Recipes And Menu Plans

For a long time I have been wanting to organize the recipes on my blog. Finally, that day has arrived. If you take a gander at the top of my site, you will see a bunch of tabs above my header. On the far right side there is a tag labeled recipes. If you click on it, it will take you to a page where I have all the recipes on my blog alphabetically listed and linked in categories. Have fun perusing!

And in case you were wondering, I finally made the Honey Balsamic Chicken recipe. It was delightful and incredibly easy to make. The sauce was perfect, thick and not runny.

Monday: Curry Croissants, fruit and veggies

Tuesday: Chicken, Broccoli and Ziti Skillet and fruit (Carry over meal from last week.)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: More Leftovers (I am all for Curry Croissants again!)

Friday: Our Friend’s Annual Christmas Party

Saturday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, rice and veggies

Sunday: My Day Off

For more dinner ideas and Menu Plan Monday participants, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

I hope everyone has a very merry and happy holiday season! This is going to be my last Menu Plan Monday for the 2007 year. I am going to be quite the sporadic blogger over the next few weeks since we will be traveling and spending a lot of time with family. However, I am sure you will still get a few posts from me here and there .

Snowflakes and Menu Plans

December is here and what a glorious start to the month we had – Mother Nature blessed us with our first snowfall of the season. My kids were mesmerized by the white, fluffy flakes falling from the sky. They sat with their noses pressed up against the window pane for several minutes as they watched the snow gracefully blanket the earth. I would have snapped a picture of this scene with all of us still in our pajamas and our hair going every which way, but I was too lazy and sneezy to fetch the camera.

We all desperately wanted to go play in the white powder, but we didn’t think it was such a smart idea since all four of us are feeling lousy. Our allergies are still attacking us and some of us now have secondary infections. It’s miserable being cooped up. I just hope we all get better before Christmas arrives.

Monday: Meat and Pasta Bake, veggies and fruit

Tuesday: Chicken, Broccoli and Ziti Skillet and fruit

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Honey Balsamic Chicken, baked potatoes and veggies (Carry over meal from last week – when I make it I will let you know how this version turned out.)

Friday: My Husband’s Holiday Work/Graduate School Party

Saturday: Spaghetti, fruit and veggies

Sunday: My Day Off

For more dinner ideas and Menu Plan Monday participants, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Allergies and Menu Plans

Allergies, me and the State of Washington – we don’t mix very well. For whatever reason, since moving to the Pacific Northwest, my allergies have become a year long annoyance. I am sure it has something to do with the 3 M’s that thrive here: mold, mildew and moss.

And instead of being plagued with the typical watery and itchy eyes, sneezing and congestion, my allergies in this region of the country make their presence known through killer sore throats. Unfortunately, often times these will turn into upper respiratory infections. Ugh.

Needless to say, this Thanksgiving weekend could have been better. All well, at least I felt relatively healthy on the actual day of the feast . Thanks John and Laura for being fabulous hosts!

On to the menu plan …

Monday: Swiss Chicken Bake and veggies (This is a carry over meal from last week. It is a great dish to prepare if you are looking for ways to get rid of leftover stuffing and turkey.)

Tuesday: Tacos and fruit

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Honey Balsamic Chicken, baked potatoes and veggies (I haven’t made this recipe yet, but my friend Liz says it is extremely tasty.)

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Sloppy Joes, fruit and veggies

Sunday: My Day Off

For more dinner ideas and Menu Plan Monday participants, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday – Nov. 19, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

My mouth is already watering as I sit here and think of all the delicious foods I am going to be able to indulge in on Thursday – turkey, stuffing, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, green jello, candied yams, pumpkin pie … I can hardly wait.

And of course I am excited to see our fabulous friends who are hosting the special dinner. Maybe they will be kind and send us home with a little bit of leftovers if they have any extra. After all, one of the best things about Thanksgiving … besides giving thanks of course … is eating all the scrumptious leftovers. Being raised in a family of 11, our leftovers always seemed to go within a few days. You had to act quickly if you wanted to partake of seconds and thirds on the days following the big feast .

Last week for Menu Plan Monday, I decided I wanted to start utilizing the older food that was in our pantry in preparation for us moving sometime next Fall. This week the item will be tuna fish.

Monday: Santa Fe Chicken Salad leftovers

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Tuna Casserole and veggies (I promise this is not a scary recipe. There are no raisins or carrots in this dish, but there is some curry. Yum!)

Thursday: Our Thanksgiving Feast

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Swiss Chicken Bake and veggies (This is the perfect meal to make if you have a lot of leftover stuffing.)

Sunday: My Day Off

For more dinner ideas, especially for the days when at 5:00 in the evening you still have no idea what to make, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Planning From The Pantry

Hopefully by this time next year, my husband will finally be done with his more than 10 year stint of college and graduate school – Hallelujah! He will be adding a PhD to his two bachelors’ and master’s degrees.

Since we only have about a year left in our current apartment, I want to make sure I start utilizing all the food in our pantry because I don’t like having to waste things when we move. No matter how hard I try to stay on top of things, it always seems like there are items in our pantry that were purchased, then never used and now they have long been forgotten.

In order to avoid having to throw these things away, every week I am going to base at least one of my meals on a food item I need to use up. This week the item is from the fridge, Feta Cheese. I recently rediscovered this fun pasta salad that requires Feta Cheese. It is really quite tasty.

Monday: Feta Cheese and Chicken Pasta Salad and fruit

Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, rice and veggies

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Chili Mac Skillet and Fruit

Friday: Clean out the fridge day

Saturday: Santa Fe Chicken Salad and fruit

Sunday: My day off

For more dinner ideas, especially for the days when at 5:00 in the evening you still have no idea what to make, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Feta Cheese and Chicken Pasta Salad

At first I thought this pasta salad had an unusual combination of ingredients, but when I finally hesitantly tried it, my mouth was pleasantly surprised. This meal is easy to make for a simple family lunch or dinner, and it can also be doubled or tripled and served at a large gathering.

Feta Cheese and Chicken Pasta Salad

1 large tomato, diced

1 pepper, diced (green, orange, red or yellow)

1 large onion, diced

1 cucumber, quartered

1 cup frozen peas (cooked through, cool, but not hot)

1 lb chicken (I prefer using chicken tenders), thawed

1/2 cup to 1 cup Feta Cheese

16 oz package spiral pasta or similar shaped noodle, cooked

Italian Dressing

Catalina Dressing

Pepper

Salt

Lemon Pepper

Follow package directions and cook pasta. Pound thawed chicken with a meat tenderizer. Place chicken in a greased skillet (I use PAM, but you can use oil or butter) and season with pepper, salt and small amount of lemon pepper. Add 1 tablespoon or so of Italian Dressing. Cook each side of chicken about 7 minutes or until done. Remove from pan to cool. Slice the chicken.

In the same skillet, place the diced onion and pepper. Splash equal amounts of Italian and Catalina Dressing to flavor the mixture, start out with small amounts. Cook until the peppers are tender crisp, about 3-5 minutes.

Add chicken and vegetable mixture to cooked pasta and stir thoroughly. When the meal is ready to serve, add remaining veggies and cheese. Add more dressing to taste … I prefer adding more Catalina, but not Italian.

Since I like to keep the pasta salad for leftovers, I don’t add any Feta cheese, cucumber, tomato or extra salad dressing to the main dish. I add that at each individual serving. I typically use 2 tablespoons of Feta cheese for each serving.

Enjoy!

My Passion For All Things Pumpkin

Right now I seem to have a myriad of different post ideas flittering around in my head, all of which I would like to eventually write about. The topics are vast and varied. They range from discussing the over scheduling of young kids and the sometimes insane expectations placed upon them by parents, to the current disastrous economic and political state of our country, to immature drivers who always have to get the last honk in … seriously.

However, since my brain is tired and it feels like it is about to shut down, I am going to go with a much lighter post subject – pumpkin and the food you can make from it.

Not only do I positively love the Autumn season, but I adore nearly every food item that has to do with pumpkin. And of course these are healthy items … pumpkin is a vegetable, right ?

1. Pumpkin Roll Cake – If you have not experienced this heavenly dessert, pumpkin cake rolled around a to-die-for cream cheese frosting, then you are definitely missing out on life.

2. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins - This recipe is delicious.

3. Pumpkin Cupcakes – Cream cheese frosting is a must.

4. Pumpkin Squares

5. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

6. Pumpkin Milkshakes

7. Pumpkin Cheesecake – I am in love with this seasonal dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. Maybe I should send my husband to go get some.

8. Pumpkin Pie – It needs to have real whipped cream on it.

And here are some other delicacies I would like to try:

9. Pumpkin Soup

10. Pumpkin Waffles or Pancakes

11. Pumpkin Coffee Cake

12. Pumpkin Mousse

13. Pumpkin Pudding

What are some of your favorite holiday desserts? Please share so I can have even more of a reason to indulge in scrumptious tasting food .

The Countdown Begins

Eight weeks.

There are only eight piddly weeks left in the year 2007. That astounds me. I know these weeks are going to zoom by incredibly fast, but I am going to do my absolute best to enjoy them and turn them into memories I can always cherish.

Last week as part of my menu plan, I tried a new recipe called Honey Balsamic Chicken. It turned out pretty tasty, but not as good as I was hoping it to be. If any of you have ever had the Honey Balsamic Chicken at Macaroni Grill, that is what I am trying to recreate. Next time I make it I might try using more honey. I want a thicker glaze as opposed to a runny sauce.

Anyone have any suggestions or great recipes for this dish? I will take all the advice I can get. Until I get the recipe how I like it, though, I am not going to post it … unless someone is dying for it now .

Monday: Curry Croissants and veggies

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Wednesday: Leftovers.

Thursday: Thai Chicken Wraps

Friday: Clean out the fridge day.

Saturday: Creamy Herbed Pork Chops, potatoes and veggies

Sunday: My day off.

For more dinner ideas, especially for the days when at 5:00 in the evening you still have no idea what to make, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Of Pumpkins and Menu Planning

This is the giant pumpkin I won at a recent Halloween party. It is huge. It is whopping. Consequently it lives outside and greets people as they enter our apartment building. And yes, it is thicker than the tree trunk you see in the background.

How do you win such a pumpkin? You guess its precise weight. It was actually pretty easy. I picked up the pumpkin and realized it weighed nearly the same as my two year old little man – 37 pounds!

I suppose I now ought to plan some pumpkin meals.

Monday: Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, rice and fruit

Tuesday: Swiss Chicken Bake and veggies

Wednesday: Happy Halloween! (Leftovers, served with a side of candy.)

Thursday: Honey Balsamic Chicken, Vegetable Couscous and veggies (This is a new chicken recipe I am trying. I will let you know how it turns out.)

Friday: Clean out the fridge day.

Saturday: Tacos, fruit and veggies

Sunday: My Day Off

For additional menu plan ideas and recipes, please visit Laura of The Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday – October 22, 2007

I can already feel it, this week is going to be an overly busy one. Not only is ordinary life still taking place day in and day out, but I am also going to a professional production of “Into The Woods” and I need to prepare a talk to give in Church. In order for everything to run smoothly, I need to make sure I stay on top of things. In other words, I need to not let the Internet steal away all my precious time .

I also thought I would let you know, I recently posted a scrumptious recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. Make sure you check it out.

Monday: Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Rice and veggies (Carry over meal from last week.)

Tuesday: Spaghetti and veggies

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Clean out the fridge day and enjoy “Into The Woods” (On a weeknight, who has time for going out to dinner and attending a musical?)

Friday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, rice and veggies (Another carry over meal.)

Saturday: Orecchiette Pasta and veggies

Sunday: My Day Off

For additional menu plan ideas and recipes, please visit Laura of The Organizing Junkie.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

If you haven’t noticed by now, Autumn is my absolute favorite time of the year. One of the myriad of reasons why I cherish this season is because it is the time to cook and bake with pumpkin. Yum! I have a whole array of pumpkin foods that I find utterly heavenly … more on that subject in a few weeks.

Today, though, I want so share with you a recipe that not only involves pumpkin, but chocolate, too. Who can argue with that?

Well, maybe Liz can. She is the one who got me hooked on this recipe in the first place. She is not really a chocolate fan. I know, pretty hard to believe. But if she won’t eat these, I will gladly eat her share!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

3 cups canned pumpkin (I just use one large can.)

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

4 cups white sugar

6 eggs

4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons cloves

mini chocolate chips (as many as your heart desires)

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar and eggs. Mix well by hand or use an electric mixer. Blend in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Mix thoroughly. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven. For baby muffins bake for 15-18 minutes. For muffins and small loaves, bake for 30-35 minutes. For medium and large loaves, bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Always use the minimum amount of time and check for doneness.

For variation you may add any of these: raisins (yuck!), mini chocolate chips (yum!), pecans or walnuts. You can also sprinkle the top with chopped nuts or drizzle with a powdered sugar glaze.

The key is to not eat too many in one sitting.

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For more Fall activities and recipes, check out Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar carnival.

For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday participants, check out Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer.

Autumn and Menu Plan

The last few Autumn days here in the Pacific Northwest have been picture perfect. They have been warm yet crisp, days where you can get away with wearing long sleeves, but no jacket. I keep waiting for the gray and wet gloom to hit, but thankfully it is taking its time in making its appearance. That is fine in my book, though. I have been thoroughly enjoying these extra days where I can still take the kids to the park. Now if only I can convince my son to get out of this incessant whine stage he is in. Then life would truly be picture perfect .

Monday: White Sauce Chicken Enchiladas, fruit and veggies

Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, rice and veggies

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Clean out the fridge day

Friday: Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Rice and veggies

Saturday: We have a sitter all lined up so we can go to our friend’s annual Autumn Soup Party!

Sunday: My Day Off

For additional menu plan ideas and recipes, please visit Laura of The Organizing Junkie.