Mini Apple Pies

So I have been absent for a long time from here. Life.

We eat whatever I can conjure up on any given day, though I have a cauliflower and massive zucchini calling to be used.

Anyway, lately I have been obsessed with mini apple pies made in the muffin tin. I have the filling down now and the crust. My distress has come in the form of removing them without turning them to a pile of pie....

Suggestions? I might resort to a silicone muffin "tin" or muffin paper but that seems wrong for a pie.

October 24-30

Here's the menu for the week. It incluces a couple of stand bys because it's the end of the month and I'm crazy busy this week so I don't really have the energy to be trying new stuff.
Sun--German pancakes
Mon--Lasagna
Tues--Slow Cooker Mediteranean Chicken stew
Wed--Creamed Tuna
Thur--Chicken nuggets
Fri--Spaghetti
Sat--Ward Party
I'll post the recipe for the chicken stew later (it's been a long day and I don't feel like getting up and I can't find one similar to link to:)

Our Meals Oct 25-30

This is what we have planned for the week.

M- Pork Chops, Green Beans Almadine and Garlic Fries (Thanks Heather)
T- Green Enchiladas (Thanks Sally)
W-CrockPot Honey Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes
T-Chicken, Toasted Garlic & Veggie Pasta (recipe at end), I might use the leftover chicken from Wednesday
F- Spaghetti
S- Chili & Cornbread for a church Halloween party

Chicken, Toasted Garlic & Veggie Pasta  (from Rachel Ray)
(printer friendly recipe)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breast halves, chopped
1 lb pasta
1/4-1/3 olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lg onion, finely chopped
1 med green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt, to taste (about 1/4 tsp for me)
black pepper, to taste (about 1/4 tsp for me)
2 3/4 C chicken broth
1-10 oz box of frozen peas
1 small bag of frozen broccoli
3 T dried parsley
1 C grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 tsp sliced almonds, toasted (opt.)

1. In a medium skillet cook heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and cook chicken until golden brown.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, be sure to save about 1/2 C of the pasta water for the sauce.
3. In a large skillet heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat and add the sliced garlic.  Cook until golden brown, careful garlic goes from golden to black quickly.  Remove garlic to a paper towel lined plate. 
4. Turn the heat up to med-high and add the red pepper flakes, onion, green pepper, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook, being sure to stir frequently, until the onions and green pepper are tender and the onions start to brown.  Add the chicken stock and cook for about 4 minutes.  Add the peas, broccoli, cooked chicken and 1/2 C pasta water (if doing GF & regular pasta be sure to get water from the GF pasta pan).  Bring the sauce to a boil and add the parsley and garlic slices.  Stir to combine and taste to determine if it needs more salt and pepper, add if necessary.
5. Pour sauce over pasta and and stir to combine.  Add cheese and stir.  If the sauce is too thick you can add more chicken broth.  Pass cheese at the table for those who want more.

Just getting started...

OK, I'm just new to this blog. Thanks for the invite. I still don't have this week planned out, but can add as I make dinner. Here is this week's menu to this point.
Sunday - Grilled chicken with Crash Hot Potatoes
Monday - Peer leader fund raiser @ All American Pizza Grill
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Hamburger Stroganoff
Thursday - ??
Friday - ??
Saturday - ??

Anderson Meals for Oct 18-24

Monday: Sausage Spaghetti, corn and fruit salad

Tuesday: Hawaiian Haystacks, green salad

Wednesday: Tostadas

Thursday: Salad Bar

Friday: Green Chile Cheeseburgers with garlic fries

Saturday: Cuban Breakfast (Anadama Bread/toast), fried egg,

cuban black beans, bacon, and mango salsa) and

kale/carrot salad

Sunday: Pork Roast, green bean casserole

Thanks Natalie for the invite to join! I am always looking

for some new ideas.

Eames Meals for the Week

M - Honey Nut Stir Fry
T - Hot Dogs & Potato Logs

W - Chicken Pasta Bake (basically adding Chicken to this recipe)
T -  Enchiladas from Pioneer Woman
F - Potluck party with several of Brandon's USU students
S - Chili & Cornbread

October 17-23

So far, so good. All the new recipes have been a hit with most in the family and we have ended the week with a lot of yummy leftovers. So here is this weeks menu:
Sun--Crock Pot Honey-Rosemary Chicken (recipe at the end)--This one turned out really good and I imagine would work out great with some kind of pork roast. The kids thought I was cooking pork because of the smell. I almost always use rosemary with pork.
Mon--homemade pizza
Tues--Kielbasa Stew
Wed--Citrusy Black Beans
Th-Oriental Lettuce Wraps (I'll share the recipe next week if this turns out--I'm tweaking the original a bit so I don't want to share yet)
Fri--Fish sticks and home fries
Sat--leftovers
Crock Pot Honey-Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes (from the CSA recipe book)
5lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb potatoes, cut into cubes
2 med onions
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp rosemary, coarsely chopped (I used dried and it was fine)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Place the potatoes, onion, and garlic in a large crock pot, top with chicken. Stir together honey, juice, cornstarch, rosemary, salt and pepper in small bowl. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 4 on high.

I used chicken breasts and substituted sweet potato for half of the regular potatoes. I also thought the chicken breasts wouldn't produce enough "juice" so I added about half a cup of chicken broth before I added the sauce. The chicken breasts did get a little on the dry side, not too bad, but I think the thighs would be a little juicier. If I were to use a pork roast, I think I would put the meat in first. I also didn't use 5 lbs of meat, but closer to 2.

Thanks Sally!

First -- Love the redesign!

I have been thinking about this blog recently and how I wished I had new ideas. I am in such a slump. I have actually created a Menu Board

using my Silhouette with Vinyl Letters on the inside of the glass in the hopes of coming up with better ideas. I am still struggling. So, THANKS SALLY!!! I am going to invite some as well.

As you can see the above is our menu: In case you can't read my handwriting:

M-Hamburgers (Turkey Burgers) & Tater Tots

T - School Fundraiser at Tomato Cafe Restaurant (hopefully, there is something GF)

W - Chef's Salad

T- Quesadillas -- Brandon has been wanting me to make this Pizza Pocket one with tomatoes, hamburger, basil & provolone, I must admit it is to DIE for!

F - Mac & Cheese for the kids, I think we are going out.\

S - Pizza Pasta or my take on lasagna

Invite to some new people

I just invited a bunch of new people, who I know have some amazing cooking skills, so I thought I'd say what the idea of this blog originally was. This was started as motivation for me (selfish, I know) to keep up a weekly menu. The original idea was post a weekly menu, with any recipes or helpful hints to share. The original idea is still there...I, however, have been not the greatest at keeping up with it. I'm attempting to rectify that and get back in the saddle again.

You are invited to do the same or you can just post a recipe here and there. Any contribution is welcomed and so is anybody for that matter, so pass this on. Also, if you have any websites or blogs that you find useful, please share and I'll post a link on the sidebar. So have a go and let us know what you are cooking.

A New Recipe a Week

I've been in a funk lately...really since school got out, when it comes to cooking dinner. It's been the old stand bys week after week for a couple of months now, so this month I vowed to do something different (the post what's-for-dinner moan was getting a little old). I sat down at the beginning of the month surrounded by cook books and clipped out recipes, with the goal of coming up with one months menu with: 1. No repeats and 2. Very few old stand bys. This means a lot of new recipes to try out and I'll share the more successful ones with you. I also started doing my grocery shopping on Friday. I was getting really tired of having an empty pantry when it came to produce on Sunday.
Last weeks menu:
Sunday-Maple Roasted Chicken and veggies (recipe came via a Kroger mailer, but I couldn't find it on their site. The one linked is very similar, just red onions and add carrot pieces)--really it was just chicken thighs, sweet potato chunks, red onions and carrots with a mixture of maple syrup and olive oil poured over it and thyme sprinkled on top. Very yummy and Fall like.
Monday-Zucchini and Kielbasa--not a big hit with the family, but I loved it and it was very colorful. ( I switched on zucchini with a yellow squash)
Tuesday-Black bean and rice soup
Wednesday--spaghetti with homemade sauce
Thursday-Salmon and Spinach Latkes (recipe at the end)
Friday-Costco pizza
Saturday-now officially left over night

This weeks menu:
Sunday-Onion Egg Chicken
Monday-Green Enchiladas
Tuesday-Squash Soup
Wednesday-Homemade Mac and Cheese
Thursday-Oatmeal pancakes and fruit
Friday-Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe from last week (I'll pick one a week to share):
Salmon and Spinach Latkes
(from the recipe book I got when I joined a CSA this summer)
1 7oz can wild salmon
2 med potatoes
1 cup spinach-wilted or steamed
1 small onion
3 T flour
1 large egg
dash salt and pepper
oil
Grate potatoes and onion into bowl. Squeeze to drain off excess moisture. Squeeze moisture from spinach. Clean salmon. Mix all together and add flour, egg, salt and pepper. Works best to use your hands. Heat skillet on med to high with oil to coat bottom of pan. Make patties about 4 inches in diameter. Cook until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
--I only found a 14 oz can of salmon so I doubled this and it fed all of us with 3 leftover. Phil, Ethan, Clara and I really liked them. Jakob wasn't a fan of the spinach, but ate it without complaining. Sophia...well was being Sophia and took an hour to eat half of one.

This weeks recipe:
Green Enchiladas
(from a recipe that came in the box that the green Tabasco sauce I bought a couple of years ago come in)
1 lb fresh tomatillos (I'm going to look up exactly what these are because I'm curious about their story)
boiling salt water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup Tabasco green pepper sauce
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
10-12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Remove husks and rinse tomatillos; cook in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until softened; drain. (The skin starts to peel away when soft) Place tomatillos in food processor with onion, Tabasco sauce, cilantro and chicken broth; process until smooth.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add mixture and cook 5 minutes or till slightly thickened, stirring often (be careful pouring it in). Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.
To make enchiladas, dip tortilla in sauce and place about 2 tbsp of chicken across the middle (I scooped a little sauce on top of chicken--about 1 tbsp); roll up and place seam side down in a 13x9 baking dish. Pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a 350* oven for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
This one was very yummy! I need to come up with something better than plain rice to serve it with. Any suggestions?