Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Grilled lamb chops with mint sauce, baked potatoes and corn

Tuesday: Chili dogs, fries

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Pork stir fry

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Monday, May 18, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Mango chicken stir fry with coconut jasmine rice

Tuesday: Italian sausage spaghetti

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Going to Tulsa as Randal's brother passed away.  Will eat with family.

Friday: With family in Tulsa.
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Cream Cheese Chip Dip

This recipe was my mother in law Arlene's.  I never got to meet her as she died when Randal was 17, however I have come to know her through the box of recipes that belonged to her and now to us.  The box is filled with my husbands favourite childhood meals and snacks, and we regularly make many of her recipes, especially her meatloaf and this chip dip that Randal grew up eating.

This dip is one of the first things that Randal ever made for me when I came to visit him here in the states for a week, crazy to think that was 13 years ago now.  I remember wanting to go home and make this for my family but we didn't have miracle whip in England, so I couldn't quite replicate it, and it does not taste the same with mayonnaise, we found that out the hard way recently when Randal grabbed the mayo and used that without realising!


8oz cream cheese
1/3 cup milk
4 tbsp miracle whip

Place cream cheese in a bowl and beat until smooth.  Add the milk gradually while whisking until very smooth and shiny.  Add in the miracle whip and whisk together.  Serve with chips.


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Monday, May 11, 2015

Menu Plan Monday

 





Monday: Spag bol, salad and garlic bread

Tuesday: Cranberry pork roast, red potatoes and green beans

Wednesday: Mango chicken stir fry with coconut jasmine rice

Thursday: Cuban sliders and fries

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Sunday, May 10, 2015

SRC - Steak Grilled Cheese with Beer Braised Onions

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal,  this month I was assigned the blog Wildflours Cottage Kitchen.  I usually send my assigned blog to my husband and have him help pick the recipe, but this time I found so many things I wanted to make on Kelly's blog that were right up our alley that I didn't need any help!

I somehow managed to narrow down my list to these pub style steak sandwichesKorean bbq pork chops and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  The steak sandwiches won over the others, because for one, being English I love pub food and have spent many an hour in the pub, and I also love the combination of beer and cheese and as this recipe combined both of those things I knew it was the winner!

For any kind of grilled sandwich I have found that the best bread to use is English toasting bread, it is a little dryer and stiffer than regular white bread and always grills up nice and crispy and holds up to all the fillings of the sandwich.  I left Randal in charge of the steak and he decided to grill one of our favourites, a flat iron steak that we sliced up and it worked out perfectly.  These were fantastic and we will be having these again soon!


1 flat iron steak
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Onions:
1 large onion, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dark brown sugar
1/4 cup beer

Other ingredients:
4 slices
English toasting bread
4 slices provolone cheese
4 slices havarti cheese
4 tbsp butter

For the steak, mix together the salt, pepper and garlic powder and coat the steak on both sides.  Grill the steak for around 8 minutes each side.  Leave to rest.

To make the onions, in a large pan, melt the butter, add the onions, seasonings and beer and cook until caramelized, about 15-20 minutes.

To assemble the sandwiches, slice the steak against the grain.  On 2 slices of the bread, place a slice of each of the cheeses, pile on the steak, top with onions and the remaining cheese slices.

On a heated griddle, add 2 tablespoons butter, once melted place the sandwiches on the griddle.  Butter the top bread slice and leave to toast until golden brown, flip and toast the other side of the sandwiches.   

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Monday, May 4, 2015

Honey Bun Coffee Cake

Today I ended up having a very rare and unexpected day off from daycare, because it was so unexpected I hadn't planned on baking a cake today, but I was wasting some time on pinterest and this coffee cake ended up on my screen.  As I have mentioned a few times I am loving all things cinnamon lately, so I saw that cinnamon sugar layer in this cake, checked the ingredients and realised I had everything I needed, and practically ran to the kitchen to throw it together.

This cake is made with a few simple ingredients, comes together very quickly, actually the most difficult part was waiting for it to cool down enough so I could try it!


1 yellow cake mix
8 oz sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

glaze:
2 cups icing sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs and oil.

Spread half of the cake batter into the baking dish.   Cover with the cinnamon sugar.  Top with the remaining cake batter.  Bake for 40 minutes.

When the cake is baked, make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar, milk and vanilla together.  Pour over the warm cake and leave to cool.

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Menu Plan Monday

 

Monday: Bacon, eggs and cinnamon roll pancakes

Tuesday: Hot dogs, fries and corn on the cob

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: BLT's and tomato soup

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Friday, May 1, 2015

Cinnamon Bun Pie

I think I have a little obsession with the recipes in the Momofuku Milk Bar book.  The best cake I have ever made is their chocolate malt cake, and the liquid cheesecake is amazing, not to mention the cereal milk or the cornflake crunch. 

Lately I have been loving all things cinnamon, so this seemed like the perfect time to try the cinnamon pie.  The original cinnamon bun pie was created using dough leftover from making cinnamon rolls, but I made the dough specifically for this pie. I am quickly finding out that I love any Momofuku recipe that has liquid cheesecake in it!



Dough:
3 1/2 cups bread flour  
1 tbsp salt
3.5 g active dried yeast
1 3/4 cups) room temperature water
grapeseed oil

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add in the flour, salt, yeast and water.  Mix with the dough hook for about 5 minutes, until smooth.  Brush a large bowl with oil, transfer the dough to the greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 45 minutes, until doubled.

Liquid cheesecake:
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp milk
1 egg

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and beat for 2 minutes, until smooth.  Add in the sugar and beat to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk.  Add in the cornstarch and salt and stir together.  Pour into the cream cheese mixture and beat for a few minutes.

Grease a 6 inch round cake pan, pour in the liquid cheesecake and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are set but the middle still jiggles.

Cinnamon streusel:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, sugar and salt.  Pour in the melted butter and vanilla and mix until small clusters form.

Cinnamon bun pie:
1/2 recipe of dough
3 tbsp flour
1/4 cup brown butter
1 recipe liquid cheesecake
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 recipe cinnamon streusel

Preheat oven to 350.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to around 11 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick.  

Place the dough into a pie pan.  Pour half the brown butter over the dough, spread on half the liquid cheesecake, followed by the remaining brown butter.  Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Carefully spread the remaining liquid cheesecake over the pie, then top with the streusel.

Bake for 40 minutes, until the dough is baked through but the center still jiggles slightly.

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