2nd post of January links

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/12/million-dollar-casserole.html

http://www.life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2012/12/orange-rolls.html

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/cheeseburger-macaroni.html

http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/07/taco-cupcakes.html

http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2010/06/15/australian-meat-pies/

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Enchilada-Casserole

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/easier-shepherds-pie-with-roasted-potatoes.html

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/7-up-biscuits.html

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/10/silver-dollar-pumpkin-pancakes/

http://ellysaysopa.com/2009/07/07/breakfast-chicken-sausage-patties/

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/crockpot-chicken-a-lorange

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/honey-glazed-chicken-bacon-bites

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/country-club-chicken

links to January menus

January 2013 links to monthly menus
1.  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/11/turkey-tetrazzini/
2.  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/english-muffin-toastable-bread/
3.  http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/beef-bacon-and-barley-soup/170e9b81-8754-47ec-b280-ba2516678882/
4.  http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/crispy-cashew-chicken-stir-fry.html
5.  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/tangy-bacon-topped-baked-chicken/
6.  http://messyaprons.blogspot.com/2011/03/garlic-cheese-biscuits.html
7.  http://cassiecraves.blogspot.com/2009/03/mexican-sour-cream-rice.html
8.  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/sidedishes/bacon-potato-hash/
9.  http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Garlic-Knots?pmcode=ILIDV02T&_mid=2285942&_rid=2285942.558202.246679
10. http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/sidedishes/loaded-baked-potato-cassarole/
11. http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/barley-pilaf-caramelized-onions-4431?click=recipe_sr
12. http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/corn-fritters-recipe
13. http://www.life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/taco-cupcakes.html

January 2013 monthly menus

menus for January 2013
chicken:
   tetrazzini, garlic bread, green salad
   crock pot chicken a la orange, white rice, asian veggies
   honey glazed chicken with bacon, fried rice, veggies
   buttercream chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie
   country club chicken, corn casserole, barley pilaf
   cashew chicken stir fry, white rice, eggrolls
   chicken in walnut sauce,mashed pots, glazed carrots
   chicken & apple sausage, pumkin pancakes
   tangy bacon chicken, risotto, veggies
   cranberry chicken, rice a roni, veggies, 7-up biscuits
   bisquick chicken, white rice
beef
   cheeseburger quesadillas, baked fries
   beef stroganoff, buttered noodles, peas
   swiss steak, loaded BP cass, veggie
   salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, veggie
   shephard's pie (new recipe), soda bread
   million dollar spaghetti, garlic knots, veggie
   meat loaf, twice baked potatoes, green beans, biscuits
   taco supcakes, mexican sour cream rice bake, veggie
   australian meat pies, fruit, asst raw veggies
   enchilada casserole, corn cakes
   pot roast, carrots, buttered noodles
   tacos, refried beans, rice
   cheeseburger macaroni, veggie
soups
   beef, barley, bacon soup, some sort of bread
   meatball soup, some sort of bread
   cheeseburger soup, some sort of bread
misc.
   mongolian BBQ, rice
   bacon hash, crusty bread
   peas, ham, creamy noodles, garlic cheddar biscuits

OK guys wish me luck with this month's menus...I just counted and 19 are new recipes that I am very excited about...
in the next post, I will list links to new recipes so that then I can make up my shopping list...

chicken fried rice

we had leftover chicken from last night's chicken pie and I instantly knew what I wanted to make...I love this so much and so does everyone else in the family...and it is neat that I can use up the leftovers too...

tonight after I fried the rice and added the soy sauce and seasonings, I added
cashews
slivered carrots
frozen peas
bacon
chicken
green onions
chowmein noodles...

yummy...

homemade chicken pot pie...family favorite

anyone who has ever tasted my chicken pie loves it...I once served it to a missionary minister and he said at a church in Georgia, every year they raised money by selling chicken pies and mine was the best he had ever tasted...that meant a lot to me...there is a couple that lives across the street from me and they love it too...and I love to surprise them with a pie...

my chicken pie is so easy the way I do it too...

I use Pillsbury pie crusts in the biscuit section of the store and lay it in the pan...this is enough to make a 13 x 9 pan...
then I layer one small bag of frozen corn, and one small bag of peas and carrots...add the cooked, diced chicken...
for the sauce:
make a roux from 8 tbs of butter, 7 tbs flour, 2 cans of evaporated milk and one small box of chicken broth...
pour over chicken and veggies and add a top crust...
bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes...

everyone in the family loves this...Zoe makes her own personal little pie, cause she hates peas and carrots and she was finished her whole pie before anyone else ever got their's...

yummy

chicken waldorf salad

chicken salad with tator bites...
what do you put in your chicken salad?

I put chicken, celery, apples, walnuts, cranberries and mayo on top of a potato roll...

last night?  we had canned pea soup (my absolute favorite) and grilled cheese sandwiches...

tuna/pasta casserole

when I was a kid, we had tuna casserole a lot (A LOT) but hey, my mom had to think of cheap dinners to feed 12 kids...and we all loved it very much...but since I have been married I have never ever made it...my kids have never had it...

this is a most definitely a "while the cat's away" dinner as hubby hates tuna with a passion...he says if tuna was the only thing left on earth to eat, he would rather starve, thank you very much...

what I do in the mornings, I take Zoe to school and go straight to the store for anything I need for dinner so I do not have to make a couple of trips...and I was completely out of ideas for tonight...it is hard when Tim is on a diet and being mindful of that...and I am not sure what made me think of tuna casserole and I called Tim at work and asked if that was OK and he was all for it...

it was hard on my mom, having all of the right ingredients on hand at all times and she did things very simply, but always not a lot of taste...for spaghetti she would just throw in tomato sauce, salad dressing was just mayo tossed with lettuce and for tuna casserole, she would just toss in some cream of chicken soup with the pasta and that was it...and Iknew one thing this morning, I wanted a lot of taste in my dish...so I traveled around the grocery store and came up with a plan and here it is and it came out extremely delicious...

I cooked up a box of bowtie pasta till al dente, mixed in a can of cream of chicken soup, some sour cream (about 1/2 the container) lots of seasonings, frozen peas and mozarrella cheese and I also added some milk to the sauce to thin it out... (almost forgot the small can of all white tuna...)  I threw it into a baking pan and baked at 400 for about 20 minutes...served with some pumpkin bread that I had made...

I call it a success...I love the little crispy bow ties, can you tell I took off the top???

cheese fondue

this is most definitely a "cat's away," type dinner...hubby hates this but, everyone else absolutely loves it...hubby is in the hospital and tonight is the perfect night to have this...it is cold here and we also needed down home comfort...

we love to have little weinies, asst veggies, cut up bread and the must have is Wheat Thins...

my recipe (been making this for a good number of years...)

I make a roux with 8tbs butter, 8tbs flour and about 5 cups of milk...cook till thickened...add seasonings of choice (I add garlic salt and pepper) and stir in enough shredded cheese to taste...we like a lot of cheese, so I usually add one of the big bags and tonight I did a colby/jack blend...stir till melted...

yummy enjoy...

mac and cheese

alas no picture tonight...everyone started eating right away and then Tim and I thought about pics...   ):

anyway we all needed a down home comfort dinner tonight and this was my mother's recipe...when we were little we called this the adult mac n cheese, cause us kids liked the box variety...

so it is a really easy but yummy kind...
I use small shell roni, and cook until al dente...layer with shredded cheese in baking dish, ending with cheese...I then sprinkle garlic salt and pepper and I sometimes add bread or cracker crumbs to the top...I then por 2 cans of evaporated milk over the top...
bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes...
we always have the same sides with this...
little weinies in BBQ sauce, a veggie and garlic biscuits...

yummy tonight...

spam pie

this was originally posted 6-19-11  but was for dinner tonight as Ross is in the hospital again...

when the cat is away...

the mice will, well you know the rest, right??? whenever Ross is away whether at his mom's, out of town, or even in the hospital (like now) Tim and I eat things that his dad HATES...

when he and I first met, I am a down home comfort girl that cooks for big crowds, coming from 12 kids, we had to stretch meals to feed a ton of people...he on the other hand, tho coming from 6 kids, his Italian mother, except for when making pasta (& she is fantastic at that) would always make a meat and potato dinner...so, that is what Ross was used to...oh, yeah when his mom would make spaghetti sauce, she would add whatever meat had been left over from the week (pork chops, whatever) to the sauce and simmer this sauce from early morning to dinner...

Ross absolutely hates rice and says it is from his days in Vietnam (I give him that) but, he also hated casseroles, creamed beef, soups, just really picky...oh yeah he HATES mac and cheese...so, after 37 years, I have changed him somewhat, mostly cause I was tired of always eating only what he liked and never anything that was dear to my heart...but, he still is extremely picky...

when the kids were little I was tired of always only cooking for Ross and never getting to eat what I myself and therefore the kids (might) like...so, I started cooking some things he liked, but also what I had grown up loving and adding my own twist to them...
I did win him over on some casseroles and my chicken pie and he likes my version of spaghetti...
so, when he is not here, Tim and I will eat what he hates...

one such thing he absolutely will not even try is my cheese fondue...every single person in my family loves it incl. Zoe but not him...I serve it with cut up veggies, a good artisan bread, little smokies and gotta have some wheat thin crackers...
another thing we like to have is an appetizer night and we come up with all sorts of "little" food...small pizza, tacquitos, mini corn dogs, veggies, chicken nuggets, you get the picture...
we also LOVE tuna melts...
but for dinneer this one particular night, decided to make my spam pie...and when I make this we grub...we eat so much of it, we are stuffed...I looked on Hormel and they do not have a recipe even close to this so I will list mine...I have done this for years when my kids were little...now, I know some people hate Spam but I really don't mind it...I can not eat it right out of a can like I could when I was a kid but, cooked now that is a different story...

recipe:
2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 can of Spam
1 brick of Monterey Jack cheese (8oz)
1 brick cheddar cheese
6 beaten eggs...

line 9 x 13 (after spraying with Pam) with the biscuits, careful to cover the perforated edges...
cut up Spam and dice cheese...mix together with eggs, pour into prepared pan...
sometime I lattice a crust over top, and sometimes I leave uncovered and the pieces of Spam sticking up will get a little toasty...
bake at 350 until middle is done when knife is stuck in it...usually 45 min...

yummy...could also try with sausage or bacon or ham

chicken and wild rice soup

my favorite...Coco's has a really good chicken and wild rice soup and once I started eating theirs, I would get only that for dinner there and nothing else...but, I wondered if I could replicate it at home and this is the result...

I make a roux with 6 tbs flour, 6 tbs butter, 2 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of milk...to that (after thickened, I add diced chicken, 2 cups of Minute rice, a can of diced carrots and some wild rice...oh and add whatever seasonings you care for...

nice dinner for everyone that has the flu here at my house...

upcoming weekly menus

tonight:  chicken and wild rice soup, crusty bread
Sat.:       chicken tetrazzini, green salad, garlic bread
Sun:       shepard's pie, fruit
Mon:      salsbury steak, mashed potatoes, veggie
Tues:      cashew chicken, rice, egg rolls
Wed:      cheeseburger macaroni (homemade version) veggie, garlic biscuits
Thurs:    baked Italian sausage and risotto, green beans
Fri:         macaroni and cheese, biscuits, peas, little weinies in BBQ sauce...

since I now have the dreaded flu that has been making it's rounds in my house, hopefully I can stick
to this meal plan...
wish me luck...

honey mustard chicken...

I am having a yucky couple of days and when I cook, it makes me feel better...I love Tim to come home to a nice hot, down home comfort meal...
saw this recipe online and Tim loves honey mustard and I knew right away he would appreciate this
for dinner...
you take chicken breasts, dipped into an egg and honey mustard mixture and then rolled into panko
bread crumbs and bake...
I also made roasted red potatoes, yummy green beans with almonds and cornbread...
everyone loved this dinner especially Tim and Zoe, who loves to follow in her uncle's footsteps with everything...
my emails have been hacked today, but once I get on, I will give credit to the blogger who posted this recipe...

corn chowder

love corn chowder...
and I really never had a good recipe until maybe a coule of years ago...

my corn chowder, I make a roux with 6 tbs. flour, 6 tbs butter and 4 cups of milk and I use about 1 cup of chicken broth...
stir thill thickened and add the amt of corn you want (I use frozen) and my family likes a lot of corn, I add 1 can of sliced carrots, 1 can of diced potatoes, some bacon and plenty of seasonings...

yummy with a nice crusty bread...

spaghetti

today has been frustrating and overwhelming for many reasons and I just wanted to have a good down home comfort dinner and spaghetti fit the bill...

nothing special to my spaghetti, but my family loves it...

I do add Italian sausage to the browned hamburger...hubby who is Italian, does not think anything is Italian unless there is sausage in it...

I add cheddar cheese to mine, cause I am American, not Italian...LOL...and I so love spaghetti as leftovers...

calico corn & bacon impossible pie

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-calico-corn-and-bacon-pie/3945dd60-7247-484a-b914-e473e29c2bb2

this is what I made for dinner tonight...tho I put plain corn, not calico and I added cheese...

jury is still out, everyone is still eating so I am not sure what they will say...I will say I am not real crazy about it...to me, these pies when I make them always need a little "something" and I am not sure what the something is...
Tim just said that he likes it, so it might just be me...who knows...will I make it again?  probably it gives a different view of dinnertime to the menus...

hamburger, rice & gravy...family favorite...

dinner tonight is a huge family favorite, everyone in the family loves it (tho I think hubby only tolerates it as he hates rice...) and it is especially good as leftovers the next day...

this was originally a Hamburger Helper flavor a very long time ago (before I ever thought of being married and having little kids of my own...)  when I first started out in nursing, I would babysit nurse's kids for them and one particular family I really loved the kids...and she knew I liked this dish and would always have it for me when I watched the kids...then, Hamburger Helper quit making it and I missed it so I came up with a version of my own...
so, for my family...

I make 6 cups of Minute Rice...
to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, browned I add seasonings and 4 cans of beef gravy...(totally easy)

and all of us add sliced almonds and chow mein noodles stirred in...

voila a very fast and yummy dinner...

chicken bowtie alfredo

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/12/bowtie-chicken-alfredo/

this is what I made for dinner tonight...and I used mini bow tie pasta...
forgive me but I forgot to put the chicken on my plate in this picture...

it was very good and I will make it again...

my 13 favorite food bloggers

I thought my friends might enjoy reading some of my favorite food bloggers, ones that I get a lot of inspiration from and some darned good recipes too...

so here we go:  and they are not in any particular order...I love them all...check for them on FB too,
most of them have FB pages too....

1. http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/

2. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

3. http://mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/

4. http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/

5. http://www.kevinandamanda.com/

6. http://www.southernplate.com/

7. http://yummyhealthyeasy.blogspot.com/

8. http://tastykitchen.com/

9. http://www.mommyskitchen.net/

10. http://www.ourbestbites.com/

11. http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/

12. http://www.plainchicken.com/

13. http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/

beef stew and homemade yeast rolls

so people are not feeling good here ( & I will kill (not literally) if I get sick)...it is a weird virus...fever, some cough but not bad but the virus goes on for a long time...
while trying to think of something everyone would eat even the sickies and I came up with beef stew and this is the first time I have made it for Fall...

I kind of cheat and use McCormick's seasonings for beef stew, but other than that, I take stew meat and cook it for like 6-7 hours in the crock pot and when ready, I add 8 cups of water and the seasonings, and any vegetables I have on hand...today?  I had carrots, potatoes, celery, corn, peas and
little pearl onions...

everyone was happy tonight with the rolls too...if you look close to the picture, you see steam coming from the stew...LOL

weekly menus 12/2 thru 12/8

when I am not stressed and frustrated I usually do monthly menus and I love doing it that way...it just takes a lot of work and time and patience (something I am very short on right now...) but I do love my
menus all planned out where I am not wondering at 5pm what the heck I am having for dinner that night...
hence, the weekly dinner plans for right now till I can get my silly life back in order (do not ask me how long that will take?)
but, I am trying...

so here we go...

menus for week of 12/2

1. sloppy joes, tator bites, green beans
2. beef stew, homemade biscuits
3. chicken alfredo, garlic bread, salad
4. spaghetti, cheese breadsticks, veggie (?)
5. corn chowder, english muffin bread (new recipe from Pioneer Woman)
6. hamburger rice and gravy, mixed veggies
7. impossibly easy bacon and corn pie, raw veggies & dip

yay for tonight it is a little cold and rainy and beef stew will fit the bill nicely...maybe some yeast rolls to go along with it?  will especially be good since a couple of people here still do not feel all that well...

sloppy joes

tonight (Sunday) there are a couple of people who do not feel good in this house (not me) and so it seems that everyone was kind of lazy and wanted a down home comfort dinner...
I am trying to be different and not cook the same thing too many days in a one month period and remebered that we had not had sloppy joes for awhile and everyone in the house loves them...

so I made sloppy joes (nothing fancy) with tator bites and green beans...

when a picture is posted here, you guys get the healthified version as it is Tim who I ask to take a picture of his plate and he is on "that whole eating better thing"...he onky took a few of the "baked" tator bites and he turned his sandwich around to not see the bite taken out...haha...

5 dinner post

sorry I have been slacking off just a little bit this last week...been busy trying to get the house clean for Christmas and kids and sick kids...you get the idea...

on Sunday, I made tacos, refried beans and spanish rice...

on Monday, I made chicken layered bake from the Kraft foods site:

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-layered-chicken-bake-75568.aspx   but as I have said before, I use the Almadine version and this time, I added a little bit of sour cream to the soup and I added cranberries and I use peas instead of green beans...my family loves this dish, reminds them of Thanksgiving all in one dish...(pictured above...)

on Tuesday, I made homemade Chicken Noodle soup and biscuits...

on Wednesday, I made homemade Taco Casserole...(no picture, sorry)...
to browned hamburger, I add 1/2 pkg of taco seasonings, along with a large can of tomato sauce, sliced olives, corn, crushed tortilla chips and cheese...top with cheese and bake at 400 for about 25 min...

on Thursday, I made Bisquick coated baked chicken, fried rice, carrots and biscuits...