Menu Plan Monday - Family Favorites
I offered to fix everyone’s favorite meals this week… a bit of a last hurrah before diving into healthy eating full force (I’m just guessing that most of their favorites won’t make the health cut.). I’ll try to sneak in some veggies and have fruit salads and such to healthy it up a bit, but this week, it’s all favorites, all the time.
Sunday - breakfast - chocolate chip muffins … lunch - Sonny’s (Eliza’s favorite take-out ever) … dinner - turkey dogs (with chili & cheese for Mike and Griff… a last hurrah should be really horrible, right?).
Monday - Chicken Fettucini (Mike’s request) Our friend, Russ, made this amazing shrimp fettucini, and this is a modified version of his original recipe (read, significantly less butter). Now, Griff can’t have shrimp, so we use chicken. It’s always a little disappointing for Mike but still good.
Tuesday - BBQ chicken calzones (Griff’s choice)
1 rotisserie chicken, with the meat shredded
prepared pizza dough (from the Publix deli or Pillsbury)
BBQ sauce of choice
gouda cheese, shredded
**optional - green onions, bell peppers
Roll the dough out into a big rectangle. Cut into smaller rectangles. Smear half of each rectangle with BBQ sauce and sprinkle with chicken and gouda. Fold over to make pockets. Seal edges. Cut steam vents in the tops & bake at 350 until brown. Serve with additional sauce for dipping.
Wednesday - leftover fettucini
Thursday - spirit night for Griff’s school - we’ll go out. I love spirit night. I don’t have to cook AND we get to support the school.
Friday - grilled turkey burgers (Eliza’s pick). I think I’ll have Mike throw on some pineapple slices. We’ll have those with some vanilla ice cream.
Filed under Menu Plan Monday, Recipes | Permalink | Comment (1)Tagged with: BBQ calzones • chicken fettucini • Menu Plan Monday
Everything but the baby…
I always loved going to Baton Rouge and going by Gambino’s on our way home from Mike’s folks’ house. This time of year, they’d have these huge racks all in the bakery filled with all manner of king cakes. How I loved wandering through and picking flavors.
Before we had kids, we’d get their praline king cake… oh, my gosh, just thinking about it makes me a little woozy. But, with the nut allergies, we had to cut that out with the kids. Enter the brownie filled king cake. Again, amazing.
But in all honesty, I like the plain ones, too. Simple cinnamon bread with a creamy icing and super fine colored sugars. But, alas, we can’t so much get them here in Florida.
So I made one of my own. And it was good! Now, the icing needs work, and the only sugars I had were pastel, but it was good anyway.
Here’s the recipe (from Weekend Getaways) with a few modifications…
1 c milk @ room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pkgs active dry yeast (I used rapid rise.)
1/3 c granulated sugar (I substituted Splenda.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 c shortening (I used butter.)
2 eggs, beaten
4 c all-purpose flour
Cinnamon sugar
Put the milk in a small bowl and add the flavoring. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and set aside for a few minutes until foamy. (**With the rapid rise, follow the directions on the yeast package.) In a large bowl, cream well together the sugar, salt, and shortening. Add the beaten eggs and continue creaming. Blend in the yeast mixture and add the flour slowly, kneading constantly until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 10 minutes. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half or until double in size.(Again, follow the yeast package directions if using the rapid rise.)
Roll the dough out in a rectangular shape and brush the surface with vegetable oil. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. (I made a paste of butter, cinnamon and Splenda brown sugar and spread that all on the dough.) Seal in the sugar by folding the dough in half lengthwise. Cut the dough into three even strips, sealing the edges, and then braid the strips together. Form the braided dough into a circle and let it rise until double in size.(Ok, come on, I did not braid anything. I made a big circle with the dough and called it a day).
Preheat the oven to 370 degrees and bake until brown.
I got the icing recipe from What We’re Eating, but I must have done something a little odd since mine wasn’t thick enough.
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp milk
pinch o’ salt
As for the colored sugars on top, I took the easy way out and used colored sugars that I already had. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself.
Filed under 101 Things in 1001 Days, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (2)Tagged with: 101 Things • Gambino's • king cake
Fondue Fun…
This weekend, we had the cousins stay with us, and last night, I made fondue. It was a good time, I have to admit. We had cheese fondue with veggies (followed by a rotisserie chicken… I had to fill up two pre-teen boys, after all) and then chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows. Yummy all around.
As part of my 101 List, I wanted to try new recipes, so I used a recipe from Paula Deen for the cheese fondue. The recipe is…
2 c grated Gruyere
2 c grated Swiss
2-3 tbs flour
2 1/2 c white wine
nutmeg
Grate cheese. Mix flour in with cheese. Simmer the wine in a pan or skillet on the stove and then add the cheese a bit at a time until it’s all melted and the mixture is thickened. Transfer to a fondue pot.
** I used Sparkling Grape Juice with the kids, and it gave the fondue a slightly sweet taste. I also used a bit of Havarti and some Buttercase, too, in with the other cheeses. Instead of nutmeg, I added freshly ground pepper.
For the chocolate fondue, I melted several squares of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate with a handful of white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips with just an itty-bit of oil. We used firm, fresh strawberries and bananas as our fruit dippers.
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Menu Plan Monday - the brand new year one
I can hardly believe this is the last week of 2008. Clearly, I’m getting old because it all seemed to pass so quickly. I’d like to say I’m planning a big, special week of foods. But I’m not. I’m planning lazy, Crock-pot week.
I’ll be at work during the week, except for Thursday, but Mike and the kids will be at home. They’ll have cinnamon rolls and such for breakfast and sandwiches or turkey dogs for lunch. We’ll make big batch items this week while they’re home and can help… put those in the freezer & we’re good to go for a week or so when we’re all at work and school.
One of the nicest things about Florida living - in my opinion - is the fact that I have big, beautiful, fresh strawberries in December. I bought a half a flat this afternoon, so we’ll be eating strawberries on and in everything for a while.
Sunday - breakfast - hash browns, eggs, sausage, biscuits … lunch - whatever can be found in the fridge… dinner - Pesto Turkey Burgers with swiss cheese and tater tots… fruit salad on the side (fresh melon, strawberries and bananas)
Monday - fried catfish and hush puppies (I’m not usually a fried girl, but the boys requested this. Paula Deen gave me the recipe.) I’ll serve raw carrots and cucumbers to try to balance out the fried stuff.
Tuesday -red beans and rice (in the crock-pot … makes a ton… I’ll put at least half in the freezer) Eliza’s not much on beans, so she’ll have sausage and rice, I’m sure.
Wednesday - pizza (our annual New Year’s Eve dinner)
Thursday - breakfast - French toast … lunch -
Hayden and Hannah will be joining us for the weekend, so I’ll be trying to find recipes that everyone will like.
Friday - Parmesan chicken (pg. 18 Fix-it and Forget-it Lightly) with brown rice and steamed veggies … banana pudding for dessert
Saturday - breakfast - pancakes… lunch - quesadillas … dinner - taco soup
Sunday - breakfast - Monkey bread … lunch - turkey burgers … dinner - roast beef with winter veggies
New recipe count… 2 - fried catfish, hush puppies
Filed under 101 Things in 1001 Days, Jewelry, Menu Plan Monday, Recipes, Wordless Wednesday | Permalink | Comment (1)Tagged with: Menu Plan Monday
Merry Christmas… Oreo truffles
Our laptop has been visiting the Nerd Herd this week, so I’m just now getting to post. By way of an apology, enjoy some truffles.
My grandmother gave me this recipe, and my boys adore these truffles. I’ve already made two batches of them this year, and I’m going to make another this afternoon.
Meemaw’s Oreo Truffles
1 block cream cheese
1 package Double Stuf Oreos
1 package chocolate chips or melting chocolate
a little bit of vegetable oil
In a food processor (you can use a blender, but be careful to use the pulse feature and do small batches so as to not burn up the motor - this is thick stuff!). Then, with your mixer, blend the softened cream cheese and Oreos.
Put that in the fridge for a bit to set.
Microwave the chocolate chips with the oil (1 tsp. oil per cup of chips) until smooth. Form the Oreo mixture into balls and dip into the chocolate. Chill the dipped truffles to set the chocolate.
You can also roll them in powdered sugar. The sugar will eventually melt into the truffles and give the look of a clear glaze.
These are very rich, so make the truffles small.
Tagged with: Holiday Plan • Merry Christmas • oreo truffles
