How to : Bakin' Bacon

I've always been a "nuke it in the microwave" bacon cooker, but recently tried baking bacon in the oven. It turned out very well. Here's how you do it:

Preheat the oven to 400.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Lay out the bacon so it is just touching.
Bake 15-20 minutes depending on how crispy you like it.

April 15 - 28, 2008

15 T – Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes
16 W – Church Dinner
17 R – Crunchy Parmesan Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese Soup
18 F – Spring Minestrone Pasta with Crispy Bacon
19 S – BLTs, Mac & Cheese
20 U – Pizza, Salad
21 M – “Good Eats” Brined Pork Chops, Fried Apples ‘n’ Onions
22 T – Asian Chicken Noodle Bowls, Salad
23 W – Rob’s Random Choice
24 R – Indian Spiced Meat with Curried Potato Salad
25 F – Pressure Cooker Pork Ribs, Rice, Broccoli
26 S – BBQ Pork Sandwiches, Baked Beans, Carrot Sticks
27 U – Moroccan Stew, Couscous
28 M – Sloppy Joes, Tater Tots, Carrot Sticks

Tastes Like Chicken: Apple 'n' Onion Chicken

Rob is pretty honest about what he likes and doesn't like when it comes to my cooking. We had this the other night and he pronounced it GOOD!

Apple 'n' Onion Chicken

3 medium apples, sliced
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice

Saute the apples and onions in butter until tender. Meanwhile... Combine the swiss, parm, bread crumbs, and thyme in a bowl. Then pour the apples 'n' onions into a greased baking dish and top with chicken. Season with salt & pepper. Top with cheese mixture and drizzle on the apple juice. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

March 18-31, 2008

T 18 – Hash Brown Turkey, Broccoli, Carrot Sticks
W 19 – Southwest Summer Pork Chops, Corn, Tater Tots
R 20 – Penne with Cannellini Beans, Carrot & Cuke Salad
F 21 – Spicy Shrimp, Salad, Crusty Rolls
S 22 - Rob’s Random Choice
U 23 – EASTER DINNER
M 24 - Parmesan Chicken, Salad, Bread
T 25 – Spanish Rice Chicken Casserole, Broccoli
W 26 – Meat Loaf Wellington, Crispy Potato Cubes, Carrots
R 27 – Baked Taco Chicken, Broccoli, Carrots
F 28 – Turkey Taco Bake, Salad
S 29 – African Beef Curry, Rice
U 30 – Pollo Tropical
M 31 – Left Overs

Tastes Like Chicken: Mediterranean Chicken

So easy, a 2 year old can do it!



Mediterranean Chicken

Some chicken (4 breasts, a package of thighs, a whole cut-up bird, you pick!)
salt
pepper
olive oil
16 black olives, sliced (Caleb uses an egg slicer)
1 pint grape tomatoes (or slightly less if you have tiny tomato snatchers in your home)

Salt the chicken, brown on both sides in olive oil (say 2-3 tbsp). Pepper the chicken (if you pepper before browning, it will burn.), sprinkle with olive slices and grape tomatoes. If you like them, add a couple tablespoons capers, I don't, so I don't.

Bake at 375 (for bone-in) or 475 (for boneless) until internal temperature is 180+ (about an hour for bone-in, maybe 20 mintues for boneless.)

March 4-17, 2008

We'll be out of town the 8th through the 11th.

4 T – Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad, Bread
5 W – Grilled Pork & Pineapple, corn
6 R – Mediterranean Chicken, Couscous, Salad
7 F – Pizza, Salad
8 S – NRB - Nashville
9 U – NRB - Nashville
10 M – NRB - Nashville
11 T – NRB - Nashville
12 W – Contessa Meal (Frozen Dinner)
13 R – Spaghetti with Meatballs, Bread, Salad
14 F – Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Broccoli, Carrot Sticks
15 S – Black Bean Chicken Tacos, Salad
16 U – Brined Pork Chops, Fried Apples ‘n’ Onions, Carrots
17 M – Asian Chicken Noodle Bowls

Caleb's New "Toy"

Along with all the toys and clothes my parents got for Caleb and Annalise for Christmas, they also gave each of them a J.C. Penney gift card. Besides new clothes, I have enough hand-me-downs for Caleb to keep him dressed until he starts kindergarten. So I didn't feel too guilty for asking him this loaded question:

"Caleb, do you want clothes or do you want an ice cream maker?"

His answer ;), "AN ICE CREAM MAKER!!!"

So here it is, Caleb's Ice Cream Maker:



And if it's still working when he goes to college, he can take it with him!

Well, today we made some AMAZING strawberry ice cream with fresh Florida strawberries.

The ingredients:
1 pint of strawberries
1 cup sugar - divided
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

First slice the strawberries and stir in the lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar, allow to mascerate for 2 hours.

Next drain the juice off the strawberries, combine juice, 2/3 cup sugar, and milk and stir until the sugar is disolved. Add cream and vanilla, follow ice cream maker instructions.

This is the cream mixture at the beginning of the churn. (Note: We added a tiny bit of red food coloring.)

In LESS THAN 30 MINUTES, it became soft serve ice cream!

We added the berry slices with 5 minutes to go in the machine.

After spending the rest of the day firming up in the freezer...isn't this the prettiest scoop of strawberry ice cream!

Caleb takes the inaugural bite!

Caleb says, "Ice cream...
"...GOOD!"

February 19 - March 3, 2008

Don't forget! It's LEAP YEAR!

19 T – Spicy Beans, Sausage Cornbread “Stuffin’ Muffins”
20 W – In a Hurry Curry, Rice, Carrot Stix
21 R – Asian Chicken Noodle Bowls
22 F – Pizza, Salad
23 S – Chicken Satay Noodle Salad
24 U – Spaghetti w/Meatballs, Salad, Bread
25 M – Old Cutler Prez. Mission Dinner
26 T – Shrimp Tostadas, Salad
27 W – Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken, Broccoli
28 R – Pork Soft Tacos, Salad
29 F – Grilled Chicken, Stuffing, Broccoli
1 S – Pernil, Scalloped Potatoes, Cucumber & Carrot Salad
2 U – Cubanos, Tater Tots
3 M – Hashbrown Turkey Cutlets, Broccoli

The recipe for the sausage cornbread muffins was a Publix Apron's Simple Meals card, but it's kind of old, so I couldn't find a link to it on their website.

Happy Valentines Day!

I made cookies today:


They are a Valentine's modification of these Christmas Cookies.

Finger lickin' good! :)


There actually isn't any sugar in the cookie part of these cookies, but the icing and filling made them really sweet. The cookies are very much like puff pastry.

***

We're still working on the last menu, but a few of the recipes have turned out really well. Tonight we had Southwestern Nachos - and I made a few modifications to the meal. They were very good - instead of using pork loin, I braised 3 small pork chops in apple juice and minced garlic then shredded the meat. Instead of high priced "Scoop" tortilla chips, I used store brand white corn tortilla chips. I used all the beans recommended (the original recipe made two 13x9 pans, I made one 9x9 pan), less corn, a whole tomato, about 1/3 of a red onion, red pepper flakes, and lime juice. Instead of velvetta I topped it with shredded cheese. It was yummy!

Also the African Beef Curry was a super easy meal and very good. I also really liked the Ham Barley soup. However I do not recommend the Orange Chicken with Sweet Potatoes.

February 5 - 18, 2008

5 T – Tuna Tortellini Soup (Camp 24), Salad
6 W – Orange Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, Rice
7 R – Lasagna, Bread, Salad
8 F – L.O. Lasagna, Bread Salad
9 S – Glazed Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
10 U – Sunday Chicken Stew (**prep Saturday night**)
11 M – L.O. Sunday Chicken Stew
12 T – Ham Barley Soup, Salad (Camp 26)
13 W – African Beef Curry, Rice
14 R – Southwestern Nachos, Salad
15 F – Chicken with Yellow Rice, Green Beans
16 S – Pizza, Salad
17 U – Pork Chops, Broccoli Bake (Camp 139)
18 M – Spaghetti with Meatballs, Bread Salad

I guess I never listed my Campbells soup cook book - "Camp" refers to it.

The Broccoli Bake on the 17th is very similar to Green Bean casserole. I am on the look out for new and different ways to serve broccoli - Caleb has already caught on to that "little tree" bit.

January 23 - February 5, 2008

23 W – Skillet Fish with Spinach
24 R – Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas
25 F – Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Broccoli, Carrot Sticks
26 S – Curry Chicken Pot Pie
27 U – Pizza, Salad
28 M – Burritos (Old El Paso Dinner Kit), Salad
29 T – Broccoli Chicken Casserole
30 W – Clams*Rob’s Birthday*, Corn, Carrots
31 R – Turkey Wafflewiches, Potatoes
1 F – Lasagna, Salad, Bread
2 S – L.O. Lasagna
3 U – Hot Chicken Salad, Broccoli
4 M – Pizza, Salad
5 T – Meatloaf, Corn, Mashed Potatoes

How to Make Biscuits from Scratch

A few years ago, I wanted biscuits, but I didn't have canned biscuits and was out of biscuit mix, so I embarked on a journey to teach myself how to make biscuits from scratch. I discovered that it is not so easy as to follow a recipe's directions. Biscuit making has quirks and I'm proud to say that although my biscuits aren't always beautiful, they taste much better than I ever hoped. :)

Presenting...my son Caleb to demonstrate how to make biscuits from scratch:

First combine the dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

One of my first hurdles was flat biscuits. I had not mixed the dry ingredients well enough to completely incorporate the baking powder. The trick is to sift or wisk the dry goods briskly. I don't have a sifter, but a wisk is easier to clean anyway.

Next add the fat, I use 5 tablespoons of real butter, but you could add 4-6 tablespoons of butter or shortening or a combination of the two.

The trick with the butter is to get it into tiny pieces and let each tiny piece be completely covered with flour. Your butter has to be very cold. You could do this with two knives (hard) or use a pastry cutter (as Caleb is doing). You could even do this with your finger tips if you work quickly and don't have hot hands. The resulting mixture looks similar to cracker crumbs.

No picture, but the next step is to add 3/4 cup of milk. Stir it lightly 10 or less times, just get everything kind of wet. Then set the bowl aside while you flour the area where you'll be working the dough. The time lets the flour absorb some of the milk and makes the dough easier to work with.

Caleb's favorite! Pat pat pat! You don't knead biscuit dough. Form a ball and pat gently to about 1/2 inch thickness. Sprinkle on a little flour if it sticks to your hands (see mine?). Then fold it over in half and again in half so it makes a little square of dough, pat pat pat again and fold again. Do this only a few times. The folding lets the butter make layers, but working the dough too much will make your biscuits too tough.

Finally, pat out into a disk - 1/2 inch thick (or so), cut out biscuit rounds, place them on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes - voila!

January 8 - 21, 2008

8 T – Crumb Coated Tilapia, Yellow Rice, Black Beans
9 W – Spaghetti, Salad, Bread
10 R - Chicken Penne Casserole
11 F – Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn
12 S - Baked Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans
13 U – Papa Johns Pizza, Salad
14 M – Mediterranean Chicken, Couscous, Salad
15 T – Spaghetti, Salad, Bread
16 W - Rosemary Garlic Pork, Broccoli, Carrot Sticks, Biscuits
17 R – Lemon Teriyaki Chicken, Black Beans, Rice
18 F – Tacos, Refried Beans
19 S – Chicken Saltimbocca, Cannellini Beans and Tomatoes
20 U – Wing Stop
21 M – 2nd Meatloaf, Scalloped Potatoes, Corn

Meatballs with a Twist

You can thank Rachel Ray for these interesting and tasty meatballs:

Thai Shrimp & Pork Balls

4 scallions, trimmed
1 tsp ground ginger
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp tamari (soy sauce*)
1 tsp basil
zest & juice of 1 lime
1 lb medium shrimp - shelled and deveined (raw)
1 lb ground pork

Combine scallions, ginger, garlic, tamari, basil, and lime zest in a food processor. Pulse for 30 seconds, scrape down the bowl thne process for 1 minute. Add shrimp and pork and process until the shrimp is in really tiny pieces, but not totally mush. Roll into balls and cook as you would any other meatball. I'm not saying these are good with marinara sauce (RR suggests a curry sauce that includes coconut milk), but then again, maybe they would be good with regular spaghetti...I just know they are tasty meatballs!

*Tamari IS soy sauce, but it's not the same as what's labeled "Soy Sauce" when you see it on the grocery shelf. It's a little more expensive, but it is really really good.

December 12-20, 2007

12 W – Church Dinner
13 R – Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry , Rice
14 F – Taco Salad, Refried Beans
15 S – Pretzel Crusted Chicken, Corn, carrots
16 U – Spaghetti, Salad, Bread
17 M - Italian Roast, Alfredo Mashed Potatoes , Peas
18 T – Potato flake chicken , baked beans, biscuits
19 W – L.O. Spaghetti, etc.
20 R – Meat & Potato Soup

The 21st we hit the road for the ROBBINS FAMILY WORLD TOUR! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

November 28 - December 10, 2007

Well, I have finally had time to put together a real meal plan! After the first grueling days with a newborn, I ended up back on hospital fare (their picadillo was actually quite good) for another week. Since then I've managed to have "something" for dinner each night, but I have missed having a pre-planned menu to guide me! I know it won't last, but lately, Annalise has been taking a short, but well timed nap around 5pm - helpful! Here's what's cooking for the next two weeks...or until Annalise's schedule changes and we end up of frozen food again:

28 W – Southwest Chicken Foil Packet
29 R – Chili, Cornbread Muffins, Carrot Sticks
30 F – Cranberry Orange Pork Chops , Pasta side, Broccoli
1 S – Juicy Hamburgers, French Fries, Pickles
2 U – Hurricane Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
3 M – Parmesan Chicken, Green Beans, Scalloped Potatoes
4 T – Chili Dogs, Broccoli with Cheese, Carrot Sticks
5 W – Chicken a la King , Salad
6 R – Pizza, Salad
7 F – Polynesian Roast Beef , Mashed Potatoes, Carrots
8 S – L.O. Polynesian Roast Beef
9 U – Garlic Chicken Breasts , Couscous, Asparagus
10 M – Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Salad

October 3 - October 16, 2007

This meal plan is during the time our baby is due - and since we don't have a scheduled induction or c-section, who knows when that will be! So instead of a dated meal plan, here is a list of meals I plan to have everything on hand for:

Beef and Tomato Casserole, Salad
Lemon Chicken , Rice
Saucy Italian Pork Chops , Salad
Spanish Style Chicken etc. (RR 162)
BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Creamy Chicken , Broccoli, Carrots
Hodge Podge Soup, Corn Bread Muffins
L.O. Hodge Podge Soup, etc.
Pizza, Salad
Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas

My mom is coming tomorrow and we work pretty well tag-teaming dinner - that is, she has never liked picking out recipes, but doesn't mind cooking. So I've picked out food and she can cook it when I can't. I also allocated funds for eating out more (while the baby and I are in the hospital). I've learned the hard way that if you don't plan for unexpected meals, you spend way too much for them! For a family on a budget, that's a sure way to break it!

I also went ahead and made a meal plan for the following two weeks that we can draw from if little Miss Robbins is late. It is even more sparse, since my dad will be coming into town and I expect we will eat out more. I will probably not post another meal plan until November, by then I'll be back to typing with one hand :) but that's ok!

September 19 - October 2, 2007

19 W – Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs, Jasmine Rice
20 R – Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, Garlic Bread
21 F – BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Salad, Rolls
22 S – BCM Reunion
23 U – Pappas House - We're bringing Potato Salad
24 M – Saucy Parmesan Chicken , Buttered Noodles, Green Peas
25 T – Taco Meatball Ring, Salad, Refried Beans
26 W – Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes , Broccoli
27 R – Black Bean Chicken Tacos, Salad
28 F – Layered Enchilada Bake , Salad
29 S - Crab Lasagna Rolls Ups, Salad
30 U – Slow Cooker Tex Mex Chicken , Rice
1 M – Sloppy Joes, Broccoli, Mac & Cheese
2 T – Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas

Down on the Farm

I like having parties at my house. When I was in college, I spent 5 semesters living with a gal who loved to throw them as much as I did. We turned our dorm room into an place to welcome our friends several times. One Christmas we collaborated with our next door neighbors and threw a big party using our rooms and the area between them.

I also like to make cakes and cards. I've thought in the past that they might be good ways to generate extra income, but I've discovered that both take more effort than people are really willing to pay you for, so it's better to just save that effort for those I love most.

For Caleb's 2nd birthday I considered several possible themes, but finally settled on a barnyard theme inspired by one of his favorite books "Duck on a Bike". I bought several copies of "Duck on a Bike" on eBay to include in the goodie bags. Decorating was easy - I just rounded up all the barnyard related toys!

I made these barn cards for invitations.

I made cupcakes decorated like sheep, pigs, and chicks. I got the sheep pattern from Family Fun magazine and the pigs and chicks from Taste of Home.

Caleb's Little People Barn was a great backdrop for the cupcakes.

The whole spread: We had a "vegetable garden" tray, pumpkin roll ups (sun-dried tomato tortillas rolled with american cheese and a sprig of cilantro), and chicken salad.

This was pretty much my only completely original idea for the party - everything else was an assortment of things I found in magazines or on the internet. I made these goodie bags out of inexpensive burlap fabric and wrote on them with a sharpie. Inside were the books, farm stickers, some bubbles, and a cow lollipop.

The cow lollies were really easy to make. I bought a cow mold at a candy store.

Finally, Caleb helped me make these thank you notes. I did the big pig and he did the little ones. It's pretty tricky to work with a hot pink ink pad and a toddler, but we didn't make too big of a mess! The inside reads, "Thank you very much!".

I had a lot of fun getting all this together. I think we'll do it again...in a few years!

Snacking

Being pregnant means I'm hungry...oh about every 20 minutes. Sometimes I'm not proud of the choices I make, but I've found that if I get in a habit of picking a certain food attribute (calcium rich, high in fiber, etc.) at the same time each day, I snack a little better

One decadant and seemingly sinful treat I've discovered is The Skinny Cow Fudge Bars. They were voted best overall in a fudge bar comparison I read about in a magazine. There are plenty of "No Sugar Added" fudge bars out there, but this one is pretty note-worthy. In addition to only being 100 calories and 1 gram of fat, it has 10% RDV of Calcium! Wow!

Another snack I enjoy regularly is stove top popcorn. I started buying the stove top kind many months ago when I was looking for ways to cut back on our expenses. Now, even when microwave popcorn is buy one get one free, I opt for the old fashioned kind. Popcorn is a whole grain and high in fiber. If you make it on the stove top, you have complete control over how much fat and salt you add. I've found I like the way it tastes if I cook it in about 1 tbsp of oil (**Canola oil is cheaper and healthier than olive oil**) and salt the unpopped kernels with popcorn (fine) salt. Somehow it tastes slightly buttery even though I don't add butter. It isn't difficult to clean up. Add enough oil to your pan to coat the bottom and don't use more kernels than can cover the bottom one layer thick. Cook over medium heat and you'll keep from burning it. It takes a little practice to get (almost) every kernel to pop ;)