Menu Plan July 18- 24

Last week's menu went a little off track.  I had to shift some things around two of the nights.  A friend asked us to come to the pool and have a picnic dinner so I used the chicken I had for the chicken and wild rice casserole and fried it for the picnic.  I am flexible.  The Turkey Tostadas were the hit of the week.  Mr. Homegrown said "they are killer".  That is a compliment.  I had enough of the meat mixture left over that the next night I made Campfire Taco Salad.  String Beane and Butter Beane thought I was really cool.  They ate it up and loved eating out of a Frito Bag! The sausage pancakes are a family favorite and even little Jelly Beane got to gum some.  The  Taco Skillet Recipe was not as well received.  I liked it and Mr. Homegrown liked it, but String Beane and Butter Beane did not fully embrace the idea.  Maybe it was too much Mexican for one week.  I did not get around to my beloved Lime Chicken Soft tacos so they are on the list for this week. 

Monday

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos (we did not get to these last week)

Salad

Fresh corn on the cob

Tuesday
Spaghetti with Meat sauce (okay people, you know it is just Ragu with some browned meat and extra spice love)

Garlic Bread sticks
If you make these bread sticks for yourself, and I think that you should, try to reserve a few to be sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for breakfast. Wow!

Wednesday

Mar-A-Lago Turkey Burgers
Fried squash
Slaw

Thursday
Vegetable soup
Grilled cheese sandwich (grilled ham sandwich for String Beane)

Friday
Pizza using Beer Batter Pizza Dough

I am going to link this post with Menu Planning Monday.  There are tons of great menus and recipe ideas there. 

Siesta Scripture Memory

I love Beth Moore bible studies. She is a remarkable teacher. I try to watch her every Wednesday on Life Today. I have just recently learned about her Siesta Scripture Memory challenge on her blog. The goal is to select a scripture you want to memorize and post it on her blog. You post on the 1st and 15th of each month. By the end of the year, you should have memorized 24 scriptures. I am just going to jump in now and learn what I can! The scripture I am going to memorize is:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for that is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.". 1 Thess 5:16-18

Scripture memory has never been my strong suit so this is going to be a challenge for me!

Friday Favorite Finds

I am going to link up again with Finding Joy In My Kitchen this week.  I so look forward to seeing what everyone else has bookmarked this week.  Here is my top 5 for the week:

Pizza Dip

Does that look as good to everyone else as it does to me?

Dairy Free Fudgsicles 

String Beane has a sever milk/dairy allergy so I think these will make him very happy!

Stawberry Shortcake Snake 

This is one of the cutest things I have ever seen!  And strawberries were on sale at Food Lion last week ;-)

Sour Cream Noodle Bake 

Yum!  That is all I have to say.

S'Mores Cookies 

Looking at these cookies makes me want to break out the old Buddy Burner from long ago Brownie Scout Days!

I hope I have some time to try some of these soon!  They all look so good.

Menu Plan July 11-17

This was an interesting week with food.  Things that I did not think would work, worked and some never fails, failed!  Oh, well.  I guess that is what happens when you cook for a husband and three little Beanes.  Our Fourth of July dinner with my mom went well.  Everyone loved the fried chicken and the Little Beanes were hit or miss on the side items. It was the Potato Kielbasa that was such a surprise.  Stirng Beane loved it!  It had some spinach in it so I was just hoping for the best and prayed that no one would notice.  Turns out, String Beane has been watching some Popeye cartoons lately and was siked to try the spinach to see if it would work!  Who says TV is bad for children?  He ate it up and happily went off to T-Ball practice to test his newly acquired strength.  Pizza night was the usual hit with most of us.  Butter Beane ate his and asked for more.  String Beane was indifferent.  That was a first for him and pizza night.  Can't win them all!  Blue Plate Beef Patties are a family favorite and went over well.  The Cheesecake Factory Madeira Chicken was sort of a flop this time.  I had made this before and it went over well.  I think I over cooked the chicken this time.  It was a little tough.  The upside was, I got to eat a lot of asparagus!  I love that veggie.  So here is my plan for this week.  Let's hope for the best and see what happens.

Monday
Turkey Tostadas
Corn
Mexican Rice

Tuesday
Sausage Pancakes
Applesauce

Wednesday
Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole (recipe to come)
Broccoli

Thursday
Taco Skillet Recipe

Friday
Lime Chicken Soft Tacos
Salad
Fresh corn on the cob

This week is sort of shaping up to have a Mexican theme.  Ole'  I am linking up with  Menu Monday.  There are always tons of great menu and recipe ideas over there.

Friday Favorite Finds

This week I am linking up with Finding Joy In My Kitchen for Friday Favorite Finds.  I have enjoyed reading her blog for a while and I always look forward to fridays so I can see what everyone's favorite finds are.  So, for the first time, here are my favorite finds!

Better than Take-Out Orange Chicken 

Pina Colada Cupcakes 

Taco Skillet Recipe 

Golden Popovers Baked in a Jar 

Beer Batter Pizza Dough

I found this recipe for Beer Batter Pizza Dough online.  It is the best pizza dough recipe I have ever used.  It is just plain Yummy!  This has become the only pizza dough recipe I use.  One recipe yelds us two large pizza and four personal size pizzas for the Little Beanes to share.  We usually eat one of the large pizzas and String Beane and Butter Beane share one of the personal size pizzas. The rest gets put in the freezer for another day!  I  roll out the dough, bake the dough for 10-12 minutes at 425 degrees.  I add sauce and toppings and then wrap in saran wrap and tin foil and freeze.  The personal pizzas are mostly for String Beane.  I make his with sauce, pepperoni or sausage and sprinkle on some Vegan Parmesan Cheese.  Then I wrap his in tin foil and slide it in a gallon size freezer bag.  To eat, just take out of the freezer and put in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and toppings are cooked through.

Beer Batter Pizza Dough

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 7-8 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 oz can/bottle of beer – room temperature is best

Mix the yeast, water and honey in a small bowl. Let rest until it becomes foamy.
In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture, stir to combine. Slowly add the beer and olive oil. Add 1/2 cup of flour at a time, stirring until the dough isn’t sticky (an additional 3 cups).
Turn the dough out onto a floured tabletop and knead for a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Add flour as needed to keep it from sticking – you may not need the entire 8 cups. Once the dough is soft, smooth and elastic, place it in a greed bowl and let rise for 45-60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Divide the dough in half (this is a LOT of dough). Put half in a freezer bag, and freeze for a different week. The remaining dough can be divided into 2 large pizzas or 3 medium pizzas.
Preheat the oven to 425º. If using a pizza stone, heat it while the oven is heating up. Roll dough out to desired size. Bake on pizza stone for 5-7 minutes. Take out, add desired toppings, then back for an additional 10 minutes. Or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.



Menu Plan ~ July 4

Last weeks meals went very well.  Some were greeted with more enthusiasm than others.  I really liked the Pepperoni Stuffed Pretzel Rolls.  My husband and String Beane did not like it.  Butter Beane ate it after initial rejection.  The topping was too salty.  If I were to make this again I would reduce the amount of garlic salt to 2 teaspoons.  The Cold Tuna Macaroni Salad was liked by my husband and me but rejected by little Beanes.  The Rotisserie Chicken in the crock pot was DELICIOUS!  Everyone ate it!  It was so tender that Jelly Beane ate some too.  This recipe will move to our Family Favorites.  Here is the line up for this week.

Monday

Fried Chicken

Deviled Eggs

Pasta Salad

Watermelon

4th of July cupcakes

Tuesday

Potato Kielbasa Skillet

Applesauce

Wednesday
Homemade Pizza
Salad

Thursday

Blue Plate Beef Patties

Mashed Potatoes

Watermelon

Friday

Cheesecake Factory Madeira Chicken

Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Asperagus

Linked to Menu Plan Monday