Meal Planning Monday

Monday: leftover green chile soup, sandwiches & asparagus (random meal!)
Tuesday: mini meatball subs, potatoes & green beans
Wednesday: I'm making up a recipe! wish me luck...its a veggie/pasta medley
Thursday:  leftovers
Friday: parmesan risotto with chicken and veggies
Saturday: out to eat with the Halpins
Sunday: Super bowl!

I'm trying to get on the ball this week with posting some recipes.  I have a few that we're doing for the Super bowl so if you need ideas, check back this week!

Meal Planning Monday

Last week, I didn't get to make all our meals so you'll see some repeats this week!

Monday - mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, corn, blueberries
Tuesday - parmesan chicken tenders, leftover veggies & fruit
Wednesday - green chile chicken and lime soup
Thursday - Bart @ church, Lauren - leftovers
Friday - pepperoni rolls
Saturday - out to eat at Village Burger Bar - yum!
Sunday - italian pasta bake

Have a great week!

Chicken Pot Pie

Are you part of the millions of Americans trying to eat healthier in 2011?  I know I am!  This is a great recipe for comfort food but with way less calories than a typical restaurant version.  The recipe source has a ton of other recipe 'swaps' so be sure to look around for your favorites!

Recipe Source

Ingredients:

8 oz. raw boneless skinless chicken breast; cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I like the corn, peas, green beans mixture)
1 can (10.75 oz.) Campbell's Condensed Soup, 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken
3 servings Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls (unprepared)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Saute chicken pieces for several minutes in a pan spritzed with nonstick cooking spray, until chicken is light brown/cooked but still tender; set aside.
Heat frozen veggies in microwave according to package.
Mix chicken, vegetables and soup together and put in a 9" round baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
Place dish in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly (stir about halfway through).
While dish is cooking, unroll 3 crescent rolls. I typically do 4, as 3 makes a very thin crust.
Combine pieces together with hands to make one large ball of dough.
With a rolling pin, roll dough out into a circle to cover top of dish.
Add dough to the top of the dish and cook for an additional 15 - 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Serves 4.

York Brownies

These got a specific compliment from our elderly neighbor, so I knew they were blog worthy :)

Ingredients:
1 bag peppermint patties, unwrapped
3 c sugar
5 eggs
1 c cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 c (3 sticks) butter, melted
1 T vanilla
2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1.  Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 pan very well.
2.  Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; blend well.  Reserve 2 cups batter. Spread remaining batter in greased pan.
3.  Arrange York patties evenly over batter.  Pour 2 cups reserved batter over patties and spread it evenly.

4.  Bake 50-55 minutes or until brownies pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack, cut into squares.
Enjoy!

Cheese Grits

For Christmas at my in-laws, we do a brunch so this year I thought I'd bring cheese grits.  This recipe was shared with me a few years ago and its delicious!  Here it is:

Ingredients:

3 eggs, beaten

1 ½ cups quick grits (cook according to the directions on the pkg)

1 ½ sticks butter or margarine

1 lb. Colby (Longhorn style) cheese – cut into meltable strips

Dash of Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

-Combine all of the above in the saucepan that you cooked the grits in.  

-Put the lid on the pan and let the cheese sit for a few minutes to soften before mixing all together.  

-Keep stirring until all the cheese is melted.  

-Pour into a greased 13 x 9 inch dish.  

-Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes.

Be sure to beat the eggs well before adding them to the grits, and also mix the cheese very well.  After you bake it, you end up with cheesy sections if you don't mix the cheese thoroughly. The leftover grits reheat well, too!  So these are a perfect dish to make for a brunch, or breakfast for dinner with friends.  Then you can eat the leftovers for a few breakfasts and doubly (or triply) enjoy your excellent cooking!

Meal Planning Monday

Monday:  pasta with tomato sauce, zucchini and oven roasted green beans
Tuesday:  spice rubbed tilapia, wild rice, fruit
Wednesday:  parmesan chicken tenders, fruit
Thursday:  Bart @ church, Lauren- leftovers
Friday:  eating @ church
Saturday breakfast:  free spicy chicken biscuit @ Chick-fil-a
Saturday lunch:  sandwiches
Saturday dinner: crockpot BBQ chicken, grits and cornbread
Sunday breakfast:  cereal
Sunday lunch:  grilled cheese and soup
Sunday dinner:  green chili chicken and lime soup

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

 I made this twice over the holidays, and its delicious as well as so easy!  This will definitely be kept in my repertoire as a quick treat to make to bring to a gathering or as a gift.  Here's the source - a wonderful blog with tons of great recipes.

Ingredients:

1 package almond bark - white
18 cups popped popcorn
2 tsp peppermint extract
1 box candy candes
3/4 c chocolate chips (not pictured)

It took me three bags of popcorn to get the 18 cups, but I also leave a lot of kernels unpopped because I'm afraid of burning it. Here's what you do:
-Unwrap and crush up the candy canes using a plastic bag and a meat tenderizer.
-Melt the almond bark in small batches in the microwave (according to the package directions) and pour over the popcorn.
-Sprinkle the candy cane pieces and peppermint extract over the popcorn and mix very well.
-Spread popcorn out on parchment covered baking sheets and allow to set.
-Melt chocolate chips, spoon into a plastic bag with the corner cut off and drizzle over the popcorn.
-Let sit for a few hours (on the counter or in the fridge). Once hardened, break apart and enjoy!

You can mix the peppermint extract in with the almond bark but many people online suggest that this makes the bark 'seize up' and become clumpy.  I just used my fingers and tried to sprinkle it over the popcorn, which worked out fine. I also did mine in two batches because I didn't have a big enough bowl to do it all at once.  If you aren't a peppermint fan, there are a number of other options on the source blog, some of which I hope to try soon!