weekly menu post for 10/18 through 10/23

Fall is finally here to Southern California and altho it is still a little warm, I feel like it is finally getting there, the heat is finally abating, at least I hope...
it was very overcast this morning, when I plan my meals, etc. and so I turned the oven on and then it got sort of warm and I had to turn on the a/c anyway...so we shall see...

here goes:

Sunday 10/18...........layered chicken casserole that tastes like Thanksgiving
                                 homemade pumpkin bread
                                 hubby was very happy tonight and went back for seconds, as well did Zoie...

Monday 10/19.........mock lasagna
                                green beans
                                garlic bread

Tuesday 10/20.........country club chicken
                                mashed potatoes
                                maple glazed carrots

Wednesday 10/21....chicken tacos (pioneer woman)
                                spanish rice
                                refried beans

Thursday 10/22.......mac and cheese
                               little smokies
                               peas and carrots
                               biscuits

Friday 10/23..........million dollar spaghetti (my grand daughter's 11th birthday) we might go out to eat
                              artisan bread
                              individual antipasto salads
                             birthday cake

Saturday 10/24.....buttercream chicken (did not make last week)
                             mashed potatoes
                            vegetable
                            applesauce bread (hubby's favorite)


yum  happy eating

layered chicken casserole, like Thanksgiving in every bite...

I first got this recipe on the website of Kraft foods...everyone in the family loves it...but, when I looked for it today, it is no longer on line...I hope I have a good memory of how it went together...

here is what I remember:

4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
frozen peas
layer the 2 on the bottom of a 9 x 12 pan (I also made a cake pan size for my neighbors tonight) then I sprinkle some cranberries (dried) and some almonds on top..

mix together 1 large can and I small can of cream of chicken soup, 1/2 container of sour cream, a little milk (just to make it more like a gravy?) some seasonings and pour on top of the chicken and peas...

I used 3 boxes of the cornbread Stove Top stuffing, mixed with 3 cups of very hot water on layered on top of soup mixture and top that with a small amount of mozzarella cheese (next time I might leave this off...)

bake at 350 for about 45 minutes...

my family loves this as it tastes so much like Thanksgiving...

yum happy eating

Sunday morning breakfast...

this is special...I used to (especially when my kids were younger) make Sunday morning breakfast every single week but as they got older I got out of the habit...easier to go out maybe?  I am not really a big breakfast person anyway...I love hasbrowns and eggs, but can I please have them maybe about 11 or so?
but, lately I guess to show my family how much I love them, for a couple of times now, have made them a good breakfast...

today is one such of those days...

and everyone that reads here or knows how much I love Bisquick...do I have to tell you the story of how they had a Bisquick club when I was first married and would mail recipe cards out once a month...loved getting that mail and I still have those cards, 42 years later...LOL...
I act sort of like it is my company, haha...my heart kind of gets warm-ish when I see the word Bisquick...I know the recipe will be good and will be easy...I have been known to buy a Bisquick cookbook, and then next time, I think it is new and I buy it again...(old age creeping up on me...)

so today I knew I wanted to make these little mini sausage impossible pies but when I woke up this morning, I felt lazy and didn't really want to do muffin pans and thought why couldn't I do it as a pie in a pie pan?   So I used the cheeseburge recipe made with sausage instead...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-cheeseburger-pie/8c78aa78-c368-40fa-8a88-1654640c7525

yum, in oven now and everyone got up to something smelling wonderful and they keep asking when it will be done...

Hamburger, rice and gravy

This was not on the menu rotation but, I needed easy and I had all of the ingredients...e everyone loves it too..

Got the idea before I was even married...when I was in nursing, on my days off I would babysit another nurse's kids and she would leave this certain hamburger helper for me to make and I fell in love with it, then they quit making it so, I decided to make my own version...

Browned hamburger with canned beef gravy served with white rice with seasonings...we add almonds and chow me in noodles..we had green peas to go with dinner tonight...

Yum happy eating

a post about Impossible Pies with Bisquick...

it is finally Fall...yay...I never imagined when it was like 108 degrees outside that Fall would ever get here...even now, it is still bordering on hot, in fact the kid's school still had inclement weather this week due to the heat but today was decent and it has me really hoping that it is very close...

I have been on self imposed oven time out for all of summer and cannot wait to turn my oven on for some great baking, have tons of great ideas...and while planning, I remembered how much I like to use Bisquick and everyone in the family loves the Impossible Pies and the mini ones too...we especially love the sausage mini pies...

so I decided to go look on the site and come up with some ideas and was surprised at the great selection of recipes they do have and I cannot wait to use them...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/search/searchresults?term=impossible%20pies&src=SH

go check it out for yourself...

yum, happy eating

Bisquick chicken with onions, peppers and pineapple...yummy

this is an old old recipe that I have had around for ever and everyone loves it...it is a little time consuming and therefore I do not make it as much as everyone would like me to...
when I was first married, Bisquick mailed out a monthly newletter with terific recipes (on recipe cards) and I looked forward to getting it each month...
this was one of those recipe cards...

once I got so computer friendly, I searched the Bisquick site and failed to find it...now, it has been so many years since I first made it, am not sure how much was original and how much was changed by me...so you get my version now...

basically what you do, is cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts into chunks and dip them into beaten egg mixture and then into a Bisquick with seasonings mixture...and fry in a little bit of vegetable oil...
in seperate pan, I add cut up onions, green peppers and carrots in a little butter till onions are translucent...I then add some snow peas and cook a few minutes longer...then I add one large can of drained pineapple chunks...

served over rice this is delicious...

yum, so delicious...happy eating

corn and pasta chowder, with bacon

well it is halfway through October and the high temps are still with us, unfortuntely still with us...so hot...and rain is predicted for the rest of the week which will only raise the humidity...yuck...

also I am not feeling well, felt so horrible yesterday that I went to Urgent Care, hoping they would give me an answer...I did not get what I wanted...they were not too sure of what is wrong with me...pain level most of the day is like an 8 or 9 out of 10...had much better luck with my primary, I always know I can go to him and he will set me straight....

still I try to forge on...we cannot eat out every single night, right?

so tonight?  corn chowder...

Zoie helped a lot, she loves this dish...she made a fantastic roux, better than I usually do...

8 tbs butter, with 8 tbs flour, heated through till flour taste was gone and she added about 28 ounces of hicken broth and 2-3 cups of milk...

once starting to thicken, we added 2 pkgs frozen corn, some browned bacon, a can of carrots and for starch this time, I added 1/2 box of ditalini...

it was very good, every incl Zozo and little boy scarfed it down...

served with garlic bread...

happy eating...

weekly menu posts for 10/11 through 10/17

looking forward to this week coming up, temps are supposed to be a little cooler and even some rain is predicted...yay, I can turn my oven on, hopefully...

here goes...

Sunday 10/11..........american chop suey
                                french bread
                                green beans

Monday 10/12........twice baked potatoes, with ham
                               green salad

Tuesday 10/13........chimichangas with chicken
                               spanish rice
                               beans

Wednesday 10/14...cheeseburger impossible pie
                               corn

Thursday 10/15......bisquick chicken with pineapple
                         

Friday 10/16..........buttercream chicken
                              mashed potatoes
                              maple carrots

Saturday 10/17.....corn chowder
                             artisan bread

happy eating
             

american chop suey

so I made this today:

http://www.afamilyfeast.com/american-chop-suey/

it was good...really good...but to me, it is just a goulash...
not sure why it is called American chop suey...
the original recipe said this is a big east coast thing, called chop suey...all righty then

I added Italian sausage and a little sour cream also...

happy eating

brown sugar kielbasa with apples and onions

this recipe has been sitting in my favorites for awhile and I decided to go for it and make it tonight...was something I thought my family might enjoy and have something different...

http://chindeep.com/2012/08/07/brown-sugar-kielbasa-with-apples-onions/

I changed this just a little...
I used smoked sausage, with the apples and onions but when I tasted it before adding the brown sugar and cinnamon and other spices, it tasted sweet enough so I left it as is...

with it, I served some delicious roasted potatoes (little boy loved these and ate everything on his plate) and some maple glazed carrots...

so, I guess what we really had for dinner tonight was a sort of de-constructed sausage hash...and unfortunately I did not eat, though everyone else said it was fantastic...even hubby freshly home from the hospital loved it...

yummy happy eating...

chicken salad (one version)

I love chicken salad and made many ways...I myself make it 4 or 5 ways and this way makes everyone in my family happy except Tim...

found this recipe online several years ago and once I made it it has been one of my favorites...

http://chindeep.com/2011/07/19/chickadee-cottage-chicken-salad/

now there is a secret ingredient that at first you will say, "what?"  but please do not leave it out...it
really makes the dish...

I made this last night as a surprise for our 2 teachers for their lunches for today...

and I do not quite follow the directions...I add apple, celery, walnuts and cranberries...

happy eating...

cannot wait to go home from school for a sandwich...kicking myself that I did not bring myself some for lunch today...

yummy

homemade chicken pot pie, our family favorite...

been making this dish for many many years, since the kids were little at least...that makes it at least 30 + years...cause everyone in this family absolutely loves it...even my hating caserole hubby loves it...and everyone outside the family that I have ever made it for also loves it and says it is the best chicken pie they have ever had...

and this is always one of the very first dishes I will turn my oven for, once the cooler temps come...it was 71 today, but I see where we will back in the 90's for the weekend...yuck...

so I made this as a surprise for everyone and it made everyone's day...even hubby who is in the hospital right now asked me to bring some to him as he hates hospital food...

as a RAOK at least once a week, I will make a little more of what I am making for dinner and offer it to the first of my friends that pm's me...thsi week I have already given away 4 packages of maple bacon that hubby bought and we do not like...so tonight I put a post out for a free pie and my friend that has to be at the hospital tomorrow all morning with her sick mom, is very glad to have dinner done for her for dinner tomorrow night...that made my heart happy...

this original recipe for this I have rewritten many times for my family interests and here we go:

I take 4 boneless, skinless breats and boil them, if I hve time, I like to roast them (more flavor) ans qhwn cooled enough, i cut into small bite side pieces nd mix with 2 bags od frozen peas and carrots.

for my sauce make  a roux with 8 tbsp butter, till melted, add 12 tablespoons flouur (I used /Wondra flour and cook till flour taste is cooked down, add 3 cans of evaporated milk and three cups of chicken broth, with plenty of seasonings...//Iuse Pillsbury all ready pie crust, line the pan and the start lining the chicken, veggies and sauce...I cover with a crust, crimp the corners , cut lines to steam...bake at 375 for approx 30-45 minutes///

happy eating

easy pork chops

so today it was very overcast and rainy and I could finally turn on my oven...this is my kind of day...

but in my personal life everything is going wrong...hubby is in the hospital, my microwave quit working, my printer is not working, my vacuum gave up the ghost, the kitchen sink was backing up and some pipes in the basement rusted out...I am sure there is more but you get the jist of the story...LOL...
little boy is also spending the night...

so I came home from school late today, we are busy in class and then I had to come home to the plumber and handyman and I HATE dealing with people working in my house...

wanted to do something more with pork chops tonight, like smothered or something but with no time, I put them them in a roasting pan and poured prepared BBQ sauce on top and baked them for about 2 hours at 375...

made white rice and peas to go with them...

Zoie and little boy were ecstatic with dinner...it was pretty good...

happy eating...

weekly menu posts for the week of 10/4 through 10/10

after a horrible summer here, today was rainy and the thermometer at the bank said 67 degrees at about 2 pm...I am in heaven, I am in my element...this is me...can I really hope that Fall is actually here?
that would mean I could come off of self imposed oven time out...in fact, I made an okven meal last night and it was so nice...

here we go for the week:

Sunday 10/4...........sorry we were at the mall and ate at Red Robin

Monday 10/5.........smothered pork chops
                               rice
                               brussel sprouts

Tuesday 10/6........ american chop suey
                               green beans
                               garlic bread

Wednesday 10/7....chicken pie (if the high temps return, chicken stew in crock pot)


Thursday 10/8..... twice baked potatoes with ham
                             green salad

Friday 10/9.........chicken in tomato cream
                            peas
                            artisan bread

Saturday 10/10.....kielbasa and potato bake with apples and onions
                             maple glazed carrots
                             biscuits

happy eating
                           
                           

pumpkin french toast

so I made this last night:

http://www.thestayathomechef.com/2014/09/slow-cooker-overnight-pumpkin-french.html

and since I always follow a new recipe exactly as printed, I did so last night...was looking forward to getting up to breakfast done first thing in the morning...the recipe calls for 8 hours on low in the crock pot...I made it, put it in the slow cooker and went to bed...got up about 5 hours into cooking and it was badly burned and my house smells...I was very disappointed...and I realize that different slow cookers heat differently...but 3 hours???

I am not a big breakfast person, never have been...but the family is and I had wanted to surprise them this morning...

so even though everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is going wrong today (already at 9 am) I still wanted to treat them so...

I made sausage and then decided to make a version of the overnight french toast...

I whisked 6 eggs, 2 cups of half and half, and 2 cups of pumpkin (from a can) cinnamon, and a little brown sugar together...
I just happened to have a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and so I used that for the french toast...

everyone said it was delicious...

and now back to my extremely overwhelming life...

yum happy eating

sausage, hashbrown and cheese casserole

I have made this recipe many times since I first found it on another recipe blog...and everyone in my family loves it...
I have said before that when I first try a new recipe, I make it exactly as the recipe says, and then from that experience, I change it, if need be to my own specifications...

so it was with this one too...

here is how I do it...

2 bags of frozen hash browns, the shredded ones and I brown them in a little oil...(it helps take some of the frozen-ness off...
I add to the potatoes:
  2 pkgs of Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked
  16 oz of sour cream
  shredded cheese
  seasonings
  8 lightly scrambled eggs

I add more cheese to the top and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes...

it is great for leftovers and little boy will love this in his thermos Monday for school lunch...

happy eating