Your Favorite Comfort Foods

I love when Gooseberry Patch has one of their Recipe Round-Ups (click picture above). Today, they are doing a "Your Best Comfort Foods" recipe round up. They are so much fun and I get some really great food ideas. I shared my recipe for Lasagna Mac, a current favorite comfort food. They let you add the linky to your blog, so feel free to add your favorite below!

Chicken Tetrazzini

This was a recipe I linked to in my Menu Plan Monday. It was so good that I wanted to share it in full here! The only change I made was to add broccoli, which seemed to go really well with it. It was also a big help in my "eating through the pantry" project with the 3 different kinds of soup, the chicken broth and then the pasta. Plus, it was easy to make too.



Ingredients:
1 box regular or thin spaghetti
3/4 cup chicken broth
4-6 cups chopped, cooked chicken (4-6 chicken breasts)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1 box sliced mushrooms
1 bag frozen cut broccoli
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t salt
Shredded cheddar to top


Instructions:

• Cook pasta according to directions. Once done, pour back into pot and add chicken broth. Let sit.
• Stir together the cooked chicken with soups, salt, pepper, sour cream, Parmesan cheese , mushrooms and broccoli.
• Add pasta and mix well together.
• Place in 9x13 pan and sprinkle with the shredded cheddar.
  
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and sides are bubbly.
• This makes enough for two 9x13 dishes, so split in half. I cooked one, and put the other half in a gallon Ziploc bag which will go in my freezer.

Enjoy!!

Menu Plan Monday 8/29/11

This is week TWO of my eating through the pantry and freezer project. So far, we have saved close to $125! See my post here. I'm excited that we are having some tasty and fun meals, and while mainly using ingredients we already have!

Click here to see what others are making this week!

Monday
Corn Chili with Biscuits (I used ground beef instead of ground turkey)

Tuesday
Chicken Tetrazzini with Broccoli

Wednesday
Spaghetti with Corn and Garlic Bread

Thursday
Vodka Parmigiano Sauce with Round Steak and Vegetables (my own concoction added to the sauce)

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Camp Cook Out

Sunday
Always my night off!


Thanks for visiting!

Menu Plan Monday 8/22/11

I went completely without a menu plan last week, since we were having a rough week on the home front. It feels so good to get back into it even thought I only missed one week. This week starts a fun project of eating through the pantry and freezer. Click here! I'm excited that we have some tasty meals coming, and without spending extra money!

Tuesday's Meal

Click here to see what others are making this week!

Monday
Breakfast for Dinner: Eggs and Sausage Patties with Toast

Tuesday
BBQ Ribs with Dill Potatoes and Broccoli
(The dill potatoes were great; I cut up some red potatoes and put them in a pan, sprinkled them with olive oil and fresh chopped dill then baked on 350 for 45 minutes. YUM!)

Wednesday
Mullagatawny (Curry Potato Soup) with Chicken and Peas

Thursday
Date Night so eating out!

Friday
Spanish Rice adding Beef and Peas

Saturday
Fried Chicken and Au Gratin Potatoes

Sunday
Always my night off!


Thanks for visiting!

Eating Through the Pantry and Freezer

My Pantry Right Now

We have had some challenging times in our family over the past month, with my husband struggling with depression again. Other than when we've been on vacation, last week was the first week I didn't put together a menu plan. It felt very strange! I also noticed our grocery bill has been rather high the last couple months and decided it was time to try to save some money. I found a blog post with some great ideas for making some good meals while using up the things in your pantry and freezer. I'm hoping to do this for the next few weeks, that's how much stuff we've got! See this post: Eating Through the Pantry

My plan is to buy only our essentials (milk, juice, eggs, cheese, bread, cereal and produce) with a goal of saving $100 each week. It'll be great if I can get a full three weeks out of it and save $300. My husband is in a union job and for those following the news in Wisconsin, the governor has ended collective bargaining (except for wages) which means a large hit to our family paycheck every month. This will be a great way to cut on our expenses and add to our savings account.

Has anyone else done this before and have insight to share?

Thanks for visiting!

Rib Marinade in the Slow Cooker

I have been playing around with a few different BBQ recipes to get the right flavor and texture for when I make ribs. Here is my "home made" recipe based on what has worked. I use either boneless pork or beef ribs and make them in the slow cooker. You can always add more water or beef broth as needed to cover up your meat.

Place meat in slow cooker and pour the following on top:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1 cup beef stock
1 T minced garlic
2T honey
2 T sugar
2 T Worcestershire
2 T olive oil
2 T favorite BBQ sauce

Once the ribs are done (about 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high), remove them. Spoon some of the sauce into a pan. Add a tablespoon or two of corn starch and heat on medium for 5 to 7 minutes. Use this for a wonderful gravy!

ENJOY!!

Menu Plan Monday 8/1/11

I have been enjoying a full summer with not much time to post new recipes here :o(
I cannot believe it is already August 1st!!! I do hope to do more individual recipe posts in the fall!

I love participating in Menu Plan Monday and putting together a menu every week. It has been a great way to try a variety of new recipes and to see what others are making. I receive so much payback from being organized in my grocery shopping and knowing what I'll be cooking during the week. It also makes it easy to shift the meals to a different night if something comes up.

Click here to see what others are making this week!

Monday
Lasagna Mac (with frozen corn added to original recipe)

Tuesday
Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Five-Bean Salad (this is pretty much a do-over from last week)

Wednesday
Shepherd's Pie (from Nicko's Kitchen)

Thursday
Picnic (burgers and hot dogs)

Friday
Tuna Alfredo with Broccoli

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Always my night off!


Thanks for visiting!