Sorry Ladies!

I apologize. This is a boring ol' non-photographed post. My camera is currently 3 hours away at scout camp. For a touch of eye-candy, I'll change the font color. There. How's that?

All I really wanted to say tonight, is check out this link. It's a quick little article about how it is possible to walk into a store needing just a loaf of bread, and walk out with a case of green beans, orange sherbet and one Jiffy Muffin Mix. (Those little blue Jiffy boxes get me every time!) Some of the things in the article might be common sense to you, but it's always good for a reminder, right?

So here's my tip for you: create a weekly menu, make your grocery list from that, and don't deviate from either.

Link to article

Oooooo....Strawberry Pie!

So, funny story... I sat down at my computer last night to edit my strawberry pie photos. I opened them all up in Photoshop, and after about 30 seconds of drooling on my desk, I had to get up to get myself a slice of pie to eat while I edited the photos. Talk about weak-willed!

Before I tried this recipe, I was not a big fan of strawberry pie. This gem of a recipe changed my opinion though. You've got to try it!


Ione's Strawberry Pie
Shared by Robyn Knowlton
(belonged to her Grandma, Ione Good)

1 qt cleaned strawberries (2 boxes)
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
one 8" pie shell

Slice 1/2 of the berries in at 8" baked pie shell. Mash other half of berries and add 1 cup sugar and 3 Tablespoons cornstarch. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Cook until thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Cool and pour over berries in baked pie shell. Chill in refrigerator and top with whipped cream or ice cream.

note: Bonnie's suggestion for this recipe is to first cook the mashed strawberries, cool them, and then stir in the sliced strawberries so the sauce can cover them well. Then pour that mixture into the crust. I tried it this last time and it worked great!

Fill My Freezer (part 2)

A few weeks ago I asked for your favorite things that you keep in your freezers. A few of you responded, and thanks so much for your suggestions. I now have a half-full freezer of Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips (I was worried the buffalo ones would be too spicy??), Brielle's Make-Ahead Meatballs, chicken, ground beef, raspberry & strawberry jams, and heaps of Otter Pops.

Those of you who didn't get a chance to send along your suggestions, I still have half of a freezer left to fill!

This week I'm using the Make-Ahead Meatballs in some spaghetti, but I can't wait to pair them with John's Sweet & Sour Sauce too. And after a recent visit to IKEA, I have a sudden craving for Swedish Meatballs - so watch for that on my upcoming menu. Can I just add, that meatballs are a difficult food to photograph? I'm not even sure how appetizing I made them look. They really are very good, and I have 150 of them in my freezer to prove it! (Well, only 147...I ate a few. They smelled too good.)

Week 17 Menu

Monday - Corn Dog Muffins
Tuesday - Crispy Chicken Wraps
Wednesday - Tin Foil Dinners
Thursday - Stir Fry
Friday - Spaghetti & Meatballs (Brielle's Make-Ahead Meatballs!)
Saturday - eat out
Sunday - Candied Chicken

Week 17 Recipes

Crispy Chicken Wraps

1 Tyson Crispy Chicken Strip (click here for info)
1 tortilla
handful of pre-washed salad mix
sprinkling of cheese (whatever you have in the fridge)
ranch dressing (or honey mustard, or other favorite)

Prepare chicken strip according to package directions. (I microwave it for 3-4 minutes, then place under the broiler for a few minutes until crispy.) Roll all ingredients up in your tortilla and that's it!



Make-Ahead Meatballs
from Brielle Wollenzien

4 eggs
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 Tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
4 pounds lean ground beef

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the next five ingredients. Add beef; mix well. Shape into 1-in balls, about 12 dozen.

Place in single layers in ungreased 15-in x 10-in x 1-in baking pans.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning often; drain. Cool. Place about 30 meatballs each into freezer containers. May be frozen for up to 3 months.

Yield: 5 batches (about 30 meatballs per batch)


Candied Chicken
from Brielle Wollenzien

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. chopped onion
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt
5-6 chicken breasts

Flour and brown chicken (sometimes I forget to do this and it always turns out fine but it's much better if you do it.) Place in baking dish. Mix all ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake, covered at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. (We've made this in a dutch oven while camping and it tasted perfect.)

John's Sweet and Sour Sauce
from John Wollenzien

1 can chunk pineapple and juice

2 medium carrots

1 green bell pepper

1 (10 oz) can tomato sauce

1/4 c. brown sugar ( maybe a little more if not sweet enough)

3 tbsp. vinegar

1 tbsp. peanut butter

John cuts all the veggies up into matchsticks and simmers them in a pot with the rest of the ingredients for about 20 minutes...or until the rice is ready. Then before he serves it he throws in a couple baggies of my make ahead freezer meatballs. We eat this over rice and it's delicious. Also if the sauce is looking to thin sometimes I'll add a little corn starch to a tiny bit of water and add that in. It makes it into a good sauce. I thought about this recipe for Alie because a lot of times John will just add whatever vegetables we happen to have that day---celery, zucchini, green beans anything would work just fine.

Blue Ribbon Brownies

from Donna Wollenzien

1 cube butter

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

Melt butter and chocolate in a square pyrex over medium flame right on the stove top. When melted take it off the heat and add sugar until combined. Add baking powder and salt to flour and add mixture to chocolate. Mix in eggs one at a time with a fork. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

Delicious frosting---

when brownies come out break Andies mints over the top and let them melt. Then spread them out over the brownies and let them harden. Soooooo good!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Last week we had BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (click here for recipe -thanks Amanda!) and I had some of the shredded chicken left over, so last night we used it to make BBQ Chicken pizzas on the grill. Quite tasty! Here's what we did:

I used Rhode's Pizza dough. (It just thaws in the fridge all day.) When I was ready to use it, I cut it into thirds and rolled each third into a circle. I brushed each one with a little olive oil and grilled them for 4 or 5 minutes over low heat, just until partially cooked. (leave the lid down)

Then I brought the pizza crusts inside, topped them with bbq sauce (KC Masterpiece), some of the leftover chicken, sliced red onions and shredded mozzarella cheese. They were then returned to the grill again over low heat with the lid down. (I had to rotate them a few times because we have a couple of hot spots.) When the cheese was melted and the crust was golden brown on the bottom, We brought them in, topped them with fresh cilantro and chowed down.

Using the Rhode's Dough, this makes three 6-inch pizzas, which was more than the three of us could eat. If you cut the dough into fourths and served it with a green salad, it would make 4 perfect sized servings.

New Favorite Snack

Our local grocery store had these on sale so I tossed one in my cart thinking that if I put a big enough slice of cheese on top, they might not taste half bad. Two days later, I had finished off the box- no cheese. On my next visit to the store, I made sure to grab 5 more boxes.

I used to be a Wheat Thins girl, but I have converted and these bad boys are now what I grab from the shelf. They have 20% of your daily fiber and also some calcium and iron, which we could all use, right? Cheese or no cheese, they're delicious.