Saturday, June 26, 2010

Week of 6/28

Monpasta w/vodka (Viva Italia)
Tuesfish, cornbread, greens
Wedsbbq pulled pork sandwiches, slaw, edemame or salad, cherry pie
Thurs chicken fingers or grilled breasts and squash
Fri chicken enchiladas (Jody's recipe -- see below)
Extras pizza; goulash
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Back in the swing of things this week after not shopping last week. Even at that, the cupboard isn't totally bare. Hot, humid weather is here of late, and it makes me want to eat watermelon and drink lemonade all day. Happy cooking.


Chicken Enchilada Casserole
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Make: 10 servings ( I think it's more than that -- more like 14 to 16, depends on how big you cut the pieces)
Prep:  10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Bake:  28 minutes at 350 degrees

3 cups shredded, cooked chicken (can use a precooked rotisserie chicken)
1 packet (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
2 cups salsa verde
9 fajita-size flour tortillas
1 can (15.5 ounces) refried beans, warmed in the microwave
8 ounces sour cream
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix chicken, taco seasoning, 1/2 cup water and salsa verde in a skillet.  Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.

2.  Coat 13x9x2-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Cover bottom of pan with 3 flour tortillas, overlapping.  Pour half of the chicken mixture on the tortillas.  Cover with 3 more tortillas.  Spread with warmed beans and sour cream.

3.  Sprinkle half the cheese over the beans and sour cream, and cover with the remaining 3 tortillas.  Top with remaining chicken mixture, followed by remaining cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes, until bubbly.

Monday, June 21, 2010

p.s. Baptism chow

The dishes we made for the baptism were excellent to the last. I am unabashedly claiming this since all we did was follow directions. And there were hardly any left-overs. So, if you're wanting to try any of the recipes, I recommend them all.

Menu plan 6/21

Monleft over pizza; mac-n-cheese for kids (solstice pj-party at toy store after swimming -- eat fast!)
Tuesrotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes 
WedsBBQ sandwiches, beans, slaw (pulling from our freezer--dwindling backstock, boo hoo)
Thurs chicken fajitas and peppers
Fri steak/brats/grilling eats
Extras fish sandwiches and slaw
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Trying to get by without much shopping this week. We had fun celebrating last weekend with our baby's baptism, and really haven't done much in the kitchen since.

The convergence of mealtime and evening swimming lessons has been going well, oddly enough. We have a snack before leaving, and I've more often than not gotten dinner prepped or organized enough  in advance that we can eat shortly after being home. We caught a turtle on the way home tonight so that threw everything off meal-wise, hence the mac-n-cheese. A worthwhile diversion, though.

My mom asked if I felt like I was more organized with 3 kids. I'm not ready to claim a higher level of organization, but I do think I'm honing my prioritization skills. Having meals ready is high on that list to keep things flowing smoothly at night. Hungry kids = mayhem!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Is there a bagel in the house?

It occurred to us last night that we have been doing an okay job of prepping for our Baptism brunch on Sunday. Too bad we've totally neglected to consider that people will be visiting throughout the weekend and there's hardly a crumb of other food in the house. Think we'll do a Sam's trip tonight and get some steaks for grilling, a side salad, and sun chips. I'm making those dolmates as well to have on hand.

Or maybe we'll just be GONE at every mealtime. Think anyone will catch on?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Instant Fondue

Dried apricot + jar of Nutella.
Viola!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Menu Plan Week of 6/14

Monleft over spaghetti
Tuesbeef stew over noodles or mashed (new baby food-gift from a friend)
Wedspancakes & smoothies 
Thurs sloppy joes or chili, if it stays cold outside
Fri Cuban rice
Extras pizza; domates (still have not made these, 2 weeks and counting)
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We'll see if we eat any dinner this week as planned. We start swim lessons M-F for the next 2 weeks, and they're held right at dinner time. Not sure how I'll prep 2 kids and myself for the pool, a sitter for the baby, and get dinner ready so it doesn't take an hour more prep after we're home, but I'm confident I'll have it figured out by the end of the 2 weeks. Frankly, it's probably similar to how dual-income households go through every evening. Michael Phelps, here we come.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Baptism Brunch Menu Plan (work in progress)

I'm typing this with a warm cozy baby on my lap. Is this technically multi-tasking, or just wasting time be/c I'm spending more time on this than I otherwise might so I don't have to move?

Anyway, here's what I think we'll do for the brunch. Thank you, epicurious.com. This weekend we'll work out a schedule since a lot of these items can be made in advance. Think there will be about 15 people here to eat.

SIDES
Hot crab dip with veggies (peppers, carrots, radishes--from our garden-woo!)
Guinness Stout Ginger Cake (from "Desserts of Gramercy Tavern")
Bagels (onion recommended w/the trout-egg dish)
Watermelon slices, bowl of blueberries or some sort of fresh fruit
Hash brown brunch casserole

MAIN
Creamy scrambled eggs w/smoked trout and green onions
Baked french toast w/cardamom and marmalade  My brother made this last recipe for my neice's 1st Communion last month. It was great. Ultra-sweet.

BEVVIES
Sparkling agua
Coffee
OJ
Actually, why not mix the sparkling agua with the OJ? Nice variation, not so sweet, a bit fresca. Sounds good.

DESSERT
I'm debating ordering a cake, or making a double of the recently much-practiced Tres Leches. I'm looking at this list thinking there's a lot (too much) here both to do, and to eat. Will review w/the hubby before writing the final shopping list.

Fast and Slow

Coming out from Subway last night, I heard a car race by on the street. I thought, "Wow, that's pretty fast for an area w/so much pedestrian traffic." Then I thought, "I sound like a parent." As a child, you think racing a car down a residential street is daring, cool, or at least curious. As an adult PARENT (I do think that's an important factor), risk is foremost in your mind.

So. This is how aging happens.

Which brings me to a lot of thinking the past 24 hrs about things fast--and slow--when it comes to parenting and kids and cooking in particular.

Youth:fast food; parent:slow cookers
Youth:dinner preferably consumed in less than 10 min; parent:dinner preferably consumed over an hour
Youth: the faster to make, the more likely to be liked; parent:hours in the kitchen promises a special meal
Youth:no time to put my dishes away, it's playtime!; parent:it's always time to put something away
Youth:things that have fast-moving parts mean fun food prep (i.e. blenders, beaters, whisks); parent:things that have fast-moving parts mean my kids want to help make it which means it's going to take at least 2x as long to actually make

I'm sure you can think of many more, but for my part, I've got to go put something away.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Week of June 7

MonGramma Barb's spaghetti
Tuespizza
Wedsdolmates--double batch (Opaah!)
Thurs rotisserie chicken
Fri fish sandwiches w/sweet potatoes
Extras chip plate
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Starting to pull together ideas for a baptism brunch on June 20. Any suggestions for recipes that are good to make in advance, or that just came out really well for you? We're serving about 15 people and I want to keep things easy, but special. As I type, my second Tres Leches cake in a month is cooking in the oven. Mmm.

Friday, June 4, 2010

For the love of KitchenAid mixers

We have no convenient space for a nice mixer in our kitchen (who does?) but when we had the chance to buy one a couple years ago from a friend who was moving to England, we took advantage of the bargain price. All our friend had ever made with it was whipped cream.

Today we made a pizza crust and a batch of chocolate chip cookies with the mixer. Last week it was used for a birthday cake. In my house, it's used maybe 2 times a month. Worth having, and at that rate I'll probably never wear it out. At least it makes storing it in our basement not too horrid of a chore.

Thank you, KitchenAid mixer, for helping me make foods that are delicious and usually fatty as all get-out. I think I'll put you to a new use now -- running in an empty bowl to drown out the sound of my neighbor's music. White noise, sweet white noise.