Menu - Week of March 2, 2009

I love March in Texas!  This weather is so crazy. Hot one day.  Cold the next.  You can have a day with a high temperature of 80 and it will still be 39 degrees at night.  That type of weather makes it hard to plan a menu.   I don't like to eat heavy food when it's hot out and I don't like to eat salad or something too light when it's cold out.   This week in preparation to make a menu, I have looked through the pantry and freezer and found that I have frozen chicken, frozen shrimp, frozen cooked salmon, and lots of noodles, plus magnificent leftovers from last night's cookout.  We also have two nights that we won't be home for dinner.  I have to make do with what is in the house already because my husband went to the grocery store this weekend and used up all my grocery money budgeted for the week already. 

Here is what I am thinking for this week:

• Monday - Hamburgers (from cookout leftovers), Beans, Canteloupe, and Grapes
  
• Tuesday - Hot dogs (from cookout leftovers), Carrots with dip, Pineapple
  
• Wednesday - Fish Tacos (with the frozen cooked salmon), Pico de Gallo, Rice, Edamame
  
• Thursday - PTA Meeting - Dinner at the meeting.
  
• Friday - Mexican Dinner Night at a friend's house; I am bringing shrimp ceviche and rice pudding.  I will make extra rice to stir-fry it for dinner tomorrow.
  
• Saturday - We are going to be at Explore UT all day so we need something quick for dinner.  Stir-fry rice, Cauliflower, Apple Slices
  
• Sunday -  Savory Chicken Sunday Supper, Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Carrots, Mangos
  

Pico de Gallo

This is a type of chunky salsa that is usually served over fajitas and fish tacos.   

1 tomato, cored, seeded, and diced

1/2 an onion,  diced 

1 serrano pepper, minced (seeded, if you don't like it hot)

1/2 small bunch of cilantro, chopped

juice of 3 limes

salt to taste

Mix all in glass bowl.  Let sit for a 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Savory Chicken Sunday Supper (from 365 Easy One-Dish Meals)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut into pieces, skinned

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 large red potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (you can use whatever potatoes you have in your pantry)

1/2 cup long grain rice

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon  marjoram

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. In a 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil until hot over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook, turning once, until golden on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes.  Drain off any fat.

2. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, and carrots.  Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft, 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir in potatoes, rice, broth, marjoram, salt, and pepper.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until rice and potatoes are tender, 20-25 minutes.  Let stand covered, 5 minutes, before serving.

Enjoy!

Mexican Night

A friend has invited us to a potluck Mexican night.  Well, it's not really a potluck since we all picked what to make from the list of menu items.  I am bringing shrimp ceviche and rice pudding. My mom makes the best rice pudding.  She boils the rice with cinnamon stick and then adds evaporated milk, condensed milk, more cinnamon, and raisins.  It's delicious!

The shrimp ceviche recipe is a concoction I put together based on various recipes I read and following my grandma's advice about what ingredients complement fish and shrimp.  My grandmother used to own a seafood restaurant in Veracruz, Mexico.  This dish tastes best if made the night before and left to marinade in its own juices.  Here's the recipe:

Shrimp Ceviche

1 lb. cooked, peeled shrimp

6 plum tomatoes, seeded, and diced

1 medium-size onion, diced

1 serrano pepper, minced

1/2 a bunch cilantro, chopped

juice of 10 limes

1 tablespoon olive oil

dash of dried oregano

dash of tabasco sauce

salt to taste

Combine everything in glass bowl (or any non-reactive bowl).  Let sit over night or at least 4 hours.  Serve with avocado slices and hardy crackers.   You can also take a cup of this shrimp ceviche and add ketchup and tabasco sauce to make a tasty shrimp cocktail.  Enjoy!

No Chicken on Ash Wednesday!

I totally forgot that this coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday.  I have my family eating chicken on that day!  A friend caught that.  I'm so glad.  So I am just switching the Chicken A la King to Tuesday and Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce to Wednesday.  We are having a Fat Tuesday celebration at home which is why I don't understand how I forgot all about Ash Wednesday.Oh, well. Maybe it's my age...  :)

Menu - Week of February 23, 2009

Another week in the hectic life of the Kauffman family...so what else is new?  I started reviewing our food expenses for last month and discovered that I am still averaging $137 a week in groceries.  I am so bummed.  I know I keep good records of my shopping trips, but I am not taking David's grocery shopping trips into account.  I need to make sure we coordinate our receipts.  Also, our eating out budget has been hovering at $150 per month.  That is about $45 per week.  Too much!  We need to figure out how not to eat out so much.  I also need to stick to the menu more.  What good is having a menu if you don't follow it?

So with that said, here is the menu for this week:

• Monday - Chicken Fajitas, Rice, Beans, Pineapple
  
• Tuesday - Spaghetti, Steamed Broccoli, Mangos
  
• Wednesday - Chicken a la King, Brown Rice, Steamed Veggies, Strawberries
  
• Thursday - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup, Canteloupe (I am going out to eat with the girls).
  
• Friday - Leftovers from the week.
  
• Saturday - I am out of town. 
  
• Sunday - Dinner with friends at home: honey glazed chicken stir-fry, rice, grapes
  

Easy Chicken A la King

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Cut up two chicken breasts into cubes.  Cut 1 potato into cubes.  Cut 2 carrots into rounds.  Cut 1 green bell pepper into 1 inch squares.  Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to skillet over medium high heat.  Saute chicken until no longer pink.  Add garlic salt and pepper.  Add potatoes and carrots.  Saute for five more minutes.  Add 1 cup water and cover.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are done.  Add 1 can mushroom soup and 1 can of milk.  Stir until soup is well mixed and heated through.  (Do not boil.)  Enjoy! 

Easy Lasagna Recipe

This recipe is from one of David's roommates when he was an eligible bachelor back in Houston. We love it because you don't have to cook the noodles in advance.  You could cook them if you want to (then you would omit the water), but you don't have to.

Easy Lasagna 

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1 egg

1 package frozen chopped spinach

1 15 oz. container Ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

garlic salt to taste

dry basil

dry oregano

1 jar Newman's Sockarooni Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. box of lasagne noodles, uncooked

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 - 1/2 cups of water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix egg, spinach, ricotta, and 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella in a bowl.  Season with garlic salt, dry basil and dry oregano to taste.

Brush all sides of 9 x 13 casserole dish with olive oil.  Spread about two tablespoons of spaghetti sauce on bottom of pan. Place noodles in pan over sauce to cover entire bottom of pan. Spread 1/2 of the egg - spinach - cheese mixture.  Pour 1/3 of the jar of sauce over the cheese and spread.  Add another layer of pasta. (Make sure this layer of pasta is going in the opposite direction of the first layer. ie, if the the first layer is going across, this layer should go up and down.  Sometimes you'll have to tear the noodles to make them fit. ) Add another layer of cheese mixture.  Add 1/2 of the jar of sauce.  Place last set of noodles (in opposite direction of last layer) over the cheese mixture.  Pour rest of sauce and spread over noodles.  Spread 1 cup of mozzarella over top of  sauce and noodles.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

Pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water around the edge of the casserole dish.  Cover with foil.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Check with a knife to see if it's done.  If the knife goes in easily, then it's done!

Enjoy!

Menu - Week of February 9, 2009

This week is going to be very boring in terms of food.  My sister was in town this weekend and anytime my family gets together, we grill.  We grill huge amounts of food.  In this case, we had ribs, sausage, and fajitas--both beef and chicken.  We also have tons of borracho beans and rice.  We have been eating leftovers since Saturday.  I am getting kind of sick of them, but not really.

We have a ton of fajita meat left so all this week is going to be fajitas and rice and beans.  I am adding a different fruit every night.  Today at the grocery store, I found an 18 lb. bag of oranges from Edinburgh, TX for $4.99.  Those are juiciest oranges ever.  My kids love them so we are going to eat a lot of orange wedges.  I also found mangos on sale so that is on the list for this week as well.  So here I am going to list what we are having:

Monday - Grilled Ribs, Tossed Salad, Strawberries

Tuesday - Soul Food Night at School in celebration of Black History Month

Wednesday - Rice and Beans, Fajita Tacos, Orange Wedges

Thursday - Sausage Wraps, Steamed Broccoli, Mangos

Friday - Fajita Tacos, Rice and Beans, Pineapple

Saturday - Valentine's Day Dinner - Steak, Baked Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus (or possibly go out)

Sunday - Spaghetti, Steamed Zuchini, Grapes

Have a great week!

Menu - Week of February 2, 2009

This is the last time I let my husband buy the food for Superbowl Sunday.  He got pork ribs instead of beef and chicken tenders instead of chicken wings.  :(   It was fun though and I guess that is what's important.

This week, as usual, is pretty full.  Here is our menu:

• Monday - Pollo en Salsa; Rice; Mexican Squash
  
• Tuesday - Pescado a la Veracruzana; Rice; Steamed Veggies
  
• Wednesday - Spinach Lasagne; Steamed Veggies
  
• Thursday - Kindergarten Choir Concert at school
  
• Friday - Sushi
  
• Saturday - Sister in town; dinner with friends
  
• Sunday - Beef Ribs, baked potatoes, grilled zuchinni
  

Pollo en Salsa

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Place one can of tomato sauce, 1/4 onion, 1 garlic clove in blender.  Blend until smooth.   On a heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Pan fry 4 chicken breasts.  Add tomato mixture.  1/2 cup water and 1 tablespoon Knorr Suiza chicken bouillon.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender.

Mexican Squash

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Dice 1 yellow squash and 1 zuchinni squash.  Saute in 1 tablespoon butter with 1 diced tomato, 1/2 a diced onion, 1 minced garlic clove, and 1 serrano pepper.  Add 1/2 cup water.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer until vegetables are tender.

Pescado a la Veracruzana

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Lay fish on baking dish.  Top with garlic salt and pepper.  Add slices of onions, tomatoes, green bell pepper, serrano, a spig of cilantro, sliced olives. Drizzle with olive oil.  Optional:  Dot with 1 tablespoon butter. Cover and seal.  Bake for 15 minutes in 350 oven.

Enjoy!