Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday is sponsored by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Monday - Tostadas (flat, crunchy, corn tortillas topped with refried beans; lean, ground taco beef; lettuce; tomato; and 2% mild cheddar cheese) and Spanish rice.

Tuesday - Chicken wraps (soft tortillas with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing) and Sauteed Zucchini.

Wednesday - Grilled Italian Chicken Subs with boiled potatoes and/or red beans and rice.

Thursday - Kid's choice.

Friday - Penne pasta and meat sauce.

Two of my meals this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) are from my menu plan two weeks ago. My family loved them and asked for them again. They were so easy to prepare and low in fat, I couldn't say no! Plus, you'll see one of these dishes over at Our Krazy Kitchen on Wednesday!

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Works for Me Wednesday

I can't believe I haven't shared this before! A product that truly "works for me" is the Rotato Express. I know... silly name! But it is such a lifesaver! My family and I love potatoes (mashed, rosemary, au gratin, etc.) but we prefer to use peeled potatoes.

The Rotato Express peels them for me! It's so easy! If I had to do it myself, we might never eat potatoes! And the Rotato will peel other vegetables. I ordered it from TV a long time ago, probably ten years or more, but they still make it! I don't know what I will do if they ever discontinue the product. (Too bad I'm not a paid spokesperson for this product.)

Visit more WFMW posts here. Thanks for stopping by today. Don't forget to enter my Ziploc and simulated diamond earrings giveaways!

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Our Krazy Kitchen

Come visit me at Our Krazy Kitchen today where I have a lowfat recipe posted that uses BEEF. Hope you stop by!

Herman T's BBQ Sauce Review and Giveaway

Congratulations, Tammy!Here in Texas, we know a "little bit" about barbecue! My husband and I have made a goal to find the best barbecue place in our area, or even in the state, if possible. We think we've settled on one in Pearland, Texas (Central Texas BBQ) although one in Alvin (Joe's BBQ) comes in at a close second. Here in Texas, it's not only the meat and the grilling that has to pass the test, it's the sauce.

We also like to barbecue at home, and since I don't make my own sauce, we usually get a bottle at the grocery store. Recently, Herman T's sent me two pouches of sauce mix to try, one regular, and one spicy. You add water and ketchup to the mix, and heat the sauce on the stove. So easy, and it smells heavenly. We grilled some chicken and steak, basting it as it cooked, then topped it off with more sauce. It was delicious! My husband said he liked it better than the bottled sauce we get at the grocery store. The regular sauce is both sweet and tangy. And the spicy sauce has a little kick, which my husband loves. I even tried it, and it was spicy, but not Habanero-pepper-spicy, thank goodness! The great thing about the pouches is that they have a longer shelf life than bottles. Plus, you only need to make the amount you want for that particular meal, but if there are leftovers, they will keep in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Giveaway! Herman T's will give one of my readers two pouches of BBQ sauce mix, one regular and one spicy. US entries only, please. Giveaway entries accepted until August 5, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST. Here's how to enter!
1. Leave a comment on this post for your first entry. Make sure I have a way to contact you via email.
Extra Entries (do any or all)
2. Leave another comment on any non-giveaway post on my blog. Come back here and tell me which post you commented on.
3. Tweet this giveaway. Come back here and leave your link.
4. Follow my blog. Let me know if you use Google or another feed reader.
Good luck!

This post was written for Family Review Network & Herman T's BBQ Sauce who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review.

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Company Girl Coffee

Hi Company Girls! Do you miss Rachel Anne's Small Things? I know I do! She keeps me motivated. But everyone deserves a break, and it looks like she's been busy with her mural. It's looking great!

I think I redeemed myself from the carrot cake disaster... at least somewhat. I made a simple yellow cake then I made the frosting that was supposed to go on the carrot cake (a lemony cream cheese concoction). The icing was delicious, but the cake was a little dense. I got the cake recipe from AllRecipes, and quite a few of the other comments about that particular cake was that it was dense, so I don't feel so bad.

I also made an awesome chicken salad. So easy. Chicken breasts, mayo, water chestnuts, pimientoes, celery, sweet pickles, garlic salt, and pepper. It was yummy!

No more cooking for me for a while, though. My husband has training to attend in Los Angeles, and I get to go along for fun! I'm really looking forward to my tour of Hollywood. I figure I'll get some time in the sun, too, but I'm taking some strong sunscreen because right now, I'm white as a ghost!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

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Should've Known Better

I like to cook... a little. I've made beef and cheese enchiladas, pork chops parmigiana, chicken salad, potato salad, and penne pasta with a basil cream sauce, all within the last week (see the pictures as evidence!).

But baking has never been my thing. I'm just not very good at it. I can make cookies, and I can make any kind of dessert from a box, but baking from scratch is just... not... my... thing. I can follow a recipe, but things just never turn out right for me. I have two friends who can bake like you wouldn't believe, who even make up their own recipes. I feel so inferior!

One of my friends convinced me I could make a scrumptious carrot cake from scratch. I printed the recipe. I bought all the ingredients. I soaked the raisins in rum. I measured, and mixed, and creamed, and folded. The batter tasted delicious! I just knew I was going to impress my friends and family!

Three guesses... the first two don't count. It was a disaster! A few minutes after I put the pans in the oven, I smelled burning. The batter was oozing over the sides of the pans. I put a cookie sheet under them to catch the overflow, which I doubt was supposed to happen. I checked on them every few minutes, and it looked like th edges were too brown, but I let them continue cooking according to the recipe. When the cooking time was over, I took them out. They looked burned. I figured I would just cut off the top part after they cooled. Well, that didn't work! And when I turned them over onto the wire rack to cool, they completely fell apart! And yes, I did flour my pans as instructed.

Oh well. I'll just file this in the "should've known better" category! All that time, effort, and money wasted. Now I'm stuck with no dessert and people coming over in 2 1/2 hours. Guess I'll be visiting the Kroger bakery!

Wednesday Website

Hi. I'm here again to share a favorite website with you, and I'd love it if you'd share one with me. You could leave it in a comment, or you could take my blog button (which is actually a photo of my lap top), post on your blog, and leave the link in a comment so I can visit you.

This week, I want to tell you about AllRecipes. There are tons of food and recipe sites out there, but this is the one I go back to time and time again. Why? First, it's not sponsored by only one particular food brand so there is a greater variety of recipes (including the category I like to use: quick and easy). And since they are recipes from real people who aren't professional chefs, the recipes are easy to follow.

Membership is free, and you can create your own recipe box. You can categorize your recipes by type of dish. In addition, once you try a recipe, you can go back and rate it and/or write a review. The reviews are helpful because sometimes people tell their variation on a recipe or what didn't work for them so you can make adjustments.

The nutritional content is listed for every recipe and most of them include a photo. Also, if you have a recipe for 8, but you only need to serve 4, AllRecipes does the calculation for you. Of course, they have a printer friendly version of each recipe. If you're daring enough, you can submit your own recipe to their database making it available to other users. (My friend at 3 Sides of Crazy , Always Eat on the Good China, and Our Crazy Kitchen could submit tons of recipes! And she's a great cook! I often turn to one of her blogs for recipe ideas. Maybe she will check this out and design a way to use it in conjunction with her food blog.)

The site is easy to navigate. Some other features of the site include blogs, contests, reviews, cooking tips, and fun & games. Check out AllRecipes! I think you'll like it.

In case you missed it, here is last week's Wednesday Website! What's your Wednesday Website?

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Works for Me!

Welcome to the kitchen edition. All of this week's participants are to talk about something they have or do in their kitchen that "works."

1. First of all, I have a Hamilton Beach food chopper. It is probably 12 years old, but it's still going strong. The main thing (not the only thing, just the main thing) I use it for is to chop onions. Onions burn my eyes terribly, and I am a slow chopper. I can just pop some onion into this baby, and I have diced onions in a snap! Here's a picture of what their new ones look like, and retail price is only $26.99, very affordable. But, mine doesn't look exactly like this because it's very old.

2. Making a menu plan and sticking to it is what works for me in the kitchen. It assists me in planning my grocery list, and when I get home from a long, tiring day at work, I know what I need to do to prepare dinner rather than just looking in the pantry and wondering what to cook. Saves me time. And, if I really want to hold myself accountable, I can post my menu plan at I'm an Organizing Junkie each Monday.

3. If you want your big pot of water to boil faster, keep it covered. It seems to boil in about half the time as it would if it isn't covered. You can then take the lid off to cook your pasta, or whatever you're cooking.

4. Speaking of boiling, my husband read somewhere a method to boil eggs that I hadn't used before. Boil the water vigorously. Using an egg punch, punch a tiny hole in one end of each egg. Turn OFF the stove and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes, and you will have perfect boiled eggs. It really works well, and the shells don't crack.

5. And here's a link to one of my favorite homemade recipes for dessert: Texas Chocolate Sheetcake.

All of this works for me!

Check out more Works for Me Wednesday!

Menu Plan Monday

Visit Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday participants! She's also hosting giveaways.

If you see the counter at the top of my page, you'll see the hours and minutes quickly ticking away toward the first day of school. It was a short summer! I've been back at work a week, and the students return tomorrow, so it will be a long, busy week. Best to have my meals planned. Mine starts today.

Sunday Spaghetti, Sauteed Mushrooms, and Garlic Bread.

We had two kind of sauces. One was just a jar of Ragu Alfredo sauce. The other was a Bertolli 5 Cheese Tomato sauce to which we added ground beef, sausage, mushrooms, garlic, and Hunt's tomato sauce. For the garlic bread, we melted real butter with pressed garlic, basil, and parsley. Then we dipped the bread in the mixture and broiled it for a few minutes. It was a delicious meal.

Monday Slow Cooker Chicken with rice and green beans.

Chicken dish: Peeled and sliced carrots; half an onion (diced); 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; garlic powder, salt, pepper. Cover all this with a mixture of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (1 can), Campbell's Condensed Broccoli Cheese Soup (1 can), and half a cup of milk. Pour on top of all the other ingredients. Refrigerate over night. Turn the crockpot on in the morning, and you're good to go. Cook the rice about 20 minutes before dinner as well as the green beans. I have also used peeled, chopped potatoes in place of the carrots, and it's delicious. You can really use any two flavors of creamed soup that you prefer.

Tuesday French dip Roast Beef Sandwiches with au jus and Ore-Ida Crispy Crowns.

My husband is in charge of making this meal, and it's usually quite tasty.

Wednesday Angel Chicken Pasta, Salad, and Garlic Toast.

This is a new recipe that sounds delicious. Here is the link to the ingredients and preparation from AllRecipes.

Thursday Guys' night out. We'll probably go to Jason's Deli.

Friday Pizza Night! Hopefully, we can order in because I know I will be tired. If not, we'll go to a local pizzeria.

Cookies

A few days ago, my "twin tweens" and I had some fun making melt-in-your-mouth, Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. It was actually my son's idea! Here they are mixing the ingredients.

My silly son pretending he's going to eat all the dough. Don't you just love the taste of cookie dough?

After the second batch, my son ditched us to play a computer game, and my daughter helped finish making all the cookies. The finished product was delicious!

They took a picture of me, but it looked awful, so only the cute kids get posted!
If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy these.
Menu Plan & the Worst Food
Baseball Birthday
Tween Sleepover Madness

Menu Plan Monday

Monday – Fried chicken tenders (made from scratch) and homemade mashed potatoes
Tuesday – Hamburger helper (I have to cheat sometimes, and my 15 year old SD loves it)
Wednesday – 16 bean soup and rice
Thursday – Beef soft tacos
Friday – pizza night, maybe at a restaurant

Sorry, no recipes to link to this week. They’re all in my head!

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

I recently had the opportunity to try a product that was new to me, The Original Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce.

I used the sauce on two appetizers and a meal, and I was quite pleased with the results.

First, I used a recipe that was included with my sauce to make a Trail Mix appetizer that I served at a party. My guests were extremely complimentary that the trail mix was warm and seasoned with a hearty flavor. I also used it as a coating on meatballs, and again, they were a hit!

My husband can be a picky man, but even he was pleased with the way our Country Bob's burgers turned out. It added just that extra tang needed to keep a meal from tasting bland. And it's so versatile that you can use it on hamburgers, chicken, steak, pork, snacks, or even vegetables. They have lots of great recipes to get your creative cooking juices flowing.

Head over to the website and sign up for a newsletter, coupons, and/or a FREE BOTTLE of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. You may even decide to order a bottle or two. They also carry Spicy All Purpose Sauce, Barbecue Sauce, and Seasoning Salt. Also, I just found out that many of my local Kroger stores carry Country Bob's!

They have a great fundraising program for schools or church groups, too. Private labels are even available for your group or corporate event. Needless to say, I'm a new fan!

What really impressed me most on their website was this image:

Christian owned and operated for 21 years!

HERE'S THE BEST PART! Country Bob's will give one lucky winner (US only, please) TWO bottles of The Original Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce AND a cookbook! Here's how to enter:

1. Visit Country Bob's website by midnight on July 27th.

2. Come back here and leave a comment about one recipe on their website. How easy is that?

3. A random winner will be selected and notified by July 28th. (You have three days to claim your prize.)

Earn one extra entry as follows! Please leave a separate comment for each entry you earn.

1. Subscribe to my feed in the reader of your choice (Subscribe button at top left of blog).

2. Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.

Menu Plan Monday & the Absolute Worst Food

Menu Plan Monday and the Absolute Worst Food

Monday - Chicken Spaghetti (Tetrazini), salad, and garlic bread

Tuesday - Toothpick and Finger foods for PartyLite Candle Show (barbecue trail mix, veggies and dip, meatballs, brownies)

Wednesday - Barbecue cheeseburgers, Ore Ida Crispy Fries, Baked Beans

Thursday - Guys Night Out - I'm on my own! Probably Lean Cuisine

Friday - 5 Bean Soup and Rice.

Have you ever had Outback Steakhouse's awesome Aussie cheese fries with ranch dressing? This picture doesn't do them justice!

My mouth waters at the thought of those crispy fries smothered with cheese and bacon sprinkles! It's a hormonal woman's dream come true! Good thing I rarely eat them, though. According to Men's Health, these delicious cheese fries are the "Worst Food in America." 2900 calories, 182 grams of fat, and 240 grams of carbohydrates. Consider this, if you eat only one fourth of this appetizer, you've consumed as many calories as recommended for an entire meal.

They're downright sinful! Isn't that why they're so good?

Visit Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plans!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Slow cooked roast beef with carrots & onions and roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

Tuesday - My favorite beef and cheese enchiladas made with fresh flour tortillas.

Wednesday - We will be eating at church. We'll probably have Mexican Stack.

Thursday - Guys night out. We girls will probably eat at The Fish Place or Jason's Deli.

Friday - Stuffed pasta shells with Classico Vodka Marinara Sauce, salad, and garlic toast.

Saturday - I get a night off! Maybe Sunday, too.

For All of my Cooking and Baking Friends!

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!
The Prize:
The winner will receive a brand new Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

About the mixer:
From Hamilton Beach’s “Eclectrics” line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a host of accessories - a Flat Beater for cakes and cookies, a Dough Hook for bread and a Wire Whisk for whipped cream or pudding. The 4.5-qt. stainless steel bowl comes with a Pouring Shield that helps prevent splattering while in operation. The pouring shield has a built-in chute for adding ingredients. Powered by 400 watts, the stand mixer has a two-way mixing action to ensure all ingredients are incorporated into the mix. The quick-release, tilt-up head assists when removing the bowl. 9 x 14 x 14-in. When you’re ready for a kitchen re-do, don’t call in the carpenters! Instead, “counterscape” your kitchen with Hamilton Beach’s retro-designed, affordably priced electrics in happy, sun-saturated colors. Their “Eclectrics” line includes updates to those classic appliances from the 1950s. All of their “Eclectrics” are available in six colors: Apple Green, Moroccan Red, Pineapple Yellow, Intrigue Blue, Sugar White and Licorice Black.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Cocktail shrimp, cocktails sauce, cheesy potatoes, or dirty rice.

Tuesday - Homemade from scratch mashed potatoes and meatloaf plus green beans.

Wednesday - Sirloin stir-fy with broccoli, bell peppers, onions, celery, tomatoes, and mushrooms served over a bed of long grain rice.

Thursday - Guys night out. Girls will probably go to Jason's Deli.

Friday - Holiday party at preacher's house. We'll make a meal of appetizers, salads, finger foods, and desserts.

Saturday - I'm not cooking, am I? I have a turkey to roast and dressing to make, but that's for Monday next, I think.

Hop over to organizing junkie to see a feast of menu plan mondays!