September meal plan and recipes

I have been planning our meals a month in advance for awhile now and it works well for me. Then as I make my grocery list, I just add the ingredients for 2 weeks of meals. I plan to post them here so I can keep a record for future years and also so I can remember where I got the recipes.  :)

These are just dinners for now; I'll add breakfast, lunch and snacks another time.

• Grill Out Night (this was a holdover from our summer menus):Cheeseburgers with Hatch Chilies, Oven Fries, Cob Corn, Berry Cobbler
• Chinese Chicken Salad -- ours is very similar to this recipe, except we don't use walnuts; occasionally I'll put slivered almonds in mine but we have a nut allergy in the house.

We added a Chase Cooks night to our menus this month. He is making a different soup every Thursday.

• Chase-- Golden Potato Soup; we have tried many potato soup recipes over the years but this is the easiest and yummiest.

Golden Potato Soup                        Servings 12

Ingredients:

8 cups cubed potatoes                freshly ground pepper & salt

1 cup chopped celery                 1 1/2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup chopped onion                  4 cups whole or skim milk

2 cups water                         4 cups shredded cheese

2 cubes chicken bouillon             3 1/2 cups cooked bacon or 

3 cups chicken broth                                                         ham
3 teaspoons fresh basil or Italian                                     
   seasoning

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, add potatoes, celery, onion, water, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, and fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until vegetables become tender.
2. In a separate bowl mix flour and milk until well blended. Add at soup mixture and cook until soup becomes thick.
3. Slowly stir in cheese a little bit at a time until cheese is melted then add bacon or ham and simmer for about 5 minutes.

• Chase -- Broccoli Cheese Soup -- this is from Ree.
• Chase -- Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Chase -- my grandma's Borscht Soup -- recipe coming in a later post
• Chipotle-style burritos, rice
• Crab Alfredo, Olive Garden Salad, French bread
• Homemade Pizza
• Nachos Grande
• Italian Layer Bake -- this was okay, not sure I'd add it to our keeper recipes
• Sausage Ratatouille -- I made this to celebrate the first day of Fall; it was super yummy!!
• Buffalo Chicken Tacos -- this has become a family favorite; we make it fairly often
• NEW recipe Queso Chicken Pasta
• Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork sandwiches, my favorite coleslaw recipe, homemade mac n cheese

yumminess

I tend to incorporate a lot of new recipes into my meal plans each month. It keeps me from getting bored. I subscribe to several blogs and am always perusing them for ideas. Here are a couple we've tried recently and loved:

Macaroni and Cheese Soup from Framed Cooks

It was so good and very easy to make. The croutons really made the soup for me.

Caprese Paninis from This Week for Dinner

I love Caprese salad, so this was a must-try. I made it for dinner for the family one night and the next day, a few of us were fighting over the last of the mozzarella and basil to make one for lunch.

Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza from Eat at Home

I made three different kinds of pizza that night, and this one was the hands-down favorite.

Cappuccino Muffins

This is my favorite muffin recipe right now. I just made some today and can't wait for morning to have one with a cup of coffee.

CAPPUCCINO MUFFINS

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (or instant coffee)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini-chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin tins with papers or grease liberally.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso or instant coffee, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix milk, butter, egg, and vanilla until combined. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture only until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes for standard muffins, 10 to 12 minutes for mini-muffins.

Cappuccino muffins freeze well.

Yield: 12 muffins or about 48 mini-muffins

March Dinner Plan

I'm trying to plan out a month's worth of meals at a time. I hope it will make my life somewhat simpler in regards to grocery shopping as well as giving me an answer to that ongoing question "Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

So here's the tentative plan for March. This is only dinner, I'm still working on breakfast and lunch. Baby steps.

MARCH DINNER PLAN

PIZZA

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD

FENDFER/CLEAN OUT FREEZER NIGHT

BROCCOLI-CHEESE SOUP AND BREAD BOWLS

BUTTER CREAM CHICKEN-PEROGIES-ROASTED ASPARAGUS

OVEN TACOS

EAT AT AWANA -- TAMALE PIE, NACHOS

SUB SANDWICHES-CHIPS-PINEAPPLE

FLATBREAD PIZZA-SALAD

BUFFALO CHICKEN SALAD

INDIAN MEAL WITH HOMEMADE NAAN BREAD

BBQ CHICKEN-HOMEMADE MAC N CHEESE-VEGGIE

LEFTOVERS OR PASTA

EAT AT AWANA -- CHICKEN CACCIATORE

TACO SOUP-CORNBREAD MUFFINS

OUT FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY-KIDS EAT LEFTOVERS OR PIZZA

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE

TAKEOUT

LASAGNA PENNE PASTA CASSEROLE AND SALAD

FIRST DAY OF SPRING MEAL - TBD

EAT AT AWANA

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

CROCKPOT PIZZA

FENDFER

CHINESE MEAL WITH POTSTICKERS AND FRIED RICE

CHICKEN PARMESAN BAKE

PASTA WITH CLAMS, VODKA SAUCE AND CRISPY BREADCRUMBS

CHEESEBURGER SOUP

CHIPOTLE-STYLE BURRITOS

DATE NIGHT -- KIDS EAT LEFTOVERS OR PIZZA

FENDFER

Recipes

Just wanted to list a few recipes I've really liked recently so they're all in one place.

Sunday we went to a friend's house and needed to bring something in the slow cooker. I had a stockpile of barbecue sauce from a recent sale and some chicken breasts in the freezer so I made this Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue .

It was really good and I've been eating the leftovers for lunch each day. I did make a few changes: I used Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, but since I don't like my BBQ too sweet, I added lots of seasonings to taste, a couple teaspoons of Liquid Smoke and a few dashes of Frank's hot sauce. I can't wait to make it again, this time paired with Melissa D'Arabian's Fennel and Cabbage Slaw.

I am usually not a big cole slaw person but I looove this recipe. Again, because it's not too sweet.

I also took this as an appetizer. Soooo yummy and super easy. It can be made the night before.

This is my current favorite muffin recipe. Cappuccino muffins.....it is so, so good. Make it immediately. Seriously.

I made these muffins at Christmas and also used the same recipe to make little bread loaves for friends. Yummo!

I will be adding more recipes as I can. I love trying out new ones and so do my kids.

Planning

I always love the first week of the year. New calendars make me happy. ;) Usually I have purchased one by about oh, say, October. Not this year. I finally bought one last week. Just in the nick of time. I also usually spend time looking around for just the right one, but owing to the time crunch, this time I just picked one out of those available on Targets end cap. It's this one.

The funny thing is I got it home and started writing in everybody's birthdays. Then I wanted to add activities, so I got out my little calendar I carry with me. It's this one. I never even noticed I had picked out the exact same design. I must really like it, though, to have chosen it twice. ;)

Today was kind of a slow, rolling start to getting back into our normal routine. My nieces break was ove so I had to get up early to get them to school, but I'm not starting school with my kids until tomorrow. Scott was also off work today so another reason to delay school. He very sweetly did some "honey-do"s for me, as well as a few things on his own list.

I went through my coupon box, throwing out all those that expired in 2011. I heard there were some great coupons in Sunday's paper but ours somehow disappeared. The 3 and 4 year olds usually bring the newspaper in and today they brought me Saturday's and today's. And Sunday's was nowhere to be found. :( So I sent Scott to the store to see if they had any left. He found two and brought them home. And they had not. one. coupon. I was so bummed. Maybe tomorrow I'll try another store and hope I can find some. So frustrating that I cleaned out my coupon box and was all set to fill it back up and start stockpiling again and now my plans were thwarted. Patience is not one of my strongest virtues. haha

I also printed out a few different to-do lists to try out and see which one will work for me. Tomorrow I'm trying this one . Also found some great meal planners on Pinterest. I can spend waaay too long on that site. I'm hoping to start making more freezer meals. This burrito recipe looks really good. I think I'll try it out on Sunday.


Conner is in Atlanta this week, attending Passion . I'm excited for him, I know it will be an amazing experience for him, but I sure do miss him! I can't wait to hear all about it when he gets back.

Well, another early morning tomorrow so off to bed I go.

menu this week

Here's this week's menu (click here to see many more menus of those participating in menu plan monday:http://orgjunkie.com/ )

Monday - Chicken salad, bread ( Scott is off to the Avalanche game so it's just me and the kids)

Tuesday - Pampered Chef's Chicken-Broccoli Braid, salad

Wednesday - tacos, beans and rice

Thursday - pasta, salad and garlic bread

Friday - bacon ranch slow cooked chicken , peas

menu this week

Here's this week's menu (click here to see many more menus of those participating in menu plan monday:
http://orgjunkie.com/ )

I have some leftover chicken and ham to use up, so I looked up some recipes for those. The orange chicken recipe I tried last week came out so good, we'll definitely make it again. I was also pleasantly surprised by the cabbage and fennel slaw. I don't normally care for cole slaw but this was very tasty.

Monday - Baked spaghetti, salad, bread

Tuesday - Honey Curried Chicken, rice, broccoli

Wednesday - Brunch Enchiladas, hash browns, fruit smoothies

Thursday - Mushroom-Swiss burgers, oven fries, cabbage and fennel slaw

Friday - date night??

menu this week

Here's this week's menu (click here to see many more menus of those participating in menu plan monday:

http://orgjunkie.com/ )


Monday - Beef Stroganoff, Salad

Tuesday - Ham and bean soup, cornbread

Wednesday - Crispy-Skinned Chicken a l'Orange, crispy potatoes, fennel and cabbage slaw

Thursday - homemade pizza

Friday - potato soup, biscuits

soft pretzels

Yesterday we made a recipe I've been meaning to try for soft pretzels. I got it from this blog: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/making-homemade-soft-pretzels. She has great pictures up, too. Ours did not come out looking nearly as pretty but they do taste good! Next time we'll make sure to roll them out thinner.

truffles to die for

I made these truffles I saw on De'Etta's blog for a baby shower last weekend. They went over very well. Women and chocolate, they just go together don't they?

Anyway, I promised I'd post the recipe so here it is. They are simple to make but watch out -- it's hard to stop eating them! =)

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 pkg (18 0z) Oreo cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg (8 oz) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg (8 squares each) Bakers semi-sweet Chocolate, melted

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.)
Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

recipe

I tried out a great new recipe this week, from one of my older Quick Cooking cookbooks. It's called Shrimp Taco Salad. Very quick and easy to make and the kids loved it. I didn't add the coriander, though, as I didn't have any and I used 6 tortillas instead of 3.

Shrimp Taco Salad

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 envelope taco seasoning, divided

1/2 cup plus 3 tablesppons olive or vegetable oil, divided

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons cider or red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons diced green or sweet red pepper

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teasoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon sugar

3 corn tortillas (6inches) cut into 1/4-inch strips

1 package (8ounces) ready-to-served salad greens

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 can (8ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups (8ounces) finely shredded Colby/Monterey Jack cheese

Remove shrimp tails if desired. Place shrimp in a bowl; sprinkle with half of the taco seasoning. Set aside. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup oil, onion, vinegar, green pepper, garlic, coriander and sugar; set aside. In a skilled, stir-fry tortilla strips in remaining oil; drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with remaining taco seasoning. In the same skillet, saute shrimp for 8-10 minutes or until pink. In a large bowl, combine the greens, tomato, beans, shrimp and tortilla strips. Drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle with cheese; toss.

6-8 servings.

Project 365 - Day 109

my lunch

We had a speaker at MOPS last week who showed us how to make some great, easy meals. One was these pita melts:



This one is just cubed chicken breast, chopped tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and Italian herbs. She also put olives on hers, but I didnt.

This is more like a dessert pita. Brush the pita with butter, then add thinly sliced apples, cinnamon & sugar and cheddar cheese. Yummy! I shared this one with the kids and they all really liked it.

Her other ideas for pita melts were:

pepperoni pizza
garden veggie pizza
tuna melt
breakfast pie

These are so easy and quick. You just put them into a toaster oven at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. I used my oven and increased the time to 12 minutes.






Project 365 - Day 96

Traditions - German Food

My grandparents on my mom's side are German so I grew up on some wonderful traditional food. My grandma is no longer able enough to cook but some of her recipes have been passed down. One of our favorites is called Kraut Bruschke.

It's more commonly called Kraut burgers. A lot of times it's made with ground beef but we prefer bacon.

By the time we arrived at my mom's, she and my dad had already cut up all the bacon and had it cooking.

Then we drained and rinsed the sauerkraut and cooked that a little. Then added pepper to taste.

And added the bacon to it.

We then rolled out bread dough. Both Conner and Brenna helped out.

Then we placed the bacon/sauerkraut in the bread dough and folded it over.

Then we baked them until golden brown.

They take some time to make so we generally do quite a few at once. This time we made 32. And they don't last long.

Menu this week

Hmmm...looking at my calendar, we have a lot coming up in the evenings so I only need to cook at home for 3 meals. That almost never happens. =)





Monday-- potluck dinner at bible study ( made a salad and fudge to take)

Tuesday -- eat at Gunther Toody's as a fundraiser for MOPS

Wednesday -- eat at church before AWANA

Thursday -- Quick Chicken and Noodles

Friday -- Homemade Pizza, salad

Saturday -- Slow-cooked Chili , cornbread

Sunday -- Fendfer

Menu this week

I've enjoyed reading other people's menus on their blogs and am finally getting around to posting ours. I was feeling especially uncreative today so I decided to try a couple recipes I've seen posted.

Monday -- Tortilla Soup from Emily
Tuesday -- Shredded Beef Tacos from Kristine
Wednesday -- we eat at the church where the kids attend AWANA. They serve a great, homestyle meal each week for only a couple dollars
Thursday -- Fettuccine Alfredo with salad and bread
Friday -- Pizza or Chinese night
Saturday -- Scott's work Christmas party
Sunday -- Fendfer