Grocery shopping time

I desperately need to restock the pantry and get back into my bulk shopping trips (which will be SO much easier with Linds in preschool and only having to take Luke with me!). There were some great meat deals at Giant and Acme over the next day or two, so I'll probably have to schlep them both with me - but they shouldn't take long, so no big deal. I made my meal list, so here's what we'll be eating over the next two weeks (and after looking back over it, I must be craving Mexican and potatoes?!):

• Mixed-up Enchiladas (a super easy under 30-minute meal that I'm making for September's Munchin Mamas meeting...the theme? Under 30 minute meals. I'm stoked to get some new quick recipes to put on the roster.)
• Blue cheese beef tenderloin, roasted garlic red potatoes and green beans
• Slow cooker whole chicken (I've never cooked an entire chicken myself, so this should be fun), jasmine rice and braised carrots
• Crab cakes, mashed potatoes and corn
• Chicken fajitas and black beans
• Chicken enchiladas (these Velveeta/cream cheese things that I'm not too fond of, but the boy begs for it, so I relent once or twice a year)
• Beer-glazed ham, au gratin potatoes and peas
• Baked potato soup and rosemary bread
• Tortellini and salad (and probably some of the leftover rosemary bread)
• BFD (breakfast for dinner!) - eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, etc.

September 16 - Baked Ziti

Our MOMS Club has been growing exponentially lately - not just with new members, but with so many new babies! We have this program called "Helping Hands" so that when one of the mamas has a new baby, she can sign up for meal delivery. This is such a huge success that after I had Luke, I had 6 weeks of meals coming in 3 days a week. And all of them were big enough for leftovers on the off-days. It's so amazing how this group of women comes together to lend support to each other - and I'm grateful to not only be a recipient of their efforts, but also a participant!

My good friend, Jody (a fellow Munchin Mama), just had her second little girl, so I signed up to bring her dinner. Her family loves pasta, so even though I try not to make it (such an easy, go-to meal...I like to try to give something that others won't bring, too), I decided to go with the baked ziti staple.

I've posted this recipe a thousand times, I'm sure, but honestly, it's so easy and delicious, I'll post it again. It came from my mother-in-law...and even though I love to alter recipes to my taste, I've never had to touch this one. It's just perfect as is! I usually serve it up with salad and garlic crescent rolls (or some other bread).

Baked Ziti
Ingredients
1 lb ziti noodles
1 lb ground sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
3 cups mozzarella cheese
3 cups marinara/spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Cook ziti in boiling water; drain.
3. Brown meats; drain off fat.
4. In a large baking dish, layer ziti, meat, cheese and sauce; repeat until everything has been used.
5. Top with Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake about 30 - 40 minutes until bubbly.

September 15 - Garlic Ranch Chicken

I had 2 chicken breasts left in my freezer and by the time I defrosted them, I had an hour for dinner - not quite enough time to marinade and I was in no mood to grill. I checked around my cupboards and found all the stuff for garlic ranch chicken, and knowing it's one of the boy's favorites, figured it would be eaten by all with no complaint. And honestly, after listening to the kids scream and fight all day, I couldn't handle any bitching or moaning about what was being served up!

I had been craving some sweet potatoes lately, so I picked up a couple at the store and mashed those up with a little butter and brown sugar. The kiddos devoured them (Linds actually stole the last few bites off of Luke's plate), and I got my sweet potato fix. I also picked up some salad mix and served that, too, knowing the boy wouldn't eat the veggies and would need something more than just chicken.

I also cut up the chicken into smaller nugget-size pieces figuring I might be able to mask them as "new" chicken nuggets to the kids. It worked for the most part (well that and the bribe of going to the park post-dinner if all the chicken was eaten off their plates).

Garlic Ranch Chicken
Ingredients
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 T ranch salad dressing mix
1/8 tsp pepper
1 T olive oil
1 T butter

Directions

1. Flatten chicken slightly; set aside. 
2. In a shallow bowl, combine milk and garlic. In another shallow bowl, combine the flour, salad dressing mix and pepper. 
3. Dip chicken in milk mixture, then coat with flour mixture. 
4. In a large skillet, cook chicken in oil and butter over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. 

Yield: 4 servings. 1 chicken breast is 264 calories and 12 g fat. This is a great "quick" dinner - under 30 minutes for prep and cook.

What?! A month has gone by?!

Okay, so judging from my last entry, I haven't cooked in an entire month. And, as much as I'd like to say that's such a stretch and I've just been remiss in posting my stuff...I think it's actually quite accurate. Ugh! I guess with the end of summer/start of school, I've just been in a cooking funk and really haven't done much at all food-wise. For the most part, it's been going back and forth between grilled chicken, hamburgers and take out.

I still need to grocery shop to restock the pantry, but Luke and I made a Wegmans run when Linds was at school yesterday for enough stuff for yesterday's and today's dinners (and for a meal I'm making for one of the mamas). Walking back into Wegmans was like greeting an old friend! I haven't been there in ages. My grocery runs consist of truckin up to Triple Fresh (a small grocery store a mile up the road that has most of the staples at stupidly inflated prices) or digging into the depths of the freezer.

I only have 3.5 months left of 2010, so I'm going to make a much better effort in keeping this more up-to-date and trying out some new stuff. I'm SO sick of everything I've been eating lately, so I want to change it all up (oh won't the boy just LOVE this?!?).

August 16 - Rosemary Ranch Chicken

So there's been another long hiatus...I swear, once the fall hits and we have some sort of normal routine back in order that I will be better at this. For now, you better enjoy the random entries here and there ;-)

Last night I was in a grilling mood, so I decided to make rosemary ranch kabobs. As you may or may not remember, rosemary is my new favorite spice, so when I came across this recipe I just had to try it. It was quick to make the marinade and so simple! I made the rest of the corn on the cob we had from our oh-so-very-generous neighbors (thanks AGAIN Joy for sharing your produce with us!), and then Linds and I went out back and picked beans to have with it. I sautéed the beans in a little olive oil and minced onion and even the boy ate them...a first this season?!

Here's the chicken recipe...it's about 50 minutes prep time (about 15 min active prep; 35 minutes of marinating/sitting), and 10 minutes grill time. Both the boy and the kids devoured it (who wouldn't like ranch dressing on something??), and I plan to use the leftovers on a salad today. Yum!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

July 31-August 3 - Night away, stuffed tomatoes & more

It was another busy weekend in the Risser household! On Saturday Linds and I traveled to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's place in Lancaster for a visit and evening out. Linds got to stay up late with her cousins and play with all of their "super duper duper duper cool" toys while my BIL and I hit the town for a show at a local club. We had dinner with them Saturday (corn on the cob and some fantastic grilled shrimp) and then brunch the next morning (a crab and egg white quiche). My BIL's culinary skills put mine to shame, so squeezing two meals out of him was a real treat! Plus, it delayed grocery shopping a few more days...yessss ;-)

On Sunday, Linds started vacation bible school, so we made it an easy dinner night with hot dogs and chips. VBS lasts through Thursday (and they serve dinner before it starts), so my cooking is quite limited this week. On Monday I did make myself a stuffed tomato with a neighbor's garden-fresh tomato. They take mere minutes to make and only need to cook for about 30 or 40 minutes. Very simple!

Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
1 large tomato, top cut off and "gutted"
1/3 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter
Oregano
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Basil
Rosemary
(and any other spice you like to give it a little extra flavor)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut off the top of the tomato and scoop out the "guts" and seeds.
3. Soften butter and mix with bread crumbs.
4. Add spices according to taste to bread crumbs and transfer into tomato.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes.

When I make mine, I like to use whole wheat bread crumbs and add a little flaxseed in it for the omega-3 and fiber benefits. Recent studies have shown that flaxseed may have a protective effect against such cancers as breast, prostate and colon (breast and colon both run in my family over the course of the last three generations). It also helps reduce cardiovascular disease and inflammation. I add it to dishes here and there and it doesn't affect the taste.