Week 48 Menu

Monday - Swiss Steak (slow cooker)
Tuesday - Meatloaf (new recipe)
Wednesday - Fajita Chicken Quesadillas w/ Cilantro Pesto Dip
Thursday - Bacon Wrapped Hamburgers
Friday - salmon (oven roasted) w/grapefruit & basil relish
Saturday - eat out
Sunday - Baked French Toast w/ fresh fruit

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My sister sent me the recipe to these wonderful cookies.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies



She mixed up a batch, baked a few and then froze the rest into cookie-balls. I also tried it and it worked fabulously! To freeze, I dropped teaspoon size balls of dough onto a cookie sheet and let it freeze until firm. (It didn't take as long as I thought it would - maybe 20 minutes).


Then I tossed 6-10 frozen dough balls into each ziplock and put them back into the freezer. Now when I get a late-afternoon cookie craving, I pull a baggie out of the freezer and bake up some oatmeal goodness. There's no need to thaw the frozen dough before baking, but I did find that the frozen cookies need to bake for about 1 minute longer than just the regular dough did.

Week 47 Menu

Monday - Beef Stew
Tuesday - Sweet & Sour Meatballs over rice
Wednesday - pancakes, eggs & bacon
Thursday - eat out
Friday - Swiss Steak (slow cooker)
Saturday - Penne Pasta w/ meat sauce
Sunday - Baked Chicken breasts (slow cooker)

Beef, Beef and More Beef!

I'm under doctor's orders to consume as much red meat as I can manage. So I've begun a search for new yummy beef recipes. This is one that I came across and made for last night's dinner. It was a big hit, and even my 6 year old licked his plate clean (a miracle!). I did make a few changes, but I listed where the original recipe is from.

Oh and here's a tip that I learned this week: To get nice, thin slices of meat, place it in the freezer for 30 minutes or so and then slice thin with a very sharp knife.



Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry
(epicurious.com)

8 oz top sirloin, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
6 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp sesame oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp minced ginger

2 cups broccoli florets
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup Chinese pea pods, trimmed
6 green onions, cut into 1-inch-long pieces
2 tsp cornstarch

Combine first 7 ingredients and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Cook broccoli in small pot of boiling, salted water until almost crisp-tender, about 2 minutes; drain. Rinse under cold water to cool.

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Using slotted spoon, tranfser beef to pan - RESERVING MARINADE. Stir-fry beef until just no longer pink - about 2 minutes. Remove beef from pan. Add broccoli, pea pods and green onions. Continue stir-frying until vegetables are just crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Stir cornstarch into reserved marinade. Pour marinade over veggies in pan. Add beef and cook until liquid boils and thickens, 2-3 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Week 46 Menu

Monday - eat out (Mongolian BBQ)
Tuesday - Beef Broccoli Stir Fry
Wednesday - BBQ Beef sandwiches
Thursday - Chicken Manicotti
Friday - eat out
Saturday - hamburger stroganoff
Sunday - beef stew

Week 45 Menu

Monday - grilled steaks, asparagus, rice
Tuesday - Meatloaf & baked potatoes
Wednesday - Sweet & Sour Meatballs over rice
Thursday - tacos
Friday - eat out
Saturday - sesame chicken
Sunday - undecided...

Week 44 Menu

Monday - spaghetti & steamed carrots
Tuesday - tacos
Wednesday - eat out
Thursday - eat out
Friday - Meatloaf & twice-baked potatoes
Saturday - Mom's Potato Soup
Sunday - Robyn's Roast