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Weekly Meal Plan: 1/8/12 – 1/14/12

9 Jan

I had wanted to get this posted yesterday, but didn’t get a chance.  I don’t have specific days for everything yet, but here is a list of what I will be making this week:

Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup and crescent rolls (this is what I made last night)

Copycat Fiesta Lime Chicken, rice, and refried black beans

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff over egg noodles, salad

Greek night with a friend, I think we’re having Pastitsio and Dolmathes

Spinach Mushroom Quiche

Spinach-Bacon Macaroni and Cheese (recipe coming soon)

Pizza night, either homemade or carry-out from somewhere

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Weekly Meal Planning

9 Jan

One thing I found helpful when I started getting serious about saving money at the grocery store was meal planning.  Since there generally aren’t coupons for every part of a meal, namely produce and meat, it becomes important to watch prices and stock up when there are good sales on these items.  I used to be really good about writing out a weekly meal list based on the sales, and on my local mom’s group forum, we would share our weekly meal plans to get ideas for dinner.  I have more recently not been real good about planning, so I figured it was time to start it up again.  I typically do a meal plan Sunday through Saturday, because I get a new Bountiful Basket on Saturday, then shop Sunday morning for ingredients I need for meals with the items in my basket.  Please feel free to share your weekly meal plans too!

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Bountiful Baskets – 1/7/2012

7 Jan

First basket of the new year!  And, I am very happy with it!  This week, I got the conventional basket for $15 and 1 extra, 1 gallon of organic olive oil for $23.50, so with the $1.5o handling fee, it was $40.

So, I got grapes, bananas, Asian pears, apples, clementines, blackberries, broccoli, tomatoes, avocados, romaine lettuce, onions, spinach, and radishes.

I have a little extra this time because a friend of mine didn’t want her radishes, onions, and avocados, so I happily took them and will find some use for them.   My girls already ate the apples and the blackberries, and a lot of the radishes.  I love that they eat so many different fruits and vegetables.  I think it’s because we get such a variety and see my husband and I eating them that they want to try them too.  The remaining radishes I will most likely use to make Radish Dip, to go perfectly with the crackers I got on sale at the store yesterday.  I considering making Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup with the broccoli, just because it was so yummy, but I may search for something different to make.  I need to decide what to make with the spinach, it’s beautiful spinach, leafy and green.  With all the onions, some onion rings might be on the list to make, but I may try to bake them instead of frying them.  With all the avocados, we will probably have Fish Tacos and Guacamole.  I still have tortillas in the freezer for the Fish Tacos, and I just got some tortilla chips on sale too. Good eats this week!

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.  I also volunteered this week and got 1 extra item for volunteering.

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Tiropita (Cheese Pie)

1 Jan

 

Does the name sound familiar?  Like Spanakopita that I had posted previously?  This is a cheese version of that recipe.  The assembly is the same, it’s just a different filling, and just as delicious.

 

Tiropita (Cheese Pie)

What you need:

1 roll phyllo dough (You can find this in your grocery’s freezer section with the pies and baked goods)
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Filling for Tiropita:
1 lb feta cheese, crumbled
15 oz container ricotta cheese or Greek anthotiro cheese
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
6 Tbsp grated kefalotiri cheese or Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1/2 c. or so fresh parsley

How to put it together:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Combine the ingredients for the filling and set aside.  Brush bottom and sides of 12″ X 18″ jelly roll pan with melted butter.   Lay phyllo dough in bottom of pan, and brush completely with butter. (Note: Depending on the size of your pan and the size of dough you find, you may need multiple pieces of phyllo dough to cover the bottom of the pan) Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering to create 5-6 layers of dough.  Pour filling over phyllo dough and spread evenly.

Place a layer of phyllo dough over the filling, again, brushing it completely with butter. Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering until you have 3-4 layers.  Score through top layers of the pastry with a sharp knife. I cut mine in straight lines to make squares, then add diagonal cuts to make triangles.  Pour remaining butter over.

Bake for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown (see picture at top). Remove to rack and cool for 5 minutes.  Cut and serve!

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Pastitsio (Baked Macaroni and Meat)

1 Jan

Last year for New Year’s Day, I cooked a variety of Greek dishes for my family, and continued on with that tradition this year.  It’s the best time to make all this food, lots of hands here to help with the preparations.  I really love Pastitsio.  It’s almost like a lasagna or baked Italian pasta dish would be, just seasoned a little differently.  It’s a little time-consuming to get all the parts done, but worth it in the end.  This can be made up ahead of time and frozen just before baking, then thawed and baked when you are ready to have it.

Pastitsio (Baked Macaroni and Meat)

Filling:
1 lb macaroni (supposed to be long macaroni noodles, but they are hard to find, so elbow macaroni or a noodle like penne or ziti works too)
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
Grated Kefalotiri, Parmesan, or Romano cheese
1 lb ground beef or lamb
1 medium onion
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream sauce (krema):
2-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Boil macaroni according to package; drain; return to pan.  Melt the 1/2 cup butter, beat in eggs, and stir in with macaroni.  Spray a 9″ X 13″ X 2″ pan. Add macaroni mixture to pan and press down with a piece of wax paper.  Sprinkle generously with the grated cheese.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown onion and ground beef or lamb; add tomato paste and seasonings.  Cook for 5 – 10 minutes.  Spread meat mixture over macaroni noodles in pan and spread evenly.

Meanwhile, make cream sauce. Melt 1/4 cup butter and pour in 1/4 cup flour; brown slowly. Beat 2 eggs with 2-1/2 cups milk, salt, and pepper, and pour into butter and flour mixture very slowly; mix well. Cook over low heat until it thickens. Pour over macaroni/meat mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes, or until golden brown.

Freezes best unbaked, thawed for 1/2 hour, then baked as above.

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Parmesan Garlic Pull Apart Bread Update

29 Dec

You may remember a while back that I posted the recipe for Parmesan Garlic Pull Apart Bread, using Grands biscuits.  Well, tonight I wanted the bread, but didn’t have any Grands biscuits.  I found a great substitute – Bisquick biscuits.  You just make the dough according to the directions on the box, 2 1/4 cups Biquick mixed wtih 2/3 cup milk, then roll the dough into balls to drop in the pan for the pull apart bread.  Yum!

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Toffee Squares

29 Dec

While I have plenty of old favorites to bake at the holidays, I am always happy to find new ones.  And I think this is definitely a new favorite.  My mom got my sister and me a book from Hallmark this year called Very Merry Cookie Party.  I haven’t had a chance to go through it yet, but my sister did and found this recipe.  I think it will be making it into my yearly baking.

Toffee Squares

What you need:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cup flour
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped toasted almonds or 1 cup toffee baking bits

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a 13 x 9 pan.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar.  Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt.  Gradually beat in the flour,  just until mixed.  Pat the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Bake in center of oven until pale gold on top, about 20 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and scatter the chocolate chips evenly over crust.  Return to oven for 1 minute.  Remove pan and spread the chocolate evenly over the crust.  Sprinkle evenly with the almonds or toffee baking bits.

Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

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Corn and Broccoli Casserole

28 Dec

This was our final Christmas dinner side.  My mom got this recipe from my Aunt Paula, who has also given us the Wild Rice & Sausage Stuffing and Bread & Celery Dressing.  I liked having this as our vegetable casserole instead of Green Bean Casserole for our Christmas dinner, just to have something different.  This recipe calls for Chicken in a Bisket crackers, but you could probably substitute Ritz crackers in their place.

Corn and Broccoli Casserole

What you need:

1 pound frozen broccoli, thawed and drained OR 1 pound chopped fresh broccoli
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained OR 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 14.75 oz can creamed corn OR 1 10.75oz can cream of chicken soup plus 1 cup milk
1 8 oz box Chicken in a Bisket crackers OR 8 oz Ritz Crackers (2 sleeves of crackers)
1 stick butter or margarine, melted

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Crush crackers; stir into melted butter.   Combine remaining ingredients and all but 1/2 cup of the cracker crumbs into a greased 2 qt casserole dish.  Top with the reserved 1/2 cup cracker crumbs.

Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

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Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

28 Dec

I LOVE this casserole.  I don’t make it very often because it makes so much and I don’t want to feel like I have to eat it all.  It is definitely a family favorite, and has become a favorite of friends that I have made it for as well.  My college friends refer to it as Corn Flake Surprise, referring the to crushed corn flake topping.  This was another of our Christmas dinner sides this year and I was so happy my mom made it.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

What you need:

1 32-oz frozen Southern style hash brown potatoes, thawed
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (10 3/4-oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted, divided
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 cups corn flakes, slightly crushed

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine hash browns, cheese, soup, sour cream, and 1/2 cup melted butter. Spread into a greased 13in x 9in baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika. Combine corn flakes and remaining butter, sprinkle on top.

Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until heated through.

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Pistachio Salad

28 Dec

This side was part of the Christmas feast my mom cooked for us this year.  It’s a favorite of my brother-in-law, and is now a favorite of my older daughter as well.  It’s a lot easier than I thought it was to make too!

Pistachio Salad

What you need:

1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
1 pkg pistachio instant pudding
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup mini marshmallows

How to make it:

Mix all ingredients and chill.

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