A Cooking Baker

You don't really need a recipe for stir fry, but just in case... My kids love stir fry, and lately, they end up eating more of the veggies I throw in than they leave on the side of the plate.  You can usually throw together a good stir fry meal with things you have on hand.  Keep some rice in the pantry, some soy sauce in the fridge, and then use whatever protein you have on hand.   If you feel productive one day or find a great deal at the store, slice up some strips of chicken, beef or pork, and then freeze them so you can just thaw what you need and skip the whole cutting raw meat mess.  This helps cut down on contamination when you're cutting up veggies, too. You don't have to buy a frozen mix of veggies - make your own!  I always have a small amount of various veggies left over from various recipes, or something wasting away in the fridge, so I chop them up, throw them in a freezer bag, and then when it's time, I can grab what I need and make a quick stir-f

Chicken philly sandwiches are a quick and easy dinner favorite.  You can use deli chicken, some boneless, skinless chicken breast, or rotisserie chicken.  I like to sauté green peppers and onions, serve them on some good rolls, top with provolone (we like the picante provolone from Boar's head), and stick under the broiler. Serve with some fries, roasted broccoli or whatever you have on hand for a side. I tend to wing in when making them, so here are some guesstimates: Chicken Philly Sandwiches 1-1/2 lb. or so sliced deli chicken (or shredded rotisserie chicken, etc.) 1 tsp. evoo 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 tsp.  freshly ground black pepper 1/4-1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce  1 tsp. (wish) Dijon mustard 1 green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips 1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly 6 slices of provolone cheese french bread rolls, sliced horseradish sauce or mayo (optional) To prepare, season the chicken, heat the oil in the pan, then sauté your veggies - I remove them to a

It's been REALLY cold lately.  We were up in Elkhart Lake this weekend, and stopped in to grab some soup and a sandwich at Off The Rail Cafe (love it). We had some minestrone and chili - both were awesome, and totally warmed us up from the inside out.  I was inspired to put some soup on the menu plan for this coming week, but also wanted to share a minestrone recipe we use for our freezer meal swaps. Minestrone Soup 2 tbsp. EVOO 1-1/2 lb. Italian sausage, broken up 1 large onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced ½ c. celery, chopped ½ c. carrots, chopped ½ c. green pepper, chopped 2 tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped 1 c. fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped 1 bay leaf Salt & pepper to taste (about ½ tsp.) 2 c. diced tomatoes (1 19 oz. can) 6 c. chicken stock (Swanson Natural Goodness or Kirkland's Chicken Stock are great) 2 c. shredded cabbage Include 1 can kidney or Great Northern beans, about 1 c. dried pasta (ditalini, elbow macaroni or other small p

Every Monday I'll try to share my planned dinners for the week - it may or may not pan out, but but it's a good idea to have a plan, and remain flexible. This past week, we had all sorts of craziness, so we're bring a few things from last week back that we didn't get to. I've added a few alternative ideas below in case you happened to knock them all off your list! What's for dinner this week? Monday: Skillet Chicken & Penne with Broccoli & Asiago Tuesday: French Dips with sweet potato oven fries Wednesday: Breakfast sandwiches (English muffins + eggs + Canadian bacon) with fruit Thursday: busy night, so it's got to be simple - Spaghetti (try this sauce ) with salad Friday: Southwest Chicken Salads Saturday: Cuban Sandwiches - I've been dying to try this recipe from Tyler Florence Sunday: Broccoli Cheese Soup Now I'm getting hungry!

Every Monday I'll try to share my planned dinners for the week - it may or may not pan out, but but it's a good idea to have a plan, and remain flexible. This past week, we had all sorts of craziness, so we're bring a few things from last week back that we didn't get to. I've added a few alternative ideas below in case you happened to knock them all off your list! Here's the plan for this week: Monday: Turkey Divan with a side salad and some bread we had leftover from the weekend. Using the recipe from a previous post for  Chicken Divan Revisited . We just didn't get to it last week... Tuesday: Manicotti with salad.  Sorry - it's a repeat!  This is a meatless meal, which we're trying to add more of. Wednesday:  Chili & Baked Potatoes.  I've got some chili frozen from my massive batch a few weeks ago, and we like to serve it over a baked potato sometimes for a different take.  Thursday: Chicken Stir-Fry with brown rice Frid

This is my favorite salad (there's nothing healthy about it, though).  Any salad that combines blue cheese and Fritos is my kind of salad.  Seriously, though, this is a really tasty salad.  The recipe was posted in the Journal Sentinel several years ago, and I was super happy when I saw it!  It's from Joey Buona's Pizzeria Grille, and the chef, Roger Ruzek, sent in the recipe (in case you get excited about those kinds of details). I make the vinaigrette from time to time without doing the fancy salad, since it's really tasty on a plain side salad, too.  I made it for Christmas one year for a big family-style dinner for 14 or so, and something weird happened when it was refrigerated, and it looked like gravy - it would have been funny, but it totally stressed me out, and then I didn't have a cruet, so it got spooned out of a bowl and TOTALLY looked like gravy.  I almost cried. Joey Buona's Chopped Salad 2 tablespoons diced prosciutto 8 cups romaine and i

Every Monday I'll try to share my planned dinners for the week - it may or may not pan out that way, but it's good to have a plan, and remain flexible.    Here's the plan for this week: Monday:  Turkey Dinner - bought a turkey at Thanksgiving even though we weren't hosting (had to use those stupid Turkey Perks).  I'll do mashed potatoes and gravy, and some steamed carrots and green beans. Tuesday:  BBQ Shredded Pork Sandwiches - basketball game at school means we need something easy - I've got some prepped meat in the freezer ready to rock.  Serving on buns with some baked fries and homemade coleslaw and raw veggies on the side. Wednesday:  Basic Beef Tacos - mom's got a commitment right at dinner time, so gotta keep it easy.  We ended up not having this last week, so it's back in the rotation.  Chips & salsa, pineapple chunks (fresh) on the side. Thursday: Manicotti with salad, homemade ciabatta .  I might make a red wine vinaigrette for

I love bread. I know.  Bread's bad, blah, blah blah.  Too bad, we're still enjoying it from time to time.  We don't eat white bread much here, and when we do, I make it, or buy a nice loaf of sourdough or something delish.   I tried making whole wheat rolls with flax seed yesterday from the ripped out recipes pile, and I imagined it was going to be this amazing, therapeutic process, and I would love the feel of kneading the dough, and they would be amazing and healthy and delicious, and I would be awesome. Well, insert reality here:  the stupid dough was like a rock, and I got a full workout in trying to knead it.  The rock never rose, and for kicks I baked a little of it to see what would happen, and it was like a hockey puck, and I was stressed and crabby.  Epic fail, as the teen boy would say.  SO, back to the bread machine method, where fabulous soft, elastic balls of dough appear magically after I press a button and walk away.  I'm a COOKING Baker for a reason,

This is soup weather. My husband and I LOVE soup.  Our kids USUALLY love soup.  This is a great time of year for a nice, hot bowl of soup with a sandwich or salad, or just on its own.  Sometimes, you need to break out of the box and try a new one - this was simple, pretty healthy, and can be made vegetarian if you leave out the meatballs (you can find that recipe under Poultry ). Bell Pepper Soup 1 tbsp. evoo 3-6 bell peppers (green, yellow, red, orange, yellow - you pick), diced 1 tbsp. garlic, minced 2 tbsp. fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped 2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped, or 2 tsp. dried 2 tsp. dried oregano 64 oz. can tomato juice 4 c. water (I use 2 c. vegetable or chicken broth, and 2 c. water) 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes salt & pepper to taste small pasta shells or rice (include with a freezer meal) 1 recipe turkey meatballs (make them small) Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 2 min. Add peppers, and cook, stirring o

Having a meatless meal once a week is a good thing. This year, I'm going to try to do 1-2 meatless meals every week - I don't think it will be too hard.  It's good for the budget and the body, so we'll see how it goes.  Here's a soup recipe I pulled from the stacks, from a cooking class I took years ago.  I haven't frozen this one before, but I know SOME potato soups you can, so I will freeze some of it and let you know what happens.  Potato and dairy can be tricky in the freezer, but I have high hopes. Loaded Baked Potato Soup Makes 8 Cups 4 large russet potatoes, baked - about 4 c. flesh, lightly mashed (Yukon golds are fine, too) 4 tbsp. butter 1/2 c. onion, diced 1/4 c. flour 2 c. chicken broth 2 c. whole milk (using skim will result in a really thin soup) 2 tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley salt & pepper to taste optional garnish: crumbled bacon, sour cream, chives or sliced scallions, sharp cheddar, etc. To save some time, bake the pot

Here's what we've got on the menu for this week: Every Monday I'll try to share my planned dinners for the week - it may or may not pan out that way, but it's good to have a plan, and remain flexible.  Monday - snacks & aps for the Rose Bowl! (check out the aps + desserts page for some ideas - I added some of our favorites) Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (using the chicken from Southwestern Chicken Salads - I made a double batch and froze some) Wednesday - Loaded Baked Potato Soup (I'll post the recipe tomorrow) Thursday - Stuffed Peppers (remember, I made and froze some filled with the Spanish Rice Bake mixture?) Friday - Ravioli (I've got some frozen, not makin' my own) For sides, we're planning on lots of salad, raw veggies and fruit, since we had a crazy weekend of overeating.  I've got a big container of carrots and peppers sliced and ready to rock in the fridge, and we found a yogurt-based ranch dressing the kids like for dippin

Meal planning is a necessity for me. If I don't do it, I end up spending too much at the grocery store, going there about 15 times, and having those "oh shoot, it's 4:30pm, what are we doing for dinner?" moments.  I don't stick STRICTLY to the plan, but I have all of the ingredients for those meals on hand, and a rough schedule of when we would have them.  If we end up swapping meals for different nights, or going out, we just adjust things.  I used to get nerdy and have a print out that I filled in every week, but now I just write it on the back of an envelope. SO....... I am going to share my meal plan for the week with you every Monday (that I remember), and provide the recipes where needed.  What do you think?  Feel free to share what YOU'RE having for dinner in the comments!