Meal plan January 17-23

Ok, I'm giving up on doing lunch plans.  If we have leftovers, we'll eat them.  If not, sandwiches of varying types will be the main event, I think.

Monday - Shepherds' Pie (using leftovers from Sunday's pot roast, which the hubby declared the best pot roast *ever*)

Tuesday - salmon, rice and veggies

Wednesday - beef enchilada casserole and salad. *

Thursday - crockpot beef stroganoff *

Friday - crockpot lemon pepper ribs* and baked potatoes

Saturday - crockpot vegetarian curry

Sunday - TBD (following a potluck lunch at church, will be light)

* indicates new recipe

Meal plan Jan 10-16

The previous week's meal plan was great.  It was so nice to have all the meals lined up.  I'm tweaking a new, yet extremely simple, way to organize my meal plans.  As I'm finishing off last week's meals, I've got a fantastic smelling beef stew simmering, and an apple bread pudding fresh out of the oven.  Unfortunately, my diet won't let me eat any of it!  Oh well.  If anything though, me being on a specific diet requires me to be more organized for the family's meals.

Monday
oatmeal
leftovers (we've got quite a bit)
dry garlic been sausage with linguine and veg

Tuesday
oatmeal
leftovers (seriously...)
quiche and salad

Wednesday
cereal
sandwiches
baked beans and buns

Thursday
cereal
sandwiches
taco soup in the crockpot

Friday
cereal
?
baked potato night with salad

Saturday
pumpkin pancakes
?
homemade pizza

Sunday
cereal/toast
?
roast beef, potatoes, veggies, yorkshire puddings

I might make the pumpkin pancakes earlier in the week, and make a large amount.  I love making more and then freezing them, ready for the toaster for quick breakfasts.

Menu, Jan 2-9

Ok, here's my first week of meals.  I'll include all 3 meals.

Monday
oatmeal
sandwiches
crockpot lasagna, salad, french bread

Tuesday
cereal
leftovers
sweet and tangy chicken (new recipe) rice and veggies

Wednesday
oatmeal
sandwiches
pereogies and sausage, sliced raw veg

Thursday
cereal
lunch?
Aloo Mattar Potatoes and Peas, rice

Friday
muffins or coffee cake
lunch?
vietnamese roasted crockpot chicken

Saturday
cereal
leftovers
beans and rice tortillas

Sunday
scrambled eggs
toasted sandwiches
beef stew in the crockpot

Will make cookies this week, plus maybe jello for school lunches

Meal Planning

Alright, it's a new year.  Time to get back on the meal planning bandwagon.  I'm good with making lists, I'm good with cooking from scratch....I just need to figure out what to cook already!   The last few months have really brought along a lot of  McGyver style cooking around here.  You know, two sticks of gum, a roll of duct tape and a package of spaghetti noodles, and voila, a meal!  I'm done with that.

Time for menu planning.

Throw some meal ideas at me, pretty please.  My kids are strangely picky, but are adventerous in strange ways too.  I'm open to any suggestions.  Bring em' on!

Shortbread Cookies

'Tis the season to bake and cook marvelous treats and decadent goodies and scrumptious meals for our families and friends.  One of my very favourite things is shortbread cookies.  I like to eat them while drinking scotch.  Or Coffee.  Or Tea.  Or really, with nothing to drink at all!  :)

1 c. cornstarch
3/4 c. icing sugar
1 1/4 c. flour
1 c. unsalted butter

There are 2 options to mix this.

1.a. Cream the above ingredients by hand.  (I'm way too lazy to do this, although I had to last year.)
1.b. Whip the butter in a mixer until fluffy.  Stir in combined dry ingredients, then beat on high for 3 - 4 minutes.

(Regardless of which method of combining you use, the mixture will be crumbly.)

2. Scoop a teaspoon of dough, and squish/roll into balls (with warm hands, but don't overwork it), and press flat on an ungreased cookie sheet with a sugared glass bottom.  Add cherries or wlanut pieces or something else on top, if desired.  (I like to sprinkle coloured sugar.)

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned on the bottom.  Let cool before removing from pan.

I've received some interesting tips from people over the years about making shortbread:

* If the butter is too warm, it will make tough shortbread.
* Use a wooden spoon to beat the mixture.  (I avoid all plastic, and use stainless steel bowls and spoons.)
* Cold butter results in fluffier shortbread.
* If the mixture is too crumbly to work with, refrigerate it for a few hours.  The flavour will improve during this time, and the water will absorb properly into the flour.  (Don't quite understand the 'why' of this, and am trying it out today.  Will post back to let you know how this is, although the first sheet of cookies from the crumbly batter turned out just fine, mmmm!
* One can add flavoured extracts to the batter, like almond or vanilla.  One can also add citrus zest.  (I am trying this next, with lemon and lime...) Really, I think the options are endless for flavour!

Do let me know, in the comments, what tips you have for making shortbread!  And how this turned out for you!  :)

parent pasta night!

Friends of ours recently took our three children over night.  It was to repay us for watching their 2 children for a couple of days earlier this year.  The kids were thrilled to have a sleepover, and us parents were thrilled to have a free night.

Only wrench in the plans?  Our town.

The local movie theater *had* been playing 2 good choices, but they changed over to crap.  None of our local restaurants were in the least bit enticing...and pretty much every one serves some version of a hamburger.  Not too exciting.

So I decided to attempt to recreate a *fabulous* pasta I had at a wonderful Italian bistro in Ottawa earlier this year.  Especially appropriate for a mom and dad night, as we don't have pasta loving kids.

Ingredients:
fettucini (fresh is even better)
sun dried tomato pesto
roasted red pepper, chopped - grill your own if you can't find it in a jar
olive oil
turkey or chicken breast (optional)
herbed goat cheese

Grill your turkey or chicken, and shred it.  Cook the pasta.  Toss pasta with the pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.  Then liberally sprinkle the chopped red pepper and the shredded grilled chicken on your pasta.  Then add some goat cheese on the side, you can either stir it in, or add to your fork for a variety of tastes in the mouth.  The hubby declared this delicious, and I declared it *Easy*.  Win/win, in my opinion!  Serve with some lovely bread and a glass bottle of wine.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

This is the cake that got me yelled at by my kids' Vice Principal, because she couldn't stop eating it. :)

Mix
1 box yellow or white cake mix (remove a cup first!)
1/2 cup melted marg
1 egg
press into a 9x13 pan

Blend
3 eggs
3 cups pureed pumpkin (here, I used homemade, but added roughly one cup of homemade pumpkin butter as part of the pumpkin)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (again, a tweak.  I only used about half the sugar called for, because the pumpkin butter has sugar in it already)
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
pour over the crust

Combine the cup of cake mix, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup margarine.  You can add a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, but I didn't because the school is nut-free.  Or is it peanut free - it's an ongoing debate.  I just skip nuts altogether when the school is concerned.  crumble this over the pumpkin layer.  Bake at 350 for 60 minutes