"Flying by the seat of our pants!"

We have a short week of meal preparation ahead of us, as we drive to Utah for a family reunion. Here's what I'm thinking:

Sunday - pizza, salad, cookies and ice cream (Did I mention that we are about to melt to death here? As we served the ice cream, my husband said, "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen ice cream melt so fast!")
Monday - check out the Red Robin that just opened up down the road
Tuesday - something super easy and consumable in one sitting
Wednesday - see Tuesday
Thursday - on the road
Friday - Happy 4th of July. We'll be in Utah BBQing with the in-laws.

My Birthday Dinner!

Caitlin made dinner for me tonight. Here's what we had:

Lemon and Garlic Roasted Chicken
Gorgonzola and Porcini Mushroom Risotto
Warm Vegetable Salad
Vanilla Icream topped with Grilled Pineapple and Bananas Sauce with Honey and Lime

How special do I feel?

This Week's Dinner Menu

My husband is out of town this week AGAIN. Most likely, we will be spending the week with my parents and sisters. Hooray for sister #2 coming home from college! I will try to post about the yummy food that we are eating along the way.

Everyone help out by posting what you are planning this week for dinner. I always request help on the week's when I'm not cooking, and NOBODY responds. I know you're reading this, so post your menu plan! It helps to give all of us ideas for dinner.

Sleep In Omelet: Recipe Review

Picture from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

We had this Sunday morning for breakfast. Since it was Father's Day and Joshua's Blessing it was a big day, and I needed something fast. I served it with orange juice, fruit salad and bacon.

I followed the size of the recipe exactly. However, I did cut the amount of butter from 1 1/2 sticks to about 6 Tbsp. I just sliced my "pats of butter" a lot thinner. It was so rich that you really can only eat a small-ish serving. My husband didn't care for the texture of the cream cheese on top of the casserole, and said that he would have crumbled the bacon over the top.

Overall, I thought it was good, but I have had other versions that I like just as well. Will we do it again? Maybe.

Joshua's Blessing Dinner

Graciously, Mom hosted EVERYONE at her house for Joshua's Blessing and Father's Day dinner. We had a simple menu, that was delicious!

Marinated, BBQ-grilled Chicken
Tossed Lemon and Strawberry Salad
Tri-Colore Orzo Salad (substituted spinach for the arugula)
Aunt Terri's Pear and Feta Salad
Grilled Asparagus
Tamara's Homemade Rolls
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

Tossed Lemon and Strawberry Salad
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C corn oil
3 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 C lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp mustard seed
1/4 C sliced almonds
3/4 C dried cranberries
3 green apples
15 whole strawberries
12 oz. raw spinach

Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender. Add mustard seed and blend again. Toast almonds on a cookie sheet at 350*F, for about 3 minutes. Rinse and diced apples. Rinse and slice strawberries. Wash spinach and remove stems, tear into bite-size pieces. Toss spinach with dressing and top with almonds, cranberries, apples, and strawberries. Serve immediately.

Aunt Terri's Pear and Feta Salad
Salad:
1 bag Riviera or mixed salad greens
1 pear (Bartlett or Bosc) cut in ½ “chunks
1 cup crumbled Feta
½ cup dried cranberries
1 cup caramelized or toasted Pecans
Dressing: (only make ½ the recipe)
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
¾ cup sugar (you could try Splenda)
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. salt
2/3 cup white wine vinegar
2 cups vegetable oil
1/1/2 T. poppy seeds

Blend onion, sugar, mustard, salt and vinegar in a blender or food processor. Slowly drizzle vegetable oil while blending. Stir in poppy seeds, don’t blend them up.
Add dressing just before serving. Even ½ the dressing recipe is too much for one salad you will have left over dressing.

Tamara's Homemade Rolls
2 Tbsp yeast
2 C warm water
2/3 C powdered milk
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 C melted margarine
7 - 7 1/2 C flour

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, sugar, salt, eggs, margarine, and 2 C flour. Mix until smooth. Mix enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto a lightly foured surface, knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min). Place in a greased bowl, turn greased side up, cover. Let rise in a warm place until double in size. Form rolls. Let rise 40 minutes before baking. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls for 15-20 minutes.

This Week's Dinner Menu

This is a weird week, dinner-wise. On Sunday, we are blessing our new baby and will have lots of family around. My mother has so graciously agreed to host everyone at her house for Father's Day and the family event. Then, my husband is gone all week, but my in-laws are here through Thursday. So, here we go . . .

Sunday - "Sleep in Omelet", Dinner at Mom's
Monday - Ginger-Peanut Chicken Salad Wraps, fruit
Tuesday - Tomato-Basil Bisque with Grilled Cheese Crostinis, broccoli
Wednesday - Creamy Black Bean Salsa Chicken, fruit salad
Thursday - Leftovers or something easy
Friday - (see Thursday night)
Saturday - Going out with my husband to celebrate MY birthday!

Fun Kids Cooking Ideas

I found this website associated with PBS. It looks like it has some fun ideas for cooking with your little ones.