Weekly Menu 10/29+

Saturday		mummy dogs carrot sticks grapes
Sunday		turkey burgers home fries scream-cheese brownies
Monday		Happy Halloween devil chicken mashed boo-tatoes candy
Tuesday		All Saint's Day chicken thighs with angel hair pasta broccoli
Wednesday		carne guisada tortillas, cheese, avocados squash
Thursday		chicken tenders tater tots green beans
Friday		sausage wraps baked beans apple slices

Saturday

1.       These are great if you are headed to an early Halloween party. 

Mummy Dogs(Pillsbury)

-          Crescent rolls

-          Hot dogs

-          Mustard (for eyes and smiles)

Remove the two crescent roll segments from the can and cut into thin strips.  Unroll and wrap around dogs.  Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 375. 

Carrot Sticks

Grapes

Sunday

Turkey Burgers(Taste of Home)

§  3/4 cup chopped sweet onion

§  2 teaspoons butter

§  1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

§  1 medium carrot, grated

§  1/4 cup dry red wine

§  1/2 teaspoon salt

§  1/4 teaspoon pepper

§  1 pound lean ground turkey (or beef)

§  1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided

In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion in butter for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and carrot; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add the wine, salt and pepper; simmer for 2-3 minutes or until liquid is evaporated.

Transfer to a large bowl; cool slightly. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  (if you are in a rush, you can skip this step)  Grill patties, uncovered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 8-10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear, brushing occasionally with 1/4 cup barbecue sauce.

Home Fries

Scream-Cheese Brownies (Betty Crocker)

-4 oz each cream cheese, softened

-1 egg

-3 T sugar

-4 drops red food color

-4 drops yellow food color

-¼ tsp vanilla

-1 box brownie mix (and listed wet ingredients)

Mix first six ingredients until well blended and colored orange.  Mix brownie batter, spread ¾ of it into a greased 9x13 pan.  Drop filling by tablespoonful onto batter.  Top with remaining batter.  Pull knife through batter and filling to make a marbled design.  Bake according to box directions. 

Monday

Devil Chicken (Cooking with the Neely’s)

§  3 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, washed and dried

§  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

§  1 cup all-purpose flour

§  1 teaspoon paprika

§  1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

§  2 tablespoons vegetable oil

§  1 cup white wine

§  1/2 cup chicken stock

§  1 tablespoon orange zest

§  1 orange, juiced (skip if you don’t like fruited meat)

§  2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

§  2 tablespoons hot sauce

§  2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the flour to a pie plate and season with salt and pepper, paprika, and cayenne, whisking to incorporate. Dredge the chicken through the flour, shaking off the excess.  Heat a large skillet with the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken skin side (meaty side) down and sear until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes, Flip and continue cooking the other side for 3 more minutes. Remove to a platter and set aside.

Add the white wine to the skillet and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock, orange juice and zest and the hot sauce. Add the red pepper flakes and whisk in the hot sauce and mustard. Bring to a simmer and add the chicken and the juices that are left in the platter. Reduce the heat to low and cover tightly with a lid. Let the chicken braise for 40 minutes.

Uncover the chicken and remove to a serving platter. Turn the heat to high and let the sauce reduce for 2 to 3 minutes. Once thickened, taste for seasoning, and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

Mashed BOO-Potatoes

Candy

Tuesday

1.       To celebrate All Saint’s Day, and counteract the chicken from last night, we’ll have angel hair pasta.  J

Chicken Thighs (Pioneer Woman)

-8 whole Chicken Thighs, Bone-in, Skin-on

-Salt And Pepper

-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

-1 whole Large Onion, Diced

-4 cloves Garlic, Minced

-2 jars (24 Ounces Each) Marinara Sauce

-Fresh Basil - To Taste

-Parmesan Cheese, For Sprinkling

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Brown chicken thighs quickly on both sides until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a separate plate.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon grease/oil. Add onions and garlic to pan and stir around to cook, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Pour in marinara sauce and stir to heat. Add chicken thighs back into the sauce.  Cover and place pan in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.  You may also simmer on the stovetop on the lowest heat possible.

Angel Hair Pasta

Broccoli

Wednesday

1.       This cooks very well in the crock pot

2.       Make some extra and save it for next week’s enchiladas. 

Carne Guisada

·         2T oil

·         1-2 lb stew meat or cut up roast

·         1 can rotel

·         ½ c chopped onions

·         10 oz beef broth or bullion

·         3 cloves minced garlic

·         1-2 tsp chili powder (or more)

·         ½ t cumin

·         ½ t pepper

·         Salt

·         2 tsp corn starch (or more)

Place all ingredients (except corn starch) in crock pot. Stir together and cook on low all day.  When you return, pull off about 1-2 c of broth and add to a sauce pan.  Combine with corn starch until thickened.  Return thickened gravy back to crock pot and stir to thicken the rest of your meat.

Tortillas

Cheese, avocado, sour cream

Squash

Thursday

1.       Soak chicken tenders in a combination of buttermilk (or 1T vinegar + remainder of 1c milk) and ½ tsp of meat tenderizer.  It really makes the chicken moist when you cook it. 

2.       If you don’t want to fry your tenders, you can certainly bake them in a ‘hot’ oven; which means greater than 400 degrees.  Switch Panko in for the flour, drizzle some butter over them for that oven fried effect. 

3.       If you want, you can batter up some extra tenders and place them in the freezer on a cookie sheet or plate.  Then when frozen, or the next time you look in your freezer, you can drop them into a Ziploc bag so you’ll have some ready to fry. 

Chicken Tenders (Pioneer Woman)

·         1 package Chicken Breasts, Cut Into Strips (sometimes Called "tenders" Or "strips")

·         Buttermilk

·         1-½ cup Flour

·         2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Lawry's Seasoning Salt (or Spices Of Your Choosing)

·         Vegetable Oil

Preparation Instructions

Start by rinsing and drying your chicken strips. Next, in a bowl submerge the chicken strips in buttermilk for 15 to 20 minutes (or longer if you’d like).

In another bowl combine about 1 ½ cups flour and 2 to 3 teaspoons of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or other seasonings if you prefer). Mix this together well. Next, add about ¼ to ½ cup of buttermilk into the flour mixture and stir lightly with a fork as you add it.

Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low to medium heat.

Remove a few of the buttermilk-soaked strips and place them in the flour mixture, turning them over to coat them thoroughly. Place them on a plate. Continue coating chicken strips until they are all ready to cook.

When the oil is sufficiently heated, begin cooking the strips a few at a time. Cook them for about a minute and a half or so on each side. When golden and crispy, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate.

Gravy

·         2T butter

·         2T flour

·         Salt/pepper

·         1c milk/cream

Melt butter in saucepan, add flour, allow it to brown slightly.  Add salt and pepper and milk.  Then stir until all of your gravy lumps are gone (this won't help with body lumps).  As gravy begins to boil, it will thicken.  Stop cooking when it looks like what your family likes.  Green Beans

Tater Tots

Green Beans

Friday

Sausage Wraps

Baked Beans

Apple Slices