Sep. 28, 2008 - Menu Plan and Cupcake Madness!
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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I tried to plan a simple menu for this week since I am focusing my energies on a baby shower we will be having this weekend. Instead of a regular cake, we will be having cupcakes. Not any old cupcakes, but fancy, gourmet cupcakes. I'm planning to make three different kinds: Lemon poppyseed, chocolate, and vanilla. I'm not a master cake decorator, so I hope they turn out OK. I plan to take pictures and post them next week, so stay tuned.
Since thinking about cupcakes and looking for ideas, I have discovered a bunch of fun cupcake websites. If you are interested in this sort of thing, you should visit:
Cupcakes Take the Cake
Or check out the book, Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make
It is really cute and very creative!
So, on to the menu:
Monday
Baked Potatoes
Tuesday
Turkey Stromboli
Wednesday
Veggie Stew
Thursday
Chicken Burritos made with this easy taco filling (super simple - although I do prefer to use homemade taco seasoning rather than store bought)
Friday
BBQ Beef (crock pot)
Saturday
Chef's Salad
Visit orgjunkie for more menu plans.
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Sep. 1, 2008 - Menu Plan - Sept. 1st
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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This week I am aiming for a simple menu. A dear friend has asked me to be at the birth of her 5th child, and it’s probably going to happen any day now. Because of this, I am trying to plan meals that are easy to prepare should I have to leave quickly. I’m also feeling a little tired of cooking for some reason.
A prayer on behalf of my friend Jennie, for a safe delivery and healthy child, would be greatly appreciated. Any prayers you feel like offering on my behalf would be appreciated too. I have never attended a birth before (just my own). There was no apprehension on my part until I heard stories about people passing out and such. Please pray that I will be a strong support for her. Thanks!
Here’s the menu:
Monday - Spaghetti Bolognese
Tuesday - Chef’s salad
Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner - Eggs, bacon, toast.
Thursday - Crockpot Lasagna
Friday - Quesadillas
Saturday - Going to a Potluck picnic - taking Banana pudding.
Sunday - Take and Bake Pizza
Visit orgjunkie.com for more menu plans.
Have a great week. |
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Aug. 24, 2008 - Menu Plan and Delicious Salad Recipe
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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I really enjoyed putting this weeks menu plan together. Here's why: I have a new cookbook and I LOVE it! It is called Food to Live By and is written by Myra Goodman, co-founder of Earthbound Organic Farm.
In my previous post, I mentioned that we visited their Farm Stand in Carmel Valley, California while on vacation. It was a real treat.
I purchased the book there for the full price of $21.95, and have since found that Amazon.com has it in their Bargain Books section for $5.99. I couldn't believe it!
As you can probably tell, I highly recommend this book. In fact, I just ordered two so I can share them with friends and family...I’m wondering it I should go back and order some more.
As with any new cookbook, I have poured over it’s pages and found lots of recipes to try. Most of the meals for this week come from Food to Live By (FTLB). I can’t wait to try each and every one.
Sunday - California Salad (recipe at the end of this post).
Monday - Tropical Chicken (recipe from The Schoolhouse Planner - review coming soon).
You can find this recipe on page 12 of their preview pages.
Tuesday - Corn Chowder (FTLB, page 29)
Wednesday - Garlic Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (FTLB, page 248), grilled steak, corn on the cob, baby carrots.
Thursday - Spaghetti Bolognese (FTLB, page 195)
Friday - Beans and Corn Bread
Saturday - Farm Stand Spinach Cannelloni (FTLB, page 194)
As promised, here is a delcious salad recipe. I have made it twice this week. It really is yummy!
California Salad
This recipe is based on one found in Food to Live By . I’m writing it the way I made it, so if you have the book it will be a little different.
5 or 6 cups lettuce or mixed baby greens
1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves
1/4 cup lemon vinaigrette (recipe follows)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
½ ripe avocado, sliced
A few pieces of dried mango sliced into small pieces(Food to Live By uses 8 dried apricots)
1. Place lettuce or greens in bowl along with the tarragon. Toss to combine. Add 3 Tablespoons of lemon vinaigrette. Toss to coat the leaves.
2. Sprinkle almonds, mango slices and cheese on top of the greens.
(The sliced almonds can be toasted very quickly and easily - just place in a skillet in a single layer and stir occasionally over medium heat. It should only take 5 to 10 minutes for them to turn a light brown. These are yummy with almost any salad.)
3. Add sliced avocado.
4. Serve immediately.
Lemon Vinaigrette
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Add all ingredients to a glass jar. Close lid tightly. Shake to combine.
Vinaigrette keeps in refrigerator for about one week.
Let me know if you try it.
Don't forget to visit Orgjunkie.com for more menu plans.
Have a happy week,
Stacy
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May. 18, 2008 - Menu Plan Monday and Healthy Eating Rant!
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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I am working in some new meals this week as I make a concerted effort to feed my family healthy food. In my quest to be frugal I have let the health bar slip a little.
On Saturday morning I was really excited to go to the local farmers market. Farm fresh eggs were on the top of my list...little did I know they cost $4.50 per dozen. I really wanted to taste them so I bought them and nothing else! There wasn’t much else to buy anyway. The sad thing is that by the end of Sunday breakfast we had only 4 left!
Sometimes I feel a little downhearted. I read a lot about healthy eating and want the best for my family, but then there is the price factor. There are many ways to feed your family healthy meals on a budget, I’m learning. Hopefully our garden will do well and we can enjoy some organic vegetables!
Recently I have been reading a lot about raw food. Since I have taught my daughter about raw meat and how it needs to be cooked well for any bad germs to die - she was a little concerned. You know, I don’t mean raw meat 
Anyway, I would never eat 100% raw, but I have certainly been convicted about the benefits of eating more raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts. I am hoping to include a lot more of them in out diet. Not to lose weight, just to be more healthy and energetic. It certainly seems smart to eat food as close to the way God made it as possible.
Low fat and fat free products scare me! They are full of weird ingredients that don’t come close to being real food. I’d rather eat the real stuff any day, even if it must be consumed in a smaller portion.
The two books I am reading right now are:
The Raw Food Detox Diet
The Balanced Plate
They were both recommended in a post over at High Desert Home.
(I cannot encourage you enough to go and pay her a visit. She has a wonderful post up this evening about Domestic Benevolence).
They have some ideas that I don’t agree with, but in general they are quite good. So far I have spent the most time in The Raw Food Detox Diet. She has a yummy looking Asian salad recipe I hope to try this week. I have also been following her recommendation and drinking Green Lemonade.
Does that look yucky to you? My daughter took this picture - I thought it was cool. The Green Lemonade is a mixture of apple, lemon, kale, and romaine lettuce put through their juicer. It is not too bad. I don’t like to drink yucky stuff (plain carrot juice is disgusting!) and have had this for three days in a row now.
The Balanced Plate has some great looking recipes in it and is only $5.99 at amazon and it is a big book (supposed to be $22.95).
Both books have recipes for cooked and raw food.
So, what I was trying to say was...we are eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. Right now I would really like to eat raw until dinner and then have a cooked meal. I am going to give it a try.
After all that, here is our menu:
I plan to serve a big salad with each meal.
Monday
Potato Spinach Casserole
Tuesday
Spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce and broccoli
Wednesday
Portobello Mushroom Fajitas
Thursday
Classic Chopped Salad, baked sweet potatoes, whole grain toast
(From Raw Food Detox)
Friday
Chili and Cornbread
Saturday
Homemde Pizza (with a soaked crust)
Sunday
Leftover pizza.
Visit orgjunkie.com for more menu plans.
Sorry for the rant...but what would a blog be without a rant every once in a while?! |
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Mar. 30, 2008 - Menu Plan and Cauliflower Pizza Recipe
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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Monday
Baked Parmesan Chicken with side salad or veggies
Kids Can Help: get vegetables or salad ready.
Tuesday
Cauliflower Pizza (recipe below)
I know this sounds odd - but it is delicious and the kids LOVE it!
Kids Can Help: Toss cauliflower with oil and spread onto pizza crust. Help prepare pizza crust.
Wednesday
Burgers
Kids Can Help: Sprinkle spices into the meat.
Thursday
Curried Rice (from Sue Gregg’s Main Dish Cookbook)
Serve with shredded coconut, chicken, raisins, whatever else takes our fancy.
Kids Can Help: Pour water in pot for rice. Put condiments in bowls.
Friday
Quesadillas and salad or carrot sticks and apples
Kids Can Help: Sprinkle cheese on tortilla.
Saturday
Barley Casserole
Kids Can Help: Measure and mix ingredients together.
Sunday
Leftovers or something in the crock pot (yet to be decided)
Cauliflower Pizza Recipe
(from Country Living - Jan Issue)
Cut up a head of cauliflower into smallish pieces and put it in a bowl. Pour in 1/4 cup of oil, 1 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper. Toss to coat.
Spread cauliflower on a pan (make a single layer) and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degerees F
Thin Crust Pizza Dough
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Stir the yeast, sugar and 3/4 cup warm water together and set aside for 5 minutes.
Mix in the flour, oil and salt until a rough dough forms.
Knead for 5 minutes until dough is elastic.
Place dough in large oiled bowl. Cover with a dampened towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down to deflate, cover, and let rise for about 30 minutes.
To make the cauliflower pizza:
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle to fit in a cookie sheet or baking pan. Dust the cookie sheet with cornmeal then place dough on top.
Top with roasted cauliflower and 3 Tablespoons of breadcrumbs.
Bake at 500 degrees F until golden and crispy about 15 minutes.
Transfer to cutting board, cut, and serve (I didn’t transfer to cutting board - just cut in the pan - I guess this could scratch it though)
YUM!
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Jan. 20, 2008 - Menu Plan Monday - Jan 21
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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Last week I tried a number of recipes from SueGregg.com and will be reviewing them here over the next few days. If you have ever wondered about Sue Gregg’s method of cooking, be sure to visit me again soon.
Here is our plan for this week:
(Visit OrgJunkie.com for more menu plans)
Monday
(Having company for dinner)
Ritz Cracker Chicken, Extra Good Mashed Potatoes, Salad and Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
Caramel Slice for dessert
Kids Can Help: Mash potatoes, stir in other ingredients. Knead dough for rolls. Mix up ingredients for Caramel slice base.
Tuesday
Spaghetti Squash Casserole from Nourishing Traditions
Kids Can Help: Help with general putting together of the dish.
Wednesday
Shepherd's Pie
Kids Can Help: Spread mashed potato over top.
Thursday
Burritos
Kids Can Help: Prepare condiments
Friday
Leftovers
Saturday
Spinach Tortillas made into cheese quesadillas
Kids Can Help: Roll out tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on tortilla.
Sunday
Slow Cooker Chili
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in Slow Cooker
Hope your week is a good one
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Jan. 7, 2008 - Menu Plan - Jan. 6
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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Let's try this again. I was almost done with this last night and then the power went out! I saw the lights flickering and rapidly began to click "save", "save", "save"...but alas, it did not save.
So let's see...I started by saying that you should be happy I did not post my menu plan last week since we had at least three flops. It is always sad to have a streak of bad dinners. Especially when you take the time to plan them and make them from scratch. Oh well. They were all new recipes so I'm hoping it was that and not my cooking skills
Here is what we have planned this week:
Monday
Honey Roast Ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, carrots
(I'm wondering if this is such a good idea with the risk of a power outage)
Kids Can Help: Put potatoes in pot. Mash potatoes. Peel carrots.
Tuesday
Pierogis serve with salad or veggies.
(A great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes)
Kids Can Help: Make dough and roll out. Stir filling. Put filling in dough and close.
Wednesday
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in pot and stir.
Thursday
Leftovers
Friday
Spinach Lasagna
Kids Can Help: Lay lasagna noodles, stir filling and spread on top of noodles.
Saturday
Spaghetti Squash casserole from Nourishing Traditions
Kids Can Help: Prepare casserole and put in dish.
Sunday
Crockpot Poor Boys
Kids Can Help: Put spices in crockpot
Be sure to visit Org Junkie for many more menu plans. There were already 132 when I checked this morning!
Have a great week.
Stacy |
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Dec. 16, 2007 - Menu Plan Monday
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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Before sharing this weeks menu plan I wanted to direct you to a delicious chili recipe - Wendy's Chili
It is supposed to taste like the chili from Wendy's Restaurant. I'm not sure if it does - but I do know it tastes great!
Please visit Laura for more menu plans.
Monday
Winter Stew and Pumpkin Rolls
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in pot. Knead dough.
Tuesday
Pizza Tot Casserole
Kids Can Help: Stir ingredients. Place Tater tots on casserole.
Wednesday
Chicken with Rice and Beans
Kids Can Help: Rinse beans.
Thursday
Spaghetti with broccoli and carrots
Kids Can Help: Pour water in pot for spaghetti. Put veggies in pot to cook.
Friday
Turkey Pot Pie
Kids Can Help: Stir ingredients together. Spoon into pie crust. Pinch dough together.
Saturday
Crock Frijoles
(I am using the recipe from Saving Dinner - click here to see one that is very similar)
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in crock pot.
Sunday
Garlic Lime Chicken with Mashed potatoes and corn
Kids Can Help: Put spices on plate. Mash potatoes.
We will also be having the super easy and yummy Banana pudding!
Happy Menu Plan Monday
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Nov. 11, 2007 - Menu Plan Monday - Nov. 12
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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This week has a number of repeats from last week’s plan. I’m not sure what happened! For whatever reason, we didn’t get around to many of the items on our menu.
Please visit OrgJunkie.com for more menu plans. Here’s ours:
Sunday
Tex-Mex Pumpkin Patties
We had these tonight - they were great!
Monday
Barbeque Beef Stew
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in crockpot.
Tuesday
Harvest Pie
Kids Can Help: Put veggies in pot to cook.
Wednesday
Leftovers
Thursday
Going out!
Friday
We are having friends over for a very special dinner.
We will be having: Ritz Cracker Chicken, Extra Good Mashed Potatoes, and salad.
For Dessert: probably Chocolate Pecan Pie (it's one of my husband's favorites)
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in crockpot for mashed potatoes, crush ritz crackers.
Saturday
Leftovers
Sunday
Quesidillas
Kids Can Help: Put cheese on tortillas.
Have a great week.
Stacy
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Nov. 4, 2007 - Menu Plan Monday - Nov 5
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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It has been a few weeks since I participated in Menu Plan Monday. I have still had a menu of sorts, just little time for typing it up. My father is visiting from Australia and we are having fun hanging out with him.
The other things that have taken up my time are frugal shopping and bread baking.
I am making every effort to spend a lot less at the grocery store and am finding it quite time consuming. Much of my free time has been spent on Crystal Paine’s new blog: Money Saving Mom - she shares many wonderful tips on living frugally.
Her Supermarket Savings 101 course is great too.
Bread baking is another fun (but time consuming) project. I LOVE my grain mill and am so glad we were able to invest in one. The next step will be a Bosch, although I think it will be quite a while until that happens.
A few days ago I decided to make a potato bread dough from the More-With-Less Cookbook. I got started then realized there was no bowl big enough to handle the dough. Thankfully, a large pot did the trick. Here is a picture of the risen dough(I put the pear in for size comparison):
I had a hard time kneading it!!
We made dinner rolls and also some sticky buns:
Yum!
So.....enough chatting.... here is our menu plan:
(Visit OrgJunkie.com for many more)
Sunday
Mexican Scrambled Eggs.
Monday
Homemade Ravioli
We are really excited about this one - we love ravioli but have never made it ourselves. This is going to be a mother/daughter project.
We will be using the following recipes:
Sausage and Cheese Ravioli
Ricotta Filled Ravioli
Kids Can Help: Mix and roll out dough. Prepare filling. Place filling on dough. Help cut.
Tuesday
Chicken Burritos made with Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Filling (VERY easy)
This is another favorite at our house. The table is usually full of bowls holding various condiments and burrito additions such as: sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, Spanish rice and beans.
Kids Can Help: Mix spices and chicken broth in slow cooker, fill bowls with condiments.
Wednesday
Slow Cooker Soup or Stew
Probably vegetable soup although I would love to try one of these Easy Crockpot Stews For Fall
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in slow cooker
Thursday
Going to a friends house for dinner!
I need to think of a yummy salad to take along.
Friday
Enchiladas and Salad
Kids Can Help: Put filling on tortillas, sprinkle cheese.
Saturday
Harvest Pie
This is a delicious looking vegetable pie that is filled with pumpkin and potato.
I couldn’t find any recipes online that looked similar. If it turns out well perhaps I can post the recipe.
Kids Can Help: I may make this one alone. Sometimes it’s nice to do that 
Thanks for visiting.
Have a lovely week! |
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Oct. 7, 2007 - Menu Plan - Oct. 8
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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I hope everyone is having a good week. The weather is turning cold here and it's time for some cooking!
A fun resource I learned about this week is the ingredient search feature on allrecipes.com. You can specify the ingedients you want and don't want. To check it out click here
Visit Laura for more menu plans.
Here's ours:
Monday
Pierogis
Kids Can Help: Mash potatoes, make dough, fill dough.
Tuesday
Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in slow cooker.
Wednesday
Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups
Kids Can Help: Spread filling on lasagna.
Thursday
Arroz Con Pollo
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in slow cooker.
Friday
Quesidillas
Kids Can Help: Put cheese on tortillas.
Saturday
Green Chili Enchiladas
Kids Can Help: Sprinkle cheese on tortillas.
Sunday
Slow Cooker Potato Soup
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in slow cooker
I'll post pictures of the Pierogis when we make them. I'm really excited about those!
On Tuesday we will be making Anzac biscuits - I'll post the pictures and the recipe. Yum.
Have a great week.
Stacy
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Sep. 30, 2007 - Menu Plan - Oct. 1
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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It's hard to believe that October is already here!! I have good reason to be happy about it....my Dad is coming from Australia at the end of this month. I haven't seen him in over 2 years. My son was 7 months old last time we went to Australia. He turned 3 a few weeks ago.
My Dad usually visits every year but was not able to last year. I am so grateful for email and phone calls. It certainly makes life easier. Although I still long to sit and watch football at his house and have the kids climb all over him 
Anyway....
on to our menu plan.
It's been a lot of fun making our menu plan around what is on sale. We've had some new and interesting dinners as well as saving money.
A website that is free and very useful is GroceryGuide.com It lists what is on sale at the stores in your area. You can even see a graph that shows the price history of the product so you know if it is good deal or not. Or, if it might be cheaper next month.
I also purchased Supermarket Savings 101 from Biblicalwomanhood.com. It had lots of great info for grocery shopping on a small budget.
Here is our menu for this week. Please visit our host, Laura, for more menu plans.
Monday
Papa Murphy’s Pizza
Kids Can Help: Not much to do except set the table. Put some carrots sticks in a bowl.
Tuesday
Mexican Chicken Stack-Up using Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Filling
To make your own mexican/taco seasoning click here and scroll down.. It is very easy (and no MSG!)
Kids Can Help: Put spices in slow cooker. Prepare extras: shred lettuce, put beans in a bowl.
Wednesday
Chicken and Corn Chowder (Use left over chicken from yesterday) with homemade bread.
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in pot. 6 year old can stir with heat on low and mom right there.
Thursday
Chili with Corn Dumplings and side salad
Kids Can Help: Mix corn bread dough and drop onto chili.
Friday
Leftovers
Saturday
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in slow cooker. Measure water and rice.
Sunday
Baked Potatoes with veggies and fruit on the side
We will probably have the usual sour cream and grated cheese topping....but these Garlic Baked Potatoes look delicious. You can also find some good tips for baking potatoes here.
5lb bags of potatoes are on sale this week at Albertsons' and City Market for $1.00! I already purchased one bag but may go back for another. I'd really like to make some Pierogis. They are yummy and can be frozen!
Happy Cooking!
- Stacy
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Sep. 16, 2007 - Menu Plan -Sept. 17
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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It’s Menu Plan time again!
I am really enjoying how much easier dinner is with a menu planned (and shopped for).
Before I share this week's menu I wanted to tell you about two new resources I discovered. If you have used either one, please let us know how it has worked for you by leaving a comment.
The first is, The Grocery Game .
Today was my first time to use it. I spent $54 at Albertsons' and saved $34. I believe I could save more - just need to get the hang of it. The friend who told me about it usually spends about $60 for a family of 5 and the receipt always says that she saved $50.
With the Grocery Game you select a store in your area and view a “list” which corresponds to that store. This list shows the 'best deal' items at that store.
The Grocery Game has a database that allows them to track manufacturer’s coupons and also weekly sales from each store. The magic happens when they match up the weekly sales with the coupons! That is the way to get items cheap and sometimes for free.
You can sign up for a $1 trail that runs for one month. You can cancel the trial online before your month is up or pay $10 for 8 weeks.
I’m already addicted!!!
If you want to sign up and don’t mind listing me as your referral, I’d love it! I could earn free weeks that way. If you do so, list my email in the “who referred you” section: homeschoolingaussie (at) yahoo (dot) com
The second new resource is Menus 4 Moms
I’m sure many of you have already heard of it. I'm just slow.
Sign up to receive free weekly menus. Most of the recipes seem to be nutritious and quick.
OK...now for this weeks menu.....
(Don’t forget to visit Laura for more menu plans)
Monday
Slow Cooker Chili and Cornbread
Kids Can Help: Put chili ingredients in slow cooker. Add ingredients to bowl for cornbread, stir.
Make double batch for freezing.
Tuesday
Gnocchi (didn’t have last week) serve with green beans and carrots on the side.
Kids Can help: Mash potatoes, knead Gnocchi dough.
Wednesday
Squash Casserole and Grilled Chicken
Kids Can Help: Mash squash. Stir in other ingredients.
Thursday
Broccoli Pasta
Kids Can Help: Measure water and pasta for cooking.
Friday
Chicken Azteca
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in Slow cooker. Measure water and rice.
Saturday
Leftovers or Boston Calzone
While looking for the Calzone recipe I came across a delicious looking recipe for Individual Grilled Veggie Pizzas - They look scrumptious...maybe they will be on the menu next week!
Sunday
Chili
(Use frozen leftover from Monday. Put in slow cooker before church)
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Sep. 9, 2007 - Menu Plan Monday and Other Stuff....
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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We have had a busy week. It was the second week of 1st grade and it is taking some time to find our groove. Apart from that we had lots of peaches and tomatoes to deal with:
Yum!
I found a wonderful recipe for making Roasted Tomatoes.
They are delicious!!! Absolutely yummy! Even if they don’t look it. You can find the instructions here.
The highlight of the week was the arrival of my new grain mill!!
Now that was a real thrill. This weeks menu will be extremely frugal to compensate for the expense. I am trying to stay away from the grocery store and will only go if we run out of milk and cheese.
So here is our menu based on what we have in the pantry:
(Visit Laura at http://orgjunkie.blogspot.com for more great menu plans)
Monday:
Gnocchi (I know, we keep having this... it’s yummy!) Serve with a side of broccoli and carrots.
Kids Can Help: Place cut up potatoes in pot. Knead dough.
Tuesday
Homemade Pizza
Kids Can Help: Knead dough. Spread sauce on pizza. Add toppings.
Wednesday
Quesidillas
Kids Can Help: Put cheese on tortilla
Thursday
Fun with friends. Potluck at my house. Not sure what we will be having yet!
(Cook beans for tomorrow)
Friday
Black Bean Azteca
Kids Can Help: Put ingredients in crock pot. Measure water and rice.
Saturday
Baked Potatoes and veggies
Kids Can help: Prick potatoes with fork. Put veggies in pot to cook.
Sunday
Fresh bread and veggies
Kids Can Help: Knead dough. Prepare vegetables
We also made some delicious Cinnamon Biscuits. The recipe was on the No Greater Joy calendar (month of November). I forgot to take a picture of the biscuits. However, I did take a picture of the dough:
Doesn’t that look scrumptious?!
Here is the recipe:
Mix together ½ cup of softened butter and 2 cups of self rising flour (make your own self rising flour by adding 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and a ½ teaspoon of salt to 1 cup All-Purpose Flour.)
Stir in 3/4 cup of buttermilk (make your own buttermilk by adding 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of whole milk. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes)
Do not over-stir. Scrape out onto floured surface, sprinkle with flour, and lightly pat down.
On top of dough sprinkle: 3/4 cup brown sugar, ½ cup raisins (I used golden raisins), ½ cup chopped pecans, 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon.
Fold dough over 4 (or so) times. Don’t over-fold. Pat down lightly and use a cup to cut out your biscuits.
Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together 2/3 cup melted butter, 1 to 1 ½ cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/4 cup cream. Pour over hot biscuits. Yum! |
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Aug. 26, 2007 - Menu Plan - Aug. 27 and Gnocchi Recipe
Posted in Menu Plan Monday
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Monday
Spinach Rice
Kids Can Help: Measure rice. Pick onion from garden and wash the dirt off. Add spices to pot.
Tuesday
Bratwurst in hot dog buns. Carrots and apples on the side.
Kids Can Help: Place bratwurst on pan. Get condiments ready.
Wednesday
Gnocchi
We made this last week and it was a hit. We are making it again. I’ll post the recipe below. The recipes I have found online are little more complicated and require a veggie mill, which I don’t have. The one in my vegetarian cookbook was simple and easy.
Kids Can Help: Peel potatoes. Put chopped up potatoes into pot. Knead dough.
Thursday
Burritos
Kids Can Help: Sprinkle spices into meat. 6 year old can stir cooking meat if it is on low and I am with her.
Friday
Thai Coconut Chicken and Vegetables
Kids Can Help: Open can of coconut milk. Pour into pot. Add veggies and spices to pot.
Saturday
Leftovers
Sunday
Chef’s Salad or sandwiches
Gnocchi
Serves 4
1 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 oz butter, melted
salt and pepper
Extra Parmesan cheese for serving
Your favorite tomato pasta sauce
1. Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes (Don’t over cook.)
2. Drain thoroughly and mash until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add flour, Parmesan cheese, butter, salt and pepper. Cut in with 2 flat bladed knives (as you would cut butter into flour when making pie crust).
4. After the above ingredients are cut in well, use you hands to mix it up to a firm dough.
5. Knead briefly on a floured surface. Over-handling the dough will cause the Gnocchi to be tough.
6. Roll about 1 ½ teaspoons of dough into an oval shape. Repeat until you have used all the dough. Indent one side of the oval by using the back of a fork.
7. Cook Gnocchi in rapidly boiling water for 3 - 5 minutes. Gnocchi floats to the surface when cooked. Unless you have a very large pot it is a good idea to boil the gnocchi in two batches. It will cook in less time that way and won’t stick together.
8. Drain well and serve warm with your favorite tomato pasta sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yum! |
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About Me
I am an Australian married to an American, currently living in the U.S.A.
Join me as I strive to delight in the moments that make up our days and aim to have a happy family that loves God and serves others.
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I have a weeks worth planned so will let you know how they turn out next Monday. One recipe we will be trying is 
