Menu 10-31

Recap From Last Week:

While the Baked Potato Soup was as delicious as always the Soda Bread (from Not Your Mother's Casseroles) was really not that great. The flavor was just a little odd and the outside was really hard. The saving grace of the bread was the inside was wonderfully soft. However, it was not so wonderfully soft that I'll make it again. It did make great breadcrumbs though!

I tried something new with the french fries this time. Instead of drizzling them with olive oil, as the orginal recipe recommends, I just sprayed the top layer with a light coating of cooking spray and then salted them. They turned out great that way. They were crispy yet still soft: perfection!

Tuna Noodle Casserole: one of those stereotypical dishes that everyone remembers. Ironically, neither my husband nor I recall having it growing up. It's too bad because we both enjoy it now.

I pulled two pizza crusts out of the freezer for pizza night this week. I had never frozen pizza dough before so I was a little apprehensive. Thankfully it turned out just fine. Although the crust was maybe a little thinner than normal it held our BBQ Chicken toppings just fine!

We liked the Pumpkin Pie Baked French Toast but I don't think I'll be hanging on to the recipe. I definitely recommend trying it though because it was an easy, tasty dish and just right for the season.

 

I turned my Cranapana Bread into muffins and we loved them. It's a combination of cranberries, apples and bananas. Typically the banana would overpower everything else but in this case all the flavors played nicely together. We will definitely be having these again.

I've had the ingredients for this Ice Cream for over a month now and finally got around to making it. That was a lot of simple fun that we are thoroughly enjoying eating.

I also made a second batch of yogurt this week and it turned out much thicker due to two things: I added 3 T of powdered milk along with the starter and also (because of an unexpected crazy morning) it sat for about 16 hours instead of just overnight.

We were running low on granola so this week I tried Pumpkin Spice Granola. The result was more of a typical granola texture and the taste was wonderful.

Onto This Week:

• Monday: Soup Night! Lasagna Soup: This was one of our favorite finds last winter. I'm going to try using frozen spinach instead of fresh; hopefully it won't be too much of a disaster.
• Tuesday: Apple Onion Cider Chicken: I have been finding so many awesome apple deals recently so this will be a great time to have this dish.
• Wednesday: Raspberry Marinated Chicken with Crispy Potato Bake: I have some raspberry dressing sitting in the cupboard that I doubt we'll ever use on salads.
• Thursday: Cheesy Salsa Meatloaf with Fried Potatoes: A little double twist on the classic meatloaf and potatoes.
• Friday: Pizza Night! Burrito Pizza: Yet another pizza that we've not visited in quite a while.
• Saturday Brunch: Apple Cinnamon Pancakes: Again a recipe using apples. As a bonus my husband loves cinnamon so this should be a winner with him.

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