Menu: July 31 - Aug 6

Menu: July 31^st – August 6^th

Friday Dinner: Mediterranean chicken, veggies (didn't eat from this past week, so had it tonight. Was fairly good. Think I'll do something a bit different next time to kick up some spice.)

Saturday Breakfast/Lunch: leftovers

Saturday Dinner: Out to eat

Sunday Breakfast/Lunch: scrambled eggs and biscuits with apple butter

Sunday Dinner: Baked Asian Style Honey Chicken, zucchini, dinner rolls

Monday – Thursday Meals:

1. Beef Noodle Bowl

2. chicken and rice with egg (revised recipe attempt)

3. frozen pizzas

4. grilled cheese and broccoli

Spiced Beef Kabobs

Spiced Beef Kabobs

from BH&G magazine, August 2009 issue

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

6 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 lb. boneless beef chuck or sirloin, trimmed of fat and cut in 1-inch cubes

In self-sealing plastic bag in a shallow dish add soy sauce, oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, garlic, and red pepper. Add meat to bag. Seal and turn to coat. Marinate, refrigerated, 4 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Drain beef mixture, discard marinade. Thread beef on 8-inch skewers, leaving 1/4 inch between each piece.

For charcoal grill, cook skewers on rack of uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 10 to 14 minutes or until desired doneness (160* for medium), turning occasionally and moving to cooler areas of grill if browning too quickly.

Jambalaya (go me!)

Jambalaya

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

8 oz kielbasa sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into ½ inch slices

¾ cup uncooked long grain rice

1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

½ teaspoon dried basil, crushed

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp. In a large, deep skillet cook onion, pepper and garlic in oil over medium-high heat until tender. Stir in broth, can of diced tomatoes, sausage, rice, thyme, basil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in shrimp and return to boil. Simmer, covered, for 5 more minutes until shrimp are cooked and rice is tender. Discard bay leaf.

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Menu: July 24-30

Friday Dinner: Homemade pizzas (one pepperoni for DH and one veggie for me)

Saturday Breakfast/Lunch: leftover pizza

Saturday Dinner: spiced beef kabobs, grilled zucchini, and sweet potatoes

Sunday Breakfast/Lunch: blueberry muffins

Sunday Dinner: Jambalaya

Monday – Thursday Meals:

1. leftover Jambalaya

2. grilled chicken salads

3. cheesy tuna noodle casserole

4. Mediterranean chicken and broccoli (minus the olives b/c we aren't the biggest fan of them)

This week's menu

No, I didn't post last week's menu. I wrote it down on paper while on my break at work. I never typed it up (which is what I usually do). So, I'm going to be lazy and not post it. Nothing new really though.

Last week's excitement was that DH and I finally dug into the apple butter my mom sent me. Yummy on homemade biscuits. :)

Menu: 7/17-23

Friday, July 3rd

Dinner: BLTs

Saturday, July 4^th

Breakfast/Lunch: eggs and biscuits

Dinner: Chicken and rice with egg w/ chicken breasts, zucchini (recipe on Personal Trainer Cooking on Nintendo DS)

Sunday, July 5^th

Breakfast/Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: quiche

Monday-Thursday Meals

1. Ravioli and squash
2. Chicken quesadillas
3. Taco salads w/ chicken (throwing chicken in crockpot with diced tomatoes and taco seasoning. will pull apart very easily after cooking on low all day)
4. Spicy beef stir-fry (I'm using the spicy chicken stir-fry recipe, only using beef instead)

Now that I have Fridays off, I'm probably going to do more weekly menus rather than 2 and 3 weeks menus. This week I did most of my shopping from two local stores (Fresh & Easy and Smiths). DH went by the commissary to pick up more water. I made the menu based on what I already have available and what was in the two sale ads. $35 for this weeks groceries. Last week I spent $60.

My Birthday Cake

Nothing fancy. My birthday is next week, so I made myself my cake this weekend while I have the time to do so. :)

Just Pillsbury funfetti cake mix baked in a funky large heart shaped pan. I'm not a big fan of icing, so I just make a glaze with vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk.

Ribs, Grilled Veggies, and Grilled Peaches

Gorgeous grilled veggies from last night's dinner. Served with the ribs. I skewered cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, and zucchini. Sprinkled a bit of kosher salt on zucchini before grilling.

Grilled peaches. I quartered two peaches. Mixed the quarters with brown sugar and vanilla before grilling. Was very good. First time we've done this.

I forgot to take a picture of the ribs unfortunately. I marinated the ribs in Corky's rub, meat tenderizer, Corky's hot BBQ sauce, and vinegar. Then I baked them wrapped in foil in a 200* oven for almost two hours. Then I removed the ribs and grilled to finish cooking. We basted the ribs in more Corky's hot BBQ sauce while grilling. SOOOO good. I just love country style ribs. Very meaty. Oh and Croky's is one of the few WONDERFUL BBQ restaurants back in Memphis. I make sure to eat a meal there every time I'm back home. My mom sends me care packages with their rubs and sauces every few months. Nothing beats it. Their apple BBQ sauce is great on pork tenderloin. :) You can buy their stuff in bulk here. They also FedEx their meats. You know it's good when people around the country pay the outrageous prices to have Corky's ship them some of their pulled pork or ribs. ;) lol.

Veggie Burgers

Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot

1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 Tbs. minced chives

2 tsp. minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup dry unseasoned breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon Emeril's Original or other creole seasoning

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Hamburger buns for serving

(any veggies you want to garnish your burger with)

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onion, bell pepper, celery, carrot and garlic until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In medium mixing bowl, mash the beans with the back of a fork. Stir in cooled veggies, egg, chives, parsley, breadcrumbs, and seasoning. Mix well.

Divide into four patties. Wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

When ready to serve, heat the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick skillet and cook the burgers until golden on both sides and heated through, about 2 minutes per side.

***

I got this recipe from an online friend. DH doesn't like the thought of a veggie burger, so you won't find this on my menus (at least not when he's in town). :)

I'm not a big fan of celery, so I used zucchini instead. I also added other seasonings to add more flavor. I'd tell you what I used, but I didn't really measure or keep track of it. You can also use black beans if you wish.

****

Picture added 1/15/10. Heating up two veggie burgers for my lunch. These were made with black beans, zucchini, carrots, onions, red bell pepper, garlic, dried chives, dried parsley, fresh pepper, garlic and wine seasoning (from The Melting Pot), and Kickin' Chicken seasoning from Webber Grillmates (it was the first thing I saw in my spice cabinet that would offer some kick). I think these are my favorite veggie burgers yet! :)

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New Menu (Finally)

DH was gone for just about the entire month of June. While he was gone, I didn't really make anything fancy. For the first time in over two years I actually bought frozen chicken strips and chicken nuggets. Does that let you know how much I cared to cook with him gone? :) I did make some wonderful veggie burgers, and I'll post that recipe later.

For those that don't know, my work hours just recently changed. My menu will start reflecting this because I just won't have the ability to cook much myself Monday through Thursday evening. Anything on those nights will either be prepared the previous weekend, be a convenience meal, or DH will be cooking (so easy peasy). If I cooked anything with my new hours, we wouldn't be eating till 8pm (or later) and well that's way too late for me! :)

Menu: 6/28 – 7/10

Sunday, June 28 – make Lasagna

Breakfast/Lunch: breakfast wraps w/ sausage, eggs, and cheese

Dinner: beef lettuce wraps w/ veggies

Monday-Thursday Meals (6/29-7/2)

1. Lasagna and green beans
2. Leftover Lasagna and green beans
3. Chicken and egg with rice (recipe comes from Personal Trainer Cooking on Nintendo DS)
4. Tilapia, broccoli, and pasta side

Friday, July 3rd

Breakfast/Lunch: Baked Oatmeal (I also added some blueberries and cinnamon to this, turned out WONDERFUL.)

Dinner: country style ribs, grilled zucchini, and grilled sliced peaches

Saturday, July 4^th

Breakfast/Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: spicy bean salsa (with leftovers)

Sunday, July 5^th

Breakfast/Lunch: leftovers (or eggs and biscuits)

Dinner: Brats (cook hamburgers at same time), fried squash, and macaroni

Monday-Thursday Meals (7/6-7/9)

1. hamburgers, corn, and leftover macaroni
2. Penne a la Betsy (7/8)
3. Cheesy chicken and rice casserole
4. Hamburger helper

New menu starting 7/10.