As I sit to write the week's menu and head to the grocery store, I am reflecting on past years and what I have done for Holy Week. Our family tradition for Easter is pretty much -- we have no family tradition! Some years I allowed myself to be consumed by the events of Holy Week and have felt drained and exhausted by Easter Sunday. Most years I planned the "normal" family activities like dying eggs, decorating the house and filling baskets. One year Wyatt and I made an Easter Pinata in the shape of a bunny head for Sawyer & Moriah because nothing says Happy Easter quite like beating a bunny head with a stick until it spills it's candy! For several years I planned the Seder meal for 50-70 people at church - boiled all the eggs, made the charoset, found someone to cook the lamb, assigned readers, etc. And then there were the years I wanted nothing to do with any part of Holy Week. I remember the year we discovered there were NO pizza places open on Easter Sunday (I think we ended up with tuna sandwiches).
I know many people love ham for Easter dinner, but one member of my family doesn't care for it. I usually make prime rib or turkey. Prime rib is not on sale this time of year, but I often buy two at Christmas. We have one for New Year's dinner and I freeze the other to cook for Easter. This Easter, dinner will be prime rib, grilled asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes and Caesar salad. Yum... I can't wait!
What are your family traditions for Easter or Passover? Share a comment, please -- I may borrow your ideas!
This week, I will hopefully be decompressing from AIMS, creating new units for cells, the fall of Rome, rise of Christianity and Islam. Because it will be crazy at school (oh, and there is a full moon!) I am trying to keep meals as simple as possible.
Saturday - shrimp scampi with angel hair
Sunday - hamburgers on hoagies with baked beans
Monday - fish tacos with cabbage slaw
Tuesday - spinach / cheese pinwheels *recipe below
Wednesday - chicken schnitzel & salad
Thursday - philly cheese steak sandwiches with peppers & onions
Friday - who knows?
Saturday -
Sunday - Prime rib, grilled asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes & Caesar salad
Spinach / Cheese pinwheels
Cook lasagna noodles, drain and let cool.
Cook/thaw 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, drain.
Mix spinach with 1/2 cup of ricotta and 1/2 c shredded mozzarella & 1/4 c parmesan cheeses, 3 cloves minced garlic & fresh chopped basil
Spread spinach mixture thinly onto lasagna noodles, roll up into a colorful pinwheel.
Spray cooking spray in a baking dish. Place pinwheels into dish, pour tomato sauce over, top with additional shredded mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake @ 350 until heated through.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
What's in your pantry?
I remember my mother telling me I should always have "staples" in the cupboard and freezer. Her staples were flour, sugar, crisco, canned tomatoes, canned peaches (both home canned, along with her wonderful garlic dill pickles!), frozen corn (local grown, which she cut off the cob and froze) and frozen hamburger.
I have staples too, but I'm never sure if I have flour or sugar in the cabinet. I am lost if my pantry does not have whole grain pasta in interesting shapes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, various oriental sauces, canned tomatoes, black and white beans, onions, garlic, and tuna. My refrigerator always has a lemon or two. At least two boneless skinless chicken breasts are in the freezer or I run to the store.
I know I can always whip up a meal with what I have in the pantry. Pasta with olive oil and fresh chopped basil from the back yard is an instant meal. If I have a few roma tomatoes to chop then I add them as well. If I have a few strips of bacon (I always cook the whole package and freeze it in packets of 3-4 pieces) or ham or sausage, I can quickly make a carbonara. If I have a red sauce or tomatoes, I can dice a chicken breast and simmer it with garlic and herbs for a quick red sauce for pasta.
Two cans of tuna offer many ideas beyond the "normal" tuna salad sandwich with chopped onions and celery. Mix the tuna salad, add curry powder, chopped apples and halfed grapes to serve in whole wheat pitas. Make an Italian tuna/bean salad in minutes. Pile mixed salad greens on a plate. Top with flaked tuna (drained and well-rinsed), add canneli (white kidney) beans (drained and well rinsed). Add diced red onion and fresh chopped basil. Drizzle with whisked olive oil and lemon juice (2 TB each).
What do you always have on hand? What are your quick meals to whip up?
This week's menu should look like this:
Saturday - White chicken chili. Since today was a cold and rainy day, I grabbed a couple of those boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I simmered the chicken, several cloves of garlic and a chopped onion in chicken broth and a beer. When it was cooked and tender, I shredded the chicken, added canneli beans, salsa (I had no diced green chiles for some reason), roasted corn and a little sour cream. Done!
Sunday - The kids will be gone so Russ and I will eat left overs or sandwiches.
Monday - Crock pot curried chicken in coconut milk that I didn't make last week. I'll serve it with steamed brown rice. I'll make extra to use in fried rice tomorrow.
Tuesday - Sweet and Sour pork - quick and easy to make with green bell peppers, pineapple and red onion. Fried rice with egg, peas, carrots, and onions.
Wednesday - Grilled burgers topped with basil and served on crispy hoagie rolls.
Thursday - Hot crispy chicken salad (greens, crispy chicken strips, corn, black olives, celery, tomatoes topped with ranch mixed with Frank's hot sauce.)
Friday - Fish tacos that I didn't get made last week either!
Enjoy your week - for those of you who are educators or have students in AZ -- have a great week of AIMS testing!
I have staples too, but I'm never sure if I have flour or sugar in the cabinet. I am lost if my pantry does not have whole grain pasta in interesting shapes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, various oriental sauces, canned tomatoes, black and white beans, onions, garlic, and tuna. My refrigerator always has a lemon or two. At least two boneless skinless chicken breasts are in the freezer or I run to the store.
I know I can always whip up a meal with what I have in the pantry. Pasta with olive oil and fresh chopped basil from the back yard is an instant meal. If I have a few roma tomatoes to chop then I add them as well. If I have a few strips of bacon (I always cook the whole package and freeze it in packets of 3-4 pieces) or ham or sausage, I can quickly make a carbonara. If I have a red sauce or tomatoes, I can dice a chicken breast and simmer it with garlic and herbs for a quick red sauce for pasta.
Two cans of tuna offer many ideas beyond the "normal" tuna salad sandwich with chopped onions and celery. Mix the tuna salad, add curry powder, chopped apples and halfed grapes to serve in whole wheat pitas. Make an Italian tuna/bean salad in minutes. Pile mixed salad greens on a plate. Top with flaked tuna (drained and well-rinsed), add canneli (white kidney) beans (drained and well rinsed). Add diced red onion and fresh chopped basil. Drizzle with whisked olive oil and lemon juice (2 TB each).
What do you always have on hand? What are your quick meals to whip up?
This week's menu should look like this:
Saturday - White chicken chili. Since today was a cold and rainy day, I grabbed a couple of those boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I simmered the chicken, several cloves of garlic and a chopped onion in chicken broth and a beer. When it was cooked and tender, I shredded the chicken, added canneli beans, salsa (I had no diced green chiles for some reason), roasted corn and a little sour cream. Done!
Sunday - The kids will be gone so Russ and I will eat left overs or sandwiches.
Monday - Crock pot curried chicken in coconut milk that I didn't make last week. I'll serve it with steamed brown rice. I'll make extra to use in fried rice tomorrow.
Tuesday - Sweet and Sour pork - quick and easy to make with green bell peppers, pineapple and red onion. Fried rice with egg, peas, carrots, and onions.
Wednesday - Grilled burgers topped with basil and served on crispy hoagie rolls.
Thursday - Hot crispy chicken salad (greens, crispy chicken strips, corn, black olives, celery, tomatoes topped with ranch mixed with Frank's hot sauce.)
Friday - Fish tacos that I didn't get made last week either!
Enjoy your week - for those of you who are educators or have students in AZ -- have a great week of AIMS testing!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Surviving Spring Break
I have to say that while I am sorry to see Spring Break come to an end (I will HATE my alarm going off at 5:15 tomorrow morning) I am not going to miss doubled meal preparation! Having the whole family home for a week meant that I was in charge of not just 7 dinners a week, but lunches and an occasional breakfast as well. We managed to make it through most of the week without resorting to restaurant fare. YEA for us!
The week looked something like this:
Saturday - Lunch - picked up frozen tangerine beef @ costco - added stir fried asparagus. Dinner - Meat loaf and mashed potatoes at the request of the kids.
Sunday -Baked banana bread for breakfast. I don't remember lunch, but the kids were at Youth Group so Russ and I ordered BBQ Chicken pizza. It wasn't as good as I had hoped. So much for a night of not cooking!
Monday - Dijon pork chops and potato salad (thank you, Russ, for cooking since I was at work all day)
Tuesday - Dinner - Beef rouladen (German beef rolled with mustard, onions & a pickle. Slow cooked) Served with toasted barley with garlic.
Wednesday - Dinner -
Thursday - Lunch - KFC because we were running errands.... Dinner - Spanakopita
Friday - Pork roast on the grill, corn (TJ's roasted corn is the best!), applesauce.
Saturday - Lunch Dinner - Lemon/herbed turkey tenderloins, grilled asparagus with strawberries for dessert.
Sunday - Lunch - chicken salad or green salad. Dinner - left overs!
This week I will try Curried chicken in the crock pot, fish tacos, and Wyatt's bbq beef rolls. (another of the kids' favorites) I'll post that recipe for those of you who follow and have little ones. I think Wyatt started making it when he was about 10 years old.
Wyatt's BBQ Beef Rolls
Brown a pound or so of ground beef. Add BBQ sauce and stir it together like sloppy joe's. Unroll a package of Pillsbury crescent rolls and flatten them together on a cookie sheet so there is one large rectangle. Add the meat, chopped onions and shredded cheese (cheddar or mozzarella) . I have added green peas or thawed chopped spinach, but the kids prefer it without. Top with a second can of crescent rolls, pinching to seal the edges. You can sprinkle the top with poppy or sesame seeds. Bake until golden brown. The kids still inhale this!
But they also have more mature taste buds and love the spanakopita as well.
Spanakopita
1 pkg frozen phyllo dough, thawed. Layer 6 or so layers into a baking pan, brushing at least every other layer with either melted butter or olive oil. Mix together 1 lb frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and excess water squeezed out), 1 c feta cheese, 1 chopped onion, 1 TB dill weed, 1 c either cottage cheese or ricotta, 3 minced cloves of garlic and 2 beaten eggs. Add on top of the phyllo layers. Add another 6layers of phyllo on top. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (30-40 minutes).
Enjoy your week!
The week looked something like this:
Saturday - Lunch - picked up frozen tangerine beef @ costco - added stir fried asparagus. Dinner - Meat loaf and mashed potatoes at the request of the kids.
Sunday -Baked banana bread for breakfast. I don't remember lunch, but the kids were at Youth Group so Russ and I ordered BBQ Chicken pizza. It wasn't as good as I had hoped. So much for a night of not cooking!
Monday - Dijon pork chops and potato salad (thank you, Russ, for cooking since I was at work all day)
Tuesday - Dinner - Beef rouladen (German beef rolled with mustard, onions & a pickle. Slow cooked) Served with toasted barley with garlic.
Wednesday - Dinner -
Thursday - Lunch - KFC because we were running errands.... Dinner - Spanakopita
Friday - Pork roast on the grill, corn (TJ's roasted corn is the best!), applesauce.
Saturday - Lunch Dinner - Lemon/herbed turkey tenderloins, grilled asparagus with strawberries for dessert.
Sunday - Lunch - chicken salad or green salad. Dinner - left overs!
This week I will try Curried chicken in the crock pot, fish tacos, and Wyatt's bbq beef rolls. (another of the kids' favorites) I'll post that recipe for those of you who follow and have little ones. I think Wyatt started making it when he was about 10 years old.
Wyatt's BBQ Beef Rolls
Brown a pound or so of ground beef. Add BBQ sauce and stir it together like sloppy joe's. Unroll a package of Pillsbury crescent rolls and flatten them together on a cookie sheet so there is one large rectangle. Add the meat, chopped onions and shredded cheese (cheddar or mozzarella) . I have added green peas or thawed chopped spinach, but the kids prefer it without. Top with a second can of crescent rolls, pinching to seal the edges. You can sprinkle the top with poppy or sesame seeds. Bake until golden brown. The kids still inhale this!
But they also have more mature taste buds and love the spanakopita as well.
Spanakopita
1 pkg frozen phyllo dough, thawed. Layer 6 or so layers into a baking pan, brushing at least every other layer with either melted butter or olive oil. Mix together 1 lb frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and excess water squeezed out), 1 c feta cheese, 1 chopped onion, 1 TB dill weed, 1 c either cottage cheese or ricotta, 3 minced cloves of garlic and 2 beaten eggs. Add on top of the phyllo layers. Add another 6layers of phyllo on top. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (30-40 minutes).
Enjoy your week!
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