Bi-Weekly Menu Sept 17th-Sept 28th

I have made a menu for the first time in....

man I can't even tell you how long.

But here it is. So Running With the Girls, your family can eat again! :-P

Baked French Toast

Diced Ham and Eggs

Steak Fingers with Gravy

Chicken Teriyaki, Rice and Steamed broccoli

Orzo with Parm and Basil

Crockpot Chicken Ceaser Sandwiches

T-Bone Steaks with Hotel Butter

Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit Casserole

Best Macaroni Salad Ever

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Wreath

White Chicken Cheddar Pasta

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

Bacon-Chicken Crescent Ring Bake

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Tater Tot Casserole

Course, since I will be 36 weeks on Friday, I MIGHT have Little Miss before then. I doubt it since my last OB appt showed that she is making ZERO effort to try and come out. Before my midwife was thinking I wouldn't make it to 37 weeks. Now she's thinking that she might just stay in the entire 40 weeks. Given how large she is, I really hope not!!! 

BiWeekly Menu!

So I have noticed a trend.

When I don't make a menu and stick to it, there is LOTS of eating out to be had.

And frankly I am sick and tired of wasting money on food I can cook at home, use less fattening ingredients AND it tastes so much better. 

So I sat down this weekend and made my menu. I miss cooking. I miss adding new recipes to this blog. I know I keep saying I have a bunch to add, which I do. And I just never do it. So that ends now!

This biweekly menu looks like this:

Biscuits and Gravy

Grilled PB and Honey Sandwiches

Layered Beef and Mac n' Cheese (Little Man is gonna love it!)

French Toast with Berry Butter

Risotto

Egg Salad Sandwiches on Lettuce Wraps

Chicken and Steak Kabobs (our own recipe)

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Chicken Pot Pie

Pasta Alla Marlboro Man

Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Onion Butter

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit Casserole

Chick Fil-A Chicken Sandwiches (homemade!)

Potato Bacon Casserole

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

I will make sure to take picture before, during AND after and I will be posting each night. And I expect YOU to hold me to that (this should read JEN, you need to hound me since I know you love when I post new recipes! LOL) 

Hope you have a good day!

What's on the menu tonight? Tonight we are having Chicken Salad Sandwiches (our own recipe so will blog it) on Pita Pockets :D

Tomorrow will be a Vita Coco Giveaway. I'm excited and hope you are too! 

Scentsy Winner, A Recipe and my Menu

First I will start off by saying thanks for the quick entries for the Scentsy Beach Plugin Warmer. The winner is...

(now its weird, one of my comments didn't have a number next to their name (if anyone knows why, please let me know how I can fix that) so I had to count. Thank goodness it was only 9!!)

#7!! 

#7 is mommysap! Please contact me as soon as you see this so I can get it mailed out in a timely fashion (hoping as early as tomorrow!!). Email me at soljersterATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!! 

I know I have been slacking in the cooking department and that is...well that is nothing except pure laziness. I have made quite a few new recipes but sadly, no pictures. I tried to take a few with my phone but that just didn't work. I will still post the post about them but sadly, no pictures. Yes, bad food blogger.

About a week ago, I made Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole . One word...AH-Mazing. I loved it. Other Chef loved it. Little Man loved it. Definetly a keeper for sure!! It was kinda funny watching Little Man put all the mushrooms to the side and say to me "Here Momma, you can have these." Aww, aren't you a sweetheart? Nothing really to report about it except its amazing. Seriously. And so easy and quick to make!! You won't be disappointed!! (Recipe at the link!)

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

This grocery period is full of a LOT of new recipes. A lot of which, I have never cooked before. So that makes this food blogger extremely excited and nervous all at the same time! Most of my recipes came from Tasty Kitchen again, seriously...how amazing is that website? And almost ALL the recipes I have gotten off of there, have been amazing. If you haven't checked it out yet, you need to! 

Upcoming Menu Choices (mostly dinners but there are some breakfasts and lunches too):

Flank Steak with Snow Peas and Jasmine Rice

Killer Club Sandwiches

Fried Round Steak, Potatoes Au Gratin

Make-Ahead Muffin Melts (I'll make Wednesday night)

Skillet Parm Cheese, Broccoli and Rice

Eggs in Ham Cups

Bacon, Hashbrown and Egg Casserole

Italian Chicken Soup

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Wrap

Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Onion Butter

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice

Cheesy Potato Fritatta

Ranch Potatoes (will go with steak and steamed broccoli)

Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole

Nutella Oatmeal with banana

Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Crescent Braid

Creamy Chicken Casserole

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

Ricotta Scrambled Eggs

Poppy Seed Chicken

Risotto

LOTS of good eats which means LOTS of happy stomachs around here! Which also means lots of cooking, lots of messes and lots of picture taking :D 

Chicken Sour Cream Enchilada Casserole

Sometimes I make chicken enchilada's with green sauce. It is most definetly a fave in this house but I don't make it that often. It has a certain flavor that I can only take so much of so its not a monthly dish by any means. 

I saw a Chicken Sour Cream Enchilada Casserole recipe on TastyKitchen (best website EVER btw) I knew I had to try it. We are not big fans of corn tortillas so that was kinda iffy for me but meh. Gotta try something new right? The other thing I found a tad...interesting...is the cojita cheese. I have never heard of cojita cheese before in my life. Ever. I opened the package and that was kinda...interesting...to say the least. The smell, not so much. The taste, really salty. Honestly, it reminded me of a Mexican cheese version of Feta cheese. Really was NOT a fan at all. But the good thing is there isn't much in there so you really can't taste it. At least I didn't. 

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 whole Chicken, Cooked And Diced
• 1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• 1 can (10.75 Oz. Can) Cream Of Chicken Soup
• 4 ounces, weight Can Green Chilies, Chopped
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 8 ounces, weight Carton Sour Cream Light
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Pepper
• ½ teaspoons Onion Powder
• 8 ounces, weight Package Of Corn Tortillas
• Olive Oil
• 8 ounces, weight Mexican Mix Cheese, Shredded
• ¼ cups Cojita Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In large sauce pan over low/medium heat, add all ingredients except for the tortillas, olive oil, and cheeses.
Stir so that everything is mixed well.
While it’s warming up, heat the corn tortillas in a small amount of olive oil in small sauce pan over low heat.
Spray a casserole pan with cooking spray and tear each corn tortilla into 4-8 individual pieces.
Lay half of the tortillas on the bottom of the casserole dish and then layer with sauce and chicken and half of the cheese mixture.
Repeat layers, except keep the cheese off the very top layer.
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes and then top off with the last of the cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Let it cool for about 5 minutes and then serve.

Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

So not entirely a big french toast fan. My Grams used to make it when I was little but I always ate it with ketchup. Weird I know. But delicious. So when I saw this recipe on TK, I knew I had to make it. Breakfasts at our house during the week is nothing to write home about. Mostly cereal, bagel or something of that sort. On the weekends, I normally make bacon and eggs. Sometimes some pancakes. Just depends on fast the family wants breakfast. So Monday morning, everyone was off and I decided to try my hand at the french toast.

And dear God am I happy I did.

It was amazing. I wasn't going to make bacon but Other Chef wanted some. So I did. Perfect breakfast I think!

Nom!

You can't really see the "stuffing" since I didn't cut it in half and by the time you could see it, I was devouring it. So yeah.

Verdict: Its amazing! Definetly want to be making this again and again. Well not really cause my butt won't appreciate it but you get the picture!

Recipe is here:

Ingredients

• 8 ounces, fluid Cream Cheese, softened
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 8 slices Thick Italian Bread
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar, For Topping

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In small bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar. Take 4 slices of the Italian bread and smear with cream cheese, like you would do with peanut butter. Top each slice with another slice of bread to form a sandwich.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Dip and soak each sandwich in the egg mixture.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Cook two sandwiches at a time in the skillet, 4–5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Set each sandwich aside on a baking sheet and cook the remaining sandwiches with the remaining tablespoon of butter. With all 4 sandwiches on a baking sheet, bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes.
Cut each sandwich in half and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Quick Vegetable Soup

Lunches around here are actually kinda hard to plan. I don't want to eat a sandwich all the time. Nor does Little Man. I am not a big can soup eater. I also don't like making a huge mess for just lunch either. So when I found this recipe, I was sold. Its literally quick, easy and oh so delicious. In fact, Other Chef devoured it and he's all about "meat" and not just vegetables. Not to mention, its extremely low in calories...who doesn't love that?? I did change it up a big. I didn't use the chili-garlic sauce. I seasoned it with chili powder (to taste), garlic powder (to taste) and some salt and pepper. It was DELICIOUS and I can't wait to make it again. In fact, I am sitting here contemplating making it again but apparently, the boys want Grilled PB and Honey Sandwiches for lunch. Oh...fine.

Recipe's after the pictures!!

What I used

The delicious soup done!! 

Verdict is DELICIOUS and this will definetly be a lunch option from now on :D

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Butter
• 10 whole Baby Carrots, Rough Chopped
• 2 whole Celery Stalks, Rough Chopped
• ½ whole Yellow Onion, Chopped
• 2 cups Vegetable Broth
• ¼ teaspoons Chili-garlic Sauce, Or To Taste
• 3 Tablespoons Orzo

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Then add veggies and saute 5 minutes, until carrots and celery are crisp-tender and onions are translucent. Stir in broth and chili garlic sauce and bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook until al dente (about 9 minutes). Salt to taste.
Note: This doesn’t store well, because the pasta soaks up all of the broth. It’s best to make this right before eating.

Roast Beast!!!

Yes, totally had a breath of the Grinch there for a minute. So each payday (we get paid twice a month) I scope out Tasty Kitchen, PW and some of the blogs for new recipes to try. Well I decided instead of only scanning twice a month and then pulling my hair out trying to make my menu, I have sat and just saved a ton of links. Now will be the fun part of trying to organize it all! But anyway, we eat a lot of meat in this house. Its mostly chicken but I am always up for some beef recipes. Making a roast is always new to me, never really made it and the times I have...well yeah. Not so good. So I found this recipe on TK and it seemed so simple and actually looks really delicious. I have never had the soups it calls for so I honestly had NO idea what it was going to taste like.

I got everything together, seared the meat and then put it in the dish. (Does anyone else only use Pyrex dishes??) Then put it in the oven.

This is where my "blonde" moment kicked in.

See, I have this habit of preheating like you are supposed to but also accidentally turning off the oven. Don't ask me why but I literally have to catch myself doing it. Apparently though, this was not one of those times I caught myself.

Wednesday nights are AWANA nights for Little Man. So I had it all timed out that dinner would be ready in PLENTY of time for him to eat before church. Yeah...that didn't work out. 2.5 hours goes by, I am playing my nerd game and I hear from the kitchen "Umm...the stove is turned off." I race into the kitchen and I am like WHAT?!? Sure as heck, the roast has been sitting in the oven for 2.5 hours...not cooking. Yes, I said that right. NOT COOKING. Mind you, it is now 600pm. I got Ethan something else to eat and started the oven up...again. NOT happy at this point.

Around 815, it was done. At this point, I am not even hungry. I grabbed a bag of salt and vinegar chips and vegge'd. Oh yes, so healthy right? Thursday night we had dinner at a friends house (made her PW's chicken spaghetti, there were NO leftovers at all), Friday night we had a friends going away BBQ so this delicious roast wasn't even eaten until Saturday night. I have what I am thinking is pneumonia (Doc appt tomorrow morning so I will know then) so the other chef made the sides (rice with beef gravy...McCormick rocks!) and I ate it in bed on Saturday. Hence why there are no pictures to show for this delicious roast.

Definetly DEFINETLY make this. You will not be disappointed, it is AMAZING.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Honey Sammiches

Lunch is always kinda boring around here. Nothing fancy. Just leftovers or whatever is easy to cook. I noticed that when I started this blog, it was all dinners. No lunches or breakfasts. I think I need to change that. So I tried these and really, like the ham and cheese sandwiches, why didn't I ever think to make these before? So easy and so dang delicious. My son loved it. So I have a feeling I will be making these quite often.

The recipe for these can be found here.