weekly menu post ( a little late)

sorry I am a little late with posting this...you would think since I had 3 days off, I would have been better, ha...

so...

Sunday..............chef's salad with garlic bread and it was so yummy
Monday............BBQ
Tuesday............hamburger soup
Wednesday.......spaghetti
Thursday..........chicken and wild rice casserole (before it gets too hot)
Friday..............tuna melts
Saturday..........hobo packets on my new BBQ

sounds good to me

Memorial Day BBQ

our first without the cat...but if he had been here, he would have wanted a steak...haha

instead we BBQ'd hamburgers, brats, corn on the cob, beans and pasta salad...I made a cherry pie tho no one ate it...

everyone loves my pasta salad...

ditalini cooked al dente
hard boiled eggs
celery
dill pickles
green onion
black olives
mustard
mayo
onion powder, celery salt, garlic salt, pepper
just a tad pickle juice

so yummy and there are leftovers too

impossibly easy mini breakfast sausage pies

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

I love Bisquick...and I love making these delicious little muffins or as the recipe title says, mini pies...everyone thinks they are good, even the cat liked them

it was just Tim and me for dinner and these just sounded good when I was at the store, paired them with tator tots...

yum

great for a nice breakfast or dinner too

cherry crisp for teachers

to go along with their mac n cheese for lunch, I wanted a quick dessert for the teachers and this one fit the bill...

2 cans of Comstock cherry pie filling (put on bottom of 9 x 13 greased cake pan
covered with oatmeal crumble that I keep extra of in the freezer...

bake at 350 for about 25 minutes...

oatmeal crumble
    1 1/2 cups of oatmeal
    1/2 cup flour
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 stick melted margarine
    cinnamon, if wanted
    nuts if wanted

so nice to have extra put away in freezer for a quick dessert

mac and cheese for teachers...

I have posted my recipe for mac and cheese before...everyone I know loves this recipe and I was going to make it for dinner and then I was at the doctors for a long time and made more sense to go out to Pick Up Stix (especially when I had 2 coupons for free entrees, ha...) but I had promised one of my favorite teachers that I would bring her lunch and she loves this one...
so I went ahead and made a bunch for all of the teachers...

here is what I do...

I made a lot

I used 2  16 oz pkgs of elbow macaroni (cooked al dente)
4 cans of evaporated milk
4 cans of cheddar cheese soup
2 sticks of margarine melted
16 oz of sour cream
lots of cheese, about 5 cups

mix all together and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, can also go in slow cooker for about 2 hours...

I brought it uncooked to teacher's lounge and baked it in their oven...also made them biscuits (had high hopes for making homemade but ran out of time and they liked the canned ones well enough)/

there were some happy teachers and a lot of people wanted my recipe

creamy one pan pasta, bacon and peas...

http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/one-pan-pasta-bacon-peas-recipe/

I have posted about this dish previously and it is one of our absolute favorites...Tim and Zoie always ask for this dish and I like it since it is a one skillet recipe...(I need more of these most definitely...ha)

think my family likes it also cause it is pure comfort food...

Zoie will be so happy when she gets home from school and sees what is for dinner...

I always follow this recipe exactly except I also double it...it is great as leftovers too...

yum yum chicken and rice teriyaki bowls

these were so so so good...Tim now wants them at least once a week and I think they will make a terrific summer dish too...

I bought the frozen 3 rice medley from Trader Joes (love this stuff and could eat it daily) and then I put out for everyone to make their own bowls...

what I put out...

the rice of course
chunk pineapple
cranberries
almonds
shredded carrots
sugar snap peas
broccoli florets
teriyaki sauce
and chunks of chicken

almost forgot Zoie diced up some Spam and lightly fried it for her bowl...

and it was fun to see what everyone put in their own bowls...and of course everyone loved dinner so much...
to add...I also cheated...I was at the Plaza, getting lunch for Tim and I and I went to Dickies BBQ and noticed that they sold chicken breast, grilled by the pound...and so I bought a pound...it was very tasty, moist and so easy for me...I will definitely remember this for when it is very hot again...although I did buy a new BBQ (just not put together yet)...

so yummy you must try this...
sort of stole the recipe from Island's beach bowls and then expanded on it...this will be a staple for the summer coming up...

taco salad for a very hot Sunday

this is a great staple for our summer dinners and the cat loved it too...he used to order it a lot at Mexican restaurants (either that or fajitas...)
I am sure that I do mine so different than a lot of people...
and what is funny that I do mine a certain way (with no lettuce, I know, I know...) and Tim just makes nachos with his, that I forgot other people were eating with us yesterday and I did not buy lettuce (cause Tim or I do not use it) and Sam said what kind of salad is this without lettuce?  hahaha...she had to make nachos too...
Zoie and I made ours the usual way...
here is what I do...

brown hamburger (how much depends on your family) I do about 2-21/2 pounds...and I season it with garlic salt, pepper and onion powder...sometimes I add taco seasonings...

then I layer hamburger, cheese, tomatoes, black olives, green onions and crushed up tortilla chips and mix it all together with a little ranch dressing...sometimes I use tortilla chips then with this as the dip...

so yummy and filling...love it...

cat liked it with lettuce and salsa and sour cream with avocado

getting ready for the upcoming week...weekly menus, etc

it is supposed to be very hot here today, was yesterday too...said yesterday was like 107 but I don't think it actually got there...though it seemed like it to me...stated before how much I absolutely hate this heat...and it is just starting...thank goodness we moved a year ago to a place with air conditioning...not sure how I did it for 15 years without...I shudder to think about it...

every Sunday, I am trying to prepare for the week ahead, especially since I have gone back to school and with my oxygen problems, (cannot keep my oxygen numbers up to the accepted levels) I don't have a lot of time on my hands where I am feeling 100%...so preparing in advance helps me in so many ways...I also need as easy as possible, having 3 kids after school every day...

weekly menus...
today...taco salad
tuesday...mac and cheese
wednesday...alice springs chicken
thursday...rice bowls
friday...potato soup
saturday...chefs salad (Tim and I love this night)
sunday...creamy pasta, bacon and peas (one of Tim's favorites)

for lunches for the week
chicken salad
tuna
deli meats
p nut butter

for baking (if I am really ambitious)  ha
applesauce cake
morning glory muffins

first I have to go grocery shopping, and hope I don't collapse after that...

new recipes I want to try...

1.     http://www.plainchicken.com/2015/11/oatmeal-pie.html?utm_content=bufferb449c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

2.     http://www.afamilyfeast.com/morning-glory-muffins/

3.     https://www.thecountrycook.net/cheesy-chicken-tater-tot-casserole-slow/

4.     https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/ginger-citrus-chicken-couscous-coleslaw/

5.     http://chindeep.com/2016/07/05/just-like-island-restaurants-beach-bowl/

6.     http://meatpasty.wikidee.org/Meat-Pasty.html

7.     http://athomewithmyhoney.com/pink-lemonade-cake/

8.     http://www.mostlyhomemademom.com/2014/09/bacon-cheddar-scones.html

9.     http://www.fromvalerieskitchen.com/hash-brown-scrambled-egg-cups/

10.   http://www.twohensandtheirchicks.com/holiday-recipes---orange-cranberry-pecan-loaf.html

getting ready for the week ahead...

on Sundays, I like to prepare for the week ahead and help myself out...

I like to:

brown some hamburger and put it in freezer for the week ahead
brown some italian sausage, and put in freezer
bake some good cookies, cake or brownies and set aside
boil eggs...they are good for either just eating or I like to make a huge bowl of egg salad
I will buy a beef roast in the day old section and then cook it in slow cooker with onion soup mix and
     put in bad for sandwiches for the week...(this week I found a $25 roast for $10)
cut up vegetables for snacking (so nice to have healthy alternatives handy)
if I am really energetic, I will make up whole meals for slow cooker, put in freezer bags, label them
     freeze them...great for days when I am so tired...
roast chicken breasts in the oven...great for chicken salad, rice bowls, or casseroles
make a big pot of rice, either white or brown
make a big pot of any kind of soup
make jello
I always have extra oatmeal crumble in the freezer ready for a fruit crisp

even tho Tim is old enough (LOL) to make his own lunches, he usually does not do it, thinks he will go out and then doesn't and comes home grouchy...I like making lunches, for him and Cj and so I every night when making dinner will just make 2 lunches at the same time...it makes me feel good too...

this is a little work on one day but helps out so so so much during the week...it is so nice to come home from work and have a choice of egg salad or chicken salad or rice or a roast beef sandwich waiting for you

spam pie

I have written about this previously...it is one of our favorite recipes...although the cat hated it...

I was raised on spam, it was a cheap alternative for meat...and as kids we all loved it...I introduced it to my kids tho the cat would have no part of it...
when my kids were younger, Hormel had published a recipe for Spam Pie in a magazine...but now I cannot find it on their website...it is a simple recipe and easy to remember...

depending on how big you want to make this...here is what I do...

2 rolls of refrigerated crescent biscuits
2 cans of Spam
1 brick of cheddar cheese
1 brick of monterey cheese
6 eggs beaten...

into a 9 x 13 deep dish pan, I roll out and press into the pan to make a bottom crust but on the sides too, sealing the perforations...
I dice the Spam and cheeses into nice little pieces and mix them in with the beaten eggs and then pour into the pan...
it bakes at 375 for about 30-40 minutes or until the middle is set...

with extra biscuit dough you can make a lattice crust on top...

the family loves this and so does my old neighbor, who like me was raised on Spam so whenever I make this, I make an extra one and call him...
he was so happy this night...

Sundays...tator tot breakfast, ham dinner, maple blondies

Sunday is the one day I usually stay home and try to catch up with cooking and the blog etc. and I hardly ever have kids...so a couple of months ago, before the cat died anyway, I had wanted to start where I would cook a great family dinner early, work on the week's lunches, make a great breakfast (or go out, LOL) and bake something and I am so happy to post that I achieved my goal this week...

to start with I made this for breakfast...
http://www.cookingpanda.com/content/get-recipe-tater-tot-sausage-breakfast-casserole

I chose this particular one as I had read many other recipes and this one had less eggs...one recipe called for 12 eggs...now even this one had 8 and Tim commented that maybe I should add less than that...but otherwise it was very good...I added turkey sausage (most grocery stores sell the packages of already cooked, crumbled sausage, makes it so easy)...this made a big pan and so the next day, I sent the leftovers home with the little kids and they had it for dinner...they said it was so good...

this is what I made for the baking part of my goal for Sunday...
http://stephiecooks.com/2013/10/21/maple-walnut-blondies/
'
now this could be my fault...I did not follow the recipe exactly...I did not pulse the oatmeal like it said to do...I had really great hopes for this recipe...I love maple and I love a good blondie...but these came out hard and not moist like I really wanted them to...I will try it again and pulse the oatmeal...

then for dinner I put a spiral sliced ham in the slow cooker and Tim made mashed potatoes and green beans...I love the way Tim makes mashed potatoes...he adds cream cheese to the potatoes, garlic salt, pepper, butter and a little sour cream...he very lightly had mashes the potatoes, leaving some chunks...

I was happy with myself today getting everything done that I wanted to...the cat would have been proud...

creamy orange almond chicken and rice

http://www.goodlifeeats.com/creamy-orange-almond-chicken-and-rice/

I am trying to play catch up with this blog...has not been easy being sick and I have gone back to work and babysit too...so once kids go home, I am tired and ready for bed as early as 7 o'clock...

but Tim and I still need to eat and Zo too when she stays...

so I made this one night and the only change I made to it was to cut the chicken into bite size pieces before cooking...I just did not want to stand there till the whole chicken breasts cook...it was much easier this way...

I did not eat this night but, Sam. Tim and Zoe all said it was very good and want it again...

beef stroganoff and chocolate cake

it was Tim's birthday and I was sick...heart failure put me into the hospital so I kind of ruined his special day and I felt so bad...

took me a couple of days to get back into the normal...

so when I felt better, made him his favorite dinner one night to surprise him...beef stroganoff (I like it too and so does Zoe)...

I have said previously that I use the McCormicks seasoning mix and it is so easy and there is no reason to change the way I do it now...

for the cake, I like my cakes moist and have discovered the best way for us anyway...

1 box of chocolate cake mix, 4 eggs, 1 box of chocolate pudding mix, the oil it calls for and for the water instead I add the same amount of buttermilk...I beat it on high in the kitchen aid for a good 10 minutes...it comes out thick, but is so moist when baked...

he was happy