Menu Planning Monday 12/20

The Christmas countdown is on!

Monday:  spinach alfredo pizza
Tuesday:  chicken apple sausage, roasted green beans, corn (didn't quite get to this one last week!)
Wednesday:  cornbread taco casserole, fruit
Thursday:  sausage and ham gumbo, bread
Friday breakfast:  sausage rolls, Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls
Friday lunch:  sandwiches
Friday dinner:  Christmas eve tradition - Chinese food!
Saturday:  Christmas! I'm bringing cheese grits, yeast rolls and homemade peppermint oreos
Sunday:  leftovers

Other things being made this week:  peppermint bark popcorn to pass out to our fellow church volunteers and some cookies for our neighbors...I'm still deciding what kind.

Meal Planning Monday 12/13

Monday: last minute change! homemade biscuits, turkey sausage and fruit
Tuesday: chicken apple sausage, peaches, roasted asparagus
Wednesday: out to eat @ Blue Mesa - yum!
Thursday: Supper Club - we're hosting and having lasagna
Friday: pork roast, rice, M&M cookies
Saturday: out to eat with Bart's family!
Sunday:  baked potatoes with ham & cheese, corn

Have a great week!  The countdown is on to Christmas! :)

Homemade Peppermint Oreos

If you're not already planning to make these based on the name, let me assure you - they are SO worth making! They have a few steps, but don't take many ingredients and look much fancier than your typical brownie or cookie.

Recipe source

Ingredients:
2 boxes devil's food cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp peppermint extract
sprinkles or other items for decorating

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in a large bowl and mix until blended.  Batter will be very stiff. (I had to use my hands to get it fully mixed together.)
3. Break off pieces of batter and roll into 1" balls (or use a cookie scoop).  Place 1 inch apart on parchment and flatten slightly with fingertips.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove immediately from cookie sheets and place on wire racks to cool.
5. While cookies cool, combine cream cheese, butter and peppermint extract.  Add powdered sugar slowly and beat until the icing is smooth.
6. Once cookies are cool, assemble cookies with filling inside and decorate as desired.
7. Refrigerate or serve immediately - and get ready for the compliments!

a close up :) so delicious!

Tips & Tricks-
-these taste just as good without peppermint extract, I made a few without for my friends that aren't fans of mint and they were great!
-the sprinkles adhere really well to the filling, so you can just shake them onto the sides of the cookie and voila!

Holiday Sugar Cookies

Usually, I will take a chocolate dessert over a non-chocolate dessert without hesitiation. But, there's just something about Christmas that calls for frosted sugar cookies! My mom made sugar cookie dough using the Imperial Sugar recipe (on the bag) but we never got to bake or decorate the cookies over Thanksgiving. So this weekend, I got out all the cookie cutters and sprinkles (also courtesy of my mom!) and went to town.

I'm certainly not a good cookie decorator, but I tried! I thought the trees turned out the best. I used this frosting recipe which was delicious. One hint, you have to beat the crisco and some sugar together before adding the water, because the crisco and water won't combine correctly. Decorate to your heart's content!

Meal Planning Monday 12/6

Its my first week using my new meal plan and I'm excited!  I did it informally a few weeks ago, and I love having soup in the winter so I'm very excited to have soup each week.  I've also put a * next to recipes I'm planning to post.  Here's what I'm planning:

Monday:  cheese ravioli with tomato sauce, salad
Tuesday:  marinated salmon*, baked apples, fresh green beans
Wednesday:  chicken pot pie, fruit salad
Thursday: chicken enchilada soup* (recipe courtesy of my sister)
Friday: Going away party for our friends the Liggitts :(
Saturday: Bart's company Christmas party

Sunday: crescent chicken, mixed veggies

also this week...apple oat muffins

Hello Dollies

Also known as Seven Layer Bars, these are a delicious sweet treat, perfect for passing out to your neighbors or co-workers as a holiday gift!  The best part is you probably have all the ingredients on hand, or at least most of them.

Recipe Source

Here's what you need:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup white sugar (I used less than this)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Here's what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 9x9 inch baking pan. Layer the chocolate chips, coconut and pecans over the crumbs. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

Tips & Tricks:
-One reviewer suggested heating the milk in the microwave to pour it evenly over the bars - this was very helpful!
-Multiple reviewers said to leave out the white sugar, but one mentioned that it helped the crust stay together so I decided to add about 1/8 cup.
-I also decided to used a 9 x 13 pan so that the bars would be a little thinner, which was a good choice.
-I only put pecans on about 2/3 since some people don't like or are allergic to nuts.  They still taste great without nuts!

Chicken Spaghetti

This recipe is courtesy of my friend, Cynthia. It is really delicious and great for leftovers as well (always a concern when its just the 2 of us eating).
Ingredients:
2 fryers, or 4-5 lbs meaty chicken pieces (I typically use 2 big chicken breasts)
1 green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pkg (10 oz) spaghetti, broken in half
1 can (1 lb) diced tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 ribs celery (I omit)
1 onion
1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems & pieces (I omit)
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
2 T. chopped ripe olives (I omit)
Salt & Pepper
Paprika
Worcestershire

• Simmer chicken until tender in well seasoned water; remove chicken and broth.
• Measure 1 qt broth back into pan.
• Bone & dice chicken; set aside.
• Into broth, put celery, green pepper, onion, garlic & mushrooms.
• Let cook a few minutes, then add spaghetti and cook until done.
• Add tomatoes, olives, soup, S&P and paprika and stir.
• Add worcestershire sauce and Velveeta and stir well until velveeta melts.
• Add chicken and heat through before serving.

Enjoy!

Chicken/Turkey Noodle Soup

This recipe is supposed to be chicken noodle soup, but I'm sure we all have extra turkey sitting in the fridge from Thanksgiving last week!  I knew it would be great to substitute turkey in this and I wouldn't feel bad throwing away perfectly good turkey.  So, try it either way!

Ingredients:
7-9 cups chicken broth
chicken or turkey, about 1 cup
1/2 package baby carrots, cut into thirds
1/2 package frozen corn
1 onion (optional)
2 tsp poultry seasoning
 pasta of your choice

I've done this soup in a crockpot before (dump everything in except pasta, cook on low 4-6 hours and add cooked pasta right before serving) and it turned out wonderfully.  I didn't think that far ahead tonight, so here's the night-of steps:

1.  Add chicken broth to large soup pot.

2.  Add carrots, corn and onion if using.  Allow to simmer while you are chopping your meat.

3.  Add chicken or turkey and poultry seasoning and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
4.  While soup simmers, cook pasta is a separate pot according to package directions. I used about 1/3 of a box of mini bow tie pasta.
5.  Add pasta to soup and allow to heat through.  Serve with bread or a salad.

This soup is very versatile.  The amounts can be changed to your liking.  I put a lot of carrots, corn and pasta in, which is why I put the amount of broth as a range.  The amount you need depends on how much other stuff you have in the soup.  After adding the pasta, if the liquid looks too low, just add in some extra chicken broth.  Hope you enjoy!

Crescent Chicken

This recipe is SO delicious and simple. Here's the source.  This recipe seems pretty plain, but tastes awesome and is so quick to put together, especially if you have leftover rotisserie chicken or chicken from another recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
1 cup shredded cheese, any type
1 can crescent rolls
1 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup

• Mix chicken and cheese in a medium bowl. You could add veggies here if you wanted to!
• Separate the crescents and lay them out on a pyrex sprayed with cooking spray
• Place about 1/3 cup of chicken/cheese mixture on the crescent.
• Stretch the dough until you can pinch it closed.
• Mix 1 cup of milk with the soup and pour it over your bundles.
• Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

Chicken Fiesta Soup

I'm always on the lookout for recipes that resemble chicken tortilla soup.  I've had this soup at probably 50+ restaurants, and my hands down favorite is McAlisters.  The only copycat recipe for that soup I can find did not turn out at all like the restaurant version!  So, I'm resigned to simply making any chicken tortilla-ish soup that crosses my path...and eating McAlisters version as much as I can drag Bart to go with me!  This recipe came from a crockpot cookbook I borrowed from a co-worker.  It definitely fits the bill for eating more veggies, and I thought it was good!  The green chiles make it a bit spicy, so I'd decrease those if you don't like spice.

just some of the ingredients...got ahead of myself chopping before I took the pic

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 14oz can stewed tomatoes, drained - I used crushed, and poured the whole can in
1 28oz can enchilada sauce
1 14oz can chicken broth
2 4oz cans green chiles
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chopped onion
chicken* - I used 1 large chicken breast, but the recipe called for 4! I'd recommend 1-2.
salt
pepper
chili powder - I substituted cayenne
cumin

-Chop all vegetables.  I used my mini chopper and this was a huge timesaver compared to last week's Sausage & Tortellini soup! 
-Add everything to crock pot except chicken. (Spray crockpot with cooking spray or use a liner for easy clean up!) I went in this order - veggies, canned items, spices.  I don't think it matters much, but don't put the spices in first or they might get stuck on the bottom and not mix through well.  Stir well.
-I added an uncooked, partially still frozen chicken breast and then cooked on low 8 hours.  When I got home, I took out the chicken and shredded it with two forks.  Then, I returned the chicken to the crockpot and allow to heat through (I also added a little water at this point because it was looking fairly stew-like).  The recipe calls for adding cooked chicken to the soup mixture, which you can definitely do.  I don't know all the rules for uncooked chicken, but I think the temperature and length of time you are cooking kills any bacteria in the soup that comes from putting the raw chicken in it.  But, if you are concerned, you can always cook the chicken in the crockpot overnight, shred it in the morning and throw it in with the soup ingredients.

Now that its even cold in Texas, soup is the perfect thing to have for dinner!  Filling, healthy, and warms you up.  Try this one and let me know if you like it!