Menu Monday: February 23rd-March 2nd, 2014

It's menu time! After getting my bountiful basket Saturday I had to come up with a menu that would incorporate, at least, some of those ingredients I got!

This menu is only for a week. I usually make menus for two weeks but I am hoping to get another basket this coming Saturday so I'll probably do another menu when I get the next basket. Also, please remember that I don't necessarily assign a particular meal for each day.

Menu Monday

Lemon Chicken
     asparagus
     homemade french bread

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Roast
     potatoes
     carrots

French Dip
     chips

Meatloaf
     salad

Lemon Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken and Spinach
     broccoli

Mac and Cheese
     broccoli
     corned beef

Chicken fajitas

Spaghetti
     french bread
     salad


I have made all of these recipes, except the lemon chicken recipe. It is similar to one I recently tried though, just written a bit more clearly. The homemade french bread is really not that hard, although if you decide to make it, I suggest not using flour to keep it from sticking to your hands. A friend of mine told me to use oil instead, otherwise your bread will taste a bit "floury" (thanks Miss. Sarah for the tip!). The meatloaf recipe I posted is one of two meatloaf recipes that I like. The last time I made meatloaf I made extra and froze it so this will be one meal I won't actually have to make! Hopefully I will get some of my own recipes up here soon!

Happy eating and thank you for dropping by this Southern Soapbox!

Green Smoothie Recipe

I have tried and tried to like the green smoothie recipes that I've found online but they were either too peanut butter-y, too banana-y or too spinach-y but I've finally got it! Here's the recipe I used!

Ingredients:

1 sliced, frozen banana
1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter (it was probably more like a tablespoon and a half)
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon (optional)
2 cups of spinach
**You can also add some flax seed :)

Make sure you slice your banana BEFORE you freeze it! Sounds obvious I know, and I did know to do this, but for some reason I stuck the whole banana in there anyways. I know the whole drinking spinach thing totally grossed me out too but my sister told me that it could be done so now I am telling you: Try it!!!! If you don't like the amounts I put in, play with it a little. Like I said, I didn't like any of the recipes I found so I made my own!

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! Let me know how you like it!

Gluten Free?

So, my sister and I have decided we're going to try this whole gluten free thing. We've been told over and over that because of our inflammatory diseases (I have fibromyalgia and she has psoriatic arthritis) cutting out gluten would be very beneficial, so we're going to try it for a few months and see how big of a difference we notice.

A few things I'm already missing... oreos... and cookie butter (which I JUST discovered.. like 2 days ago.. so that's a bummer) and bread. Thankfully now-a-days there are SO MANY gluten free options, like gluten free pasta and bread, that it will simple take a trip to Whole Foods to pick up "specialty" items. There are also TONS of people that have been kind enough to make blogs that have research AND recipes! Gluten Free Girl so far is my favorite! And we can't forget Pinterest!

By no means do I anticipate this to be "easy", I'm already craving things I can't have (the MOMENT I decided to go gluten free I immediately wanted some bread smothered in butter....) but with all the resources out there and the substitutes I think I can make it. I hope. Tonight for dinner, Mom and Dad had red beans and rice, which I don't like anyways but it contains gluten so instead I made lemon pepper chicken with sauteed onions, bell pepper and green beans on the side. I even drizzled some fresh lemon juice over the veggies and chicken! It was YUMMY!

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! I will be updating y'all and maybe even posting some of my own recipes!

Menu Monday: January 7th- January 20th, 2013

Yes. I know it's Tuesday. And yes, I know it's not the 7th. I started back to classes yesterday so that took up half my day, then I spent the rest of it at my sister's house so, sorry it's a day late. I originally wrote this menu a week ago and have been using it for the past week. Anywho, here's the menu!

Hamburgers
    baked beans
    salad

Manicotti
    bread
    salad

Beef Tenderloin
    green beans
    grilled potato slices
    rolls

Balsamic Chicken (Pinterest)
    asparagus
    salad

Lasagna Soup (Pinterest/Maegan)
   bread

Loaded Potatoes

Lemon Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken (Pinterest)
    potatoes
    veggies

Chicken Enchiladas
    refried beans
    mexican rice

Veggie Beef Soup

La Madeline's Tomato Basil Soup

Tacos and Burritos
    refried beans

For this menu I even wrote down ideas for lunch!

Lunch Menu

"Fajitas" -using leftover tenderloin
Grilled Cheese
Deviled Eggs/Hard Boiled Eggs
Salad
PB&J
Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

I am going to try to post a few recipes over the next few weeks but it is the first week back to school so I am trying to get back into my rhythm (which I will probably master just about the time finals roll around.) Feel free to leave a comment if you have a specific recipe you want!

I hope you enjoyed my Southern Soapbox of the day! See you tomorrow for Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday!!

Menu Monday October 15, 2012 - October 22, 2012

Menu Monday

Keep in mind that I don't necessarily make my menu in the order that I am going to cook in. I will not be making chicken enchiladas and mexican pizza back to back. 

Photo courtesy of Google

Lasagna Soup

      French Bread

Lemon Pepper Chicken

      Roasted potatoes and carrots

      Salad

Baked Ziti

      French Bread

      Salad

Pot Roast

      Roasted veggies

      Mashed potatoes

Chicken Enchiladas

      Refried Beans

      Rice

Mexican Pizza

      Refried Beans

      Rice

Tortellini Vegetable Soup

Chicken Picata

      Angel hair pasta

      Steamed Veggies

Giant Salads

Loaded Potatoes

Pork Chops

      Mac n Cheese

      Green beans

Crock Pot French Dip

      Salt and pepper potato chips

I considered putting the grocery list below here too but then decided not to. Would y'all like me to start doing this? Also, sometimes when I post a link to the recipe, it's not necessarily the exact recipe I use. Example: the french dip. I actually use my sister's recipe but the one on the website is similar. If you want the recipe I use, or a recipe that I don't have a link to just let me know and I will post it. I'll try to get around to posting the recipes on my blog too.

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! Happy eating!

Cheesy Chicken Recipe

I decided tonight that I would redo a recipe that I had gotten from my sister. I have tried it once before but it didn't go so well. This time... I think I've mastered it! Or... I got lucky. We'll hope that it's the former.

Ingredients:

1.However many chicken breasts you need. I used Tyson's frozen chicken breast.
2.Enough milk to coat the chicken. Probably about a cup or so. Sorry I didn't measure!
3.Grated cheese. The amount on that plate is NOT enough! I actually took these pictures after I had coated everything. Sorry, this whole thing was a last minute "oh hey I can post this on my blog" moment. Cover the entire bottom of the plate and the pile a little more on top. That was enough for me to do 2 chickens but I couldn't get more on the plate or it would over flow. (I use about one package of Kraft cheese for 4-5 chicken breasts.)
4. Ritz crackers. I usually use half of one of the longer sleeves of Ritz.
5. Pam or some sort of non-stick spray

Directions:
1. Thaw your chicken. Hopefully you started doing this about 30 minutes ago if you are doing it in the sink like I did.
2. Preheat your oven to 425*
3. Crush your Ritz crackers. It's ok to have a few little chunks but for the most part it should be pretty fine. Put your crushed crackers on a plate or wide bowl. The plate and bowl should be wide enough for you to be able to flip the chicken around and all that jazz.
4. Put your cheese on a plate.
5. Put your milk in a bowl. Again make sure your bowl is wide enough to accommodate your chicken.
6. Spray a glass pan that is large enough to fit all your chicken with your non-stick spray.
7. Get your chicken and smother it in milk. Make sure it's nice and wet. Then put it on the cheese. You'll have to kind of pretty the cheese into it. Coat is REALLY well. Then move it over to the crackers! Again, pretty those crackers into and coat it really well. Repeat until all your chicken is finished.

8. Put your chicken in the oven. I THINK I did the chicken for about 40 minutes. I like to set the timer for every 10 minutes to check it and make sure I don't over cook it. I also started the chicken out at 375* and decided to increase the temperature, mostly because I'm impatient. You'll know it's finished when the top starts to brown but make sure you cut it in half before you serve it to check for pink!
9. Eat and enjoy! Be aware that sometimes when you lift it out of the pan the crunchies slide off :( I don't know how to stop that from happening. If you know, PLEASE tell me!!!

Well that's my Southern Soapbox! I hope you enjoy!

La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup!

I tried this recipe for the second time tonight! It was soooo yummy! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients:
4 cups of crushed tomatoes (the 1lb can is about 4 cups)
12 fresh basil leaves (or you can use 4 tablespoons of the dried basil in the little bottle)
1 cup of heavy cream (That is what the original recipe calls for although I suggest that you start out using 1/4 cup and add a little more if you need to. When I used 1 cup it was WAY too much.)
1 stick (1/4 lb) of sweet unsalted butter
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions:
1. Simmer tomatoes in saucepan for 30 minutes
2. Puree,  with basil, in small batches, in blender (honestly.. I'm not sure why you're supposed to blend it? but ya... you might be able to skip this step if you don't have a blender)
3. Return to saucepan and add cream, butter, salt and pepper while stirring over low heat
4. Eat up!!

I hope you enjoy!

Stir Fry Recipe!

I had a couple of people ask me about this recipe since I cooked it last week so I thought I would post it on here! I might start doing a recipe of the week every week. We shall see.

My Stir Fry

Ingredients

2 packages round eye steaks, bite size chunks
2 packages mixed vegetables (brocolli, carrots, snow peas)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 slices ginger, shredded
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons soy sauce
9 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 onion, sliced
2 bell peppers, red and green, sliced

  **you can really use any veggies you want

  **for the beef, you can also use stew beef, just be careful not to over cook it. it gets yucky if you do

Directions

1. Mix together sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce and water. Put aside

2. Heat wok and add 1 tablespoon of oil, then salt, garlic and ginger

3. Stir quickly until golden grown

4. Add beef quickly and stir constantly until beef is brown on outside

5. Shut off heat and remove from wok, put aside

6. Heat wok again and add remainder of oil(2 tablespoons)

7. Add vegetables, onion and bell peppers and stir fry

8. When veggies are cooked, add beef, sherry and chicken broth

9. Add ingredients from step 1.

10. When gravy thickens shut off heat and serve

the prep time for this is about 20-30 minutes because you have to cut your veggies and meat but it cooks in about 15mins, depending on how much you make. this recipe feeds about 6 people. I make it for my family of 4 and use the rest as left overs :) if you have any questions let me know!

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Here we go! I told y'all I would take pictures of every step so here it is! I made these today and took pictures as I went. (This recipe is for 24 pumpkin pie bites)

Here are your ingredients (the Monster was for me, not the bites lol)

2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts (these are found by the cookie dough at Kroger)

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 3/4 inch cookie cutter 

1. Grease your muffin pan!

                                 2. Unroll your pie crust  

3. Cut your circles out! I also rolled the circles out a little flatter after I had cut them out.

4. Put your pie crust in the muffin pans. Make sure to put the crusts in every other spot so they don't stick together.

 Don't worry too much about all the excess, just stuff it down in there. Make sure the crust isn't too thin, you don't want any breaks!

It doesn't have to look pretty (I know what you're thinking "YES IT DOES!".. but really, it doesn't). Just shove it down there!

5. Take one of your eggs and separate the whites from the yolk. Take your finger and spread the whites on the edges of your pie crust.

6. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350. Then mix your sugar, cream cheese, 2 eggs, vanilla, pumpkin and pumpkin spice together.  (make sure you soften the cream cheese. and by soften i mean SOFTTTTTT! otherwise it will be all lumpy and ewww. and if it is lumpy and ew, just stick your whole mix in the microwave for about 30 seconds at a time until it's not lumpy)

this one is actually a little low on filling

7. Scoop the filling into the crusts. I used a cookie dough scoop and it worked perfectly! Scoop enough to fill the crust.

8. Pop them into the oven. The site I got this from, Bakerella, says to bake them for 12-15 minutes but I ended up doing it for about 20. I suggest starting with 12 minutes and add more as you go along. To check for "doneness" take a toothpick and stick it in the middle of one of your bites. If it comes out clean, it's finished, if not, add another 5 minutes.

When you first take them out of the oven they will be all puffed up. I wish they would have stayed that way, but sadly, they flattened out.

You can either serve them hot, or refrigerate them and serve them cold. Personally, my family thought they were better cold. Let me know what you think!

That's my Southern Soapbox for the day! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Gobble Gobble!