Weekly menu week of 3/1

Its so hard to believe its March already! I want to take a moment from our regular scheduled programming and say that I am so blessed to have my husband and our family! He proposed to me a year ago today and I can't say enough how happy I am that he did and that I am married to him! He is a wonderful man, and I am so happy that we are married and living our life together!

Crock Pot Monday: Estofado (Southwestern Beef Stew) p.331 Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Tuesday: Chicken Tetrazzini

Wednesday: Yummy Turkey Sandwiches

Thursday: Leftovers for the teen, training then Hang with the Gang (Team In training) for hubby and me!

Friday: Make your own pizza night

That's what I've got! A few new ones, a couple family faves. How about your plan this week? Anything new you're trying?

Crockpot Monday

Since Mondays are nutty around my house (the little guy has karate and we rush home for dinner and bedtime), Mondays have become Crockpot Mondays around my house. I search the web, my cookbooks, and other sources to find fun and creative ways to use my beautiful new crockpot! (After a couple weeks of burning dinner, my husband took the initiative and bought me a beautiful programmable one to replace my cracked dinosaur!)

This week's crockpot recipe came from my newest cookbook, called Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

I will let you know how it turns out! I also wanted to know if any of you have favorite crock pot recipes you'd like to share.

So many breads, so little time!

I think I mentioned not too long ago that my much-loved mother-in-law is the person I go to with questions about cooking. She is awesome in the kitchen, and many of my loved special recipes come from her! I am so thankful for our friendship! Her latest cookbook suggestion to me was a book called Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day. I ended up purchasing their second edition, called Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. This book is my new favorite cookbook! I made the master loaf before we left for vacation, and baked bread before we left. Yesterday, we did a lunch for my husband's birthday, and I pulled out the remaining loaf and made garlic knots. When my dad sat down to eat, he asked where I bought them. "My oven" was the reply he got.

Before you rush out to get this book, (because I think you should)please understand its more like 5 minutes hands on time a day. It needs to rest about 30 minutes before you bake each recipe. That said, I'm thinking this is the best thing since sliced bread! I am going to back some sandwich bread today, and maybe make the broccoli and cheddar clovers for tomorrow's lunch. Then, there's sandwich rolls and the cinnamon crescent rolls with cream cheese icing. Oh, when will I have all this time to make all of them?! I'll keep you updated on my progress.

What is your latest cookbook find that you just can't wait to try everything in?

Vacation and next week's meal plan

We had a great time on vacation! The hotel had a small kitchen that we were able to use a couple times. Thank goodness for Trader Joes! He hit there first thing Monday morning. We picked up munchies, cereal, milk, and stuff for a couple dinners. Trader Joe's now has mini burgers already haped. I wouldn't get them at home, but while using a much scaled-down kitchen at the resort, it was quite handy. I also managed to make spaghetti sauce, which we had over raviolis. It wasn't the normal fare I make, but it was edible!

And, we were home for less than 24 hours, and I made quite a spread to celebrate my wonderful husband's birthday with our boys and my in-laws. (I'll post the recipes and pictures of that in a bit!)

So, you ask, what's on the menu for going back to work this week?

Tonight, I plan to make another batch of bread dough so we can have fresh bread throughout the week.

Crockpot Monday: Spanish Brown Rice with Spicy Sausage (p.153 Not Your Mother's Cookbook) I'll serve parmesan broccoli with it.

Tuesday: enchiladas

Wednesday: tortellini with spinach, fresh herbs, and prosciutto

Thursday: leftovers for my stepson and dinner out after my track workout with my hubby

Friday: sloppy joes

Saturday: special dinner for hubby for his actual birthday! I'll be cooking all day while he's at work!

Have a great week, everyone!

Sick kiddo at home

I planned to get my menu plan up on Sunday night, but I got a call from my son's dad saying that my son had a nasty cough, so my husband and I ran over to my school to get my sub plans ready for the next day. I'm home again today with a sick kiddo. My poor little man- he's got a nasty cough and that sick look in his eyes. Being an almost 6 year old boy, he gets bursts of energy, then collapses. I'm trying to keep him calm with movies and games, so we'll see.

Last night, I used my new crockpot (hubby got me a programmable one since mine cracked, and I was burning dinner on karate night) I made lemon chicken I made a couple changes to the recipe though. I added rice vinegar instead of balsamic, and I used tomato paste with added water instead of ketchup. It was good, but I want to play with it again and see if I can make it better!

Tonight, I really want to bake some homemade bread, so we'll see if that happens! Hubby asked for tacos, so I am compromising and making this I haven't made that one in a long time, so it will be fun to do again.

Wednesday night, I'm going to make corn chowder and we'll have homemade bread with it.

Thursday is leftovers

Friday we'll have homemade pizza.

Next week, we will be heading out for vacation. We're staying at a resort that has a kitchen in the room. I think we will probably eat breakfast and lunch in the room, we'll see what I can stir up!