Meal Plan - April 27 - May 1, 2009

Our inaugural meal plan!

Sunday - Chicken Stir Fry w/Jasmine Rice

Monday - (leftovers) or Pigs in a Blanket

Tuesday - Pigs in a Blanket (or something I haven't thought of yet)

Wednesday - Baked Ziti w/zucchini & garlic bread

Thursday - Fish & Chips (broiled tilapia filets w/homemade fries), No Knead Bread and peas

Friday - Ground Turkey Tacos & Nachos (and maybe a margarita or two...

Baked Ziti

From Julie's Blog

1 pound dry ziti pasta (we've also been known to use just about any kind of pasta)
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground meat (we typically skip the meat or use turkey but beef works too)
2 (26 oz) jars of spaghetti sauce
6 oz Provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 oz mozzarella cheese (yeah, I'm SURE we use more than that!)
2 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese (again, I'm sure we use more than that!)

Boil pasta to al dente, drain. Brown onion and ground meat. Add meat mixture to spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 of the sauce, ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese are melted.

Pigs in a Blanket

From AllRecipes.com


* 8 hot dogs
* 8 slices American processed cheese
* 1 (10 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Wrap cheese around each frankfurter then the biscuit around that. Put on cookie sheet with the overlap of biscuit faced down, so you don't have to use tooth picks.
3. Bake in preheated oven until biscuits are brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Margaritas

We searched & searched for the best margarita recipe that we could find (that fit into our budget and matched our taste buds needs...).

Simplicity reigns...here it is.

Margaritas:

1 1/2 oz tequila
1 1/2 oz triple sec (or cointreau if you're fancy)
1 oz lime juice

Stir with ice. Garnish with lime wedge & salt if you prefer.

Chicken Stir Fry

From The Food Network/Paula Deen


Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon sesame oil
* 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
* 1 package shiitake mushrooms
* 2 to 3 carrots, thinly sliced
* 1 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1 cup onion, diced
* 1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
* 2 tablespoons cornstarch
* Serving suggestion: Hot, cooked rice noodles

Directions

In a large skillet, heat the oils over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, pepper, and onion and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the water chestnuts. In a small bowl, combine broth, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and cornstarch. Add to chicken mixture and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium to medium-low, and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Serve over hot, cooked rice noodles.




**I only used one lb of chicken (for 2 and 1/2 of us). It seemed to be enough with some leftover. All other amounts I left the same. Except I always add extra carrots. I love carrots! I served with jasmine rice.

The Infamous No Knead Bread

No Knead Bread Recipe

"No Knead Bread Recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman of NY Times who got it from Sullivan Street Bakery. When the recipe first came out, it was the blogging community who took the bread to new heights, especially Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible. I followed Rose’s experiments through the weeks and learned from her recipe adjustments and the why’s of how this bread works".....and I stole this from SteamyKitchen

Yield: one 1 lb loaf

3 cups bread flour (I like Harvest King bread flour)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel…something that can go into a 450F oven.)[I used my cast-iron camping dutch oven!]

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn’t matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter.

Applesauce Muffins

from Deceptively Delicious

Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Makes 12 Muffins (I got 18 but who's counting?)

TOPPING:
2/3 Cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 Cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

BATTER:

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree (I used squash)
1/2 Cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. IN a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18-20 minutes. Turn the muffins out on a rack and serve warm or cool.


**I made up a bunch of my own vegetable purees when I got this cookbook and froze them in 1/2 cup amounts. Comes in very handy! If you don't want to mess with your own purees you could always use baby food.

These muffins were DELICIOUS and the house smelled of cinnamon & apples all day.