Two Meals at Mom's

We spent Tuesday night through Wednesday's dinner at Mom's house. And, the food was so yummy!

Tuesday we had:

Blue Cheese Burgers - These were amazing! And, I'm not a big burger person.

Blue Cheese Souffles with Fig and Honey

Grilled Peaches over Mixed Greens with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Salad

Wednesday we had:

Balsamic Chicken Drumettes

Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad

Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt and Garlic Mayonnaise

Chopped Mexican Salad with Roasted Pepper, Corn, Tomatoes and Avocado

Cafe Rio Pork Recipe

Cafe Rio Pork
3 lbs prok, boneless
3 1/8 C water
1 2/3 C coke
5/8 C sugar
1/2 clove fresh garlic
1 heaping Tbsp chicken boullion granules
1/2 pkt taco seasoning
1 onion, carrot, serrano and guajillo chile

Place chopped onion, carrot, and chiles in a cheese cloth. Place all ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Take cheesecloth out and discard. Take the meat out, reserving the cooking liquid. Shred the meat.

Mix 3 lbs pork
3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 C Homemade Chili Sauce Brand
2 C reserved pork stock

Put all ingredients in a 1 gallon bag. Place in fridge until ready to use.

1 bag pork
1/4 C butter

Melt butter completely before adding to pork.
Serves 15

I swapped out 1/2 green bell pepper for the chiles. I didn't do the cheesecloth-thing. I just cut the veggies large and put them into the liquid. Then, I strained them out of the stock.

This Week's Dinner Menu

I am pleased to say that we ate ALL of our planned meals last week. I was asked to take dinner to a friend who just had a baby last night, so my dinner menu is late getting planned and posted. Hopefully, this week will be as successful as last week.

Sunday - Pink-Eyed Bean Soup, salad, rolls
Monday - Beef Taco Bake, zucchini, fruit salad
Tuesday - "Cafe Rio" Pork Salads (trying a new recipe this time), fruit
Wednesday - Ginger-Peanut Chicken Salad Wraps, fruit salad
Thursday - Tomato Basil Bisque with Crostini Grilled Cheese, broccoli
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Shepherd's Pie, salad, rolls

Next Sunday's Breakfast? We will definitely be trying this recipe, as my in-laws will be with us for the coming week.

This Week's New Recipe Reviews

Peanut-Crusted Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
original recipe here
I cut the recipe in. When don't I, really? I also use small (young) chicken breasts instead of the chicken cutlets that the recipe calls for. I found that the breasts took longer, than the 2 minutes the recipe indicates, to cook. Suprise, suprise! So, if you are going to use breasts, I recommend browning on each side for 1 minute in the pan. Then, transferring to a baking dish and baking at 350 degrees until cooked, probably around 15-20 minutes.

We really liked the flavor of this. And, although, he questioned my judgement at first, my husband really liked the pineapple salsa. I have to say, I questioned the meal at first when I looked at it on my plate, but it was delicious!

Spring Sheepherd's Pie
original recipe here
Overall, I am not good at the "salt & pepper to taste" thing. So, I thought the recipe needed more salt and pepper. I cut the recipe in half for my family. If I make this again, I will leave the chicken/vegetable/gravy mixture at its original measurements and cut only the potatoes in half. Did that make sense? Anyway, the potatoes were way too thick! (Which is a problem I often come up with in Rachael Ray's recipes.)

Other than needing more salt, it was really good. And, it was a nice alternative to you're standard shepherd's pie. Although, my husband says that my mom's recipe is still his favorite. "Why mess with a good thing?" he says.

Banana Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins
original recipe here
This recipe was not specific as to the number of muffins it made. When I had filled my muffin cups 2/3 full, I still had a lot of batter! So, I mounded them up to fit in the 12 cups, which made the cups about FULL. When I checked them at the recommended cooking time of 17 minutes, they were not done, so I added 4 minutes of baking time total (in 2 minutes increments).

They were so yummy! My two-year-old ate almost 1 whole muffin as an afternoon snack. I will definitely make them again.

Mmmmm! Muffins

Banana Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

I just came across this recipe and it just so happens that I have yucky, brown bananas waiting to be turned into yummy bread. I can't wait to serve them to Andrew for breakfast tomorrow!

***Update: These were so yummy! They exceeded my expectations. My toddler loved them because they satisfied his sweet cravings, and I loved them because he wasn't just eating a cookie.***

My Grandma's Soup

I'm sure that I hated this as a child. But, now the memories draw me to it. It doesn't hurt that my husband loves it, too. So, if you need a home-cooked bowl of love, give this one a try!
Pink-Eyed Bean Soup
1 1/2 C pink-eyed beans, dried
celery, chopped
onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
potatoes, chopped
1/4 C ketchup (more to taste 1/2 - 1 C)
salt & pepper
hamhock, hambone, or cut ham

Cover beans with water (and let sit overnight). The next morning, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and hambone and cook all day. Add carrots 1 1/2 hours prior to serving. 1 hour prior to serving, add other ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

This is even better the second day!

*I clarified a few thing with my mom about this recipe. I have adjusted the instructions above. It is critical to add the hambone at the beginning of the simmering process to infused the flavor. -1/8/2010

Asparagus Tip

Peel the lower 3/4 of your asparagus spears, for more uniform cooking.

Here is the recipe, that the tip actually came from, for Smoked Turkey Wrapped Asparagus. I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I did try the tip. AND . . . The asparagus did cook more evenly, plus it was more appealing to my two-year-old.