Sunday, February 21, 2010

Menu Plan Monday 2/22/10

Well, I don't think my ranch dressing, yes, the one I was so excited about, is quite right. I like the taste when I first make it but then something goes off. I will keep working on it though! I WILL succeed! But to give myself a break, I made this creamy Italian dressing. It was pretty good. I've modified it enough that it is my own but I worked off of one on allrecipes.com.

Creamy Italian Dressing:

In a blender combine:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (you need extra virgin for the "fruity" flavor it brings)
1 Tablespoon chopped onion (or just cut off a slice and throw it in there)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Pepper to taste

Blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!

This week's menu plan:

Monday: Vegetable Beef Soup & Open-faced Cheesy Bread
Tuesday: Chicken Fried Steak, Rice & Mixed Vegetables
Wednesday: Sticky Drumsticks & Spinach Cobb Salad
Thursday: Triple Zest Pork Chops with Citrus Relish (a recipe I'm concocting for a contest), Baked Potatoes, & Salad
Friday: Fire Roasted Shrimp Enchiladas (another original recipe) & Black Beans

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Valentine's Week Menu Plan

Hello everyone! I hope that all of you are doing fine on these late winter days. At least the sun is staying up longer! And it is getting stronger. I can tell because the snow is melting and it is only 18 degrees (says the computer).

Well, the kids have been sick. I'm feeling very needed. And hopefully that won't end up with me feeling very needy. I mean I've only had someone cough in my face about 5 times in the past few days and I've only cleaned up throw up twice. Really, I think my immune system should be able to kick whatever is thrown at me. Really.

So what have eating?

On Sunday, I made us a very, very yummy meal. My parents had just delivered our Christmas present - a freezer full of meat! So we had organic, grass fed beef New York strip steaks, with a basic, creamy risotto (only a total of 10 minutes in the pressure cooker!), and green beans with almonds. Now, let me tell you a way to kick your steaks up a notch. I did not marinade them but I did rub them with Worcestershire sauce, pepper, kosher salt and garlic powder. Then I put them under the broiler. Yum! To finish them off, and this is the key part, I sprinkled blue cheese on them and set them back under the broiler. Yum!!! Try it, you will not be disappointed.

Monday: Clean out the fridge :)

Tuesday: Seafood Enchiladas, Black Beans, & Chips with Homemade Salsa. The seafood enchiladas are from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Luke loved them, he wrote me a note during the meal that said " You look beautiful and you made a great dinner." Ahhhh :)

Wednesday: Ritz Chicken (a.k.a - poppy seed chicken) I make mine entirely from scratch - no cans of soup. We'll have a green salad with it.

Thursday: Chicken Parmesan & Salad

Friday: Split Pea Soup with Biscuits (requested by by my dear husband). I laugh at the fact that I make and actually enjoy split pea soup now. I remember HATING it as a child. Oh, how we all change.

Have a great week!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Menu Plan & Playing with Mackerel

Late (we've eaten half of the menu) but sharing nonetheless!

Monday: Butternut Squash Soup
Tuesday: Ham and Sweet Potato Pancakes (an original recipe - contest submitted - lol) & Salad
Wednesday: Mexican Taco Casserole (I'm loosely basing this off the linked recipe) & Salad
Thursday: Green Chicken Coconut Curry with White Rice & Salad
Friday: Cheese Ravioli with Marinara Sauce and Salad. I may just throw in some cheesy bread sticks with this one.

Now, on to the mackerel.

Holy Mackerel!........sorry, couldn't resist.

I've been recruited to cook some mackerel for our church's Wild Game Feast. Now, I've never cooked mackerel nor have I actually ever eaten mackerel so this should be fun and exciting! The planners gave me some ideas but after bumming around on-line, doing some searches, I think this recipe looks promising and so I'm going to just go with it. It is for Japanese Broiled Mackerel. I'll be excited to see how it turns out and will try to give an update next week.