Menu February 27

Well, this is actually more of a no menu than a menu. A nasty crud/cold hit our house hard last week {including Mom} so we're still moving slowly around here. We still ate last week and will eat this week but in the interest of catching up I'm going to fore go an actually Menu Post this week. Hopefully things {including our health!} will be back to normal next week!

Salsa Roll-Ups

I've been making these Salsa Roll-Ups for almost as long as we've been married. It's a simple appetizer/side dish that I stumbled upon in my early cooking days when I was just starting my kitchen adventures. Well, even though I've come a long way in my cooking skills we still really love these Salsa Roll-Ups and whenever I take these to a gathering they are met with rave reviews. It just goes to prove that sometimes simple and easy is the way to go.
The key to a nice looking end product is making sure to freeze the roll-ups for a short time before you slice them. This way they can withstand the pressure from the cutting and maintain their circular shape.

Salsa Roll-Ups
 Print Recipe
Yields: ~50 pieces

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa
1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 tsp chili powder
8 tortillas  

Directions:
   1.  In a medium bowl combine softened cream cheese, salsa, cheese and chili powder.
   2.  Spread mixture over tortillas, leaving a 1 inch border on one side (to allow for the filling to move as you roll). Roll gently, placing seam side down on a plate. Place plate in freezer for 30-60 minutes. (You don't want them frozen solid, just slightly hardened.)
   3.  Remove from freezer; using a serrated knife slice into 1 inch pieces, place on serving plate.

Source: Kraft Foods

This is linked to Tasty Tuesdayand URS.

Menu February 20

Recap from Last Week:
Cheesy Vegetable Chowder with Kim's Rolls: The soup was fine but nothing outstanding. The rolls, however, were wonderful!


Breakfast for Valentines Dinner with Raspberry Brownies: It was a simple meal but fun to make it into hearts. The brownies were divine; the raspberry jam really added a lot.

Lasagna with Breadsticks: I was making the lasagna and evidently not paying enough attention since I put noodles, cheese, sauce, meat, cheese, sauce, meat and then realized I had forgotten to put more noodles in. So I put the noodles on and then to help fix it I dumped a can of tomatoes and it turned out fine.

Egg Stuffed Baked Potatoes: The celery was too limp for Cranberry Chicken Sandwiches so instead we had Egg Stuffed Baked Potatoes which were great. It uses ingredients I almost always have on hand, was simple to make and we all loved them. This will definitely appear on our table again!

Our schedule on Friday got a little crazy so instead of pizza we had leftover Lasagna.

Cinnamon Pancakes: I had measured out the dry ingredients into plastic bags a while ago and used one of them to make the pancakes. It was amazing how much easier it made the whole process!

I also made cookies this week. Although they look pretty were not the best cookies I've ever had so I'm not going to keep the recipe.

Onto This Week:

• Monday: Soup Night! Baked Potato Soup: Depending how ambitious I'm feeling I might see if I can make this decently in the crock pot.
• Tuesday: Crock Pot Bacon and Cheese Chicken: I'll probably serve this over rice.
• Wednesday: Soup at Church: Lent starts this week which means Soup Suppers at church for the next six weeks.
• Thursday: Cheesy Salsa Meatloaf: It's been a while since we've had meatloaf so it's due time to make this again.
• Friday: Chicken Bacon Ranch or Burrito Pizza: And again...Since we didn't have either last week we'll choose between these two.
• Brunch: Peanut Butter Banana French Toast Enchiladas: We didn't try it last weekend so we'll try again this week.

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

Friday Foreshadowing

I can tell I'm hungry because every single one of these recipes sounds good right now. It doesn't matter that it's not the "appropriate" time of day for most of them, I'd eat them anyway!

• Coconut Cranberry Granola from My Recipes: This looks wonderful although I'll likely leave out the nuts since I don't really care for them.
• Brownie Peanut Butter Cups from Raising Oranges: I'm sure the pan will be no fun to wash {pesky mini muffin tin} but it'll be worth it for this!
• Chocolate Fudge Oat Bars from Finding Joy in my Kitchen: These are actually on my to-do list for today. Granted, it would be the first thing to get axed {as something inevitably does these days} but maybe I'll have a really productive day.
• Crock Pot Bacon and Cheese Chicken from A Year of Slow Cooking: I'm still trying to incorporate the crock pot into my menu plans more often. In the comments people recommended serving this on tortillas, over potatoes or over rice. I love how many options there are.
• Homemade Baked Doughnuts from Whisk Together: These don't look complicated so I am more than willing to try these!

This is linked to Friday Favorites.

Menu February 13

Recap from Last Week:
Slow Cooker Corn and Potato Chowder: We enjoyed this soup but I don't know that I'll be adding it to the rotation. The onion rolls we had alongside are definite keepers though. I've made them twice now and we've enjoyed them immensely each time so the recipe is now on a card in my box.

 
Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme: These were great! Once I got the hang of the best way to wrap them they were easy to put together. My husband said he wouldn't mind if we had them every week. We won't be doing that but it's definitely a keeper recipe!

Easy Night: We ended up having chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries. While it wasn't the healthiest meal it was nice to just grab something from the freezer.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken: This reminded us a lot of Toasted Sesame Chicken. I added celery to the recipe and did a mix of honey and brown sugar instead of just honey. I'd like to try this again, combining parts of Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken and parts of Toasted Sesame Chicken.

Chicken Bacon Ranch or Burrito Pizza: Well, we didn't have either as we ended up ordering pizza {for the first time in a long, long time}.

Waffles: I pulled leftover waffles from the freezer, warmed them up in the oven and served! It was so easy to do and they were nice and crispy. I'm thinking I'll always do it this way now.

Onto This Week:

• Monday: Soup Night! Cheesy Vegetable Chowder: I'm looking forward to trying this chowder, which has a variety of vegetables in it. I'll make a simple roll to serve along with it.
• Tuesday: Breakfast for Valentines Dinner: I'm planning on digging out my heart cookie cutter(s) and making pancakes (more accurately pull some from the freezer) and eggs, both cut in hearts. For dessert I'll make brownies in the shape of a heart (made with a square pan and a circle pan).
• Wednesday: Lasagna: Lasagna noodles were on sale a couple weeks ago and we love Lasagna! I'll pull some breadsticks from the freezer. (Have I mentioned how glad I am to finally have an extra freezer?)
• Thursday: Cranberry Chicken Sandwiches:We picked up a big bag of cranberries from Sams and the celery is quickly losing it's crispness so it's now or never for these sandwiches!
• Friday: Chicken Bacon Ranch or Burrito Pizza: Since we didn't have either last week we'll choose between these again.
• Brunch: Peanut Butter Banana French Toast Enchiladas: I'm going to modify this recipe a bit and probably not use tortillas but it definitely sounds like a good combination.

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

Friday Foreshadowing

It was a busy week so I didn't spend a lot of time at the computer. That's evident in the fact that I only have a few recipes I bookmarked this week.

• Homemade Taco Seasoning from Heavenly Homemakers: I would love to have this on hand. I need to pick up cumin first but that's been on my {mental} list for a while {I just never actually remember that when I'm at the store}.
• Rocky Ledge Bars from Martha Stewart: Oh my goodness! Look at all the delicious things in these bars!
• Meatless {But You'd Never Know It} Chili from BHG: I've been trying to make more meals with less meat and this definitely falls in that category.

This is linked to Friday Favorites.

Apple Crisp

I was looking for an easy, yet delicious dessert a few weeks ago. I flipped all the way through my "Desserts to Try" binder and only found one thing that looked tempting: Apple Crisp. Ironically, in the end I didn't use the recipe I had pulled out but instead a recipe from one of my cookbooks.
Apple Crisp is such a good dessert to make because it's relatively quick and easy to put together but the result is fantastic! I reduced the sugar {in both the filling and topping} from the original recipe and we found it was still plenty sweet.

Apple Crisp
 Print Recipe
Yields: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:
Filling
4 cups diced apples (I used 4 good sized apples)
1/2 cup sugar (Can reduce to 1/3 cup)
1 T flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (Can reduce slightly)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
   1.  In a 9x9 pan or 2 qt baking dish combine first four ingredients.
   2.  In a medium bowl combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over filling.
   3.  Bake in a 350 oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned.
   4.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Source: St Paul's Lutheran Church, Fairmont, MN Cookbook

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Menu February 6

Recap from Last Week:
Tomato Basil Soup with Grilled Cheese: I took parts from this recipe and this recipe and came up with a pretty good soup. I have a few things I'll change the next time but it wasn't bad this way.

Sausage and Pasta: I used this recipe as the start of my sauce. I added more milk and shredded cheese resulting in a good sauce over the sausage.

Cheesy Broccoli Pockets: Well, once again we didn't have these and ended going to my in-laws for dinner on Wednesday. I think I'm giving up on these for now since trying four weeks in a row is getting a bit excessive!

Warm Chicken and Cheese Sandwiches with Apple and Green Bean Saute: This was such an easy meal to throw together and for some reason I really like it.

Sweet Hawaiian Pizza: Wonderful!

French Toast: I remembered to make the bread on Friday! I made 1 1/2 batches so now we have French Toast in the fridge for breakfast this week.

Snickerdoodle Muffins: I had seen a link on Pinterest where someone baked her cupcakes at a lower temperature for a little longer which resulted in a nicer looking cupcake. I tried the muffins at 325 instead of 350 and it worked great!

Onto This Week:

• Monday: Soup Night! Slow Cooker Corn and Potato Chowder: This sounds good and it uses the slow cooker, something I've been wanting to get in the habit of utilizing more often.
• Tuesday: Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme: Shredded lettuce was on sale last week so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try these.
• Wednesday: Easy Night: We'll have something quick and easy from the pantry, perhaps chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries or chow mein.
• Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken: My husband happened to see me bookmarking this recipe last week. When I asked him if he had any requests for meals he mentioned this so we're trying it!
• Friday: Chicken Bacon Ranch or Burrito Pizza: TBD which one we'll have but both are great choices.
• Brunch: Waffles: I got a quick answer for waffles when I asked what we should have for brunch so that made that decision easy!

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

Friday Foreshadowing

Here's a few of the wonderful recipes I saw this week.

• Cream of Something Soup from One Orange Giraffe: I have a recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken but this one looks easier and honestly, with two littles I'm willing to try the easier route!
• Prize Caramel Apple Bars from BHG: These look quite tasty and since they have Cheerios in them I think we can pretend they're a little better for you.
• Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies from Confections of a Readoholic Mom: How wonderful do these sound?
• Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake from Tracey's Culinary Adventures: I love coffee cakes, streusel is always delicious and pumpkin is good.
• Individual Chicken-Tomato Sheperd's Pie from An Oregon Cottage: I've only made shepherd's pie once and it wasn't that great. However, this recipe looks much better.

This is linked to Friday Favorites.

Chicken Fajita Pizza

We've been enjoying Chicken Fajita Pizza for quite some time now but just recently perfected the whole thing. The new addition of the fajita seasoning is quite tasty! That being said, we thoroughly enjoyed this pizza even without the extra seasoning so if you don't have any seasoning on hand it's still possible to enjoy Chicken Fajita Pizza.

Chicken Fajita Pizza
 Print Recipe
Yields: 2 medium pizzas

Ingredients:
pizza dough {I use this recipe, slightly adapted, which yields 2 medium pizzas}
pizza sauce
1/2 envelope fajita seasoning {optional}
1/8 cup water {if using fajita seasoning}
1 cup shredded chicken
1/2 - 1 cup chopped onion
1/2 - 1 cup chopped green pepper
2 - 3 cups shredded cheese

Directions:
   1.  Roll dough out to desired shape; top with pizza sauce.
   2.  Mix fajita seasoning and water in a small bowl. Add chicken and stir until coated.
   3.  Spread chicken on pizza; add onions and green pepper to pizza. Top with cheese.
   4.  Bake per dough directions. {We usually do 375 for 16-20 minutes.}

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday.