Nothing too special being made this week, although I’m excited to try a copycat of Panera’s Broccoli-Cheese soup from this book.
Sunday: Shake n Bake Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, Steamed Broccoli
Monday: Hawaiian Rolls with Cracked Pepper Turkey, Panera’s Broccoli-Cheese Soup
Tuesday: Spaghetti with Meatsauce, Breadsticks
Wednesday: Baked Potatoes, Salad
Thursday: Taco Soup
Friday: Breakfast for Dinner (Biscuits, Scrambled Eggs, Grapes)
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Find much more inspiring (:-p) menus this week at I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’ve been looking for a way to cook salmon that wouldn’t be too hard to throw together. Fortunately, the Kraft Foods website provided me with a recipe for which I had everything on hand, except the fish! This was super easy and not surprisingly, delicious! The flavor of the mustard really compliments the stronger salmon flavor.
Easy Crusted Salmon (from KraftFoods.com) My notes in red!!
- 2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Country Dijon Mustard Oops! I accidentally used 2 teaspoons, and my mixture came out rather unspreadable.
- 8 RITZ Crackers, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 2 salmon fillets (1/2 lb.) I used skinless salmon, and it came out beautifully!
- Heat oven to 400°F. Mix mustard, cracker crumbs, and thyme.
- Place fish, skin side down, on foil-covered baking sheet; spread with mustard mixture.
- Bake 10 min. or until fish flakes easily with fork. 10 minutes was not nearly enough time for my fillets. I used the rule to cook the fillets 15 minutes for every inch of thickness (mine were roughly 1″ thick) and this worked nicely.
I don’t know why we call these by this name. They’re not exactly cheap. But that is what we call them, and they’re great for a night when you want something really snacky/easy.
Poor Man’s Nachos
- Bag of Tostito’s Mini Rounds
- 1-2 cans Fritos Bean Dip
- 1 bag Shredded Mexican Cheese
- Spread chips out over microwave-safe plate.
- With back of spoon, spread bean dip over each chip. Be liberal!!!
- Sprinkle shredded cheese over chips–however much you want is fine!
- Microwave 45-60 seconds, or until cheese is melted and chips are warmed through.
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I never claimed to be healthy! And these definitely aren’t! Phil has apparently eaten these for years and introduced them to me when we got married. They’re great for a night when I get off late (which fortunately doesn’t happen often anymore), or if we’re just pooped after a long day.
This week, I’m trying to clean out my freezer–I have TONS of things in there. Basically, the only meal I have to really buy the main things for are the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Fortunately for me, my favorite meatloaf is one that I don’t even have to do anything fun with. My favorite meatloaf is the Hormel brand that you just pop in the microwave. I would rather have this any day over a homemade meatloaf. I think it has to do with texture (I like the taste of almost everything–I have to fight with not liking a food because of texture constantly).
Sunday: Cheeseburgers, Fries
Monday: Grilled Cheese, Chips
Tuesday: Taco Soup, Chips and Salsa
Wednesday: Shake N Bake Chicken, Green Beans
Thursday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes
Friday: Easy Crusted Salmon, Steamed Broccoli, Wheat Roll
Filed under: Uncategorized
Hey everyone! I want to try something new with the blog that would allow you to print a recipe or menu (and maybe even grocery lists on down the road) with ease. I’ve uploaded my Parmesan Risotto recipe to Scribd and linked to it into this post. I would love to embed it; however, it clutters up the blog, so until Apture is compatible with WordPress.com, I will have to just link for now. I would love your feedback so I can see if this is something that people would use.
Filed under: Weekly Menu
Not too much fun stuff being cooked this week. We are prepping for a trip to San Antonio to see Phil’s family this weekend, so I decided to keep it simple and easy (with the exception of Wednesday night–Risotto = yum!).
Monday: Grilled Cheese, Chips, Grapes
Tuesday: French Bread Pizza (on sale this week!), Salad
Wednesday: Parmesan Risotto for Two, Salad
Thursday – Saturday: Who knows! All I know is we’ll be eating some goooooood Mexican food (and hopefully some BBQ too)!
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See more menus over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.
I *love* watching Hell’s Kitchen on Tuesday nights. I love the intensity in the kitchen, and then tension I feel when one of the chefs has to bring something (especially a risotto) up for service. Will it be well seasoned? Will Chef Ramsay throw the whole pan in the trash? It’s always a close call, and you can almost never tell which he is going to lean.
Because of this, many people I know (ahem, Krista!) have been discouraged from trying risotto, including myself. I decided to bite the bullet, however, and I’m so glad I did! I certainly didn’t expect it to come out well the first time, but lo and behold, I had a wonderful creamy, parmesan-y risotto in my bowl when I was finished.
I didn’t follow a certain recipe, just gathered tons of information from various readings about risotto. So, another recipe all my own! In fact, this is the first time (ever!) that I have cooked off the top of my head, just going by what I know. A major triumph in the kitchen today.
Okay, okay, on with it!!!
Parmesan Risotto for Two
Ingredients:
- 1 32-ounce box chicken broth
- 1-2 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Salt & pepper
- Parsley (fresh or dried)
Directions:
- Warm the chicken broth in a 2-3 quart saucepan over medium heat. In a medium sized sauté pan, heat the olive oil on medium. Sauté onion and garlic until onion is nearly translucent, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir to coat. Toast the rice for 2-3 minutes until you can hear the grains clicking against each other. The rice should not be browned. Pour in the water while stirring, and let the rice absorb all liquid.
- Turn the heat under the rice mixture to medium-high. Ladle the broth into the rice until the rice is covered. Stir frequently (but not constantly) until the rice has absorbed the moisture.
- When the rice does not immediately come back together as you stir, add more broth to cover. Again, stir until the rice has absorbed the liquid. The rice should start to look creamy around this time.
- Add more broth as needed, tasting as you go to determine whether the rice is cooked through. The rice should be al dente–firm but not crunchy. This process should take 15-20 minutes from the time you add the water.
- Take the sauté pan off the heat, and add the two tablespoons of butter, stirring to incorporate. Add the parmesan, once again stirring until thoroughly mixed. Add salt & pepper, if needed.
- Garnish with parsley.
Filed under: Dessert
Cake in a mug! This is one of my favorite desserts for which I usually have everything on hand. But somehow I don’t have any cocoa in the house right now (did I throw it out in the move? I can’t remember!). I headed to Google to see if I could find any other recipe than my usual, and I found this particular recipe. It makes a VERY dense bread-like cake. I used a Creme Brulee hot cocoa mix. Two packets of this mix came out nearly to 9 tablespoons, so that is something I can remember for future hot cocoa cakes!
Hot Cocoa Chocolate Cake (in a Mug) – adapted from www.wikihow.com
Ingredients:
- 9 tablespoons (2 packets) Land O’ Lakes Creme Brulee Hot Cocoa Mix
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 tablespoons water
- Pinch of salt
Directions:
- Mix dry ingredients together in large mug.
- Add wet ingredients and stir with spoon. Fold ingredients from bottom, making sure to incorporate ALL dry ingredients.
- Microwave for 3 minutes (more or less depending on wattage).
- Enjoy straight from mug, or turn out into bowl and garnish with a topping of your choice!
Cooking in the Microwave
I’m pretty new at this whole “making up recipes” thing, so this casserole wasn’t perfect, but it was extremely comforting! But then again, when isn’t a recipe with pasta, tomatoes, beef, and cheese comforting? I did find that if you let it sit for a few minutes after bringing it out of the oven, the taste of the Italian seasoning “quiets down” a little, and everything tastes a little more blended.
Ingredients:
- 1 box Rotini pasta
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoon McCormick’s Italian Seasoning
- Salt & pepper
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided into 1 cup portions
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Brown beef in large sauté pan on medium heat. Drain and add back to pan.
- Boil pasta according to directions on box. While pasta is boiling, add tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, and s&p to beef and warm through on medium heat.
- Drain pasta and place in large mixing bowl. If any juice is left in meat mixture, drain, and add to pasta. Add 1 cup mozzarella, and fold all ingredients together.
- Place mixture into 9×13 glass pan and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese on top. Warm in preheated oven until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Filed under: Weekly Menu
Well folks, it’s that time again! After being extremely tired in the evenings last week, I have one meal that is being crossed over to this week (I really can’t believe how much we ended up eating out last week!). Also, we registered for baby yesterday. Both of us were so tuckered out that we ended up just making grilled cheese.
Hopefully this week, I can save some energy for cooking. P will be out of town on Friday and Saturday, so I’m on my own those nights, which means leftovers and (my fave) egg and cheese sandwiches!
Ooohh. I just realized that we are eating a lot of beef this week… Better variety cometh next week!
Sunday: Crazy Noodles, Sautéed Zucchini
Monday: Garden Salad (Baby Lettuces, Cucumber, Tomato, Carrot, Croutons), Wheat Rolls
Tuesday: Burgers, Side Salad
Wednesday: Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole, Corn
Thursday: Soft Tacos, Chips & Salsa
Friday: Chicken and Rice Leftovers, Green Beans
Saturday: Egg & Cheese Sandwich (if I don’t go out with a friend)
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Find more menus for this week at I’m an Organizing Junkie.
