Weekly Menu

The snow is back... It didn't seem like much when I was walking into work this morning. , but apparently it was enough to cause car accidents all over the state today.  Some with as many as 85 cars in a single accident!  Hopefully everyone is safe and there are no more white out conditions any time soon.  Definitely thankful we live so close to work that I really don't have to worry too much about driving conditions.

Any way... I had enough casseroles last week to not want another one for the rest of the month.  Also, I don't think I made a vegetarian dinner last week and I don't again this week.  There is a reason for that though (we're going meatless for 40 days soon enough).  So here's this weeks menu...

Asian Meatballs & Rice with edamame
Pesto Shrimp Bowties
Creamy Vodka Chicken with mashed potatoes
Coconut Shrimp Soup
Chicken Pot Pie
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with steamed broccoli

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookies - total time 2 hours

It is important while eating healthy not to deprive yourself of the foods you truly love.  That doesn't mean go crazy and eat a whole package of Oreos, but a few once and a while will help satisfy your craving and keep you on track (although Oreos might not be the best with all of the preservatives and trans fats, but that is not the point).

We love cookies in our house, I mean LOVE!  I actually don't care for cake, pie, candy, or many other traditional desserts.  I like ice cream, but only in the summer.  Since cookies are really our dessert of choice, we have become cookie "aficionados" over the years.  Really picky about our cookies!  But this one takes the cake, I mean, cookie.

1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
.5 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
2 tbsp creme fraiche (or sour cream)
1 tsp baking soda
.5 cup dark chocolate
.5 cup semi-sweet chocolate
1 tsp salt
1 cup Nutella

1.  Melt butter over medium-low heat in pot for about five minutes or until browned (it will have a nutty aroma).  Allow butter to cool down by stir in your mixer.  Once cooled, add both sugars and mix well.
2.  Add vanilla, egg, and creme fraiche into mixer and blend.  Add baking soda and salt.  Start adding a small amount of flour at a time allowing the blender to completely incorporate until adding more flour.
3.  Fold in the chocolate chips, wrap in plastic, and allow the dough to cool in refridgerator for at least one hour.
4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Shape dough into disks about two inches in diameter.  Scoop about 1 teaspoon of Nutella onto each doughy disk and then fold into ball (this part can get a little messy, but that's okay!).
5.  Place cookie dough on baking sheet and bake for about 11 minutes or until cookies start to brown on top.  Enjoy warm or room temperature, either way there is gooey goodness inside!

Broccoli Alfredo Bake - total time 40 minutes

So the plan was to make homemade mac and cheese.  This was like my third or fourth attempt.  For some reason, I can't get the cheese to melt right even after scouring the web for different cheese sauce recipes and directions.  I don't know.  I guess it was never meant to be.  Any way, I had the noodles ready and needed to throw something together before we passed out from hunger.  After shredding a mound of cheese, I was over that, but still wanted something cheesy and creamy (which is why we were having mac and cheese).  I don't usually have canned alfredo sauce on hand... but it was on sale last week, and it ended up saving dinner!  Alfredo bake!

12 oz pasta (elbows, shells, bowtie)

1 jar of alfredo

1 cup broccoli

1 tbsp butter

.25 parm, grated

.25 cup panko bread crumbs

2 tbsp italian herbs

salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil noodles for about eight minutes and drain.  Add chopped broccoli, alfredo, herbs, salt and pepper to the noodles.

2.  Butter some ramekins (or a casserole dish) and scoop pasta into each ramekin.  Squish noodles down with the back of the spoon.  

3.  Top with parm and bread crumb mixture.  Spray a mist of cooking spray on top.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole - total time 45 minutes

Another opportunity to open up a jar of tomatoes from the garden.  It smells like summer every time, which is certainly welcome when I can see how cold it is outside from the kitchen window.  Although I would rather be wearing shorts and enjoying the sunshine, winter allows everything to renew itself in the spring.  Can't wait to get out in the garden again... the seed catalogs are showing up in the mail.

If you love enchiladas, you will love this casserole... and it is super easy!  Swap the chicken for spinach to make it vegetarian.

1 lb chicken

1 cup rice

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup shredded cheese, divided

.5 cup cream cheese

10 oz. tomato juice

1 tbsp chili pepper

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare rice according to package.  Cook chicken.

2. In a medium sized pot, heat olive oil, add onions and garlic, and saute for three minutes.  Add in tomato juice and chili pepper.  Simmer until sauce thickens, about eight minutes.

3. Shred chicken using forks and add to medium sized mixing bowl.  Add cream cheese, rice, .5 cup shredded cheese, enchilada sauce, salt, and pepper and mix together.  Transfer into casserole dish and top with remaining shredded cheese.

4.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Eat as a casserole with sour cream and green onions or serve with tortillas.

Weekly Menu

This weekend went by so fast!  I think that about every weekend, but they just seem to go by faster when the week seemed to last forever.  Hopefully this week isn't so long...  At least we had some nice temperatures this weekend and the snow melted away.  I also was able to get a couple more bulbs planted in my garden after noticing some were already starting to think Spring had sprung with 60 degrees and sun!  (Who could blame them?  I overheard someone ask why there was still winter clothes out when it was time for spring while we were out shopping today.)

Here is this week's menu...

Fajita Quesadillas

Homemade Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells (link is to lasagna rollups, but same concept)

Pink Fizz Juice - total time 5 minutes

So, I brought my coffee to work this morning... french pressed with salted caramel creamer and all... and I forgot to drink it!  Normally it would be chugged within the first 30 minutes to avoid falling asleep on my keyboard (my work isn't that boring, I'm just not a morning person).  I attribute the whole forgetting/not needing coffee to drinking fresh juice every morning.  Most people wake up and eat sugary cereals or breakfast bars... mine has started with raw fruits and vegetables for almost two weeks!

Here is the juice recipe I made this morning (I will probably wear an apron next time I try to remove the seeds from a pomegranate.  It squirts everywhere and is dark red!)

1 pomegranate

2 apples

3 carrots

Pomegranates get pretty fizzy/foamy after getting whirled through a juicer.

Creamy Baked Spaghetti - total time 45 minutes

My husband was actually the one that first attempted this recipe here.  He doesn't really know his way around the kitchen and he would be the first to admit it.  So I thought I would try it again and see if I could get a better result.  It really is just your basic spaghetti kicked up a couple notches, really easy and mostly ingredients you should have on hand at all times.

1 lb ground turkey

4 oz. cream cheese

1 onion, chopped

.5 cup mozzarella, shredded

.5 cup parm, divided

1 egg

12 oz. spaghetti noodles

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups marinara sauce

.25 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start by browning the turkey meat.  Drain excess grease and add in onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.  

2.  Prepare noodles according to package.

3.  Spoon out cream cheese over the cooked turkey, let soften for a minute or two.  Stir in cream cheese, mozzarella, half of the parm, and sauce.  Add cooked and drained noodles as well as the egg.  Transfer to a casserole dish.

4.  Top with bread crumbs and remaining parm.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich Tips

Everyone has always loved my grilled cheese sandwiches.  Even with basic ingredients, using these techniques really make a difference.  But ditch the Wonder bread and American cheese singles.  Get some sour dough, some better cheese like provolone, munster, or colby (or use all three), and add some vegetables like tomatoes, avocados, or sauteed zucchini.  So much better!

1.  Brown butter in a pan over medium-low heat (about four minutes). - browned butter develops a rich nutty flavor and is easier to get on the bread evenly than spreading solid butter
2.  Lay both sides of bread in the browned butter and toast one side of the bread (about three minutes). - toasting both sides of the bread give it extra crunch, flavor, and warms the inside of the sandwich
3.  Flip bread over and layer the cheese and other piece of bread, toast each side. - flipping the sandwich instead of toasting it 'open-face' style heats the cheese longer resulting in more melty goodness

The quintessential vegetarian comfort food; grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Weekly Menu

After several weeks with at least one weekday off from work... it's time to go back!  So this week's menu includes a lot of casserole type dishes where there is some initial work, put it in the oven, come back 30 minutes later, and eat.  Here's to a quick week...

Shrimp Jambalya
Salmon Burgers
Enchilada Casserole
Creamy Artichoke Bread and salad
Homemade Mac & Cheese
Baked Spaghetti

Orange Power Juice

The juicer is working out great!  I have decided all the hype about kale doesn't make it taste any less like grass.  Maybe I should try a different variety... and less of it.  But until then... I like spinach.  And I found my new favorite juice.  I have made it the past two mornings... yum!

2 cups of spinach
1 lemon
3 carrots
2 oranges