Menu Plan Monday August 31, 2009

We had a delicious menu last week....even if it wasn't quite what I'd planned. I couldn't figure out what to make on Monday. Nothing sounded good. At the grocery store, I picked up an 8 piece fried chicken from the deli. We made that stretch over two meals. I served it with the best biscuits ever (courtesy of Kelli's There's No Place Like Home) Before this recipe, I struggled making biscuits. These are foolproof. Once I forgot the baking soda. They didn't brown, and weren't as flaky, but Ben still loved them! You have to try them for yourself. The only problem is they don't taste very good the next day, so you'll want to eat them the same evening. My other success was the Italian Roast from Heavenly Homemakers. I raved about it in this post. I highly recommend it. I used some of the leftovers for tacos last week too.

Foolproof Buttermilk Biscuits

This week's menu will likely change as well, but here goes!

Monday: I planned burgers, but we went out to dinner for Pizza with friends instead.
Tuesday: Burgers on the grill (roll over from last week) with corn on the cob.
Wednesday: Perfect Every Thyme Grilled Chicken (another roll over from last week)
Thursday: Chimichurri Cheesesteaks with the leftover roast (gotta use it up!)
Friday: Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken. Apparently, my success with the roast has left me more confident in using my slow cooker! I'm going to take some of the reader's suggestions and wrap a couple of potatoes in the foil balls. We'll see if it tastes okay.
Saturday: Pancakes for breakfast and leftovers for dinner.
Sunday: Leftovers for dinner (I anticipate a lot of chicken leftover!)

For more menu plans, visit Laura's Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Crock Pot Italian Roast

I enjoyed participating in Crock Pot Wednesdays last week at Dining With Debbie. (I featured my favorite Beef Stew Recipe). I didn't get to the lemon chicken I planned to make this week. Therefore, all yesterday and today, I thought that it was too bad I wouldn't participate, but at least I'd go and check out the recipes. I thought this right up until Tuesday morning when I cut my roast in half and dumped it...in my crock pot. I would have a recipe to share this week after all!

Italian Roast Wraps is a new recipe I found on Laura's Heavenly Homemakers site. (One of my favorite blogs). Before today, I have never been too successful at cooking a roast in the crock pot. I had a pretty good barbecue roast recipe, but I also wanted a non tomato recipe. My roasts typically ended up over cooked, dry, and chewy. I decided to try one final time. It was so worth it. This recipe is absolutely incredible. It is moist and flavorful. My husband loved it as well! In her recipe, she serves it in a wrap with tomatoes and sour cream. Ben declared it was so good, we should just have it plain. So we did.

Italian Roast Wraps

This is going in my permanent family cookbook. I love it and will make it again.

Notes: I used a frozen 2.5lb rump roast (and I was very skeptical that it wouldn't cook in time) and it cooked perfectly in the five hours allotted.

I had to cut the roast in half to make it fit in the crock pot.

Also, the recipe didn't say whether to trim the fat before I cooked it, so I left it on and trimmed it afterward. (Plus it I froze it before I thought about trimming the fat, and I didn't want to deal with it once I considered it).

I ended up using a whole packet of Italian seasoning. I think half wouldn't have been enough.

Modesty and Miley Cyrus

Wendy Shalit, author of A Return to Modesty and Girls Gone Mild, has a great article in the New York Daily News on Miley Cyrus' performance at the Teen Choice Awards and her recent photo shoot with Elle Magazine.

I found this point to be especially insightful, let me know what you think!

"Then there is the August issue of Elle, which features America's favorite 16-year-old in a number of contrived poses. In one, she's in black stilettos, with an exposed midriff, striking a backbend-pelvic-thrust combo. On the cover, she's in a leather push-up bustier, her cleavage revealed...Elle editor Robbie Myers is at pains to explain, in her sanctimonious "Editor's Letter," that Miley, in "facing the camera" this way, is "offering a very clear view of herself" and "trying on a more mature persona." You see, Miley exhibited more than mere cleavage on the set that day; in going along with Elle's plans for her, she showed "genuine openness."...

Elle claims its interest in Miley is not titillation, but empowerment, "watching her take the wheel." Think about this for a second. Miley is a talented singer of chart-topping songs, a multimillionaire teen mogul and actress. She has launched a fashion line and is the envy of little girls around the world. Yet we are to believe the girl simply did not "have the wheel" until a fashion magazine induced her to pose with her pelvis thrust forward."

Read more here...

Homemade Banana Cream Pie

My husband loves banana cream pie. He loves it even more if it is made with a vanilla wafer crust! When we married, it didn't take me long to learn how to make a banana cream pie he loved. It used instant pudding, sliced bananas and whipped cream. It was quick and tasty. This year, I decided to branch out and see about making one from scratch. I had my doubts, but I found this positively reviewed recipe, Granny's Banana Cream Pie on Recipezaar and figured I'd give it a shot. It was...Amazing!!! Granted, the recipe called for constant stirring for 30 minutes over a hot stove....and I chose to make it on one of the hottest days of the year. However, it was worth it. In my opinion it tastes much better than the instant pudding version. I kept the vanilla wafer crust...didn't make sense to change that one!

Granny's Banana Cream Pie

This is pretty easy to make, but I benefited from the following tips:

• With the pie, unless you have a heavy bottomed saucepan, it is necessary to stir constantly. I don't have one. I used a silicon spatula and kept scraping the bottom to keep the milk from sticking.
• Be patient. I let it come to a boil on medium heat. After 20 minutes, I was tempted to turn the heat up! But, by then, it had noticeably thickened, so I had hope. From reading the other reviews, I gathered that if I had let it boil too soon, it wouldn't have thickened enough.
• The recipe calls for laying the sliced banana on the pie crust and then pouring the filling over it. Other reviewers mentioned this didn't mix very well. Instead they mixed the sliced banana into the pudding and then poured it into the crust. I also mixed the banana into the pudding first.
• I don't know if the milk selection makes a difference, but I used whole milk. I was afraid skim milk wouldn't thicken.
• I didn't have whipped topping. It didn't need it, but it would have given it that extra garnish and special touch. Next time, I'll pick some up.
• With the crust, I melted the butter and mixed it with the crumbs. I also saved some whole wafers to line the edges.
  

This post is linked up to Tasty Tuesday. (This is my first time participating!)

Menu Plan Monday, August 24, 2009

Last week's menu went pretty well. I switched the days around a bit as Ben talked me into getting a pizza on Wednesday night. It was a $10.00 special at our local favorite, Godfathers. Also, he had to work late Friday night, so I switched the night to leftovers.

I also never got to the lemon crockpot chicken recipe last week. It called for four thawed chicken
breasts and I only had four left, so I thought I'd stretch them out over two recipes instead of one new recipe. I have the sour cream for it in my fridge, so I'll likely make it next week, after I go to Costco.

Sunday: Chicken strips and fries.
Monday: No idea. I have to go grocery shopping, but I hope to glean some ideas from the other Menu's before I go. I am leaning toward Creamy Mac N'Cheese (a new recipe)
Tuesday: I am going to try a new recipe: Perfect Every Thyme Grilled Chicken I'll let you know if it is a keeper.
Wednesday: Italian Roast Wrap (but I'm going to make it with a hoagie roll) My last new recipe of the week.
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner. I have some buttermilk to use up, so I'll likely make pancakes. I'll serve it with fresh fruit.
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Burgers on the Grill with potato fries. (not a rollover from last week, just making it again.) Grilling season will end soon, so I want to take advantage of the time left.
Sunday: Leftovers/FFY

Read more menus...or post your own at Laura's I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Ghost Town

I am not a big fan of ghost movies or horror movies in general. They scare me, especially after the fact...I have an active imagination. However, after I kept seeing the previews and read the reviews of the comedy Ghost Town, it looked harmless enough to see. I missed it in the theater, but put it on reserve at the library....along with 300 other people! My turn took a while, but it was worth the wait.

The movie stars Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni. This is one case where the actors make the movie. The story is cute and at times predictable. However, I cared about the actors. I cared about watching them grow. And I laughed a lot at Gervais' dry, surly manner. The movie is PG-13 mainly for sex and profanity. I recommend parents watch it before their children too. The movie isn't really scary or violent. It could've been PG if not for some of the language and content.

This is a heart warming movie that I encourage you to see. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Menu Plan Monday, August 17, 2009

I realized I haven't posted a menu in a while, so I made it a priority for this evening! Last week, I had a great menu planned and I wanted to post it. However, it was a special surprise week long menu for my husband's birthday. Posting it online would have spoiled that : ) He was surprised, and enjoyed the treats! I made the Best Chicken Ever, breakfast for dinner with French Toast, Slow Cooker Swiss Steak, and Twice Baked Potatoes. For his birthday, we went out to Outback.

This week promises to be warm summer weather (in the 90s!). It isn't as hot as a couple of weeks ago, but still hot enough to avoid the oven. So, we will have a few leftovers to clear out the fridge and take advantage of the warm weather to grill out doors.

Monday: Leftover Slow Cooker Steak from Just a Mom, HA! I'll serve it with peach crisp. We felt the meat and veggies were very flavorful. However, I used Campbell's beef gravy, and we didn't care for the aftertaste. Do you have a gravy you recommend?

Tuesday: Burgers on the Grill with corn on the cob, grilled potatoes, and applesauce.

Wednesday: Leftover Chicken Tetrazzini with salad and garlic bread. The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but I cannot find the one I use online. I'll try to post it soon with some pics.

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner. I'll either serve Farmer's Casserole (this is a new recipe given to me by a friend. It uses frozen hash browns, eggs, and ham), or if the weather is still warm, waffles.

Friday: Lemon Crockpot Chicken. This is also a new recipe.

Saturday: Taco night with homemade tortillas.

Sunday: Leftovers.

For more menu plans, check out Laura's site at I'm an Organizing Junkie!