Cooking: Menu Week Ending November 7

Halloween is over... sad but next up is Thanksgiving... Yeah!!! And two of the guest bedrooms are complete, I will post pictures over the next couple of weeks. This week is striping wallpaper in my son's room... striping wallpaper is a messy but satisfying job.

I have been planting bulbs and perrenials this weekend and have a couple of garden orders in to finish all the fall planting. So as usual, a busy week ahead. But in preparation for Thanksgiving, I am making two dishes this week that will be doubled and served on Thanksgiving...Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli Cheese Casserole. Both of them freeze beautifully and by preparing them now, it will help get me organized for the big meal.

Monday

 Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned of all sand (4 leeks)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 6 to 7 cups chicken stock
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat the vegetables evenly. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning them with a spatula a few times during cooking, until very tender. Remove the pan from the oven. In a large pot, add the vegetables, stir in the wine and chicken stock. With an immersion blender, blend the soup until fine.  Add the cream, sour cream, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and check the seasonings. When ready to serve, reheat the soup in whisk 2 tablespoons white wine and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Serve hot with an extra grating of Parmesan. 

Tuesday

Marinated Pork Chops
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sauted Snow Peas

Wednesday

Church

Thursday

Tuna Melt

Homemade Potato Chips

Friday

Chicken Fettucini Verde 
Cesar Salad
Garlic Rosemary Foccacio

Saturday

Sante Fe Chicken Wrap

Ingredients

4 cups torn romaine lettuce

2 grilled chicken breasts, cut in strips

1 large tomato, chopped

1 can  (11 oz.) corn, drained

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Ranch Dressing

1/4 cup Salsa

2 flour tortillas ( 6 inch)

8   flour tortillas (9 inch)

Directions

Cut the 2 flour torillas into strips, spray with vegetable spray and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Comine the first four ingredients into a bowl and sprinkle with cheese. Mix the dressing and salsa. Add to the the lettuce mixture and coat to toss. Spoon onto tortillas, top with tortilla strips and roll up.

Sunday

Meatloaf
Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Iceberg Lettuce wedge with Blue Cheese Dressing

Halloween

Yeah!!! Halloween is here!!

The dogs are ready:

The costumes were laid out and ready....

The cheerleader

The football

The football player

The other football player

The referee

The pumpkin is carved.

The gift bags were filled.

The cookies were baked

The apples were covered in chocolate.

The decorations were out.

And the candy ready for the trick or treaters.

And all the dogs made their rounds.

And some of the dogs broke out and ran down the street to trick or treat...

But were carried back ....

 

Trick or treat, smell your feet!!!

My dogs and Halloween

As most of you know, we love Halloween. Not the scary Halloween but the cute and cuddly Halloween... Candy Apples, Candy Corn, Sweet princesses in costumes and Pumpkins.

The dogs love Halloween, too. Maybe not as much as I do but they love to run to the door and see who is there... it is never for them but that doesn't stop them from running.

Well, over the last several years, I have taken it upon myself to dress the dogs to get them in the Halloween spirit.

And I am not sure that I have shared all those pictures with you.. so here goes.

Several years ago, the boys were lobsters... I was the big mermaid!

 

And then they were bumble bees and I was the flower. 

 

 For the next year, we had the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.... Of course, I was Dorothy. 

 

And last year, we had Little Red Riding Hood

Okay, two Little Red Riding Hoods and one Wolf...."What big teeth you have?"

 And lastly The Grandma...

 

Sadly, some of these dogs are no longer with me but I loved them and they loved celebrating Halloween... All the neighbors come out to see them in their glory and the old trick or treaters we deliver our treats too love them and love to see what they are going to be every year... 

To be honest, I love coming up with a theme every year too.... What are your dogs dressing up as?

Baking: Candy Corn Halloween Cupcakes

I saw these cute cupcakes and decided my students needed a cupcake party. Remember when you were in elementary school and had cupcakes? Well, my college students needed a cupcake party. Besides, I did a poll of the boys and only two of them was dressing up for Halloween.... well, that is depressing.

So I baked up some chocolate cupcakes, okay, a lot of cupcakes.

Made some buttercream icing and tinted it, yellow and orange.

Using a big star tip, I first piped the yellow.

Next piped a smaller star of orange.

And topped it with a star of white.... like a candy corn. 

And lastly, added a white tip.

How cute are they?

I hope the students like their candy corn cupcakes and

Cooking: Rigatoni

Halloween Week is here!!! And one of our favorite dishes is Rigatoni!!!

First, I saute a half pound of sausage... breaking it up into smaller pieces.

 

Next, I added garlic, onion and oregano. I also added a jar of Tomato Basil Spaghetti sauce. The sauce deglazes the pan.

Boil and drain one pound of rigatoni.

Place noodles in a 9 by 13 greased baking dish and mix in the sauce mixture.

 

Top with 16 oz of mozzarella cheese.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Delicious!

 

I have made this dish with meatballs, turkey sausage, added Ricotta cheese, etc. So versatile and easy for your family. Kids love it and so will you.

Cooking: Week Ending 10.31

Halloween is finally here. We love Halloween and will fill fun bags for the elderly and bake some cookies. I also have been working on the last bedroom that needs to be remodeled before the end of the year. Stripping wallpaper and cleaning the bedroom... all week.

The dogs are really excited for Halloween... their costumes are ready and now I am working on my costume! Very exciting!! I will share pictures. 

So the menu will be fun and easy....

Monday

Breakfast for dinner:

French Toast Sticks
Scrambled Eggs
Turkey Bacon


French Toast Sticks

Ingredients
6 slices day-old Texas toast (thickly sliced white bread)
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup crushed cornflakes, optional
Confectioners' sugar, optional
Maple syrup

Directions
1. Cut each piece of bread into thirds; place in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread; soak for 2 minutes, turning once. If desired, coat bread with cornflake crumbs on all sides.

2. Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container or resealable freezer bag and store in the freezer.

3. To bake, place desired number of frozen French toast sticks on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425°F for 8 minutes. Turn; bake 10-12 minutes longer or until golden brown. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serve with syrup.

Tuesday

Chili with Cheese
Garden Salad
Corn Bread

Wednesday

 Church for dinner

Thursday

 

Turkey and Ham Subs
Potato Salad

Friday

Stuffed Roast Pork (Recipe Coming Soon)
Wilted Spinach
Baked Potatoes

Saturday

Grilled Chicken, Brie and Fig Preserves Panini
Sweet Potato Fries
Cut up veggies

Sunday 

 

Rigatoni
Garden Salad
Italian Garlic Bread

My daughter and my shoe obsession

We love shoes at our house... my daughter and I have quite a few shoes, I mean we love shoes. we won't tell. But recently, my daughter had a pretty dress that she wanted to find some cute shoes.

So while I was out shopping one day, I came across some really cute shoes and being the kind mom that I am, I sent her pictures of shoes.

While she was in one of her engineering class....

 I mean, how cute are these shoes? Who could resist?

And then I purchased one for her, after she chose her favorite... A cute pink high heel with a sweet bow.

She wore them to a wedding last weekend with a pretty black cocktail dress and had a lot of compliments... Technology.... she can shop in her civil engineering class... a great multi-tasker!!!