Safeway had an excellent deal on russet potatoes this week, 2.99 for a 10 lb bag. I bought two and will use them to make and freeze cheesy tater bites and gnocchi. I plan on trying a new biscuit recipe tonight, I hope it turns out good!

Roasted carrots

Monday: Chicken tacos, refried beans, Mexican rice, sweet corn cake

Tuesday: Salmon, rice, veggie

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread

Friday: Crispy chicken drums, pecornio fries, veggie

Saturday: Slow cooker ribs, bbq fries, veggie

Sunday: Roast, loaded baked potato casserole, roast carrots, cheddar beer bread

Much better than store bought brownies! The recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips but I used some dark chocolate chips I had. My son helped to mix it all together, and of course eat them!

Brownie Bites

Ingredients

3 cups chocolate chips- divided
10 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

Directions

Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave with the butter. Stir every 30 seconds until
melted.

Stir in eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt and mix well.

Stir in flour just until incorporated.

Add remaining 1 cup chocolate chips.

Grease a mini muffin tin or use liners (they do come out nicer and prettier when you use liners)

Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 12- 15 minutes or until done.

These were a huge hit. I served them with homemade fries and my son and I dipped them in spicy Bonton sauce.

Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size cubes
1 egg
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, sweet paprika and cayenne pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium bowl, mix together Panko, Parmesan, and seasonings; set aside. Beat egg and put it in a bowl.

Dip chicken into egg and then coat with Panko mixture. Place on baking sheet in a single
layer. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

These are easy and quick to make. My 3 year old loves to help roll them in the cinnamon sugar after they cool a bit from the oven. The nutmeg and cinnamon measurements are just guidelines, I just shake it in. The more cinnamon the better!

Mini Doughnut Hole Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon for rolling muffins in

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 melted butter, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in
the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half
full.

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15-20 minutes.

Roll in cinnamon sugar.

I hit my personal best grocery shopping this week. It was our monthly trip again. I had my hubby pick up cereal earlier in the week from Safeway. They were on sale with their club card, there was a special coupon in their flyer, then I had coupons of $1.10 off of two and .75 off of one that would double. I paid .86 cents a box! Yesterday with Safeway card, in store coupons, manufacturer coupons, and doubled coupons I saved 116.88 on groceries. 34% of my bill. That included free Colgate toothpaste with coupons I got from the dentist and in store coupons. Every single item I bought was on sale and/or I had a coupon for it including produce. This is not hard to do for anyone, buy in season,  just clip coupons, save the ones you normally use in an envelope, and check the weekly deals online for your local supermarkets. Match coupons up to deals and there you have it. Every little bit helps us to pay off bills and save towards a home of our own.

Monday: Spaghetti and meatsauce, garlic bread

Tuesday: Fish sticks, homemade fries, veggie

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Taco ring, refried beans, Mexican rice, veggie

Friday: Pork chops, baked potatoes, veggie

Saturday: Parmesan chicken nuggets, pecorino fries, veggie

Sunday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie, biscuits

There are a lot of steps to this bread but it is simple and worth it. The bread comes out of the oven crispy on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside. I took what was left of the loaf to work the next day and it was gone in minutes! Instead of Parmesan I used the Pecorino Romano I have on hand all the time. You have to love Costco for their great cheese and awesome prices!

Rustic Cheese and Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:

Sponge:

1 ¼ cups lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant or active dry yeast
1 ¾ cups flour

Dough:

2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 ¾ to 2 cups flour
1 ¼ cups shredded Asiago cheese, divided
¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, sugar, yeast, and 1 ¾ cups of flour; mix well, cover, and set aside
for 1 hour.

After an hour the sponge will be nice and bubbly. Now add the olive oil, rosemary, and salt to the
starter. Add the flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing until you have a soft dough.

Add 1 cup of the Asiago and all of the Parmesan to the dough, kneading it in until fully incorporated.
Grease a large bowl and put the dough in it; cover and let rise for 1 hour.

When the dough has doubled, deflated it and shape into a football shape (or divide it in two smaller
loaves). Sprinkler the surface lightly with flour and place on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking
sheet. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes or until the bread(s) have almost
doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, set up your oven. Move the racks to the lowest and middle positions. If you
have a baking stone, set it on the middle rack. Preheat the oven to 450. Place an ovenproof pan on the
lower shelf.

When the dough is puffy looking, add 1 ½ cups hot water to the pan in the hot oven. Spray the loaf
lightly with water, and slash the top ½ inch deep lengthwise down the center of the loaf. Sprinkle the
remaining ¼ cup of Asiago into the slash.

Place the loaf in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the oven
temperature to 375 and bake for 20-25 minutes longer, until the crust is deep golden brown. Remove
from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing.

It’s time for our monthly grocery shopping trip again. Safeway is having an amazing deal on specific cereals this week. Using high value coupons that double, club card savings, and a Safeway coupon I paid only .86 a box! This is why I always look at the ads every week even if it’s not time to do our major shopping. You never know what deals you can get, so save those coupons and check the ads!

Monday: Beef stroganoff

Tuesday: Parmesan breaded tilapia, rice, veggie

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Ham steak, au gratin potatoes, veggie

Friday: One pot chicken potato bake, veggie

Saturday: Outback with family

Sunday: Loaded potato soup, breadsticks

I needed to bring things easy to carry and easy to reheat for our department gift exchange/food fest. Along with other things  I brought along these. They were so good I was eating them straight out of the oven. They reheated just fine and kept their crispness even after reheating. I found this on Kraft’s website.

Cream Cheese Bacon Crescents

Ingredients:

I’ve had Thursday-Monday off, so it’s been a nice little vacation. No more time off until May though, lots of hard work coming up! We’re just about back on schedule, husband only has to work one night very late this week. Back to the grind on Tuesday!

Monday: Chicken terryaki

Tuesday: Crispy flounder, rice, veggie

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Sausage Rigatoni, garlic bread

Saturday: Crispy chicken breasts with sage sauce, fingerling potatoes, veggie

Sunday: Slow cooker roast, parmasean bacon potatoes, beer bread, veggie

I have Monday, Thursday and Friday off this week. That means lots of cooking! Hubby picked up a giant bag of potatoes from Costco so I can make big batches of gnocchi and cheesy potato bites. New Year’s Eve we’ll celebrate by watching a couple of movies, which we rarely have time to do.

Monday: Pork chops, sage sauce, gnocchi, veggie

Tuesday: Chicken drum potato bake, veggie

Wednesday: Dinner out with hubby and son

Thursday: Crispy oven baked drums, homemade fries, veggie

Friday: Panko honey mustard chicken fingers, pecorino fries, veggie

Saturday: Date night

Sunday: Roast chicken, loaded potato casserole, veggie, biscuits