Meal Planning & Pizza Salad

So I am in a posting mode, check out our family blog for pics! I was thinking I would write about meal planning, because I looked at our calendar and realized the month is gone.I was experimenting this month with meal planning. I wrote in meal ideas for the entire month. It averaged 4-5 meal ideas per week, with several leftover nights penciled in, and our old favorite- FFY. It means "Fend for yourself!" It worked well when it was just Scott and I, but with kids its still good to do once in awhile. They usually end up with cereal if there isn't something they like though. That way we can clean out cupboards and the fridge or do what sounds good that night. Overall I decided that it was a good way to do planning. I can just sit down at ONE time and think of a bunch of things I want to make and put it on the calendar. Then when its time to grocery shop, I can make a quick list, and  be able to have the things to make a couple weeks worth of dinners pretty much. I think it was a success too because I was able to stay within our grocery budget!  Any tips on how you do your meal planning??

Here is a recipe for a salad that is yummy too- I made it today for a family luncheon.

PIZZA SALAD
sorry this isn't exact, you'll just have to play with it til it looks good to you!

lettuce, cut up
pasta ( I like radiatore or rotini)
olives, sliced
pepperoni slices
green pepper, cut up
grated mozzarella
diced tomatoes
italian dressing (we tried the Kraft Tuscan House Italian, it was good)

Mix approximately equal parts lettuce and pasta together. Add other ingredients, toss with dressing, and voila! Its a pizza salad. You could experiment with other "toppings" too. Maybe some red onion, more peppers, or feta cheese? This is my kind of recipe, really its more guidelines and then you just play with it till you get it like you like it!

Black Bean and Corn Couscous

So, I inherited some couscous from Curt's brother when they moved. It has sat in the pantry for a couple months, so I figured I should do something with it. I think this recipe would easily work if you substituted any pasta too. I kind of liked the couscous though.





Black Bean and Corn Couscous

1 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
8 green onions, chopped (I just used regular onions)
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 can corn
2 cans black beans, drained
salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken broth to boil. Stir in couscous. Cover pot and remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and cumin. Add onions, peppers, corn and beans. Toss to coat. Fluff couscous, breaking up any clumps. Add couscous to bowl and mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Eat immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

LEMON POTATOS!

Well i love lemon stuff so ya, anyways these potatos are amazingly yummy. I made them when i made an entirely lemon meal. Katie knows :) I didnt take this picture but that is how they look.

Lemon Potatoes
2 pounds baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut up
2 garlic cloves peeled and smashed, plus 2 cloves minced
1 1/2 teaspoons grated zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablesppons olive oil
2 tablesppons finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Rinse and drain potatos. Bring potatoes, smashed garlic, lemon juice, chicken borth and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in nonstick skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook(covered) untill potatoes are just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove lid and increase heat to medium. Cook for 5 mins. Take out garlic cloves and add oil to pan. Cook untill golden brown, 6 mins. Off heat stif in parsley, lemon zest and minced garlic. Serve

Waffle Cookies

Monday night- its family night! Time to teach a 2 minute lesson while the kids cry or sometimes listen. Then we play capture the flag, or stormtroopers, or animals. And then time for a treat! Here is a easy recipe to let the kids help you mix up. We do it sunday nights too if we need a sweet treat with no left overs to eat the next day! This recipe is from the old Landstuhl ward cookbook.

1/2 c. melted butter
6 T. cocoa
Mix til smooth.
Add:
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. flour
1 T. vanilla
Beat til smooth, but quite thick. Drop by spoonfuls onto preheated waffle iron. Close and bake about 1 minute. 
You can add any kind of chips- chocolate, peanut butter, white chocolate, mint, skies the limit!

Freezer Biscuits

Hello sisters (and Mom-- I think you should participate too if you want)! Well, I love cooking blogs, so this will be fun I think. I already told Liza about these--so here they are: Freezer Biscuits. These are sooo good! I made a half batch while Curt was gone and I ate them all over the last four days. They are kind of tangy from the sour cream and taste similar to Popeye's biscuits except they are probably healthier 'cause they are homemade. And they taste way better than the frozen biscuits you can buy.

I got the recipe from another sister blog: sisterscafe.blogspot.com. They have a lot of good recipes on there if you need more ideas.

Freezer Biscuits

4 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
16 oz. sour cream
3-5 tsp water

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter until there are small blended pieces. Add sour cream and water, mix well. (When I halved the recipe, I had to add more water than it called for, so just until it sticks together and looks like biscuit dough). Knead and roll out to 1 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter. Freeze individually on a cookie sheet. When frozen solid, place in a freezer bag to store. When ready to use, place frozen biscuits on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 15-17 minutes. Makes about 20 biscuits.

Crunchy Chicken Casserole

Ok, this recipe is a total classic. Every time I eat this wonderful meal I think of Wymount and one particular phone call around the time of Liza's birthday. Remember that call, Scott? I miss your long and very awesome messages.

Does anyone else remember eating this at the Wickum's house when we lived in Bruchmulebach? I remember Nicole and I picking out the broccoli (which is an optional ingredient) and trying to hide it in our napkins so her mom would not make us eat it.

It also turns out great if you mix half of the stuffing into the chicken and sauce mix. Makes it a bit thicker. I guess I don't have any pictures of food I make...maybe the next time we eat this I will get a picture. But I think we all know what this amazing casserole looks like.



Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
2 cut up carrots
8 oz cheese
1 can chicken broth
4 cups cooked chicken
1/4 c flour
1 box stuffing

Directions:
Melt butter, add flour then add carrots and broth. Cook chicken and cut up or shred When sauce is thick add chicken and cheese. Heat oven to 375 Mix some melted butter with stuffing Place chicken mixture in casserole dish, put stuffing ontop. Cook for 30 min.

Welcome Sisters Dear

Here we go! Its time for us to start sharing our FAVORITE recipes, or ones that the kids LOVE, and even the ones that we LOVE even if its not very good for us! So here is the plan girls- lets all try to post one recipe a week so that we can all try something new once in awhile, K? We could even share weekly meal plans so that we have meal ideas.

Cooking should be a fun part of the day, not something to dread, cause we all know that we have to do it and will enjoy the food once it is on the table. So if we share recipes, we will have some that we know that are good 'cause someone in the family loved it!