Lindy - Menu Plan 03/16/2014

This week's menu plan is another week studded with Southern Living 1979 recipes.  We're enjoying the variety of the dishes, but we still like tried and true traditions like breakfast for dinner on Sunday nights.  This Sunday night was pancakes, eggs, and cooked apples.

Little Man has baseball practice late Monday night (trust me, practice starting at 7 pm is LATE), and I'll be out of town for work - thankfully for just one night.  Then Little Man has a baseball game on Tuesday.  The rest of the week is pretty "normal" until Saturday when we're off to the beach with my mom, dad, sisters, and their families - after another baseball game for Little Man. 

Due to the activities above, I've only planned three meals for this week.  I will not be surprised if we end up only having made two of the recipes.  Regardless, the meal choices for this week are:

Smoked Sausage Jambalaya (Southern Living 1979)
Ham and Zucchini Stir-Fry (Southern Living 1979)
Indian Rice (Southern Living 1979)


Lindy 

Audry - Menu Plan 3/16/2014

Last week's recap:
This week I think I stayed pretty close to the plan. Sunday we had biscuits and eggs. Monday we had pork bbq from the freezer with spinach souffle.  Tuesday we had hamburgers.  Wednesday was spaghetti, Thursday was pesto chicken in a hut. Friday the hubs got super brave and took junior,  J-boy, Little Man,  and Little Miss to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games. The kids seemed to have a great time and the sisters got to enjoy the two baby girls and plan for our upcoming trip.

This week's plan:
Monday - I'm planning to combine a few ideas I've found online for a St Paddy's themed dinner
Tuesday - Mexican salad from Southern Living 1981
Wednesday -  chicken bbq in the crock pot
Thursday - pizza with the leftover bbq
Friday - out! It's the hubs' birthday! I'll be making a German chocolate cake (his request)

~Audry

Poppy Seed Muffins (Southern Living 1981)

The cast of characters:

Sometimes, you just need some muffins. I'd planned to make these over the weekend, but ran out of time. It was late in the week before I finally got to this recipe that Chery assigned to me. Junior was glad I did! While I was mixing ingredients, Junior said, "This already smells good!" I informed him the good smell he was smelling was the vanilla yogurt. Ahem. 

This recipe was interesting at best.

I liked that I could replace the sour cream with Greek yogurt. Let's see...what else did I do differently...I did not use vanilla flavoring (because the yogurt was vanilla) and I didn't have biscuit mix. I improvised with flour, baking soda, salt,and oil. Skipped the raisins (didn't have any, didn't want them in it)...and I used WAY less sugar. They were still pretty sweet.

Here's all that "biscuit mix" business in the bowl:

It was at this point that I reread the recipe approximately 9742582095 times. 

Really? No other liquids? Maybe I should read it again. Still none. Okay. Let's see what happens.

Here they are looking thick in the oven. I forgot to take a picture before I put them in. I was not about to disturb them while they were baking for in case they somehow got more liquidy in the oven.

For those who are wondering, that's Baby Girl's exersaucer looking weird reflected in the oven door.

Junior started to worry about them while they were baking. He alerted me to the fact that they were done enough several times. I told him to do his math, I was waiting on "Muffin Magic" to occur in the oven.

Who knows what went wrong with these muffins. Junior loved them. I guess he'd say nothing went wrong. I thought they were pretty good, even if quite thick. I think he's like me, though, in that he and I appreciate anything that can be a vehicle for butter. Slather it on, make sure it's melty and I'll eat it. Yum. The Hubs could hardly swallow and managed to creak out a "these are pretty dry". J-Boy said it tasted like nothing. We might need to have his taste buds checked. Spinach souffle? Nothing. Poppy Seed muffins? Nothing. Oh well. He ate it. Is a poppy seed like a vegetable?

Saucy Potato-Tomato Casserole (Southern Living 1979)

I was a little worried about this recipe when Cher picked it for us, because Little Man has recently decided that he doesn't like potatoes.  Forget the fact that he put away twice as many Tater Tots the other night with our Maple Dijon chicken than the rest of us combined.  Forget the fact that he would do the same with mashed potatoes if I ever made the time to actually make them.  Regardless of Little Man's perceived aversion, Cher picked it, and we were going to try it.

And it was very good!  Definitely something I'd be willing to make again.  It was a good addition to our standard side dish of green beans - a nice alternative to rice, bread, or plain potatoes. 

Saucy Potato-Tomato Casserole
5 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 (16-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Cheese sauce (recipe follows)

Cook potatoes in boiling water.  Drain.  (I did this the night before.)
Combine tomatoes, potatoes, and seasonings in a large bowl.  Spoon into a greased casserole dish.  Top with Cheese Sauce.
Cover, and bake at 350F for 25 minutes.  Remove cover; bake 5 additional minutes.

Cheese Sauce:
2 T butter
2 T white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 T plain Greek yogurt

Melt butter in small saucepan; blend in flour, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth.  Gradually add milk; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Add cheese; cook, stirring, until melted.  Add yogurt; remove from heat.

Lindy

Taco Salad (Southern Living 1979)

Chery picked this dinner for us to try.

I knew that 1/2 pound of meat would not be enough for us, but then I began to worry about having an entire teaspoon of cumin.  I decided that it would be better to have it more bland than to have it too spicy.  My version of this recipe ended up okay - read: very, very bland.  It was quick and easy to put together, so I'm not opposed to trying it again - but just with more cumin.

Taco Salad
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 t ground cumin (DEFINITELY bump up to 1 t)
1 garlic clove, minced
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes, chopped
Tortilla chips, broken into small pieces
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Sour cream

Brown meat with cumin and garlic; drain well.  Combine meat with lettuce and tomatoes.  Toss well.
For each serving, put the desired amount of meat mixture, chips, cheese, and sour cream.  Toss well.

We ate the leftovers for dinner one night as soft shell tacos.  That was tasty, too.

Lindy 

Cheesy Spinach Souffle (Southern Living 1981)

J-Boy said this dish tasted like nothing. He then amended his comment by adding that it tasted a little bit cheesy. Junior abstained from commenting and I didn't ask. The look of disgust on his face spoke volumes. 

Lindy assigned this recipe. We thought if my kids were going to like it, it needed to be cheesy. I guess this one wasn't cheesy enough for them! However, The Hubs and I both liked this one a lot. 

I served it two nights in a row (hey, I like to use the leftovers!). The boys seemed to have an easier time eating the first time - it even tasted more spinach-y to me the second night. (But for me...that's a good thing!)

But wow on the preparation!  This is a for real souffle! Well...I'm guessing that it is. I've never made one before! This girl whipped egg whites into peaks and gently folded them into the spinach mix (which, by the by, had a béchamel sauce involved) before baking. Good thing Baby Girl was napping well!  

The original recipe:

 

 

I didn't use any fresh onion, just minced dried onion. I had some frozen to use, just didn't fool with it.  There were also crazy instructions for making a foil collar. Wow. Skipped that. It seemed wholly unnecessary. I guess I'll never know if it was or not. I can't see what it would have done differently to the outcome of the dish. 

I have a problem. I keep forgetting to take process pictures! Here's when I remembered I hadn't taken any pictures:

I had just folded the egg whites in and put the mix into the casserole dish. It was also at this point that I seriously considered taking pictures of all of the dirty dishes to prove I had actually done something. I then decided against it. You're welcome.

This is after I put the Parmesan cheese on top. Impressive, right? And, if you look at the upper right hand corner - the bowl I used to whip the egg whites! I guess I kinda took a dirty dish picture. Forgive me.

 And after it baked:

 

 

I thought this was good. Not too cheesy. The spinach flavor definitely came through (hence the boys not liking it). It was a winner for me and the Hubs, but I can't say I will make it again. It was a too time consuming for a side dish...especially one the boys won't like. Maybe I'd be willing to make it for a potluck or holiday - something where I just bring a thing or two.