Menu Monday

I'm so bad about posting!  But with the holidays over hopefully life goes back to being less chaotic!

Here's our menu for the week (not in any particular order):

~Enchiritos, corn, fruit
~Lasagna Soup, cheesy garlic biscuits
~Homemade Fish Sticks, Almond Rice Pilaf, broccoli
~BBQ Chicken Wraps (NEW), pasta salad, fruit
~BLTs, fruit, zucchini fritters
~Leftovers
~Eat Out
~Pizza Night

Lasagna Soup

 This is from Family Fun magazine February 2009.

I liked it.  There were a few too any noodles so it was "soupy" enough but I would make it again.  I'm also going to try freezing the leftovers.  I know sometimes noodles are hard to freeze but I thought in a soup it might work.

Lasagna Soup

2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 lb Italian sausage
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tb tomato paste
1 (28 oz can) diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 oz fusilli pasta
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
8 oz ricotta
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella

In  large pot, heat oil over medium heat.  Add sausage and saute, breaking apart, until no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Drain any excess fat from pot.  Add onions and saute until soft, about 6 minutes.  Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper; saute 1 minute.  Add tomato paste and saute until it turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add pasta, then increase heat to medium high and boil soup until pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package.  Discard bay leaves, then stir in basil.  If desired, season with salt and pepper.

In small bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, and 1/4 tsp salt, pinch of pepper.  To serve, place about 1 1/2 Tb of ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some mozzarella, and ladle soup on top.  

Makes about 13 cups.

**We don't like tomatoes so instead of a can of diced tomatoes I used a can of tomato sauce.  I also didn't have fresh basil but I think that would be very good so next time I will make sure I get that.

This recipe is linked to:
A Southern Fairytale
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin'

Enchirito

I think these would be better with the sauce I use on my chicken enchiladas:  enchilada sauce, tomato soup, and cream of mushroom soup.  I put a batch in the freezer without sauce so when I make those in a couple weeks I'm going to try them with the enchilada sauce.

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 pack taco seasoning
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can refried beans
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
12 burrito sized tortillas
extra grated cheese and extra sauce for top

Spicy Beef Directions:
Brown ground beef and diced onions in large skillet.  Drain off excess fat and add taco seasoning.  Stir in 3/4 can of enchilada sauce (around 1 cup) and set pan aside.

Cheesy Beans Directions:
Stir shredded cheese and beans together and warm in the microwave.

Enchirito Directions:
Nuke some tortillas for about a minute or so.  You want them to be soft and pliable.  Spread on some warm cheesy beans and some spicy meat.  Roll it over, fold over the ends, and roll over again.  Place in a baking dish.  Top with extra cheese and sauce.  Bake until warm and cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Breakfast Pizza

 I'm glad these reached my expectations because I was looking forward to them all week!  Definitely a hit and something different for breakfast night.

I made this homemade pizza dough in the bread machine.  I prebaked them for 8 minutes.  Then I did these pizzas:

~sausage (used the Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles...already cooked and crumbled, same price as a roll of sausage and very tasty if I do say so.  Worth the money for me to not cook the sausage first.  And no, they didn't give me anything to say that!), egg, shredded pizza blend cheese, with red pepper and onion on half. 

~leftover honey glazed ham from Christmas that we had in the freezer, Tastefully Simple's cheese sauce, egg, red pepper, onion, and half also had the sausage.  I used the Italian blend shredded cheese on this one, and a little cheddar.

After pre-baking the crust I spread a light layer of shredded cheese on the crust, since there isn't much sauce on it I thought this might keep it from drying out too much and help the toppings stick.  Then I added the toppings and another light layer of cheese.

For the ham one, I put some shredded cheddar on the crust in place of sauce, added the toppings, spooned some cheese sauce over the toppings and then added a light layer of Italian cheese blend on top.

I definitely suggest trying these, with your choice of toppings of course but they were very good.

Menu Monday

I haven't shared a menu in awhile.  I've been so busy with work I haven't been doing as much cooking and I haven't taken enough time to keep up this blog.  My apologies!

This week we're having:
~Pizza, fruit
~Nacho Cheese Tortilla Bake, corn, fruit
~Sloppy Joes, green beans, fruit
~BBQ Ribs, ranch roasted potatoes, biscuits
~Pasta Roll Ups (from freezer), cheese stuffed breadsticks (from freezer)
~Tuna Melts, broccoli w/ cheese, fruit
~Pigs in a Blanket, fruit
~Leftovers/Breakfast Night

Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chicken Bake

We were so excited to try this I forgot to get a photo!  It wasn't bad.  I'd make it again but next time I wouldn't put the Doritos on the bottom; I'd wait until the last few minutes and sprinkle them over the top.  And I think I need to find recipes with shorter names!

Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chicken Bake

8 cups nacho cheese tortilla chips, crushed (Doritos, or even the Cool Ranch kind would work)
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
Additional shredded cheddar for topping

Arrange chips in a greased 13x9 baking dish.  In a bowl, comine the soup, chicken, salsa, cheese, and chilies.  Pour over chips.  Sprinkle with additional cheese.  Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Another recipe I made for the cookie exchange our playgroup does every year.  My Gram, who passes away this summer, used to make these every year and I figured if I was making cookies I'd better make at least one of her recipes.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar at low speed until smooth.  Beat in vanilla.  At low speed gradually add flour.  Mix in pecans with spatula.  With floured hands, take out about 1 Tb of dough and shape into a crescent (or whatever shape you want really.)  Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies.  Place onto prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 40 minutes.  When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional powdered sugar.  Cook on wire racks.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Cut Out Shortbread Cookies

We're in a playgroup and every year we do a cookie exchange around the holidays.  This was one of the recipes I tried for this year and I thought they were pretty good.



Cut Out Shortbread Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1 Tb vanilla extract

2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

granulated sugar for decorating

Beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour until well blended.  Divide dough in half; flatten each into 1 inch thick disk on 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  (Dough will be soft.)  Wrap and refrigerate several hours until firm.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll half the dough at a time to 1/4 inch thickness.  (I added quite a bit of extra flour in order to work with this dough.  It was way too moist and was sticking to everything.  The cookies still came out just fine.)  Cut with floured cookie cutters.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets and sprinkle tops lightly with granulated sugar.  Bake 9-10 minutes or until set and lightly browned on bottoms.  Gather scraps, roll into ball.  Refrigerate if needed, while you repeat rolling and cutting process with second disk.  Remove from oven and immediately prick cookies randomly around edges with fork.  Remove to a rack to cool.

Makes 6 dozen.

Linked to:
Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale

Slow Cooker Tamale Pie

This was my first time making this recipe so I didn't make any to freeze but it would work great as a freezer meal if you leave off the cheese and cornbread until later.  It was very yummy and I will definitely make it again.

Slow Cooker Tamale Pie

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained
1 can (11 oz) whole kernal corn, drained
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 pkg (8 1/2 oz) corn bread/muffin mix
2 eggs
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
sour cream and additional minced cilantro, optional

In large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in cumin, salt, chili powder and pepper.  Transfer to a 4-qt slow cooker; stir in beans, tomatoes, corn, enchilada sauce, onions and cilantro.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until heated through.

In small bowl, combine muffin mix and eggs; spoon over meat mixture.  Cover and cook 1 hour longer or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Sprinkle with cheese; cover and let stand for 5 minutes.  Serve with sour cream and additional cilantro if desired.

8 Servings

Linked up to:
Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory
Homemaker Monday at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin'
Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tip Day Thursday at Around My Family Table
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff

Mexican Black Beans

These were pretty tasty.  I ate some as a side but my husband put them on his fajita.  Great both ways!

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cups black beans, fully cooked from dry beans)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup beef or chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt, to taste
2 Tb minced cilantro

Combine black beans, corn and red pepper in skillet (or saucepan).  Add broth, cumin, garlic powder and salt to taste.  Bring liquid to boil and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes over medium heat.  Remove from heat, adjust salt if needed and stir in cilantro.