Secret Recipe Club: Cucumber Salad

It's time again for the Secret Recipe Club, where you visit a cooking blog, try one of their recipes, and report back.  No one knows who tried their recipe until they see the posts today.

This cucumber salad makes a nice simple side dish that's great for lunch or dinner in the summertime!  You don't get a huge amount, so if you're feeding a bunch or having a picnic, just increase the recipe.

Birthe's a wonderful photographer and the illustrations that accompany her recipes are amazing. New Yorker By Heart has many grilling recipes and also homemade pizza recipes! If I'd been sent to this blog at a colder time of year, I'd have chosen a pizza to try.

CUCUMBER SALAD from New Yorker By Heart

1 cucumber
2 TBL rice wine vinegar
2 TBL cider vinegar
1 tsp coarse salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
2 1/2 tsp sugar
(ADDED a few sprigs of garden-fresh dill)

Slice cucumber down the middle.  Scoop out the seeds.  Slice each half into 4 strips and then chop into small pieces.
Mix remaining ingredients (except dill) and pour over cucumber in small bowl.
Stir.
Add dill sprigs and refrigerate a few hours until ready to serve.

Here's how to scoop the seeds out of the cucumber:  a melon baller works great!  As you can see, I had a little helper.

This blog is originally in Danish, which made things a challenge. I was thrilled to discover that the Google Chrome browser (which I use) automatically translates--but as a former language teacher I know that not all online translation works. I did guess at one ingredient in this recipe as it did not translate: risvinseddike which I am assuming is rice wine vinegar.

Some of the translation was funny--a few recipes called for items to be "executed" in the oven. Bake? Broil? Roast? I wasn't sure, so I kept to a simple recipe that I didn't think I'd lose in the translation.

Menu Plan first half of July 2011

Is it a menu plan if you post it after the fact?  It's summer, and I've gotten more "fly by night" about menu planning, especially since attendance at dinner is sporadic as far as my 2 teens are concerned.  Very often I wind up changing the plan 3 or 4 times by the time 6:00 rolls around!

FRIDAY 1:   Shrimp scampi with pasta (now with pictures!)

SATURDAY 2:  Grilled chicken

SUNDAY 3:  Waffles

MONDAY 4:  Grilled steak

TUESDAY 5:  Carnitas

WEDNESDAY 6:  Maple-dijon chicken

THURSDAY 7:  Spaghetti

FRIDAY 8:  Homemade pizza (using the same dough as Calzones)

SATURDAY 9:  Burgers

SUNDAY 10:  not home

MONDAY 11:  Chicken piccata bites (now with pictures!)

TUESDAY 12:  not home

WEDNESDAY 13:  Beef noodle skillet

THURSDAY 14:  ate at the diner

FRIDAY 15:  Italian veal stew (now with pictures!)

The Cleaner Picker-Upper

Today I figured out a way to drain ground beef without making a huge mess and accidentally pouring grease down the sink (a BIG no-no if you don't want your drainpipes clogged).

My dirty-dish pile included a small skillet that someone had used to fry an egg for breakfast.  I lined it with 3 or 4 paper towels, then placed a colander inside.

Then I poured the cooked ground beef out of the big skillet and into the colander.

All the grease drained onto the towels below.

Sorry for that last shot--I know it's gross, but I wanted to show that there were NO spills.  I just carried the skillet with the towels right to the trash and dumped them in.  No mess and nothing down the drain.

Proof

...that not everyone lives by the Pantry Principle.

Little Brother's friend is visiting for a sleepover.  I just sent them off to bed and reminded them to brush their teeth.

"I don't have a toothbrush," our visitor replied.

"I can fix that," I told him, and pulled a box out of the linen closet that had 5 or 6 new toothbrushes and a few tubes of toothpaste in it.

Wide-eyed, he asked me, "Are you a dentist?"

Nope.  And I'm not an Extreme Couponer either.  But I like to keep a few extras of life's little necessities around for times like these--when visitors don't remember to bring a toothbrush.

Calzones

Everyone in my family likes calzones, but I haven't had the greatest success making them at home.  I had high hopes, though, when I bookmarked the recipe for Buffalo Chicken Calzones over at Once a Month Mom.

Since I don't like Buffalo chicken, I decided to make some of my calzones with barbecue chicken.  These wound up being the ones everyone loved. 

The next time, I filled the calzones with mozzarella cheese and sliced meatballs.  Once again, this was a hit!  (The pictures are from the meatball batch, but the technique is the same.)

BARBECUED CHICKEN FILLING

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 cup Cheddar or Cheddar-Jack cheese, shredded
1 medium onion, caramelized
1 cup barbecue sauce

MEATBALL FILLING
10 to 12 meatballs, sliced (1 per calzone)
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese

One sliced meatball per calzone.

Top with cheese (the kids want me to add more next time!)

Crimp it tightly so the filling doesn't leak out!

HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH from Once a Month Mom
15 ounces warm water
1 TBL active dry yeast
1 TBL sugar
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 TBL olive oil
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

This is the easiest pizza dough ever!  Just mix yeast, sugar, salt and olive oil with the warm water in a large bowl.  Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon.  No kneading necessary.  The dough will not look or feel like a kneaded bread dough, but don't worry!  Cover with a towel and let it rest at room temperature for about 2 hours.  (In summer, if I have the air conditioner on, I take the covered bread bowl out to the porch to rise the dough.)
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and divide it into 10 to 12 portions for calzones.

Calzone dough immediately after mixing.

2 hours later, here's the dough after rising!

TO BAKE:   Place finished calzones on cookie sheet (I cover the sheet in parchment paper.)  Brush tops of calzones with olive oil.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.  Bake in preheated 450-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Print this recipe!

Now with Pictures!!

I'm not the finest photographer in the world, but I do love to see photos of a finished dish (and sometimes, photos of work in progress helps me make sense of the steps.)

So, since I like that feature in other people's blogs, I've been trying to include it in my own.

Last night I made Shrimp Scampi with Linguine and photographed that before we dug in.

Are you hungry yet?  (Yes, I added the photo to my recipe post, but I put it here to whet your appetite.)  I'd eat this again today, but we're out of shrimp now.

I admit that the photo-adding idea is not my own; Kristen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker has been working on this project, and her determination has inspired me to fill in my own recipe-photo gaps.  Thanks, Kristen!

Val's Lemon Mushroom Herb Chicken

One of my friends from the Family Corner forums invented this recipe. I make enough of the flour mixture to do about 5 batches of the chicken, and just keep it in a jar. You only need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mix per batch. Here's the recipe with my changes.

Find the recipe and nutrition information at Cook and Count!

June 2011 Menu Plan

May 30: Memorial Day: burgers and hot dogs on the grill, pasta salad

May 31: Chicken pitas

June 1: Calzones. I made Buffalo Chicken and Barbecue Chicken with Caramelized Onions. The barbecue was the biggest hit.

June 2: Spaghetti

June 3: Shrimp tacos

June 4: Fajitas

June 5: Hoagies

June 6: Lemon Mushroom Herb Chicken

June 7: Shredded Chicken Tacos (these tasted great--but were very drippy.  I want to find another way to use the meat from this dish.)

June 8: Takeout

June 9: Spaghetti

June 10: Shrimp tacos (again! By popular demand!  Yes, it is that good)

June 11: Not home

June 12: Not home

June 13: Beef Skillet

June 14: Balsamic chicken with thyme (now with picture!)

June 15: Tacos

June 16: Ravioli with marinara

June 17: Carnival

June 18: Chicken on the grill

June 19: Ate out for Father's Day

June 20:  Chicken barley soup

June 21:  Chicken francese

June 22:  Cheesesteak sloppy joes

June 23:  Meatball calzones (using the Once a Month Mom pizza dough)

June 24:  pizza

June 25:  at a family party

June 26:  Chicken piccata bites, farfalle with mixed vegetables

June 27:  ate out

June 28:  Hawaiian chicken, rice, green beans with almonds

June 29: ate out

June 30: Chicken Pitas. I discovered that you can make this in a skillet just as easily as you can on a griddle pan--but any spatters are much better contained. So there were no "grill marks." So what? As soon as you fold the pita, you don't see any grill marks anyway. I'm all about keeping it easy AND delicious.

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate-Chip Cookies

One of the big hits at the cast-and-crew Tech Week dinners that the parents hosted at my daughter's high school this year was a plate of Oreo-stuffed chocolate-chip cookies that appeared every night.  No one could figure out who brought it--and we all wanted the recipe.  Only a lucky few kids even got to taste those cookies, because the platter was emptied in a flash every single night.

I found the original recipe at Picky Palate, but I wanted to make a few changes. First of all, I saw how huge those cookies were. I figured a mini Oreo would be easier to work with and would result in a smaller cookie. Also, I have my own favorite chocolate-chip cookie recipe, so I used that for the dough.

Here's the procedure:

1. Refrigerate your cookie dough for at least an hour before starting.

2. Use a teaspoon to remove balls of dough. Flatten on a sheet of waxed paper.

3.  Place a mini Oreo on half the flattened disks of dough.

4.  Place another disk on top of the disk with the Oreo, then carefully mold the dough around the cookie so no Oreo is showing.  (Pardon the poor photo; I was baking with one hand and photographing with the other since the kids weren't home to help me!)

5.  Place on baking sheet (I like to line my baking sheets with a silicone liner).  Bake about 1 minute longer than you usually would for chocolate-chip cookies.  Your mileage may vary, but this timing worked for me.

6.  Cool on wire rack before enjoying them!

Thanks again for the inspiration, Picky Palate!

My Favorite Chocolate-Chip Cookies

One of my friends brought a plate of these cookies to some event or other.  We all praised her baking and she let us know that her husband had made them.  We have since designated Bob the Official Baker for all our events.  (I don't think he minds.  He feeds us cookies; we feed his ego.  Everyone's happy.)

Big Brother likes these cookies so much that he once told me that he'd be willing to steal Bob's recipe box so I could get the recipe.  Bob thought that was funny and offered me the recipe.  No one had to break into Bob's kitchen to get it.

These are a little different from your everyday chocolate-chip cookies since there's a touch of cinnamon in them.  They're delicious--and addictive.  Here's the recipe:

BOB'S CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES

Print This Recipe

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened (in summer 15 minutes at room temp is plenty.  Do not melt or heat the butter)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I've been known to add up to 2 tsp)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 package chocolate chips, whatever kind you like best (I like mini chips in these, but any kind works)

Cream butter, sugars, vanilla and egg with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients, excluding chips.  Stir in chips by hand or use the mixer on very low speed.  If dough is very soft, chill for a little while before baking to make it easier to handle.

Roll 1 tsp-sized balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake 9 minutes at 375.  Cool on a wire rack.  Makes 6 to 7 dozen.

Secret Recipe Club: Shrimp Tacos

I could get carried away trying new desserts, thanks to the Secret Recipe Club, but I decided that when possible I'd make a new-to-me main dish recipe instead. We don't eat dessert very often (except for ice cream) and we do eat dinner every single night.

This recipe turned out to be great for those nights when it's just too hot to cook--because there's only 5 minutes of cook time involved!

My assigned blog this month was Every Little Thing. This blog emphasizes the use of fresh ingredients, and it's full of photos that will make you drool!  Stacy's recipe for Shrimp Tacos was truly simple to make and everybody here loved it! In fact, we had it twice in two weeks--by popular demand :)

I doubled the original shrimp recipe to feed my crew and used a different salsa recipe, so here it is as I made it:

SHRIMP TACOS

Get the recipe and nutrition facts at Cook and Count.

MY OWN PICO DE GALLO

Get the recipe and nutrition facts at Cook and Count.

Join the club! It's lots of fun. And visit the other participating Secret Recipe Club blogs:

Luau Chicken

This is modified from a Taste of Home recipe. I didn't want to use it for sandwiches. This cooks in a flash and is a delicious change from other grilled chicken recipes. BONUS: it stays nice and moist.

This recipe is also a great way to use up that last bit of mustard in a jar. When you can't scrape any more mustard out, but there's still some clinging to the sides and bottom, save the mustard jar to make the marinade for this chicken dish. Just dump all ingredients for the marinade into the jar, cover and shake!

LUAU CHICKEN

Get this recipe with new photos and nutrition info at Cook and Count!

End of May Meal Plan

This will JUST about get me through the end of the month.

Saturday 21:  We had Chicken Parm planned, but I found a great deal on rib-eye steaks (my husband's other favorite!)  Weather was more favorable for grilling on Saturday than it would be on Sunday, so we had steak on the grill, broccoli and Roasted Potatoes with Old Bay.


Sunday 22:  Chicken Parmesan

Monday 23:  Skillet Turkey & Noodles

Tuesday 24:  sick day!

Wednesday 25:  Slow-cooker BBQ pork chops, brown rice, brussels sprouts

Thursday 26:  Spaghetti & meatballs

Friday 27:  Baked flounder with fresh parsley and lemon, cilantro rice, corn on the cob

Saturday 28:  Luau chicken on the grill, seasoned potatoes in the slow cooker

Sunday 29:  Mexican steak

As for next week, I'm still figuring that out.  The kids and I have rehearsals for 4 nights for a church musical event; Middle Sister has choir events on the 2 nights when we don't have church rehearsals.  I've got to put on my thinking cap and make this all work.

Original Recipe: Roasted Potatoes with Old Bay

These roasted potatoes were inspired by Chickie's & Pete's Crab Fries. They're spicy--and really good!

ROASTED POTATOES WITH OLD BAY
Printable version

6 russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2 TBL Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
2 TBL olive oil plus 1 TBL for the pan

Preheat oven to 400.  Cover a heavy baking sheet with foil.  Brush with 1 TBL olive oil.  Toss potatoes, seasonings and 2 TBL olive oil in a large bowl.  Pour out onto the prepared pan.  Spread potatoes so that they are in a single layer.  Use a spatula to scrape the rest of the oil and seasonings out of the bowl onto the potatoes.  Bake for 25 minutes at 400, then turn potatoes over and bake another 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

Cub Scout Porkalicious End-of-Year Un-Picnic

Another year of Cub Scouts is in the books. And Little Brother only has two more years (more like 1 1/2, really) in Cub Scouts before crossing over to Boy Scouts, so I only have two more end-of-year picnics to cater.

Yesterday we were on Day 6 of the May Mildew-Fest here in New Jersey. The Scouts were supposed to have a cookout, with burgers and hot dogs on the grill, and then camp for the night in the field behind the parish center. When that field turned into a soggy mess and bad weather still threatened, plans to camp out were scrapped. The parents were happy about that; the boys, not so much. What boy has ever let a little mud get in the way of his fun?

With the possibility of thunderstorms, plans to cook on the grill were also scrapped. Fortunately our parish center has a large and fabulously-equipped kitchen, so it was easy enough to come up with a Plan B.

Here's the menu of our Cub Scout Porkalicious End-of-Year Un-Picnic:

• hot dogs
• sausage, pepper & onion sandwiches
• pasta salad
• tossed salad
• baked beans
• potato chips & pretzels
• cookies
• watermelon slices
• Boost*, iced tea and water (5 gallons of each)

*it's a local thing.

We were expecting between 80 and 100 people. I don't know how many showed up but there were a few missing, and a few others we didn't expect.

Here's how I made the sausage, peppers and onions in a Nesco roaster. (Actually, TWO 18-qt. Nesco roasters were needed for this quantity)

12 pounds sweet Italian sausage, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
15 pounds green bell peppers, sliced
10 pounds onions, sliced
Drizzle of olive oil

Line cookie sheets with foil and place sausage pieces on foil, leaving a little space between each. Bake in regular oven for 25 minutes at 350. Larger pieces will take longer!

Layer 2/3 of the onions in the bottom of the roaster. Place all peppers on top of the onions. Place sausage on top of the peppers. Place remaining onions on top of the sausage, drizzle with olive oil and close the roaster. Stir after an hour and turn down to simmer at least another hour until ready to serve.

Birthday Bundt Cake: Chocolate with Caramel Glaze

I'm not much of a cake person. I'd much rather have cookies or pie. But when there's a birthday, there should be cake.

Each Wednesday, we host practice for our church's Folk Group.  It's more comfortable than practicing in church, and people can bring their kids to hang out with my kids.  When there's a birthday, we celebrate with a cake.

I've been on a bundt-cake kick lately, as these are easy to make and serve.  And I've discovered that doctoring up a box cake mix with some pudding and using a glaze rather than frosting makes a cake that even I feel like eating!

Here's tonight's edition of the Birthday Bundt Cake:  Chocolate with Caramel Glaze

CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 small box INSTANT chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon

Mix and bake as directed on box instructions (for me, it's 50 minutes at 350.)

CARAMEL GLAZE
(I found this one over at Bless Us O Lord)

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 ounce milk
dash of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Melt butter in small saucepan. Add brown sugar and milk. Cook and stir one minute until mixture is smooth*.
Remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and beat with electric mixer until well blended. Drizzle over cake.

This was only half the original recipe but it still made a very generous amount of glaze!

*DO NOT melt the butter in the microwave, stir everything else in and expect it to get smooth. Ask me how I know this. It still tasted delicious, but was a little on the grainy side.

Takeout You Can Make at Home: Chipotle

Blame it on my college student. He and his friends discovered Chipotle Mexican Grill, where hungry college kids can eat a huge meal for about $8 including a drink. Then he got me hooked on it.

Then I started wondering how I could make it at home. A little Google here, a little help from Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur, and a tried-and-true Pork Carnitas recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking got me to something that's pretty darn close. It satisfied two Chipotle-loving college students, plus three more people, and there's enough left over for at least 4 lunches. I'm guessing this recipe would yield 8 servings, probably for the price of 2 meals at the restaurant. (Not everyone likes beans, so I didn't make too many there. Just double the recipe if you need more).

There are a lot of components to this meal and some need to be made ahead. So I'm listing these in the order of prep.

Pork Carnitas (my kids said the spice wasn't right for Chipotle, but if I ever figure out what spices they use in the Carnitas, I'll just sub them in and use this technique.)

CHIPOTLE-STYLE PICO DE GALLO

3 medium plum tomatoes (about 1 pound), diced
1/4 cup finely-chopped red onion
2 TBL jalapeno peppers, chopped fine (I used the ones from a jar)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Combine and chill for several hours before serving.
(This was so good and so easy to make! It will be great with tortilla chips too.)


CHIPOTLE-STYLE CORN SALSA

2 12-oz bags frozen corn, thawed
2 TBL jalapeno peppers, chopped fine (I used the ones from a jar)
1/4 to 1/3 cup finely-chopped red onion
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
salt to taste

Combine in a large bowl. Serve at room temperature.


CHIPOTLE-STYLE PINTO BEANS
1 can pinto beans with liquid
1 TBL bacon fat
1/4 tsp oregano

Combine in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed (about 25 minutes). Remove from heat and cover until ready to serve.

CHIPOTLE-STYLE BLACK BEANS

1 can black beans with liquid
2 TBL bacon fat
1/4 cup finely-chopped onion
1 heaping TBL minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
dash liquid smoke

Combine in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed (about 25 minutes). Remove from heat and cover until ready to serve.


CHIPOTLE-STYLE CHILANTRO-LIME RICE

In a rice cooker, combine:
3 measures long-grain white rice (my rice measure is less than a cup)
water to correspond with 3 rice measures, depends on the cooker manufacturer --I just fill to the line on the cooker
1 TBL butter

When the rice is cooked, stir in 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro and the juice of one fresh lime.

ADD YOUR OWN TOPPINGS: sour cream, guacamole, Cheddar-Jack cheese

For the record, I got the fresh cilantro from my garden!

Secret Recipe Club: Lime Meltaways

When I found out that Amanda is hosting a new monthly fun feature, The Secret Recipe Club, I just had to get in on it.  I love trying new recipes, so this club was tailor-made for me.

The idea here is that you are assigned to visit the blog of another club member.  You can choose any recipe from  that blog, prepare it, and write about it on your own blog.

For me, the hardest part was figuring out which recipe to choose!  When I was sent to visit Sweet as Sugar Cookies, I immediately found five recipes I wanted to try.  I finally had to stop looking and just pick something.  They ALL looked so good--and I bookmarked a bunch to try later.  I've been on a "fresh ingredients" kick lately, so I chose the recipe for Lime Meltaways.  Like blog author Lisa, I'm a fan of any lemon- or lime-flavored cookie or pastry.  I think that these delicious cookies would work with either flavor!

WARNING:  Do not eat these cookies while wearing black!!

Here's the recipe with a couple of small changes that I made.  (Bake temp was not given in the recipe, but the author mentioned that it was a Martha Stewart recipe, so I was able to find the original.  And I adjusted the quantity of lime juice and zest since I only had one lime in the house).

LIME MELTAWAYS (from Martha Stewart via Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

12 Tbsp. salted butter, softened
1 c. powdered sugar, divided (1/3 cup and 2/3 cup)
zest of 1 fresh lime
juice of 1 fresh lime
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Cream butter and 1/3 c. sugar until fluffy. Add zest, juice, and vanilla. Beat till fluffy. Add flour and cornstarch. Roll dough into two 1 1/4" diameter logs. Chill 1 hour.

Slice logs into 1/8" thick rounds. Place on baking sheets and bake about 15 min. at 350 until barely golden. Let cool slightly, 8-10 min. Place remaining 2/3 c. sugar in a resealable plastic bag. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag and toss to coat.

Would I do anything different next time?  I'd probably not shake the cookies in a bag with the sugar to coat them.  Even with only putting in a few cookies at a time, I wound up with a lot of crumbled cookies.  Of course, I ate them anyway--they were still very delicious!  I'll probably just sift powdered sugar over the cookies next time.  And I wished that I had been more careful to shape the logs; mine were kind of flat on one side, so my cookies were a bit misshapen.  Either that, or I'll square them off so I can say they're square on purpose!

This was a lot of fun and I'll definitely play along again next time.  If you're a fan of lemon or lime, you'll love these cookies; they just melt in your mouth and were super easy to make.

Visit the other blogs in the Secret Recipe Club!

Upcoming Meal Plan: Just Me and the Kids Week

When my husband's on a business trip, some of our regular menu routines change.  They used to change even more, but now his schedule at work has shifted a bit and he misses dinner with the family more often than not these days.  It's not a situation we're thrilled with, but it's the one we live with right now, and I try to make the best of it on the days when he IS able to join us at mealtime by having something he especially likes.

Last night, unfortunately, that didn't work out--and I had to be the gatekeeper over the skillet of Rainbow Stir Fry before the hungry teenagers ate all of Dad's dinner!  (This is such a yummy, quick dish.  I put snow pea pods in it instead of the peas listed in my recipe.  This kind of dish is pretty forgiving that way.)

This week, we'll eat earlier, and a bit differently.  I gave myself one "fast food" night as a break from it all.  We'll see what the kids lobby for that day.

SATURDAY:  TheDad and Little Brother are on a Cub Scout outing.  The rest of us will eat hot dogs or chili with rice (from the freezer) and miscellaneous leftover side dishes.  It's pretty much "Raid the Fridge" night for me and the 2 teenagers.

SUNDAY:  We're going to the diner after church before TheDad leaves on his trip.  Dinner will be Chicken Pitas.

MONDAY:  Pork carnitas, "Chipotle" style.  I've found some copycat recipes for the rice, corn relish, and pinto beans.  If it's a success, I'll post it.

TUESDAY:  Fast-food night.  Halfway point of Mom Flies Solo Week!

WEDNESDAY:  Breakfast for dinner:  French toast, bacon, and fresh fruit.

THURSDAY:  Spaghetti and meatballs.  Of course.  What else would we eat on a Thursday?

FRIDAY:  Cub Scout crossover ceremony and picnic.  Burgers and hot dogs, maybe a giant roaster oven of baked beans if I am so moved, some pasta salad and tossed salad, chips and dessert.  We keep it easy at these events.  I'm still waiting on the number attending so I can get started planning this meal, since the shopping and non-grill cooking/food prep is on me.

SATURDAY:  Chicken parmesan--my husband's favorite dish.

Little Red Wagon

I'm always so tempted by recipes that call for fresh herbs. But buying expensive fresh herbs in the grocery store--only to use about 1/4 of the package--seems so wasteful to me. So even though I am an absolutely terrible gardener, I'd been thinking for a while that I'd like to have a little herb garden.

This rusty old wagon has been sitting in our shed for quite a while. It used to belong to my husband when he was a kid, and my father-in-law had brought it here for our kids. But they're from the age of "plastic is better" and they already had a big plastic wagon. That little red wagon just sat around, useless.

I figured that it would make a great place for a small container garden. If bad weather is predicted, I can just pick up the handle and wheel it into the garage or back porch. Right now I have it in a sunny spot right near the front door.

My neighbor had a ton of mint taking over her garden, so she offered me a sturdy mint plant to get started. I separated that from the other herbs that are in the same box.

Here's what else I planted (besides the mint):

• cilantro
• dill
• thyme
• flat-leaf parsley
• oregano
• basil

I'm already thinking ahead; if I can manage to keep this garden without killing it, I want to get a little rosemary tree (shrub, bush, what do you call a rosemary?) I could keep it in a pot outside until it gets cold, then bring it in and keep it in the house for the winter.

Besides the friendly advice from my neighbor, I got a lot of courage and information from this little book: Get Your Hands Dirty by Jeanne Grunert. It's written for people like me--beginning gardeners, who might even think they have a "black thumb."

My next project:  I'm thinking optimistically that my herb garden will thrive and I'll have more than I need.  So I'll have to learn all about how to save/freeze/dry these herbs for winter.  The idea is to make back my investment (about $50 for 6 plants, 2 window boxes, 1 bag potting soil, 1 watering can).  I figure that if I use fresh herbs 20 times, I'll have reached that goal.  Anything beyond that is a freebie!

All-Access

See what happens when I hang a whiteboard on the fridge and encourage the kids to write down stuff we need from the store?

A certain Simon & Garfunkel fan felt the need to amend my list. For the record, I've got plenty of parsley, sage, and even rosemary.

Speedy Skillet Dinner

Everyone in my family likes the Skillet Stroganoff recipe that Barbara shared. I leave out the sour cream, which makes it more of a "hamburger helper" type dinner, but that's how we like it.

I've worked out ways to do a good amount of the cooking of this dinner ahead of time, which is great for days like today. My choir is singing at the 5:00 Mass tonight, which means that we get home well after 6 and everyone is hungry for dinner right now. They don't want to wait. This can be on the table in 15 minutes if you do everything possible ahead and have your stuff ready to remove from the fridge and pop on the stove the second you get home!

SPEEDY SKILLET DINNER printable version

1 lb. lean ground beef
salt and pepper
1 TBL vegetable oil
1 cup white mushrooms, sliced thin
1 onion, finely chopped (or half a large onion)
3 cups* beef broth
3 TBL* red wine
3 cups* wide egg noodles
2 TBL all-purpose flour
2 TBL butter

MAKE-AHEAD:

In a hot skillet, brown ground beef, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from skillet.

Add oil and cook mushrooms and onion until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Add broth and the wine, and return beef and accumulated juices to pan. Bring to a simmer.

Remove from the stove and put in a large covered container in the fridge until you're ready to resume cooking.

JUST BEFORE DINNER:

Melt butter in skillet and stir in flour. Return beef mixture to skillet and bring to a boil. Stir noodles into beef mixture, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve with a salad or "steam in a bag" vegetables.

NOTE: You can stretch this recipe by adding extra noodles, broth and wine. Just make sure that you add 1 cup broth and 1 TBL wine for every extra 1 cup noodles.

Winter Sunshine Salad

My cousin Sharon shared this recipe with me. It's pretty to look at and yummy to eat! I'd recommend making the dressing first as it has to be cooked, then cooled, before using.  (I'm not sure what's up with the name of this dish; maybe it's because all of the fresh ingredients are easily available in winter.)



Winter Sunshine Salad
Printable version

from For Goodness Taste by Junior League of Rochester
8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:
1 package (10 ounces) frozen French-style green beans
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
1 can (16 ounces) shoe peg or white corn, drained (I used 2 11-oz cans)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced green or red pepper (I used some of each)
1 jar (2 ounces) diced pimiento, drained (I left this out)

Dressing:
¾ cup vinegar
½ cup salad oil
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 to ½ cup sugar


Steam beans and peas, leaving them tender-crisp. Drain.
In a salad bowl, combine vegetables.
In a saucepan, bring dressing ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature.
Pour dressing over salad. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Chicken Pita Sandwiches

This one was inspired by Barbara's take on a Jamie Oliver recipe.  I took the meat off the kebabs, used chicken instead of pork, and omitted the pepper-relish topping.   Delicious!  It's a great dish to make in the summer.

CHICKEN PITA SANDWICHES
Print this recipe!

8 pita breads

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips

For the marinade:
1 TBL dried mint
1 TBL dried oregano
juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup olive oil
2 TBL minced garlic from a jar
1 TBL red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

For the tzatziki:
½ a large cucumber
6 oz. Greek yogurt (3/4 cup)
1 TBL minced garlic from a jar
1 heaped tsp dried mint
1 ½ tsp red wine vinegar


Mix marinade ingredients together. Pour over chicken strips in a ziplock bag or container. Marinate several hours.

Meanwhile, make tzatziki by coarsely grating the cucumber into a sieve set up over a bowl. Add a few good pinches of salt, then use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can. Mix cucumber with other tzatziki ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat a griddle pan over a high heat. Cook the meat on the screaming hot griddle for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally until done on all sides. Warm pitas in the oven or in a hot dry pan while chicken cooks.

Put a dollop of tzatziki and the meat on each warmed pita. Serve with raw vegetable slices.

Traveling Vegetables

HELP!!!!!!!!!

We're visiting relatives about 1 1/2 hours away on Easter. I have been asked to bring homemade bread (I can do that) and vegetables.

How in the world do I bring a vegetable dish when we're traveling that far? I can put together a raw veg platter, but as for a hot vegetable dish, I'm drawing a blank.

Crock pot is a possibility. But I need ideas!

Menu Plan weeks of April 8-14 and 15-21

Not the most inspired menu plan in the world...

FRIDAY 8: pizza

SATURDAY 9: chicken on the grill, pasta salad, vegetables

SUNDAY 10: we went to the diner.

MONDAY 11: Enchiladas

TUESDAY 12: Chinese buffet

WEDNESDAY 13: Skillet Turkey & Noodles

THURSDAY 14: Spaghetti

FRIDAY 15: French toast & fresh fruit

SATURDAY 16: Chicken caroline, potatoes au gratin, steamed broccoli

SUNDAY 17: "fend for yourself"

MONDAY 18: Barbara's Chicken with Paprika Sauce, noodles

TUESDAY 19: pot roast in the crockpot

WEDNESDAY 20: Paula Deen's Sesame Chicken Strips

THURSDAY 21: Spaghetti

Spices: Rack 'Em Up!

I don't have a spice rack in my kitchen. For one thing, there's no counter space to put one (though I have considered a wall-mounted one, and that's not out of the question.)

For now, I've got them in dollar-store baskets in the cabinets.

I tied index cards to the baskets so I can see at a glance what spices are in which basket. That saves a lot of time when I'm gathering stuff up to cook. I don't even have them all in the same cabinet, but I think I'm going to rework that so that they're all together. (As long as I don't move my husband's coffee, no one around here cares where I put stuff in the kitchen).

I do have a couple of big containers (parsley, oregano, basil and cinnamon) on other shelves because they're too large for those baskets.

It's not the prettiest solution, but it works for now. Where do you keep your spices?

Spice It Up

I was flipping through a back issue of Real Simple (which should more appropriately be titled Real Expensive) when I came to an article about how someone reorganized her kitchen. Since I'm working with a 10 X 11-foot space myself, I'm always interested in articles like that.

One of the "trouble areas" was the homeowner's spice pantry. If I had a separate little cabinet just for spices, no one would be touching it. There's never enough room for spices. But it was clear that either magazine editors or kitchen designers are not cooks, because it was mentioned that the homeowner had 23 spices. Evidently, 23 was too much.

Are they kidding me? That's not the half of what I have in my kitchen, in various baskets. In fact, I counted them all, and I've got 49 spices (not including a couple of jars of homemade spice mixes like Pumpkin Pie Mix, Taco Mix and Italian Mix.) Wait, make that 50--I forgot to count the box of Bell's Poultry Seasoning that's sitting on my kitchen windowsill.

I imagine that anyone who reads this blog also enjoys cooking. How many spices do you have? Would 23 be too much?

The Ultimate Compliment

We were supposed to have Enchiladas tonight.

But TheDad decided that he wanted to go to the diner instead. And Middle Sister had gone to a friend's house.

TheDad mentioned, at dinner, that Middle Sister was waffling about whether she should even go to her friend's house, because she'd miss the enchiladas I was planning to make for dinner.

I took out my cell phone after we left the diner to let Middle Sister know that she had not missed enchiladas. Tomorrow, after all, is another day.

Now that's a compliment--that a kid thinks twice about visiting a friend because a favorite meal is going to be served at home.

Menu Plan week of April 1-7

Friday 1: Crab Mac 'n Cheese

Saturday 2: Leftovers

Sunday 3: Cast party after the school play

Monday 4: Lemon Mushroom Herb Chicken, rice, corn. I did the chicken in bite-size pieces this time and it was fabulous!

Tuesday 5: Skillet Beef & Noodles (we skip the sour cream & lemon in this stroganoff recipe)

Wednesday 6: Pork Roast with Orange Pan Sauce, red potatoes and carrots

Thursday 7: Spaghetti & meatballs

Mac 'n Cheese with Crab

Inspired by a recipe by The Barefoot Contessa, this is my low-rent but very delicious version!

See the whole recipe and nutrition facts at Cook and Count!

Roast Pork with Orange Pan Sauce

Get the recipe with photo and nutrition information at Cook and Count!

Product Review: Purex Complete with Zout

I've been a fan of both Purex laundry detergent and Zout pre-treater for years.  Little Brother is nine years old and it doesn't look like he's going to be giving up his messy ways anytime soon.

When you're this muddy, you know it's been a good day.

I was happy to try new Purex Complete with Zout.  It's got detergent and stain remover in one!  And since I'm fragrance-sensitive, I tried the "free and clear" version of this product.  (It also comes in Fresh Morning Burst scent).

This detergent is designed to work in ALL washing machines, regular and high-efficiency.  And my experience proves that it does work.  It took care of the muddy knees of Little Brother's school uniform pants as well as food drips (chocolate ice cream and tomato sauce were no match for this detergent.)

I also tried it as a pre-treater on a few stains I thought would require extra attention.  I poured a little bit of Purex Complete with Zout directly on the stains, rubbed it in, let it sit a few minutes and then washed as usual.  Success!

You don't have to buy expensive detergent to get great results.  Purex works great on the stains my family dishes out.

Disclaimer:  This post is part of the Purex Insiders Blogging program.  I received a full-size bottle of Purex Complete with Zout, but no other compensation, for the purposes of this post.  The opinions expressed in this post are my own, and this is a product that I continue to use in my home.

April Fool's Day Lunchbox Surprise

I got this idea from a Family Fun article.

Your kids will think it's an ordinary bag of cheese puffs...

but when they open the bag, they'll discover:

baby carrots!

All you need to pull this off is:
individual-serving-size bags of cheese puffs
baby carrots (about 6 for each bag you're making)
glue stick
slip of paper with the note:  "April Fool!"

Open the snack bags carefully.  Dump the contents of the cheese-puff bags into a sandwich bag.  No sense wasting a perfectly delicious snack!  Use a damp paper towel to pick up any crumbs left in the bag.  Add about 6 baby carrots--and don't forget the note!   Then run the glue stick along the very top inner edge of the bag.  Press to seal, and pack in the lunchbox!

I wish I'd be able to be there when my kids find these.

UPDATE:  My daughter just found hers when she opened her lunch.  I got a text message:  "Mom this is just gross.  I mean carrots?  In cheesecrunchy bag?"  (For the record, she likes carrots.  It's not like I put in her most un-favorite food ever.)  She's threatening revenge.
And Little Brother never noticed:  he gave his snack to another kid who had forgotten to bring a snack.  And she never said a word.  (Kind of disappointing, really!)