Dinner this week

So, I skipped last week's menu.  It's a lot of pressure to put these things in writing, haha!  So, although I would love to try to post something about what I'm cooking each week, it may be sporadic for the time being.  At some point, I do hope to add a feature to my blog that includes links to my recipes.  Many of my favorites are those that I've accumulated over the years from friends, family members, favorite Food Network stars, etc., but others are my own.  I hope to be able to share them with you in the near future!

Okay, so back to my dinner plans for this week... I'm finding that if I start my week this way (by organizing ahead of time what I'm planning to cook), it seems that 1) I'm spending less at the grocery store because I'm really only buying what we need, and 2) I don't make frequent, random trips back and forth to the store to grab ingredients for dinner.  Milk, baby food/formula, and bread don't count in my world, either!  :)

Monday:  Pot roast.  I bought this a week or so ago when I had the Red River Angus beef coupons (coupon HERE).  It's plenty to feed at least 4 adults, so there will be plenty for us and even some leftover.  Serving with mashed potatoes, Rhodes buttery rolls, and green beans.  Yum!

Side note on how I make my roast:  Salt the meat the night before and refrigerate.  The salt will tenderize and season the meat.  Before baking, I then add dry onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, strong coffee, and pepper to season.  Cook on low heat (275 degrees or so) for several hours - or, crock pot works great too.  Add fresh mushrooms, if you like.  This is delicious, easy, and filling.

Tuesday:  Depending on the leftover situation, I will make this either Tuesday or Wednesday... but Crispy Chicken is on the agenda.  This is baked chicken, that is battered in a bread crumb-type crust.  To prepare, you will marinate the chicken breasts in buttermilk and hot sauce (Louisiana is our favorite).  I let mine soak overnight, but a few hours would probably work fine, too.  The bread crumb crust can be made using a variety of ingredients.  The original recipe I had was to buy plain salad croutons.  Crumble using a food processor, leaving in chunky pieces (not too fine).  Add a ranch seasoning packet, and batter the chicken in that mixture.  I don't always have croutons on hand, so I've adapted the recipe, slightly, depending on what I have in my pantry.  I've used Ritz crackers before, and it was delicious.  This week, I have corn flakes.  Sounds odd, but they are sweet and if I add the ranch seasoning, it will add a sweet/salty combination to the chicken.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  But, the buttermilk, along with the crust layer, makes for a very moist and tasty chicken dish.  Really easy, too.  Serve with some chicken flavored pasta, some broccoli, or some roasted red potatoes.  I might go with the pasta and broccoli - so I won't overdo the potatoes this week!  In case you haven't printed yours, Pilgrim's Pride chicken coupon can be found HERE.   Also, the coupon may still be available HERE, but if not, the Knorr pasta and rice sides are BOGO free at Homeland thru tomorrow.  You don't actually have to buy two.  They ring up 1/2 price, or $0.77 each, I think.

Wednesday - Leftovers - we should have plenty after our Monday and Tuesday dinners.

Thursday - Sandwiches, or something easy.  Maybe grilled cheese and soup?

Friday - Michael is out of town through the weekend, so it might be a pizza night for us.  An easy, and justifiable treat in my book!

Thinking ahead to next week.... I'm thinking about making beef enchiladas on Monday night.  Really easy, and really delicious.  I'll try to post the recipe in the coming days.

Also, I tried a new cake recipe over the weekend - it has only two ingredients and was surprising really good.  Devil's food cake mix, and - are you ready for this...  a can of Diet Coke.  I've heard of it before, but never thought it would actually work.  But, it totally does, and it was so good.  Just pour in the can of soda, mix well, and pour into a greased 9x13.  Bake as normal, maybe even a few minutes less than the box indicates for a 9x13 size - basically just watch it and you'll know.  Cool and spread on your icing.  Delicious, cheap, and crowd pleasing!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Ultimate Church lady recipes

Below are some of my favorite recipes.  I call them Church lady recipes, because these are so perfect, and something you might often see, for church pot-luck-type functions.  Still, though, they are amazing, and pretty simple to make.  The first is maybe my favorite.  For a while, I made fun of my mom for making this, but now, I'm totally sold.  Church function, family reunion, school or work party - whatever!  This is sure to be a treat for any occasion.
 
Lemon Drizzle Cake

1 box lemon cake mix

1 pkg. lemon instant pudding

3/4 c. oil

3/4 c. water

4 eggs

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Glaze: 

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Mix above ingredients together and pour into a well greased bundt pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 37 minutes.  (After several tests in my mom's kitchen.  Basically, adapt based on your own oven, but somewhere in the ballpark of 37 minutes!)

Immediately invert onto cake stand, and drizzle the lemon glaze over the top of the cake.

With any luck, it should look something like this:

Completely church lady, but completely delicious! 

Another favorite is the strawberry jello pretzel salad recipe.  Anything "Jello" just screams church lady, doesn't it?!?!  This recipe is seriously so good - yum!!

Strawberry Jello Salad

First layer:
2 c. pretzels, crushed
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted

Second layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. Cool Whip

Third layer:
2 c. pineapple juice
6 oz. strawberry gelatin
20 oz. frozen strawberries

First layer:  Mix pretzels, sugar and butter.  Press into a 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and cool.

Second layer:  Using an electric mixer, blend cream cheese and sugar.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Spread over crumb crust.

Third layer:  In saucepan, heat juice and gelatin until dissolved.  Mix in frozen strawberries and cool until slightly congealed.  Spread over cream cheese mixture and refrigerate.

Prepare 1 day ahead if possible.

It should come out looking something like this:

The next recipe is one of my grandmas recipes.  My mom once submitted the recipe into, what else, our church cookbook, and didn't know what to call it.  So, she dubbed these brownies as the Mother-in-law brownies.  The name stuck, and this is something that my grandma made often.  Definitely a family favorite for us.  They're like a chocolate chip cookie in a brownie form - so yummy!

Mother-in-law brownies

2 sticks butter

1 box brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3 c. flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 (6oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat.  Add brown sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and cool 5 to 10 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  Add sifted dry ingredients to first mixture.  Add nuts and chocolate chips last.  Spread batter onto greased jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.  Don't overcook.   Cool about 15 minutes before cutting into squares or bars.  Serves 25 to 30.

They should look something like this:

Enjoy!

Blogger Spotlight... Julie LeClercq

My friend, Julie LeClercq, is one of the sweetest, smartest ladies I know.  And, she is a fellow mom of mutliples.  She and her husband, Manny, have darling 2-year old triplets!!  Please check out her blog, http://leclercqfamily.blogspot.com/.

Question #1:  How do you take your coffee? 

With flavored creamer, but if that's not available, sugar and milk

Question #2:  How long have you been blogging? 

Since the day we announced we were pregnant with triplets

Question #3:  When you first began blogging, what did you hope to accomplish with your blog?  How, if any, have your blog goals shifted as you've become more experienced? 

At first the blog was intended to keep family and friends informed about our pregnancy.  Now, the blog is a mixture of keeping friends and family informed of what's going on with our family, sort of baby book/memory book type thing for my kids, and also a goal of helping others- whether it be through our infertility story, higher order multiples, etc.

Question #4:  Red wine, white wine, or depends on the occasion, meal, etc.? 

All wine, often.   But, I stick to red with meat and white with seafood and fish.  I also like red in the winter and white in the summer.

Question #5:  Ultimate vacation spot?  Is this somewhere you've been, or hope to visit someday? 

Italy.  I've been and it's my favorite country.  There are plenty of places I hope to visit one day though.

Question #6:  Cheez-its or Cheese Nips? 

Hmm, don't do a lot of either.  Cheez-its.

Question #7:  Describe the perfect date night with your hubby. 

Dinner at a fancy restaurant (Ludivine, The Ranch, Coach House) discussing the details of each of our dishes, maybe a drink or two at a wine bar, and then staying the night in a hotel with no monitor in our ear and the opportunity to sleep in the next morning.

Question #8:  If you could invite one celebrity, past or present, to dinner, who would you invite and why? 

Oprah- She's fascinating and has done so much for so many.  

Question #9:  What is your favorite charitable organization? 

March of Dimes- I start my new job with them next week!

Question #10:  Name three things that you are passionate about in life. 

My family, children in general, and food.

Question #11:  If you could spend the day by yourself, with no phone, email, carpool, errands, etc., how would you spend your day? 

A massage and pedicure, a nap, and reading a book with a nice glass of wine.  

Question #12:  What advice would you give to someone that has just begun blogging? 

Blog often or people lose interest.  I don't blog often enough!

Question #13:  What is one of your favorite family traditions? 

Having gumbo on Christmas Eve- a little unique and ties our family to our Louisiana heritage.

Question #14:  Name three baby items that you thought you had to have pre-kids, but now that you've had kids, realize you didn't really need.  Name three baby must-haves.

Must haves: boppy, monitor, lovey

Not necessary:   car seat positioner/accessories (just use blankets), bottle warmer (just use warm water in a cup), wipes warmer

Question #15:  What is your favorite drink from Sonic?
Classic cherry limeaid

Blogger Spotlight... Alyssa Siler

I thought it might be fun to highlight some of my fellow bloggers.  They each have different reasons for entering the blog world, and their posts are often funny, witty, thought provoking, inspiring and informative.  I hope that you might be able to find something interesting for yourself in my favorite blogs!

Let me introduce my friend, Alyssa Siler.  Her blog, http://notesfromthecastle.blogspot.com/, is a joy.  Check it out!

Question #1:  How do you take your coffee?
Bleh. I don't take it at all.  My husband, on the other hand, needs about three cups in the morning just to be human.

Question #2:  How long have you been blogging? 
For a couple of years.  I took last year off from my personal blog to keep up the Mrs. Oklahoma blog after I won that title.  I just passed on the crown in January and started back with my blog recently.

Question #3:  When you first began blogging, what did you hope to accomplish with your blog?  How, if any, have your blog goals shifted as you've become more experienced?
I originally thought it would be a family scrapbook of sorts.  I figured it would be the perfect place to document things going on with Hayden, funny things she said, pictures, etc.  I still do talk about my family but I have found that it has become a great outlet for me to....well, to be me!  I have always dreamed of writing a beauty column and I have kind of started to do that with certain posts focusing on products I love.  I'll also share craft and decorating tutorials that I have found.  Some days are just completely random thoughts.  I hope that it has become a blog with personality that people enjoy keeping up with.

Question #4:  Red wine, white wine, or depends on the occasion, meal, etc.?
 Let me put it this way:  If it isn't so fruity and frou-frou that you can't taste the alcohol, I don't want any part of it.  I'm just not really a drinker. Try as I might to like wine and champagne, I just don't.  My husband thinks it totally unromantic. Lol   Now give me a frozen strawberry whatever or any after-dinner drink with "Oreo" in the title and we're talking!

Question #5:  Ultimate vacation spot?  Is this somewhere you've been, or hope to visit someday?
BER-MU-DA.  We went there eight years ago for our honeymoon and I've been dreaming of going back ever since.

Question #6:  Cheez-its or Cheese Nips?
There's cheese involved in both so neither can be that bad.  I'll say Cheez-its.

Question #7:  Describe the perfect date night with your hubby.
If we are being fancy (a rarity), dinner at Signature Grill.  If it's low-key, then dinner at a more casual place and a romantic comedy movie at AMC.  He's really good about seeing rom-coms with me while I completely refuse to see any man-ish movies.  It works out great!

Question #8:  If you could invite one celebrity, past or present, to dinner, who would you invite and why?
Read question #9 first so this answer makes more sense.  She's only considered a celebrity in the cystic fibrosis community but, Beth Sufian.  She is a lawyer who, while battling CF herself, fights tirelessly for the rights of others with the disease.  Her work is all done pro bono and she has helped so many fight their insurance companies to get access to meds and equipment that are vital to their health. I met her briefly at a CFF conference in D.C. but I find her inspiring and fascinating and I'd love to talk with her in depth.

Question #9:  What is your favorite charitable organization?
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Our daughter Hayden, who will be five in July, was diagnosed with CF at birth.  It is an ugly disease with a current life-expectancy of 37.5.  It causes the lungs, and other areas of the body, to fill up with a thick, sticky mucus.  This causes lung infections and inflammation and a loss of lung function.  The medical research has come leaps and bounds in recent years and it is projected that, by the year 2020, the science books will need to be re-written where CF is concerned.  The science isn't possible without donations, however.  Ryan and I are so proud to be a part of the only foundation putting 90 cents of every dollar donated straight to medical research.  They WILL discover the drug that will save Hayden's life.  I am so confident of that.  For more info on Hayden and CF you can watch this video I put together by following this link:  http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=c89fe0db215424f80618fe&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Question #10:  Name three things that you are passionate about in life.
Being a part of making CF stand for "cure found", leading worship at my church, and spending way more time and money than necessary at Hobby Lobby.

Question #11:  If you could spend the day by yourself, with no phone, email, carpool, errands, etc., how would you spend your day?
Do I have to??? Please don't take my laptop and IPhone away!

Question #12:  What advice would you give to someone that has just begun blogging?
Don't put too much pressure on yourself to become a blog-writing machine.  I did that in the beginning and became so caught up in creating a new post everyday that I was ignoring other things I needed to be doing.  What?? My family wants dinner again tonight???? That sort of thing.

Question #13:  What is one of your favorite family traditions?
My father passed away last year, so our tradition of an annual father/daughter pumpkin carving we had when I was growing up is near and dear to my heart.  He actually carved a pumpkin with Hayden the last year before he became ill and I will always treasure those pictures.  I want to start that tradition with Ryan and Hayden this year.

Question #14:  Name three baby items that you thought you had to have pre-kids, but now that you've had kids, realize you didn't really need.  Name three baby must-haves. 
Things I didn't actually need: a wipie warmer, the Diaper Genie, and a separate cradle outside the bedroom.  Things we would not have made it without: the swing, the swaddlers, and our car to drive around at night to put her to sleep!

Question #15:  What is your favorite drink from Sonic?
LemonBerry Sprite!! It's a mixture of strawberry lemonade and Sprite.  It's so refreshing and caffeine-free which is good for me right now while I'm preggo!