November menu plans...for the month

not in any particular order...

will make weekly menus next...

so here goes...

Thanksgiving (of course)
cheesy ham chowder
chicken enchilada cornbread casserole
cashew chicken
navajo fry bread tacos
stuffed french bread or cheeseburger packets
korean beef
apple butter pork chop skillet
baked club pinwheels
chicken pot pie
chicekn and wild rice
hamburger soup
barley soup
shepards pie
breakfast
swiss steak
frito casserole
porcupines
roasted chicken
slow cooker lasagna
mac and cheese
1 pot chicken thighs
montery spaghetti
taco lasagna
pineapple chicken stew
cheesy chicken stew
something with Bisquick
Irish potato pie
pot roast
swedish meatballs

sounds good...

impossibly easy sausage breakfast pie

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-sausage-breakfast-pie/9aece503-9b48-4bdd-b801-9fd83c594553

want to try making breakfast at least 2 Sundays a month...this was easy to put together, especially since I use the Jimmy Dean already cooked sausage crumbles...

everyone liked this and I paired it with a homemade sour cream cinnamon coffee cake I made this morning...

Zoie is here this weekend and does not like sausage, so she made her own little casserole dish just as the recipe states except she did not add any meat...I tasted hers and it was pretty tasty...she said she would make it again at home for her and her mom...

I have stated many times before I much I love Bisquick...have loved them since I was a very young married cook, trying to impress her husband with her cooking...LOL

I love these impossible pies and told myself to try to make more of them each month...makes for a good variety...

round steak with onions, fried potatoes and green beans, reposted

I cannot believe I have not blogged about this before in the 5 years that I have been blogging...this used to be one of our favorites too...

Tim works on Saturdays and he did not take lunch today and was thrilled to come home to this recipe for dinner...he just came out and said that this was one of the best dinners we have had in a long time...

I found this recipe in an old magazine many many years ago when I was first trying to impress hubby with my cooking...(42 years?)  the original recipe called for this meat to be in pita bread with mayo, lettuce and tomatoes...but, I have always used it as a main dish...
tonight, I very thinly cut london broil into small strips and lightly sauteed in a small amount of oil, and added garlic salt, pepper, onion powder and some parsley...once the meat is browned on all sides, I add just enough hot water to cover the meat and cover with a lid and let boil till water is cooked down...(it makes it very tender)...

paired tonight with fried potatoes and green beans...

maybe one of these times, I will finally try it in pita bread...

chicken lazone...my version

not sure why I never tried this before last year...this has most definitely become one of our top family favorites ever and has been begged for lately a lot...

so so easy too...

I take 4 chicken breasts and cut them up into bite sized pieces and brown them in a little butter to which I have added garlic salt, black pepper and onion powder...once they are browned on all sides, I add about 1/2 to 3/4 carton of half and half...I let the sauce get nice and hot and I then add a little cornstarch diluted with some cold water to thicken the sauce...

serve over cooked thin spaghetti...

so yummy

corned beef, cabbage and mashed potatoes

we have had these corned beef in the freezer for like forever and I decided to make them for dinner...

put 2 corned beef in the crock pot (with a liner) and cooked them on high all day long...

Tim made his famous (LOL) mashed potatoes and I cooked cabbage...here is where I must say I do not care for cabbage...I can eat it uncooked but not once it is heated up, not sure if it is the smell or what...but hubby and Sam love it...Sam loves to mix her potatoes and cabbage together (hence why I made mashed potatoes instead of boiled tonight)...

so for the cabbage...sometime I will use the cole slaw mix of already shredded cabbage, but for dinner I had bought a whole head of cabbage and so I sliced it very thinly and added to the pan that I had fried some bacon in (just a little bit as I did not want it too greasy) with some sliced onion and tons of seasonings (garlic salt, onion powder, black pepper and some celery salt...) and I cooked until it cooked down and was tender...then I tossed in some bacon...Sam said it was the best I ever made..

and as usual once I make a big dinner, my heart failure acts up and I unfortunately did not eat but everyone else loved it and little boy got to have some of his beloved mashed potatoes...he did not care for corned beef, said it tasted like beef jerky...

homemade beef pot pie

am sure I have mentioned this before but, as a kid, I was one of 12 kids in a very poor family...for a treat my mom would buy us those frozen pot pies and we loved them...beef were my favorite...and to this day I am always trying to not only replicate those ones from my childhood but also make them better...

it is starting to cool down here, we have had some cooler temps and 2 days of what we call heavy rain...

I decided to make beef stew and it came out so perfectly, but then we decided to go to Olive Garden for their lasagna...
so, I had beef stew all ready (but I love it when it sits overnight and all of the flavors marry together anyway) and I thought that it would make a terrific pot pie...

so I went ahead and made a nice pie crust, lined a big casserole pan and filled it with the prepared beef stew, then put a top on it and baked it...

it came out so good...Sam and Zoie even came over to eat with us and declared it a winner...

sloppy joes and waffle fries

I use the Mc Cormicks seasoning for sloppy joes and they have always worked for me and so easy too and everyone loves them in the family...they come out perfectly every single time...

I tried a new potato side dish, seasoned waffle fries...

a good comfort food on a night when you need it...

one pot creamy pasta, bacon and peas

one pot creamy pasta, bacon and peas

I have made this before but forgot how really good it is...and it is so easy too, everything is made in one pot...love this...

since I made a huge dinner last night, I really wanted something easier tonight...I am feeling a little bit better but still not 100% (not really sure when I did feel that good, LOL)...my heart failure has been acting up for awhile now, but I am seeing a new cardiologist (who is absolutely wonderful and finding lots wrong to fix...) and I told someone today, something is finally working cause I did feel some better...they tweaked the pacemaker and said I might feel some relief and I do...my lips were not as blue today as they usually are...so my point was that I wanted easy tonight but I also wanted to make a great dinner for my oldest grand daughter who is doing some work for me for the school and she loves pasta...

this sure fit the bill...

instead of the milk, I added half and half for the extra creaminess, otherwise I followed directions exactly...

everyone except hubby liked this, he said he hates penne...

30 minute mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes

30 minute mini meatloaves

after many many years and searching for the perfect meat loaf, this one is now my go to recipe...I happen to love meat loaf very much...growing up this was always my requested birthday dinner...meat loaf and scalloped potatoes....yum...

this recipe comes out perfect every single time, but is the kind of recipe that you can change different ways...

I have added bacon before, I have made them in muffin tins and I have made them as a loaf too...the one way that I changed a little today was that for the pork, I substituted sweet Italian sausage...and I also added some shredded cheddar cheese...

every one ate today, including 2 of the littles and little boy was in heaven...he loves my mashed potatoes...for some reason Tim mixes up the potatoes for me and they are the bomb...not sure what he does to them, but they come out so creamy...

for the potatoes, I diced up 10 red potatoes into small pieces and boiled them...once done, Tim adds some cream cheese, a little sour cream, a little butter and seasonings...total perfection...

paired with green beans and boxed Famous Dave's cornbread...

great dinner even though I did dinner with a migraine...

7 up, bacon and cheddar biscuits

7-UP Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

these were so good, everyone loved them and I wish I had some right now...

I followed the recipe exactly...

pork chops and scalloped potatoes

Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes
this recipe was very very good...Sam and Zoie came for dinner and they loved it also...

easy to put together...one comment I had read from the original blogger said that she used evaporated milk instead of plain milk to make it thicker and that is what I did also...

otherwise I followed the recipe exactly and will definitely make this again...

million dollar spaghetti

http://ashleykaitlin.blogspot.com/2011/01/million-dollar-spaghetti.html

when I make this, this is the recipe I follow as everyone really loves this one...Sam and Zoie were spending the weekend and this is their favorite dinner...

it came out wonderful as always...

breakfast tator tot casserole with sausage

http://www.plainchicken.com/2016/02/tater-tot-sausage-breakfast-casserole.html

I am really liking the idea of breakfast for dinner...so I wanted to try a tator tot casserole for breakfast and I always know I can find what I am looking for at Plain Chicken...

this was good and I will make it again...the mistake I made was to put it into a too deep of a pan...and that did not give the egg mixture time to cook and the top then was too well done...
I will try this again and put it into a much more shallow pan, might even try the crock pot...

savory baked chicken and potatoes with Bisquick

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/savory-baked-chicken-and-potato-dinner/a6a6e43c-8e4c-4365-848b-86bed3f40fd7

this went together really well and baked up good also...everyone loved this especially little boy who was spending the night...

basically what I did, was baste chicken thighs with some honey mustard (store bought) and then covered them with Bisquick that I had added some seasonings to...
put the chicken onto a baking sheet around the edges of the sheet and then in the middle of the pan I added cut up onions, cut up potatoes and some baby carrots...

baked at 400 for about 40 minutes...

really good

easy meatball soup

http://momsdutchoven.blogspot.com/2016/03/wednesday-night-dinner-easy-meatball.html

not feeling real good so needed something easy tonight...

this fits the bill...here is what I do....

2 McCormick's  beef stew seasoning mix
7 cups of water
combine and add 1 bag of frozen meatballs

when boiling add 1/2 bag of noodles and cook till al-dente and then add 1/2 package of frozen peas...

and voila you are done, could not be any easier...

taco macaroni casserole and cornbread spoon bread

I am feeling brave right now, since it is still hot here but yet I am turning the oven more than I usually do in the summer...

but I also feel horrible today...along with some heart issues I am dealing with, I think I also caught what my youngest grand daughter had this week, basically a bad cold...but for me, it is hard to breathe, and the cough, is unrelenting...hopefully I only have for a couple of more days...

this was for dinner tonight...

http://www.the36thavenue.com/taco-macaroni-casserole/

and this was very good, everyone did like it...next time I would add a little more seasonings to it...I added about 3/4 of the pkg of taco seasonings...

I also made this to go along side of the macaroni...

http://www.jiffymix.com/recipe.php/jiffy+corn+muffin+mix/156-spoon+bread+casserole

totally yummy dinner

layered chicken and stuffing casserole a family favorite

Sunday, October 18, 2015

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...

Wednesday night, super busy...mock lasagna

I have made this previously...declared it a hubby favorite and said that it is always my go to first cool day of Fall to make when I finally can turn on my oven after a long hot summer...

we have had 2 days of pretty nice weather, but they say the rest of the week through the weekend is going to be rough...yay...I cannot wait (being sarcastic here...)

I originally found this recipe in a very old magazine of my hubby's grandmothers...and the sauce always takes a little while to make and get ready...with all kinds of different tomatoes and sauces, etc.
so, I thought today I would try it with my regular spaghetti sauce and see if it turned out the same way...it did...

so here is what I did to cut some corners...I was super busy at school today and did not want to be in the kitchen forever...

so I took 2 tall cans of spaghetti sauce and added 1 tall can of tomato soup to it...I poured this over browned hamburger and some italian sausage and let it simmer for about 15 minutes...I think this is the key to the recipe, to have your sauce nice and hot...

I then put a single layer of meat mixture in the bottom of a baking pan, covered it pretty well and then added one layer of uncooked noodles over the top...I then completely covered the noodles with the rest of the sauce, till all the noodles had sauce on them...put mozzarella cheese on the top and cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes (too much longer and the noodle get soggy...)  let sit for about 10 minutes so it cuts up nice...

yummy

Monday night sleep over, impossible mini sausage muffins and pumpkin pancakes

so little boy was spending the night and I like to cook for him...he wants to be a chef and loves when I come up with new ideas, or old ideas he has not tried yet...
these are his favorites of mine:

1.  chicken mozzarella pasta
2.  chicken and wild rice
3.  these muffins from here
4.  hashbrown casserole

he says when he gets big, he is buying a bakery and I will be his cooker...haha...I will probably be too old by then...

this is the recipe used for the muffins (he called them cupcakes...) and he took them in his lunchbox for the next day too...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-mini-breakfast-sausage-pies/daeffa4b-355d-466f-b712-86388de26b3f

and I made pumpkin pancakes from a box mix...

he pronounced dinner delicious...

Amish poor man's steak and homemade mashed potatoes and gravy

this has been on my favorite's list for awhile now and tonight seemed the right night for it and I happened to have all of the right ingredients...

this is the recipe I followed (somewhat)

http://www.sweetlittlebluebird.com/2016/08/amish-country-poor-mans-hamburger-steaks.html

and it was good...it reminds me of salisbury steak, except this has a white gravy...I followed this recipe to a T except for the gravy...instead of canned soup as the gravy, I kind of wanted a chicken fried type of gravy and so...

made a roux with 6 tbs flour and 6tbs butter and added 2 1/2 cups of milk till thickened...

Tim made the mashed potatoes and each time he does them, I swear that they get better...tonight he added a couple of tablespoons of onion soup mix to the potatoes along with some cream cheese and some shredded cheese...so yummy...

so in researching amish poor man's steak, I fould another recipe I would like to try next time...
she said to make up your meat mixture the night before, put into a log shape and refrigerate overnight and then when ready, slice into portion pieces and grill each side (as you would for a steak...) and then cover with the gravy...

so yummy

Saturday night appetizer dinner, catch up on DVR night

was only Tim and me home Saturday night...all week long, we DVR our favorite shows to watch when it is very quiet at the house...

decided to make an appetizer night, where I just put out different types of finger food...

tonight we had...
pizza rolls
popcorn chicken
cut up veggies and dip
tator tots
tacquitos

we got several shows watched that we had been waiting all summer for out of the way...
Elementary
Arrow

nice night with just the 2 of us