Menu Plan Monday

We're counting Weight Watcher points now so look for my links and recipes to include those points. :)

Gotta shed that baby weight. ;) Until I have time to calculate points for many of our favorite recipes, I will plan on using recipes that have already been figured out. I have several recipes that I have the points already figured out and will incorporate those as well.

Monday- Crock Pot 3 Bean Turkey Chili (I made a few changes and will share later if it turns out well. :) )
Tuesday- Split Pea Soup, homemade whole wheat bread
Wednesday- Beef Picadillo, a veggie and rice
Thursday- Potato Soup
Friday- Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken , rice
Saturday- Rice and Bean Stuffed Peppers
Sunday- Pasta Fagioli

Visit www.orgjunkie.com for more great menu ideas!!

Menu Plan Monday

Another easy week. We are pretty busy so I probably won't try anything new. (Well, maybe a new pumpkin recipe if I stumble across one...I have some fresh pumpkin puree I need to use. If you have a favorite pumpkin recipe, please leave me a link in the comments!)

Monday- Crock pot beef roast (we had leftovers last night instead of this so we'll have it tonight.), mashed potatoes, peas
Tuesday- Crock pot Mexican Chicken soup, salad
Wednesday- Chili and rice with some steamed brocolli
Thursday- out (if we end up going to Costco, we'll eat there)
Friday & Saturday- not sure yet...we will have family visiting :)
Sunday- Tuna Casserole with green beans

For a ton of menu ideas, visit www.orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

A fairly easy menu this week as usual. I do have a couple of non crock pot meals planned so hopefully I will find time to make them. I might do the prep work during naptime so it will be easier once dinner comes around. :)

Monday- Pasta (just regular old pasta and a jar of sauce), stuffed pizza bread sticks (I will use my pizza dough recipe ).
Tuesday-Porcupine meatballs, green beans
Wednesday-Crock pot Taco style lentils and rice made into smothered burritos (covered in enchilada sauce.) These lentils are so easy, tasty and healthy! Definitely a no meat favorite for us. I need to remember to take a picture this time since we eat this about every other week!
Thursday- Crock pot BBQ ribs (just some ribs with BBQ sauce on top), corn, potatoes and Easy Cheesy rolls (you must try these! Sooooo yummy!!).
Friday & Saturday- My parents will be here and we haven't decided what to make yet. :)
Sunday- Crock pot easy roast 2, mashed potatoes and peas

For more great menu ideas, check out www.orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

I've gotta have a plan and it's gotta be easy. :)
Monday- Homemade beefaroni, corn
Tuesday- CP Split pea soup (not sure what recipe yet), easy cheesy rolls (never made these last week)
Wednesday- CP Sesame Pork Ribs, rice, egg rolls
Thursday- CP Mexican chicken soup
Friday- CP Italian chicken (just chicken with some Italian dressing in the crock pot), a veggie and rice
Saturday-CP taco chicken (just chicken cooked with some taco seasoning and a little water(or salsa) then shredded-will probably make burritos
Sunday- CP Magic meatloaf (new recipe), mashed potatoes, gravy, garlic peas

Menu Plan Monday

While I forgot to post last week, we still ended up having mostly crock pot/easy meals...just like we will this week! It really helps me to have a plan (whether I stick to it or not). Here's the plan for the week-

Monday- Crock Pot Taco Style Lentils and Rice (Easy and yummy. We use it as a filling for burritos and add cheese, sour cream, etc.)

Tuesday- Crock Pot Downhome Chicken and Noodles (new recipe...I will share later in the week if we like it.), Garlic Peas

Wednesday- Lasagna Soup (I plan on making just half a recipe...we had it a few weeks ago and it was yummy!), Easy Cheesy Rolls

Thursday- Crock Pot Cranberry Chicken (This is a yummy freezer meal you bake in the oven...but I am going to see how it turns out in the crock pot.), broccoli, rice

Friday- Crock Pot Carribean Black Bean Soup (new recipe) homemade French Bread (takes a little time but soooo good!! I made two loaves over the weekend so I have some in the freezer.)

Saturday- Crock Pot Magnificent Meatballs (first time trying this), rice, green beans

Sunday- Crock Pot White Chicken Chili, rice, maybe some cornbread

Visit http://www.orgjunkie.com/ for lots of menu ideas!

**Scrapbookers, don't forget about my sketch challenge on http://www.noteablekit.com/forums/index.php See an earlier post for the sketch!

Menu Planning Monday!

Well, after a couple of weeks of failed meal planning, I decided that I need to have crock pot meals EVERYDAY! Seriously, it is the only way dinner is going to get made in this household for a while. At least until Elizabeth makes things a little easier on me. I can start the crock pot anytime that I can actually put her down long enough to get a few things thrown in there and cook on high or low depending on the time of day. (Oh, and they have to be EASY CP recipes!)Soooo...here's the plan that I can hopefully stick to.

Monday- Burritos with CP pork chili verde (a pork roast with green enchilada sauce, green chilis, cumin, garlic and a few other seasonings...I generally wing it) and beans
Tuesday- Pasta and meatballs (frozen meatballs in the CP with some jar spag. sauce)
Wednesday- CP White chicken chili and rice
Thursday- CP Taco Soup
Friday- CP Sesame pork ribs (new recipe), rice and carrots
Saturday- CP BBQ chicken (just chicken with bottled BBQ sauce), mac and cheese, green beans Sunday- Frozen skillet meal (gourmet, huh?)

*For more menu ideas, visit www.orgjunkie.com

Menu Monday

Ok, I have been a real slacker lately about posting my menu. So here's what I have planned for the week (hopefully I can stick to it! LOL)

Monday- Spaghetti alla Ceci, salad

Tuesday- CP BBQ chicken, rancher's potatoes, corn

Wednesday- Homemade Pizza, salad

Thursday- CP meatballs (with some kind of sauce...I haven't decided), rice and green beans

Friday- Quick Crustless Quiche (sooo yummy...we ate it with salsa last time. Oh, and I used bacon and cheddar instead of ham and swiss.), hashbrowns

Saturday-Not sure...maybe out.

Sunday- Mexican Lasagna (or something in the CP)

Menu Planning Monday and new layout

Here's a page I finished over the weekend. I used a sketch from 52 Sketches 52 Weeks and combined it with a challenge from a weekend crop at Scrap 4 Life.


I haven't been very good about posting my menu for the week. I love menu planning to help me prepare in advance and it keeps us from eating out too often. I'm doing a lot of crockpot things this week so I don't heat up the house with the oven.
I also like checking and linking to http://www.orgjunkie.com/ because it helps keep me accountable to plan our week every Monday. If you haven't checked out the site, you should! Not only are there hundreds of menu plans every week linked there on Mondays, but they have other great organizing ideas as well.


Monday- Crockpot smothered meatloaf, steamed veggies, potatoes and maybe some rolls or other bread
Tuesday- Crockpot BBQ chicken, Rancher's Potatoes, Corn
Wednesday- Crockpot taco style lentils and rice (probably to be used as burrito filling with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) *This recipe was surprisingly good! We froze leftovers for tacos and burritos later.
Thursday- Crockpot Mexican Chicken Soup
Friday- Crockpot Asian Chicken (new recipe), fried rice and veggies
Saturday-Homemade pizza
Sunday- Keilbasa, black beans and rice

**Hope you have a nice week!!!

Menu Planning Monday

Time to plan for the week! Head on over to orgjunkie.com for more great menu ideas!!

Monday- Crockpot Bloody Mary Chicken, brown rice and spinach salad

Tuesday- Garlic Spaghetti with Spinach & Grape Tomatoes (a new recipe for me from my friend Lee!) and possibly breadsticks or fresh bread

Wednesday- Crock pot Almond Chicken, steamed veggies, rice

Thursday-Chinese Chicken Salad (from Costco-just add your own lettuce...how easy is that??)

Friday-Veggie tacos (using taco style lentils and rice-first time trying this!), pinto beans

Saturday- We'll probably go out or bring something home...my parents might be here to visit.

Sunday- Jambalaya (from a box and I'll add the meat. I have a yummy recipe but since I have a box in the pantry, we'll use that this time.) salad

And don't forget to check out the blog party going on at Feeling Scrappy!! See my previous post for the first two prizes or head straight on over there and check it out for yourself!

Menu Planning Monday!

I have my menu done on time this week! :) We are using up some leftovers and using what we have for our meals.

Monday- Sticky Chicken, Ham Fried Rice (I'll just wing it as I go! LOL), steamed brocolli
Tuesday- Homemade Pizza and breadsticks (I split my dough recipe in half and use half for a thin crust pizza and half for breadsticks), salad
Wednesday- Ham and cheese omlets, hashbrowns
Thursday- Spaghetti with meatballs(frozen meatballs and a jar of sauce), salad
Friday-Crockpot black beans, rice with tortillas and toppings (new recipe for the beans)
Saturday- Chicken and dumplings
Sunday- Crock Pot Beef roast (not sure what else with this yet!)

Menu Planning Monday

I forgot to post my menu last week...but I did have it planned out! :) Here's the plan for this week (sometimes I switch it around or change things but at least I have a plan.)


Monday- Turkey and gravy in the crock pot (leftover frozen turkey breast with a can of turkey gravy, cream of mushroom soup and some poultry seasoning), mashed potatoes, garlic peas
Tuesday- BBQ pork (crock pot) sandwiches, baked homemade fries, salad
Wednesday-Crockpot lasagna, breadsticks
Thursday- Tacos with crock pot taco chicken, Mexican rice (see recipe below)
Friday-Lentil Stew (have had it on the menu for a couple of weeks but I keep changing it!), garlic muffins (I leave out the onion)
Saturday-Crock pot easy roast(soooo easy...a roast or stew meat, can of diced tomatoes and a package of dry onion soup mix cooked all day on low), baked potatoes, cheesy broccoli casserole
Sunday- Green chili chicken casserole (see below) and corn

Recipes:

Green chicken chili casserole - I can't remember where this came from!
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
1-2 cans chopped green chiles
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup fat-free sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 (10 1/2-ounce) can condensed 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (I might use less)
6 (6-inch) flour tortillas
2 cups (8 ounces) finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º.
Combine everything except tortillas and cheese in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. (I might have sauteed the onions first...I can't remember but I think I will do it next time!)
Remove from heat.
Spread 1 cup soup mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Arrange 3 tortillas over the soup mixture and top with 1/2 cup cheese.Repeat layers, ending with the cheese.
Spread remaining soup mixture over cheese.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Mexican Rice
1 cup long grain white rice
Minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
Chopped onion & bell pepper (however much you like)
2 ½ cups water or chicken broth
½ can diced tomatoes
½ small can tomato sauce
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp chili powder
1 tsp Cumin
Directions: Brown rice in a little olive oil. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper. Add water, tomatoes, tomato sauce and spices(I don't usually measure those and sometimes I add other things like dried cilantro or fajita seasoning). Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes without stirring or lifting lid.

For more great menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com!!!

Menu Monday

Here's the plan for the week! (One item is a repeat from last week...we all got sick and I made soup for a couple of nights!)

Monday- Tacos, beans and rice
Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner- eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits, gravy and bacon
Wednesday-Lentil Stew and garlic muffins (I leave out the onion)
Thursday-Cheesy chicken pot pie (a new recipe for me from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook)
Friday- Spinach Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini(see below for recipe)
Saturday- Homemade pizza- my dough recipe here
Sunday- Crockpot White Chicken Chili over rice (recipe below!)



White Chicken Chili
**Sorry! I just realized I pasted in the wrong recipe for this. Here's the right one!
White Chicken Chili- Crock pot
1 can great northern beans-drained
2 chicken breasts
1 small can of diced green chilis
3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2-4 garlic cloves chopped
1 cup onion chopped
1 can corn (optional) I usually don't add it but I did this time!

Add all ingredients and cook all day on low. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream. Chopped cilantro and green onions are good on it, too. Serve alone or over rice.

Rachel Rays Spinach artichoke cheesy tortellini (I use regular pasta)
**here are the directions with a couple of my changes...
1 10-oz box frozen spinach
2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), twice around the pan
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
A couple handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and black pepper
1 pound Pasta (Rachel uses cheese tortellini...I use whatever pasta I happen to have that day!)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta.
Microwave the spinach on high for a few minutes to defrost.
Heat a deep skillet over medium heat with the EVOO and butter. When the butter melts and is hot, add the garlic. Using a box grater, grate the onion directly into the skillet.
Saute the onions and garlic for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the stock, then the cream, and bring the sauce to a boil.
Season the sauce with nutmeg(I leave this out) and reduce the heat to low.
Place the defrosted spinach in a clean kitchen towel and wring it dry. Separate it as you add it to the sauce.
Stir in the chopped artichokes and a couple handfuls of cheese, then season the spinach-artichoke sauce with salt and pepper.
Salt the boiling water and cook the tortellini (or regular old pasta!) according to the package directions. Drain it well and toss with the spinach artichoke sauce. Serve immediately.

See orgjunkie.com for more great menu ideas!!!

Menu Planning Monday

Ok, it's time for me to start menu planning again!! I haven't been very good at it for a couple of months but I am ready to plan, plan, plan!

Here's what we are having this week-
Monday-BBQ chicken, Ranchers Potatoes(recipe below!! Soooo yummy!) and garlic peas
Tuesday- Tacos, pinto beans
Wednesday-Crockpot pork chops with gravy (new recipe), baked potatoes, green beans
Thursday- Lentil Stew, Garlic Muffins (I leave out the onion) or cornbread muffins.
Friday-Meatballs & Pink Sauce (this was my favorite meal as a kid!!! See the recipe below.), rice and brocolli
Saturday- Chicken Tortilla Soup
Sunday- Crockpot beef roast, mashed potatoes, a veggie (not sure what yet)


Breakfast- cereal, oatmeal, waffles and homemade egg mcmuffins.
Lunch-PB&J sandwiches, quesadillas, grilled cheese, cheese and pimento sandwiches, tuna sandwiches
Snacks-Hummus and veggies, PB toast, cheese and crackers, tortilla roll ups, fruit

Meatballs and Pink Sauce
*This was my favorite meal growing up! I don’t really have exact measurements, I wing it as I go. But here’s a guideline.

Ground beef and meatball fixings (I use egg, milk, bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper and any other seasonings that happen to sound good that day!)
1 cup (or more) beef broth
Flour/water paste (maybe a couple tsp of flour and water each)
Sliced mushrooms
Lemon Peel- a couple of good size strips
1 Bay leaf
½ cup or so sour cream
3 TBS or more ketchup
Cooked rice

Directions:
Make your meatballs as you normally would.
Brown meatballs in a skillet and drain the grease.
Remove meatballs to a plate.
Mix beef broth with the flour/water paste in the skillet. Whip it to remove any lumps. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs back into the pan.
Add lemon peel, sliced mushrooms and a bay leaf.
Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add sour cream and ketchup to taste. Heat to hot (but not boiling).
Serve over white rice.


Rancher's Potatoes
by Dirt Road Scrapper in the ScrapShare cookbook
6 large potatoes, washed & cubed into chunks
1 can chopped green chilies
5 strips bacon, cooked & chopped
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. Ranch dressing
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
Place potatoes in a large casserole dish with a dash of water and microwave on high until almost tender. While they're cooking, combine all other ingredients and stir well. Stir into potatoes. Place dish in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

For more great menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com!!

Menu planning and train layouts

Playing indoors around here means playing with cars and trains. With the recent cold and snow, we have been building lots of tracks for Joshua's trains to ride. Here are a couple of layouts I made during Feeling Scrappy's Sketchapalooza class about Joshua and his love of trains.

And I know I am a day late, but I did have my menu done yesterday. So here it is...

Monday- Teriyaki pork, rice and green beans

Tuesday- red beans, rice and tortillas

Wednesday- Spicy potato soup (or Mexican potato casserole-I haven't decided!)

Thursday-Fish and chips

Friday- Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Crock pot beef (see recipe below), garlic peas and couscous or rice

Sunday- Comforting chicken noodle soup

Crock pot beef recipe

*So easy and so tasty! This is from my Fix it and forget it book.

beef roast (or stew meat)

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 can of diced tomatoes

Directions:

Combine in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

**The leftovers from this are great in beef enchiladas!

For more menu ideas, see orgjunkie.com

Have a great day!!!

Menu Monday!

I haven't done this in awhile so I thought I'd actually share our menu this week. I ALWAYS menu plan. It makes my life sooo much easier and helps us not to eat out very often. I also loosely plan our breakfasts and lunches but I'm just posting dinners for now.

Here's a picture of one of our homemade pizzas. I change it up a lot depending on what we have on hand.



Monday- shepherd's pie
Tuesday- homemade pizza - dough recipe here
Wednesday- turkey enchiladas, beans (see recipe below) and rice (I'm just going to use canned sauce for the enchiladas. I might try to make my own tortillas, though.)
Thursday- potato soup and homemade rolls (new recipe!)
Friday- tuna casserole (or some sort of pasta...not really sure yet)
Saturday- crock pot Mexican chicken soup (see recipe below!)
Sunday- lentil stew

Mexican Chicken Soup
–from my friend Jayne

1 lb chicken breast
1 can black beans
1 can corn
2 cans Rotel or Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 can 14oz tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
~Cook in crock-pot 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and enjoy.
1 cup = 2 WW points

Pinto Beans
Dried pinto beans (I usually use about 2-4 cups worth to have lots of leftovers)
Water
Salt and pepper
Fajita Seasoning (or you can use a combo of your favorite seasonings such as cumin, chili powder, pinto bean seasoning, etc.)
(I’ve seen lots of recipes that add a couple of strips of bacon to the beans at the beginning which I am sure is really tasty…I just don’t do that.)

1. Rinse and sort your beans. Pull out any that look funky.
2. Dump beans into a large pot and cover with cold water. Fill it up to about 2 inches above the top of the beans.
3. Cover pot and bring it to a boil on the stove.
4. Turn to low and let simmer for about 2 hours stirring occasionally. Sometimes, you’ll need to add a bit more water if you didn’t add enough to start with.
5. Add your seasonings. I add about 1 tsp of black pepper, 1 tsp of fajita seasoning, and ½ tsp salt for every 2 cups of dried beans. Stir it up really well and let simmer for awhile longer until most of the liquid is absorbed. At this point, I am usually getting hungry and try the beans several times, sometimes adding more seasonings if I feel like it.

With the leftovers, I put about 2 cups into a freezer bag and freeze several bags for use at another time. I push the air out and stack them flat on top of something flat until frozen.

Check out http://orgjunkie.com/ for more menu ideas.

Menu Planning Monday

Ack! Where did the time go? I haven't posted anything since last Monday...oops!!
This week it is family favorites week. I have two of our faves on the menu this week.

Our #1 favorite is homemade PIZZA! We are having pizza on Saturday. Here's our favorite pizza dough recipe. I also use this for breadsticks (brushed with butter and parmesan) and calzones.

3 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and half all-purpose)
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water (110-120 degrees F)

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes until foamy.
2. Combine flour and salt in a large glass or plastic bowl.
3. Mix all of the ingredients in the big bowl. Mix with a spoon until it is mixed enough to start kneading. Press it together with your hand in the bowl until it is all combined.
4. Knead until fairly smooth on a board. Add a little flour if necessary. (With whole wheat, it won’t feel as smooth as just white flour. I just knead it about 50 times and call it good.) *To be honest, lately, I have been kneading it in my Kitchen Aid Mixer...so easy! Then I follow the rest of the steps.)
5. Place dough in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray (or lightly oiled). Cover with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise in a warm area for about 30 minutes. I turn on my oven for a couple of minutes then shut it off to have a warm place without drafts.)
6. Punch down and let rest for about 5 minutes before rolling it out. (I used to let it rise for another 1/2 hour before punching down and rolling it out but this is quicker and it turns out about the same.)
7. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes…depending on how thin you roll it. Sometimes it only takes 15 minutes.
* It's good if you brush it with a little olive oil after baking it, too.
* I've also added different seasonings such as parmesan and Italian seasonings to it.
Another FAVE is Taco Soup. So easy and tasty. We're having it on Friday because I can make it then put it into the crockpot to cook until we are ready to eat.
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix
1 pkg dry taco soup mix
1/2-1 lb ground beef (browned and grease drained)
1 can corn (don't drain)
1 can diced tomatoes (don't drain)
1 can pinto beans (don't drain)
1 can black beans (don't drain)
1/2-1 cup of water (I like it sort of soupy but if you want it more chili-like, don't add any water.)
**That is usually all I add if it's just us. But when we have more people over for dinner, I add extra tomatoes and beans. You could use kidney beans, too. It's very versatile. One of my good friends, Melanie, also adds bell peppers and onions to hers.

Directions-Add all ingredients to your crockpot (make sure you brown and drain the beef first) and cook on low all day or until ready to eat. You can cook it for only a couple of hours if you want.

And here's my menu for this week. Monday-Thursday are all new recipes for me(most from a cookbook and not online). I love trying new things! I will post the recipes if I like them. :)
Monday- Quick Kielbasa Skillet and a side of Swiss Chard
Tuesday-World's Easiest Black Bean Soup, grilled zuchinni and maybe some cornbread
Wednesday-Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie (I think I'll make homemade biscuits to use instead of the pie crust)
Thursday- Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup
Friday- Taco Soup (see above) and garlic muffins-we've made these muffins twice now and they are soooo yummy! I cut the butter down to 2 TBS and omit the onion (the first time because I was out of onions and the second time because we liked them so much the first time.)
Saturday- Homemade pizza, breadsticks and alfredo sauce for dipping.

Menu Planning Monday and Funnel Cake recipe

Well, technically it's still Monday here...barely. I had my menu finished early but didn't have a chance to type it up.

Monday- Out of the park burritos (LA style...see link on last week's post). These were actually surprisingly tasty. Also had some macaroni salad with it.
Funnel cakes for dessert-see below for recipe!

Tuesday- Homemade Pizza-I'll have to share the dough recipe when I get a chance.

Wednesday- Sweet & Sour chicken (soy chicken actually. And just a jar of sauce I keep saying I am going to use but haven't yet.), rice and sauteed spinach or other veggie

Thursday- Lentil Stew (same recipe as last week...I have a ton of lentils and it was quite tasty. of course, I added a few other spices and things. I can't ever just follow the directions!)

Friday- Chili. Not sure what kind yet. Steak, veggie or chicken chili. LOL Depends what I am in the mood for I think.

Saturday- Some sort of pasta. Jury's still out on this one. Quite possibly Spaghetti alla Ceci (Rachel Ray) Homemade breadsticks or fresh bread.

Sunday- Chicken & Dumplings(I have a YUMMY recipe that I have tweeked and combined various recipes until I got it just so. Will definitely share one of these days.), garlic peas (new recipe for me)

Funnel Cakes

I was craving a powdered donut. But since I really don't know how to make donuts and didn't have the patience to research a good recipe, I made my old faithful funnel cakes and doused them with powdered sugar instead. I originally got this recipe from All Recipes a couple of years ago and made a couple of small changes.

1 2/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 TBSP white sugar
1 egg (I actually used a vegetarian egg substitute which I like better...the dough tastes less "eggy". If you don't have this, I would probably try just 1 egg white instead of the whole egg.)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup of milk
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Oil for frying(I used Canola)

1. Put about an inch of oil in a big skillet to start heating up. Technically, it's supposed to be 375 degrees but I don't have anything to measure that so I set mine about medium high.
2. Mix together the egg, vanilla and milk.
3. In a separate bowl, mix up the rest of the ingredients (except the powdered sugar).
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
5. Pour batter into a ziplock bag. Snip the end. Start with a small snip. you can always cut it bigger but you can't make the hole smaller.
6. Squeeze the batter into the oil, moving it around to make little swirly cakes. I fit about 3-4 per batch in my pan. Flip over when golden brown. I get about a dozen from this recipe.
7. Remove cakes and place on paper towels to soak up the extra oil.
8. Dust with powdered sugar. (I actually like a LOT of powdered sugar on mine...but I went with a normal amount for this picture so I didn't seem like a pig. LOL)

Menu for the week!

Here's my plan for the week. :) (Recipe links for most items.)

Monday- Lentil Stew and garlic muffins (maybe some sort of side with spinach)
Tuesday- Sausage Strata, salad (I can't find the recipe online...a friend photocopied this for me. If it's good, I'll share the recipe.)
Wednesday- Stuffed Pepper Soup (I am going to try to use soy beef in this one.)
Thursday- Southwest Chicken over rice
Friday- Chicken Alfredo pasta (just a packet mix for the sauce-I think I'll add some sundried tomatoes)
Saturday- 8 can dump soup (recipe from Jayne! See below.) and cheddar bay biscuits (I already have some made in the freezer that I just need to reheat-these freeze great!)
Sunday- Out of the park burritos (Never tried these but I have a package of hot dogs we need to eat soon. :)

8 can dump soup
Thanks for posting this one on the Feeling Scrappy board, Jayne! Sounds yummy!
1 can chili with beans
1 can chili without beans
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1 can veg-all
1 can potatoes
1 can tomatoes or rotel
1 can vegetable soup

Pour all cans into pan (do not drain) mix heat and eat.

1 cup = 1 point


Happy planning and eating!!

Menu Planning Monday

So most of you who know me know that I love to plan (I have to plan everything!!!!) and I love to cook (and eat!). I've been stalking a blog that does menu planning every week. While I've been planning my own meals, I have yet to share on the blog so this will be my first week sharing. :) We're eating out of our pantry and from stuff we already have on hand this week. I'll post links to some of the recipes. :)

Monday- Black bean soup and home fries
Tuesday- Ultimate Grilled Cheese(we might use the filling as a quesadilla filling instead) and green beans
Wednesday- Potato soup (see below) and garlic muffins (I can't remember where I got this recipe!!)
Thurday- Chicken burrito soup (New recipe for me) with tortilla strips
Friday-Sunday we might be out of town so nothing planned.

Jayne shared this recipe with me!
Potato Soup

1 30 oz bag of frozen hash browns
2 can chicken broth
1 pkg McCormicks Country Gravy

Brown hash browns in Pam, add chicken broth. Prepare gravy as directed and add to soup. Simmer.
**I add some extra spices and goodies to this. But it's a super easy and yummy soup just as it is!