Meals for the week of...August 9, 2010

I found a new favorite recipe this week in the Black Bean Tortilla Bake! Delicious!! The BBQ pork was one of the best I ever made, I think it was the fact I cooked it in apple juice. Really made a big difference. The Pretty Potatoes is a favorite recipe from when I was in middle school and started cooking lots with my cousin. It is delicious!!

Monday: BBQ Pork Sandwiches and Corn on the Cob

Tuesday: Pretty Potatoes (I found this recipe when I was in middle school and have loved it ever since.)

Wednesday: Black Bean Tortilla Bake from Women of Great Taste Cookbook

Thursday: Goulash (very simple version)

Friday: Leftovers (we had a company party to attend)

BBQ Pork Sandwiches and Corn on the Cob

1 pork roast

2 cups apple juice

salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic

hamburger buns

BBQ sauce

Corn on the cob

In slow cooker place thawed pork roast and add apple juice and seasoning. Cook on low about 8 hours or until done. When finished shred pork, top hamburger buns with pork and BBQ sauce. Boil corn on the cob until finished.

Pretty Potatoes

4 baked potatoes

1 1/2 cups carrots, sliced and cooked

4 T butter

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup peas cooked for 2 minutes

1 T pimientos

1 cup buttered bread crumbs

3 slices bacon fried and crumbled

(To save some time I bought pre-cooked bacon and reheated it in the microwave before crumbling. I also toasted two pieces of bread and buttered them. When cooled I cut the buttered toast into small pieces.)

Cut baked potatoes lengthwise - scoop out insides, saving skins. Mash potatoes and carrots along with butter, sour cream, and salt (I added extra butter and sour cream and even a little milk as my potatoes were larger than what I think this recipe calls for.). Fold in cheese, peas, and pimientos. Heap mixture into skins. Top with buttered bread crumbs and bacon. Return to oven and bake for 15 mins at 350 degrees.

Black Bean Tortilla Bake

2 cups diced onion

1 1/2 cups diced green bell pepper

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, with liquid

3/4 cup picante sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained

12 corn or flour tortillas (6-inch) - I used white corn tortillas

3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

2-3 dashes hot pepper sauce (optional)

2 tomatoes, diced

4 green onions, thinly sliced (I diced these)

1 can (3.8 oz) sliced black olives, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9-inch casserole-dish. In a large saucepan combine onion, bell pepper, tomatoes with juice, picante sauce, garlic, cumin, and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir in beans. Spread 1/3 of mixture in prepared casserole dish. Place 6 tortillas, overlapping as necessary, on top of beans and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers and top with remaining bean mixture. Cover and bake until thoroughly heated, 30-35 mins. Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese and let stand for 10 mins. Top with tomatoes, green onions and black olives.

We also topped ours with some sour cream and additional salsa.

Goulash

My mom used to make this when we were kids. It's simple and nothing like real goulash (as my husband points out) but it is cheap and makes lots.

1 package elbow noodles, cooked

1 lb ground beef, browned

3 cans of tomato sauce

1 can corn drained

Cook noodles and brown ground beef draining both. To the noodles add the ground beef, tomato sauce, and canned corn. Stir and serve. My husband likes to add additional seasoning to this meal as it can be kind of bland for him. He usually adds hot sauce or seasoning to make it more italian flavored (oregano, basil, garlic, etc).

Meals for the week of...August 2, 2010

Monday: Pepper Jack, Chicken, and Peach Quesadillas with Chips and Salsa

from Cooking Light Magazine August 2010

Tuesday: Turkey Cranberry Sandwiches with Glazed Carrots

Wednesday: Spicy Tex-Mex Pizza and Salad

Thursday: Spaghetti

Friday: Sweet Potato with Black Bean Salsa

Pepper Jack, Chicken, and Peach Quesadilla

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp fresh lime juice

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

4 (8-inch) flour tortillas

3/4 cup (3 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers (I used more)

1 cup chopped, skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1 cup thinly sliced peeled firm ripe peaches

4 tsp chopped fresh cilantro

cooking spray

1. Combine honey and lime juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir sour cream into honey mixture; cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Place tortillas flat on a work surface. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons (I used more) over half of each tortilla; top each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken; 1/4 cup peaches; and 1 tsp cilantro. Fold tortillas in half.

I changed this step slightly. I placed the tortilla into the pan (coated with cooking spray) and then added the cheese to the entire tortilla, chicken to half, peaches to half, and cilantro to half. I let the cheese start to melt and then folded the quesadilla in half and continued cooking on both sides until the cheese was melted.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in the pan, and top quesadillas with a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. Cook 1 and 1/2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are crisp and lightly browned (leave cast-iron skillet on quesadillas as they cook). Remove quesadillas from pan; set aside and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into wedges. Serve with sauce.

I served this with some chips and salsa.

Salsa recipe: 2 cans drained diced tomatoes, 1 can rotel, and a handful of fresh cilantro. Blend in a blender or food processor.

Turkey Cranberry Open Faced Sandwiches and Glazed Carrots

1 package thinly sliced deli turkey

Sliced pepper-jack cheese

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

1 small jar Apricot or Peach Jam/Jelly (or something similar)

Hoagie Buns

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1/2 jelly jar and 1/2 can cranberry sauce together in a bowl. Cut the hoagie buns in half lengthwise. On each half, layer with cranberry sauce mixture, sliced turkey, and top with pepper-jack cheese. Place all open faced sandwiches on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil in the oven to warm and melt the cheese - approximately 10 minutes.

Glazed Carrots

Steam a bag of baby carrots. Drain water and

Spicy Tex-Mex Pizza

1 - 12 inch thin-crust Italian bread shell (10 oz Boboli) or Italian flat bread (12.5 oz focaccia)

8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese with peppers or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)

1 - 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 11 oz. can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained

2 to 5 T. chopped pickled jalapeno peppers (optional - I did not use these)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place crust on an ungreased pizza pan or cookie sheet. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, all of the beans, corn and jalapeno peppers, if desired. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting to serve. Makes 6 servings.

** We added salsa to the top when served. It was the salsa I used earlier in the week with the quesadillas. Also could add sliced chicken. **

Spaghetti

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 package spaghetti noodles

Cook both according to package directions and serve.

Sweet Potato with Warm Black Bean Salad

4 medium sweet potatoes

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed

2 medium tomatoes, diced (we used a can of rotel instead plus some extra canned tomatoes)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places. Microwave on high until tender all the way to the center, 12-15 minutes. (Alternatively, place in a baking dish at 425 degrees F until tender all the way to the center, about 1 hour.)

Meanwhile, in a medium microwaveable bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, oil, cumin, coriander and salt; microwave on high until just heated through, 2-3 minutes. (Alternatively, heat in a small saucepan over medium heat.)

When just cool enough to handle, slash each sweet potato lengthwise, press open to make a well in the center and spoon the bean mixture into the well. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Meals for the week of...July 26, 2010

I'm finally back into the swing of things around here and am ready to start meal planning on the blog again. Most of these recipes come from previous posts but sounded really good around here. Enjoy!

Monday: Chili with Corn Bread

Tuesday: Honey-Mustard Ham Steak with Rice and Fruit Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Tender Salad with Asian Dressing and Egg Rolls

Thursday: Chili Dogs and Fries

Friday: Cabbage Roll Casserole

Chili with Corn Bread

Use your favorite Chili recipe, search the internet, or use my recipe to guide your cooking.

1 large steak (can be cheap meat as it will become tender while cooking)

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cans of tomatoes - 2 can tomatoes with sauce and 2 can tomatoes in juice (do not drain)

1 extra large can chili beans

2 can kidney beans

diced chilies (we had some smoked frozen Hatch chilies to use)

salt

pepper

garlic powder

1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp white sugar

Cut up steak into cubes and brown with diced onion and a little oil in a large pot. Add canned tomatoes, chili beans, kidney beans, chilies, and remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat until heated through or ready to eat.

I made my corn bread by following the recipe on the back on the corn meal box.

Honey-Mustard Ham Steaks with Rice and Fruit Salad

1/4 cup water

2 T honey

1 T dijon mustard

1 pound fully cooked smoked ham sliced (about 1ch thick), cut into 4 serving pieces

1/2 cup sour cream

1 green onion, sliced

1. Mix water, honey and mustard in a 10-inch skillet. Add ham. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer about 15 minutes, turning once, until ham is heated through. Remove ham from skillet; keep warm.

2. Stir sour cream into mixture in skillet; heat 1 minute. Pour over ham. Sprinkle with onion.

Rice - package of steamable rice

Fruit Salad - any fruit cut up

Chicken Tenders Salad with Asian Dressing and Egg Rolls

1 package frozen egg rolls

Frozen chicken tenders (I used popcorn chicken this time - it was what was in the freezer)

Lettuce

Vegetables

Chow mein noodles in place of croutons

Cook chicken and egg rolls according to package directions. Slice up veggies and add to lettuce. Top lettuce with chicken tenders and asian dressing (or a favorite of your own).

Chili Dogs and Fries

Leftover chili

1 package hot dogs

1 package hot dog buns

1 package frozen french fries

Reheat chili from earlier this week. Cook hotdogs and french fries according to package directions.

Cabbage Roll Casserole

2 lbs hamburger (I used only 1 lb)

Chopped onion

Chopped cabbage (about 2 cups - although I used more)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tubes crescent rolls

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Brown onion and hamburger. Add cabbage and a little water. Cook for about 15 minutes until cabbage turns white. Put mixture into a 9x13 inch casserole dish that you have put 1 tube of crescent rolls on bottom. Then cover meat mixture with 2 cups cheddar cheese. Add 2nd tube of crescent rolls to top. Cook at 350-375 for about 15 minutes until crescent rolls are brown.

I'm back!! Or will be soon!!

I'm so sorry for my absence. I haven't been cooking like I was for awhile as I am expecting our second baby. The first trimester was horrible as far as nausea and exhaustion so I didn't cook much around here. Once I started feeling better I caught a horrible stomach flu that knocked me down for another week.

My intention is to start meals again in a few weeks after we return from vacation at the beginning of July!! I may try to do something with a different look or style but I'll be back!!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Meals for the week of...April 26, 2010

Monday: Fish sticks and veggies

Tuesday: Turkey Cranberry Sandwiches and Corn

Wednesday: Chicken Piccata

Thursday: Tilapia with Green Beans from the Food Network

Friday: Chicken Noodle Soup

Fish Sticks and Veggies

Frozen Fish Sticks

Steamable Veggies

Cook both according to package directions.

Turkey Cranberry Open Faced Sandwiches and Corn

1 package thinly sliced deli turkey

Sliced pepper-jack cheese

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

1 small jar Apricot or Peach Jam/Jelly (or something similar)

Hoagie Buns

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1/2 jelly jar and 1/2 can cranberry sauce together in a bowl. Cut the hoagie buns in half lengthwise. On each half, layer with cranberry sauce mixture, sliced turkey, and top with pepper-jack cheese. Place all open faced sandwiches on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil in the oven to warm and melt the cheese - approximately 10 minutes.

Chicken Piccata

This is an awesome recipe from my sister-in-law. Problem is she and I cook more on a dump and taste method rather than measuring so I'm going to be estimating the amounts I used. It's an easy recipe and does not require precise measurements. If the sauce it too lemony add more wine or vice verse if it doesn't have enough lemon flavor.

4 Chicken breasts or 9-10 tenderloins

1 to and 1 and 1/2 cups flour

1/2 t salt

1/4. t pepper

3 T vegetable oil

3 T butter

2 lemons

1 Jar of Capers

1/2 cup white wine or cooking wine (may need more)

Angel Hair Pasta (about 1 package)

Salad and toppings

Heat butter and vegetable oil in a skillet (I like to use my electric skillet for this recipe). Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Pound chicken thinly and coat chicken in flour mixture. When oil/butter mixture is hot add chicken. Cook chicken thoroughly flipping only a few times during cooking. Remove chicken and keep warm once it's thoroughly cooked. Add white wine and juice of 1 and 1/2 to 2 lemons to skillet. Cook until warmed. Add capers and continue to heat. If you think you may need more sauce add any additional ingredients (butter, lemon juice, and/or white wine). Add chicken back to skillet and coat with sauce. Sauce with thicken while chicken is reheating. Serve chicken on top of pasta with lemon slices on top (for extra fanciness).

While making the chicken cook angel hair pasta according to package directions. Drain and add olive oil to keep noodles from sticking together

Tilapia with Green Beans

Tilapia with Green Beans

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 containers pre-cooked Chicken Noodle Soup from the deli section of the grocery store.

Prepare according to package directions.

Where are the meals?

I'm sorry for not having the new meals up this week but I do have something special to share. My little boy turned 2 last week and we had his birthday party this past weekend. I spent many hours decorating and preparing for the party. I wanted to share with you the cupcakes I made for the party. The theme was Sesame Street so I made Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Oscar cupcakes.

Meals for the week of...April 12, 2010

Monday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Tuesday: Herb and Lemon Scented Tilapia and Rice

from Taste of Home Favorite Brand Name Recipes 2009

Wednesday: BBQ Beef Sandwiches and Corn

Thursday: Linguini with Herbs, Tomatoes and Capers

from Taste of Home Favorite Brand Name Recipes 2009

Friday: Dinner Out!

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Whole wheat bread

Butter

Sliced cheddar cheese

1-2 can Tomato Soup

Butter one side of each piece of bread. In a heated skillet, place bread butter side down and layer with sliced cheese and top with another piece of bread, butter side up. Cook until browned and flip to brown other side. While cooking sandwiches, heat soup according to directions.

Herb and Lemon Scented Tilapia and Rice

1 cup minced fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup minced fresh chives

3/4 tsp salt, divided

1/2 tsp pepper, divided

1 large lemon

1 pound tilapia fillets (large fillets if available)

butter or olive-oil-flavored nonstick cooking spray

4 tbsp butter, divded

1. Combine parsley, chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper on a platter. Grate peel from lemon over herbs. Toss to combine. Reserve lemon.

2. Spray tilapia fillets with nonstick cooking spray. Press fillets into herb mixture to coat both sides.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add tilapia. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Transfer to serving platter. Keep warm.

4. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to skillet; melt over low heat. Cut lemon in half; squeeze juice from one half into skillet. Stir remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into lemon-butter mixture. Pour over fish. Slice remaining lemon half for garnish. Serve immediately.

BBQ Beef Sandwiches and Corn

1/2 cup red onion, diced
pork roast (the size doesn't really matter - depends on how much you want for leftovers but plan on using leftovers for Thursdays dinner)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (or more depending on the size of the pork or the size of the BBQ sauce bottle)
Hamburger buns
Canned Corn

Put onion in the bottom of the crock pot or slow cooker. Add pork and bottle of BBQ sauce. Depending on how much BBQ sauce you like you may want to add a little more so the pork has enough moisture and flavor. Cook on low 6-8 hours until pork is done. When cooked through shred the pork and serve on hamburger buns as sandwiches.

Linguini with Herbs, Tomatoes, and Capers

1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated fresh linguine

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped tomoatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

3 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

1/4 salt

1/8 teaspoon

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Cook linguine according to package directions; drain well.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook 3 minutes or until tomatoes begin to break down and soften, basil. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add linguine to skillet; toss with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired.

Dinner Out!

Enjoy!