Menu Planning Monday ~ January 24, 2011

Monday - 7up pork chops, macaroni and cheese, mixed veggies, depression era bread, homemade apple butter

Tuesday - orange chicken, rice, fortune cookies

Wednesday - Skyline chili over spaghetti, cornbread

Thursday - chicken stew with parsley dumplings

Friday - sandwich buffet, raw veggies, potato chips

Saturday - leftovers or on your own

For more great menus, visit Menu Planning Monday.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of January 17, 2011

Monday - ham cooked in crockpot, creamed potatoes, corn, Easy Rolls with homemade apple butter, and salad

Tuesday - pinto beans with ham, cornbread, salad

Wednesday - grilled chicken, buttered noodles, veggies, Young's Pumpkin bread

Thursday - chicken fajitas, Spanish rice, salad

Friday - sausage biscuits over buttermilk biscuits for adults, eggs, mini pancakes for kids

Saturday- leftovers or on your own

Menu Plan Monday

Spaghetti Pie

Sometimes you have good meals.  There are times you have so-so meals.  And then there are the times when you hit it out of the ballpark.  Tonight was one of those nights.  My hubby could not stop talking about our dinner tonight and how good it was. 

As I was planning our January meals, I found this recipe on Real food 4 Real People website.  I decided that this would be a good meal.  Boy was I right about that.

Stars of the recipe:

• 6 oz. of spaghetti


• 2 Tbsp. butter


• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese


• 2 eggs, well beaten


• 1 c. cottage cheese (I used small curd.)


• 3/4th's pound of hamburger


• 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce


• 1/4 to 1/2 c. shredded mozarella

Steps:

1. Brown hamburger meat.  Drain and then add spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.


2. Cook spaghetti according to directions on the box.  Drain and add butter.  Allow the butter to melt.


3. Add the eggs and Parmesan cheese.  Mix well.


4. Place the spaghetti, egg, and Parmesan cheese mixture in the bottom of a buttered pie pan.  Press it down to form a "crust."


5. Spread cottage cheese over the spaghetti crust.


6. Spread the hamburger and spaghetti sauce over the cottage cheese layer.


7. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes.


8. Pull from the oven and sprinkle mozarella cheese over the top.


9. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes. 


10. Serve!

 I also put Italian seasoning in the sauce, over the cottage cheese layer, and then the sauce layer for extra flavor.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of January 10, 2011

Last week we did not get to the crockpot beef hash.  It was a weird week with me going back to work after winter break.  On Wednesday, I was feeling run down so I opted to go to a place called Dreamie Weenie and get a hot dog dinner instead of cooking anything when I got home.  Then on Thursday, I started to put the ingredients for the hash in the crockpot when I noticed the beef was greenish.  So in the trash it went.  We had tacos and Spanish rice Thursday night.  On Friday, my aunt arrived from out of town so I went out to dinner with her, my mom, and sister.  My hubby fed the kids grilled cheese and canned chicken noodle soup.

This week's menu plans:

Monday - homemade pizza, salad, bread sticks

Tuesday - spaghetti pie, mozarella sticks, salad

Wednesday - PW's ranch style chicken and fluffy new potatoes, veggies, Buttermilk biscuits or Easy Rolls

Thursday - grilled cheese and tomato soup - I have a dentist appointment after school so I won't be able to cook dinner.  My hubby is in charge so he decided this is what he wanted.

Friday - Waffle House waffles and hash browns smothered, covered, and chunked

Saturday - Leftovers

For more great menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Buttermilk Biscuits

I made these for our family's New Year's Dinner.  Everyone loved them because they are tasty.  Tonight I was asked to bring the bread for our Sunday dinner.  I was torn between making Easy Rolls, breadmachine rolls (haven't posted this yet), or the buttermilk biscuits.  I let the Wee One and Imaginative One be the deciding factor.  They told me they wanted the biscuits.  So that's what we are having.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Southern Plate

Stars of the recipe:

• 1/2 cup cold butter or margarine (1 stick)


• 2 1/4 c self rising flour


• 1 1/4 c buttermilk (or whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added)


• flour for dusting


• melted butter for brushing baked biscuits

Steps:

1. Cut butter with a  into 1/4-inch-thick slices.Put butter slices on top of flour in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour with a long tined fork until crumbly.


2.  Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.


3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour.


4.  Fold dough over into itself, like you are folding a piece of paper into a letter, in three sections. Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches).


5.  Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased  cookie sheet. Try to make sure they touch because this will help them rise higher.


6. Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.

Spanish Rice

We had tacos for supper.  For a side dish, I made Spanish rice.  The recipe I used was an easy recipe to follow.  It was also delicious.  Which is a great combo!

My hubby was a little skeptical when he saw the rice.  He typically loves rice but is not a big fan of the spices used in Mexican cooking.  I let him know that I used a little less then what the recipe called for.  Once he tried it, he told me that it was good.  The Wee One also told me that he thought it was good.

Spanish Rice

 www.menus4mom.com

Stars of the recipe:

• 3 Tbsp. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)


• 1 c. onion chopped


• 1 tsp. garlic, minced


• 1 c. green pepper, chopped and seeded


• 1 c. long grain rice (or brown rice)


• 2 c. chicken broth (if using brown rice add extra water)


• 2 tsp. tomato paste


• 1/2 tsp. cumin (I used less.)

Steps:

1. Saute onion, garlic, and green pepper in oil until transparent.


2. Add rice and brown until lightly browned.


3. Mix the rest of ingredients and add to pan.


4. Cook and cover 20-25 miutes (longer closer to 45 minutes for brown rice).

I did steps 1 and 2 in the a skillet.  Then I put the onion, garlic, green pepper, rice and the rest of the ingredients in my rice cooker.  I let my rice cooker finish the cooking.

Possible toppings:  Sour cream and cheddar cheese - Delicious combination

Crockpot bbq ribs

When it's a work day, I often want easy meals because soon after I get home from work I need to have dinner on the table before hubby goes to work.  This recipe is supe easy because it cooks while I'm at work.  The smells that meet me at the door are divine and make my stomache rumble in anticipation of the meal.

Stars of the recipe:

• bottle of your favorite bbq sauce


• ribs (boneless or bone in)


• optional:  diced up onions 

Steps:

1. Put ribs (and onions if using them) in the bottom of the crockpot.


2. Dump the bottle of bbq into the crockpot.


3. Place water in empty bottle and swish around to get the last of the bbq sauce.


4. Pour the watered down bbq sauce over the ribs.


5. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of January 3, 2011

Even though I did not post my menu plans for the last few weeks, we did have a menu plan.  Since I am back at work after break, I need to post the week's menu plan to keep me organized.

Monday - crockpot ribs, makeover mac and cheese, green beans with onions and bacon, rolls 

Tuesday - breakfast for dinner - pancakes, bacon, eggs

Wednesday - crockpot beef hash, veggies, rolls

Thursday - potato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches

Friday - tacos, Spanish rice

Saturday - leftovers

For more great menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:



The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,700 times in 2010. That's about 14 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 104 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 461 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 985mb. That's about 1 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was September 7th with 144 views. The most popular post that day was September Meals.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were mommyskitchen.net, orgjunkie.com, andbabymakesfive-colleen.blogspot.com, facebook.com, and eatathomecooks.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for spritz cookie recipe, mock thin mints, "dip ritz crackers into the melted", shortbread snowballs, and pecan nougat cookies.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

September Meals August 2010
2 comments

2

Cookies and Cream Cheeseball August 2010
6 comments

3

August Meals August 2010
2 comments

4

Homemade Hamburger Helper October 2010
6 comments

5

Grandma’s White Salad July 2010
2 comments

Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Today I made chili.  Corn bread is the best starch to have with chili.  I decided to jazz up the corn bread by using cheddar cheese.  This took them from ordinary to extraordinary!  The best part of this is the fact you take advantage of a convience item - cornbread muffin mix.

Stars of the recipe:

• Cornbread muffin mix (I used Jiffy.)


• Ingredients needed to make the muffins (would be on the box)


• 1/4 c. cheddar cheese

Steps:

1. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or use cupcake wrappers.


2. Mix up the muffin mix following the directions on the box.


3. Add the cheddar cheese.  Stir until incorporated.


4. Fill each cavity 2/3rds full.


5. Bake as directed on the box.


6. Enjoy!!

January 2011 meals

Happy New Year!  May your year be blessed with happiness and good health.

Week of January 3 - 

1.  crockpot ribs, makeover mac and cheese, veggies


2.  crockpot beef hash, veggies, and rolls


3. potato soup with bacon and cheddar cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, raw veggies


4. breakfast for dinner - pancakes, bacon, eggs


5.  tacos, Spanish rice


6. leftovers

Week of January 10

1.  veggie soup (in freezer), rolls


2.  ranch style chicken, fluffy new potatoes, veggie


3. spaghetti pie, mozarella sticks, salad


4. Waffle house waffles,  hashbrowns smothered, covered, and chunked


5. pizza, salad, breadsticks


6. left-overs

Week of January 17

1.  grilled chicken, pasta roni, veggies, rolls


2.  chicken fajitas, Spanish rice, salad


3. pinto beans and ham, cornbread, raw veggies


4. sausage gravy over biscuits, egg


5. ham, scalloped potatoes, veggies, roll


6. left-overs

Week of January 24

1.  chicken and parsley dumplings


2. orange chicken over rice, fortune cookies, veggies


3. 7-up pork chops, buttered noodles, veggies, rolls


4. sandwich buffet, chips, raw veggies


5. Skyline chili over spaghetti, raw veggies, cornbread


6. left-overs 

Crockpot Beef Hash

• 1 lb of  cubed stewing meat


• 5 large russett potatoes diced


• 1 onion finely chopped


• 1 cup butter or margarine melted


• 1 cup beef broth or stock


• salt to taste


• black pepper

1. Place all ingredients in crockpot.


2. Cover and cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours (on high setting for 2 to 3 hours).

For more great menus, visit Mommy's Kitchen.