Menu Plan

Thank goodness for three day weekends! I usually do my meal planning on Saturdays along with my grocery shopping but yesterday we took it easy around here. My husband was recovering earlier this week from being sick when all of a sudden he got a horrible ear infection. So, together we just chilled out and did a whole lot of nothing. For dinner we ordered pizza from one of our favorite places and watched a few movies.

I usually only plan for about 3-4 meals a week. I eat dinner at church on Wednesdays so I don't plan for that day and most Fridays we eat out or have something super simple like a frozen pizza. I will plan what I am having for Saturday nights on that day, before I head to the store. On Saturdays I enjoy cooking something that might take a little more time and  many times I do a lot of baking on Saturdays.

Here is what I have for this week:

Sunday: Taco Bake
Monday: I have the day off and Chad decided to take it off also. We are going to go to an early movie and have dinner out!
Tuesday: English Muffin Pizzas
Wedneday: Dinner at Church
Thursday: Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Hopefully these give you some ideas to add to your weekly menu!

Valentine's Day Bundt Cake

 Valentine's Day is almost here. Do you have anything special planned? We usually keep it pretty simple around here. 

I was on the search for a special dessert to make this week so I jumped on Pinterest. The picture of this dessert definitely caught my eye. 
 For the last few weeks I have been taking a simple dessert to church on Wednesday nights for our dinner program. I took a half day today and thought since I had some extra time I would make something a little more special. This cake was pretty easy and even if I hadn't had the extra time today I still would have had time to make it after work. 

I can not wait to cut into this cake tomorrow. If you read the comments to the original link of this recipe you will see that many people left suggestions of other jello combinations you could use and other holidays you could use it for. 

Strawberries and Cream Bundt cake 
Source: Chocolate Chocolate and More
Makes 1 large bundt cake and 4-6 cupcakes

 2 boxes white cake mix (15.25 oz)
Ingredients called for on box

1 box strawberry JELL-O mix (3oz.)

1 can white frosting

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. Bake cake mix according to box directions. 

Pour 1/3 to 1/2 of the batter into prepared pan. 

Reserve 1 tbls. of JELL-O mix for frosting and add remaining to the rest of the cake batter. Stir well until just blended. Spoon batter into bundt pan to cover the white batter. Do not fill pan past 2/3 full. Place any remaining batter in cupcake tin.  Bake in a preheated oven for 45-55 minutes (19-22 for cupcakes). Using a toothpick test for doneness. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto place to cool completely.

Frost the cupcakes first since you probably won't use the whole can of frosting. 

I melted my icing in the microwave for about 10 seconds. The original recipe says to melt it on the stove. 

Using the reserved JELL-O mix stir it into some of the frosting.

Place the frosting in a plastic bag and cut a very small hole in a corner.

Drizzle over the cake, alternating colors. 

Cheese and Corn Chowder + potatoes

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted huh? It has been on mind a lot lately to get this blog back up. I definitely haven't stopped cooking I just haven't taken the time to get on here and upload anything.




So, this weekend I was dying to get back in the kitchen after a busy week and easy dinners.
I have been craving soups lately! I jumped on my pinterest boards and noticed I had pinned The Pioneer Woman's corn and cheese chowder. I decided to make the soup and to also add some red potatoes to it as I knew it would get my husband more on board with eating it!
This recipe was super easy to put together. Besides chopping some veggies and potatoes, pretty much the rest was to just dump it in the pot! I love that! I would definitely make this on a weeknight especially if I had chopped all my veggies before. Enjoy this delicious soup!

I love the smell of onions cooking!

Corn and Cheese Chowder
Source: The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
4 Tablespoons 1/2 Stick Butter
1 whole Onion, Chopped
3 slices Bacon, Cut Into Pieces
3 whole Bell Peppers, Finely Diced (red, Yellow, Orange) (I only used a green pepper)
5 ears Corn, Kernels Sliced Off (I used frozen corn)
1/4 cup All-purpose Flour 3 cups Chicken Stock Or Broth
2 cups Half-and-half 1 cup (heaping)
Grated Monterey Jack 1 cup (heaping)
 Pepper Jack 1/3 cup
Sliced Green Onions
Bread Bowls
Preparation Instructions In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat.
Cook onions for a couple of minutes. Add bacon and cook for another minute or so, then add diced bell peppers and cook for a couple of minutes.  Finally, add corn and cook for a minute.
  Sprinkle flour evenly over the top and stir to combine. Pour in broth and stir well. Allow this to thicken for 3 or 4 minutes, then reduce heat to low.
Stir in half-and-half, then cover and allow to simmer/thicken for 15 minutes or so.
Stir in cheeses and green onions. When cheese is melted and the soup is hot, check seasonings. Add salt and pepper as needed.
Ladle into hollowed out boules and serve immediately.(I did not serve mine in bread bowls).

http://thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com/search/label/soup'son

 

Brown Sugar- Cinnamon Peach Pie

I am loving all the time I have had to bake this summer. Now I'm sure I won't be loving my waistline after while but I love being in the kitchen. I received the July issue of Southern Living recently and on the front cover was a beautiful peach pie. As soon as I saw it I was dying to make it. Luckily peaches were on sale recently so I didn't have to wait to make this. We had an impromptu family dinner last night so luckily I could take this and not have to eat the whole thing myself! This pie was devoured. It is so delicious and I can't wait to make it again

I think this pie came out wonderful but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture at home and had to do so with my phone.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Peach Pie

1 1/3 cups cold butter
4 1/4 cups AP flour, divided
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water
8 large fresh, firm, ripe peaches (about 4lbs.)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1. Cut 1 1/3 cups butter into small cubes, and chill 15 minutes. Stir together 4 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup ice water with a fork, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened and dough begins to form a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding more ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, if necessary. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; press and shape dough into 2 flat disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes to 24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 425. Place 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface; sprinkle dough lightly with flour. Roll dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Starting at 1 edge of dough, wrap dough around a rolling pin. Place rolling pin over a 9-inch pie plate, and unroll dough over pie plate. Press dough into pie plate.

3. Roll remaining dough disk to 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

4. Peel peaches, and cut into 1/2-inch slices; cut slices in half. Stir together brown sugar, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/4 cup flour in a bowl; add peaches, stirring to coat. Immediately spoon peach mixture into pie crust in pie plate and dot with 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter. (Do not make mixture ahead or it will become too juicy).

5. Carefully place remaining pie crust over filling; press edges of crusts together to seal. Cut off excess crust, and reserve. Crimp edges of pie. If desired roll excess dough to 1/4 inch thickness . Cut into 3-inch leaves using a knife. Brush top of pie with beaten egg; top with leaves. Brush leaves with egg; sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar. Cut 4 to 5 slits in top of pie for steam to escape.

6. Freeze pie 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat a jelly-roll pan in oven 10 minutes. Place pie on hot jelly-roll pan.

7. Bake at 425 on lower oven rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375, bake 40 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake 25 more minutes or until juices are thick and bubbly. Transfer to a wire rack; cool 2 hours before serving.

Pioneer Woman Pancakes

My sister in law gave me the Pioneer Woman's cookbook for my birthday a few weeks ago. I have been so excited to break it open and get cooking. I started with these pancakes because I wanted to freeze some so I could have them during them during the school year. These were just as easy as any other pancakes and they came out perfectly. Light and fluffly and delicious! To go with my pancakes I made a cinnamon syrup since I don't really care for regular maple syrup. The syrup made them even better than they already were!


Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes
Source: The Pioneer Woman

1 cup sour cream
7 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter

1. Place an iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat.
2. Place the sour cream in a medium bowl. Dump in the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3. Stir together very gently. Stop before being totally combined, it gives the pancakes an interesting texture.
4. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl.
5. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the sour cream/flour mixture
7. Stir together gently. Don't worry about the mixture being totally combined.
8. Melt a tablespoon of butter on the skillet. Pour the batter onto the skillet 1/4 cup at a time.
9. Cook for 1-11/2 minutes, then flip the pancake over. Cook for another 45 seconds and remove to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Cinnamon Syrup
Source: See Jane in the Kitchen
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over medium heat stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk.

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Yet again another strawberry recipe! I just can't resist their deliciousness this summer.
These little bars are absolutely wonderful. I had to pull myself away from the pan when they were ready to eat.




Strawberry Crumb Bars
Source: Smells Like home
1½ cups sugar, divided
1 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 sticks (½ lb) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
4 tsp cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a 13×9 inch pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour. Mix in the salt and the lemon zest, and stir together with a fork. Cut in the butter and egg with a pastry blender (or two knives if you don’t have one) until the largest chunks are about pea-sized. The mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour. Spread about half of the dough mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan and press down firmly to form the bottom crust.

In another bowl, stir together the remaining sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the strawberries with a rubber spatula until combined. Spread the berry mixture evenly over the bottom crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the berries. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

Strawberry Pie

I love strawberries! I have a few more recipes with strawberries to add on here! My friend recently made this pie and it was just delicious. I asked for the recipe and made this for Father's day. It is really easy and the pie was really popular at our Father's day get together.



The one change I made to this pie was to not use the top pie crust and instead do a crumble topping.


Strawberry Pie
Source: My friend Liz

Make a double-crusted pie crust (or buy it)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

8 cups fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tb. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tb. of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tb. heavy cream (i just use water)

Roll dough over pie dish, cut edges and allow to chill for 30 min.

Place strawberries in a large bowl; with your hands, crush about 1/2 cup of berries (i don't do this step b/c the juice runs over). Add the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice; stir to combine. Spoon mixture into chilled pie shell, mounding berries slightly to the center. Dot with butter; place other dough on top of berries. (don't forget to poke holes through if you're doing a full crusted pie.)


In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and cream. Lightly brush rim of chilled pie shell with egg wash and the top crust layer. Freeze or refrigerate pie for 30 min. (I skip this step too, haha, and it still turns out ok).

Place pie in oven and bake until crust begins to turn golden, about 20 min. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees, and continue backing, rotating sheet halfway through, until the crust is deep golden brown and juices are bubbling and thickened, 40-50 min. Allow to cool