Friday, September 28, 2012

This weeks menu

This week's menu was a combination of easy meals for busy nights with after school activities and "use up what is in the fridge and freezer" cooking.

Sunday:Sausage, spicy mac and cheese and okra
  Recipe for Spicy Macaroni and cheese posted here: http://busymommasmenu.blogspot.com/2012/09/spicy-macaroni-and-cheese.html


Monday:Fish, FF and oriental slaw


Tuesday:Grilled Chicken salad and crescent rolls


Wednesday: Spaghetti with italian sausage,creamed spinach and cheesy bread


Thursday:Breakfast for dinner
                                        Biscuits with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, sliced cheese and raspberries

Friday:Tacos


Saturday:"Bite night"/Appetizers  for College football
                                       

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Last week my family and I were channel surfing and ended up watching an episode of The best food I ever made; http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-best-thing-i-ever-made/index.html on the Food Network. The episode we saw had several yummy dishes we wanted to try so last night we made Spicy Macaroni and Cheese; recipe courtesy of Sunny Anderson.
It was so yummy but beware it is filling so you can eat just a little bit. It makes enough to fill a 2-quart baking dish so it would be great to take along on a pot luck dinner.



Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson
Prep Time:
15 min
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
55 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups elbow pasta, cooked until almost al dente
  • 8 ounces Cheddar, 1/2 cubed, 1/2 shredded
  • 8 ounces Colby cheese, cubed
  • 8 ounces Monterey pepper jack cheese, cubed
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 4 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 1/4 cup finely grated onions
  • 4 slices bread
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Special equipment: 2-quart baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together the pasta with the cheese cubes and pour into the baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg. Add the sour cream, egg, heavy cream, half-and-half and onions. Pour over the pasta and cover with the shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until the top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the bread into crouton-size squares. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, add the bread cubes and toast until golden. Sprinkle the bread cubes on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.


 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/spicy-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Friday, September 14, 2012

Chickadilla Soup or Chicken Tortilla Soup

I had no idea what to throw together for dinner tonight and didn't want to go to the store AGAIN so I remembered a recipe I recently saved from a magazine.
It is a slow cooker soup and I had almost all the ingredients on hand in my pantry or fridge. I did make one substitution so we'll see how it turns out. I used Rotel zesty tomato and green chili sauce instead of the mild enchilada sauce the recipe had in its ingredient list.

The recipe was in a Kashi ad so I checked out their website www.kashi.com/family and they have a great recipe section!



Chicken Tortilla Soup

Created by Kashi
Put a south-of-the-border twist on chicken soup with tomatoes, beans, enchilada sauce, green chilies, cumin, chili powder and cilantro. This bold-flavored soup is slow cooked in a crockery cooker.
Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 205 Minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cans (15 oz. each) organic black beans or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cans ( 14 1/2 oz. each) diced organic tomatoes
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 1 can (10 oz.) mild red enchilada sauce
  • 1 package (10 oz.) frozen organic whole kernel corn
  • 1 can (4 oz.) diced organic green chilies
  • 1/2 medium organic onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh organic cilantro
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • Bottled hot pepper sauce, sour cream, organic lime wedges, chopped organic avocado, shredded cheddar cheese or chopped fresh organic cilantro (optional)

Directions

  1. In 6-quart crockery cooker combine broth, beans, undrained tomatoes, chicken, enchilada sauce, corn, chilies, onion, 1 tablespoon cilantro, cumin, chili powder and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high setting for 3 to 4 hours.
  2. Remove chicken from crockery cooker. Cover cooker. Shred chicken. Return chicken to mixture in crockery cooker. Cover and cook on high heat setting for 15 minutes more.
  3. Ladle into serving bowls. Serve with KASHI Pita Crisps Original 7 Grain with Sea Salt and/or other serving options.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups, Calories 140, Total Fat 1.5g, Total Carbohydrate 20g, Dietary Fiber 5g, Sugars 4g, Protein 13g

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Fiber One® Nutty Clusters & Almonds

Everyone is trying to get healthy and get more fiber these days. Fiber One cereal just came out with a new flavor of their cereal; Fiber One® Nutty Clusters & Almonds.  

This cereal has lots of crunch and sweetness and helps you get lots of fiber and whole grain to start your day.


  • Contains 11 grams of fiber (43% of the Daily Value), 23 grams of whole grain (at least 48 recommended daily), and 180 calories per serving
  • Chock full of delicious crunchy nut clusters, real sliced almonds and whole grain flakes



  • General Mills and Myblogspark.com have provided me with a coupon to share with you so go to http://bit.ly/Fiber1NCAcoupon to download a printable coupon for $1.25 off one box of Fiber One Nutty Clusters & Almonds cereal today!

    Progresso's New Light soups and coupon

    Who is ready for FALL and COOLER weather? I am!! I love cooking and eating soups in the fall and winter. 
    Progresso has two new Light versions of their great soups out to try. 
    I like Progresso soups and enjoy the Chicken Pot pie flavor so am interested in trying the lighter version of this flavor and the Creamy Baked Potato with Bacon and cheese.

    Want to try these lighter versions?
    MyBlogspark.com and Progresso.com has provided a coupon you can download to try them out.

    Then grab your soup soon and download a printable coupon for $1.25 off the purchase of 4 cans of Progresso® soup today!


    Sunday, September 9, 2012

    Garlic Cheesy Bread with Dinner

    Friday, we had Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs and salad.  I thought the meal was a little boring and wanted to jazz it up a bit. I had a roll of Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough in the fridge and came up with an idea.

    I rolled the dough out on a greased cookie sheet and spread some butter and garlic on it before baking. I baked it for about 8 minutes, then took it out of the oven and let one of my boys put mozzarella cheese all over the bread and some additional garlic butter. I baked the bread for an additional 6 minutes until the cheese was melted and the bread was slightly brown.



    I cut the bread lengthwise to make cheesy bread sticks and they turned out yummy!

    Friday, September 7, 2012

    Publix Grape Magazine

    I know it is still HOT here in Florida, but fall is just around the corner. I am looking forward to cooking soups, stews and chili soon.
    I received my Publix Grape magazine in the mail recently and it had several yummy chili themed recipes that I can not wait to try out on my family.  It is a free publication about wine and food.

    If you don't get the Publix Grape magazine, here is the link to sign up to have it mailed to your home.

    https://www.publix.com/clubs/common/WineGuideNewsletter/ProgramLanding.do

    Thursday, September 6, 2012

    I have been told that my blog posts have been missed...

    I have been told lately that there are a few people out there missing my blog posts and wondering what we have been having for dinner lately. I got out of the habit of blogging I think, because I got a little bored with meal planning and felt like we were having the same meals all the time. Also, I have been stretching our food dollar and using what we have on hand instead of going to the store and making extravagant meals all the time. So here is my first post in a long time and an example of using what you have on hand to make a yummy side dish.



    Tonight we are having "Breakfast for dinner" which there are endless possibilities to do with that theme, but we are having omelets (with whatever veggies and deli meat and cheese we have on hand), turkey sausage and deconstructed baked potatoes (see below).

    Deconstructed Baked Potatoes

    This dish was made using lots of bits and pieces so I do not have exact measurements.

    A handful of new potatoes or a couple of medium baking potatoes
    Any of the following toppings:
    bacon pieces, jalapenos, scallions, cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, butter, salt and pepper


    Cook your potatoes in the microwave and then dice up in a small casserole dish and then combine with any of the above toppings and mix up to make a sort of hash. It is so yummy and goes great as a easy side dish.