Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter 2013...

It is a beautiful morning here!  One of the few this whole winter where we actually have sunshine!  Hope it is a beautiful day where you are.  The day that we celebrate the crucifixion of Christ and his raising from the tomb...how cool is that?????

So, to each of you, Happy Easter...

Yep--that's me in the bunny ears!  :)


We're going to church and then heading out to eat.  No NASCAR racing this week so we have time.  So, what do you do on Easter?  Anything special?

And from my mom-mom's collection:


Happy Easter!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Menu March 25-29, 2013


Happy MONDAY!!!!  I think!  We have about a foot of new snow.  I am thinking that I should have groundhog soup on the menu--how about you?  :)

Now for last week...

MONDAY--Excellent as usual!

TUESDAY--Oh So Good!

WEDNESDAY--I skipped this one

THURSDAY--Very Ymmy!

FRIDAY--Ate out to celebrate our upcoming move to Austin--and NO SNOW!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Now for this week!!!!

MONDAY
Easy Enchiladas
Easy Enchiladas includes some Mexican Rice  I make it from scratch from this recipe from Ree over at Pioneer Woman Cooks--so you KNOW it's good!  I made enough rice to stuff the peppers in Tuesday's meal...win-win!

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY
Last Fish Night



Have a great week and here's hoping for a snow free Easter!  

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy Flippin` St. Patrick's Day!

Seriously????  

This truck is actually black...
I seriously want to go and find a certain groundhog and send him to his final destination!!!!!  Where IS the beautiful weather we were promised????
The snow is gone now--because the cold rain and now the SLEET has melted it!  Grrrrrrr...

On the other hand--
A Little Irish Blessing
May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.
~Irish Blessing
Here's to my wee drop o` Irish blood!

Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine if you've got it--extra for me!  :)

Friday, March 15, 2013

Menu March 18-27, 2013

Hey everyone!  We finally got some sunshine here!

March came in like a lion for sure!  I hope it decides to go out like a lamb--like it is supposed to do!

March is playing with us--cold, snowy, sleety, yucky, overcast, windy--you name it and just when you think "darn!  Will winter never end????  Perhaps we should put groundhog on the menu!", you get a lovely sunny day that makes life worth living.

Then, winter comes back with a vengeance!

It's like dancing a tango.  Love--Hate!

Today is...LOVE!!!!  Sunshine, 70's.

Time to pop up out of my cave to enjoy the sunshine while it is still here before the sunshine bids adieu!

Recap of Last Week:

Monday
YUMMMMMM...4 thumbs up!  Note that the recipe called for 2 T minced garlic and 2 t garlic powder.  Seemed like a lot for the tastes of the family (my parents, gman and me), so I just used 1 T minced garlic and 1 t garlic powder.  I believe I could have just skipped the garlic powder and it would have been fine.  We did love it!  The potatoes were kind of heated in some water with greek seasoning and were quite tasty too.  Love my Greek Seasoning!

Tuesday
3 thumb down--bye bye Potato Pan Burger...funny--we have had this recipe for decades and made it a lot in the past and liked it but now our taste buds have evidently changed.

Wednesday
Ham Steak with Lima Beans & Potatoes
I changed this one to ham chunks with green beans and potatoes cooked together.  It's a fav of ours and just sounded good!  It was...

Thursday
Enjoyed this one too!  4 thumbs up!  Keeping!

Now for this week:

MONDAY
This is a great recipe that I found over at Farm Girl in the Suburbs and pinned it to my Pinterest Board immediately--and it got to stay!  :)  When we go to Olive Garden, Gman goes ape over the Pasta e Fagioli and this is excellent!  Note that when I made it, I used the red kidney beans and black beans because I didn't have any navy beans.  Still GREAT!!!!  So, pop on over to Farm Girl's blog and tell her I sent ya!  Thanks for sharing Farm Girl!

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY
Fridays are always Burger and Fries night.  We make up some burgers and get out the George Foreman grill and throw the fries into the oven and in about 20 min--yum!!!!  AND they are better for you than the ones at the restaurants.  However, during lent the Catholic churches around this area really have great fish frys--it's a big deal in these parts and we take advantage for the 5-6 weeks of lent.  So, Fish...

Have a great week everyone!



Sunday, March 10, 2013

Menu March 11-15, 2013

So, how did things go last week with the menu you ask?

Well--

While shopping for groceries, we hit Aldi and did you know that they have fresh meat?  I did not realize that until last week.  Not my first time in an Aldi by far, but the first time I noticed the meat!  Go Figure!

Anywho, I thought I would check it out.  I spotted those roast and veggie packs.  You know what I am talking about?  There is a vacuum sealed bag with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery.  There is also another vacuum sealed bag with a roast and a little packet of seasonings.  All of this is in the fresh meat section just waiting for us to pick it up and put it into the crock pot--for a price of course!

As I am noting the interesting packets, I note the price!  $3.99!!!!!  Yes--$3.99!!!!!

OHMYGOSH!

I think I heard angels singing...

I have seen those in Wal-Mart for about $10-$12.

I took 4.  Yes, the sell by date was Monday and this was Saturday night, but I decided to cook two for Monday night dinner and freeze two.  Yay!

And they were yummy!  We ate one that night and had the second cooked one for leftovers.  Yummmmmm...

So, Lasagna Soup was Tuesday and it was good!  4 thumbs up.
Wednesday was Becky's Chicken Thighs were okay.  3 thumbs up.  The scalloped potatoes were not good.  4 thumbs down.
Thursday was a busy day and we ended up with burger and fries night.  The George Foreman is great for those burgers!
Friday turned out to be Mexican Chowder and it is excellent!  4 thumbs up!  We skipped fish.

So, this week we will be trying the following:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday
Ham Steak with Lima Beans & Potatoes

Thursday

Friday
Fish

I am happy to report that the drenching rains have gotten rid of most of the snow around here--except for some of the biggest mountains created by plowing parking lots.  Yay!

Have a great week!


Sunday, March 3, 2013

Menu March 4-8, 2013

I did my menus last year about this time and decided, what the heck, let's do it again!  Seems to help keep me on track.  I haven't tried these recipes yet, so you and I can try them together.  With that, let's begin...

Monday
Lasagna Soup with Italian Bread

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
32 oz box chicken broth
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups broken lasagna noodles
6 tablespoons parmesan cheese

In a large soup pot, cook ground beef and
onion until beef is browned; drain. Add broth,
diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar,
Italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt. Bring
to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat, and
simmer 30 minutes. Add noodles; simmer until
tender. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon
cheese.




Tuesday
Becky's Chicken Thighs (Breasts) with Scalloped Potatoes and Corn on the Cob

⅓ cup orange marmalade
⅓ cup bbq sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 lbs chicken thighs, skin removed (I'm using boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Combine orange marmalade, bbq sauce, lemon
juice and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle
chicken with salt and pepper; place in a
sprayed 13 x 9 baking dish. Pour sauce over
chicken, and bake at 350 degrees for 45
minutes to 1 hour, basting occasionally, until
chicken is cooked through.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Scalloped Potatoes
4 c thinly sliced potatoes (I'm using Honeyville Dehydrated Potato Slices)
3 T Butter
3 T Flour
1 1/2 c Milk
1 tsp Salt
1 dash Cayenne Pepper
1 c grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 c Grated Cheese to sprinkle on top
Paprika
In a small sauce pan, melt butter and blend in flour.
Let sit for a minute.
Add all of cold milk stirring with a whisk.
Season with salt and cayenne.
Cook sauce on low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.
Reduce heat and stir in cheese.
Place a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased one quart casserole dish.
Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes.
Repeat with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Top with some paprika for color.
Bake uncovered for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Wednesday
Mexican Chowder with Tortillas

½ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cooked chicken left from Meal 3, shredded
1 package fajita seasoning
15 oz can whole kernel corn
15 oz can black beans
14.5 oz can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
4.5 oz can chopped green chilies
3 cups water
1 bag ready rice, Spanish style
10.75 oz can Cheddar cheese soup



In a large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil
until tender. Add chicken and fajita seasoning;
mix well. Stir in corn, beans, tomatoes, chilies,
water and rice. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce
heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in
cheese soup and heat through.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday
Cheddar Garlic Chicken with Red Potatoes & Green Beans with Almonds

⅓ cup butter
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon seasoning salt
¾ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup finely shredded Cheddar
¼ cup Parmesan
½ teaspoon pepper
3 count package boneless chicken breasts
Cooking spray

In a bowl, combine melted butter, minced garlic,
1 teaspoon garlic powder, and salt. In another
bowl combine breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon garlic
powder, shredded cheddar, Parmesan and
pepper. Pound the chicken to tenderize and
flatten. Cut each piece of chicken in half,
lengthwise. Dip chicken in butter mixture then in
crumb mixture. Place in a baking dish sprayed
with non-stick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for
35 - 45 min. Placing chicken on a wire rack will
increase crispiness of crust!.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Friday
Fish Night
(though we are not Catholic, the local Catholic churches really make a fine fish dinner during the Lenten season.)
















Do you celebrate Lent?  If so, how?

PS, I really need to figure out how to put my recipes on their own pages so that I can just link to them if I decide to use them again.

Have a great week!