Happy Holidays!

I am on Christmas Vacation & will return after the holidays. . .

Menu #30

Chicken Pot Pie

I’m a day late posting because we were out of town for my grandfather’s funeral.  This is from my real father’s side of the family who I don’t see very often but I do have very happy childhood memories of him, and those are the memories I will keep forever.  He was a good man and he lived a long happy life surrounded by friends and family.

Above is a pic of last night's chicken pot pie, which was absolutely scrumptious...I'll post the recipe tomorrow!  This week’s menu is basically made up of everything I didn’t get to last week since we left in the middle of the week, and here it is. . .

Monday:  Chicken Pot Pie & green salad

Tuesday:  Slow Cooker Pork Roast w/ tomatoes & mushrooms over whole-wheat egg noodles

I started the roast this morning before taking X-man to school, and it was super quick & easy.  It was just a bunch of mushrooms chopped in half along with onion wedges, crushed tomatoes, thyme, sun-dried tomatoes, and a pork loin roast thrown into the slow cooker.  I’ll post a pic of the outcome tomorrow along with the recipe.

Wednesday:  Leftovers

Thursday:  Teriyaki Chicken Bowls w/ broccoli, bell peppers & brown rice

Friday:  Grilled Salmon w/ quinoa & black beans and green salad

Hubby is doing dinner on this evening because I have a full afternoon involving children & Christmas cookies.  Xavier is hosting a Holiday Playdate for some friends we don’t see as often as we’d like because of all of our busy schedules.  The menu is potluck style to which I’m contributing mini sandwiches (turkey, brie, & cranberry relish for mamas and turkey & American cheese for the kiddos), a veg platter, and Christmas cookies for decorating!  We are making cute little reindeer cookies that have chocolate-covered pretzels as antlers…so cute.  I’ll definitely post pics!  J 

Saturday:  Hanging w/ the Stanfords!

We are enjoying holiday festivities at the San Diego Zoo with my best friend, Janna, and her hubby!  After the zoo we are joining them at their house for a fun Holiday Happy Hour of yummy drinks & appetizers.  J 

Sunday:  Chicken Stew w/ crusty bread

We are also enjoying a super fun morning at our friends, the Browns, for their annual Breakfast with Santa!  I love fun holiday festivities!!!  J

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese

1 lb whole-wheat macaroni, cooked

1/2 roasted butternut squash, pureed (directions below)

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, small diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 T butter

3 T whole-wheat flour

1 C chicken stock

1-1/2 C milk

S&P, to taste

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated

2 C sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 450F.

Split the squash down the middle and scrape out the seeds.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, and roast in a oven for about 45 mins. 

When you can easily pierce the squash with a fork, it’s ready.  Set it aside and allow it to cool. 

Once it’s cooled, scrape the squash out into a bowl and puree it with an immersion blender (use a regular blender if you don’t have an immersion blender or you could even use frozen pureed squash).  Set aside the puree until ready for use. (You'll only need 1/2 the puree for this recipe, so just freeze the rest for later use)

Heat the oil in a large pan over med-high heat.  Saute the onions until caramelized, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the butter and allow to melt.  Once melted, add the flour and cook a couple minutes.  Add the stock and milk using a whisk and mix well.  Season with S&P, and nutmeg and cook 3-4 more minutes. Stir in the squash puree and mix well.  Once it starts to bubble take it off the heat and add the parmesan cheese along with 1-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese.  Once the cheeses have melted, stir in the macaroni. 

Pour macaroni into a casserole dish & top with remaining 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Menu #29

See those photos above?  Those are snapshots of my biggest addiction right now!  These are the Salted Caramel Cookies from Great Harvest Bread Co in Temecula.  Everything they make at the Great Harvest Bread Co is superb, but this cookie is just ridiculous!  It’s chewy, gooey, salty, and sweet with little jewels of caramel and dusted with sea salt.  It’s a wickedly sweet treat!

Now on to the weekly menu. . .

Monday:  Spicy BBQ wings w/ jalapeno poppers & veg salad

Laddie is in control of dinner tonight since I was busy with the private chef menu.  Since it’s Monday Night Football, he went with bar food but added salad so I wouldn’t complain.  ;)

Tuesday:  Leftovers

I had some excess food from the private chef menu including ham bone soup and chicken sausage & pepper pasta, so it will be a buffet dinner. 

Wednesday:  Vegetable Lasagna w/ green salad & garlic-cheese bread

Thursday:  Dinner Out
This is the evening of the Christmas Tree lighting at Temecula Duck Pond, so it's dinner out before we head to the ceremonies.  :)

Friday:  Picnic Dinner--Chicken Pitas w/ tzatziki sauce & couscous salad

This is the night of the Temecula Christmas Parade and we are going to have a picnic dinner while we wait for the parade to start.

I’m going to marinate chicken tenders in lemon juice, garlic, & oregano and then grill them.  The chicken will be served in whole-wheat pitas with tzatziki sauce, which is a cucumber yogurt sauce seasoned with cumin.  Served on the side will be a whole-wheat couscous salad containing cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, feta, and garbanzo beans dressed in a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette. 

Saturday:  Leftovers

I’m teaching a cooking class on this day, so it’s leftovers for the guys and an array of side dishes for me.  The class is based on side dishes and I haven’t entirely decided on that menu yet.  I have decided on a quinoa salad and a 3-bean salad, but I can’t make up my mind on veg sides because there are just so many!  I’m going to scan the web tomorrow in hopes of inspiration. 

Sunday:  Slow Cooker Pork Loin Roast w/ tomato-mushroom sauce over whole-wheat egg noodles

I found this recipe while I was browsing through one of my favorite slow cooker recipe books, Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook.  This will be my first time trying it but I have a good feeling about it.  I’ll post the outcome later.  

Menu #28

Turkey Noodle Soup

I hope everyone had a Thanksgiving to be grateful for!  I’m happy to say that the deep fried turkey worked out and was absolutely scrumptious!  We’ve had a great time with family, but it is definitely exhausting!  It’s been a whirlwind of activity since, with Black Friday shopping and taking X-man to his first ever NFL football game.  His first football game was such a great experience, and we have decided to make it an after-Thanksgiving tradition. 

This week’s menu is pretty much based off Thanksgiving Day leftovers, and here it is. . .

Monday:  Turkey Noodle Soup w/ corn muffins

The base of this soup is turkey stock that I made from the turkey bones, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, herbs, & peppercorns.  To make the soup, I sauté carrots, onions, garlic, & potatoes.  I then add bay leaves, the stock, and season with S&P and poultry seasoning.  When it comes to a boil, I add chopped up kale & noodles.  After 10 minutes of boiling, I add chopped up turkey meat and cook another 5 minutes until meat is warmed through.  It’s such a comforting soup!

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Creamy Tomato-Basil Sauce over Spaghetti Squash w/ garlic-cheese bread

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Tamales w/ black beans, Mexican brown rice, and salsa

I’ll be working all day at the winery, so hubby is in charge of dinner.  I have a bunch of shredded pork tamales that my aunt made stored in the freezer, so this should be easy for him to put together. 

Saturday:  Shepard's Pie w/ green salad & balsamic vinaigrette

For those of you who don't know about Shepard's Pie, it's a comforting dish of ground beef, carrots, peas, & onions in a brown gravy topped with mashed potatoes and baked.  For my Shepard's Pie, I top it off with a sweet potato-red potato mash and add parmesan cheese.  I'll post about it later.  :-)

Sunday:  Leftovers

Cranberry-Jalapeno Relish

Cranberry-Jalapeno Relish

2 oranges

2 jalapenos, seeded

3/4 C sugar

1 # cranberries

1 T fresh mint, finely chopped

Zest the oranges, peel them, and them coarsely chop them.

In a food processor bowl, pulse together 1/2 of the chopped oranges, zest, & jalapenos until finely chopped.  Add sugar and pulse a few more times.  Add cranberries and pulse until finely chopped. 

Pour into serving dish and add remaining chopped oranges & mint.  Mix together & enjoy!

Cornbread Stuffing Muffins

I made these kid-friendly mini stuffing muffins for X-man’s Feast Day at school.  My mom has made this cornbread stuffing as far back as I can remember, but she adds a lot more vegetables including lima beans, celery, onions, and olives.  I know how too many or unfamiliar vegetables scare kids, especially 4-year-olds, so I went with the oh so familiar peas, carrots, and corn.  J 

Cornbread Stuffing Muffins

12 cornbread muffins

1/2 C chicken broth

1/3 C frozen peas

1/3 C frozen diced carrots

1/3 C frozen corn

1 t poultry seasoning

S&P, tt

For the cornbread, I make muffins because they have more of the crusty edges which make stuffing yummy and they cool quicker.  Make them according to the package or just use store-bought. 

After the cornbread muffins are cooled, break it into crumbs. 

Add chicken broth a little at a time, until its completely moistened.  Mix in vegs & seasonings. 

Spoon stuffing mix into cupcake molds.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.