Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Randal's off work, so he's cooking - steaks, baked potatoes and peas

Tuesday: Chicken and dumplings casserole, baked apples and cranberries

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner - bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns and toast

Thursday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese

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

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Spag bol and salad

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Chicken and rice bake, salad

Thursday:  Thanksgiving - Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce.

Friday: Thanksgiving leftovers
 
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

I loved the idea of this stuffed cabbage casserole recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen.  Randal would never eat cabbage just as a vegetable side dish, but it's one of my favourite vegetables but I hardly ever make it just for me.  So I was surprised and very happy that Randal not only ate this casserole but he actually really liked it.

 

 

1 lb  ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can petite dice tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

 

Brown the ground beef in a large frying pan.  Drain the beef and set aside.

Add the olive oil to the pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, thyme and paprika and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water and the ground beef and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the meat mixture simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core and chop the cabbage coarsely. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks.  Season cabbage with salt and black pepper.

Add 2 cups of cooked rice to the meat mixture. Spray a casserole dish with non stick cooking spray and add half the cabbage followed by half the meat mixture, then the remaining cabbage and the rest of the meat mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil, cover with cheese and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Honey Glazed Carrots

Just a simple glazed carrot recipe that is very quick and easy to prepare, but makes a really delicious side dish.

1 1/2 lbs carrots

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

 

Peel and slice carrots, place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

 

In a saute pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add honey and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon juice and gently stir in carrots, coating well. Continue heating, gently stirring, until carrots are hot and glazed.

Pumpkin Sage Browned Butter Quick Bread

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal. This month I was assigned Julie's blog Little Bit of Everything.  Julie has so many great recipes on her blog and I spent a lot of time looking through them all.  I finally decided on the Pumpkin Sage Browned Butter Quick Bread as November is the perfect month to make a pumpkin recipe, and I don't make quick breads often so it would be something new for us. 

This is a really great pumpkin quick bread and I loved the browned butter and the addition of the sage.   Julie made her bread into 8 mini loaves but I didn't have mini loaf pans, so I made just one large pumpkin bread.

 

  

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh sage, thiny sliced
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350

Spray a bread pan with non stick cooking spray.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan, add the sage strips, and cook for 5 minutes, or until the butter is golden brown.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
In a seperate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar and eggs. Whisk in the browned butter with sage.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Pour mixture into bread pan, place on a baking sheet and bake for 50-55 minutes. 

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Country club chicken

Tuesday:  Chili con carne

Wednesday: Spag bol and salad

Thursday:  Green chili tamales

Friday: Pizza with the girls
 
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

It's November 7th, so it's time for another Crazy Cooking Challenge.  It is also one of mine and Randal's anniversaries today, we met on November 7th 2000.  November is a bit of a scary month for Randal because he has 3 anniveraries to remember (we met on November 7th 2000, became officially a couple on the 17th 2001 and I came to America on the 27th 2002) and I make my poor husband remember them all!

  Anyway, back to the challenge. This months theme is stuffing and to be honest I have never made stuffing from scratch before.  Growing up in England, stuffing was part of our traditional sunday roast dinner, but it was always sage and onion paxo.  I still love the smell of that stuff - one of my guilty pleasures!

I spent quite a bit of time searching for a stuffing recipe that Randal might like (as he never eats the stuff!) and once I found Paula Deen's recipe made with Hawaiian sweet bread, apples and cranberries I knew I had to make it.  I changed the recipe a little, I added sausage so it would appeal to Randal more and I added some herbs.  We both actually liked the flavour of this, so I would say that my first attempt at homemade stuffing was a success.

8 cups Hawaiian sweet bread, cubed and toasted
1lb Italian sausage
1 cup dried cranberries
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 granny smith apples, chopped
3 large eggs
1 can cream of celery soup
2 1/2 tsp dried sage
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl, combine chicken broth and cranberries and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and celery, sage, thyme, rosemary and sausage. Cook for 5 minutes. Add apples and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.

Beat 3 eggs in a separate bowl. Add salt and pepper.

In the large bowl with vegetables, stir in chicken broth mixture, celery soup, and cinnamon. Add toasted bread, stirring gently to combine. Add eggs. Spoon mixture into prepared dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until center is set.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Herb roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans

Tuesday:  Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Wednesday: pork chops, baked potato and salad

Thursday:  Spag bol, fresh green beans

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

Cherry Pepsi Ribs

I am not really a fan of bbq sauce, but Randal loves it so anytime I can add things to it to change up the flavour, it makes us both happy. These cheery pepsi ribs were great, Randal even said they were the best ribs I've ever made.



Pork baby back ribs

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 cup bbq sauce

12oz cherry pepsi

1/4 cup cherry preserves

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp hot sauce

Preheat oven to 275.

In a medium saucepan, combine the pepsi, cherry preserves, hot sauce, mustard and bbq sauce.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Season the ribs with the salt, pepper and ginger. Brush the bbq sauce onto the ribs, cover with foil and bake for 4 hours, basting the ribs every hour with the bbq sauce.