Monday, January 26, 2015

Deep Cleaning Monthly

http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.com/2013/04/11-great-schedules-to-keep-you-organized.html


This morning while I was looking over my to-do list it hit me, This is the last week of January! Yikes I haven’t done my deep cleaning project of the month yet. No Worries I have a week to do it and can divide up the duties and concur it!

Month of January – Deep Clean Closet.
You can play along too!

Now living in a house that was built in 1940 means very small closets, and that would not do! So the wonderful hubby hung rods in our over-sized office with the idea that we will build a closet. (it’s on the Honey do list)

This weeks list:

Monday – Tackle the dresser

Tuesday – Clean up my make/Shoe area

Wednesday – Clearing the Closet and organizing the close.

Thursday – Going through the hubby’s close.

 I will be posted before and after pictures at the end of the week!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Grocery Shopping and keeping on budget Pt 2

It's been a crazy week! I wanted to post this blog Thursday but due to sheer exhaustion I made the choice that my bed needed me. Better late than never!


 After my menu is made begins the fun task of figuring out everything I'm going to need. I have found it's easier for me to start my grocery list with all my breakfast ingredients followed by lunch than dinner. I take it one recipe at a time. This is also a time when I say to myself  "what is that and where would it be at the grocery store?" then Google it and I learn something new.
 I do have to check and recheck that I have everything because after reading a bunch of recipes I have found my eyes will miss that 1 important ingredient and It's a big surprise that dinner night!
I used to go to 4 different grocery stores (because of different sales going on) Now I go to Kroger's and Sam's Wholesale. I know everyone keeps telling me about Costco however I don't pay for my Sam's Membership, so I don't complain.

 The big rule: If it's not on the grocery list, I'm not going to buy it!
 The 2nd rule: Don't take my husband with me because he doesn't follow Rule 1! (only take him to Sam's to get the 40 lb bag of dog food)

I even write on the lower bottom of my list things to check my kitchen for before I buy it. I have learned something can be there when you make your menu (Menus are make by Thursday Grocery list Friday) but it can be eaten by the time you go grocery shopping on Saturday.
On week 2 of my menu I do a light day of grocery shopping. That's when I get Seafood, more fruit, bread and milk



Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Now we are in the kitchen January 19 - 25


   Monday January 19 Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Out to lunch with girlfriends
Dinner: Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken
Tuesday January 20:Breakfast: Apple Bread
Lunch: Oven Baked Meatball Sandwich
Dinner: Chicken Enchilada Soup
Wednesday January 21: Breakfast: Strawberry Orange Smoothie
Lunch: Salad
Dinner:Oven Baked Tacos
Thursday January 22: Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito
Lunch: Baked Taco Leftovers
Dinner: Slow cooker Jambalaya
Friday January 23: Apple Pie Oatmeal
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner: Leftovers
Saturday January 24: Breakfast: German Pancakes
Lunch:Taco Dogs
Dinner: Shrimp Scampi
Sunday January 25: Breakfast: Bullseye Toast
Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Dinner: Alfredo Chicken Pizza

Monday, January 19, 2015

3 Day Weekend! Woohoo!!

I planned this weekend carefully. I wanted to be able to relax and get my chores done. This was a perfect weekend for me to hangout with some of my friends and not to be rushed with all my chores and crafts.
So let this weekend begin! Friday night I was focused on getting everything ready for Saturday that I needed done. I went to Home Depot and bought paint for my dinning room ceiling and to Micheal's to get supplies for my February wreath.When my husband came home he was restless and wanted to go out. UMMM I did not plan for this. He wanted to go shoot darts and I was waiting until it was time to go get my son from work. Solution: I suggested he go to his parents house and shoot darts with his dad and I will come by once I've picked up my son from work. It worked out fabulously! I had a great time that night with my in laws.

Saturday has come. I woke up with my game face on. The kids went to work and I had a nice, peaceful breakfast with my husband, than he went to work. Wait a second! Am I alone in the house? When was the last time this happened! And why did I decided to torture myself with painting the dinning room ceiling!?!(that is another blog)
Once a month I take the teenagers out to lunch, Just me and my kids. It's a way for us to explore Dallas. The rule is it has to be somewhere they have never been before. This month I took them to Stratos. I love Greek food and this  restaurant has the best Gyros around, plus I love the atmosphere there. http://www.clubstratos.com/
 My wonderful husband and I met up with another couple that night to have drinks (DATE NIGHT!)
I don't usually go to bars, however I have been a couple of times to the Londoner and I love sitting by the their fireplace. Also they have a drink there that I love called the Cucumber Cup. We had a great night hanging out and relaxing with our friends.http://www.londoneraddison.com/
 Sunday was the day for me to go grocery shopping. I actually spent the day relaxing from all the fun we had the night before.
 Monday the last day of my weekend. This was the 1 day were I didn't have to take kids to work at 8am so I could sleep in. (I slept in til 8am LOL) I had to go get an estimate  for some work I want done to my car. Then off to meet up for lunch with some of my girl friends at On the Border. I had a ton of fun catching up with them! Then it was time to get to work. Cooking breakfast and lunch for tomorrow and dinner. There was 1 project I did not finish this week, however I would call it an over all success!



Recipes from last weeks menu

Monday January 12 Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole
This is a family favorite!

Recipe:
 Ingredients:
  • 1/2 – 1 pound sausage
  • 1 package crescent rolls
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 Tsp oregano or rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place a skillet over medium heat and add the sausage. Break up the sausage as it cooks, letting it brown completely
Unroll the crescent rolls and spread them out in the bottom of a 9×13 pan, pressing the seams together to make one large sheet of dough.
Spread the sausage over the dough.
Sprinkle the cheese on top of the sausage.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, oregano or rosemary, salt, and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the casserole
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden and the eggs are set.


Lunch: Cheese Steak Crescent Rolls
This was my favorite lunch of the week! It was easy to make and tasted so so Good!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
¾ lb. sliced roast beef (from the deli)
⅓ c. beef broth
8 oz. cream cheese
2 (8 oz) tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
4 slices Swiss cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
In a large skillet, saute onion and pepper in butter over medium heat until they become soft and onions become transparent.
Coarsely chop roast beef and add to onion/pepper mix.
Stir for about 2-3 minutes or until roast beef becomes hot. Add beef broth and cream cheese, stirring until cream cheese is melted and coats the roast beef. Remove from heat.
Separate crescents dough into triangles and press flat.
Slice Swiss cheese into 4 strips and lay each strip over each crescent triangle.
Scoop about 2 Tbsp. of roast beef mix over each triangle and roll up, pinching the sides of the crescent so cheese doesn't ooze out.
Place crescent rolls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375-degrees for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown.

Dinner: Oven Baked Hot Dogs
This is one of my husband's favorite meals. He was so happy I had put it on the menu.


Tuesday January 13: Oatmeal
Store bought, but I love my oatmeal
Lunch: Pizza Rolls
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough
4 cheese sticks, halved (I used shredded mozzarella cheese)
1 (3.5 ounce) package sliced pepperoni
optional - marinara or ranch sauce for dipping
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Take each triangle of crescent roll dough and place about 6 pepperoni on the bottom of the triangle. Place half of a cheese stick on top and roll up. Place seam side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.



Dinner: Mom's Creamy Chicken Soup
This was my favorite dinner of the week!

Ingredients 
FOR THE ROUX (to thicken soup…this is made first):
4 T flour
2 T olive oil
2 T butter – unsalted
****make the roux by heating the oil and butter in pot then sprinkling the flour on top. whisk together until fully absorbed and turns almost golden. take off the heat and set aside while combining other ingredients****
2 T butter – unsalted
2 T olive oil
4 stalks carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped (opt)
1 sweet yellow onion – diced
4 cups chicken stock or broth (or a combo) – low salt or unsalted
3½ cups milk or cream or half & half, i use a combination of skim milk and cream
2 T chicken base granules
1 t fresh cracked pepper
1 T dried parsley or 2 T fresh parsley
3 bay leaves
1½ t Herbs of Provence
¼ t garlic powder or 1 t. chopped garlic (i use garlic from a jar)
3 cups rotisserie chicken – cubed or shredded and cooked
¼ cup white wine (your favorite)
shredded gruyere cheese to sprinkle on top after spooning soup into bowls

Instructions

 start by making the roux:
chop the vegetables and set aside until ready to saute.
 Saute the vegetables in 2 T olive oil and 2 T butter until softened. i cook the carrots and celery first, then add the onions since they don’t take as long to cook.
 Add all other ingredients including the roux, stir well.
bring to a boil then turn down the heat to low and let simmer 20-30 minutes until the soup thickens to the desired consistency.
Stir every 3-4 minutes. Do not leave the soup unattended – it can burn quickly.
if you need to thicken the soup a little, mix together some cornstarch with milk or water (per box instructions) then stir into the soup.
stir frequently – the soup is milk-based and can burn easily.
before ready to serve, take out the bay leaves
 pour into bowls and sprinkle with shredded gruyere cheese
Wednesday January 14: Breakfast: Oatmeal
It was cold outside. I wanted oatmeal!
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Spaghetti
Very easy to make!

Thursday January 15: Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Mom's Creamy Chicken Soup (Leftovers)
Dinner: Cajun Chicken Spaghetti
This was really good and it was spicy!
10 
ounces (about 2/3 of a 1 lb box) dried spaghetti noodles
15 ounce jar Alfredo sauce
medium (about 1 cup) yellow onion, diced
cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 
pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 
pound andouille sausage, sliced
green bell pepper, diced
14.5 ounce can Muir Glen Fire-roasted Tomatoes
1 1/2 
tablespoons Creole seasoning
1/4 
cup heavy cream
1/2 
teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Dice the chicken and slice the andouille sausage.

Dice the onion, chop the green bell pepper, mince the garlic and you’re done! That’s all the prep work. Now we’re just going to add everything to the slow cooker.

Pour 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker and stir in the onions and garlic.

Layer the chicken pieces on top of the saucy onions.

Sprinkle ½ of the Creole seasoning over the chicken.

Layer the green bell peppers over the chicken.

Layer the andouille sausage over the chicken.

Next pour the tomatoes (including the juice) over the sausage.

Sprinkle the remaining Creole seasoning over the tomatoes.

Pour the remaining Alfredo sauce over the tomatoes.

Close the lid and cook on low for 4 hours.

Add about ¼ cup of heavy cream to make the sauce that much creamier and yummy. Add the salt. Add more according to taste or add more Creole seasoning if desired.

Break the spaghetti noodles in thirds and place them in the sauce.

Stir the noodles around in the sauce until completely coated and submerged in the sauce. Make sure they’re not sticking out. Raise the heat to high and cook for another 20-25 minutes. Keep in mind that once you turn the slow cooker off, the sauce and noodles will continue to cook for a few minutes and you don’t want to overcook the noodles. So if you’re not going to eat immediately, reduce the time you cook the noodles.


Friday January 16: Muffins
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner: Leftovers
Saturday January 17: Breakfast: Eggs and Sausage and Toast
Lunch: Lunch with my kids 
Dinner: Dinner and Drinks with Friends

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Whew! Workout week 1 done!

 I read it takes 21 days to make something a habit! Well this habit I am trying to form is also a lifestyle change for me.
 In the 7 day period I've workout 5 days. I'm really proud of myself and dailyburn.com is great!
So on to week 2!

Friday, January 16, 2015

Planning meals and keeping on budget

I started making a weekly menu years ago as a means to stay on budget at the grocery store and to make sure we had the right kind of foods in our house. I used to plan my menu's with pre-made frozen dinners or hamburger helper. I wasn't that confident with my cooking skills. One day as I was cooking pizza rolls (yeah talk about healthy) It dawned on me that I could be saving more money and eating healthy if I made all the meals myself. (and it would most likely taste better to.)I started off slowly only making 3 dinners a week with no pre-box meal help. forward the clock 4 years later (that's right just 4 years) I'm up to making Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for my family.

 The first thing I do when I start planning the menu for 2 weeks is I start looking through my recipes and (my Favorite place) Pinterest for new recipes. I try to find meals that will take a lot of similar ingredients. This cuts down on food going bad and saves me money. I look at the sales ads to see if I can deals on my ingredients and on y staple items I use on a weekly basis.

 Every week we have a Chicken night, a beef night, a crock pot night, a soup night (in the winter time), a seafood night, A night for me to cook whatever I want to cook and a leftover night.

 So with this all in mind I grab my Menu planner, put on Downton Abbey and start with breakfast. (it's the easiest to do)


 I save making the big breakfast for Saturday and Sundays. I always have a smoothie on Wednesday. Right now while it's winter I like to put a couple of days of oatmeal and at least 1 day a breakfast bread or muffins.

Lunch is the next thing. There is always 2 leftover days.(one of them being from the soup that was planned for dinner) The reason for this is to not waste food. There is 1 day that is a wrap. The rest is still in the works for what will be served for lunch. Right now I put meals I would like to try.

It takes me about 45 minutes to figure out what will be on the menu for 2 weeks. I will admit in my head I start thinking of meals the Sunday before.

My 2 week menu planner stays in my Life Notebook.

 I got my Life Notebook here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KellyBangsCreative?ref=l2-shopheader-name


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Valentine Day part 2

If you read my blog last week I shared a list of cute DIY Valentine Day gifts. http://neverinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2015/01/february-14-is-around-corner.html
I am still narrowing down what gift I will be making; but I will keep you up to date on which ones I decide to make!
This week I am post some of the websites with pictures of homemade Valentine Day wreaths that I am finding inspiration from to make my wreath. This is something I am super excited about.I have found making these wreaths are relaxing and fun.
So let's get the inspiration flowing!





Do you fill the inspiration yet? I know I do! I can't wait to get started on my Valentine Day's wreath!
If you have made a wreath I would love to see it!





Wednesday, January 14, 2015

My Lunch Box

 I think I need t explain how I prepare for my lunches  first. Every 2 weeks I sit down and make a menu up for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinners for each day. On Sundays I can go one of 2 ways:

1. Cook all lunches and dinners through the week and put them in the fridge to be reheated as they come up on the menu
2. Cook Lunches and breakfast the day before and dinners the night of.

Now in order for me to be able to cook everything in 1 day I have to have stuff on the menu that will reheat well and some times my menu does not work out that way, so Option 2 it is!

 I do prep all our snacks Sunday for the week. I make sure to cut up cubes of cheese and place a serving size of fruit in a zip lock bag. If I find peanuts on sale I divide those up into serving sizes as well.



If my breakfast consist of eggs I'll cook the meat the night before and the eggs the morning of.

So what's in my Main lunch bag today?


-Main bag-

Breakfast Casserole
Philly Cheese Steak Crescent Rolls
Strawberries
Cheese
Peanuts


-Drink Bag- ( Not Pictured)

Bottle of water
a cup with a green tea bag in it
Muscle milk

When I come home from work and start cooking dinner I will also start on Lunch and Breakfast for the next day.

So Monday night I'll cook:

Homemade pizza rolls, Oven baked hot dogs. The oatmeal will be eaten at home on Tuesday.

Once you get the hang of it cooking 3 meals at once is easy. Just make sure you plan for it, know how much it time it takes to make each thing. I know that my pizza rolls and Oven backed hot dogs takes the same temperature and time to cook so I will be prepping both of them and placing both of them in the oven at the same time.


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

It's official we are Cord Cutters!

You are probably asking "What is a Cord Cutter?"
 Well it's simple we cut the cable TV cord. Direct TV Good bye! and Hello to an extra 136.00 dollars a month in our budget.
 Now this is something the hubby and I have talked about for months. Could we be okay with no cable and miss all of our shows? Yes. We decided at the beginning of this year we would re work our budget and focus money else were. We are saving up to get our own house (So tired of renting) We bought a Roku (what a genius product!) Signed up for Hulu Plus, and have Netflicks. So we are now spending 20.00 a month on our shows that is a 116.00 savings! 
 The plan is to be 50% out of debt by June 2015. This was just 1 step. 

 I found many helpful websites about cord cutting this is one of the best so far.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/cord-cutting-guide,news-17928.html



Now we are in the kitchen! Menu for January 12 - 18

Here it is new menu for the next week! 



Monday January 12 Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole
Lunch: Cheese Steak Crescent Rolls
Dinner: Oven Baked Hot Dogs
Tuesday January 13: Oatmeal
Lunch: Pizza Rolls
Dinner: Mom's Creamy Chicken Soup
Wednesday January 14: Breakfast: Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch: Creole Chicken Wrap
Dinner: Spaghetti
Thursday January 15: Breakfast: Omelet Muffins
Lunch: Mom's Creamy Chicken Soup (Leftovers)
Dinner: Cajun Chicken Spaghetti
Friday January 16: Muffins
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner: Leftovers
Saturday January 17: Breakfast: Eggs and Sausage and Toast
Lunch: Lunch with my kids 
Dinner: Lemon Butter Garlic Tilapia
Sunday January 18: Breakfast: Egg Sandwiches
Lunch: Easy & Creamy White Enchiladas
Dinner: Meatballs wrapped in cheesy garlic bread.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Recipes from last week's Menu

I had to make a few changes to my menu last week. It was so cold here that for breakfast we had oatmeal. We also had a lot of leftovers that we made Thursday and Friday left over night.
Monday January 5: Breakfast: Breakfast Crescent Dogs
This meal was great I cooked it all the night before and it reheated nicely.
Recipe:
8
fully cooked sausage links
1
can (8 oz) crescent dinner rolls
Heat oven to 375°F. Separate dough into triangles. Wrap dough triangle around each sausage link. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, seam side down.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown

Lunch: Burrito Bowls
All I can say is WOW this was really yummy!!! I was worried my husband wouldn't like it but to my surprise he loved it.
Recipe:
  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 3 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
  • 1 (15.25-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
  • FOR THE CHIPOTLE CREAM SAUCE:
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon chipotle paste
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
To make the chipotle cream sauce, whisk together sour cream, chipotle paste, garlic, lime juice and salt; set aside.
In a large saucepan of 1 1 /2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; let cool and stir in salsa; set aside.
To assemble the bowls, divide rice mixture into serving bowls; top with lettuce, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado and cilantro.
Serve immediately, drizzled with chipotle cream sauce.

http://damndelicious.net/2014/09/10/easy-burrito-bowls/
Dinner: Chicken in Basil Cream
This meal is a family favorite!


Recipe:
1/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Dry bread crumbs
1 pound Boneless skinless chicken breast4 halves
3 tablespoon Butter
1/2 cup Chicken broth
1 cup Heavy cream
1 can (4 oz) Pimientosliced
1/4 cup Basilfresh, minced
1/2 cup Parmesangrated
1/8 teaspoon Pepper
Heat skillet over medium high heatRecipe
Place milk and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls
Dip chicken in milk, and then coat with crumbs
Add chicken to skillet with 1/2 of the butter about 5 min
Add remaining butter, flip chicken and cook another 5 min till chicken is cooked.
Remove and keep warm
Add broth to skillet, bring to boil over medium heat
Stir in cream, and pimientos; boil and stir for 1 min
Reduce heat, add parmesan cheese, basil and pepper; cook and stir until heated through.
Serve chicken with sauce poured over.

Tuesday January 6: Breakfast: Breakfast Quesadillas
I actually had a difficult time making these. I think it was way to early in the morning for me! Over all it was good.




Recipe:
4 slices bacon
4 eggs
salt & pepper
4 burrito-sized flour tortillas
3/4 cup shredded cheese 
Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain then pour out grease and discard. Whisk eggs together with salt and pepper then scramble in the same skillet as the bacon. Remove to a plate then set aside.
Heat a skillet over medium heat then spray with nonstick spray. Add a tortilla then sprinkle half the cheese over the entire tortilla. Layer half the eggs, bacon, cheese. on one half of the tortilla then fold the other half over. Cook until golden brown on one side then flip and cook until golden brown on the other. Remove to a cutting board then cut into wedges with a pizza slicer. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Lunch: Fiesta Ranch Pasta Salad
My husband liked this lunch. At this point of the week I was getting all beaned out!!!



Recipe:
1 pkg. of pasta (rotini, bowtie, tri-colored, etc)
3 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I usually use a rotisserie chicken)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 package frozen corn
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can of olives, sliced
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes, chopped

Cook pasta, drain and cool.  Add all of the other ingredients

There is a Dressing option but we did not use it.
Dinner: Cheesy Taco Soup
This was my family's favorite new meal this week. My husband kept calling it chili


Recipe:
1lb lean ground beef
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
2-1/2 cups milk, divided
salt & pepper
1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
1 package taco seasoning
10oz can Rotel, undrained
15oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
Crushed tortilla chips

Brown ground beef in a large soup pot over medium-high heat, seasoning with salt and pepper, until no longer pink. Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat then whisk in flour and cook for one minute. Slowly whisk in 1 cup milk, season with salt and pepper, then switch to a wooden spoon and stir mixture until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat then stir in shredded cheese until smooth. Set aside.

Add taco seasoning, rotel, black beans, cheese sauce, and remaining 1-1/2 cups milk into cooked ground beef then stir well to combine. Bring to a heavy simmer then turn heat down to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with crushed tortilla chips and more shredded cheese, if desired.
Wednesday January 7: Oatmeal (store bought)
Lunch: Chicken Wrap
Chicken wraps are an easy lunch. Shredded chicken, lettuce, cheese and a tortilla. YUM YUM
Dinner: Meatloaf
This is my own recipe. A easy quick dinner.
Recipe:
1 lb lean ground meat
Lipton's onion flavored soup
bread crumbs 
1 egg
For topping:
1/2 cup of ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Heat oven to 350. Mix ground meat, Lipton's onion flavor soup, bread crumbs and egg together and place into a meat loaf pan. in a separate bowl mix ketchup, mustard and brown sugar together, and pour over meat loaf. cook for 1 hour.
Thursday January 8: Oatmeal (store bought)
Lunch: Cheesy Taco Soup (Leftovers)
Dinner: Leftover (way to many!!)
Friday January 9: Oatmeal (store bought)
Lunch: Ham or Turkey Sandwiched
Dinner: Leftovers

Saturday January 10: We slept in til 11 am
Lunch:  Sandwich
Dinner: Creamy Shrimp Mushroom Pasta
WOW this was really good!And Yes I used paper plates that night!


Recipe:
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound fresh shrimp (10 big shrimp or 20 small shrimp) without shells, deveined
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • dried basil
  • crushed red pepper flakes
  • paprika
  • 8 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • cooked pasta water
  • 8 oz fettuccine past

  • Heat a large skillet until hot - add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and immediately add garlic and shrimp, cook on one side for about 1 minute until pink on one side, on medium-high heat. Flip the shrimp to the other side, sprinkle the top of cooked side of shrimp with dry basil, paprika, and salt, cook for another 1-2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until shrimp is pink on both sides. Remove the shrimp from skillet. If shrimp is a little undercooked - it's OK because you will continue cooking it in the sauce

  • To the same skillet add sliced mushrooms. Add more olive oil if necessary. Cook on high heat for about 2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms become soft and release juices. Salt midway through cooking

  • To the skillet with mushrooms, add cooked shrimp. Immediately add 1 cup half and half and all of the cheese - bring to boil, then reduce to simmer, and cook, constantly stirring, until all cheese melts. Cover with lid and remove from heat.

  • Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some of pasta water. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water. Add pasta to the skillet with shrimp and mushrooms and cream sauce. Stir well, season with more salt and add more crushed red pepper flakes and basil, if desired.
  • http://juliasalbum.com/2014/10/creamy-shrimp-and-mushroom-pasta/
Sunday January 11: Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole
This is a great recipe to wake up to on a Sunday morning. As a matter of fact we have leftovers for Monday morning's breakfast!


Recipe:

1/2 – 1 pound sausage
1 package crescent rolls
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place a skillet over medium heat and add the sausage. Break up the sausage as it cooks, letting it brown completely.
Unroll the crescent rolls and spread them out in the bottom of a 9×13 pan, pressing the seams together to make one large sheet of dough.
Spread the sausage over the dough.
Sprinkle the cheese on top of the sausage.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk,  salt, and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the casserole.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden and the eggs are set.



Lunch and Dinner for today will be posted next week!