Monday, May 27, 2013

Menu Plan Monday



Monday: Randal's cooking - fried pork chops, mashed potatoes and cream gravy

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Pizza burgers and corn on the cob

Thursday: Beef stroganoff

Friday: Eating out

  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie


Sunday, May 26, 2013

Quesadilla Casserole

I made this casserole to go with the red rice and beans, it is a very quick and easy recipe to make, although I was a little concerned about the tortillas getting soggy it was a really great dinner that we both enjoyed.


1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
16 oz tomato sauce
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1 can green chilies
6 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Brown beef and onion in a large skillet on medium-high.  Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chilies.  Mix well.  Stir in all of the spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat low and simmer 5 minutes. 
Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 9 by 13 pan. Top with 3 of the tortillas, layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese.  Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef and cheese. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through.



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Red Rice

Randal loves rice and would be perfectly happy eating the same kind of riceover and over.  I prefer to try new recipes so this is how we ended up with this red rice with dinner last week.  The Goya seasoning packets are new for us, but I actually did like them and they definitely provided the red colour to the red rice.


2 cups rice
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can tomato sauce
2 packets Goya sazon cilantro and tomato
1 tbsp Goya all purpose seasoning
1 can white beans
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 cups water
2 tbsp oil

In a large frying pan add the oil and the diced onion, cook for a few minutes until onion softens.  Turn the heat to high add the rice and fry until the rice turns white.  Add in the tomato sauce, water, white beans, oregano and seasonings.  Cover the pan, reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Menu Plan Monday



Monday: Chicken parmesan, salad

Tuesday: Pepper steak and jasmine rice

Wednesday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Thursday: Beef tamales and red rice

Friday: Eating out

  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie


Sunday, May 19, 2013

Beef Stew with Suet Dumplings

I grew up eating really amazing beef and lamb stews that my mum used to make.  I have tried many times over the years to make her stew but nothing tastes quite like the stews of my childhood.

I took inspiration for this stew from a Jamie Oliver recipe, so this isn't exactly the same as my mum's (hers doesn't have wine in it) and I changed up Jamie's recipe to include the vegetables we like.  You can make this stew on the stove or in a slow cooker, I usually make stew on the stove but I recently started doing in home daycare again and so I have been using my slow cooker more.


2 lbs stewing steak
1 onion
1/2 butternut squash peeled and diced
4 parsnips
4 small potatoes
4 carrots
1/2 bottle red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 cups beef stock
1 tsp worcester sauce
1 garlic clove
1 tsp rosemary
salt and pepper

Dumplings
4 oz self raising flour
2 oz vegetable suet
3 tbsp water
salt

Place the sliced onion, butternut squash, peeled and quartered potatoes and peeled and sliced carrots into the bottom of the slow cooker, season with salt and pepper.  Add in the tomato paste, minced garlic, rosemary and worcester sauce.

Cube the beef and add it to the slow cooker, season with salt and pepper, pour over the red wine and beef stock.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

To make the dumpling, in a small bowl mix together the flour, suet and salt.  Add the water and mix until the dough is soft and slightly sticky, add more water if it seems too dry.  Divide into 8 balls, and add to the top of the stew, place the lid back on the slow cooker and leave to cook for 20 minutes, until light and fluffy.

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Monday, May 13, 2013

Menu Plan Monday



Monday: Piri Piri chicken

Tuesday: Pepper steak and jasmine rice

Wednesday: Chicken pot pie and salad

Thursday: Beef tamales and red rice

Friday:
Zuppa toscana soup
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie


Sunday, May 12, 2013

Frozen Strawberry Dessert

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal. This month I was assigned the blog Grandma Loy's Kitchen.  There are so many great recipes on her blog that as usual I got Randal to help make the final decision. I sent him a shortlist including chinese filled buns, baked cream cheese spaghetti and swedish meatballs.  In the end though we both thought that this frozen strawberry dessert looked really good, and was something that was new to us. I did make a few changes, the original recipe used chocolate graham crackers, I didn't have those so I just used the regular graham crackers.  I also added some vanilla to both the cream cheese layer and the whipped cream.


1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 brick cream cheese softened
1 cup icing sugar
8 oz cool whip, thawed
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
16 oz fresh strawberries, pureed
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla, divided

Preheat oven to 375.

In a bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, flour and melted butter.  Press into a foil lined 9 x 13 baking pan and bake for 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and icing sugar, beat together.  Add in one teaspoon of vanilla and mix.  Fold in the cool whip.  Spread onto the cooled crust and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the strawberries into a blender and puree.  Add in the sweetened condensed milk and blend together.  Whisk the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, add in the one teaspoon of vanilla and fold the cream into the strawberry mixture.  Spread over the cream cheese layer and cover with wax paper, refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving.
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Monday, May 6, 2013

Menu Plan Monday



Monday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese

Tuesday: Beef stew and dumplings

Wednesday: Salsa chicken and rice

Thursday: Chicken tikka, jasmine rice

Friday: Eating out

  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie