Weekly Menu 11/19+

Saturday		slow cooker cheesy chicken & potatoes
Sunday		italian sausage with peppers & onions spinach garlic mushroom bread
Monday		tacos
Tuesday		italian chili oatmeal chipper skillet
Wednesday		chicken parmesan citrus salad w/ bacon
Thursday		thanksgiving
Friday		leftovers or sandwiches mashed potato casserole

Saturday

Slow-Cooker Cheesy Chicken & Potatoes (Kraft Food & Family)

§  1 large bell pepper, chopped

§  2 carrots sliced diagonally (for fun)

§  1 lb thinly sliced red potatoes

§  1 tsp paprika

§  8 chicken thighs (skin removed)

§  1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup

§  4 oz Velveeta, cut into ½” cubes

§  1 T worcestershire sauce

§  ¼ c chopped fresh parsley

Place peppers in a slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray; top with potaotes.  Sprintkle paprika over chicken.  Plae 4 thighs in slower cooker; cover with soup and remaining thighs.  Place lid on crockpot.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or High 3-4 hours.  Use slitted spoon to transfer chicken and veggies to platter.  Turn crock pot to High.  Add velveeta and Worcestershire sauce to liquid; stir.  Cover and cook 5 minutes.  Stir until cheese is completely melted and sauce is well blended. Spoon over chicken and top with parsley. 

Sunday

Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions

§  Italian Sausage

§  Olive Oil

§  red bell pepper slices

§  sliced onion rings

Cut sausage in 3” pieces on the diagonal (makes it look fancier).  Add oil and sausage to skillet and begin to brown sausage.  Add onions and peppers as you turn the sausage and let it all get carmelized and yummy.  If your family really likes it go crazy and add some spaghetti sauce too.

Frozen Spinach

Garlic Mushroom Bread

§  ¼ c mayonnaise (the real stuff)

§  1 can mushrooms pieces and stems, drained and chopped

§  ¼ c parmesan

§  ½ c mozzarella cheese

§  ½ tsp garlic powder

§  1 tsp dried parsley

§  bread (it can be as plain as leftover hot dog buns or as fancy as an artisan loaf)

Combine all ingredients, except bread in a small bowl.  Spread over bread and then bake in oven 10-25 minutes.  If you are brave you can also broil the bread to get all the cheeses to melt and brown slightly. 

Monday

Tacos

Tuesday

Italian Chili

·         1c cooked ground beef

·         ½ c cooked bulk Itialian sausage

·         28 oz diced tomatoes

·         8 oz tomato sauce

·         1 c chopped onion

·         1 c chopped red bell pepper

·         1 c water

·         ½ c chopped celery

·         ¼ c beef broth

·         1T chili powder

·         1T basil

·         1T oregano

·         1t sugar

·         1t minced garlic (1 clove)

·         ½ t salt

·         16 oz kidney beans (optional)

·         1c sliced fresh mushrooms

·         1c diced zucchini

·         3T parsley

Combine all ingredients, except beans, mushrooms, zucchini and parsley, into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for six or more hours until veggies are tender. Add remaining ingredients. Serve with mozzarella cheese.

Oatmeal Chipper Skillet

·         ½ c butter (1 stick)

·         ½ c brown sugar

·         ¼ c sugar

·         1 egg

·         1 tsp vanilla

·         ¾ c flour

·         ½ t baking soda

·         ¼ t salt

·         1 ½ c uncooked oats

·         ½ - 1 c chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350.  In large bowl beat butter and sugars with electric mixer till creamy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Add combined flour baking soda and salt.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips.  Press dough into bottom of nonstick oven proof skillet.  Bake 20 minutes or until top is lightly browned.  Do not over bake as cookie will continue to bake out of the oven.  Cool at least 10 minutes, serve with ice cream. 

Wednesday

1.       Spinach washed in warm water gets rid of the sand that likes to stick to the leaves, more so than cool or cold water. 

Chicken Parmesan

·         Boneless chicken

·         1 egg

·         ¾ c Italian seasoned bread crumbs

·         1T butter, melted

·         1 jar spaghetti sauce

·         1 c mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400.  Dip chicken in egg, then bread crumbs, coating well.  Melt butter in 9x13 pan.  Place coated chicken in pan.  Bake uncovered 20 minutes.  Pour spaghetti sauce over chicken, then top with cheese.  Bake additional 10 minutes until chicken is cooked. 

Spinach Salad

·         Washed spinach

·         Sliced mushrooms

·         Sliced boiled egg

·         Bacon bits

·         Thinly sliced peeled navel orange

·         Balsamic vinaigrette

Garlic Bread

Thanksgiving

Eat what your family likes, enjoy their company, have some great laughs

If you have the chance to 'win' the turkey carcass, be sure to cover it with water in a large pot, add onion, celery, carrots, salt & pepper and a dash of red wine vinegar (to extract the calcium).  Let it simmer for hours.  Freeze the broth in 1 quart containers for the gumbo and soups coming up in the next weeks, or in 2 c containers for smaller versions or needs.  

Friday

1.       This is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, or whip up some more. 

Leftovers or Sandwiches

Mashed Potato Casserole

§  3-4 c mashed potatoes

§  2T butter

§  ½ c sour cream

§  1 c grated cheddar

§  6 slices bacon, crumbled

Combine potatoes, butter and sour cream and spoon half into a 1 ½ qt casserole.  Layer on cheese, remaining potatoes and top with bacon.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until heated through. 

Grocery Deals 11/16+

Sprouts blackberries .99/lb, gala apples .99/lb, oranges .99/lb, pears .99/lb, asparagus 1.49/lb (vs 2.64 HEB), red/white/yellow onions .49/lb, celery .77/lb (vs $1 Randalls), red bell peppers .77, tomatoes .77/lb, avoacados .77, green beans .99/lb (vs 1.29 HEB), broccoli .99/lb, boneless chicken 1.77/lb (vs 1.97 HEB)

 

HEB             grapefruit .50, apples .99/lb, pears .77/lb (vs .99 Sprouts), sweet potatoes .20/lb (vs .49 Sprouts, .16/lb Randalls for yams), shoulder roast 2.97/lb, ham 1.57/lb, pork sausage $2, bacon $3/lb, legs/thighs $1/lb.  HEB ad runs through 11/24 (Thurs) this week and there will likely be no grocery ad for next week. 

 

 

Randalls        turkey .49/lb ($35 minimum), NY strip 4.99/lb, rump roast 2.49/lb, ribeye roast 6.99/lb, cross rib roast 4.99/lb mandarins $5/5#, yams (if you can tell the difference from a sweet potato) .16/lb (vs HEB .20), BlueBell 3.99

The Sharpest Tack in the Box...or not

My friend B and I have started working on an Easter quilt about four weeks ago.  We decided on the pattern together, and decided that if we had a plan we could work at encouraging each other and sticking with our project.  Plus at the end we'd each come out with a cute wall hanging that we could either display, gift or donate to some worthy cause.

You can see the cute picture on the bed...

B typed up a schedule to keep us on track and so far, I'm happy to report both of us have been sticking to the schedule.  We are sharing the pattern and B started with cutting out all of the cute applique pieces.  I started with the 'blocks'.  In an uncharacteristic move, I used surgical precision getting most of the larger squares cut.  Turns out that would be my first mistake.

After I had everything cut to the right sizes, I read the instruction that read something along the lines of... don't be a dufus and cut everything too close in the beginning because when you applique some of the fabric may be taken up and reduced in size as you do the actual applique work.  Swell.

You know the Amish purposefully put errors in their quilts so that they will not be mistaken as being too close to God.  There is clearly no concern with any of that from me.  Especially since I was on step 1 of 100.

Step 2... I received a cursory lesson with the tracing paper with all of the applique pieces from B this past Friday when we saw each other for a few minutes.  Got it.  How hard could it be?  Saturday J went to a slumber party, there was a presidential debate on, so I thought that would be a great time to get started on cutting out these little flowers, leaves, the cute bunny, chick and bee.

All of the fabrics were picked out...

Except when I started to iron from the tracing paper and the fabric nothing was happening.  So I sat on the bed and thought about it for a little while.  Still nothing.

Naturally I was missing something... I decided that what I was missing was Wonder Under (WU).  It's this fabulous stuff that you iron on to one side of the fabric, remove the paper backing and then fuse it to the next piece of fabric.  I needed to go back to the fabric store.  Given where we live, that would have to wait until Sunday after church.

Back home and now armed with more supplies, I'm ready.  I cut out pieces of WU and get started with ironing, life is great.  There are about 12 different fabrics involved for this part, but it's all going well--I'm using my stash of fabrics.  But then I'm stuck... AGAIN.  How to get the tracing paper information onto the fabric... No.  it still doesn't iron transfer from one to the next.  I was just really S-T-U-C-K.  I needed help.

I headed in to get the phone to call B and ask exactly how to make this all happen.  I clearly hadn't listened well when she gave me the instructions.  However, my pride got the better of me before I picked up the phone though, and I thought let me just use 'The Google' and see how they might suggest this all should happen.

As SOON as I the picture come up I knew I wasn't the smartest girl in the room, despite being the ONLY girl.... wait only PERSON in the room.  I started cracking up.  Duh!!!

Yes, it's tracing paper as in with a pencil.  You lay the blank, empty WU on top of the item to be traced and then you use your pencil to mark the lines before you get started.  Oh yes, you do remember, I'd already started ironing.

So I ended up taking the pieces to a nice sunny (and hot it turned out) window so that I could see the design to be traced onto the paper with a washable marker.  It worked pretty well except for two very dark fabrics, but I got those worked out too.

Turns out that all worked for the best because the WU rumpled underneath every single piece of fabric so if I had done it 'correctly' or more 'traditionally' well I would have ended up standing at the same window redoing all of the tracing in the same way.  See so I've saved a step in the process.

All 87 pieces of applique are now cut out.  I've gotta figure out what's next.  I think I need to re-cut my large squares so I can get ready for the next adventure.

I may have to donate anonymously.

The Scene of the Crime

This is Only Dog.  I figured y'all needed to meet someone new since Missy's departure.  

He came to live here semi-on his own volition about three years ago.  We figure he was dumped out in the country to find his way in the world.  Well he found his way to our house.  We initially named him Other Dog, because at the time we also had Dog/Dawg...  

She wasn't the sharpest dog we've ever had.  She was an in and outside dog.  One afternoon I let her out for the one millionth time that day, and she never came back.  Some 'thing' must have gotten her because even though she wasn't the smartest thing, she knew where her warm bed and food could be found.  

The Kindergarten at J's school prayed for her return for at least a month.  Several kids continued to pray for her return long after J had moved on.  Just to prove that he had moved on... about a month after she disappeared J commented, "You know, I kinda miss Dog, but I don't miss letting her in and out all the time (a job that often fell to him, like changing the tv channel before remote control).  It's fine that she's not here anymore.  You know, Other Dog isn't really Other Dog anymore.  He's really Only Dog."  Well said.  

There's the back story.  

A few nights ago we heard an odd bark outside.  We've come to know this as the 'skunk bark'.  

It's a muffled short bark where Only Dog, I feel is saying something along the lines of "Hey that really stinky thing is back and you just fed me, but it's now eating all my food, but I don't want to make too big a fuss. Could you please come out here???? NOW!"  

Sure enough, the empty bowl was a good sign, but so was the odor on the porch and the little black critter running off the porch.  L went after it with flashlight and other necessary equipment while J and I watched things from the porch.  J is quite the fan of the blog so he ran to get the camera... Nothing on this side of the ficus tree.  BTW this tree has been in the family for 27 years this Christmas.  Perhaps another time I'll tell you how it's been nearly frozen to death on multiple occasions.

Then we saw this, which doesn't come across very well in a still photo.  But it is a wobbly flashlight out in the front field.  I later learned L believed that he was running over the top of a rattlesnake about then.  I would have done more than wobble.  

And then there is the victorious march of our hero who took care of the 'problem'.

Again, be thankful that this blog doesn't subscribe to smell-o-vision services provided by Google.  If anyone could do it, I'm thinking they could.  

Weekly Menu 11/12+

Saturday		steak pasta quattro formage broccoli
Sunday		baked/grilled chicken baked potatoes peas
Monday		cheesy spirals zucchini garlic bread
Tuesday		cowboy pie salad chocolate pudding
Wednesday		king ranch chicken yellow squash
Thursday		Italian roast rice green beans
Friday		grilled pannis chips

Saturday

1.       This is a great week to make the pasta dish since the cheese are on sale at Sprouts.  Fontina at HEB was $12.99/lb it was $3.99/lb at Sprouts; better shop around (anyone else singing???)

Grilled Steak

Pasta Quattro Formaggi (Pioneer Woman)

§  1 pound Angel Hair Pasta

§  ½ cups Grated Fontina Cheese

§  ½ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese

§  ½ cups Grated Romano Cheese

§  ½ cups Goat Cheese (chevre)

§  2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened

§  1 cup Heavy Cream

§  1 whole Garlic Clove, Peeled

§  ½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste

§  Freshly Ground Black Pepper

§  Minced Fresh Parsley

Heat cream in a small saucepan on the stove over low heat.

Rub garlic clove all over the inside of a large serving bowl.

Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water, leaning toward the al dente side. Do not overcook! Drain pasta, then return to the cooking pot. Pour in cream, add butter, and add cheeses and salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine, adding hot pasta water as needed for consistency. Don’t overmix; if there are little clumps of cheese here and there, it’s fine! Taste and add more salt if needed. Mixing stage should happen very quickly.

Turn pasta into large serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with a nice medium rare steak.

Broccoli

Sunday

1.       Cook extra chicken tonight for later this week when King Ranch Chicken is on the menu.

2.       Start your baked potatoes in the microwave for 3-5 minutes and then finish in the regular oven.  It will speed up the cooking time and avoid the gummy taste of a microwaved potato.

Baked/Grilled Chicken

Baked Potatoes

Peas

Monday

1.       Hopefully you have this ready to go in your freezer, but if not, tonight is a great time to make one to spare for a few weeks from now when the Christmas rush is really on. 

Cheesy Spirals

§  16 oz. package pasta spirals

§  2 cups cooked ground beef

§  28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce, any flavor

§  1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

§  1 tsp. black pepper

§  1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning

§  2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta spirals according to package instructions. Drain and rinse; return to pan. Add 4 cups cooked beef, spaghetti sauce, cheddar cheese soup, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Stir over low heat until well mixed and mixture is of uniform consistency. Remove from heat and stir in shredded mozzarella cheese. Spray 1- 9”x12” pan and 1- 8”x8” pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour mixture into pans. Bake the larger pan at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Wrap the smaller pan for the freezer and label as "Cheese Spirals: Thaw. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or until heated through."

Zucchini

Slice zucchini and sauté covered with 1-2T butter or olive oil.  To stir, swirl the pan around.  Be sure to hold onto the lid when you do that action, or else you will have a mess.  Top with parmesan if desired.

Garlic bread

Tuesday

Cowboy Pie

§  1lb bulk breakfast sausage cooked

§  1-2 pkg Jiffy corn bread mix (1 if there are just a few of you, 2 if you are feeding a larger family or teenaged boys)

§  ½ t sugar             

§  1/3 c milk (1 box)

§  1 egg (1 box)

§  ½ c cheddar cheese, grated

§  2T minced green onions

Cook sausage in cast iron skillet; drain.  Prepare corn bread according to directions, add remaining ingredients. Let sit for five minutes.  Pour on top of waiting meat.  Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Salad

Chocolate Pudding

Wednesday

King Ranch Chicken

§  2-3 c cooked chicken

§  1 can cream mushroom soup

§  1 can mushrooms, drained

§  1 can cream of chicken soup

§  1 can Rotel (partially drained)

§  Corn tortillas (cut in wedges)

§  Cheddar cheese

§  Green onions for garnish

You can use the crockpot to simmer this all day (minus the tortillas, cheese and green onion) or put it in a saucepan before putting layering with tortillas and cheese and baking in the oven.  Bake at 350 for ~20 minutes, or until bubbly.

Yellow Squash

Thursday

1.        Don’t short change your family, be sure to pour the juices from the crock pot into a saucepan and add a few tablespoons of cornstarch to make the gravy.  It is just divine!

Italian Roast

·         2-3lb roast

·         1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

·         1 bottle of beer

·         ½ onion chopped

·         1 c carrots

Place carrots and onions in bottom of crock pot, add roast, then beer, top with dry seasoning mix.  Cook on low all day. 

Carrots

Rice

Green Beans

Friday

1.       Don’t worry if you don’t have a panini press.  Make a grilled cheese with meat and maybe a slice of tomato.  You can rest a heavy (ie cast iron) skillet on top of the sandwich as the bread gets golden brown, flip and go again.  I learned this week that a perfect Panini means to have the cheese melted, but the tomato still cold.  So you’ll have something to strive for as you try these.  J

Grilled Panini’s

Chips

Grocery Deals 11/9+

Sprouts                  pineapple .99, strawberries $2, oranges .99/lb, grapefruit .50 (vs. .99/lb HEB), pears .99/lb, apples .99/lb, cantaloupe 1.50, red grapes 1.29/lb (vs 1.77 HEB), cluster tomatoes .77/lb (vs 1.28 Randalls), celery .69, red bell .69, avocado .69 (vs $1 HEB), yellow squash/zucchini .77/lb, broccoli .77/lb (vs .99 Randalls), sweet potatoes .77/lb, caluflower .99, onion .49/lb (vs .99 HEB & Randalls), pork loin 1.99/lb, chicken tenders 1.99/lb, Bluebell 3.99 (did you know there is a Christmas cookie flavor???), all bulk cheese 30% off.

Randalls               t-bone steak 5.97/lb, pork chops 1.99/lb, 93% lean ground beef 2.99/lb, turkey .59/lb + must buy $35 as well (this probably isn’t the best price, just yet)

Friday only: deli pizza $5

With coupon:  broth .99 (vs 1.50 HEB), mayo/miracle whip 2.99, sugar 2.49, sliced cheese 1.99

HEB                        NY strip 5.97/lb, boneless chicken 1.66/lb, legs/thighs $1/lb, cake mix .88 (vs 1.49 Randalls), cucumber .48 (vs .67 Sprouts), TX oranges 1.97/4#, red grapes 1.77/lb

Distress. Diorama. Diminutive.

Distress.  

Very early this morning just as the sun was coming up I was awake, no doubt thanks to the time change and my body thinking that it was already 7am.  I was still in bed when I heard the pitter patter of J's feet headed into my room.  He was there to report that something terrible had happened.  The tooth fairy didn't make it last night.  Honestly, the very first thought I had was to whether or not there was a hurricane in the gulf.  It had worked once before with C when there had been a 'delay' with the aforementioned fairy.  Sorry if that's a surprise C :). 

Such things are very distressing to boys who work so long and patiently at getting their teeth out that they manage to shed no more than a single drop of blood with each exiting tooth.  This is also the same boy who can suck a lollipop down to the stick without biting it.  Said tooth popped out pre-10am Saturday morning, so by the time bed time rolled around, it was LONG out of my memory.  

This level of distress required personal parental investigation.  Thankfully the tooth had fallen down above the head of his bed and since it clearly no longer under his pillow this was a very logical explanation for why no money had been left.  Whew.  

Desert Diorama.  

This was almost solely his project.  He needed help with a few things like spray painting the black sandpaper to a more desert-y color.  Also knowing the need for salt dough to hold the real live pieces of cactus upright.  

It was one of the best dioramas I'd seen in my years, and I didn't even help very much at all.  huh.

Diminutive.
After the diorama was safely in the car to dry and make its way into school tomorrow J headed over to the coop to pick up eggs.  He was cracking up when he came back to the house.  Here's why:

One of the new chickens must have laid her first egg.  Isn't it just the cutest thing?  We thought so too.  Yes, it does have a little crack in it where it got 'bonked' on the way out of the coop, but he was so excited about it, that it is also going to school tomorrow to show the science teacher.  She'll love it.

Did anyone else have a D-filled day?