Menu Plan: Sept 19-23

As you may know, I have a student staying with me during the week. Because of this, it is of uttermost importance that I get back on track with my menu plan, at least Monday - Friday. So, that said, here is my menu for this week:

Monday - Hamburgers, Home Fries & Corn on the Cob
Tuesday - Cauliflower Soup & Salad
Wednesday - Dijon Chicken, Potatoes, Veggies (BBQ)

Thursday - Fish & Chips
Friday - Home made pizza

Pudding Cookies

I mentioned these cookies to Caitlin and she practically yelled at me to share the recipe! I found this recipe online a few years ago but I can not recall the source. If you know, please redirect me so I can give proper credit.

These cookies can be made with any kind of pudding, but I used chocolate the other day because that's what I had on hand. I used my Pampered Chef stoneware and they came out perfectly. The cookies are super easy to make and are hard to resist! Enjoy! (p.s. they taste great frozen!)

Pudding Cookies

1 c. butter
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 box pudding mix
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Creame butter and sugar together.
Add egg and pudding mix, beat well.
Sift together flour and baking powder and add to rest of ingredients. Mix well.
Roll into small balls on greased tray and flatten.
Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 3 doz.

Monthly Menu: February 2011

Like last month, I'll fill in my menu as I go, and hope someday it will help me plan ahead!

1. BBQ Ribs, Mashed Potato & Asparagus
2. Baked Tilapia, Spinach and Rice
3. BBQ Pork Chop, Asparagus & Rice
4. Home made pizza ( sauteed onions, garlic, mushroom, red pepper, spinach & goat cheese)
5. Coke Chicken, Potato & Veggies
6. Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
7. Butter Chicken & Rice
8. Garlic Shrimp, Spinach & Rice
9. Soya Sauce Pork Chop, Rice & Carrots
10. Dijon Chicken, Rice & Roasted Veggies
11. Home made Pizza (Tomato, Spinach, Roasted Garlic & Goat Cheese)
12. Pizza Perogies, Garlic Sausage
13. Meatballs & Rice
14. Beef Stew
15. Strawberry Salad, Talipia
16. Tuscan Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots
17. Popeye Pasta
18. California Club Pizza
19. Coke Chicken, Potatoes, Veggies
20. Ethiopian Vegetable Stew, Lentils
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.

Monthly Menu: January 2011

Starting again with my monthly menu. I found it hard to plan ahead so this month I decided to keep track of everything and maybe this will help me menu plan in the future.

1. Coke Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots
2. Soya Sauce Pork Chops, Spinach, Rice
3. Turkey Pot Pie (at my friend's house)
4. Chicken Stir fry
5. Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
6. Roasted Red Pepper Soup
7. Butter Chicken & Rice
8. Spinach, Tomato & Feta Pizza
9. Leftover Butter Chicken & Rice
10. Tortellini Spinach Tomato Soup
11. Basa Fish, homemade Fries, Carrots
12. Meatballs, Rice & Carrots
13. Popeye Pasta
14. Leftover Popeye Pasta
15. Spinach, Tomato & Feta Pizza
16. Chicken Souvlaki, Greek Salad
17. Chili & Biscuits
18. Tortellini Spinach Tomato Soup
19. Dijon Chicken, Potatoes & Carrots
20. Garlic Shrimp, Spinach, Rice
21. Breakfast for Dinner
22. Asparagus & Goat Cheese Pizza
23. Meatballs, Rice & Asparagus
24. Parmesan Chicken, Rice, Veggies, Salad (at a friend's house)
25. Quinoia Salad
26. Asian Chicken, Mashed Potato & Asparagus
27. Beef Stew
28. Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
29. Butter Chicken and Rice
30. Potato Soup & Salad
31. Hamburger Soup

Monthly Menu: May 2010

(as you can see, I'm horrible at making my menu...I follow all the suggestion to have all my recipes laid out and look through them, but I just can't seem to get an entire week, let alone a month - edit: I'm also horrible at remembering to fill it the blanks as I go - oops Next month.. I hope!)

1. Tomato Basil Garlic Feta Pizza
2. Appetizers (from my Open House)
3. Teriyaki wraps
4. Popeye Pasta
5. Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
6. Coke Chicken, Corn on the Cob, Potatoes
7. Pizza
8.
9. Apple Pork Tenderloin, Potatos
10. Spicy Cajun Shrimp, Rice, Carrots
11. Taco Salad
12. Chicken Souvlaki, Greek Salad, Greek Potatoes
13.
14. California Club Pizza
15
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21. Asparagus Goat Cheese Pizza
22. out
23.
24.
25.
26. out - pick up
27.
28. Relay for Life - eat there
29. Something completely cooked from the freezer or order in (after being up for an overnight relay doubt I'll want to cook!)
30.
31.

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

Several years ago, my husband gave me a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for Christmas. As much as I love ice cream, I only got around to using this machine a couple times and that was before we even moved into this house five years ago.

Recently, I decided to dig it out and get back to making my own ice cream. The first time I made this recipe, I found it to be too sweet so I cut back the sugar, and that helped tremendously.

You can see the original recipe HERE. The recipe below indicates my reduced sugar amount. It's totally worth running out and getting yourself an Ice Cream Maker if you don't already have one.

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
crumbled Oreo Cookies

Beat the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Set aside.

Bring milk to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat hot milk into cheese mixture. Pour entire mixture back into pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with whisk until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let it boil or egg will scramble.

Remove from heat and pour hot cheese custard through strainer into large bowl. Allow custard to cool slightly, then stir in the cream. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions (approximately 30 minutes), adding the crumbled Oreos into the machine when ice cream is semi-frozen. Allow machine to mix in the cookie crumbs.

When finished, ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to freezer safe container and freeze for at least 2 hours.

all photos taken by me. ©2010tla

Kitchen Towel

Wonder what would happen
if I decided to use this towel in another room?

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

4 red peppers, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 can chicken broth

1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp sugar
salt & pepper (to taste)
dash hot sauce
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp flour

1 dollop sour cream
Parmesan cheese, shredded

Place peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic in roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Place in 450 oven for approximately 40-50 minutes until softened. Remove and cool.

Puree in food processor. Transfer to pot and add remaining ingredients except Parmesan cheese and sour cream.

Heat through.

Serve with Parmesan cheese and sour cream on top.

Enjoy!

Serves 3-4

***
This is a combination of a few different recipes that I tweaked to my liking.

Monthly Menu: April 2010

(Incomplete at the moment but I'm working on it. Attempting an entire month at once.)

1. Roasted Red Pepper Soup
   
2. California Club Pizza
3. Fried Rice and Spring Rolls
   
4. Ham & Perogies.
   
5. 
   
6. Chicken Souvlaki, Greek Salad, Greek Potatoes
7. Ribs, Baked Potato, Mushrooms
   
8. 
   
9. Basil, Tomato & Garlic Pizza
10. Tomato Basil Soup
11. Spaghetti, Caesar Salad Pork Chop, Baked Potato, Mushrooms
    
12. 
    
13. 
    
14. 
    
15. Pork Tenderloin, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots
16. Goat Cheese, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Asparagus Pizza
17. Basa Fish, Homemade Fries
18. pickup
    
19. 
    
20. 
    
21. 
    
22. Coke Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots
23. pizza
24. 
    
25. 
    
26. Out
27. Butter Chicken, Rice, Carrots
    
28. Peach-of-a-Pasta
    
29. 
    
30. pizza
    

Recipe Master List

(note: links and more recipes to come)

Acorn Squash
Basa Fish
Beef Stew
Butter Chicken
Butternut Squash Soup
Caramel Apple Pork Chops
Classic Creamy Coleslaw
Creamy Spinach Pasta
Curried Hummus
Easy Bruschetta
Easy Thousand Island Dressing
Grandma's Pancakes
Greek Potatoes
Greek Salad Dressing
Hamburger Soup
Heavenly Chicken Souvlaki
Honey Glazed Meatballs
Lemon Chicken
Lemon Shrimp
Mandarin Orange Salad
Maple Pork Tenderloin
Mock Olive Garden Salad Dressing
Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream
Pampered Chef's California Club Pizza
Peach-of-a-Pasta
Pizza Dough
Popeye Pasta
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Rosemary Chicken
Spaghetti Squash
Succulent Grilled Caesar Chicken
Summer Rolls
Taco Seasoning
Yummy Hamburger Casserole