Don't....

Don't bake an entire chocolate cake in six minutes using your waffle iron.

Don't freeze said waffles so that the are available any time of day once warmed in the microwave for exactly 30 seconds.

Don't serve them with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.

Don't run out of strawberries and top them with peanut butter instead.

Just...ya know....don't.

Menu Plan Monday

Haven't done one of these in a while. A post not a plan....

Menu Plan  -  May 1-7

Monday

B- Banana bread and smoothies

L- Leftover chicken enchiladas

D- Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad, and bread sticks

Tuesday
B- Sausage balls and Pumpkin muffins
L- leftovers
D- Tabouli

Wednesday
B- Smoothies and muffins
L- sandwiches, soup, veggie tray
D- Chicken pot pie and salad

Thursday

B- Pancakes and sausage balls

L- leftovers
D- Chinese with Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage and eggrolls

Friday

B- Oatmeal
L- grilled cheese, tomato soup and fruit
D- Chicken taco salads

Saturday
B- Cereal
L- Burritos from leftovers
D- Fish and Chips

Sunday
B- Muffins and Yogurt parfaits

L- OUT!!

D- Hamburgers on the grill

Buttermilk Biscuits

I love, love, love these biscuits! I got the recipe from one of those Martha Stewart cooking magazines, I forget what it's called. Anyway, you can't beat buttermilk biscuits! This is a super simple recipe with few ingredients, but the best part is that it gives you instructions on how to freeze them individually and then bake them at you leisure!

I freeze cookie batter in individual "clumps" so I can bake one or two at a time, but the temp. and baking time for a frozen hunk of cookie dough was always guess work. I also make waffles and pancakes in big batches and then freeze them already cooked so they just need to be microwaved to thaw, but sometimes those can have a freezer taste to them and aren't totally fresh feeling.

However, since you are freezing the dough and then baking the biscuit they always taste great! Ok, here we go...


Buttermilk Biscuits

4c. all purpose flour - I use 50/50 white /wheat,so they come out a little more dense. For a lighter biscuit, use white flour.
2T. baking powder
1t.  baking soda
2T. sugar
2t. salt
1c. (2sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits
1.5c. lowfat buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 450. In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until mix looks like coarse meal with a few pea sized pieces of butter. Add buttermilk and pulse until dough is just moistened.

2.Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead to combine being careful to not overwork the dough. Roll with floured pin to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut with circular cookie cutter 2.5 inches in diameter. Bake 12-15 min. till biscuits are puffy.

TO FREEZE- After you've cut your rounds, place onto baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Freeze until solid and place in freezer bag. Store up to two months!
To bake from frozen, place rounds on baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees 20-25 minutes. 

Meal Planning

Do you meal plan? Do you know what meal planning is?

Meal planning is a great way to organize all of you meals for a week, a fortnight and even a month! It's simply sitting down and writing out all of the meals you plan to eat ahead of time. This cuts down on food expense, waste and virtually eliminates those times where you are standing in front of the fridge thinking, "What the heck am I going to make for dinner?".

I learned how to make a meal plan "menu" from my mom. Smart woman. I made my first menu my first week out of my parents home which was my first week as a wife and right before my first grocery shopping trip and have been hooked ever since. I actually still have it! (After typing it, I am now acutely aware of how creepy that is.)

I plan my meals a week at a time. Sometimes every two weeks but more than that tends to get a little overwhelming for me. Every Sunday evening I plop down and devote time to deciding what we will have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. My weekly plan includes notations for special events we have going on that week; like, Wednesday- Birthday party at 6:00PM means we won't have dinner at home. Tuesday- Bible study till noon then errands in Fort Worth means I'll be beat when I finally get home so I had better have a crock-pot meal that day. Like that! I used to write everything out on a weekly calendar sheet that had a special space for every meal, preparations I needed to make and a list of ingredients I needed to buy. Now, It's not so fancy, unless you count the colored sharpie I write down everything in. A piece of notebook paper works fine. As I mentioned before I saved about two years of menus in a binder. If I'm feeling a little lost as to what to add to the menu, I take a peek at what I have planned in the past. Menus are posted on the fridge for easy reference throughout the week.

There are lots of little blogs and websites to help you get started on your meal planning. RecipeZaar.com not only has a plethora of recipes, but they have a system that allows you to save meals in a cookbook and create a menu as well as supplying you with nutritional information for your meals. I think they charge a small fee for a membership, however. Here is another link to a free recipe calculator to find out how healthy your home cooked meals really are!

THIS is a great article that details the benefits of meal planning. A good read for sure. And then there are places where people blog about their menus like here, and which also have templates and tools to help you plan. If you're feeling like you can't do it...YOU CAN, but if you just can't, this is a site where (for a small fee) they do all of the work for you. Well there you have it! So start planning!!

AND because I know so many of you really care....here is what I have planned for this week to help get you started!

Monday

B- Eggs and sausage

L- Leftovers

D-  Venison brisket, baked potato and yellow squash

Tuesday

B- Crockpot whole grain breakfast cereal

L- leftovers

D- Julie's house for dinner - bring side dish and dessert

Wednesday

B- Gluten Free waffels with P.B or yogurt

L- Soup, salad and sandwich

D- Red beans and Rice with cornbread

Thursday

B- Scrambled eggs with toast

L- leftovers

D- Fried Chicken, corn and green beans

Friday

B- Breakfast Cookie

L- leftovers

D- Crock-pot chicken, green beans and carrots

Saturday

B- Gluten Free pancakes

L- leftovers + salad

D- Venison back strap on grill, oven baked fries and fruit salad

Sunday

B- Soaked Oatmeal

L- OUT!

D- Spaghetti and salad

Snacks and Dessert

cucumber w/ salt and vinegar

hummus and carrots

graham crackers and peanut butter

gluten free chocolate chip cookies

 

To Warm Your Tummy

It's COLD here in Texas.

Yes, cold.

Yesterday my car's temperature gauge was flashing "ICE". I didn't even know it could do that! It's snowed, like, five times already this winter and there is apparently more to come. So, before the big chill hits your home (or maybe it already has) I thought I would pass along my two favorite soup recipes for this year, sure to warm your tummy. Both original recipes can be found at RecipeZaar. I tweaked a teeny tiny bit.

OK, here we go.

Cream of Tomato Soup
2c. chicken broth
4c. tomatoes, seeded, peeled and chopped.
1/3c. chopped onion
1/2c. chopped celery
1/2 t. sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream
salt to taste

- The first time I made this I actually blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes. For goodness sake don't do that!! It was a total pain in the butt labor of love, but is just as good if you use canned tomatoes. Two LARGE cans of chopped tomatoes is what I use.

Throw all ingredients (except for the cream) into a large pot. Simmer 30 min. of until veg. is soft. (sometimes I saute the celery and onions first) Using an immersion blender, blend 'till smooth. You can also transfer all contents into a blender or food processor if you need. Add cream starting with 1/2c., adding more to taste. Heat soup gently over low heat. Eat in your pajamas while wrapped in a snuggly blanket. Throw in some Pride and Prejudice if you feel like it.

Next...

Velvety Smooth Cream of Potato Soup
4T. butter
1 outer stalk of celery plus one inner stalk of leaves, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 lg. clove garlic, pressed
4 medium white potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 c. chicken broth (or, because 1 can equals 2 cups,  4 c. broth 1c. water)
1/2 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. milk
salt to taste

- Melt butter in large pot. Saute celery, onion and carrot until soft, approx. 20 minutes. Add potatoes, toss till coated, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer 'till potatoes are soft. If you want your soup to be slightly chunky, reserve some veg. . I like mine smooth so I blend with immersion blender 'till completely pureed. Stir in cream and milk 'till it reaches your desired thickness. I like mine soupy so I use all!! Heat through but do not boil. Add salt to taste. This one could also be eaten in your pajamas, but tastes better in workout clothes you've yet to work out in. Perhaps while watching Wheel of Fortune.

M is for Muffins

K, I love muffins. They are the perfect grab and go snack, and they aren't just a breakfast food yall! Recently I have come into this amaaaazzing Pumpkin Muffin recipe. A woman at my church hosted a cooking class (which I was unable to attend) but I recieved a copy of the recipes. I can eat the whole batch in 3 days I swear it. These are the best muffins of all time. Enjoy!

Pimpkin Muffins

2 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg

preheat oven to 325 degrees.
beat together first six ingredients.
add dry ingredients and beat well.
drop into muffin tins.
bake for 18 minutes.