Menu Plan Monday
Posted by admin in Family Recipes, Gluten Free, Menu Plan, frugal, pasta
So my best friend’s family has had to switch to a gluten free diet for health reasons. Gluten free meals planned on my calendar are for the nights I am expecting her and her children to come over for dinner.
Monday
Chicken and Veggie Pasta
Tuesday
Gluten free dinner: BBQ Lentils and Rice, mandarine oranges and corn
Wednesday
Banana Pancakes, no sugar added applesauce and Turkey Bacon
Thursday
Grocery shopping day: Gluten Free Nachos: Beans cooked in the crockpot, Corn Chips, shredded cheese, olives, tomatoes, sour cream, home made salsa, avocado etc.
Friday
Skillet Salmon, baked potato, green beans and biscuits
Saturday
mac and cheese, hotdogs, fruits and veggies are kids choice
Sunday
Soup! Very likely chicken and/or lentil served over rice
Quick Blender Salsa
| Ingredients: 1 Can(s) tomatoes with chilis 1/4 onion 1 Bunch(s) fresh cilantro 1/2 juiced lime 1/2 Teaspoon(s) garlic salt 1 Tablespoon(s) Mrs. Dash garlic and herb
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Directions: rip a handful of the cilantro off and put in the blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend or pulse to desired consistency. Tastes even better after its sat in the fridge a while.
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Left-over Chicken Make-over
Posted by admin in Leftover Makeover, chicken, pasta, spur of the moment
Don’t those pics look SUPER YUMMY?!
So I had some boneless skinless chicken leftover from the missionaries fried chicken dinner. (I’m late posting this) And so I decided to use it up. I heated a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and when it was all cooked through and starting to brown I pulled it form the pan, added a bit more olive oil and then some diced onion and green pepper and a large carrot shredded.I let those cook until soft and added the cans of tomatoes. Then adding about a tablespoon of minced garlic and about a teaspoon of dried oregano. (At this point your whole house smells great!) I re-added the chicken and let it all simmer while I boil the water for the pasta. I used macaroni but you can use what you like. I love macaroni, rotini and seashell pastas. I cook the pasta about 8-10 minutes. I don’t like them over-done. Before draining the pasta I a a couple cooking spoons of pasta water. (they always say on the cook shows that it helps the sauce stick to the pasta. I think it gives the sauce a pretty look, lol)
Menu Plan Monday
Posted by admin in Menu Plan
Monday
Pot Pie made from my leftover chicken soup
Tuesday
Cheesy Rice and Broccoli
Wednesday
Pita experiments. Kids choice sides: fruits and veggies
Thursday
Pasta with chicken (experimental. we’ll see what happens) kids choice side: fruits and veggies
Friday
Mac and cheese with hotdogs kids choice sides: fruits and veggies
Saturday
Dinner at my Mother-in-laws
Sunday
Having the Missionaries over for dinner again. 
Crockpot chili verde, home made tortillas, rice, back beans and salad
Weekly Menu Plan
Posted by admin in Menu Plan
Monday
Skillet Salmon, mac and cheese and peaches
Tuesday
Breakfast for dinner
Pancakes or french toast (leftovers to go in the freezer for breakfasts), scrambled eggs and fruit
Wednesday
Spaghetti with meatball, home made french bread, salad, green beans, and applesauce
Thursday
Black bean enchilada and salad
Friday
I’m making Shepherd’s Pie and My BFF is bringing corned beef and cabbage cause our missionaries have two very different tastes, and while I will eat corned beef my family will not. I make shepherd’s pie with diced skillet chicken, gravy, corn or green beans and potatoes. My DH and children won’t eat it with tomato sauce, cheese or beef.
Saturday
Nachos;oven baked tortilla chips (considering making these myself), black beans, shredded cheese, olives, rotel tomatoes with chilies, shredded carrots and lettuce. Served with various hot sauces and sour cream
Sunday
Chicken Soup, home made bread and salad (we really crave salads now that spring is here)
Blueberry Bagels
Posted by admin in Baked Goods, Comfort Food, frugal
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I used a recipe from “Tammy’s Recipes” Blog and we loved it!! Only change I made was adding half a bag of thawed frozen blueberries.
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 1/4 cups bread flour
8 cups of water, for boiling
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
Additionally, you can add one of the following (or be creative and come up with your own delicious addition to the recipe!):
cinnamon and/or raisins
poppy seeds
onions or garlic
sesame seeds
1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.
2. Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl; then add the yeast mixture. Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour.
3. Knead dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Dough should be fairly smooth and somewhat firm. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.
4. Punch dough down (if making cinnamon raisin bagels, add the cinnamon and raisins now — knead just enough to swirl the cinnamon through the dough). Divide and shape into 12 balls. (For larger bagels, make only 8 balls.) Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape. Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.
7. Drain cooked bagels on a wire rack. Mix egg white and water; brush tops with egg white mixture and top with optional toppings, if using. Place bagels on greased baking sheets.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, turning once half-way through baking. (If making plain bagels, you can flip the bagels; otherwise, just rotate.) Bagels will be lightly browned and shiny.
Weekly Menu Plan
Posted by admin in Menu Plan
To Die For Brownies
Posted by admin in Chocolate, Desserts, frugal
To-Die-For Brownies!!!
Recipe from Jonnie McCoy’s “Misery +
Meals” Cookbook
6 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons salt
In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, butter, oil sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended.
Spread the batter evenly in a greased 9X13 pan
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do Not Over Bake!!
Note: the batter is very thick. VERY! If you have a stand mixer I would use it. If you have a hand mixer, don’t. It will burn it out!
Festive Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Posted by admin in Breakfast, Comfort Food, Desserts, keeping warm
So my BFF made a wonderful dish. It looks delicious. I hope you like it too!!
~Amanda
Festive Blueberry French Toast Casserole
1 1/2 hours / 20 min prep
3 slices of bread cut up into quarters
2 slices of bread (whole)
4 oz of cream cheese (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
1 can of blueberry pie filling
2 eggs
1 cup eggnog
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
optional
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon of wheat germ
a dollop of homemade whipped cream
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray or butter baking dish.
Arrange all the quarter pieces of bread in dish and top with blueberry filling add cubes of cream cheese on top.
Using cookie a cutter cut out some fun shapes with the 2 reaming slices of bread. Arrange cut out bread on top of blueberry / cream cheese.
Whisk together the eggs, eggnog, vanilla and spices. Pour mixture over bread, blueberries and cream cheese in dish.
Optional sprinkle wheat germ over casserole.
Cook at 350 degrees covered for 30 minutes then uncovered for another 25 to 30 min until center is firmed and lightly brown
Serve with warm with a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy
Chelle
I just kind of threw this together tonight…
Posted by admin in Comfort Food, Leftover Makeover, Veggies, frugal, spur of the moment
Doesn’t that just look yummy?!
I don’t have a printable for this yet, but I will soon.
Tonight I had the house to myself. (Yea me!) So as I do with these so few times I have with no picky eaters, I made something loaded with veggies!
Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan (I’m partial to my frying pans. usually my cast iron but it wasn’t available). I diced a whole onion and added it to the pan. I let that cook as I washed and diced half a green bell pepper. I added that to the pan the a little salt and freshly ground pepper and then took a look in the fridge, I had some tomatoes, so I seeded and diced them and added them to the mix. Back to the fridge… The other night I’d made cabbage rolls (I’l post that after I’ve tested a few more recipes for it) so I had some leftover leaves. Those soft tender inner leaves. I chopped up a few and added them to the pan. I added the precooked shrimp (about 10 shrimp) I’d defrosted from the freezer (bought on sale of coarse) and let is cook just a minute or two to warm the shrimp through. I turned off the heat, and added about 1 tablespoon of minced garlic which I mixed through, letting the warm veggies heat the garlic. I served it over brown rice (leftover from the cabbage rolls). And I had enough for lunch tomorrow as well. (Yea me again!)
Doesn’t that just look wonderful? Let me tell you, it tastes as good as it looks!
Home-made French Bread
Posted by admin in Baked Goods, Breads, Comfort Food, Family Recipes, frugal
French Bread (Betty Crocker picture cookbook 1950) printable
1 c luke warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cake compressed yeast (I believe a cake of yeast was the equivalent of a packet of dry yeast, so that’s what I used.)
1 tbsp soft shortening
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups sifted flour
When dough is ready for shaping, after second rising, follow directions.
roll into 15×10 oblong. Roll up tightly toward you…. beginning with wide side. Seal edge by pinching together.
with a hand on each end, roll gently back and forth to lengthen loaf and taper ends. Place it diagonally on lightly greased corn meal sprinkled baking sheet.
make 1/4″ slashes in dough at 2″ intervals, or 1 slash lengthwise. Brush top with cold water. Let stand uncovered about 1 1/2 hr. Brush again, and bake.
Bake 10 minutes in hot oven (425 F). Remove from oven and brush again. Reduce temperature to 375 F and bake 10 minutes more. Remove from oven and brush again. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Continue baking 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
Notes: This is a heavy dough so requires maximum rising time.
For more glaze, less crustiness, use egg white wash. (1 egg white slightly beaten with 1 tsp water
Now tips from me
when you grease your bowl use solid shortening. I keeps the dough from drying out without making it to greasy to handle
when dough is rising boil a kettle of water, put a 9×9 baking pan in the bottom of the oven and fill half full with boiled water. The steam from the water will warm the oven, helping the dough rise, as well as keeping the dough from drying out.
also instead of all that taking the bread out of the oven to brush with cold water, fill a spray bottle with cold water, open the oven door and spritz the bread. As well as keeping the pan of water in the oven while the bread bakes.
This recipe turned out soooooooooooo yummy!!!! The whole family loved it!!!