Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of November 29

Monday - Grilled chicken with bbq gravy, pasta roni, corn, rolls, and homemade rolls

Tuesday - chili (freezer), cornbread

Wednesday - sweet and sour chicken (using leftover chicken from Monday's meal) over rice, fortune cookie

Thursday - Swedish meatballs over egg noodles, veggies

Friday - veggie beef soup with Arby's roast beef sandwiches

Saturday - leftovers

Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Update 11/2/11:  Last week, I was asked by someone from my church to bring a pie to our Thanksgiving service.  They remembered this pie from last year and they wanted me to bring this pie once again.

I found this recipe on the The Pioneer Woman's blog.  Since I love cranberries, I decided it would be perfect a Thanksgiving dessert.  Before I could serve it to my whole family on turkey day, I decided to bake one and taste test it.  The taste is devine. 

Since I was meeting with my pastor and his wife today, I decided to serve some of it to them.  They gave it thumbs up. Now that it's been tasted tested and approved, I'm definitely making it on Thanksgiving day.

If I had to give three reasons why I love this recipe, I would say 1)It is easy to assemble and get into the oven; 2)The taste is amazing; and 3)I've never had a pie made of cranberries so it's an unique recipe.

Stars of the recipe:

• Butter, For Greasing


• 2 cups (heaping) Cranberries


• ¾ cups Pecans, Chopped (measure, Then Chop)


• ⅔ cups Sugar


• 1 cup Flour


• 1 cup Sugar


• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted


• 2 whole Eggs, Lightly Beaten


• 1 teaspoon Pure Almond Extract


• ¼ teaspoons Salt


• 1 Tablespoon Sugar For Sprinkling

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. Generously butter a cake pan or pie pan.


3. Add cranberries to the bottom of the pan.


4. Sprinkle on chopped pecans, then sprinkle on 2/3 cup sugar.


5. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, 1 cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, almond extract, and salt. Stir gently to combine.


6. Pour batter slowly over the top in large “ribbons” in order to evenly cover the surface. Spread gently if necessary.


7. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. 5 minutes before removing from oven, sprinkle surface with 1 tablespoon sugar for a little extra crunch.


8. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream or freshly whipped cream.

For more great recipes, visit Colleen's Kitchen Recipe Swap and Eat at Home's Ingredient Spotlight Cranberries.

Spritz Cookies

I love Spritz cookies.  However, most recipes I've tried have been more work then necessary.  After putting the dough in the cookie gun, I would have to pump it and most times it would not stay on the cookie sheet.  It truly was frustrating.  Rather then giving up, I looked for other recipes.  Then  I saw this Spritz recipe on the Domino Sugar website.  So I decided to try it.  Getting the dough onto the cookie sheet was not perfect at times.  However, I was truly amazed at the ease of getting those cookies on the cookie sheet. 

After they finshed baking, the Wee One and Imaginative One taste tested them.  They both gave the recipe a thumbs up! 

Stars of the recipe:

• 3/4 cup -granulated sugar


• 1 cup - butter or margarine, softened


• 1/2 teaspoon - salt


• 2 - egg whites


• 1 - egg yolk


• 1/2 teaspoon - almond extract


• 1/2 teaspoon - vanilla


• 3 cups - all-purpose flour

 Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.


2. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy.


3. Add salt, egg whites, egg yolk, almond extract and vanilla; mix well.


4. Add flour, beating at low speed until well mixed.


5. Force dough through cookie press onto ungreased cookie sheet.


6. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. (I baked mine for 8 minutes.  When I baked them for nine minutes, they were too brown.)


7. Remove to cooling rack.


8. Store in airtight container.


9. Makes 7 dozen.

For more great recipes, visit Colleen's Kitchen Recipe Swap.

Menu Planning Week of November 8, 2010

This is a day late.  I was working on paperwork for work last night that I needed to get done so I did not get this posted.

Monday - pancakes or waffles, bacon, eggs

Tuesday - pinto beans and Youngs Dairy pumpkin bread

Wednesday - dinner at Frisch's Big Boy - We have coupons for free kid's meals.

Thursday - spaghetti carbonara, Cheddar Bay biscuits, veggies

Friday - pork chops with onions and peppers, buttermilk biscuits, veggies

Saturday - Primetime meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies, Easy Rolls

Pumpkin spice muffins

I totally forgot that I had signed up to bring snacks to church today.  Lucky for me, my mother-in-law remnded me.  I quickly whipped up some of the Halloween sweet and salty treats - even though it's not Halloween.  Last time I brought them to church, people loved them.  I also made some pumpkin chocolate chip granola bar bites.  Then I was at a stand still of what else I could make.  That's when I decided to use my all star muffin mix to make some pumpkin spice muffins.  I had some pumpkin puree left-over from the granola bar bites so it was perfect.

Stars of the recipe: 

• 2 - 3/4 c. All Star Muffin Mix


• 1 c. milk


• 1 egg


• 1/2 c. of melted butter (1 stick) - When I did this, I melted it in the microwave for one minute.


• 3 Tbsp. of pumpkin puree -  When I made these, I didn't know how the recipe would work when you added the pumpkin puree.  You might want to add more.


• 2 Tbsp. of pumpkin spice

Steps:

1. Place 2-3/4 cups muffin mix in a large bowl.


2. Whisk the egg, milk, pumpkin puree,  and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.


3. Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.


4. Bake at 400° for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.


5. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.


6. Serve warm.

I made mini muffins this time.  I ended up having 45 mini muffins.  Instead of baking them for 18 to 21 minutes, I baked them for 12 minutes.  I also added chocolate chips to half of the batter.  Those turned out really delicious.

This recipe has been linked to Colleen's Kitchen Recipe Swap, Days of Thanksgiving, and Potluck Sunday.

Menu Planning Week of November 1

I can't believe it's already November.  Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it.

This week is going to be a busy week because I have parent teacher conferences on Monday and Wednesday nights.  Election day is Tuesday so before heading home on Tuesday, I've got to go and vote.  On Thursday night, I've got to go to the Imaginative One's parent teacher conference.  Friday night is chiropractor and then eating at Chick Fil A for dinner.  The church that I attend MOPs at is building an addition to one of the MOPs' members house.  One of the fund raisers is with Chick Fil A.  I decided that would be a nice way to begin the weekend after a long week.

Monday - (Hubby  cooking) mini meatloaves, butter noodles, corn, and Italian sweet bread

Tuesday - (crockpot) roast with root veggies, boiled potatoes, green beans, Italian sweet bread

Wednesday - (Hubby  cooking) Skyline chili (freezer) over spaghetti, mixed veggies, cornbread (freezer)

Thursday - hash made from left over roast, veggies, Easy Rolls

Friday - Chick Fil-A

Saturday - left - overs

For more great menus, visit Menu Plan Monday.