This Week's Dinner Menu

Sunday - Sweet Pork Burritos or Salad, grilled corn, Strawberry Rhubbarb Pie
Monday - BBQ Chicken Pizza
Tuesday - Hamburgers and Hot dogs, potato salad, grilled asparagus
Wednesday - Second Chance Taco Salad, chips & salsa
Thursday - "Meal Swap" Night
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - salad or grill, who can decide?

This Week's Dinner Menu

Tuesday - Garlic/Parmesan Chicken and Pasta
Wednesday - Ham, Cheese and Asparagus Mac
Thursday - "Meal Swap" night
Friday - Bagel Dogs & Tri Colore Orzo Salad
Saturday - Eat Out for Dad, Mac n' Cheese for kiddos

The Weekend's Food

Saturday - grilled hotdogs and bratwurst, salad for lunch
"Dad's Birthday Enchiladas" and salad for dinner, with Strawberry Rhubbard pie for dessert
Sunday - Cedar Plank grilled Salmon, salad, corn on the cobb, Grandma's rice
Cookies and leftover pie for dessert
Monday - we waited 1 hour 15 minutes for Hamburgers and Fries outside on Lakeview Drive-in in Chelan, WA - but, hey, we did it with family!

{Chocolate, Almond, Coconut Cookies ala Lauren}
2 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons almond
5 cups oatmeal
2 packages Guittard milk chocolate chips
2 cups coconut
3 cups flour

Do not put butter in the microwave to soften. Just leave it on the counter, or take it right out of the refrigerator. Put butter in the mixer and beat it for several minutes. Add sugars and eggs and beat for several minutes. Add baking powder, soda, salt, almond, and oatmeal. Mix. Add chocolate chips. Mix. Add coconut. Mix. Add flour. Mix. Bake at 350º for 8 to 9 minutes. The cookies should start turning light brown around the edges but they don’t look done in the middle. We like to keep them in the refrigerator. They are fantastic cold. (I find if I let the dough sit out about a half hour before baking the cookies turn out more puffy, if I make the cookies right away they turn out flatter, I don’t know why that is. Also, roll the dough into balls to bake, don’t make them too big, maybe about 1 ½ inches.)

Hello, Old Friend

Oh, the memories associated with this snack. Like my roommate, Heidi, who first introduced me to it in college. Or, how we carried it in to football games to snack on. Or, how a pan would last me a week of breakfasts the summer I was engaged. Somewhere along the way, I stopped making it.

That is until I scored 18 boxes of cereal at $0.37/box. My family doesn't eat THAT MUCH cereal, so I am having to get creative. Enter my old friend, the Grape Nuts Carb Bar!

{Grape Nuts Carb Bars}

1 C light corn syrup
1 C sugar
3/4 C peanut butter
4 C Grape Nuts cereal

Mix corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter together in a microwaveable bowl. Heat on high for 1 minutes, stir and repeat. Dump in cereal and stir to coat. Press into a 9x13 baking dish lined with aluminum foil and greased. Cut in 30 bars.

Cal: 150 Carbs: 30g Protein: 3g Fiber: 2g

This Week's Dinner Menu

Sunday - Tuxedo Salad
Monday - Taco Bake
Tuesday - Baked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Tri Colore Orzo Salad
Wednesday - Sundance Tortilla Soup with Grilled Chicken
Thursday - "Meal Swap" Night

We're going away for the weekend, so I will tell you about our yummy adventures when we return. It sure to be good, we'll be celebrating my dad's birthday.

Roast Beef Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded (or, buy one bag "taco shred")
grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
avocado, diced
1/2 lb deli roast beef (ask for it shredded, super thinly sliced)
crumbled bacon

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Top with REAL Buttermilk Ranch dressing.

Sundance Tortilla Soup with Grilled Chicken

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, fresh minced
1 red onion, medium size (optional)
3 C Roma tomatoes, diced
3 C corn kernels, preferably fresh
1 Tbsp cumin seed
2 qts chicken stock
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
3 C grilled chicken breast, diced
Garnish: 1 avocado, 1 lime wedged, 2 corn tortillas cut into strips, salt, pepper, Tabasco

In a large saucepan, heat oil. Add jalapenos, onions, tomatoes and corn. Cook 15 minutes, stirring until all are soft. Add cilantro and cumin, cook another 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken and fresh cilantro. Heat through and serve.

***I like my soup "thick." So, at the end I added 2 Tbsp flour to thicken the broth. I made a half recipe for our family, but ended up sharing with neighbors. So, I added 1/2 can of black beans to stretch it a little further.***

This Week's Dinner Menu

We're back! And, after a week of eating out and on-the-go, I cannot wait to get back to cooking. Our friends that we traveled with (not to Mexico) reminded me of some of their recipe that we have enjoyed in the past or have yet to try. So, I am throwing in some of them this week.

Sunday - Mother's Day Dinner with my parents

The boys are making BBQ chicken and flank steak, grilled asparagus, Grandma's rice, and dessert. Dad is bringing a salad.

Monday - Sundance Tortilla Soup with Grilled Chicken
Tuesday - Roast Beef Salad, Garlic Knots (possibly chicken nuggets for the little ones)
Wednesday - Baked Macaroni and Cheese, salad, carrots and peas
Thursday - BBQ Chicken Salad Stackers
Friday - leftovers or a Freezer Meal
Saturday - Enchilada Stack