Lindy - Menu Plan 03/30/2014

We took a hiatus last week - not from cooking but from blogging.  Why, you may wonder, when you just started the blog?  Well, last week was Spring Break for our mom and Little Man, so we ALL went on a beach vacation together.  We had so much fun spending time together - and cooking from our Southern Living cookbooks that we just didn't take the extra time to blog about it.  Looks like we all have some catching up to do.

A quick recap from what we planned (and had) last week:

Saturday: Cher cooked slow cooker tacos

Sunday: We all cooked together, breakfast for dinner.  Chery baked an Overnight Coffee Cake from Southern Living 1980 - tweaked to be gluten free.  Audry made pancakes from her SL cookbook.  I made strawberry butter (that we ate on the rest of the week, too) from Southern Living 1979 to go with the pancakes. 

Monday: Audry made spaghetti, a variation on several recipes from Southern Living 1981.

Tuesday: Chery and her husband cooked the fish that our men caught on their fishing trip.  She made Angel Biscuits from Southern Living 1980 to go with the meal.

Wednesday: K-man grilled steak, chicken, and shrimp.  I made Green Rice Bake from Southern Living 1979 to go with it.

Thursday: Fish and shrimp; nothing from a Southern Living cookbook

Friday: out

We had such a great vacation.  I don't think any of us were ready to come back.

But, we are back, and that means planning for the week.  So for my house, last night was breakfast for dinner.  We had Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes.

Tonight, Little Man had baseball practice, so I ended up just cooking some chicken with Lemon Pepper in the skillet.  I put the chicken with some spinach and cheese on a tortilla for a wrap.  Tasty, but quick.  Little Man wanted three of them.

The plan for the rest of the week includes:

Chicken Wild Rice Supreme (Southern Living 1979, Audry's pick)
Chiles Rellenos Casserole (Southern Living 1979, another of Audry's picks)
Cheesy Hamburger Hash (Betty Crocker Quick and Easy cookbook)


Linking up with Org Junkie.


Lindy

Smoked Sausage Jambalaya (Southern Living 1979)

I had to leave the family Monday night for a quick overnight trip for work, but not before I left dinner on the stove for them at K-man's request.  I gave him three choices from Southern Living 1979.  Smoked Sausage Jambalaya was his pick.  He did not volunteer a verdict when I called to tell him I'd made it to my destination, so I had to ask.  He said the sausage tasted funny in the dish but that Roo at three plates.  The fact that Roo ate so much didn't tell me anything, because I think Roo just likes to eat...  anything. 

So, I tried it the next night.  He was right.  The sausage was good, but it was just not the right sausage for the recipe.  It was an Italian sausage rather than smoked sausage.  I purchased that type of sausage, because I've been trying to buy our meat organic or at least from animals raised without antibiotics.  Mild Italian (Chicken) Sausage is the only "Greenwise" sausage I know about at Publix.  I also used ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I guess those two changes really threw off the taste of the recipe.  

As far as changes, I used about half of the green pepper, left out the green onion, and omitted the salt.  I also used instant brown rice, which allowed me to cut down the cooking time from the last 25 minutes to 15 minute.


Lindy 

Ham and Zucchini Stir-Fry (Southern Living 1979)

Ham and Zucchini Stir-Fry was one of my picks for my family this month.  I knew I would meet some resistance from the men in the family due to the zucchini.  I was somewhat correct, but K-man and Little Man loved the ham and sauce so much there were very few complaints.  The girls and I liked it all.  I didn't change too much in this recipe.  I left out the sugar and the onions.  Neither was missed for my family.  I used cooking spray rather than vegetable oil.  Those were the only tweaks.


Lindy  

Mexican Salad (Southern Living 1981)

I put this on the menu for this week thinking it would be a bit of a challenge for my boys (notice the beans?)

 When we went to the grocery store, the boys were both questioning the can of beans I put in the cart. Whenever they see something they don't like going into the cart they ask who will be eating it.  If I say they will be eating it, their next question undoubtedly will be "how much of it?". I usually say all of it, just for fun. 

But y'all. The. Boys. Liked. This. I know, right?!? I'm as shocked as you are. 

Let's get to the fun. 

 Can I get an amen that I wasn't assigned that little gem lurking at the bottom of the photo? FRUITED HAM SALAD??? I don't even want to know what's happening with that. Yuck-o-rama.

I started off with 3/4 pound ground beef cooked through. I added the beans and the taco seasoning with a little water in the crockpot. I love my crock pot. When it was time to eat, I got out a mixing bowl. I put crushed chips in the bottom, some chopped lettuce, tomatoes, meat mixture, taco sauce, and thousand island dressing. I mixed it together and that was it! I intended to serve with cheese but forgot. I think it would have been even more well-liked with the addition of cheese, but it certainly wasn't necessary. 

I think I forgot my family doesn't like tomatoes when I was purchasing six romas. Oh well. More for me.

 

Here's the finished product served with a side of...well...chips. Don't judge. 

This will make a repeat performance at our house. The Hubs and I both liked it, both boys liked it. But...they did have one caveat to their declaration of "it's good". No beans next time. We'll see. 

~Audry