Friday, November 21, 2008

Weekly Menu: November 22-28

Saturday 11/22 French Onion Soup Mac & Cheese *NEW* (got bumped from last week)
Sunday 11/23 Brats - probably on the grill
Monday 11/24 Leftovers
Tuesday 11/25 Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwiches
Wednesday 11/26 Pretzel Chicken Tenders
Thursday 11/27 Thanksgiving - the big meal is at the in-laws' house
Friday 11/28 Home Style Ribs (yay for crock pots!)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Adam Makes Pumpkin Pie



Adam threw away the can label that had the directions, so sorry, no recipe to post. Tsk tsk.

Comments:
I do not like pie. Especially pumpkin. Therefore I can only assume this was good because Adam ate it all.

Party Time Mini Cheeseburgers

From Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious



Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound ground beef
3 slices process American cheese
10 dinner rolls, split

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 10 patties. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink.

Meanwhile, using a 1-in. pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 10 pumpkin shapes from cheese slices. Immediately place on burgers; serve on rolls. Yield: 10 servings.

Comments:
These burgers turned out very wet and they pretty much fell apart in the pan. They tasted good, but the presentation was a bit tricky when I had very few actual burgers to work with. Oh well.

Broccoli Cheese Strata

From Taste of Home's Cooking for 2



Ingredients:
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh broccoli
2 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon water
2 slices white bread, cubed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon dill weed
Dash ground nutmeg
Dash pepper

Directions:
In a small microwave-safe dish, microwave broccoli and onions in water on high for 1 minute; drain and set aside. Place bread in a shallow 3-cup baking dish coated with cooking spray. Add broccoli mixture and cheese. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk, mustard, dill, nutmeg and pepper; pour over cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Yield: 2 servings.

Comments:
Interesting dish. I made it in the morning and baked it for dinner. The texture wasn't really that great, but it tasted fine. I don't know that I'd make it again. We'll see.

Hearty Penne Beef

From Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious



Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups uncooked penne pasta
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 can (15 ounces) tomato puree
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth
1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook beef and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato puree, broth, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add spinach; cook for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

Drain pasta; stir into beef mixture. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yield: 4 servings.

Comments:
I left the spinach out of this dish. I just wasn't in the spinach mood. It turned out a little runny, but I don't know that the spinach would have sopped much of the juice up. I think it needs some thickening agent to go from soupy to saucy. I mean it has a can of beef broth and a can of tomatoes. That's a lot of juice with nowhere to go since the pasta is pre-cooked. I'll play around with it next time.

Grilled Chicken with Mango-Pineapple Salsa

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
Salsa:
2/3 cup diced peeled ripe mango (1 medium)
2/3 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 tablespoon minced seeded jalapeƱo pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Chicken:
4 (6-ounce)skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Dash of crushed red pepper
Cooking spray

Directions:
1. To prepare salsa, combine first 8 ingredients. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. To prepare chicken, place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Combine pineapple juice and next 5 ingredients (through red pepper) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

3. Prepare grill.

4. Remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until done.

5. Place reserved marinade in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Drizzle over chicken. Serve salsa with chicken.

Comments:
I altered this recipe a bit to our tastes, so the "salsa" ended up not being so much a salsa as some fruit on top of the chicken. I also didn't grill the chicken - I baked it. It all turned out pretty well. I'm sure it's a different dish completely if you prepare it the way the recipe tells you to. But this was good for my tastes.

Veggie Mac 'n' Cheese

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups fresh cauliflowerets
3 large carrots, halved and thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions:
Cook macaroni according to package directions, adding the broccoli, cauliflowerets, carrots and celery during the last 6 minutes. Drain; transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, saute onion in butter until tender. Sprinkle with flour; stir until blended. Gradually stir in milk and broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the cheese, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over macaroni mixture; stir to coat. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 12 servings.

Comments:
After a disasterous mac and cheese incident a few months back (as in, it turned out horrible and made us both very sick) I decided I should try again. Using a recipe this time. Overall, pretty easy to make. Although the cats were swarming more than usual when I made this. I don't know why. Maybe they like cauliflower? In any case, simple to assemble, tastes good. I like how the veggies get almost sweet when they're baked.

Weekly Menu: Nov 15-21

Trying out something else new. In an effort to post on a more regular basis, I'm going to try posting our menu each week. I plan Saturday to Friday since we generally do our weekly grocery shopping on Friday night or Saturday morning. I also only plan dinners. Lunches we find something in leftovers or the food in the house.

I'll post a link to my entry if it's something we've tried before. If it's new, I'll link to the recipe (if possible.) Here goes!

Saturday 11/15 Pork Wontons
Sunday 11/16 Adam Makes Dinner (Don't know what he has planned. Probably something on the grill)
Monday 11/17 Always a leftover night - I have a weekly commitment at church
Tuesday 11/18 Adam's on his own - I'll be at my monthly professional association's meeting
Wednesday 11/19 Meaty Rigatoni
Thursday 11/20 Chicken Parmesan
Friday 11/21 French Onion Soup Mac & Cheese *NEW*