Menu for 2/13-2/19/2011

The only thing I had to review for last week was the lasagna. After I got the noodles cooked all the way thru it was soooo good or maybe it just had been a long time since we had it that it was really good.

So on to this week. I was excited to see that we got lettuce this week. last week we only got spinach. I actually missed my starter salad for each meal. It helps me with my goal this year of portion control. To help me eat the salad I make the salad as soon as I come hope from picking up my basket. It assures me that all I have to do before dinner is pull out a bowl of already made salad and by the end of the week it is usually all gone. Hopefully that trick will help others use up their lettuce and eat more salad.
And sorry this was posted late, Sundays are so busy and I decided to go to bed early and get up and do this today.

Sunday- Yesterday we had chicken and foil dinners. This was pretty easy to prep before church and come home and do minimal work. What we did was cut up carrots, onions, mushrooms, celery, peppers, and potatoes and put them in some foil with salt and pepper (next time I'll add some cheese). You close up the foil and throw it on the grill. Keep it there until the carrots and potatoes are done. See super easy and delicious.
For the chicken we rubbed some evoo on them and then took a whole lemon and squeezed the juice over them and then rubbed some rosemary on it. If I hadn't have had the grill on high it would have been less dry. But none the less it was still really good. Put all this with a yummy salad and you have one satisfied tummy.

Monday-Happy Valentines Day! In honor of such a fun day we are going to have homemade pizza in the shape of a heart. The sauce is found under Tuesday here. Our toppings will be onions, peppers, and my favorite mushrooms. I thought this time I would post my pizza dough recipe since I had a few friends ask for them and I never did post it. So here it is:

Pizza Dough
1c. warm water
1 pkg. or Tbs. Dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c. cooking oil
about 3 c. flour

In medium bowl, put yeast and sugar in and pour water over it. Let the yeast dissolve. Add salt, oil, and half the flour to yeast. Beat vigorously till smooth (feel free to use a mixer!). Mix the rest of the flour in until the dough is firm. If the dough seems really dry add a little bit of oil. Knead on floured breadboard or counter until smooth approximately 5 minutes (I do this in my bosch for about 5 minutes). Roll out into 2 large circles (12 inches diameter). Brush pans lightly with oil first. Place dough on pans and add sauce, grated cheese, and various toppings of your choice.

Bake in 425* oven 15-30 minutes (depends on oven). Outside crust should be browned. Uncooked pizza may be frozen.

I double this recipe and split it in fourths. I make 2 pizzas and then use one section to make bread sticks like the ones at Olive Garden. I then freeze the other section of dough for another meal that will go well with bread sticks. So tonight, we will have salad, pizza, and bread sticks, DeYummy!

Tuesday- We are having potato soup again. last week we actually had frozen soup because I didn't feel like do a lot of cooking. When I make soup often I'll double the recipe because it doesn't take much energy to do that. Then I freeze some for when someone gets sick or when I don't feel like cooking and we don't want (or don't have the money) to eat out. So I need to freeze more so I figured we can do this again. My husband does not mind!

Wednesday- I haven't decided if we will have fajitas or burritos. Either way it is an easy night for mom and everyone will love it! This will help use up our spinach and peppers and maybe even a few mushrooms.

Thursday- I like having a breakfast night last week so much that this week when we got another cantaloupe I knew we would be doing it again. So tonight is french toast with cantaloupe or some kind of fruit salad.

Friday- We haven't had a basic throw it all together stir-fry in a couple weeks so that is what we are going to have tonight. We just take what ever is left over vegetable wise from this week and then we throw it in the wok and cook it up. Serve it over rice with some sort of sauce. I think I'll make that sweet and sour sauce again!

Saturday- Leftovers! We have been so busy the last couple of weeks that have leftovers on Saturday has been really nice so that I can focus on doing other things. I love early spring and being outside.

Enjoy your baskets and bon apetit!

Menu 2/6-2/12/2011

I have been one busy momma. Mostly my husband was putting a fan in my bathroom yesterday which meant no time for computer while I kept the kids from trying to climb on to the roof! Gotta love boys!

Sunday- I have to confess I handed this day off to my husband. As you can see you got a bag of red potatoes in our basket this week. He was sooo excited due to the fact that I have been doing potato bar nights less often, or more like they don't exist. So tonight he thru some chopped up in the crock pot with an 8 wedged onion, some baby carrots, worcesterchire sauce, chicken broth, and salt and pepper. It was pretty good. We also had some grilled chicken that was marinated in evoo (extra virgin olive oil) and sprinkled with garlic and herb seasoning. It was DeYummy!

Monday- This same amazing husband who made tonight's dinner will be having a birthday today.He has requested to have lasagna which I will accompany with french bread and a side salad made out of spinach leaves.
With the lasagna I make a spaghetti sauce with whatever I want in it. This week it will probably be made up of spinach, broccoli, carrots, and if I am nice I might add a few bits of shredded chicken too. I also combine 16 oz or 2 c. of cottage cheese and 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese in a separate bowl. A trick I learned is that you don't' have to cook the noodles before hand but make sure each layer has enough sauce or the noodles won't cook. Anyways, I take a greased 9x13 pan and put a little sauce on the bottom. Then I put lasagna noodles on top of that, then a layer of the cheese mixture and then sauce. You repeat this process until there is sauce on top and you have run out. I cook it in 350 * for about 35-45 minutes or until you think the noodles are done and the cheese is melted.
I don't have a recipe for the french bread yet but I'll tell you if I find an easy good one.

Tuesday- It is supposed to be cold here again so we are doing my husbands favorite soup, Best Cream of Potato Soup. This time I might add more celery since I have a ton. I also don't have allspice or celery seed so I leave those out. I also don't have white wine so I'll be doing red wine vinegar instead. I have also switched from whole milk to skim and there wasn't much of a difference. If you need to you can add bacon or ham. It makes it really delicious.
We'll probably have some fruit with this meal to help round it out. And hopefully the cold will be gone fast.

Wednesday- We are going to do an easy breakfast dinner. We will be having blueberry pancakes and eggs with cantaloupe. Easy and very delicious.

Thursday- We are going to have a cauliflower sauce pasta day. This recipe I got from a friend.
Pasta Zucchini
2 Zucchini washed and diced - Also good with broccoli, cauliflower or white beans
1 clove garlic
1 tsp or cube of chicken broth granules
1 tsp salt
Pasta ( I prefer ditalini pasta but mostly you just want the small shaped pastas)
Parmesan cheese ( or orange cheese)
parsley (optional)
In large sauce pan heat EVOO and minced garlic clove. Add zucchini (or whatever you choose from the list above), saute for a few minutes on medium. Add water with chicken broth or no water and use stock. Let boil on medium for 10 minutes. Blend the zucchini in the sauce pan (I take the mixture and pour it into my Vita-Mix blender for a few seconds and then quickly pour it back into the pan but you can also use an immersion blender). Add 1 tsp. salt. Add pasta (I only put in how much my family will eat with a little leftover but you can do a whole 1 lb. bag). Important: Consistently stir the pasta while it cooks for 8 minutes ( or until done). This allows the flavor of the zucchini to absorb into the pasta. Also, the pasta will begin to absorb the mixture. Pour a little water in at a time to make sure the pasta has enough moisture to cook.
Top with Parmesan cheese, or use shredded orange cheese.
I Love this dish.

Friday- Burrito night. I'll use whatever spinach we have left over with some tomatoes too. It should help clear out our fridge of things.

Saturday- Leftovers!

Once again, another week to enjoy delicious healthy food. Now to get my kids to eat what I make is the new goal! Bon apetit.