Menu Monday

When I lived in Italy, there was one bread recipe that swept its way through all the Sister Missionaries. It originated from Sorella W who was from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. I can't speak for all the companionships, but it was made in mine almost every Sunday because you could leave it rising for as much as three hours. That worked perfectly for mixing up the dough and kneading it first thing in the morning, leaving it to rise during church, and baking it as soon as you got home. The only drawback was that you had to knead it for ten minutes which killed my hands even when they were 23 years old. I've made it a few times since I've been home, but that ten-minute kneading session (that no breadmaker has ever duplicated effectively for me) is always the deal-breaker that sends me running to the bakery section of my local grocery store.
But today, my friend Chris sent me a delicious-sounding skillet-baked ziti recipe and I knew no other bread would do. So, I resolved to make that dough as soon as I brought the kids home from school no matter what. As I began mixing, the girls all became curious about what I was doing. (In his defense, Tristan was in class or he probably would have been involved too.) It made me wonder...could they be helpful for the kneading ordeal? So, once the mixing was done, I started kneading the dough and showing the girls exactly what I was doing. No only could they help, they BEGGED to help. Splitting the time between the four of us made those ten minutes pass SO much more quickly. They were even sad when I told them the time was up and it was time to let the dough rise. They LOVE the kneading part! Who knew?! In celebration of the fact that we will now be making this bread much more often, I'm going to post the recipe:

"Pane di Svizzera"

1 lb. flour (I used half white and half wheat because I had never made it with wheat flour before-it was good)

2 oz. butter (softened)

1 tsp.* salt

4 tbsp.* sugar

1 egg (save some yolk)

1 c. warm water

1 cube, 1 package, or 2 1/4 tsp. yeast (the cubes are what we used in Italy, I buy it by the jar here.)

Add the yeast to the warm water and let dissolve. Meanwhile, mix all the other ingredients together, saving a small amount of egg yolk. Add the water and dissolved yeast last, mix, and knead for 10 minutes adding flour as it becomes sticky. Knead until the dough is "as soft as a baby's bottom" (can't think of a better description, so I stuck with the original phrase) and let rise for 1-3 hours. Preheat the oven to 350. Divide the dough in half, and each half into three parts. In the words of Caroline and Elisa "roll the three pieces into snakes" and braid. Do the same to the other half of the dough. Brush the tops with the egg yolk and bake for 25-30 minutes. Make sure the bottom doesn't get too brown.

Add that to some good pasta and a nice salad and it's pranzo time in Italy, or dinner time back in the good old USA. Either way, enjoy and buon appetito!

*In Italy, that's just a small spoon and a slightly bigger spoon, so you have some leeway there.

Menu Plan Monday

Long time, no plan, eh? Yeah. And it was starting to feel that way around here too. With rising gas and food prices, I have decided to try and cut back on our dinner budget around here and planning ahead is pretty much the key to any money savings in this house. (Well, that and hiding Daddy's debit card-but it hasn't come to that yet.)

Monday-Janey's 'Cheater' Lasagna, salad, and French bread (I met Janey at last year's FRED. She made this awesome cheese ravioli lasagna that was WAY better than the recipe I had for it. She was nice enough to share that recipe with me and I'm going to attempt it tonight. Wish me luck!)

Tuesday-BBQ sandwiches (I made my favorite pork roast recipe last night, this will use up the leftovers-shredded and heated up with BBQ sauce), baked beans, carrot sticks, applesauce (another leftover)

Wednesday-Tortilla chip pie

Thursday-Crockpot chicken and noodles (calls for just 2 chicken breasts and I can use up the rest of the carrots)

Friday-Out for Thai with friends (also my birthday), kids will eat at grandma's

Saturday-Cookout hamburgers/hot dogs, tater tots, watermelon, corn on the cob

Sunday-Not sure yet-still working my way through our big meat delivery in the deep freeze (it will likely come from there).

For (lots) more menus, see Laura's blog The Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday

I managed to grocery shop this afternoon so I've got no excuses not to plan my menu. If it looks familiar, it's because I'm using a lot from Menus 4 Moms this week. I'm actually using next week's menu because that's the most recent addition to my Inbox.

Monday-Turkey cutlets, crescent rolls, peas, and cranberry sauce (a deviation from this week's M4M menu)
Tuesday-Breakfast for dinner (inspired by M4M, but I'm making my favorite Jiffy mix pancakes instead)
Wednesday-Crockpot lasagna (M4M recipe)
Thursday-Oven-fried chicken (ditto)
Friday-Whatever Pizza Shuttle delivers to Grandma's
Saturday-Cookout-Dave's in charge
Sunday-Likely a bean pot roast-I'm not 100% decided.

For more good recipes, check out Laura's blog!

Menu Plan Monday

Again, a new hard drive on my laptop means I no longer have the menu graphic. I could go grab it from Organizing Junkie again, but she is promising a new one soon and I think I'll just wait for it. Anyway, here's this week's menu:

Monday-Chicken enchiladas (One of the few things Dave loves to fix-he makes a good taco ring too.)
Tuesday-Meatball subs
Wednesday-Pasta salad and rolls
Thursday-Something from the drive-thru (it's one of those double-booked days)
Friday-Grandma's house, grandma's choice (probably pizza for the kids and Chinese for us)
Saturday-Fancy shmancy party food for me, who knows what Dave will feed the kids?

Dave's Chicken Enchiladas

1-1.5 lbs cooked, shredded chicken breast
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Chicken and Rice soup
1 bag grated Mexi-cheese (he likes to use to 4 cup bag, I prefer the 2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put chicken and cheese in tortilla and roll it up, place 6-8 of these in 9x13 baking pan. Mix together the three cans of soup and pour over the enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Put in oven for about 30 minutes.

For more (and better) recipes-check out Laura's blog!

Menu Plan Monday

Since I'm on my kids' computer, I'm missing my cute little menu graphic. Just because I'm crazy busy this week doesn't mean we aren't eating:

Monday-Meatball Stew and cornbread
Tuesday-Spaghetti (and leftover meatballs), French bread, and salad
Wednesday-Rotisserie chicken (made with my cool Tupperware micro-cooker-you will never find an easier recipe*), crescent rolls, and green bean casserole
Thursday-Macaroni and cheese and ham
Friday-Take-out (likely pizza for the kids and I'll be eating with the YW at Standards Night Live-we're doing a School House Rock skit, aren't we cool!)

* Season inside and out of whole chicken (thawed), place in microcooker and cook in microwave for 7 minutes per pound-they come out tasty!

What's For Dinner

I know I spend an inordinate amount of time here posting what we eat for dinner, but in a family of six it's a daily worry. Given tonight's busy schedule, I'm going to take the lazy way out and just post the chicken recipe I finally chose for tonight's dinner:

NIKKI’S CHICKEN

Put in Bean Pot: 4-6 boneless chicken breasts cubed, 1 can Cream of Chicken soup, 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup, 1 package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, 1 can Cream of Celery soup, sliced onions, sliced mushrooms, and 3-4 jalapeños. Bake at 350F for 1 ½ hours. Yum!

The problem with my crock-pot cooking is that I leave too early in the morning and arrive home too late in the afternoon to start a meal. But, I love my Home and Garden party bean pot. It works just like a crock-pot, only faster. I found this recipe and many more like it here. Check them out! (And no, this was not an official endorsement paid or otherwise.)

Menu Plan Monday

Thanks to being sick and my grandmother hosting last night's Super Bowl party, I have a few recipes left from last week.

Monday-Baked ziti and salad
Tuesday-PTA meeting at 5:30, the kids will eat and grandma's and I will probably grab something afterwards.
Wednesday-Crockpot chicken breasts and broccoli(I'm still not sure about which recipe. I will post when I decide)
Thursday-As much as I hate to admit it, it will probably be Sonic on the way back from Activity Days in Blanchard to Girl Scouts in Norman.
Friday-Pizza bagels and carrot sticks
Saturday-Tacos, refried beans, and corn
Sunday-Friday is a payday, so I will probably decide when I make the grocery list on Wednesday. Maybe one of the other recipes at The Organizing Junkie will inspire me. Thanks to Laura for hosting!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday-Cream of Chicken Breasts with crescent rolls, green beans, and fruit cocktail
Tuesday-Ham Casserole, corn bread, and peas (I'm embarrassed to admit that my "recipe" consists of cubed left-over ham and a package of Betty Deluxe Potatoes Au Gratin-Hey! The kids LOVE it!)
Wednesday-Fish sticks and mac-n-cheese (I was supposed to serve this last week, but the kids wanted taquitos instead. Who was I to argue?)
Thursday-I have a work committment until 4:30 so the kids will be at Gran D's until 5 p.m., so I'll likely just pick up something on the way to get them and eat it there. I'm thinking rotisserie chicken.
Friday-Pizza night
Saturday-Baked Ziti
Sunday-Crockpot Meatballs-I'm not sure which recipe I'll use yet.

For more recipes, check out our host Laura's blog!

Menu Plan Monday

Here is this week's menu with the usual credit for the carnival going to Laura at Organizing Junkie, of course. Check out her blog for more!

Monday-Meatball Calzones (held over from last week)
Tuesday-Turkey casserole (I have several recipes, I haven't decided which one to use yet.)
Wednesday-Fish sticks with mac and cheese (Mutual is tonight, it has to be something easy.)
Thursday-Chicken patty sandwiches with oven fries. (Natalie has a Valiant girls activity from 4:00-5:00 p.m. and Girl Scouts from 6:30-8:00. Yep, Thursday nights pretty much stink, but Valiant girls is only twice a month and used to meet concurrently with Mutual. They switched it up on us a couple of months ago. Nice, eh?)
Friday-Pizza night *hopefully* at Gran D's house. She's back in town and misses our company. I miss her too-just not enough to drive in the ice and snow.
Saturday-Out/Leftovers (notice how things are easy on Dave's night to cook? Oh well, as long as I don't have to-it's all good.
Sunday-Baked ham and cornbread

As you can see, a pretty easy week. I hope I can keep my kitchen clean.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm not feeling incredibly motivated to figure out what we're going to eat this week which tells me that if I don't stop and think about it right now, meals are going to be scattered and stressful all week. So, here goes:

Monday-Petite sirloins, biscuits, salad (I bought a lot of grill food in case we lost power and had to use our gas grill.)

Tuesday-BBQ Beef sandwiches from leftover roast, corn on the cob, baked beans

Wednesday-Balsamic chicken and mushrooms, mixed vegetables, fruit salad

Thursday-Haystacks, peas, canned pears

Friday-Pizza

Saturday-Meatball calzones*, salad, applesauce

Sunday-Turkey Breast, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls (I love Thanksgiving dinner, what can I say?)

*Recipe taken from Menus 4 Moms:

Meatball Calzones
Dough of your choice (see notes-pizza dough, store-bought or homemade)
Cooked Meatballs, 3 per calzone (see notes, store-bought or homemade)
28 oz. can of spaghetti sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Roll out dough and cut into 6 rectangles, about 5"x7". Place 1 heaping Tbsp. spaghetti sauce on each rectangle. Top with 1 heaping Tbsp. cheese and 3 meatballs. Carefully fold rectangle so that the long side is folded in half and the short sides are touching each other. Seal all around and bake according to the dough instructions. When done, place on plates and top with more sauce and cheese and serve

For more recipes, visit Organizing Junkie!
And for even more, check out last week's Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer where "healthy eating" was the theme of the week.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday-Tacos, refried beans (from the foil pouch, of course), and applesauce
Tuesday-Chicken and Noodles (I 'borrowed' the recipe from thatgirl), and biscuits
Wednesday-Hashbrown dinner and sliced French bread
Thursday-Spaghetti and meatballs (I bought some tomato puree from Trader Joe's while in Tucson. I LUV that store. I wish the closest one to here wasn't in St. Louis...) and carrot salad. I learned to make this in Italy, and I love it:
Carrot Salad-
My kids prefer baby carrots to the regular ones so, I grate enough of those for the five of us, but I think I used to use about 3-4 big carrots. I mix in a small amount of olive oil, a larger amount of Balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt. There is no exact measurement, just play with it until it tastes good.
Friday-Pizza night (We've skipped it so often over the holidays that I'm actually looking forward to it!)

Check out more menus at Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday

Little did I remember that I was working Thursday night and that we would be eating at my Gran D's on Sunday. So, I saved two dinners for this week. Find more menus at Organizing Junkie.

Monday-Chicken and Dumplings (held over from last week)
Tuesday-Smothered steak
Wednesday-Crockpot Tortellini (held over from last week)
Thursday-Hawaiian Chicken & rice
Friday-Pizza night
Saturday-Out/Leftovers

Menu Plan Monday

There is no official menu plan post at Organizing Junkie this week, but I'm going to post this week's menu anyway. Most of this week's recipes have been "borrowed" from other Menu Monday entries, I will link to the recipes when possible:

Monday-Island Beef Jerk and couscous
Tuesday-Crockpot Tortellini and salad
Wednesday-Chicken and Dumplings
Thursday-Hot Ham Sandwiches
Friday-Pizza night
Saturday-Leftovers
Sunday-Pork Roast with Pineapple sauce*

*taken from the Home and Garden Party Cookbook II

Gerri's Pork Roast

1/2 c. brown sugar
1-16 oz. can crushed pineapple
Pork roast

Place roast in bean pot, add brown sugar and whole can of pineapple with juice. Cover and bake at 375 for 2-3 hours until done.

Change of Venue Menu

Instead of Dave's recipe, I'm going with this one. Why? It's easier and, believe it or not, less fattening. I'll likely substitute fat-free versions of the soup and sour cream and 2% cheese (can't stand the fat-free stuff).

Menu Plan Monday

With the usual hat tip to Laura at Organizing Junkie for putting this list together!

Monday-Fettucine Alfredo with Spinach and Mushrooms (I got the recipe from e-mealz.com when I used to be a subscriber and don't feel right about posting it.)
Tuesday-Chicken Enchiladas (Dave's recipe, maybe I'll post it Tuesday.)
Wednesday-Grilled Cheese and Soup (Likely chicken noodle soup from the chicken broth I will make when I boil and shred the chicken breasts for Tuesday's enchiladas)
Thursday-Beef Stew (Held over from last week's menu because I made salisbury steak tonight instead. I love Sandra's recipes, and more importantly-so do the kids! We had the Monterey chicken last Sunday.)
Friday-Pizza night (sometimes homemade, sometimes $5 from Little Caesar's)
Saturday-Football watch-party potluck
Sunday-Whatever strikes my fancy while making next week's grocery list and menu.

Menu Plan Monday-Updated at the Bottom!

I just discovered Organizing Junkie who does this every week!

Monday-Pancakes, eggs, & bacon
Tuesday-Tuna casserole
Wednesday-Tyson chicken patty sandwiches (Why yes, I am trying to make them that much more grateful for Turkey Day by serving bland meals every day leading up to it. How did you guess?)
Thursday-THANKSGIVING DAY!
Friday-Pizza night
Saturday-Leftovers
Sunday-Crockpot beef stew

For more recipe goodness, check out Carmen's Mission Monday post!

Menu Monday

As I've mentioned, my new schedule means that nothing gets done around here without a plan. One of those plans definitely involves a weekly menu. So here's what's cookin' this week at Casa Gregg:

Monday-Carne Guisada with rice (This recipe is courtesy of Menus4Moms.com-it's in last week's archives.)
Tuesday-Chicken, Ham, and rice casserole (Ditto-the chicken, ham, and rice are already in the fridge as leftovers just waiting to be Tuesday night's dinner.)
Wednesday-Grilled cheese and tomato soup (It's been a favorite since my days in the DG house.)
Thursday-Chicken fried rice, edamame, and egg rolls (My kids have so much fun popping the edamame pods into their mouths, they don't know they're eating something healthy-shh!)
Friday-Pizza night! (Menus4Moms always has a cute and clever Friday night pizza recipe, but I usually just go to Little Caesar's for the $5 special on the way to Gran D's house.)

Payday is Friday this week, so I won't plan the weekend meals until Thursday when I get next week's Menus4Moms list in my inbox. Weekends are usually more spontaneous around here anyway. Those darn dads (at least this one) just don't like to have 'a plan.'