Menu Planning Monday + Potato Soup Recipe

So I got of track the past couple of weeks with my meal plans and I can tell you that having a plan helps my sanity and my budget. So this week I'm determined to get back on track.

Monday - CG Ham
Tuesday - Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Wednesday - Chicken Tacos
Thursday - Fettuccine Alfredo
Friday - DATE Night
Saturday - Pancakes
Sunday - Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries and Peas


Our lunches will consist of left overs and sandwiches.

If you're like me you have a lot of left over food from your big Easter meal. One left over I always have a hard time reusing is mashed potatoes. Well I found this great recipe for potato soup that uses your left over mashed potatoes and is pretty simple.

Ingredients

• Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
• 8 ounces shredded yellow cheddar cheese 

Directions

1. In a medium pot or Dutch oven, heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve. 
2. Drain off excess bacon fat from the pot and add butter. When it is melted, add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour into the pot and cook with a wooden spoon for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and bring to a bubble. Cook until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. 
3. Whisk in mashed potatoes, then stir in the cheddar cheese with a wooden spoon and cook until the potatoes are hot and the cheese is melted.  
4. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved bacon.

Roasted Red Pepper and Pasta

Day 2 of Roasted Red Pepper eating. So I didn't get super creative with our dinner on Tuesday night. I simply incorporated our Roasted Red Pepper into a typical pasta meal.

Ingredients
Rigatoni
Vodka Sauce
Roasted Red Pepper
Left Over Chicken

Cook the pasta
Add the chopped red pepper to the pasta sauce
and heat up the chicken.

Viola, dinner!

Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Crostini

Now that I have a ton of roasted red pepper that I've been incorporating into every dish I cook! I first started with Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Crostini.

Ingredients

• 1  baguette, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
• 2  tablespoons  extra-virgin olive oil
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  (16-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4  cup  chopped bottled roasted red bell pepper
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place baguette slices on baking sheet, and brush with 1 tablespoon of oil. Bake 10 minutes or until toasted.

2. While the bread is in the oven, add 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook about 2 minutes. Add beans, and cook 2 minutes to warm. Add salt and pepper. Mash about half the beans with a large fork.

3. Add chopped roasted red bell pepper to bean mixture. Allow to warm through, and remove from heat. Top bread evenly with bean mixture. And Eat!

Recipe: Crock Pot Chicken Curry

Ok so a couple people have asked for this recipe and it's super simple.

Ingredients (this feeds my family of 3 with left overs)

2 Chicken Breasts Cubed
1 Jar Curry Sauce (I like Trader Joe's or Patak's)
Pineapple (1 can or fresh)
1 Onion Diced
2 Sweet Potatoes cut into large chunks (about 1" square)

Method 1 (super easy)
Put everything in the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours

Method 2 (still easy)
Add Chicken, Sauce and Onion to crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours
After 3 hours add sweet potatoes
With 1 hour left add pineapples

Method one results has mushier sweet potatoes and pineapple but still delicious!

Serve with rice!

Recipe Request

Spaghetti, Tacos, Chili, Baked Chicken, Pizza.... If you look my weekly meal plans you'll see that we eat these meals alot. I'd really like to spice things up, literally!

We used to have cable and I loved watching The Food Network but alas the cable company wised up and stopped our free cable. I have a few cookbooks and there's always the internet but I want to know for sure that it will be delicious and not a waste of my time and money.

I love my crock pot and try to use it at least once a week but that requires planning and remembering to thaw the meat which doesn't always get done. We aren't picky eaters. But we do have a few rules.
1. Eggs are for baking.
2. Mayo is a no no since it has raw eggs in it.
3. Baby Jude is allergic coconut... nothing else, just coconut.
4. We eat meat but we also like vegetarian meals.

So here is my request to all of you cooks and non-cooks alike. What is your favorite meal to cook? I need some inspiration, but inspiration that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Let's Eat: Grilled London Broil

I often find great deals on Natural London Broils at Harris Teeter. (Once I got a $15 steak for $3!) I never really knew how to cook London Broil but for $3 I'm willing to learn. Now I have a whole arsenal of steak recipes I can pull out at the drop of a hat.

One of our favorites recipes is Grilled London Broil because it makes for great leftovers either on a sandwich, a salad or even in a burrito! Now London Broils are a tough cut of meat and require a little preparation to make them delicious. But if you follow these two easy steps I promise you'll love it. Step one is to tenderize and step two is marinate. Simple.


I start with a meat tenderizer and beat it until both sides are well punctured.
Then I put it in a plastic bag, add my homemade marinade and let it soak up all that goodness for at least 3 hours (24 hours is ideal).
Then Joe takes over as grill master and works his magic.
Now I don't like overdone meat so we usually do about 6-7 min per side(depending on the thickness of the meat). But if you can't stand the sight of pink meat I'd leave it on a bit longer.

Here is my homemade marinade recipe:

• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon spicy whole-grain mustard
• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano

YUM!

RECIPE: Black Bean Dip

I made this for our Church Community Group last night and it was a hit so I thought I'd share the recipe. (I got this recipe from a friend, who got it from a friend and I modified it a bit to my liking!)

Ingredients
1 Can Black Beans (drained)
1 Can Corn (drained)
1/2 Red Onion (diced)
1 Large Tomato (diced)
1 Avocado (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 jalapeno (finely diced)
Any other peppers you desire
Juice from 1 Lime
Cilantro
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Mix all of these ingredients in a bowl!
Serve with Chips!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!