Offical Product Endorsement

This morning I sprayed my well used muffin tin (that was never non-stick in the first place) with Baker's Joy. I usually buy Pam, scratch that, I usually buy the Publix brand or whatever is on sale! But Baker's Joy was on sale AND I had a coupon. When the muffins were done, I lifted them out of the pan like they had paper cups on them, they practically fell out. Wow!

I don't know if all cooking sprays with flour are equal, I guess I've never tried them with flour before. I don't think the Baker's Joy will be equal for all things Pam, but for baking it has really impressed me!

December 8 - 14, 2009

8 T - Asian Chicken Noodles, Egg Rolls
9 W - Roast Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes, Carrots
10 R - Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
11 F - Tuna Curry in a Hurry, Rice
12 S - Parmesan Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes, Peas
13 U - Brats, Baked Beans, French Fries
14 M - Chicken, Zippy Potato Chunks, Corn

Does it go without saying that I found good deals on both chickens and potatoes?

Here is a cheap way to buy bone in chicken - at both Pubix and Walmart I have found 10lb bags of dark chicken quarters from $.59-$.65 a pound. Yup! That is cheaper than any whole chicken I've found in a long time! I do a little home processing before storage. Buying them this way usually means the back bone is still attached to the thigh, so I like to remove it. I also separate the thigh and leg and wrap them up separately. I leave the skin on until I am ready to cook it though because it is an extra layer of protection in the freezer - and not as much trouble to remove as the backbone. Ideally, when freezing, you want to leave it as intact as possible, but taking these steps saves me time later on.

Tuna Curry in Hurry is a modification on Chicken Curry in a Hurry, which calls for canned chicken (I couldn't find the link). We had 4 cans of tuna in the hurricane kit...only to discover that none of us really like canned tuna that much. The curry really helps it "taste like chicken"!

That's Sweet: AB's PB Cookies

Alisa Beth didn't invent this cookie recipe but she did pass it along via Facebook, much to the delight of my parents and brother, who were here when I made them - they are some very yummy peanut butter cookies.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
PLUS: 1 TBSP Sugar for rolling unbaked cookies in

Combine flour, soda, b. powder, and salt in a bowl, wisk and set aside. Cream butter and peanut butter, add sugars and cream. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Add flour slowly at low speed, stir in chocolate chips. Portion dough out into rounded tablespoons (I use a disher) and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes - remove to cool even if they do not appear to be done, they are. Let cool on the pan for a minute or two before removing.

Modified from This source, which modified the recipe from This source.

November 10-16, 2009

Will we ever have the Rhubarb Cornbread Stuffing? I guess only time will tell. I moved it to an early position this week so it's not as likely to get bumped!

10 T – Spaghetti, Salad, Rolls
11 W – Creamy Mushroom Chicken, Egg Noodles, Green Peas
12 R – (Mako's Birthday)Beans and Dogs, Dog Biscuits, Carrots
13 F – Roast Chicken, Rhubarb Cornbread Stuffing, Corn, Carrots
14 S – Campfire Ham & Bean Soup, Cornbread
15 U – Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup
16 M – Picadillo, Rice, Black Beans, Plantains

November 3 - 9, 2009

3 T – Spaghetti, Salad, Rolls
4 W – Pollo Rancho Luna, Black Beans, Rice
5 R – Sesame Chicken, Veggie Fried Rice
6 F – Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas
7 S – Parmesan Chicken, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Baked Beans, Carrots
8 U - Pizza
9 M – Roast Chicken, Rhubarb Cornbread Stuffing, Corn, Carrots

Daily Bread: Sweet Potato Biscuits

A big hit at a brunch we hosted recently - Sweet Potato Biscuits:

1 large sweet potato
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk

Scrub and pierce the sweet potato, then microwave on high for 10 minutes. Allow to cool a little before handling, then peel and puree in a food processor or blender. Measure out 1 cup and blend with brown sugar, lemon zest, butter, and milk.

In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Wisk to combine completely. Stir in the sweet potato mixture until it forms a ball. Roll out and cut into biscuits. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes.

Soups on!: Tomato Basil Orzo Soup

How comforting does that photo look!

Wow, talk about a great pair - Tomato Basil Orzo Soup and Asiago Bread. I posted the recipe for the bread a few posts back, but this time I made it with the cheese in chunks instead of shredded. The main difference is that when you cut the bread, there were little pockets of cheese throughout (very fancy looking), I did think though that the bread with the shredded cheese seemed fresher the 2nd day than the chunk bread. Otherwise, great either way!

Tomato Basil Orzo Soup

1 cup each chopped carrot, celery and onion
1/4 teaspoon each dried basil, oregano and thyme
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cans (19 ounces) ready-to-serve tomato basil or hearty tomato soup
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup uncooked orzo pasta

Saute chopped veggies and herbs in oil for 8-10 minutes. Add soup and broth, bring to boil and stir in orzo. Reduce heat, simmer until orzo is cooked and veggies are tender - about 10 minutes.

Note: Stir while simmering the orzo, otherwise it will sink to the bottom and stick. I used the hearty tomato soup and used fresh basil and oregano from my garden.

October 13 - 19, 2009

13 T – Spaghetti, Salad, Mary Poppins Rolls
14 W – Honey Lemon Chicken, Salad, Baked Beans
15 R – Ham, Vegetable Oven Pancake
16 F – Chicken and Rice Dinner, Carrots, Crescent Rolls
17 S – Ham & Bean Soup, Corn Bread
18 U – Spaghetti Casserole, Rolls, Corn
19 M – Roast Chicken, Rhubarb Cornbread Stuffing, Peas, Carrots

Lest it seem that we eat Spaghetti all the time...this is a meal that always seems to get pushed off to the next week. I also have the spaghetti casserole already prepared and frozen from a double recipe I made a couple of weeks ago. I sort of overspent on last week's meal plan and really have to be frugal to keep this week in check. Let's just say my freezer is going to be breathing easier by next Monday!

October 6 - 12, 2009

T 6 – Parmesan Chicken, Baked Beans, Peas & Carrots, Biscuits
W 7 – Beef Stew
R 8 – Pork Chops with Cumin Rice, Honey Glazed Carrots
F 9 – Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
S 10 – Chicken Tacos, Tomato Avocado Salad
U 11 – Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Rolls
M 12 – Roast Chicken, Cornbread Stuffing, Carrots, Green Peas

That's Sweet!: Pinopsicle

Pinopsicle (first I is long, name chosen by Caleb)

1 whole pineapple
8 popsicle sticks

Cut of top and bottom of pineapple, shave off outer layer. Cut in half lengthwise and then cut each half in half. Shave off the core, then cut the quarters into eighths and stick a popsicle into the bottom. Eat as you would a popsicle, but no drips.

Interesting things about pineapples:
1. You should never eat pineapple cores. They are not poisonous, but are indigestable and will form fiber balls in your colon - fun.
2. Really like pineapples? Save the top, you can use it to grow a whole new plant. You can even grow them indoors.
3. Pineapple plants are bromeliads - and the only edible ones.

September 22 - October 5, 2009

Back to the 2-weekers, and lotsa links this time. Most of them link to Taste of Home, so if there is a recipe you'd like to have and it is "subscriber only", let me know and I will email it to you.

T 22 – Wild Rice Chicken Dinner
W 23 – Kids’ Favorite Chili, Corn Muffins, Potato Salad
R 24 – Chili Dogs, Baked Beans, Carrot Sticks
F 25 – Veggie Beef Casserole
S 26 –Black Bean Burgers, Broccolini
U 27 – New Orleans Style Chicken
M 28 – Stuffed Pork Chops, Spicy Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Peas & Carrots
T 29 – Broiled Fish, Garden Medley, Mary Poppins Rolls
W 30 – Harvest Ham Steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli
R 1 - Vegetable Delight (A throwback from Rob's bachelor days)
F 2 - Teriyaki Mushroom Chicken, Corn, Zippy Potato Chunks
S 3 - Tomato Basil Orzo Soup, Asiago Bread
U 4 – Spaghetti Casserole
M 5 – Ham & Cheese Pizzas, Salad

That's Sweet!: Doughnut Bread Pudding

The proof to me that doughnuts are actually not that bad is that they are not that good the next day - but stale doughnut owners need not despair! Behold: DOUGHNUT BREAD PUDDING!



All you need is:
4-6 stale doughnuts (any variety)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk (sweeter) or buttermilk (tangier)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Grease a square baking dish. Cut or tear stale doughnuts into small pieces and place in dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over doughnuts. Refrigerate overnight (or wait at least 15 minutes for the doughnuts to absorb the liquid.)

Preheat oven to 350. In a pan large enough to hold the square baking dish, lay out a dish rag where you plan to set the dish, then put the dish on the rag and pour water into the larger pan - enough to come up about 1/2 inch or so on outside of the dish.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until it "tests" done with a knife.

We used about half and half chocolate cake doughnuts and glazed doughnuts.

Daily Bread: Asiago Bread

I realized I'd gotten distracted by my 2009 goal of learning to make yeast breads, so I planned a couple of homemade breads into this week's meal plan. One was this loaf:

Asiago bread - and it's a pretty basic bread except it has cheese in it, namely asiago cheese, except I forgot that what I had in my cheese drawer was swiss and had to use that, but the recipe actually noted that you could use swiss instead of asiago. It turned out nicely with a very crispy, crusty crust, and it went great with the spicy bean soup, which is very tomatoey, so it was kind of an upscale grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup night.

Asiago (or Swiss) Bread

3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 package regular or fast-acting dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/4 cups water (bottled or filtered)
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons dried rosemary or thyme leaves, if desired
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups Asiago, Swiss or other firm cheese

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and water and mix well, cover tightly and let rest for about 1 hour. Then stir in oil, salt, rosemary and enough flour to bring the dough together (I needed a little over 3 cups total). Knead about 5 minutes on the dough hook then knead in about 1 cup of the cheese - the original recipe called for small chunks, but all I had was shredded, next time, I think I'll try chunks to see how it changes things). Form into a ball and place in large greased bowl, covered in a warm place until doubled (45 minutes to 1 hour).

Shape dough into a footlong football shape, place on a greased cookie sheet, cover liberally with flour and then loosely with plastic wrap - stick in a warm place for another hour (or until doubled).

Then spritz the loaf with water, sprinkle with flour, slash it longways and put the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese down the middle. Bake in a 450 oven for 10 minutes, then drop the heat to 400. Bake another 20-25 minutes or until the inner temp is between 200 and 210 degrees (mine took only 20 minutes). Allow to cool for 30 minutes before cutting.

This loaf turned out really good considering I forgot to add salt and oil. :)

September 15-21, 2009

oof, I'm out of the habit of posting these things!

15 T - Crab Cakes, Couscous, Uglyripe Tomatoes with cottage cheese
16 W - Spicy Bean Soup, Asiago Bread
17 R - Asian Chicken Noodle Bowls
18 F - Black Bean Pie, Broccoli
19 S - Meatloaf, Fried Okra
20 U - Roast Chicken, Buttered Noodles, Steamed Peas & Carrots
21 M - Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Rolls

Caleb's Birthday party is Saturday, and fish cake is on the menu, but not this kind of fishcake :)

September 8-14, 2009

Back in the saddle again, so to speak...I've decided to resume the tailored meal plans after a summer of eating from the revolving meal plan. My reasoning is tri-fold:

1. I'm tired of eating those foods.
2. I have worked into our schedule 2 periods of in-their-room playtime for the kids to give me a chance to get housework done. Now that Annalise is almost 2, this works really well. Consequently I don't feel quite as much craziness and I think I can think creatively about food again.
3. It really didn't save a substantial amount of money.

In fact, I finally resigned myself to raising our bi-weekly budget to $170. I was overspending way too often and now that I've given myself an extra $20, I have been better able to keep things in check. The bottom line is we eat food, food costs money, to feed 4 people costs more than $150 over a 14 day period...at least this year. I am hoping to grow some veggies during the dry season.

Monotonous recipes aside, I do think that it saves some money to eat the same things over and over again, but since the most expensive part of each meal is meat, the way to get around the monotony is to plan different recipes, but use the same meats (chicken on Mondays, fish on Tuesdays, etc.)

For now, I'm going to do single weeks, life isn't as crazy as it was before, but I do still have 2 small children and need to think in smaller chunks of time for a little bit longer.

September 8-14, 2009

T 8 - Chicken Pot Pie
W 9 - Beef and Barley Stew
R 10 - Smoked Sausage with Egg Noodles and Veggies
F 11 - Curry Chicken, Rice
S 12 - Mushroom & Steak Linguine, Salad
U 13 - Pizza, Corn
M 14 - Chicken Tortilla Bake, Salad

That's Sweet!: Little Black Cupcakes

A church potluck gave me the excuse to try one of the gourmet cupcake recipes Taste of Home had in their special cupcake issue. Their official name is Texas Chocolate Cupcakes, but the lady said her husband called them Little Black Cupcakes. They are totally homemade - no cake mix required and they are super moist!

Texas Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix flour, sugar, salt and soda, set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine cocoa, water, oil and butter, bring to a boil. Slowly add cocoa mixture to the flour mixture, mix well. Combine eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and slowly add to the mix. Mix well, pour into muffin cups (3/4 full, batter is very loose) and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. The tops will look wet when they are done, so poke one with a toothpick to check for doneness.

Eat as is...or cool completely and ice with caramel icing:

Caramel Icing
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup milk
2 to 2-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and milk, stir over low heat until the sugar is all dissolved (it does not matter if the butter is melted or not), then cook over medium without stirring for about 3-5 minutes or until it starts to bubble in the middle. Remove from heat, pour into the bowl of your mixer and allow to cool to room-temp before adding confectioners' sugar, beat well.

The caramel icing is part of the original recipe, but I liked the cakes better than the icing and I think when I make them again, I will skip the icing altogether.

(Note: I recommend using cupcake liners to bake these in, but I ran out, so the one I took a picture of had a homemade, parchment paper liner that fell off when I took it out of the pan.)

Daily Bread: Easy Doughnuts

In no time at all, I made these doughnuts yesterday:

I used a soda bottle cap to mark the hole in a counter-whop biscuit, cut it out with kitchen scissors, fried in hot oil for about a half minute per side (until golden brown), drained, glazed, and served. It was fast. And while they didn't taste exactly like the ones from the Publix bakery, they average about $.06 each (compared to $.67 at Publix) and you can eat them nice and hot.

Daily Bread: Pillow Soft Rolls

Although my Nanny's rolls are very good, I've been experimenting with some alternate recipes because I like to avoid trans-fats when possible and her recipe calls for shortening. These are actually from a cookbook she gave me for Christmas a few years ago and I used her stand mixer to make them. They are extremely good - better than that even - I told Caleb they were "Mary Poppins" Rolls - practically perfect in every way! I made a few changes to the Taste of Home recipe and I made a half batch (a full batch is way too much for us), so I'll list what I used.

1-3/4 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 packages instant dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
1/2+1/8 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Stir in sour cream and water; beat until blended. Beat in egg until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Knead with dough hook for about 5-6 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise about 1 hour (til doubled).

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll out to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Using the dull edge of a table knife, make an off-center crease in each roll. Fold along crease so the small half is on the top; press along folded edge.

Place in a greased 9 in. x9 in. baking pan, allowing edges to touch. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 25 minutes. Brush tops with butter. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 10-12.

The original recipe can be found here. I didn't have sour cream, so I used the yogurt, which is fat free, so I can't image how good these things are with full fat sour cream!

9/17/09 **Amendment** I've made these rolls a few more times and have found that I actually get a BETTER result using the non-fat plain yogurt than with sour cream.

In Season: Blueberries

But not for much longer...it's almost August and you know what that means!!! KING OF THE WEST HONEYDEW MELONS!!! Yummy!!!

That's Sweet!: Poke Cake

For a 4th of July BBQ with friends, we brought dessert - poke cake! Poke cake is very easy to make and really changes a regular store bought cake mix.

Poke Cake
1 yellow or white cake, baked and cooled
1 4 oz pkg jello (flavor is your choice)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
Cool Whip
Fruit Garnish (if you so choose)

Using a skewer or a toothpick or a thin knife, poke holes all over the top of your baked and cooled cake. Dissolve Jello in boiling water, then add cold water. Then pour the jello over the cake letting it seep into all the holes. Refrigerate overnight.

Top with Cool Whip and garnish with fruit as desired.

I used cherry jello and garnished with blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.

Very yummy and very easy!

That's Sweet!: Angel Food Cake

If I have ever made one in my life, I cannot remember it, so I think it is safe to say I made my first angel food cake today.

Certainly the first in my married life - I did not have the right pan before, but my Aunt Sib set it aside for me out of my Nanny's things and my parents brought it to me when they came to visit. This picture is of the cake's "good side". You are supposed to let them cool upside down, so the egg foam can "set", but it was really hot and I dropped it, so half of the cake kind of fell, but this one side is pretty.

I used Alton Brown's recipe.
The cake was served with strawberry sauce (pureed strawberries and sugar) and met with much approval :)

Biscuit Revolution

I have blogged before that I had reached contentment with my biscuit making, but I was wrong - I have found a method that is easier and produces a better biscuit. Basically I have combined the Joy of Cooking biscuit recipe with the Alton Brown method of making biscuits.

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp very cold butter
3/4 cup milk (I use whole because that's what Annalise drinks)

Preheat oven to 450.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt and sift or stir thoroughly with a whisk. Cut in butter (Joy of Cooking says 4-6 tbsp, but this is what I use every time - I have tried many options for cutting in the butter, but here is what I like now - I freeze the butter and then grate it with my cheese grater into the flour mixture. After that just stir it up and rub it in a little with you finger tips.) Pour milk over everything and stir just until all the milk is mixed in.

Set it aside and prepare pan and get a big sheet of parchment paper (not waxed paper). I wait until this step to prepare my pan because the flour needs a few minutes to absorb the milk - very important!!! Then I dump everything out onto the parchment paper and fold the paper over the lump and press into a rectangle - usually the dough is so sticky that there is no way to avoid adding more flour, but the parchment does not stick so bad as my fingers :) then unfold the parchment and using the parchment fold the two sides in - like folding a letter or a wallet. Press it down into about the same size as it was and then repeat - make a wallet, then the rectangle - then STOP! No more. Dunk your biscuit cutter in flour and then cut out the rounds (they will be STICKYYYY) and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Italy Day

Ever since "Grandma stood next to the volcano", Caleb has been interested in Italy. And who can blame him? The country looks like a boot kicking a tree! Where else can boast that? So he's had lots of questions about Italy and finally I decided we'd do something about it and have "Italy Day".

Besides learning how Italians say Mommy and Daddy and dog and fish, we ate Italian food all day!

For breakfast we had Mini Frittatas, cinnamon toast, and cappuccinos. For the kids I watered down some cappuccino mix (easier and cheaper than going to Starbucks). I decided to make cinnamon toast because I found a recipe for some cinnamon biscotti that sounded too complicated to make! And the Mini Frittatas are a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe and were really good and easy to make. Here's how you do it:

Mini Frittatas

2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp milk
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of salt
1 ounce diced ham, fully cooked
1 1/2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tsp dried parsley (she called for fresh, but my fresh parsley hasn't gotten to the eating stage yet)

Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray and preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients and spoon into mini muffin cups. I poured them in, which was the wrong idea. The ham sank to the bottom and some of the Frittatas were just scrambled egg muffins (which is actually how I described them to Caleb to sell him on the idea). Bake for 8-10 minutes, then using a rubber spatula turn them out and serve immediately. Really, I'm no omlette eater, but these were tasty.

I got 8 mini frittatas, just fill the cups up to the top and when you run out, fill the empty cups with water.

We were going to have Nutella on toast, but the Nutella was $10 a jar!

For our morning snack, we usually have crackers, but today we had biscotti. (On sale this week at Publix.)

Lunch was a thin crust cheese pizza. I'm sure real Italian pizza is much thinner, but we got the gist. I topped half of it with fresh basil from my garden. I have to say, even if you aren't interested in growing any other fresh herb, you should grow basil, it is so fast growing and so fragrant. I grew mine from seeds - I think it was a 75 cent packet and I have more basil than I can possibly use.

For dinner we had Beef Scaloppine and Maccheroni con la Ricotta. I forgot to take a picture.

For dessert, we had storebought Tiramisu. I read a few recipes, but decided they all called for too many expensive ingredients that I do not keep on hand. Caleb and Annalise LOOOOOOOOOVED it!

And Caleb learned a few things about Italy - including it is no where near Australia (even though both of them are far away from Miami), if there are sidewalks in Venice, they are not underwater sidewalks, and the happy birthday song in Italian has the same tune, but different words.

That's Sweet!: Strawberry Yogurt Pops

Thanks to High 5 magazine for this tasty, healthy dessert!

Strawberry Yogurt Pops

1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

Put everything in a blender, puree, pour into small paper cups, stick in a craft stick, and freeze for 4 hours.

I used frozen strawberries and they were ready in 3 hours. Very yummy!

Tastes Like Chicken: Crispy Chicken Nuggets

Long before I made the rotating dinner menu, I had already designed a weekly lunch menu for our family. I did it because I felt like we were eating PB&J everyday and because I wanted our kids to eat more vegetables. So for example, every Monday we have "Mac & Cheese and Little Green Peas". Tuesday is Bagel Pizzas with cherry tomatoes (we - ok I - made up a song about bagel pizzas to go along with it), and Wednesday is chicken nuggets and corn.

I do not like processed chicken. So it only took one week of store bought chicken nuggets to motivate me to find a reliable chicken nugget recipe...and I have tried a lot! Here is the recipe I have finally settled on to be our usual chicken nuggets:

Leah's Chicken Nuggets (serves 1 adult and 2 very small children)

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small "nuggets"
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup milk (or half&half or cream)
1/2 cup rice crispies, crushed

In a bowl, mix the corn starch, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add the "nuggets" and toss to completely coat (make sure none are sticking together). Pour nuggets into a strainer and shake (over the sink) to remove all non-stuck-on cornstarch mixture. Put nuggets back in the bowl and pour on milk, stir to coat. Put nuggets into a bag with crushed rice crispies and shake to coat. Place on a greased sheet pan and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, depending on how big the nuggets are.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but one chicken breast, with the tender attached really makes a big pile of nuggets!

I am considering making a big batch to freeze before baking, but right now all my chicken is frozen, so that has to wait until the next stock making day.

Oh and the rest of the week:

Thursday is egg salad sandwiches and carrot sticks
Friday is fish sticks (storebought, Mrs. Pauls are pretty good) and tater tots
Saturday is chicken salad and green pepper
Sunday is PB&J day with chips and a pickle. Annalise loves the pickle!

Meal Plan Update

We have gone through one full cycle of the 3 week meal plan and this week is our first week of the 2nd one. I do think this saves extra money - not a lot of money, but a little. It makes it easier to stay within budget, whereas I had been having trouble staying in the $150 limit. Last week I spent about $70 and this week a little less than that. I may have to go back for something before next grocery day, but there is some left over, so that is ok.

I am buying more bulk items than I did before - I didn't like to before because I don't like to have things go to waste, but since the meal plan is limiting, I expect to use all of the bulk in the near future.

The best thing I see so far though is the amount of time it has saved me. I made a batch of dinner rolls and made them into knots - because I thought that would be cute. I picked out enough for dinner to bake and before allowing to proof, froze the rest on a baking sheet. Once they were rock hard, I put them in a container and can take them out as I need them. So tonight, we had homemade dinner rolls...and I didn't have to do a thing, but defrost, proof and bake!

In the Cookie Jar: Giant Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Caleb helped me make these ENORMOUS cookies yesterday afternoon. They call for dried cherries and freshly grated orange peel. That is what I used, but I saw cherry flavored cranberries in the store and I think that they would have worked well in place of the cherries and peel combo.

The cookies are a little dry. They have a LOT of oatmeal in them, so I think they are more dunking cookies than anything else. I think they might work well as biscotti, but that is just a hypothesis.

Giant Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups dried cherries, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream shortening, butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, apple pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in cherries and orange peel.

Drop by 1/3 cupfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Press to form a 4-in. circle. Bake at 375° for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool. Yield: 1 dozen.

The Long Awaited Revolving Meal Plan

I have finally contented myself with a revolving meal plan that allows a little variety. I made it a 3 week revolving plan with the main dish's main ingredent repeating every week. I made up a master grocery list so I can stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. As it happens (today was grocery day), a few of the items I needed for this week were on sale, so I should start seeing the savings in about three weeks...if my hypothesis is correct.

Here is the meal plan:

T – Fish or Shrimp
Week 1 – Fried Rice with Shrimp (with Salad)
Week 2 – Broiled Fish or Shrimp (with Salad and dinner rolls)
Week 3 – Fried Catfish (with French fries, hush puppies and cole slaw)
W – Cooked, Shredded Chicken
Week 1 – Chicken Pot Pie
Week 2 – Chicken Taco Bake (with Salad)
Week 3 – Rotisserie Chicken Ragout (with Dinner Rolls)
R – Pork or Beef
Week 1 – Beef Stew
Week 2 – Chinese New Years Skillet (with egg rolls)
Week 3 – “Hay and Straw” (with Salad)
F – Bone In Chicken (with sweet potatoes, peas, and biscuits)
Week 1 – Paprika Chicken
Week 2 – 20 Cloves and a Chicken
Week 3 – Apple ‘n’ Onion Chicken
S – Beans
Week 1 – Black Bean Soup (with bread)
Week 2 – Ham and 15 Bean Soup (with corn muffins)
Week 3 – Great Northern Bean Stew (with corn)
U – Ground Beef/Ground Pork mix
Week 1 – Spaghetti (and garlic rolls and Salad)
Week 2 – Lasagna (and garlic rolls and salad)
Week 3 – Salisbury Steak for Two (with Mashed Potatoes and corn)
M – Whole Roast Chicken (with _____, carrots, and peas)
Week 1 – with Stuffing
Week 2 – with Biscuits
Week 3 – with Baked Potatoes

Although I like variety (a lot), these days are so busy - Annalise is really hitting a new stride with getting into mischief! I think it will simplify things to go with this plan without making it too mundane.

What? No Meal Plan?

I am going to take a break from posting a meal plan for a while. I'm experimenting with creating a rotating meal plan that repeats either weekly, biweekly, or maybe over longer periods. I want to see if I can save significantly more money that way or if the savings are insignificant. For now I haven't come up with a menu that suits me. Rob and the kids, I am sure, will be content with repeat meals, but I am like my dad in that I like "something different!". So once I am happy with my experimental meal plan, I will post it here and continue to post other food related blogs.

My 2009 Cooking Goal: Yeast Breads

When it comes to cooking, there is cooking and then there is baking. They are not the same. Cooking is usually pretty simple - assemble ingredients, heat it somehow and eat. Baking is different. I'm learning that there are several factors involved in baking that make it much easier to mess up! A couple of years ago I made it my goal to learn how to make biscuits from scratch - several batches of tough, mealy, flat biscuits later, I feel pretty confident in my biscuit baking. But yeast breads...ack! Therein lies a monster I was not ready to face...

Until now!

My 2009 cooking goal has been (and continues to be) to teach myself how to make yeast breads that are edible.

I've been working on two different kinds so far - a basic sandwich loaf and dinner rolls - particularly my Nanny's beloved recipe. Here are some things I've learned (mostly from watching Good Eats and reading Alton Brown's book on baking):

1. Use instant rise yeast. Rapid rise is the old fashioned kind. Instant rise is similar to rapid rise except it rises better because more of the yeast is alive. Another plus of instant rise yeast is that you don't have to use warm water, which for me was always trouble because I tended to make the water too hot...which kills the yeast.

2. Start the dough off by adding 1 cup of flour to the rest of the ingredients, mix well and then let the dough rest about 20 minutes before you add enough flour to make it the right consistancy. What's right??? ha! As if that could be put into words! But the "rest" - I noticed during my biscuit trials that if I let the biscuit dough rest while I prep-ed the pan and got my rolling area ready, the dough was less sticky and easier to pat out. The same thing here, the flour needs to absorb some of the liquid and it needs a few minutes to sort all that out.

3. Use bottled or filtered water, city water has stuff in it to kill little critters - yeast can be killed by city water too. **This has made the biggest difference for me**

4. Make a mini hot kitchen to rise the dough in - I suspect that Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't have trouble finding a warm place to let her bread dough rise, but my a/c filled kitchen isn't uncomfortably warm, so I put a pan of near boiling water on the bottom rack of my oven, then put the dough ball in a greased bowl on the top rack, cover the bowl and close the door.

5.Temp the baked bread:

Yes I'm using a meat thermometer. The idea is that you want to bake the bread to right at 205-210 degrees. 212 is where water evaporates and that makes your bread dry.

So far that's all I've got! I still really need to work on this skill. I'm not ready to bake a bunch of bread as gift loaves for friends! I'd like to work on making french bread too. But I'm making peace with yeast and I am happy with my improvement thus far.

Gravy Train: Bordelaise Sauce

Although *real* Bordelaise Sauce is nothing like this recipe, the Pilsbury Complete Cookbook offers this enhanced gravy recipe as an alternative to plain brown gravy served with roast beef.

Bordelaise Sauce:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, shredded
4 whole black peppercorns
1 small bay leaf
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 cups beef broth

Melt butter in a skillet and add green onions, garlic, carrot, peppercorns, and bayleaf. Cook for a couple of minute and then sprinkle on the flour, salt & pepper cook until flour browns slightly and slowly add the broth. Bring to a boil to slightly thicken. Strain gravy to remove vegetables, etc. Serve warm.

I've got to say that this gravy really classes up some instant mashed potatoes!

How To: Roast Peeps

It is Easter and like millions of other Americans we have Peeps in the house! Our kids took one taste...

and rejected this classic sugar coated marshmallow.

But Rob suggested, what if you roasted a Peep, like you would a marshmallow, hmmm, so, having no campfire, we broiled them instead.

The results were pretty noteworthy, I think the taste was much improved. Here are the before and after results:













To broil a Peep, place Peep or Peeps on a cooling rack and place the rack over a cake pan (in case of drips). Position top rack so that the Peep will be about 5 inches from the broiler. Heat broiler to 500 and pop in the Peep. Watch closely for the sugar to caramelize, serve immediately.

April 7 - 20, 2009

T 7 – Beef Curry over Rice, Green Peas
W 8 – Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Corn, Carrots
R 9 – Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole (JLG 77)
F 10 – Ham & Bean Soup (JLG 5), Corn Muffins
S 11 – L.O. Ham and Bean Soup, etc.
U 12 – Pizza, Salad
M 13 – Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread
T 14 – Fried Chicken (JLG 70), Sweet Potatoes, Broccolini
W 15 – Fried Rice (LFRR 345), Egg Rolls
R 16 – Picatta Chicken (PCC 168), Cucumber and Onions in Sour Cream Sauce (LFRR 420), Dinner Rolls
F 17 – Roast Beef with Bordelaise Sauce (PCC 94), Baked Potatoes, Carrots
S 18 – L.O. Roast Beef, etc.
U 19 – Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup
M 20 – L.O. Spaghetti, etc.

I think this will be one of those shifting meal plans since Sunday is Easter and the 14th is our anniversary (8 years!). Some of my meals certainly seem more Easter-ly than frozen pizza! But I try to pick super easy meals for Sundays, regardless of where they fall in the year.

PCC (on R16) is a Pilsbury cookbook I have, but never listed on the side bar. There is a website for Pilsbury and I would have searched for the recipe there, but for some reason their website is not responding tonight.

On The Side: Hot Swiss Scalloped Potatoes

We invited a family over for dinner one night this week and I decided to roast a pork loin for the occasion. I planned to make oven-fried potato wedges as a side, but the wedges need to cook 100 deg. hotter than the loin for half an hour, so I started scouring for another dish that would fit better with the cooking time-table.

I discovered this recipe in my little cookbook Just Like Grandma Used to Make. It is so good that I think that if I hadn't made a chocolate chip pound cake, I might just have had potatoes for dessert!

Hot Swiss Scalloped Potatoes

1 1/2 c. Swiss Cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 c. green onions, sliced
6 T. butter, divided
2 T. flour
1 tsp salt
1 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
4 large potatoes, cooked, peeled & sliced
3 cups cooked ham, diced
1/4 c. fine dry bread crumbs

Combine 1 c. cheese and onions, mix well and set aside. Over medium heat, melt 2 T butter; stir in flour and salt; gradually add milk. Cook and stir until thickened, remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Grease a 3 quart casserole and line the bottom with 1/3 of potato slices, then 1/2 of the ham, and 1/2 of the cheese/onion mixture. Repeat layers and top with last 1/3 of potatoes. Melt remaining 4 T butter and mix with bread crumbs and reserved cheese. Sprinkle over casserole and baked uncovered at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

In hindsight I might have used 4 red potatoes or Yukon golds (I usually don't buy the Yukon potatoes b/c my grocery store only sells them in a big bag and they go south much faster than other potatoes, but they are good!). I used 2 reds and 2 baking potatoes. After boiling the potatoes, the baking potatoes were impossible to slice, so I crumbled them up and mixed them with the reds' slices. It was very yummy. I also used whole milk and regular sour cream. This was no diet-dish. This recipes makes a lot of servings (at least 10) and reheats well.

March 24 - April 6, 2009

24 T - Ratatouille (LFRR), Stuffed Peppers
25 W - Chicken Curry Pot Pie
26 R - Gone all Day Casserole
27 F - Mediterranean Chicken, Cous Cous, Carrots
28 S - Swedish Meatballs in Sour Cream Sauce (JLG 57), Egg Noodles, Carrots
29 U - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup
30 M - Savory Chicken Hash (JLG 75), Green Beans, Carrot Sticks
31 T - Spinach Bisque, Salad, Cuban Bread
1 W - Spaghetti, Salad
2 R - Chicken Cacciatore , Egg Noodles, Corn
3 F - Meatloaf, Corn on the Cob
4 S - Parmesan Chicken , Little Green Peas, Carrots, Biscuits
5 U - Pizza, Salad
6 M - Rio Grande Pork Roast, Oven Fried Potato Wedges (JLG 30), Peas n Pearl Onions

One of these meals was inspired by a dish I had while we were at Disney. I ordered a grilled pepper at the 50's Prime Time Diner. I was served a single green pepper filled with brown rice sitting in a ladelful of ratatouille. The price ws $12, but I'm sure it was less than $1.50 worth of food! I'm going to substitue the brown rice with quinoa, at Meredith's inspiration :)

Tastes Like Chicken: Make your Own Stock

I spent today making chicken stock. It took 8 hours, but yielded 11 cups of stock, which I will freeze mostly in 8oz portions. Here is how I do it:

When whole chickens are on sale (I've found them for $.79/lb, but this time it wasn't that good.), I buy 3. On the day I buy them, I cut them up to save the meat. I can cut up a whole chicken pretty quickly, but it is an art (or sorts) and the first time takes a while.

Some tips about chicken day - it helps to make sure that everything is ready to go before I pick up my boning knife so I don't have to wash my hands thirty times to keep from getting chicken goo on everything. I like to have my hair pulled back and I always have a pot of water to put anything I'm not keeping (i.e. skin and organs) into so I can quickly boil it before throwing it away. If I don't boil it, it gets awfully rank in the garage before trash day!

I cut off the wings and freeze them whole - removing the wingtips for the stockpot.
yield = 12 wing pieces about half of what we'd like if we were making hot wings.

Then I remove the wishbone (stick it in the stockpot) and skin the breast. I slice the breast carefully off of the ribcage and line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment. I place each breast half on the cookie sheet making sure none touch. Then I freeze them overnight. The next day, I toss them all in a zip top bag and can use them as needed without having to chip the apart.
yield = 6 boneless skinless chicken breast - with the tenderloin attached - you could remove the tenderloin and have a ziptop bag of them too for making chicken fingers

Next I dislocate the thighs and cut them away from the body. Sometimes I remove the skin while I'm at it. I package them 2 quarters together and freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap and a top layer of freezer paper.
yield = 3 packs of dark chicken quarters (2 legs, 2 thighs)

P.S. Here are 3 recipes that you can make using a pack of quarters and make enough to feed 3-4 people

Alphabet Chicken Soup
Chicken Curry Pot Pie
Alfredo Chicken Lasagna

With all of these, you'll need to roast or boil the chicken, then remove the meat and chop it up.

Now with all the desirable parts removed, I break the carcass into 3 or so pieces and store them in my biggest pot. Then I stick the pot in the fridge and get started making stock the next day.

I cover the pieces in water and bring it to a rolling boil. The water will foam with a icky grey mass of bubbles, which needs to be scooped off and discarded. Once it's gone, I lower the heat to a low simmer, add a quartered onion, 2 carrots (broken up, nothing fancy, I don't even wash them), 3 celery stalks (same treatment as the carrots), and some whole black peppercorns (2 tbsp or so, I just dump some in my hand). I let it simmer for EIGHT hours - just checking on it throughout the day and adding water when too much evaporates. The amount of water isn't important, what's important is that the bones are totally underwater.

After 8 hours, I let it cool down some before I strain it into a big container and cool it overnight in the fridge so that the fat will all rise to the top and solidify. The next day I peel off the fat and portion the stock (it's jello like now, unless I didn't do it right) into old yogurt and sour cream containers. Then I freeze it and use as needed.

Obviously bouillon is cheap, but I was throwing all these bones away before! Now I get something out of them first and have total control over how much salt goes into my recipes. I do think it tastes better than using cubes.

February 17 - March 3, 2009

17 T - Fried Rice with Shrimp & Ham (LFRR 345), Egg Rolls
18 W - 40 Cloves and A Chicken, Meredith’s Brussels Sprouts, Carrots
19 R - Slow Cooker Chili, Corn Muffins, Carrots
20 F – Chili Dogs, French Fries
21 S – Kung Pao Chicken (MFR 48), Jasmine Rice, 5 Spice Peas and Carrots
22 U – Lasagna(PIE 38), Salad, Garlic Bread
23 M – Chicken Curry in a Hurry, Rice
24 T – Old Cutler Missions Dinner
25 W – Beef and Barley Stew (BC 473)
26 R – L.O. Beef Stew
27 F – Mediterranean Chicken, Salad, Crescent Rolls
28 S – Old Cutler Missions Dinner
1 U – Pork Chops, Fried Apples n Onions, Mac & Cheese
2 M – Meatloaf, Green Beans, Biscuits
3 T – Clewiston Dessert Night

I should have posted something celebratory last week! It was my 50th meal plan post - and since my meal plans are usually 2 weeks of meals, that's 100 weeks of meals! So if you know some one who doesn't know what to cook for dinner, point them this way :)

Good For You: Ratatouille

While browsing through an old family recipe compilation cookbook, I stumbled upon Ratatouille. I don't get excited about eggplant, but it is not a very noticable flavor in this stew. I think the eggplant gives it meatiness, but the flavor is more of a veggie filled tomatoey stew. It's good and even better paired with a big loaf of Cuban bread.

Ratatouille
(from Looney Family Reunion Recipes, attributed to Peggy Collier)

1/4 cup olive or canola oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp salt, divided
1 small eggplant, cubed
3 tbsp. red wine
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 tsp basil
1 tsp marjorm
1/2 tsp oregano
2 medium bell peppers, chopped or in strips
1 medium zucchini or summer squash, cubed
black pepper to taste
2 medium tomatoes cut into chunks (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
2 tbsp tomato paste
fresh parsley for garnish

Heat oil in large heavy pot. Crush garlic into oil, add bay leaf and onion. Salt lightly. Saute over medium until onion becomes transparent. Add eggplant, wine, tomato juice, and herbs. Stir well and simmer 10-15 minutes over low heat.

When eggplant is tender, add zucchini and peppers, cover and simmer 10 more minutes.

Add remaining salt, pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste, mix well, and continue to stew until veggies reach desired tenderness. Just before serving remove bay leaf and garnish with parsley, I had some grated swiss & gruyere that we added on top and it was great. You might also add chopped black olives.

February 3 – 16, 2009

3 T – Thai Shrimp, Jasmine Rice, 5 Spice Peas and Carrots
4 W – Cornmeal Oven-Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn
5 R – Steak Burritos (SCR 54), Refried Beans
6 F – Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Green Beans, Carrot Sticks
7 S – Miss Stoker’s Lasagna (PIE 38), Salad
8 U – L.O. Lasagna
9 M - Fried Rice with Shrimp (LFRR 345), Salad
10 T – out
11 W – Alphabet Soup, Cuban Bread
12 R – Stuffed Chicken Rolls (SCR 72)
13 F - Meatloaf, Baked Potatoes
14 S – Homemade Pizza, Salad
15 U – Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
16 M – Spicy Meat Pie (LFRR 277), Salad

January 20 - February 2, 2009

20 T – Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread
21 W – Mushroom Crab Melts, Salad
22 R – Beef and Barley Stew (SCR 23)
23 F – L.O. Beef and Barley Stew
24 S – Chili, Corn Muffins
25 U – Chili Dogs, Crispy Crowns, Carrot Sticks
26 M – Chicken and Spaghetti (LFRR 315)
27 T – Ratatouille (LFRR 343), Cuban Bread
28 W – Vegetable Beef Pot Pie
29 R – Chicken in a Pot (SCR 64)
30 F – Rob’s Birthday – Pork with Pineapple Salsa, Corn, Yeast Rolls
31 S – Out
1 U – Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, carrots sticks
2 M – Chicken Pizza Packets

That's Sweet: Boy Scout Peach Cobbler

Rob taught Caleb how to make peach cobbler the way he did in Boy Scout camp. I think this is more of a dump cake, but "a rose is a rose" as they say and it is quite yummy.


Boy Scout Peach Cobbler

1 Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix
1 Can Sliced Peaches in Heavy Syrup
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
White Sugar

Line a loaf pan with foil and dump in the cake mix. Pour the peaches over and stir to combine. Top with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little white sugar - all to taste. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes checking for doneness along the way.

Rob said they cooked this in a dutch oven over coals at camp.

Just Like Grandma's: Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce

The sauce is a pretty creamy lavender and it is yum yum good!

Swedish Meatballs in Sour Cream Sauce

1lb ground pork
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1 1/2 T. chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 T. butter (divided)
1 cup beef broth
1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. red wine
8 oz sour cream

Mix pork, bread crumbs, onion, salt, nutmeg and half of butter - form into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place in a baking pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes (until browned). Add broth to pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 more minutes. Remove meatballs and keep warm. Skim fat off of liquid and move to saucepan. Boil to reduce by half. In a large skillet, saute mushrooms in remaining butter; add wine, meatballs and liquid. Simmer 5 minutes, then stir in the sour cream and heat through without boiling. Serve over rice or noodles.

January 6 - 19, 2009

6 T – Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad
7 W – Grilled Pork Chops, Corn and Barley Salad (JLG 23)
8 R – Oriental Chicken (SCR 69), Sesame Snap Peas and Pearl Onions, Rice
9 F – Roast Barbecue (JLG 53), Baked Beans, Carrots
10 S – Chicken and Yellow Rice, Green beans
11 U – L.O. Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad
12 M – Crispy Oven Fried Chicken (JLG 71), Potato Salad, Broccoli in Spicy Orange Sauce (JLG 39)
13 T – Swedish Meatballs in Sour Cream Sauce (JLG 57), Egg Noodles
14 W – Tender BBQ’d Chicken (SCR 74), Macaroni and Cheese, Lil Green Peas
15 R – Beef Barley Stew (SCR 33)
16 F – L.O. Beef Barley Stew
17 S – Chicken in a Pot (SCR 64)
18 U – Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup
19 M – Chili, Corn Muffins

My mom gave me two cookbooks while I was at home - Best of Country Slow Cooker Recipes and Just Like Grandma Used to Make. The Slow Cooker one appealed to me at first because our playgroup time has been moved to late afternoons to accomdate those who are now in preschool and I needed some crockpot inspirations! But since we've been home, I've made four recipes from the Grandma cookbook and all of them have been real winners! Especially Swedish Meatballs in Sour Cream Sauce, which Rob requested we have again soon.