Vacation this week! I’m so excited, three days I don’t have to get up and get all dressed up for work. Woohoo! I’m off Thursday, Friday, then Monday of next week. I hope to be cooking and baking a lot and I want to squeeze in some gaming as well. Hubby, little one and I look forward to just staying at home and enjoying the time together.

My mom in law is coming over Wednesday night to watch Eli so we can run out and do our monthly grocery shopping. She also has a coupon for a free burger at Chammps. We are armed with a 10 dollar gift certificate for there as well, not to mention if you sit at the bar appetizers are half off. Cheap date here we come!  She’s kind enough to do this so we can stay at home and relax while we are off. Damn grocery shopping!

Monday: Taco Ring (didn’t make it over the weekend so pushed it to this week)

Tuesday: Salmon, rice, veg

Wednesday: Cheap date at Chammps!

Thursday: Drumsticks, fries, veg (recipe is for wings but drums work the same way)

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Sunday: Chicken fingers, oven fries, veg

I used leftover chicken from the roast chicken I had from the night before. I’ve also made this with leftover steak and with just cheese only. Fast and tasty, it makes plenty. We had leftovers of this of course. I served this with Mexican rice and some spicy refried beans. Yum! I added some Southwest Seasoning I got as a sample from Penzey’s Spices. Hubby thought it was a bit too spicy but I thought it was just right.

Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients:

8 flour or corn soft tortillas

1-2 cups of shredded chicken, beef, or pork

1-2 cups Mexican cheese blend

Directions:

Heat your pan on medium heat. Spray a little Pam on the bottom. Once it has warmed up place one tortilla in the pan. Sprinkle cheese on the tortilla, add the meat, sprinkle on more cheese, then place a tortilla on top of the filling. After about 2 minutes flip carefully.

Once both sides are crispy, remove from pan and cut the quesadilla into quarters. Repeat steps until all tortillas are used.

You can add any seasonings you would like. This can be doubled as well, just wrap some foil around the completed quesadillas to keep warm.

I’m on vacation next week starting on Thursday for three days! I’m excited, haven’t had any significant time off since last June. There are some new recipes I’m looking forward to try since I’ll have the extra time. I want to finish a couple games as well. Such a geek! At the minimum I want to finish Suikoden for the DS and Lost Oddessey for XBox. Maybe even start Final Fantasy 13.

Monday: Chicken quesadillas using the leftover chicken from Sunday’s roast, Mexican rice, beans.

Tuesday: Tilapia, rice, veggie

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Chicken thigh tater bake, veggies

Friday: Panko baked code, fries, veggie

Saturday: Kugel and Latkes

Sunday: Taco Ring

Eli is getting over a virus and is finally back to eating normally. Poor kid’s nose keeps running but at least he’s running around like a monkey again. Nothing too exciting this week planned except for making homemade pizza for the first time. I’m looking forward to that.

Monday: Pork chops, taters, veggies

Tuesday: Salmon with red wine butter, rice, veggies

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Parmesan tilapia, rice, veggies

Friday: Pigs in blankets, fries, veggies

Saturday: Homemade pizza

Sunday: Roast chicken, taters, veg, cheddar beer bread

This recipe I saw on Once a Month Mom ages ago. I finally decided to make this for Eli. I ended up with about 5 full quart size ziplock bags of the french toast sticks. They reheat in seconds and will quickly fill up your little monkey. The pumpkin adds flavor and nutrition. This is tasty for adults too! You can easily double this recipe.

Toddler French Toast Sticks from Once a Month Mom

Ingrediants:

30 slices of whole wheat bread
1/4 c. butter, melted
8 eggs
1/3 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. pumpkin puree

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except the bread together in a bowl. Take all your
bread and cut it into thirds. Heat a griddle and dip the bread into the egg
mixture to coat it and cook on the griddle. Flip over once one side is brown
& make sure both sides are fully cooked. Place finished bread on cookie
sheet, keep separated & allow to cool completely. Once completely cooled,
place cookie sheet in the freezer. Flash freeze the toast sticks for 30
minutes. (The flash freezing allows the food to start to freeze, so when you
place them in a bag they won’t stick together). Remove from cookie sheet
and place in a freezer bag. Freeze until ready to use. To warm up:
microwave 30 – 45 seconds.

So hot here, it was 100 out today and will be for the next few days. Yuck! Good thing I have a slow cooker meal planned for the end of the week. I took a day off tomorrow to have a long weekend. I’ll be making beef stock and whole wheat french toast sticks that Eli can munch on.

Monday: chicken fingers, oven fries, veggies

Tuesday: tilapia, rice, veggies

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: spaghetti and meatballs, garlic twists

Friday: slow cooker roast, mashed taters, veggies

Saturday: boneless chicken thighs, veggie

Sunday: crispy chicken paremsan, roasted red taters, zucchini/squash, other veg

This was in the latest issue of Food and Wine magazine. In place of the herbs and fresh garlic (I was pressed for time) I used garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parsley. I couldn’t find pecorino cheese at Giant so in place of that I shaved some parmesan reggiano. This recipe is definatly a keeper. They came out so crisp! I served this with chicken fingers.

Oven Fries with Herbs and Pecorino

Ingredients

1. 2 large baking potatoes, cut into 4-by-1/2-inch sticks
2. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3. 1 large garlic clove, minced
4. 1 teaspoon each of minced sage and rosemary
5. 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
6. Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large bowl, toss the potato sticks with the olive oil until evenly coated. Spread the potato sticks on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and bake in the upper third of the oven, turning once or twice with a spatula, until they are golden and crispy, about 30 minutes.

2. Sprinkle the minced garlic and herbs over the fries and toss well. Roast for about 5 minutes longer, until the herbs are fragrant and the garlic is lightly browned. Transfer the fries to a large bowl and toss with the grated Pecorino Romano. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

I needed an apple dessert, something simple. A friend recommended this to me. Worked out great! I just added some cinnamon to the mixture.

No Fuss Fruit Pie

Ingredients

1 pkg. (17.3 ounces) puff pastry sheets thawed
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1 can (21 ounces) fruit pie filling, any variety

Directions

Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a baking sheet. Spread the pie filling on the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Brush the edges with the egg mixture. Unfold the remaining pastry sheet and place over the filling. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Brush with the egg mixture. Cut several slits in the top of the pastry.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Cool the pastry on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

I found this while searching for something different to do with tilapia. We eat fish at least once a week, rotating between salmon and tilapia with cod thrown in as well. This is easy enough for a weeknight meal but tastes as if you spent a lot of time on it.

Parmesan Breaded Tilapia

Ingredients

• ½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 tilapia fillets (or other white fish fillets, such as sole, cod or haddock)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C). Lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. In a plastic or paper bag combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano (or Italianseasoning), salt and pepper. Hold the top of the bag shut and shake to mix everything together.

3. Pour oil into a small bowl. Working with one fillet at a time, brush both sides with a little of the oil, then drop into the bag with the bread crumb mixture and shake to coat well. Remove from bag and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining fillets.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, turn fillets over and continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes when you poke into it with a fork.

I found this on King Arthur Flour’s website. The middle buns were a bit mushy still, I should have cooked them just a tad longer. Otherwise, these were warm, soft, and buttery.

Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns

Buns

• 3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons potato flour or 1/4 cup instant potato flakes
• 3 tablespoons Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons soft butter
• 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk

Topping

• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1) Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, and mix and knead — using your
hands, a stand mixer, or a bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased container — an 8-cup measure works well here — and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it’s just about doubled in bulk.

3) Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

4) Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, by dividing in half, then in halves again, etc. Round each piece into a smooth ball.

5) Lightly grease two 8″ round cake pans. Space 8 buns in each pan. It’s ok if you don’t have two cake pans. Use whatever you have, such as a cheesecake pan (that is what I used) or a long casserole dish.

6) Cover the pans, and allow the buns to rise till they’re crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7) Uncover the buns, and bake them for 22 to 24 minutes, until they’re golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the center bun should register at least 190°F.

8 Remove the buns from the oven, and brush with the melted butter. After a couple of minutes, turn them out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

9) Serve warm. Store leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature.
Yield: 16 buns.