chicken tender variation

Yesterday for dinner I made Honey-Mustard Sesame Chicken. The kids especially like the chicken with honey mustard so I thought this would be perfect. I did not add the almonds to the coating and it turned out just fine. Another advantage, once the chicken was lightly browned, I moved it to a warm oven to continue cooking. It was a day when dinner was ready before my husband was getting home (ever have those nights?) and the chicken stayed moist until we were all ready to sit and eat. We also had home fries and corn on the cob.

Just a Side Dish

One method I use to keep track of everyone for the week is a family planner that is posted on the refrigerator. I keep dinners also on the planner so that I can stay organized and the kids can just see what is for dinner without asking me 100 times. I was running out of the Disney weekly planner sheets I bought last year when I saw an add for The Polka Dot Press. My new planner sheets came in the mail yesterday and they are adorable!!! And they are custom made for my family. Check out the link- the service is fantastic and the products are great.

I was not serving dinner today because my mother-in-law was cooking. Yay! Especially because I woke up with a cold and sore throat. I did manage to make a side dish and the weekly soup for lunches, and biscuits for quick breakfasts.

The side dish was spiced acorn squash. It was yummy with the browned butter. I may mash the leftovers for another side dish later this week.

The soup was vegetarian and the recipe made enough for my family and a friend. I did have to make changes because I did not have tomato paste (and I rarely run out of tomato paste). I used a little less of the water and substituted with a can of diced tomatoes. I also added a little hot sauce at the end.

The last prep I made today was sausage buscuits. I trippled the recipe so that I can freeze the extra and just heat them when needed in the morning. My husband and I did have one for breakfast- yummy!

Pizza

If you have been reading this blog, you have noticed that I often serve steak and cheese. I mixed things up a little this time. I made cheese steak pizza. It always helps to mix up things your kids like and will eat. I broke us and cooked some minute steaks in the pan, added them to a prepared pizza crust and added cheese. A little baking time and a salad, dinner was complete.

I did want to try something a little more sophisicated for my husband and myself. I hope to have a tested recipe in the future, but for now, this is what I tried.

I used the steaks and instead of American cheese, used Gorgonzola cheese and red onions. When the pizza was done I topped lightly with a horseraddish topping that was a creamy mixture of horseraddish, sourcream and heavy cream. I still need to work on the proportions as the finished product was tasty, but a little strong for the average palate. I'll keep you posted.

Weekend of entertaining

I usually do not entertain the entire weekend, but I may start to do so more often. On Friday, I hosted a women's party, so the friends were at the house for a demonstration and shopping. My menu included:
Marmalade Meatballs (recipe linked)
Taco Dip (recipe below)
Black Bean Salsa (recipe below)
Pizza (store bought)
Vegetable Crudites
Assorted Cheese and Crackers
Buttermilk Breakfast Cake (recipe linked)

Saturday was football day at my house. Some of the women from Friday were coming along with husbands and kids. I had the salsa, vegetables, meatballs, and cheese and crackers do double duty. New for Saturday's menu:
Hot dogs with fresh corn relish
Pizza dip and Black bean dip, provided by a friend
Hoagies, provided by another friend

Seems like a lot to host, but the advantage was that my house was already set up with a table in the kitchen for the beverage area, dining room table for serving food, dining chairs scattered where needed and an exra table for the demonstration on Friday and eating on Saturday! A little vacum in between days, and one major cleanup. Worked very well!

Black Bean Dip

1/2 cup each red onion, red pepper, and green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes with jalapenos, drained
1/2 large tomato, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon Adobo with pepper
1/2 cup frozen corn

Combine all ingredients and chill- preferable overnight. Serve with tortilla chips.


Taco Dip

Layer #1

8 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup each sour cream and mayonnaise
Adobo powder with pepper to taste

Beat cream cheese, sour cream and maoynnaise until smooth. Spread onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with adobo powder. Refrigerate.

Layer #2

1 pound ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1- 8 oz. can tomato sauce

Brown the ground beef; drain excess fat. Add taco seasoning mix and tomato sauce to the pan and cook until heated through. Cool.

Toppings

Spread the ground beef mixture on top of the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with shredded Cheddar cheese. Top with: shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, sliced jalapeno peppers, green and/or red peppers, olives, or anything else you like.

Serve with tortilla chips.

I often make this dip for tailgating. I use 2 small aluminum pans spread with the cream cheese, ground beef, and cheese. I pack the toppings in separate plastic bags and add the toppings when ready to serve. The smaller pans fit into coolers easily and it allows to have two servings served at safe temperatures in warm weather.

What is available...

Tonight is the beginning of dance lessons for my oldest daughter, the boys have football practice, and I work late on Thursday nights.

Thursdays become leftover buffet night and we eat when it is convenient to our schedule. The family can choose from barbecued meatballs, potato salad, pasta salad, grilled chicken, or ham sandwiches. My oldest will go with the time tested standard: peanut butter and jelly.

I grocery shop on either Friday or Saturday so this is a good way to clean out the refrigerator for the next batch of food.