Menu Planning

We are finally getting into the swing of things here, so we thought it was a good idea for me to start cooking again.  Besides, since I don't have my sewing machine at hand, I need something to occupy my time!!

When I started the meal planning I decided to go ahead and plan for 2 weeks.   So I've already cooked the first week and we are currently on Tuesday of the 2nd week.  

All but one of the main dishes is from allrecipes.com.   For some reason this website has become my new best friend!!!

Last week:
Sunday - Mongolian Beef, Rice, and Broccoli
Monday - English Muffin Pizza
Tuesday - Oregano Chicken, Honey Roasted Red Potatoes, and Corn
Wednesday - dinner at our new landlords
Thursday - out to dinner with the Swierenga's
Friday - Koln for the day
Saturday - Shrimp Scampi, Cheedar Biscuits, and Peas

We hadn't originally planned to go out to eat so many times this week, but that's how it ended up.  There was supposed to be a night in there that we had breakfast for dinner.   My two favorite things from last week's menu was the English Muffin Pizza and the Honey Roasted Red Potatoes.   The pizzas are actually from a kid-friendly menu which means they are super easy to make and take only a small about of time to cook.   The Honey Roasted Red Potatoes as I mentioned in a previous post are just simply yummy.

This week (which is still subject to change):
Monday - Meatloaf, Rice, and Corn
Tuesday - Baked Ziti, Cheddar Biscuits (I still have leftover batter from last week), and Green Beans
Wednesday - Pork Tenderloin (still TBD), Twice Baked Potatoes ( assuming I get new potatoes because they are already sprouting), and Broccoli
Thursday - Baked Chicken Nuggets, Mac & Cheese, and Corn
Friday - Lemon Garlic Tilapia, Rice, and Green Beans

Most nights we have leftovers, which Todd generally eats during the week for lunch. 

Domesticated

When my sisters and I were growing up our mom cooked dinner pretty much every night.   Some how none of us really picked up that trait from her .... until now.   I still don't think Amanda cooks, while Becky cooks alittle, and I have turned into my mom.   Dinner on the table every night around 6:30 is what I've become.   I have always enjoyed baking, but never really thought I was good at cooking.   Some people might consider baking and cooking the same thing, but I don't.  When I say baking I mean cookies, brownies, cakes, bread, etc.   I love to make sweet treats, eat some myself, and pass them along to others.   Cooking to me means the whole shebang - not only some form of meat, but a side and even a veggie.    Turns out the more I've been cooking the more I've enjoyed it.  I feel like I've become a lot better at it too.   Its gotten to the point where I'm finding all kinds of recipes online and saving them to my computer!!  I've even copied recipes from my mom's cookbooks and my mother-in-law's cookbooks.   I believe I've turned into a monster!!   The worst part about this whole domestication thing is that I've started eating veggies at least 3 to 4 times a week.   I have always, always, always hated veggies of all colors.  I told my mom she wouldn't even recognize my eating habits now compared to even just a year ago.   I always knew that I wanted to get married and one day be a stay at home mom, but I didn't think it would come so soon.   No I'm not pregnant, but I do have 2 very sweet overfed kitties.  (Sidenote: I was told on Friday (again) at the vet that Bottcher was too fat.  I'm somehow supposed to get her from her current weight of 15 lbs. to 12 lbs.   From the picture below you can see that I have my work cut out for me.)

Cowboy and Bottcher

I feel as though I'm trying to become a well-oiled machine with this cooking thing.  Although I'm still having a hard time getting the timing of everything being done within a minute of each other I have certainly gotten alot better at it.  I'm also not quite to the point where I can just add as I please.  I'm still following the directions pretty much verbatim.

Another thing that I've found to be super helpful is meal planning.  We plan what we are going to eat for the whole week (weekends not included for the most part) and then I go to the grocery store.  This is alot easier than trying to figure out that day what to eat and then heading to the store about 3 times in one week.    I think if I waited until that day to figure out what we were going to eat it would mostly be BBQ chicken cooked in the oven.   I think the meal planning has really allowed us to eat a variety of food.  Just last week our meals included:
Monday - Shepard's Pie (with tons of veggies!!)
Tuesday - Maple Glazed Salmon, Brown Rice, and Broccoli
Wednesday - Brats
Thursday - Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp, Broccoli, and Parmesan Garlic Bread (Breadmachine)
Saturday - Leftover Shepard's Pie with Parmesan Garlic Bread

Yesterday Todd and I made our plan for this week:
Sunday - Tacos
Monday - Digiorno's Pizza (Pizza is our VDay tradition)
Tuesday - Fast Food on the road or leftovers once we get home (we are taking my car to Dallas to be shipped to Germany)
Wednesday - BBQ Chicken, Brown Rice, and TBD Veggie
Thursday - No cooking, Night out on the town with Becky Courtright
Friday - Seared Mahi Mahi with Zesty Basil Butter*, Brown Rice, and TBD Veggie
(*We haven't had this yet, so keep your fingers crossed.)


Not only have I been cooking, you've probably guessed that I've been doing alot of quilting too.  I just posted yesterday about my sister-in-law's new baby quilt.  (I've heard through the grapevine that she loves it!)  I've got another quilt to post today....

I wanted to make sure my friend got it just to make sure that I didn't spoil the surprise by putting it up on here first.   She should have received it yesterday at her baby shower that I wasn't able to attend.  This baby quilt is for my oldest friend.   We are exactly 3 months apart and I even visited her in the hospital when she was born!!  How's that for going way back!!   Anyways, her baby boy is due in mid-March and I couldn't be more excited for the new mom and dad to be.  

The whole quilt is made from flannel prints.   The dinosaur print was cut into 5" squares while the sashing was 2" thick no matter the length.  The brown outside border was 3" thick.

The front in the cutiest flannel dinosaur print!

Close up of the front with the brown cicrle backing folded over 

Close up of dinosaurs, shashing, and border with frill cut

By the looks of it all I have been doing is quilting and cooking which is true.  But I have plans in the near future to do some other projects.  My mom recently sent me a quilting magazine that includes how-to's on how to make a laptop carrying bag, coupon purse, and plastic bag holder.  I will be doing all of these projects although it might not be until after we get to Germany.  Another thing I have recently seen is the cutest little baby toboggans with a how-to.  If you are interested in making one yourself, want to see what they look like, or decide you want me to make you one (let me know) click here.   I recently found this blog through being nosey on other random people's blogs.   Its called Make It and Love It.    I haven't looked through the blog thoroughly yet, but I already love it!  Before I start any of those sewing projects I have one very special quilt that I want to get done before we head to Germany.  The only thing I will say about it is its a surprise and the pattern is going to be 'Brick by Brick'.  This will be my first attempt at it, so wish me luck.  Like always I'll post some pictures once I through with it.  Until then Happy Quilting!

Day 16 - Holy Cheese Ball !

Tomorrow Todd and I are having a small get together at our new house. I'm calling it a Housewarming Party. We have invited all (10) of our friends here in Little Rock. This afternoon I started getting some of the food ready for it. I made chocolate peanut butter chip cookies, oatmeal cinnamon cookies, and a cheese ball. This is my first ever cheese ball and let me just tell you its alot easier than I thought it would be. Todd and I have both tried it .... to make sure that it was edible .... and it was delicious! I got the recipe from Cooks.com. (Click on the word recipe if you want it.)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Its my favorite time of year .... Thanksgiving. Well, in a little over a week. Either way Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Some people might think I'm biased because I was born on Thanksgiving, but I don't really care.

To get into the holiday spirit (& because we are having people over for dinner tomorrow night) I found a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. After I finished the batter I thought I better make a few just to make sure they tasted good. Final outcome ... Delicious Success!!

I found the recipe on foodnetwork.com and after reading some of the comments I made some recommended modifications. Here's my recipe ....

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups canned pumpkin puree

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 cups (1 12oz bag) of milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little bit at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter, adding a little bit at a time. Stir in the chips. They recommend to make the cookies about the size of a tablespoon. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are brown.

A couple of things to note ...

I used a fork instead of a mixer

You can use pumpkin pie mix instead of pumpkin puree

I used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour

You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips

I used 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of 1/4 tsp ground clove

Lastly, these are kind of cake-y cookies, don't expect them to fall and spread like normal chocolate chip cookies.

Enjoy!!!