Menu Plan Monday

So, this is my first time to post as part of orgjunkie.com's Menu Planning Monday, and I am excited! I've been a meal planner since we first got married, so I just need to remember to post it on Mondays :) Now, you will know what recipes you have to look forward to this week! Here goes:

Monday - Linguine with garlic sauce

Tuesday - going to a friend's house, will update later with what I am bringing

Wednesday - Parmesan chicken tenders

Thursday - Blackened tilapia - using this recipe as a guide

Friday - on the road to College Station

Saturday - at our friend Chad's wedding...yum wedding cake!

Sunday - Jamaican jerk turkey burgers, a WW recipe I will post after making it

Hopefully everything will taste good! I'm really excited about trying the tilapia, so I'll let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

"Everything" cookies

Well, the original name of these cookies is "Whole wheat peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies", but since that is such a mouthful I just shortened it to everything cookies! I adapted this recipe slightly from Tammy's Recipes and they turned out great! They certainly aren't healthy, but they are healthier than a typical cookie, so you gotta feel a little bit good about that :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup oats

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups chocolate chips

-Cream butters and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until smooth.

-Combine flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Add to creamed mixture and stir well.

-Add chocolate chips and mix with a spoon until blended.

-Spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets.

-Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes

My notes- I used light butter, because thats what I had, and it worked great. My dough made 51 cookies, and I baked them for 12 minutes. From the reviews I read, you want to underbake them slightly so they stay soft for a few days. Each cookie has 2 "points" so about 75 or so calories. They certainly taste like a bunch of different flavors in one, which is fun, but probably would not hit the spot if you are really wanting regular chocolate chip cookies. Hope you enjoy!

Apple Oat Muffins

Mmm...I am eating one of these right now, and they are really good. I adapted this recipe from a recipe blog here. A word of warning- these certainly taste healthy, so don't make it expecting a starbucks blueberry muffin :)

Ingredients:

1/2 c brown sugar (I used a little less than)

1 c Fiber 1 cereal, crushed

1 1/4 c whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 c oats

2 eggs

1 c unsweetened chilled applesauce

4 tbsp fat free yogurt

1 c chopped apple

dash of cinnamon

-Preheat oven to 400. Grease 12 muffin cups.

-Crush Fiber 1 cereal in food processor. Peel apples and then put in a food processor to chop them up into small pieces.

-Combine flour, fiber 1 cereal, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until blended.

-Add eggs, applesauce, apples, and yogurt. Mix until well blended.

-Spoon into 12 muffin cups. Let stand 10 minutes.

-Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

My notes: I used my mini food chopper for the cereal and the apples. The apples don't need to be shredded, but I tried to get them as small as possible. When I was mixing everything together, I had to use a spatula to get the ingredients totally combined. My batter filled the cups to the top, so you could probably make 18 smaller muffins instead of 12 bigger ones. I also had to bake for about 17 minutes for them to be done in the centers.

Enjoy!

King Ranch Chicken

King Ranch is my go-to meal when people are coming over, because its fairly quick to prepare, and leaves me free to do other things while it bakes. The recipe comes from my friend, Jenn Chalmers.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped (I rarely use this many)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can Mexican Rotel

8 oz Mexican style or cheddar cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup chopped onion

15 tortillas, cut into quarters

1. Mix soups, Rotel and broth together in a large saucepan. Add onion and chicken. Cook in saucepan for 10 minutes.

2. Layer the following in a 9"x13" baking dish:

5 quartered tortillas (aka 20 tortilla pieces)

1/3 of soup mixture

1/3 of cheese

3. Repeat layers two times.

4. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

(You may need to cover with foil near the end if cheese is getting too brown)

This is so good! Feel free to make adjustments to fit your tastes...I have omitted onions for a friend that doesn't like them (although I think they make it better) as well as used only cream of chicken soup when I was out of mushroom. I also typically use corn tortillas, although the original recipe calls for flour.

Pudding Cake

This is one of my favorite dessert recipes because its so little work for such a wonderful result! I got it from my friend, Alison, who blogs with her husband about fun places to eat in Dallas. Check out their blog if you are interested!

Ingredients:
1 box yellow moist cake mix
1 box Jello instant pudding mix - vanilla
1 box Jello instant pudding mix - chocolate
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup water
1/2 cup chocolate chips (save for last)

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Add in chocolate chips until well blended. Pour mixture into a greased bundt pan or another type of pan if you'd like. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. If you don't use a bundt pan, it will most likely take less time.

I typically try to replace oil with applesauce, but I can't remember if I have done that in this recipe or not. I'm sure it would be fine, as I can never taste the applesauce in things where I've substituted, but do so at your own risk!

Pizza Crust

Here is the recipe for pizza crust that I used for the pepperoni rolls below. Its from my friend Cate, and is so good! Head on over to Cate's blog and wish her son Eli a happy one month birthday! He is such a cute baby. Ok, on to the recipe...

Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Crust:

1 TBS yeast

1 cup water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 TBS oil

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour (or any combination of wheat & white)

**Cate recommended adding a few tablespoons of Italian seasonings and/or garlic salt….so I did both!

1. Heat water to correct temperature –between 105-115 degrees
2. Dissolve the yeast in the water for a few minutes.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined. (or just mix in your mixer)
4. Knead for 5 minutes, adding flour if necessary to make it smooth and elastic. (Again, if you are using a mixer, just use your dough hook)
5. Roll out into circle (1/2 inch thick or thinner) on pizza stone or greased pan. (Personally, I think the thinner the better- that way the dough will definitely be cooked through)
6. Top with favorite toppings
7. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Pepperoni Rolls

I made these on Monday night and they were great! The recipe comes from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and is also below. She links to a different pizza crust recipe than what I used, but I have made the one she mentions and it is good too!

Ingredients:
Ingredients for desired pizza dough
8 oz part skim mozzarella cheese
1 pouch pepperoni, de-greased 30 sec in microwave (like bacon, layer with paper towels)
Marinara sauce for dipping


-Make pizza crust according to directions and roll out into rectangular shape, I did mine pretty thin so it would cook faster
-Place pepperoni on top, I only used about 2/3 of a pouch of pepperoni because it made a single layer with that amount
-Sprinkle evenly with cheese
-Roll up along the long side and cut, mine made 18 rolls
-Bake on cookie sheet, cut side down (you may need to secure some with toothpicks)
425 degrees for about 15 minutes (make sure the dough cooks all the way through)

We thought these were really good! I used turkey pepperoni to lower the fat, but I didn't de-grease it...I probably should have though. I think 3-4 rolls is a good, filling serving size, so I guess this would serve about 4 (especially if it was 2 guys and 2 girls). Enjoy!