Digital Reflections

Menu Monday

Here goes for this very busy - schools almost out - week long menu.  I decided to provide a little shopping list at the bottom of each recipe for you. You will also find - recipe finds by way of links at the bottom, check out these for great recipe's and ideas.

MONDAY (holiday day grilling out back) - Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Shishkabob's - chicken, red bell peppers, zucchini, squash, pineapple, cherry tomatoes, red onions. I marinate the kabob's in Catalina dressing.  Grilled corn on the cob, Grilled Peaches, Rice Salad with Feta, Citrus & Mint, Yummy Strawberry Shortcake recipe from SmittenKitten (make sure you check out his recipe its the BEST!!)

[shopping list:  2# chicken tenders, 2 of each -red bell peppers, zucchini, squash, 1 pinapple,   1 container cherry tomatoes, 1 red onion, bottle Catalina dressing, 6 ears Corn on Cob, 6 peaches, white rice, 2 oranges, Olive oil, 2 lemons, 7 small cucumbers, 1- 16oz. feta cheese, 1 bunch green onions, 1 bunch fresh mint]

TUESDAY: Baked Spaghetti, Sauteed Green Beans, Homeade Foccacia

I decided to try this Bolognese Sauce  from PioneerWoman's site.  It looks really good, and I will layer it with a mix of Ricotta and Parmessan and some ziti topped with mozzerella and bake it while I get the green beans ready.  We use fresh beans, my kids love to snap the ends off and clean them.  Then they are quick steamed and sauteed in garlic and olive oil... Here is the foccacia I will be making using the dough in my fridge.

 

For the bread - I use the dough I make from the book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.

[Shopping List:  1 pkg.carrots, Red onion (already on list from Mon menu), 2# gr. turkey, 1 can tomato paste, Head of Garlic, Red Wine (one that you will also enjoy drinking with your meal), 2 cans whole tomatoes, Fresh Parm cheese, Worchestershire Sauce, Oregano, Basil, 1 container Ricotta, 2 cups Mozz. cheese, 2# fresh green beans]

WEDNESDAY: Salmon Croquettes with Herb Dressing, Risotto, Fresh Fruit

[Shopping List: 2 containers Salmon (i prefer smoked, but use what ever you like best), Eggs, Bread Crumbs, Green Onions (which is already on our list from earlier in the week), Arborio Rice, 2 Lemons, Fresh Dill, Fresh Fruit of your choice - we will have pineapple, peaches, and a few other things thrown in to use up what was left from our grill night)] 

Thursday: Baked Chicken Tenders, Sweet Potato Fries, Steamed Veggies (cook extra chicken for tomorrow night)

[Shopping List: Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb, 2 Lemons, Olive Oil, Garlic (merinade for chicken), 5 sweet potatoes, Veggies of choice]  We love crispy baked Sweet potatoes - just remember to cook them slightly in salted boiling water before slicing them - coating in olive oil and sprinkling in salt]

Friday: Chicken Broccoli Sandwiches, Steamed Carrots, Cole Slaw

 Remember these from last week - so good!

[Shopping List: Hoagie Rolls, tomatoes, Cheddar Cheese, Brocolli (if you steam it from the night before just get enough extra to use a few slices here), Mayonaisse, Carrots, Slaw Mix (I just buy the bag of precut slaw mix) vinegar]

Friday:  Pizza night - using dough from the fridge and all the yummy left over veggies - and you have cheese from the sandwiches last night - makes a great and easy meal - to bring it up one level - add ricotta cheese (if you have any left from earlier in the week) and spread a mix of ricotta and cheddar on the bottom of the parbaked dough - before topping with tomato sauce/tomatoes and more cheese - yummy!!

Well thats it for this week..... Bon Appetite...

Here are some food find links for you:

Creamy Asparagus Soup from Survival Special Cooking

Pasta Salad with Roasted Veggies from Somethings Burning

Dr Pepper Ribs from HomeSick Texan

Pasta Caprese  from Tomatoes and Basil

well..... happy eatings!   

Monday Menu (on Tuesday) ...are we hungry yet?

Been so busy wrapping up editing and making a graduation dvd that I have gotten little else done in the last 3 days.  And that is ok - because I have cried more watching my sweet nephews life unfold on my screen in the process than I have in a long time, and sometimes you need a good cry to get focused - and it has been an incredible reminder to me of just how fast time goes.  I remember so clearly when he was born. And that was 18 years ago... Time flies - and I wish him the best life has to offer during this next phase of his journey.  Amazing how it seems like this really does happen in a blink then you look back over the years and become reflective about life.  So many little things that can cloud our view during the day in and day out challenges, joy, schedules, obligations, quiet moments, etc. that life brings about.  Sometimes you just need to be reminded about what is important, whether its the life you are helping to mold, or the friends whose life you get to impart goodness into, or the stranger whose life you can make better by a gesture of kindness... Time is fleeting...

So, if you are still here, and hungry, like I am since I havent had lunch yet - lets get a plan together for whats left of this week.. And I think I actually have a few photos to post with the menu this week.  The end of last week we had our moms night out and my sweet friend, Shannon had prepared everything for our group to make 12 meals at one time.  It was a great list of meals - so many we hardly had room to taste all the dishes - but the concept was to prepare all the meals in a few hours and then be ready for the week(s) to come.  I am going to share a few of those here.

The first dish was a delish rendering of a chicken paella.  Just look at the great colors this dish gives off.  Seasoned with a special mix Shannon had gotten at Penzy's, it was a big hit.  And the chicken was made ahead and used for several dishes (you know I love that).  There were onions, carrots, red peppers, rice, peas - all that yummy goodness - and super easy to make especially in the manner of preparing alongside other dishes. 

The next was an oh so good pizza.    Um, I am really hungry now.  What was so unique about this pizza was that it was made topped with the filling that was used for the lasagna rolls,  and stuffed shells that we also made. See how versatile this all is - that is key for being succesful for both time management and financially stretching the budget.  This mix of cheesy goodness, ricotta, cottage cheese, mozz and parmesan cheese mixes with spinach, and garlic and seasonings made this a huge hit.

 

Another favorite were these sandwiches -  remember the chicken from the paella... it was prepared in such a veratile way, that some of it was placed inside these rolls with broccoli (sliced thinly) and tomatoes, cheese, etc. and were light and delishous, and I can definately see my kids enjoying these on a weekend - (actuallly its our saturday meal plan this week)..

One more of the 12 dishes we made was this delishous vegetable parmesan.  Oh it was heavenly - layers of summer squash, zucchini, onion, egplant and red peppers, layered with red sauce and topped with mozz and parm.. oh i want some more right now! The surprising key to this dish, was using lemon juice to dip the veggies in before breading them -and then roasting them all off before creating the dish.. Oh this one its a keeper...

 

 

So there you have it - a version of Menu Monday with ideas - things to try - ways to combine ingredients for more than one meal... But here I think is the last necessary ingredient - after you add good friends - you must add this.

(and yes, that was my label attached)

Have a great Tuesday!

Menu Monday

About to head to the grocery store for our weekly needs, and had to stop long enough to print coupons and grab my recipes for the week.  So we had some great dinners last week, and I am looking forward to this weeks menu too.

Monday:  Chicken Scallopini, Salad, Fresh Baked Bread

The key to this dish is very thin pieces of chicken breast.  You can ask your butcher to pound them down for you or use a meat mallot (wrap chicken in saran wrap first) and you can achieve the thin desired result. Season flour (I mix flour and panko crumbs,s & p).  I heat up oil and butter in a skillet, then dredge chicken and cook on both sides til brown.  Removing to a dish once its finished until I have cooked all the chicken, then I add artichoke hearts(with juice), capers(drained), sliced mushrooms, 1/2 small diced onion.   Then add chicken back to pan.  Serve on angel hair pasta, topped with lemn butter sauce and feta cheese.

I use this lemon butter sauce from Paula Dean's Scallopini recipe. (I just divided in half)

Lemon Butter Sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 ounces white wine

2 ounces heavy cream

2 butter

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Heat the lemon juice and white wine in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and reduce by one-third. Add cream and simmer until mixture thickens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly add butter, about 2 tablespoons at a time, until completely incorporated, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Tuesday:  Grilled Salmon, Grilled Asparagus, Fingerling Potatoes with herbs

Pretty Simple, Pretty Quick and really tasty (and I will use the extra asparagus/potatoes later in the week)

Wednesday: Loaded Baked Potatoes and BBQ Chicken

Thursday:  Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato, Fontina

   doesnt that look yummy - (recipe from foodnetwork) And I am using the extra asparagus, seasonal and delish tomatoes, and will fry up the extra potatoes to round out the meal.

Friday:  Black Bean Chiliwith Mango Salsa, homeade tortillas

Mango Salsa is as simple as it sounds, dice about 2 medium mangos, mix in chopped red bell pepper, lots of fresh chopped cilantro, one jalapeno diced, small diced cucumber, and diced red onion, squeeze lime juice all over, add a sprinkle of salt - can save in fridge for a few days and use over the weekend for grilling out.

 

Saturday:  Everything goes Grilling day.  Its simple - as much fresh produce and fruits and some chicken, fish and shrimp - will all find its way to the grill - I will probably make a nice orzo salad on the side - and we can eat off this all weekend.....

Menu planning resources:

Organette - amazing recipe index

things like her: Gingered Carrot Soup with Avocado 

 

 

 

Sliced Spring Salad with endive cilantro, radishes, and feta 

 

 

And here is a blog Cooking with Starwoodgal with another index of past recipes.

For the vegans out there I like these recipes.  Eating Vegan especially the Mediteranean Pizza 

Of course my favorite index is The Pioneer Woman Cooks every step photographed, every recipe delish - cant ask for more than that! 

Well here's to happy and healthy eating - cheers!

Menu Monday

The bread is baking and the pie is cooling... well a girl can imagine cant she.  It's too early in the morning for me to even be thinking that way, but the bread is rising, and I have visions of pie in my mind - so that counts for something right???

Monday- Curried Split Pea Soup, salad and fresh bread.

Thanks to my friend Katrina for sharing this recipe last week I managed to nab some ginger which was the only thing I didnt have - so this is a very cost effective meal already.  The recipe for the soup is posted at PostPunkKitchen.  I cant wait to have this for dinner tonight.

Tuesday - Tuna Croquettes, Grilled Corn on the Cob(with a spice rub), lemon and thyme jasmine rice.

My family actually loves these croquettes and they are pretty easy to make. And tuna, not as expensive as 'meat' which we are pretty much veering away from these days. 

 Here is the photo from the food.tv website - dont they look good - I will have to take my own photos this week. Thats the hard part about these menu's until I have made it and taken a photo I cant really post my own picture.

 

Wednesday - Vegetable Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread

This lasagna is a little different than your ordinary pasta dish layered thick and gooey with cheeses and red sauce.  Instead of pasta, I slice zucchini, summer squash, and eggplant thinly (a mandolin would be great for this). Rub with evoo, sprinkle on s&p.   Then place on a hot grill, cook evenly both sides for just a minute or two (since they are thin and will continue cooking in the oven dont over cook). Then layer eggplant, sprinkle a soft cheese on top (such as a goat cheese), zucchini and squash - then sliced tomatoes, then layer on fresh spinach, top with cheese - repeat. The tomatoes release their juices and the cheese gets all melted.  Salad dressing:

2 cups fresh basil

2 cups fresh parsley leaves

1 cup chopped scallions

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)

1/4 cup reduced-calorie mayonnaise

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (or more to taste)

Thursday - Grilled Chicken Wraps, Grilled Corn on the Cob (yes second time but they were on sale and my kids actually love them), White Bean, Tomato, and Green Bean Salad.

Marinate the Chicken in a mix of lemon juice, evoo, whole peeled garlic cloves, oregano. Grill chicken and corn on grill, make fresh tortiallas (for these tortillas I will put in some green goddess dressing base from penzy's - it just adds another level of flavors to the whole wrap.  And then I make the greed goddes dressing to smear inside the tortilla before placing the chicken inside.  We like to top our wraps with a nice mixed green and some sliced tomatoes. White Bean, Tomato and Green Bean Salad can be found here. Note - I use my own prepared dried white beans.

Friday - veggie pizza night. we will have left over veggies from the week and i will just use some of my bread dough for the pizza crust. 

This weeks groceries cost $58.00 for a family of six. And when I use these amounts, I need to state that this is my total grocery bill for the week, including yogurt, cereals, milk, etc.  So since this recipe list is just for our dinners they actually cost less than my grocery bill.  And this week is really $$ friendly with the use of dried beans, rice, making my own tortillas and bread, and only buying one meat item (which always cost more buying cage free/certified organic).

Well, bon appetite & happy monday!

(I will post later with the links to start your spring cleaning. I am following along from another site and will add a whole post about it later)

Menu Monday

So, I spent the good part of late last night planning our menu.  I would like to have done it earlier so I could have shopped based on the few things I needed, but I actually need to replenish a lot of basics this week and will have to make that weekly trip to the store today. But here is what our family will be enjoying this week:

Monday:

Roasted chicken, Risotto with Asparagus & Fennel, Foccacia

Roasted Chicken (homeade not store bought), Risotto with Asparagus and Fennel (I love Mario Batali's recipe here.)  And some fresh foccacia which I will bake up this afternoon.  This is an easy meal since we have ballet and baseball this afternoon/evening. But the extra chicken will go into Wednesdays meal and the extra foccacia will go in the kids lunches tomorrow.

Tuesday:

Baked Tilapia, steamed summer veggies and potato pancakes. 

I love to take the Tilapia, squeeze on ample amounts of lemon, sprinkle on some lemon pepper, garlic salt, add a small dab of butter and thinly sliced onions, wrap in parchment paper and bake in the oven til done. The kids devour this.  I am going to see what veggies look good at the store today and steam up a bunch, we use to make latka's as kids and I have found my kids love these too.  Grate several potatoes (I use 10), sprinle with baking soda to help get all the liquid out of the potatoes, drain well, pat dry, grate and onion, add 2 eggs, 3/4 c. flour, salt & pepper.  Heat oil in shallow pan, form mix into patties, and fry on both sides til crisp and golden.  I remember eating these with apple sauce as a kid, but since we havent made any applesauce yet, I think we will just serve with some sour cream.

Wednesday:

Chicken Enchillada's and salad:

 (using left over chicken), shred the chicken, in large bowl mix softened cream cheese, 2c. cheddar cheese, 1 sm can green chilies, 1/2c. sliced black olives, 1/4 c. chopped cilantro, handful of chopped green onions.  Mix together well, spoon good amount into tortilla's roll closed.  In 9x13 spread tomato sauce thinly to cover bottom, place rolled enchilladas in pan, once pan is full, top enchilladas with a mix of rotel and tomato sauce. Sprinkle with another cup of cheese.  Bake 350 for 25 min. covered - remove foil for last 5 min of baking.  We usually top these with our salad and sour cream, but my kids prefer their salads on the side.

Thursday:

Gnocchi and Vegetable Ragu

This is the recipe for the gnocchi that I use. (and since I will already be buying potatoes for the latka's this should help finish them off).  And since I am buying vegetables to steam off earlier in the week I will use the rest of them to make a nice ragu, I will roast off the vegetables, probably a mix of zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, onions, summer squash, fennel, and toss in diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, garlic, basil, and parsley.  Topped with a drizzle of nice evoo and served with a nice crunchy loaf of artisan bread that I will bake up earlier in the day.

Friday:

Black Bean Chili and tortillas

Its just too simple, and I can make it ahead so we can eat before the rush of Friday night.  At this point if I have any left over veggies they will all get cooked - (or if they are leftover from a meal, I will just toss them in).  Soak 1 1/2 # black beans drain. Saute onion, garlic and add to large pan, toss in black beans, chili powder, cumin, oregano, grated orange peel (abdout 2tsp), add water (about 10 c or more depending on size of pot) let simmer a few hours. Add a few chipoltle chilis and mash up the beans just a bit (make sure to stir often during the two hours of cook time). Add S&P to taste. Then I will make and heat up some fresh tortillas to go along side. This is served with a sour cream that I mix with chipoltle tabasco - so good on top.  I will also have some cut green onions, and cheese to top with.

Saturday:

Anything Goes Grill day

Well, now that I have my list, I am off to the store to see what veggies I can find. But not before I check out all my favorite coupon sites.

coupon mom

grocerygame

coupons

valpak

ppgazette

well, happy shopping, happy eating and happy monday!

oh, before I go - here is a shot of the quiche I made last week - the crust was to-die for.... its a new favorite savory crust - recipe follows pictures:

 

1/4 c. flour

1 stick cold butter (cut into small pieces)

3/4 tbsp ice water

spices: (mix in sm. bowl)

celery salt, garlic pepper, onion salt, paprika, oregano, thyme, cayenne (i used about 1-2 tbsp of each - more paprika and garlic pepper than eny of the other) mixed well, add about 2 - 2 1/2 tsp of the mix to the flour.

Then cut in the cold butter til dough is crumbly, (i dont use a food processer for this - just two forks) then add VERY cold water a tad at a time just until dough comes together. then form into disk and put in fridge for an hour.  take our and roll - press into pie pan (see how rustic and yummy it loos)..cook off before adding quiche mix with either pie weights or line with foil and fill with dried beans. about 15 min. then add quiche mixture and bake til done... everyone in my family ate this up - even the kids who were sceptical at first (notice no spinach - inadvertantly left it out - but the peppers made it oh so good!)

Menu Monday

In getting more organized and simplifying our lifes, I am developing systems in our household to help in many different areas. One of them is a weekly menu.  Although I have always had a menu for each week, I have just decided to pay closer attention to the planning of the meals to better assist in the cost effectiveness and time saving strategies... So, mondays will become menu mondays... maybe I can add photos later in the week to go along with the meals..

In part of the planning, I find that typically, I am a recipe shopper, I will go and buy all the ingredients for a particular recipe not really paying attention to the items I am buying as a way of utilizing them for more than one meal.. Well, as part of the menu planning this is changing.  I will point it out in more detail as I list the weeks menu....

Monday - Fresh Veggie Quiche & Salad & Homeade bread

we have eggs - lots of them, I didn't hard boil as many as I usually do and so we have 2 extra dozen eggs waiting to be used - so tonights meal is Quiche.  I will be adding fresh spinach(which will also be used in salads for the week), I will be adding shredded zucchini and carrots (which will be also used for muffins this week), I will be adding fresh yellow and red bell peppers (which will also be used in a chicken dish this week).  The recipe also calls for cherry tomotoes 1/2 & 1/2 (which is also going to be used in the chicken dish later this week).  Fresh herbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg & paprika...

>>>see how those ingredients are going to be used more than once - this is the thing I love most about the menu planning process, less waste, more economical use of produce before it spoils!!

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken & Veggies skewers with Rice Pilaf

While the grill is hot I will grill the chicken for tonight and the other meal at the end of the week.  As well as some pork chops for Thursday. I will use the extra peppers from Monday, and grill some corn (enough for tomorrow night).  I will throw on the some peaches to serve with ice cream. 

Wednesday - Black Bean Tortilla Casserole & Corn

This starts with homeade corn tortillas, and some pantry items....Black beans (drained and rinsed really well), salsa, diced green peppers, diced onions, chopped garlic, cumin, canned petite diced tomatos, cumin, salt/pepper, cheese.  Saute the garlic, onion and pepper, add beans, tomatoes, salsa, bring to a simmer.  Layer Sauce mix, tortillas, cheese a few times in a 9x13 pan, top with cheese and bake 350 for 25min.  I will take the roasted grilled corn and take it off the husks, saute it with a little lime, butter and parmessan cheese to serve as a side.

Thursday - Pork Chops and Apples with Mashed potatos & salad, Fresh Baked Bread

Pretty simple, quick saute of seasoned chops, slice apples thin, add in saute pan with brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves - serve on top of pork chops, mashed potatos on side, salad & Bread.

Friday - Chicken Penne Pasta Bake & Roasted Veggies

Using the grilled chicken that I cooked off earlier in the week, the extra 1/2 & 1/2, some more onion, red and yellow peppers from earlier in the week this dish comes to gether quickly.. Cook pasta al dente. The onion, peppers and garlic get sauteed in evoo, adding diced tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, parsley, then throw in chicken. Mix in drained noodles - toss in casserole dish top with cheese - you have dinner in 20 minutes.  I will saute off some zuchini, summer squash, carrots to serve on the side.

Saturday - Homeade pizzas - we will use up any left over veggies herbs from the fridge and use the last of our dough from the week.

That's it.. pretty easy -reasonably healthy and all quick meals.. As a staple around here I bake bread atleast 3 times a week.  I like to buy veggies & fresh herbs weekly (cant wait to begin getting them out of a garden)... Well, here's to a healthy, organized, enjoyable week!

In the kitchen & Earth Hour

Just a little idea of how pizza baking day went with the little ones the other day.  I love having my dough in the fridge and on the ready whenever the mood strikes and today I wanted to make a new batch of dough and we just so happen to have enough left to make 2 large pizzas.  That was perfect for lunch for the little ones and an after school snack for the big ones.  And it was fun - and again my my fridge is overflowing with dough on the ready. Scroll down below the pizza post and see what we made for dinner last night with this new dough.

               

mmmm. good! And YES - the kids picked their toppings - their favorites at the moment are broccoli, carrots and fresh tomatoes.  And we dont use sauce for the pizza - they get their hands all goey and wet by squishing up some roasted and diced tomatoes that have been mixed with herbs de provence and roasted garlic.  

Then last night I had made a loaf of the bread  (a friend has recently given me this book on artisan bread in 5 minutes - I was sceptical, but I am on my 3rd batch -it keeps in the fridge and I have made everything from baguettes, to pizza, to nice hearty sandwich bread... like this below:

start with the fresh hot loaf of artisan bread

  then add some chicken from the grill

then top with roasted red peppers, fresh parsley, homeade pesto, and some cheese........ (hungry yet) - then in a panini press - or a grill pan...

turn it into this:

mmmm. nice hot panini served with mixed greens and cranberries with a champaigne vinegrette.... oh so good.. and all beacuse I have dough in my fridge... Have to say - I am loving this!!! (and so is the family - they scarfed these puppies up last night) right before we played monopoly in the dark during EARTH HOUR.