Showing posts with label Menu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Menu. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Menu Monday (er, Tuesday): April's first two weeks
Better late than never! I've decided to revise my monthly planning because it isn't really fitting the way I shop. I prefer to shop every two weeks, and things change so much by the time we get halfway through the month that I am constantly revising the menu. So, here is a calendar for the first two weeks of April, feel free to print it if you like!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Menu Monday: Pizza Factory-like Bread Twists
When I saw this recipe for Pizza Factory bread sticks, I knew I had to try it. But when I read through it, I was feeling too impatient to wait for the dough to rise that long. So I used my pizza dough recipe for the dough instead, which turned out perfect because it was just enough dough to make 6 bread twists - one for each of us! The whole family loved them, they tasted amazing! (I can't honestly say whether they taste like Pizza Factory's, we don't often go there. We only really want the bread twists, so that doesn't seem like enough reason to eat there very often.) So, I wrote everything down as I did it (which I never remember to do, but did this time!), that way I can share it with you. Here it is.
Bread Twists
Dough:
3 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp yeast
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup hot water
Mix ingredients in order listed. Use enough flour to make a soft dough that isn't sticky. Knead lightly for 4 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, melt another 1/2 cup butter.
Divide dough into 6 equal parts (about 4 oz each). Roll dough into 16-18 inch "snakes." Moisten the top of your dowel, about one inch from the end and begin wrapping the dough around loosely. Moisten at the end, too. Pinch to secure. Leave about 5 inches at the end of the dowel. Hang over the edge of 9x13 pans with all the dough inside the pan. Brush with a small amount of melted butter. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, add seasonings to remaining melted butter.
Seasoning:
(1/2 cup melted butter)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp grated Parmesan (in the can)
Brush mixture on bread twists after baking and place upright in vase to serve.
3 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp yeast
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup hot water
Mix ingredients in order listed. Use enough flour to make a soft dough that isn't sticky. Knead lightly for 4 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, melt another 1/2 cup butter.
Divide dough into 6 equal parts (about 4 oz each). Roll dough into 16-18 inch "snakes." Moisten the top of your dowel, about one inch from the end and begin wrapping the dough around loosely. Moisten at the end, too. Pinch to secure. Leave about 5 inches at the end of the dowel. Hang over the edge of 9x13 pans with all the dough inside the pan. Brush with a small amount of melted butter. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, add seasonings to remaining melted butter.
Seasoning:
(1/2 cup melted butter)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp grated Parmesan (in the can)
Brush mixture on bread twists after baking and place upright in vase to serve.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Menu Monday: March Calendar, and a recap
Did you wonder about how the new recipes from last month turned out? Here's a quick recap of the ones I was planning to try out:
I posted about the beef stew, it is totally a new favorite.
The baked pasta was fine, but I think the strong cheese flavor and the texture of the noodles (Adam felt I overcooked them a bit) was a turn-off for the rest of the family. It didn't make it into the recipe box, and I doubt I'll make it again.
Instead of making the the bread sticks 100% from the recipe, I used my pizza dough recipe for the dough and tweaked it a bit. I'll post my modified recipe soon because it was a huge success, and it's back on this month's menu.
I did wimp out with the avocado chicken parm, but I made a version of this Chicken Parmesan Bake (the one that's floating around Pinterest and all over the internet) instead, and it was a huge success. Also back on the menu.
And... I haven't made the chowder yet, but it's on the revised menu for this week, so I'll keep you posted!
The new (to me) recipes for March are:
Chicken Ranch Tacos (not sure if I will do it as posted or in the slow cooker as suggested in the comments, we'll see...)
Pizza Bites (I've actually made these before, but this time I'm going to write out how I do it so I can post about it)
Honey Lime Chicken Wings (maybe)
Chicken Pot Pie (this is a new incarnation of an old recipe that I'm pretty excited about)
Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken (I am totally loving this warmer weather...bring on the grill recipes!)
Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza (I will probably have to make the kids their own pizza and make this just for us grown-ups, but the picture is so beautiful my mouth waters, I really want to try it)
Okay, if you're still hanging in here, I've got a bonus tip for you! I figured it out this month while trying to use up stuff from my pantry, but it may not be anything new to anyone but me. I like a good mix of new recipes and really easy stuff. So here's something that fits in with my Italian cheater dinners. Do you like creamy pesto? Like Pasta Factory creamy pesto? We do. So a while ago I bought a pesto packet and thought I'd try to figure out how to make it. But instead, I just dumped it into a pan with cooked cubed chicken and a jar of Ragu Alfredo sauce and we ate it over bowties. Yup. Easy peasy. And yummy. Not quite like Pasta Factory. But still good.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Menu Monday: Chicken Noodle Soup
I know I promised you beef stew, but it just worked out to have chicken noodle soup instead. This is what I meant when I said I switch things around, etc. Thursday night it was easier to pick up a rotisserie chicken than make chicken noodle, and I knew that if I did I could make a much better chicken noodle a different night with the leftover rotisserie chicken. So here it is, my chicken noodle soup recipe, refined over the last ten years. (And hopefully we'll get back to beef stew soon, it was really yummy!)
8 cups chicken broth (I used my rotisserie chicken to make 6 cups of it just the way Our Best Bites describes, then added a couple more cups from a carton)
2 1/2 cups wide egg noodles (although I've heard homemade are awesome, I'm just not quite that much of a Martha!)
2-3 carrots (or about 6 baby carrots), chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups frozen corn and/or peas (or 1 can corn)
1 tsp minced garlic
1-1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
2-3 twists fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
3 cups cooked chopped chicken (I used my leftover rotisserie and some other leftover shredded chicken from earlier in the week)
1/4 cup cold water or chicken broth
1/3 cup cornstarch
1. Bring 8 cups broth to boil. Add noodles, carrots, celery, corn, onion, and garlic and simmer until noodles are almost tender.
2. Add chicken and seasonings. Heat through.
3. Mix cold water/broth with cornstarch and gradually add to soup,stirring constantly.
4. Heat through and serve. (It's really great with rolls, like these rolls.)
Keep in mind that the noodles will soak up the broth and become a mushy mess, so if you want to make a big batch, boil the noodles separately in water and add them to the portion you're eating right away. Then store the extra noodles and soup separately and add them when reheating.
Chicken Noodle Soup
8 cups chicken broth (I used my rotisserie chicken to make 6 cups of it just the way Our Best Bites describes, then added a couple more cups from a carton)
2 1/2 cups wide egg noodles (although I've heard homemade are awesome, I'm just not quite that much of a Martha!)
2-3 carrots (or about 6 baby carrots), chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups frozen corn and/or peas (or 1 can corn)
1 tsp minced garlic
1-1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
2-3 twists fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
3 cups cooked chopped chicken (I used my leftover rotisserie and some other leftover shredded chicken from earlier in the week)
1/4 cup cold water or chicken broth
1/3 cup cornstarch
1. Bring 8 cups broth to boil. Add noodles, carrots, celery, corn, onion, and garlic and simmer until noodles are almost tender.
2. Add chicken and seasonings. Heat through.
3. Mix cold water/broth with cornstarch and gradually add to soup,stirring constantly.
4. Heat through and serve. (It's really great with rolls, like these rolls.)
Keep in mind that the noodles will soak up the broth and become a mushy mess, so if you want to make a big batch, boil the noodles separately in water and add them to the portion you're eating right away. Then store the extra noodles and soup separately and add them when reheating.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Menu Monday: February Dinner Calendar
I think it's so much easier to get dinner on the table if I plan ahead, so I've been making monthly calendars of our dinners and shopping by what I've planned. I rarely follow them to the letter, in fact I'm lucky if I actually make three planned dinners in a week, and I frequently switch them around because of schedules, lack of ingredients, or whatever, but at least I have something planned and then I can usually remember to get the ingredients when I'm at the store.
I hadn't been really consistent with this in the past because a whole month of empty calendar squares is intimidating. But then I started leaving one day a week empty (Saturday). Then if we decided to go out to eat, I didn't feel bound to the calendar because I knew we could eat that dinner on Saturday switch them around. My next discovery I have to credit to Echo because she told me that once a week they were eating breakfast for dinner, and I got to thinking of our dinners in categories and putting one of each category in each week. Lots of people do this on the same day each week, i.e. Taco Tuesday or Friday Night Pizza, etc. I am more flexible than this and just put it somewhere in the week. Our categories are Pasta, Taco/Mexican, Asian, Soup (in the winter, Grilling in warm months), and Meat and Potatoes or Casserole. I was doing breakfast for dinner, too, but I've started putting in miscellaneous dinners instead and putting breakfast on Saturdays, then I can make a big breakfast on the weekend or substitute it for a dinner another time in the week if I want to.
Every family likes different dinners, and different types of foods, but I found it was nice to use someone's ideas to get me started, so I'm posting February's dinner calendar here in two formats. One in PDF that is in a cute font so you can just print it and post it on your fridge, and make changes with a pencil, and one in a document form so you can type in any changes you'd like to make before printing. I'll try to post one each month since I make one for our family anyway. I'll make an effort to provide links to the recipes when I can, but if you ever want a recipe just put it in the comments and I'll post it!
I hadn't been really consistent with this in the past because a whole month of empty calendar squares is intimidating. But then I started leaving one day a week empty (Saturday). Then if we decided to go out to eat, I didn't feel bound to the calendar because I knew we could eat that dinner on Saturday switch them around. My next discovery I have to credit to Echo because she told me that once a week they were eating breakfast for dinner, and I got to thinking of our dinners in categories and putting one of each category in each week. Lots of people do this on the same day each week, i.e. Taco Tuesday or Friday Night Pizza, etc. I am more flexible than this and just put it somewhere in the week. Our categories are Pasta, Taco/Mexican, Asian, Soup (in the winter, Grilling in warm months), and Meat and Potatoes or Casserole. I was doing breakfast for dinner, too, but I've started putting in miscellaneous dinners instead and putting breakfast on Saturdays, then I can make a big breakfast on the weekend or substitute it for a dinner another time in the week if I want to.
Every family likes different dinners, and different types of foods, but I found it was nice to use someone's ideas to get me started, so I'm posting February's dinner calendar here in two formats. One in PDF that is in a cute font so you can just print it and post it on your fridge, and make changes with a pencil, and one in a document form so you can type in any changes you'd like to make before printing. I'll try to post one each month since I make one for our family anyway. I'll make an effort to provide links to the recipes when I can, but if you ever want a recipe just put it in the comments and I'll post it!
download Google Document
Edited to add:
I forgot to mention one of the biggest helps in planning dinners: requests! Every month I ask for requests, and it has really changed how I cook. I found that Adam was asking for childhood favorites (hamburger gravy, tater tot casserole, shepherd's pie, etc.), and I had stopped making them because I felt like I had "outgrown" them. But our kids hadn't been exposed to them at all, so now I'm making an effort to bring them back. I also add in one request from each child, and I have gotten some interesting requests. Like chicken noodle soup by candlelight. Or toast. This month is a repeat of last month: chicken nuggets and fries, orange chicken, and curry.
Also by request, here are links to recipes for most of the things on the calendar. If I didn't include a link, it's probably because I cheat with that dinner (usually a store-bought sauce or it's a standby, etc.) or I figure everyone has a favorite recipe for it (like pancakes or shepherd's pie, for example). But if you want to know how I make something and I didn't include a link, let me know (comments, Facebook, email, whatever) and I'll post it. Even if it's admitting that I dumped a can of something and stirred. Because I know you guys love me and won't think anything of that!
Things I've posted about before:
Peanut Noodles (I seriously need to update this post...remind me if I forget!)
And here are the new recipes I'm trying out this month (thank you, Pinterest!). If they turn out*, I'll blog about them:
Beef Stew *this is the one exception; I've actually tried this one out just recently and loved it. I'm planning to share my thoughts on it after I make it again in February.
Avocado Chicken Parmesan (I can tell you right now, I may wimp out on this one...Lily and I are the only avocado-lovers in the family.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)