Wow

so it's been a few days since

I had no menu plan last week

I sadly don't have much

to review so right into this week

MONDAY

Layered Chicken and Black Bean Casserole

or something like this

Salad

TUESDAY

Grilled Cheese

Tomato Soup

Veggies

WEDNESDAY

BBQ Chicken

Potatoes

Roast Veggies

Salad

THURSDAY

Spaghetti Bake

Salad

FRIDAY

Taco Salad

SATURDAY

Pizza Cut

Veggies

SUNDAY

Simple

Simple

Simple

As always

be sure to check out

The Organizing Junkie

for many more menu plan ideas each Monday

We Pause to bring you cuteness at the park

It was a beautiful
and mild day
so we headed to
a new park
we all had a great time

Baked Fries

I'm not sure to
what to tell you
I fell behind
in my posting
during our sick week
and now I'm lazy

so here is a fast
little throw together
for the 4 of us

2 Yukon potatoes
cut into the
fry shape you like best
salt & pepper
garlic salt
onion salt
Parmesan cheese
grape seed oil


toss is all together
get all the pieces
coated nice with
all the goodness


place parchment paper
on the baking sheet
lay the fries out evenly

Bake at 400
stirring a few times
until they are done
to the crispness that you enjoy


add the ketchup
and enjoy

Asian Noodle Soup

1- 8 ounce package of rice noodles
2 boxes Chicken Stock
2 cups water
¼ cup soy sauce
a one inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 2 pieces
2 cups cook chicken, diced
2 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
1 onion diced
3 ribs celery diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 1/2 cups diced mushrooms

heat the chicken broth
soy sauce and ginger

add the garlic
and the onion
continuing to simmer

add the cut mushrooms

add the celery
and the cooked chicken

I added one cup
of the coleslaw
and let the soup
cook for an hour
to let the flavours
mingle into goodness

I removed the ginger
added the noodles
and let this cook
until the noodles were tender
add the last cup of coleslaw

this was a very
good soup
and perfect for
the sickness we had last week
everyone really enjoyed it
if you like it spicy
you can add some hot sauce
for extra kick and flavour

Menu Plan Monday

I should just copy
my menu plan from
last week to this week

A terrible flu
hit our home
last week
I managed to make
the Asian Chicken Soup
and it was good
as well as much needed
for our sickness
I'll be posting the
recipe this coming week


other then this soup
our meals
were toast
a meal from the freezer
and not a whole lot else
but my energy is up
so I hope to get
back into the swing
of cooking for my family

MONDAY

CrockPot Salsa Chicken
in wraps
Salad

TUESDAY

BBQ Meatballs
Rice
Salad

WEDNESDAY

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Rice
Salad

THURSDAY

Ham Dinner
Harvest Potatoes
Salad

FRIDAY

Mushroom and Spinach Quesadilla
cut veggies

SATURDAY

Ham Quiche
Salad

SUNDAY

simple
simple
simple

As always
every Monday
head over to the
Organizing Junkie
for many more menu ideas

The Best Ever Frosting

I wouldn't say
that this is my
favorite type of frosting
I prefer a cream cheese frosting

However
this frosting is
really very yummy
even if you get it
all over your face

The Best Ever Frosting

5 Tablespoons Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

In a small saucepan
whisk flour into milk
and heat, stirring constantly
until it thickens


You want it to be very thick
thicker than cake mix
more like a brownie mix is
Remove from heat
let it cool to room temperature
It must be completely cool
before you use it in the next step
Stir in vanilla.


While the mixture is cooling
cream the butter and sugar together
until light and fluffy
You don’t want any sugar graininess left


Then add the completely
cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture


beat the living daylights out of it
If it looks separated
you haven’t beaten it enough!
Beat it until it all combines
and resembles whipped cream.
you can add food coloring
at this point also


then put the yummy frosting
onto the cupcakes
and let the kids decorate


then let them dig in
and enjoy

Chocolate Cupcakes

I normally wouldn't
pick a recipe with
so much sugar
but for my girly's birthday
why not!

The Best Chocolate Cupcakes
click on the link
for the original recipe

2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
1 cup Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

In a mixing bowl
combine flour, sugar, and salt


In a saucepan, melt butter
add cocoa
stir together
add boiling water
allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds
then turn off heat


Pour over flour mixture


and stir lightly to cool


In a measuring cup
pour the buttermilk
and add beaten eggs
baking soda and vanilla


Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture


put cupcake wrappers
in the muffin tins
this made 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes
be sure to let
the birthday girl
lick the spoon after


bake at 350
for 20 minutes
or until a toothpick
inserted comes out clean
then you can make a craft
while they cool


after these cooled
we topped them with
The Best Frosting Ever
I'll post that tomorrow
but these cupcakes
were wonderful
certainly one of
the best I've made

Veggie Chow Mien - Take 2

I discovered the secret
to a better Chow Mien
a good pan
how easy is that
my previous pan
was stainless steel
and everything would stick

I purchased an inexpensive wok
and it has made all the difference
I added some sesame oil to the hot pan


then I added garlic and onion
along with all my vegetables
I was using this time
you can really use any
kind that you prefer
the more color the better
the pan will be hot
so you will need to keep moving
everything around


I added just a splash of soy sauce
and about 3 tablespoons
of hoisin sauce
there are so many ways
you could go with adding sauce
I just kept it simple


I boiled my noodles
for 3 minutes
rather than the 4 minutes
that the package suggested
this was the perfect
amount of time for the noodles
then drained them
and added them to the veggies


I let the noodles
cook for a few minutes
stirring everything together
I didn't want soggy noodles
like last time
I really think that
the new wok
made all the difference
this was super fantastic


I served this up with
the Honey Garlic Chicken


this dish would work
well with left over meat
of any kind
diced up and added
I really like Chow Mien
next time I will have
to try something new with it