Weekly Menu 1/17-1/22

Sunday: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (didn't make last week)
Monday: Breakfast for dinner, pancakes, sausage, poached eggs
Tuesday: Shredded pork sandwiches, fries
Wednesday: Chicken in the crock pot, potatoes
Thursday: Soup and grilled cheese
Friday: Chuck e cheese for our nephews birthday
Saturday: We'll still be it at in-laws so who knows!

#1 Project 365 picture

I have seen alot of stuff on Project 365 on the blogs/boards and have decided to participate. It mans over the next year you will see lots of pictures from me. This first one is from our new nursery. I am sure this is just first of many so all of you can follow our decorating process with this!



We are going to make a stripe below, a chair rail in the middle and need to paint the doors the bright white and all the trim!

Weekly menu 1/10-1/15

Sun: Delicious Meliscious's skyline chili over spaghetti with cornbread
Mon: Chicken with fried rice and veggies
Tues: Leftover night (it'll be a big day, we find out what bean is!!!)
Wed: Leftover chili--this time put on pizza
Thurs: Roast Chicken and potatoes
Fri: Sub sandwiches

Buffalo Chicken Crockpot Lasagna

So my fellow May Nestie posted this on her blog and I just knew I needed to make it. I am so happy I did, it will stay in the rotation, for sure!

Uncooked traditional lasagna noodles
4 cooked chicken breast halves, cut up (mine were frozen, I dethawed them so I could cut them and then tossed, they were cooked through all the way)
Jar of prepared pasta sauce
1 c. buffalo wing sauce (I used Franks Buffalo sauce)
3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers (didn't use, DH doesn't like them)
15 oz tub ricotta cheese
2 c. shredded cheese (I left this off)
1/2 c. bleu cheese crumbles (I didn't use since they say bleu cheese is bad if you are pregnant)
1/4 c. of water (Used but I don't think it needed it, I will leave off next time)

Spray a 5 qt crockpot thoroughly or use a crockpot liner. (it’s important to have your crockpot at least 1/2 full.)

Combine the cut-up chicken, pasta sauce, and wing sauce in a large bowl. Ladle a big spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of your crockpot. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, breaking to fit the shape of the crockpot as needed.

Add a smear of ricotta cheese to the top of the noodles (I just dropped it in) Add a layer of chopped bell pepper, followed by a handful of shredded cheese.(left out)

Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients.

Add the bleu cheese crumbles, if desired. Put the 1/4 cup of water into your empty pasta sauce jar and shake. Pour the liquid over the top of the entire lasagna.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. When cooking time is complete, unplug and take off the lid of the crock. Let it sit for 20 minutes before cutting into

***Picture to come***

Whatever Meat & Cheese Braid

Well while making this DH looks at me and says "you could use any meat you wanted, couldn't you" and I suppose he is correct. It was really really good and we will make this with different meats and cheeses. Already thinking about a Turkey/Brie/Apples combination!

I saw this in my new Pillsbury Annual recipes cookbook. Here is one I found on Pillsbury.com, but really try different combinations, then come back and tell me what you have tried!

3/4 lb cooked ham, chopped (2 1/4 cups)
1 cup Green Giant® Select® frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4 oz)
1 jar (4.5 oz) Green Giant® sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 tablespoon honey mustard
2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet
1 egg white, beaten
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix ham, broccoli, cheese, mushrooms, mayonnaise and mustard.
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll both cans of dough into 2 large rectangles. Place dough with long sides together on cookie sheet, forming 15x12-inch rectangle. Press edges and perforations to seal. If using dough sheets: Unroll both cans of dough into 2 large rectangles. Place dough with long sides together on cookie sheet, forming 15x12-inch rectangle. Press edges together to seal.
3. Spoon and spread ham mixture lengthwise in 6-inch-wide strip down center of dough. With scissors or sharp knife, make cuts 1 1/2 inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling. Twisting each strip once, alternately cross strips over filling. Tuck short ends under; press to seal. Brush dough with beaten egg white. Sprinkle with almonds.
4. Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

Chocolate Coconut Coffee Cake

My mom used to make this every Christmas Day morning, so when we started having our own Christmas mornings I had to get the recipe from her, it is sooooo good.

2 cups biscuit/baking mix
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the biscuit mix and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk the egg, milk and 2 tablespoons butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Pour chocolate over the batter; cut through batter with a knife to swirl the chocolate.
Combine the coconut, nuts, and remaining sugar and butter; sprinkle over the top. Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 9 servings.

Sour Cream Rice

This is from one of my favorite What's Cooking girls, Carrie or Carrie's Sweet Life. She originally got this recipe from Allrecipes then I got it from her!

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste
In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, corn, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Weekly Menu 12/28-1/2

Monday: We stopped for a late lunch at Jose Peppers--kind of a last dinner before K went back to work!

Tuesday: Taco Pie, Sour Cream Rice

Wednesday: Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchilada's from Carrie's Sweet Life. I love Carrie and her great recipes, oh and her gorgeous new daughter!

Thursday: NYE: party at our friends house may make a dessert and bacon wrapped smokies for it, we are having apps and I think she was thinking a soup/chili!

Friday: New recipe out of my new Philsbury cookbook my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas! It's a braided crescent roll/meat/cheese creation!

Saturday: I am not sure as I think my hubby is cutting wood which means I'm on my own, so eggs or soup probably!

As you can tell my new craving is everything Mexican. I am usually not a huge van but K is and he is loving this!

Christmas Trays

We went to my mom & dads tonight and my mom pulls out these trays she has been working on. She had one she was going to make for me but nothing was put on it yet, so she let me work on it! I had a blast doing it and think it turned out cute!

White hot chocolate

I started making this 2 years ago for my cookie party and am tired of having to look it up every year so this year I am putting it in my blog. It is so good and my new fave!

From Sandra Lee

1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Vanilla whipped topping, for garnish
Candy cane, crushed or whole, for garnish
Peppermint liqueur, optional
White chocolate liqueur, optional

Directions
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine white chocolate chips and heavy cream. Stir continuously until white chocolate chips have completely melted. Stir in the half-and-half, vanilla extract and peppermint extract. Stir occasionally until heated through.

Pour into mugs and top with a dollop of vanilla whipped topping and a candy cane.

Steak, mushrooms and gravy

This was super easy and it was actually really good!

I used 4 cheap steaks
1 jar beef gravy
1 can mushroom pieces

I combined all of the above ingredients in my crockpot and set it to cook. My cook times were about 6 hours on low (my crockpot cooks really hot).

We served this shredded over mashed potatoes!

Hopefully I'm back, for awhile at least!

Well the reason for my absence is that we found out on 9/29 that we are expecting our first child. Between the exhaustion of first trimester and not wanting to eat I just wasn't cooking, but now I am. I even cooked a meal last night that is blog worthy if not easy! Today I am doing some Christmas candy making, but I'm using all exsisting recipes I have on my blog! So I really hope to be back in the kitchen for at least a while!

Weekly Menu 11/2-11/7

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes
Tuesday: Topsy Turvy Lasagna with salad
Wednesday: GDC
Thursday: Corn flake crumb chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans
Friday: Pizza Friday I'll make pepperoni bread
Saturday: We will be at DH's parents for the day, so have no clue!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!

These are oh so good! And even more so, they are so easy! I could sit here and eat the whole pan. Good thing they are low fat and low calorie! Top them with a piece of candy corn!

1 butter recipe (or any flavor you want/have)
1 can pumpkin (I just used Libby's)
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinammon

Mix together, it will be dry, but okay!

Preheat oven to whatever the box says.

Cook them according to box directions.

I got 21 cupcakes out of this, I will make them fuller next time as they don't rise much.


Cream cheese Frosting (from allrecipes)
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream the cream cheese and butter, stir in vanilla and add in powder sugar. Frost cupcakes, this made plenty probably enough for more than 24!

Tastes like spaghetti and meatballs risotto

I was watching Rachel Ray's talk show and she made this, and immediately I wanted it! So I made it for dinner that night! It was really good! I haven't really cooked anything new lately, but I hope that I get back in the kitchen!

Ingredients
1 28-ounce can tomato sauce or puree (I used Prego because I didn't have enough plain tomato sauce, but I will use regular sauce next time)
1 quart chicken stock
2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus some for liberal drizzling
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2 tablespoons tomato paste (didn't have any, I need to find the stuff you keep in the refrigerator)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced
1/3 cup breadcrumbs, eyeball it (I used frozen meatballs because I didn't have the ingredients to make these)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3/4 pound ground beef, pork and veal mix
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, a small handful


Preparation
Preheat oven to 400˚F.
Place the tomato sauce and stock in medium saucepot and heat over low heat. Keep warm.

Place a medium-sized pot with rounded sides over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan EVOO. Add onions and 2 cloves of garlic and sauté a couple of minutes to soften. Add the rice and turn to coat. Toast for about 1 minute then add the tomato paste and stir a minute more, stir in wine and cook until the liquid evaporates. Begin adding a couple of ladles of the tomato-stock at a time. Each time you add the liquid, stir the risotto vigorously to develop the starches. Rice will cook 18 minutes total. (If the rice is al dente and creamy, yet you still have a ladle or 2 of liquid left, do not feel forced to use it.) In the last minute or so of cooking time, stir in the butter until it melts then add 1/2 cup cheese, a couple of handfuls. Turn off heat and stir in basil.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, moisten the breadcrumbs with milk. Add egg, meat, parsley, 1/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix to combine. Score meat into 4 sections and form 8 small balls from each section, the size of marbles. Place the balls on a baking sheet and coat them with a liberal drizzle of EVOO. Bake 5 minutes until cooked through and golden.

Serve risotto in shallow bowls topped with 8 mini meatballs per serving.