Menu for November 2nd - November 8th

I have decided to try a new recipe from a cookbook or blog every week. I will post the recipe, then the picture then let you know what the family thought. This week the recipe will be from Rachael Ray.

I'm also going to try to theme monday nights dinners on foods and recipes enjoyed in the town the monday night football game is played in.

MNF game Atlanta vs. New Orleans

Monday- Jambalaya, green salad

Tuesday- Pork loin chop, mashed red potatoes, homemade applesauce

Wednesday- Recipe day: Pepper & onion stoup with chicken sausages and sun dried tomato-basil gobble-ums

Thursday- Steak stir fry, sticky rice

Friday- Take out

Saturday- Steak flauta enchiladas, fruit salad

Sunday- Baked penne, sauteed spinach

Dessert of the week: Apple Pie

Abundant Harvest Box and Farmers Market

It was a really good box this week, lots of new stuff!

1 head red leaf lettuce, 1 head napa cabbage, 5 baby turnips, 7 small zucchini, lots of red potatoes, 1 pound of spinach, 4 shallots, lots of pears, 12 persimmons, 1 bunch dill, 3 eggplant, 1 butternut squash. At the farmers market I picked up mushrooms, red and yellow onions, apples, green beans, and 3 red bell peppers( i'm thinking the bell peppers are going to be ending soon so i'm trying to stock up).

We are making applesauce again this week, the kids ate everything we made in two days last week. I also bought another 20 pounds of tomatoes, so I will be busy cooking those up this week.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

My beautiful children decorated these yummy cupcakes yesterday. Halloween is my favorite holiday so I have a fun menu planned for today. We will be having chicken fingers, worms and cheese, snack bugs, green worms(green beans), caramel corn, and rice crispie skulls. The kids are dressing as a storm trooper and alice in wonderland, all of our friends are coming to trick or treat with us. I will post pictures tomorrow. Everybody have a great halloween!

Abundant Harvest Box and Farmers Market

I was to busy saturday to take a picture, so here is the list. In the box we got 1 bunch collard greens, a spicy pepper mix, 4 bell peppers, grapes, green beans, 4 zucchini, 1 huge yam, red potatoes, apples, pomegranates, and radishes.

It is officially apple season, I love it. At the farmers market I got organic fujis to make applesauce and pippins to make apple pie. I also got mushrooms, bread, red and yellow onions. I get the bread from the great harvest bread company, their bread is fantastic.

Kili's Chocolate Cake

Every year kili's school has a cake contest that she enters. This year was sick and could not enter a cake in the contest. So she just made it for the family to enjoy. Lucky us!

Menu for October 26th - November 1st

Monday- Pretzel crusted chicken strips, shells and cheese, zucchini sticks

Tuesday- Pork loin chop, mashed sweet potatoes, collard greens

Wednesday- Chicken enchilada casserole, black beans

Thursday- Ham and cheese scramble, toast, apple slices

Friday- Chili macaroni, green beans

Saturday- Halloween!

Sunday- Round roast with potatoes, vegetables, and mushroom sauce

Dessert of the week- Kili's chocolate cake

It occurred to me half way through my day yesterday that thursday is my birthday so we will probably have sushi that day. This is what happens when you blog at 5:00a.m.!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I know these picture don't look very good, but they give you an idea of what it looks like.

Ingredients:

12 corn tortillas

16 oz enchilada sauce, any kind, I had a some green and red left over so that is what I used

1 cup shredded cheddar

1 cup shredded pepper jack

2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped, seasoned with salt and pepper and a little chili powder and garlic powder

Make It:

Preheat oven to 350. Warm enchilada sauce in a pan on stove. Take one tortilla dip it in sauce on both sides and put in bottom of a large casserole dish, continue this step with 3 more tortillas. Sprinkle on evenly over tortillas 1/4 cup of each cheese and 1/2 of the chicken. Repeat step one with four more tortillas. Repeat step two using the rest of the chicken. Dip the last four tortillas in sauce and place on top, pour remaining sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with rest of cheese. Bake until cheese is bubbly about 30-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

I served this stir fry tossed with noodles, but you could serve it with brown or white rice as well.

Ingredients:

2 stalks celery, cut into short strips

4 chinese string beans, cut into short strips and blanched

1 head baby bok choy, cut into pieces crunchy part and leaf part put into separate piles

2 chicken breasts cut into strips

2 scallions or spring onion cut into short strips

1 bell pepper cut into strips

1/2 cup spicy stir fry sauce( I have not concocted my own stir fry sauce recipe yet so I used fresh and easys)

pam or vegetable oil

1/2 pound spaghetti noodles boiled and drained

Make It:

Heat a wok or large pan over high heat. Add a spray of pam or 1 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Put celery, bell pepper, and crunchy part of bok choy in wok stir fry until tender, should take 3 to 5 minutes. Add in scallion, string bean, and leaf part of bok choy. Stir fry until tender, it goes fast should only take a minute. Remove all veggies from wok and put on a plate, wipe out wok and add another spray of pam or 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Put chicken in wok and stir fry until cooked through should take five to seven minutes. Add vegetables back to pan and add 1/2 the sauce toss to coat. Add noodles to pan and rest of sauce toss to coat. Enjoy!

Plumsauce!

Ingredients:

Plums

Water for steaming

Make It:

Cut all plums in half, remove pit. Place them in a steamer basket. Put basket in large pot, with enough water to cover bottom, but make sure it does not touch bottom of basket. Cover, and bring water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat a little. Allow plums to steam until tender and falling apart. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool put plums in blender, blend until smooth. For baby food fill ice cube trays and freeze, when frozen remove and put into plastic bags to store in the freezer. Pull one or two cubes out and thaw, serve alone or with cereal added. For kids and adults mix with applesauce or pearsauce. Can also use in plum ginger sauce, used for dipping eggrolls in. Enjoy!

Abundant Harvest Box

This weeks box contained 3 eggplants, 4 zucchini, 1 head of cauliflower, 4 bell peppers, 3 bunches of grapes, 1 head baby bok choy, 1 carton cherry tomatoes, 1 bunch arugula, 1 head romaine, 17 red potatoes, and 10 pears. I also went to the farmers market this week and got a big bag of green beans, apples, fresh ginger, celery, scallions, chinese string bean, and mushrooms.

Menu for October 19th- October 25th

This week are celebrating Kili being awarded student of the month so she got to pick the menu!

Monday: Pizza

Tuesday: Steak, rice pilaf, steamed cauliflower

Wednesday: Chicken pot pie, pear slices

Thursday: Beef tacos, arugula salad

Friday: Party!

Saturday: Breaded chicken and fries, butter carrots

Sunday: Chile verde nachos, green salad

Salsa

Ingredients:

2 pounds roma tomatoes, halved, seeds removed

1 white onion, 1/2 diced, 1/2 cut into strips

3 jalapenos, halved, seeds removed and 1/2 of them diced

1/2 bunch cilantro, diced

2 teas. cumin

juice from 2 limes

salt and pepper to taste

vegetable oil

Make It:

On a large baking sheet place 1/2 the tomatoes, the onion strips, and the jalapeno halves.

Drizzle with vegetable oil and stir everything around with your hands. Place under the broiler set to high and cook until tomato skins are wrinkly and pop. Remove from broiler and allow to cool. In a large bowl add diced tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro, stir. Once cooled place tomatoes, jalapenos, and onion in your blender, blend until smooth. Pour into bowl with the other tomato mixture, stir. Add other ingredients, stir and taste, add more seasoning if needed. Enjoy!

Tomato Sauce

This makes two 28oz jars.

Ingredients:

3 pounds roma tomatoes

2 carrots roughly chopped

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic diced

1 large or 2 small zucchini shredded

1/2 bottle white wine

salt

Make It:

Heat broiler to high. Take tomatoes cut them in half and remove seeds, place on large cookie sheet skin side up. Drizzle a small amount of vegetable oil over tomatoes, lightly stir tomatoes with your hand to coat. Place under broiler for about ten minutes or until skins pop and wrinkle. Remove from broiler and let cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, pull of skins and discard. Once you have taken off all skins roughly chop tomatoes. In a large pot heat one tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion cook until softened stirring often. Add wine and let simmer until almost completely reduced this will take about 15 minutes. Add carrots, zucchini and tomatoes and 1 tablespoon salt stir to combine. Cook for two hours over low heat, you want it at a low simmer, stir often. Pour into blender, I did mine in 2 halfs, and blend until smooth. Sauce can be stored in a jar in fridge for a week or frozen in a bag. Use as the base for pasta sauces or in any recipe that calls for tomato sauce. Enjoy!

20 Pounds of Tomatoes

So in my new quest in making homemade food, I decided to buy 20 pounds of organic locally grown roma tomatoes. With them I made salsa, tomato sauce and mushroom tomato sauce. I had so much fun experimenting and learning how to make things. Next tomato season i'm going to get more so I can make diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes, no more cans. Its so much fun to make everything homemade!

Menu for October 12th- October 18th

Sorry it's late, I was so tired from the party!

Monday: Take out from Bj's

Tuesday: Tri-tip, mashed potatoes with mushroom tomato sauce, arugala salad

Wednesday: Fettucini alfredo, zucchini

Thursday: Shredded beef tacos, pear slices

Friday: Tri-tip sandwich, fruit salad

Saturday: Chicken stir fry, rice

Sunday: Lasagna two ways, green salad

Baked Penne

Ingredients:

1/2 pound cooked penne(I use whole wheat)

2 italian sausage, removed from casing, browned in a pan and grease drained

1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes

1/2 onion diced

1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

1c shredded mozzarella

italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Make It:

In a large pot boil water, once its boiling add some salt(about a tablespoon) pour in the pasta and stir. Cook according to directions on box, drain. While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once pan is hot add about a tablespoon of olive oil, add onion, and saute until onions are softened. Add italian sausage, stir, add tomatoes, stir well to combine. Add seasoning and simmer(low boil) for about 20 minutes. Pour pasta into a 9x9 casserole dish, pour sauce over noodles. Sprinkle parmesan then mozzarella over sauce. Bake under a broiler until cheese is melted. Enjoy!