Menu Plan Monday

 Monday: Pizza burgers and potato salad

Tuesday: Tuna and corn stuffed baked potatoes

Wednesday: Randal has a dinner meeting

Thursday: Lasagna and salad

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

Menu Plan Monday

 Monday: Coronation Chicken Sandwiches

Tuesday: Greek cinnamon stewed chicken with orzo

Wednesday: Sailsbury steak meatballs, noodles and peas (still have not made these)

Thursday: Lasagna and salad

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

Mascarpone Chive Mashed Potatoes

I recently made some tiramisu cupcakes and I had some mascarpone cheese left in the fridge with no idea of what to do with it, so I went looking for recipes that used mascarpone and when I found these mashed potatoes from easy everyday eats  I knew they would be perfect with the meatballs I was making for dinner. 

I really cannot say enough good things about these potatoes, even Randal who wouldn't normally even want to eat mascarpone cheese loved them, and declared them the best mashed potatoes I have ever made.

3 lbs russet potatoes
2 bay leaves
Chicken broth
8 oz mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chives

Peel and slice the potatoes, place in a large saucepan with enough chicken broth to cover the potatoes add the bay leaves and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until tender.

Drain cooked potatoes and discard the bay leaves.  Mash the potatoes, adding the butter, salt, pepper and mascarpone cheese.  Stir in the chopped chives and serve.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

These cheeseburger meatballs have been top of Randal's list of meals for me to make for a while.  I finally got around to making them and I am glad I did, they really do taste like a cheeseburger and we loved them, so did the 3 year old I watch, she ran off with my leftovers the next day.  Randal decided to top some with some sliced cheese to make them even more cheeseburger like, and I actually think we preferred them that way!

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
6 slices bacon, chopped
3 tbsp dill pickles, chopped
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, cubed
1/2 cup panko

Preheat oven to 425.

Fry the bacon until crisp, remove from pan and set aside. Add the onion to the pan with the bacon fat and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.  Add the garlic, cook for another minute, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the ground beef, egg, mustard, ketchup, pickles, salt and pepper, mix together.  Add in the cooled onion, the cooked bacon, cheese and panko, mix together and form into meatballs and place on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, until browned and cooked through.

Jalapeno Popper Pasta

This recipe was my other choice for this months secret recipe club.  My assigned blog was Amy's Cooking Adventure and while I ended up going with the champagne cupcakes I still went ahead and made this jalapeno popper pasta as Randal really wanted to try it.  I couldn't find jalapeno cream cheese in the store, so I used plain cream cheese and added a diced fresh jalapeno to it. 

12 oz cooked pasta
3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1/2 lb bacon, diced
8 oz cream cheese
1 large jalapeno, diced
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup panko

Preheat oven to 350.

Fry the bacon until crisp, set aside.  Add the onion to the pan with the bacon fat and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.  Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add in the cream cheese and jalapeno and stir until the cream cheese softens.

Whisk the milk into the pan, add one cup of the cheese and stir until melted.

Place the chicken and pasta into a baking dish.  Pour the cream cheese sauce into the pan.  Top with the remaining cheese and panko.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

 Monday: Pizza and salad

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Sailsbury steak meatballs, noodles and peas

Thursday: Chicken tikka, jasmine rice and naan

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

SRC - Champagne Cupcakes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I was assigned the blog Amy's Cooking Adventures. As I usually do when I get my assigned blog I go straight for the dessert recipes, and I have to say that Amy is an amazing baker, her cake decorating skills are amazing and I wish I were half as talented.  I was really torn between these champagne cupcakes and the jalapeno popper pasta  because Randal really wanted to try that one, so in the end I made both but decided on the cupcakes for the official SRC post, the pasta will be posted soon as it was another great recipe. 

I did make one slight change to the original recipe, as I had some raspberry puree in the fridge that I needed to use, so I added some to the frosting.

  

 

Champagne Cupcakes:

2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup champagne

Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a small bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the sugar, oil and egg and beat together.  

Add half the flour mixture to the bowl and mix just until combined.

Add the champagne and vanilla and mix.

Add the remaining flour, mixing until combined.

Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Raspberry Champagne Butter cream:

1/2 cup butter

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/2 tbsp meringue powder

4 tbsp champagne

1/4 cup raspberry puree

pinch of salt

To make the frosting, add the butter and icing sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer, beat until smooth.  Add in the meringue powder, salt, champagne and raspberry puree and beat for a few minutes until fully combined.

Frost the cupcakes with the champagne raspberry frosting and add a few fresh raspberries for decoration.

An InLinkz Link-up

Menu Plan Monday

 Monday: Chili dogs and fries

Tuesday: Sweet and sour pork, fried rice and egg rolls

Wednesday: Sailsbury steak meatballs, noodles and peas

Thursday: Our 11th anniversary, going out to eat

Friday: Going to Austin for the weekend
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie