Easy pork with fries and green beans...

Monday night I made the dinner that I had planned for Sunday night. It did take an hour to make so it's not a really fast meal, but it was easy to make. And it tasted great! We will be making this one again.

One-Pan Roast Pork with Parmesan Fries
Kraft Magazine 2007 pg. 43

1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt, divided
1 1/4 lb. Yukon gold potatoes (I found a bag of little Yukon gold potatoes that I just halved)
1 lb. pork tenderloin (I could only find 2, 1 lb tenderloins, so I baked them both...one for later)
2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing (I used the Roasted Red Pepper with Parm dressing from last week)
1 Tbs honey
1 lb. green beans

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the egg white, cheese and 3/4 tsp. garlic salt in a medium bowl. Add the potatoes and toss to coat (I just put the potatoes on a cookie sheet then combine it all with my hands...also, don't forget to spray your cookie sheet with Pam spray or else you'll be sorry...as I learned).
Bake the potatoes for 15 minutes. Place meat on the same baking sheet next to the potaotes and sprinkle with garlic salt, I also put some pepper on ours. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the dressing and honey.
Brush the meat with the dressing mixture. Continue cooking 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through (160 degrees) and the potatoes are tender. Brush the meat occasionally with the dressing mixture.
While the meat and potatoes are cooking, snap the ends of the beans and put into a large skillet. Add some water, enough to just cover the beans. Cover and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the green beans and return to the skillet. Add some butter, garlic salt, and pepper. Saute for 2 or 3 minutes to combine all of the flavors.
Slice the tenderloin into small coin pieces. Plate the tenderloin, potatoes, and green beans.
EnJoY!

Soooooooo good!

I made a strawberry cake for dessert Monday night. It was probably the best cake I've ever had! It was great AND it was refreshing for summer. I am NOT a cake eater, but I loved this!

Strawberry Swirl Cake
Kraft 2007 magazine Pg. 11

1 pkg. (2 layer size) white cake mix
1 pkg. (4 serving size) strawberry Jello
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup powder sugar
1 tub (8 ounces) Cool Whip topping, thawed
1 1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 (8 or 9 inch) round cake pans, set aside. Prepare cake batter as directed on the package. Pour half of the batter into a medium bowl. Add the dry Jello and stir until well blended.
Pour half of the white batter and half of the pink batter, side by side, into each prepared pan. Swirl the batters together using a spoon. (Do not over swirl, as the batter will all turn pink...not marbled). Bake 30 minutes. Cool 30 minutes in pans. (Make sure to do this step, I didn't cool them completely and they fell apart in the pans). Remove to wire racks and cool completely.
Mix the sour cream and powder sugar in a medium bowl until well blended. Gently stir in the Cool Whip. Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate. Spread 1 cup of the frosting mixture on top. Cover with 1 cup of the strawberries. Top with the remaining cake layer. Spread top and side of the cake with the remaining frosting mixture. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of strawberries. Store leftover cake in the refridgerator.
EnJoY!

Menu and Shopping List

This is going to be a pretty normal week for us. Whatever normal is considered anymore. We've got dance one night, 2 games, a birthday party, and a school fair...all in the evenings. So, we have quite a few quick fix dinners that are fast, easy and yummy. I think that this week's menu is good, so enjoy finding what you'll like.

Menu:

Monday: Breakfast- breakfast bars
                Lunch- out
                Snack- veggie's & ranch dip
                Dinner- Roast pork with parmesan fries and green beans and Strawberry cake for dessert

Tuesday: Breakfast- Eggos
                 Lunch- salad
                 Snack- apples & peanut butter
                 Dinner- Pigs in a blanket with mac & cheese

Wednesday: Breakfast- French Toast sticks
                      Lunch- ham & apple bagel sandwiches
                      Snack- sausage balls
                      Dinner- at church

Thursday: Breakfast- Bagel or toast
                  Lunch- cold meat wrap
                  Snack- cheese & crackers
                  Dinner- Biscuits & gravy

Friday: Breakfast- cereal
             Lunch- find something
             Snack- grahm crackers with marshmallow cream
             Dinner- school fair

Saturday: Breakfast- Eggs & Toast
                 Dinner- spaghetti with homemade sauce

Sunday: Breakfast- Cinnamon rolls
              Dinner- 20 clove garlic chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots

Shopping List:
garlic
strawberries
hot dogs
Sage sausage
ceasar dressing
crescent rolls
mac & cheese
strawberry Jello (4 serving)
refridgerated tube of biscuits
white cake mix box
milk
small sour cream
Eggos
french toast sticks
2 frozen pizzas
bread

Chicken dance...

Last night we had Chicken Florentine. It was really good. It had spinach with it that the kids were not fond of, but they tried it and pushed it off to the side then ate the rest of their dinner. We decided that this is a keeper. We all liked it and think we'd enjoy it again sometime. It was really fast to cook, like under 30 minutes and I made lots of extra rice for my hubby to make for breakfast for himself and for me to make some rice pudding with (I'll share this yummy recipe later this week, when I make it!).

Chicken Florentine
Kraft Magazine 2007 pg. 38

3 Tbs. zesty Italian dressing, divided. (I used the Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan dressing from earlier in the week, since I had it on hand and wanted to use it up)
4 cups baby spinach leaves (or whatever your family will eat)
4 small boneless chicken breast halves (again, or whatever your family will eat)
8 slices coldmeat ham (I used honey maple ham, which is what I use for ham sammy's for lunch)
swiss cheese slices (as many as you need for the chicken breasts)
1 cup uncooked rice

Make the rice according to the directions on the package.

Heat 1 Tbs. of the dressing in a large ovenproof skillet (I used my large cast iron skillet and it worked great!) on med. heat. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, for 1 min. until the spinach is just wilted. I did mine a little too long and it got pretty mushy, but still tasted good. Remove from skillet and keep warm. (I put mine into a glass pie plate and stuck it into the micorwave).
Add the remaining 2 Tbs. of dressing and the chicken to the skillet. Turn the chicken over to coat it evenly with the dressing. Cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side until the chicken is cooked through (170 degrees).
Top with ham and cheese, cover and reduce heat to lot and cook 1 to 2 min. until cheese melts. Or, you can put the skillet into the broiler to brown; which is what I did. Spoon the spinach onto plates as well as the rice. Top with a chicken breast.

EnJoY!

Monday and Tuesday's dinners

It's Tuesday and I didn't post last night's dinner. It was an ok dinner. It's not one that I will plan on making agian, but if I happen across it again and forget that I'd made it, I won't be sad. Tonight's dinner was a hit with everyone. They were both really easy to make and pretty quick. Let's get on with the show.

Creamy Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
(Kraft magazine 2007 Pg. 17)

8 oz. farfalle (bow tie) pasta, uncooked
4 cups broccoli florets (I used a head of broccoli and cut off the florets)
3 Tbs. Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I just used 3 since that's all we were eating)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups tomato-basil spaghetti sauce
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli to the cooking water for the last 3 minutes of the past cooking time. Meanwhile, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic, cook 5 minutes. Turn chicken over, continue cooking 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Drain pasta mitxure in colander, return to pan and set aside. Add pasta sauce and cream cheese to chicken in skillet, cook on medium-low heat 2 to 3 minutes or until crea mcheese is completely melted, mixture is well blended and chicken is coated with sauce, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Add sauce mixture to pasta mixture, mix well. Transfer to bowls.
Cut chicken crosswise into thick slices, fan out chicken over pasta mixture in each bowl. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. EnJoY!
PS. I did not get a picture, we were too hungry and in too much of a hurry to eat.

Burrito Skillet
(Kraft magazine 2007 pg. 25)

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 can (19 oz)  kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1 cup salsa
1 cup water
4 flour tortillas, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares
1 cup Mexican style shredded four cheese
1/3 cup Sour cream
1/3 cup chopped green onion (about 1 large)

Brown meat in a large skillet on medium-high heat, drain.
Add seasoning mix, bean, salsa, and water, stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer 5 minutes.
Stir in tortillas, top with cheese. Cover, let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and onions.
This was a good dinner. We enjoyed it and it was done is 30 minutes or just less AND it was all in one skillet. Easy Peasy! For dessert, I cut up 3 tortillas, into strips. Then sprayed them with butter spray and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (on both sides). I then baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20 min or so, until they are crispy.
EnJoY!

It's Sunday, you know what that means...

yep, that's right. It's menu and grocery list time! We have a great list put together for this week. My hubby helped me this week, and whenever he helps we always end up with a great menu, but it also seems to be more expensive and involved. Here's what's up for the week:

Menu:

Monday: Breakfast-Eggs & Toast
                Lunch-Spinach Salad with strawberry vinegarette (homemade)
                Snack- pudding
               Dinner-Creamy bowtie pasta with chicken and broccoli (Kraft magazine from 2007 pg. 17)

Tuesday: Breakfast- breakfast bars
                Lunch- PB&J's
                Snack- grahm crackers
                Dinner- Beef Burrito Skillet with cinnamon sugar tortillas (Kraft magazine from 2007 pg. 25)

Wednesday: Breakfast- Eggos
                     Lunch- Salad
                     Snack- Bugs on a log (peanut butter celery with raisins)
                     Dinner- at church

Thursday: Breakfast- cereal
                  Lunch- Spaghetti O's
                 Snack- Cheese & Crackers
                 Dinner- Chicken florentine with rice (Kraft magazine from 2007 pg. 38)

Friday: Breakfast- Sausage, Egg, & Cheese sandwiches
             Lunch- Ham & Apple Bagel sandwich (Kraft magazine from 2007 pg. 65)
             Snack- Popcorn
             Dinner- Steaks with Asparagus with holindaise with fruit smoothie cheesecake

Saturday: Breakfast- Stuffed French Toast (Kraft magazine from 2007 pg. 13)
                 Snack- Ranch dip with carrots, celery, and wheat thins

Sunday: Breakfast- Breakfast casserole
              Dinner- Roast pork tenderloin with parmesan fries and green beans (Kraft magazine from 2007 pg.
                           43)

Grocery List:
Remember that this is a list of items that we'll need. I'll put an * by the items that are needed for the menu items. Look through the recipies for ingredients you may need to add to your grocery list.
*baby spinach
*broccoli
carrots
celery
*2 granny smith apples
*.5 lbs. green beans
*1 bundle green onions
*strawberries
*1.5 lbs. yukon gold potaotes
*.5 lbs. cold meat ham
*1 lb. hamburger
*1 lb. pork tenderloin
round sausage patties
bread
*cinnamon raisin bread
*whole wheat bagels
*1 can kidney beans
mandarine oranges
*ranch dressing
*tomato basil spaghetti sauce
*bow tie pasta
garlic salt
ketsup
*Kraft roasted red pepper italian with parmesan cheese dressing
liquid smoke
*mayo
cereal
skinny girl margarita
*1 taco seasoning packet
wheat thins
*1 pgk. Mexican shredded cheese
milk
*36 ounces Neufchatel cheese
parmesan cheese
*1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
*8 ounces sour cream
*sliced swiss cheese
bag of frozen *chicken breasts
Eggos
*1 bag frozen mixed fruit
kids potty wipes
TP

Check back throughout the week to see the recipies. This should be a slower week for me so I should not have any problem getting this updated daily. EnJoY!

Saturday evening at home

Last night we had an evening free. So, we decided that we were going to do a Beer in the Rear chicken and some onion potatoes. This dinner takes a long time for both to cook and we knew that we'd have to have time for it. The chicken takes 1 to 2 hours and the potatoes take about 1 hour or so. But, OH MY! It was soo worth the long cook time. It's all easy to prep, so once it's going, you just sit back and enjoy your backyard & the beautiful weather (or at least that's what we did). Here are the recipies:

Onion Potatoes
(My version of the recipe on the Lipton Onion Soup mix box)
3-5 potatoes (I used red potatoes this time so I used 6 since they are smaller)
1/4 onion (I had a VERY large onion, if your onion is small, use 1/2 of it)
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
1 stick butter
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. While the oven is preheating, put the stick of butter into a 13x9 inch pan and let it melt in the oven. Dice the potatoes into bite size chunks as well as the onion. When the oven is preheated and the butter is melted, throw in the onion and potatoes. Mix in the onion soup mix. Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the potatoes are tender. Stir every 15 minutes or so.

Beer in the Rear Chicken
1 whole chicken
1 can of beer (you only need half of a can, do what you deem necessary with the other half)
Seasonings: (use what you want, but this is what we used)
Pork rub
Old Bay seasoning
Garlic salt
Kosher salt
Pepper
Cajun seasoning
Liquid smoke
Worscheshire sauce
Seasoning salt
small potato or small onion to put into the neck hole

Clean out the chicken and wash it with cold water and dry with a paper towel. Season and pat all of this onto the chicken with pork rub, Old Bay, Garlic salt, salt, pepper, and as much cajun seasoning as you'd like (this will add heat to it). Add all of this to the inside of the chicken (rear end) as well and rub it in. To your beer can add some liquid smoke, worscheshire sauce, seasoning salt, salt, & pepper. We have a special stand that you put the beer can into and the chicken onto. If you don't have this stand, just put the chicken on the beer can. Either way, set the entire thing on a grill safe pizza pan. Shove the potato or onion into the neck hole to stop up the cavity of the chicken. Carefully place the entire thing on a very low heat grill.

Our grill has 4 burners. We only turned on 2 and they were on the lowest setting. This is a "low and slow" grilling, it'll take 1 to 2 hours depending on the size of your bird. Our bird took 1 1/2 hours yesterday. When you remove it from the grill, be VERY careful that it doesn't spill off and when you take the bird off of the can, be careful that you don't spill the hot liquid all over your hand! Cut apart and EnJoY!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches again...

This evening we had another baseball game and we loved the pulled pork sandwiches that I had made last month. I decided that I'd make another batch and again, they didn't fail me. These are sooo yummy! You HAVE to make these sandwiches when you have a chace. I know that the pork ribs may be a bit pricey, but they are worth it to not have to pull out all of the bones and have this be such a quick and easy dinner. We had mac & cheese with our sandwiches. We also had some ice cream for our after dinner treat.


Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches


3 lbs. pork ribs, bones removed
1 14 oz. can beef broth
Lowery's seasoning
Carribean Jerk seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion powder
pinch of nutmeg
Salt & pepper
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Combine all of the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low 8 hours. Once it's all cooked, pour into a strainer and get rid of the liquid. Put the pork in a bowl and shread with 2 forks. Combine with bbq sauce, slap it on a bun and EnJoY!

Taco Salad

Tuesday night we had taco salad for dinner. This is one of our family favorites and I love when spring and summer roll around so we can have it more often. That may sound weird, but to me taco salad is a spring and summer dinner. Not a fall and winter dinner. It's quick and easy and yummy. This is my husband's family recipe that I have tweaked a bit. You can add on to or take away from if you don't like something in it. Here goes.....

Taco Salad

1 lb. hamburger meat
1 package taco seasoning
lettuce
tomatoes
onion
shredded colby jack cheese
1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained
Catalina salad dressing
Dorito's

Brown the hamburger meat and drain. Follow the directions on the seasoning packet and make the taco meat. Cut the lettuce, tomatoes, and onion. I like to put out all of the ingredients into seperate bowls so that everyone can make their own salad the way that they like it. I drain and rinse the kidney beans in a small collander, then drain the corn right on top and mix together. Next, I get a large food keeper with a lid. I make the kids salads first since they dislike the most in the salad. I put lettuce in, cheese, the kidney beans and corn, dressing and crushed Dorito's. Put the lid on and give it a big shimmy shake. Next, I make my hubby's salad since I can use the left-over kids salad but add some onions and make it bigger for him. Shake it up. Whatever is left, I add tomatoes to, and make my salad. This usually makes a large salad and gives us more than we can eat, so I don't do anyother sides or desserts with this dinner. I don't like to make it ahead of time or make it all at once, becuase we won't eat it all and it'll go bad if I mix it all up at one time. This way, I can make it really easy for a later meal.
EnJoY!

This weeks' menu & grocery list with 2 special treats...

Sorry I missed an entire week. We had some very important company...my mom and her boyfriend. It was a joy to have them here, but it threw my schedule off track and I didn't get around to updating my blog. In honesty though, we ate almost every meal out, so there wasn't really much for me to post anyways.

I do have two recipies to share that we did last week which we enjoyed. One was a grilled veggie recipe that my mom and Steve brought back to me from a trip that they took. It's very simple and makes a bunch of veggies. In a foil pan, combine any cut & chunked veggie that you like. Root veggies are great such as carrots, potatoes, red potatoes, onions, cabbage (I know this is not a root veggie, but I've heard it was great in this dish), 1 of 2 sticks of butter, salt & pepper, & some meat seasoning salt. Cover with foil and put on the grill for 30 minutes or so. EnJoY!

The other is called Chicken Raleigh (This recipe makes a very large dish and I halved it for us)
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken or turkey, chopped
2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 pkg herb dressing mix
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbs butter
Sauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth and/or white wine
1 can cream of mush soup (I was out, so I used Cheddar Cheese soup & it was really good)
1 cup Mayo
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbs. lemon juice
salt and pepper

In a bowl, combine sauce ingredients, whisk together. Line bottom of casserole dish with broccoli and chicken, cover with sauce. Combine bread crumbs, herb dressing, parmesan cheese, and butter and sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. EnJoY!

BUT, I'm back and ready to go with this weeks' menu and grocery list. We have 3 nights this week with baseball games, so we have to have 3 quick meal nights. One of which we will be eating out. It's just too crazy of a day to try to cook that night. I don't see anything wrong with eating out every now and again especially when you have a crazy busy day.

Menu:

Monday- Breakfast: Cinnamon Crunch muffins (from the box)
               Lunch: Corn dogs
               Snack: cheese & crackers
               Dinner: Out

Tuesday-Breakfast: Breakfast Tacos
               Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas
               Snack: Sausage Balls
               Dinner: Pulled Pork Sandwiches (from the slow cooker) with baby new potatoes

Wednesday-Breakfast: Toaster Struddles
                    Lunch: PB&J
                    Snack: Fruit
                    Dinner: at church

Thursday-Breakfast: Breakfast Bars
                Lunch: Mac & Cheese
                Snack: apple slices & peanut butter
                Dinner: Taco Salad

Friday-Breakfast: Cereal
           Lunch: leftover Taco Salad
           Snack: yogurt & string cheese
           Dinner: Brats with Cream Corn Casserole

Saturday-Breakfast: Eggs and Toast
               Dinner: Salad, Beer in the Rear Chicken with onion potatoes

Sunday-Breakfast: Bagel or Toast
            Dinner: no plan, probably leftovers


Grocery List
Remember, this is just what we need, check the recipies to make sure you don't need to add more to the list for things you may need.
Also, if there is an * you need that item for the menu items.
*lettuce
*new potatoes- 1.5 lbs.
*tomato
*viadilla onions- 1 or 2
*hamburger buns
*3 lbs. boneless pork ribs
*1 lb. hamburger meat
*whole chicken 3.5 to 4 lbs.
brown sugar
*Catalina dressing
chips
*Doritos
*Eggs
*French onion soup mix
cereal
*Taco seasoning mix packet
milk
stick butter
tub butter
*14 oz. beef broth
*14 oz. can of yellow corn
*28 oz. can cream corn
*14 oz. kidney beans
dryer sheets
gallon baggies
sandwich baggies
snack baggies
M's body wash
paper plates

Check in tomorrow to see what's new!