have any experience in this.

I loved the taste. I loved the zucchini and cheese filling all on its own! My kids gave mixed reviews. Picky 9 year old said they were too salty (?!), 6 year old said the chicken part was good (but not the zucchini), and 2 year old gobbled them up. I might try making chicken fingers with this recipe and just leave out the rolling and the filling with zucchini and cheese. Slightly faster and possibly more appealing to the kids.

Please visit skinnytaste.com for nutritional information and weight watchers points.

My version (almost exactly the same as Gina's original):

INGREDIENTS:


1 tsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 cups (1 medium) zucchini, shredded

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp fresh parmesan cheese

3 oz part skim shredded mozzarella

salt and pepper to taste

8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs, with added oregano, basil, and parsley

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and fresh pepper

cooking spray



DIRECTIONS:

Wash and dry cutlets, season with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Saute garlic one minute, or until golden. Add zucchini, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and saute about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool. When cool, add mozzarella cheese and mix to combine.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread 3 tbsp of zucchini-cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.

Combine breadcrumbs and grated cheese in one bowl; in a second bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper in another bowl.

Dip chicken in lemon-oil mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spray with cooking spray.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Chicken stir fry

Hi, and welcome to my small and simple blog. Pinterest friends, thanks for visiting. I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and take a minute to look around at some of the other popular posts you might enjoy on the sidebar.
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We had a great time last weekend with a visit from a special out-of-town family member; this visit, however, was full of desserts and gluttony - BLAH! Enter Mel's Kitchen Cafe to the rescue with this great recipe for a chicken stir fry. I slightly modified it to include more vegetables and left out the fresh ginger and sesame seeds (had none)... Served it with brown rice and it was a big hit with the whole family. My two year old loved the broccoli, my non-meat eater asked for chicken and more chicken, and my picky 9 year old even tasted it all and had more rice. Handsome Husband asked if it could be put into the regular dinner rotation.

I liked that it was pretty quick to prepare (total of 45 minutes, including the rice and prep time) and that it was HEALTHY! High in vegetables, good source of lean protein, and very tasty.

Here is my modified version. I followed Mel's directions; the main change to the directions here is including my extra ingredients. I would like to try it again with fresh ginger and garlic.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1.5 full (not half) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 carrots, in diagonal rounds
4-5 celery stalks, sliced along the diagonal

1 pound broccoli, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stalks discarded (some was from my garden!)
1.5 red/yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into thin strips
1/2 pound snow peas
green onions, sliced
garlic powder
ground ginger
Hot cooked brown rice for serving


DIRECTIONS:
In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together 1 cup broth, 6 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and the sesame oil. In a large bowl, toss the cubed chicken with the remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon oil.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is hot and rippling. Add the chicken mixture and brown the chicken until cooked through, flipping occasionally, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Set aside.

To the empty skillet, add the carrots, celery, broccoli and remaining 1/4 cup broth. Cover the skillet and cook until the broccoli begins to soften and turn bright green, about 2 minutes. Uncover the skillet and cook until the liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Add the bell peppers and snow peas and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green onions, several sprinkles of garlic powder, and ginger.

Whisk the sauce in the liquid measuring cup to recombine and add to the skillet with the chicken and any accumulated juices. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is bubbly and thickened, about 2 minutes.  Serve over brown rice.

Menu for the week of 2/21

I'm a little behind on my getting my menu up for the week, but as you can see below, I didn't have to plan Monday or Tuesday night's dinner. I'm still getting used to managing my time with homeschool (we've finished 6 days and it's official; Scott has been withdrawn from public school), but I have to say, I really like it. And Scott loves it. I asked him tonight what the best part of his day was and he answered, "Homeschool."

With no further ado, here is the menu plan for the week.

Monday: spaghetti, breadsticks, green salad (invited out)

Tuesday: Blue and Gold Banquet (Cub Scout dinner)

Wednesday: Chicken stir fry with carrots, pea pods, bell peppers, celery, and broccoli with brown rice

Thursday: chicken rollatini stuffed with zucchini plus turkey dinner leftovers (mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce)

Friday: homemade pizza and a big green salad

Saturday: Baked Mac n Cheese with Gruyère

Sunday: Chimichurri Flank Steak Fajitas

One of these nights for desserts, I'm going to make cocoa krispie parfaits: layer slices of strawberries, vanilla yogurt, bananas, and cocoa krispies. We were the recipients of several pounds of sugar cereal, and I intend to use them for dessert as much as I can, rather than breakfast:)

If you need additional tips for meal planning or menu ideas, check out orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.

Menu for the week of 2/13

We haven't made crusty bread in a while. I love toasting it with butter and honey!

Monday: Pork potpie (I want to use this recipe as a springboard and instead of crust, use Mel's crumbly biscuit topping) and green beans

Tuesday: spaghetti with homemade sauce, crusty bread, and steamed broccoli

Wednesday: Shells and cheese with gruyere and butternut squash

Thursday: Crock pot baked potatoes with salsa and cheese, bacon, broccoli as topping options

Friday: homemade pizza

Saturday: dinner out (a birthday celebration in the extended family)

Sunday: invited to someone's house

Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas and tips on meal planning.

Run Swim Bike Cook 2012, week 2 OR savory breakfast bread pudding

The charming and talented Chou has hosted Run Swim Bike Cook for several years, but I believe this is the first year that I have actively participated. As she says, it's kind of like Ironman meets Iron Chef. Check out her blog HERE and HERE for more details on the challenge.

This week's cooking challenge was to incorporate fresh greens into breakfast. I have been wanting to try a bread pudding and found this recipe, which I modified slightly for my own sinister tasty purposes.
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Ingredients:

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic

a pat of butter (1 tbsp?)

6 sliced mushrooms

a few handfuls of fresh spinach
2 cups fat-free milk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
a sprinkle of  dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 loaf of rosemary olive oil bread (from Costco. You can use whatever you want though.)

Directions:

Put the tomatoes in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain well and chop.

Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add the garlic, and cook for a minute. Add the mushrooms and spinach and sauté until the spinach wilts and the mushrooms are as you like them.

Preheat oven to 350°. (I did this first, but the oven was hot way before I was ready to put anything in it, so I think you can wait a bit.)

Combine the milk and eggs in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, basil, salt, and pepper. 

Place bread in a shallow 1 1/2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Pour milk mixture over bread, gently stirring to coat. Let mixture stand 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
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The result? Something that smelled a lot like stuffing (I love stuffing). Some crispy bread bits, some chewy bits, and a really nice flavor. The texture made me long for chocolate bread pudding, which I'll be trying soon. I found and pinned some great recipes.

Sorry about the photo. I couldn't find my regular camera and had to use my phone. Clearly, I'm all about EATING the good food, more than documenting the good food:)

Want to join RSBC 2012? It's not too late! (Oh, and for the running swimming biking, I'm just walking. My goal is to walk a mile a day, so I make it to 26.2 miles for the month. So far, I've walked a grand total of 1.5 miles. I know I'm a little behind, but I think I can still make it.)

Menu for the week of 2/6

I have decided to focus on cleaning my house and catching up on laundry this week, so I am scaling back on my cooking endeavors. We'll be eating easy things from the freezer, using up leftovers from the fridge, and a getting a little help from Costco. Most of these do not even require a recipe!

Monday: Costco pizza (pepperoni on sale for $5.99) - I'm removing about half the pepperoni and dressing it up with bell peppers, mushrooms, and pineapple. Fruit smoothies to drink and a green salad on the side.

Tuesday: Crockpot pork, red potatoes, and broccoli from the garden, maybe with cheese sauce (it is growing like mad!)

Wednesday: Vegetable lasagne to use up more of my spinach, mushrooms, yellow squash, and leftover spaghetti sauce.

Thursday: Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches w/Dijon mustard, dill pickles, carrot sticks.

Friday: bbq pork sandwiches (with leftover pork from Monday), green salad

Saturday: Bean burgers (from the freezer) with raw vegetables and hummus on the side or possibly sweet potato fries

Sunday: probably pancakes:)

What are you working on this week? What's on your menu? For more tips on menu planning, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Menu for the week of 1/30

My beautiful broccoli!

It's Monday, and this is when I usually publish a menu plan for the whole week. HOWEVER, this week, I am trying something new - a produce co-op with a group of 12 women on my side of town. Every other Thursday, beginning this Thursday, I will get a huge box of produce for $25. I don't know what exactly will be in it, but I've been told it will be fairly common fruits and vegetables. Once every 6 weeks, I will take a turn to go downtown to the produce market and buy the produce, bring it home, divide it up, and wait for each woman to pick up her box. SOOOOO, today, I am planning meals based on things I already have in the freezer, the pantry, and my garden to minimize shopping (plus it's the end of the month and I've already surpassed my grocery budget, spending $624 in January).

This morning, I took inventory of the things in my freezer to help me keep track of what's there. Sometimes at the store, I think, "Oh, I need to buy more strawberries!" Then I get home and discover that I already have a package of frozen strawberries. I keep this list on my phone in ColorNote.

I'm also planning to make up several batches of pizza dough and put them in the freezer. Homemade pizza is so fast when you don't have to think about the crust. I will have 4 extra kids (cousins!) this weekend, so we'll need a lot of pizza on Friday night!

Monday: chicken pot pie crumble with green salad (I have leftover vinaigrette from THIS)

Tuesday: spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce, accompanied with steamed broccoli from our garden and focaccia with onions, rosemary, and feta

Wednesday:  Sweet and sour pork over brown rice with garlic and ginger green beans

Thursday: bean burgers (from the freezer)

Friday: homemade pizza

Saturday: pancakes for breakfast, grilled ham and cheese for lunch, dinner.... still up in the air.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to hurry up and make these blueberry muffin top cookies before my boys get home from school!

For more weekly menu plans, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com