Menu Plan

As if the Thanksgiving meal wasn't enough comfort, this week, I've planned lots of comfort favorites. Let's be honest--EVERY WEEK I plan lots of comfort favorites. Why should this week be any different?

Monday
Baked Potato Soup
Salad

Tuesday
Stuffed Shells
Salad

Wednesday
Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday
Burgers
Potato Wedges
Corn

Friday
Orange Chicken
Jasmine Rice
Steamed Broccoli

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Crock Pot: Pot Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots

Menu Plan

Hmm. I'm afraid this week's menu plan feels rut-ish again. I'm just not certain what to do about it! There are several nights this week where I'll need do-ahead dinners that can either simmer in the crock pot or be reheated when we need them, and there are a few things in that category that really sound good.

Of course, next week's menu plan will be different. You know what? Maybe I'll just go ahead and do that now...

This Week

Monday
Leftovers (strange for a Monday, I know...)

Tuesday
Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Lemon Sage butter
Herbed Egg Noodles
Spinach Salad w/ homemade dressing, toasted almonds, feta, and dried cranberries

Wednesday
Chili (w/ diced onions, beans, and cheese...so, four ways?)
Cornbread

Thursday
Scalloped Potatoes with Thyme and Bay
Ham
Steamed Peas

Friday
Chicken Divan with Rice Casserole

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Takeout OR Roast Beef, Carrots, and Potatoes (crock pot); depends on how early I get up. :)

Next Week

Monday
Steak
Baked Potatoes
Green Beans Amandine

Tuesday
Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Maple Dijon glaze
Chopped Salad
Garlic Bread

Wednesday
Beef Vegetable Soup
Rolls

Thursday
Oh, I don't know...Turkey? Stuffing? Mashed Potatoes?

Friday
Travel to Ohio (hey, Mom...we're thinking of coming home this weekend. What do you think?)

Saturday
Mom decides

Sunday
Mom keeps deciding

Menu Plan

Well, we're headed to the doctor today for poor Ruby. I am also under the weather, and against my better judgment, I sent Charis to school today with the sniffles. On deck this week are meals that will bring us comfort and cure what ails us. (Sleep and lots of fluids should help, too.)

Monday
Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday
Shepherd's Pie Skillet
Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday
Baked Potato Soup (with cheese, bacon bits, and sliced scallions)

Thursday
Two-Saucy MockZagna

Friday
Hawaiian chicken (Teriyaki-glazed chicken breasts topped with a pineapple ring and melted cheese. I'm pretty sure they don't eat this in Hawaii, but what else do you call it?)
Pineapple and Almond Rice Pilaf
Green Beans Amandine

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Takeout

Also, My hubby's dad had back surgery on Saturday, and they also found out that he has cancer. It was a swell weekend, as you can imagine. He is in the hospital now, so our life and schedules have changed quite a bit. I will either rely heavily on the Menu Plan for this week's dinners, or else it might all need to be tossed out the window as circumstances change. Don't be shocked if you see a few of these items on next week's Plan...

Menu Plan

I really did a menu plan this week. I did! I wrote it on the back of my shopping list. Which got lost somewhere between Baking Needs and Produce. I opted not to roam around the store with ny two little ones in tow to try to retrieve it, which I think was the right decision. I think it went something like this:

Monday
Kielbasa
Sauerkraut
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Tuesday
Chicken cutlet sandwiches
Homemade mac and cheese
Salad

Wednesday
Hot Chicken Salad

Thursday
Pork Medallions in sage cream sauce
Stuffing with celery, onions, and apple
(I may even go one better and make pork tenderloin roulade with the stuffing in the middle and the sauce over top. Or I may may take a nap instead.)

Friday
Pasta e Fagioli soup
Crusty Artisan Bread (that one's for you, Ellen)

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
fingers crossed...Takeout.

Two-bean Chili

There's something about a crisp, Fall day that makes me crave chili. Even if I'm chilled to the bone, one bowl of chili brings me back to right and makes me feel cozy. I've tried a million recipes with varied success, but this here recipe I'm about to give you is Chili The Way I Like It. It didn't come from a published recipe, it came from tinkering with process and spices, and it's not super hot, but it does have a nice heat at the back of it. Just The Way I Like It. If you're in need of a satisfying chili recipe, give this one a whirl!

Two-Bean Chili

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 c. water
28-32 oz. of canned tomatoes (I used a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of diced tomatoes because that's what I had on hand, but use whatever you've got)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder (or use 1 clove minced)
1 1/2-2 tsp. chili powder (adjust this to your taste)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 can kidney beans, mostly drained
1 can black beans, undrained

First, heat up a pot until it's "screaming hot" (as Rachel Ray likes to say), then crumble in your ground beef. Cook it most of the way through, constantly breaking it up with a spoon or spatula. Then add the salt and black pepper, along with the onion and water. Cook over high heat until most of the water has evaporated--this makes the meat nice and tender and really saturates it with the onion and salt and pepper. I could almost eat it just like this.

To the now-relatively-dry ground beef mixture, add the oregano, cumin, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir the mixture over medium high heat for about a minute, just to "toast" the spices and bring out their flavor.

Then add the tomatoes and beans. Then toss in the bay leaf and give it a stir. Let the mixture come to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer for at least half an hour, preferably more. OR you could toss it into the crock pot and let it simmer for a long time on Low. Mmmmm good.

My favorite way to serve this is over pasta (radiatore, rotini, and elbow noodles are all favorites) and topped with cheese. Delish!

Serves 6.

Menu Plan

August 19th? REALLY? I can't believe it has been that long since I've posted anything. I am a terrible, horrible slacker.

So. My 5 year-old started school. Gone are the days of sitting at home playing with food; these days, I'm back and forth to school, and pick-up time often collides with the time I might ordinarily have spend making bread or doing other time-sensitive meal preparations. Pick-up time also collides with nap time, too, so now I do not typically have a moment in the day where the house is entirely quiet, and during which I am at liberty to cook and plan as I wish. Woe is me.

All this to say that my meal planning has completely fallen by the wayside, and we've sadly been turning to mostly quick-and-easy types of meals: tacos, spaghetti, and I'm drawing a blank here because I can't for the life of me remember what we've eaten in the past few weeks. Not good. I envisioned the spotless house and the carefully organized life that I thought would naturally flow from having only TWO children at home, but that has not been the case at all; it turns out Charis was a huge help to me, and I actually get much less accomplished without her here. Meals are no exception.

This will never do. Tacos, spaghetti, soups (soups!) and such have their place, and there are certainly days when there is no other option than a quick-and-easy meal, but I'd like to make a return to the variety we had in menu plans of old. This week, I sat down and planned not one, but TWO weeks' worth of meals. I figure a little bit of planning goes a long way.

Week 1
Monday
Eat out in celebration of our anniversary. Yay! No dishes!

Tuesday
Butterflied Korean Pork Loin (trying recipe for the first time tonight!)
Sesame Ramen Noodles
Sugar Snap Peas

Wednesday
Chili Mac
Cornbread

Thursday
Roasted Chicken
Roasted Potatoes
Glazed Carrots

Friday
Hot Chicken Salad
Green Beans

Saturday
Stuffed Shells
Salad

Sunday
Leftovers

Week 2

Monday
Schultzie's Mess
Buttermilk Biscuits with homemade peach jam

Tuesday
Country-style Ribs
Mac and Cheese
Broccoli
(OR Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole. We'll see)

Wednesday
Tomato Soup
Grilled cheese sandwiches

Thursday
Cheese Ravioli "Lasagna"
Salad

Friday
Chicken Pot Pie

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Chinese Takeout

Menu Plan

Monday, it was:
Grilled Steak
Baked Potatoes
Buttered Peas
Fresh French Bread

Tuesday, it was:
Grilled Chicken
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Steamed Green Beans
Sauteed Vidalias
Fresh salsa
Tortilla chips

Tonight, it will be:
Sauteed Sweet Italian Sausage
Aglio e Olio with fresh basil
Tomato, Cucumber, Sweet Onion salad with fresh herbs

Thursday:
Subs on Homemade French bread (using my new French Breead pan) with homemade vinaigrette and garden-fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers

Friday:
Salad
Cumin-rubbed Pork Chops
Homemade Refried beans with cheese
Tortilla chips
Sliced tomatoes

Saturday:
Clean out the fridge

Sunday:
Chicken Pasta Salad

Food Journal 1

I just wanted to tell you about the meal we had last night. It was so good, I was practically licking my plate...and my kids' plates, too. We were invited to have dinner with Tim and Beth and family--apparently, after spending 8 days straight with us, three days without us was too much to handle. On the menu were some of my favorite summer things: Grilled bone-in chicken, grilled corn on the cob, steamed green beans, sauteed Vidalia onions, fresh salsa, and yellow corn tortilla chips. It may not sound fancy, and it wasn't, but there is something so wonderful about fresh August produce: it needs no fancy embellishments to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Chicken: Brining is very important when grilling chicken, I think. It keeps the chicken from drying out, and also seasons the meat all the way to the bone. A solution of 3/4 c. salt and 3/4 c. brown sugar dissolved in 1 gallon of water goes a long way in improving the flavor and texture of chicken. Submerge the pieces in the brine and chill for up to two hours before cooking. Normally, I sear the chicken over the high flames, then grill with indirect heat on a covered grill over a period of about 45 minutes, but last night, since we were grilling the corn, too, we par-cooked the chicken in a 425 degree oven. Also imperitave is not to let it exceed the temperature of doneness: 161 for white meat, and 180 for dark meat.

Corn on the cob: soak unhusked cobs in cool water for about 30 minutes before grilling, then go ahead and char the exterior over some medium coals. Perfection!

Green Beans: they're best if you can pick them from your garden and steam them immediately. In fact, next year, I will plant more bean plants so I can do this more often. Just make sure not to boil them--it takes away too many nutrients and too much flavor--and make sure they're still tender-crisp when you remove them from the heat. Then add a bit of butter, salt, and pepper, and throw in some toasted almods if you're feeling fancy.

Vidalia onions: I like using a cast iron or similarly heavy skillet over medium heat with a pat or two of butter and a sprinkling of kosher salt. I melt the butter, toss in the sliced onions, salt them to help draw out a bit of moisture, then sautee them until they're a pasta sort of al dente. I could eat these alone as a meal, they're that good.

Salsa: make it right before you eat it. I use my Salsa 101 recipe. The most important thing to achieve here is good balance--not too heavy on the tomatoes or anything else. You should be able to discern all of the individual flavors--tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime (and kosher salt)--without being overwhelmed by any of them. Fresh salsa doesn't keep more than a few hours before if starts getting soupy, which is reason enough for me to load my chips up with great big scoops of it. Last night, Judah skipped the chips and just ate it like a salad. Three helpings' worth. We consumed 6 tomates, 5 jalapenos, 1/2 a large onion, and a cup of cilantro's worth of salsa last night...and enjoyed every drop. I even used my chicken to sop up the salsa juice. Heavenly.

What great meals have you had recently?

Menu Plan, dadgummit

I have felt lost without a plan of attack for dinners these past few weeks. In fact, last week, we hosted a garage sale, and homemade dinners completely fell by the wayside. I am now really sick of restaurant and take-out food and ready for something homemade.

On another note, my garden has also fallen by the wayside. It is being consumed by weeds. In fact, one of my sugar snap pea plants is actually missing; I can only assume the invasive weeds ate it for nourishment. The only redeeming factor is that we haven't had much rain. Had we had more rain in the past week, I'm sure the weed situation would be completely out of hand. So this week, even though I have a lot of other neglected stuff to do, I plan to become reacquainted with my garden. Last night, I even pulled a few weeds from the onions and picked cucumbers and green beans. Hey--you've got to start somewhere.

P.S. My basil is also going crazy, but in a good way. This week, I MUST make some pesto before my precious basil goes to seed. I do wish my tomatoes would ripen up so I could have some fresh caprese salad--is there anything better?

Monday
Homemade pizza: Chicken with garlic cream sauce and spinach
Salad

Tuesday
Grilled Pork Loin
Corn on the Cob
Zucchini patties

Wednesday
Fried Chicken
Roasted Green Beans

Thursday
Dinner at a friend's house

Friday
Grilled Steak
Fried potatoes with garlic and dill
Salad

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Subway

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

The whole idea of biscuits and gravy used to repulse me. Of course, as a lactose-intolerant kid, I used to loathe any cream-based sauce of any kind. I remember going over to the Andrews' house and being served Chicken A La King and thinking that I was going to die if they made me eat it. Heck--I wouldn't even eat Mac and Cheese. How un-American was I? Given those things, it's probably understandable that I wouldn't go for a milk-based sauce served over soggy bread.

Then college came. You learn so many things when you're in college, don't you? How not to kill your messy roommate, how to sneak food out of the dining commons, how to write a senior thesis in under 72 hours...and, most importantly for this post, how to appreciate the beauty of gloppy white sauce.

I remember the first time I had sausage gravy: we'd gone to visit a friend of ours who had recently started waiting tables at Bob Evans. We went at breakfast, because that's when you eat at Bob Evans, and Nate, our friend, recommended the Sunshine Skillet. It consisted of an open-faced omelet topped with hash browns, sausage, country gravy, and cheddar cheese, and was served with one of their fantastic buttermilk biscuits. Hello--he had me at hash browns and cheese. I ordered it.

Sweet fancy Moses, it was good.

I thought I might die of heart disease right there, but my, my, it was good.

My affection only deepened when I sopped up the extra gravy on my plate with the biscuit. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to the glory of biscuits and gravy.

For years, unless I went to Bob Evans, I stayed away from that sausage gravy in particular. It just didn't seem prudent for my waistline to eat too much of it. But a couple of months ago, we went out for breakfast as a family and I revisited it at long last. The doctor had recommended that we feed Ruby all sorts of high-fat stuff, so I decided to take one for the team and order biscuits and gravy to share with my daughter. It was the least I could do.

Well, Biscuits and Gravy has since become a staple of my Saturday-morning eating-out experience. Thankfully, we don't do it that often. It has been a few weeks since I've had it, though, and I was getting a taste for it, so last night, I made it for dinner.

Sweet fancy Moses, it was good.

So I thought I'd share it with you.

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits (from The Complete Guide to Country Cooking)
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening (sometimes I use margarine)
3/4 c. buttermilk (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM)

Gravy
1 lb. bulk sausage
1/4 c. flour
approx 2 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. thyme (optional)

For the biscuits:
Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the shortening or margarine with a pastry blender or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times, just so it isn't too sticky. Roll to 1/2-3/4 in. thickness and cut out with a biscuit cutter (I used a thin-edged cup). Place 1-inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Notes on successful biscuit making:
1) Don't overwork the dough. Use a very light hand.
2) Brush the tops with a little melted butter before baking to achieve a really beautiful brown crust.
3) If you don't have a suitable cutter or cup to cut the biscuits with, you can always just use a knife and cut the dough into uniform squares. Who cares what shape the biscuits are?
4) Buttermilk: I don't keep it on hand, but you can imitate it with 1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice, and enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for five minutes, then use as the recipe requires.

Gravy:
Brown the sausage to a deep, caramelized brown. Remove the sausage, leaving behind the drippings in the pan. (If you don't end up with about 1/4 c. of drippings, add a bit of butter to the mix to equal about 1/4 c. total, when combined with the drippings.) Add flour to drippings, and whisk over medium heat for about a minute, or until the roux is the color of straw. Add milk 1/2-cup at a time, whisking continually over that same medium heat so the gravy thickens nicely, without lumps. Add the sausage to the white sauce, then season with salt and pepper to taste. I recommend lots of pepper. You can also add thyme here, if you wish to have a more savory sauce. And if the gravy gets too thick, just add a bit more milk. Serve over warm, split biscuits, then swoon.