Menu Planning Monday

Monday: Citrus Grilled Chicken Tenders,
Baked Potatoes, Corn

Tuesday: Taco Pan Pizza

Wednesday: Sandwiches, Chips, Fruit Soup

Thursday: Goetta- it's a Cincinnati thing
(recipe from our friend Scott)

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

I got this recipe from my friend Sarah's blog and Sarah got it from our friend Amber. This photo is from Sarah's blog also.
Anyway, I had a bottle of this in my cupboard and was waiting for a chance to use it. YUM!

Ingredients:
1 pork roast (I always get the one that says "butt" portion- the meat is more tender)
2 12 oz cans of Dr.Pepper
1 bottle Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce
1 bottle honey BBQ sauce (I used Famous Dave's Sweet and Sassy)

Put pork roast in the crock pot with two cans of Dr. Pepper.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours (I did mine for 12 hours on low-overnight)
Pour out the Dr. Pepper and shred the pork with a fork.
Add 1 bottle of Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce and 1 bottle of your favorite honey BBQ sauce
Cook for one more hour in the crock pot.

Rate It!
Jen: 10
Kile: 9.5
Kiley: 8
Madee: 10
Destrie: Good

Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Bites

This recipe and photo came from TastyKitchen.com
When I first saw this recipe, I thought it would be fun and different. I failed to take into account that Kile and Madee don't like cooked pineapple. This is a good recipe, it just doesn't suit my family's taste.

Ingredients

* 1 pound Bacon
* 1 can Chunked Pineapple (large Chunks)
* ½ cups Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Set your oven to 375F.

Cut the pound of bacon in half. Put the brown sugar in a shallow bowl. Take a half a slice of bacon and dredge it through the brown sugar. Put a chunk of pineapple on one end of the bacon slice and roll up. Secure with a toothpick.
Rate It!
Jen: 7
Kile: 5-does not like cooked pineapple
Kiley: 5
Madee: 4- does not like cooked pineapple
Destrie: not good

Chicken and Cheese Chimichangas

This recipe came from Rhodesbread.com



Ingredients
12 Rhodes Texas™ rolls, thawed and risen
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salsa
vegetable oil for frying
salsa, sour cream and grated cheese (for serving)

Instructions
Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add chicken and cook over low heat until heated thoroughly. Remove from heat and add cheese. Flatten each roll to a 5-inch square. Spread each square with 2 teaspoons salsa. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture onto half of each square. Fold over the other half and pinch the edges to seal.
Pour oil 2 to 3-inches deep into a small sauce pan or an electric frying pan and heat to medium high setting or 375°F. Fry each Chimichanga approximately 3 minutes on each side. Serve with salsa, sour cream and grated cheese, if desired.

Rate It!
Jen: 7.5
Kile: 7- no onions
Kiley: 8-less salsa next time
Madee: 7
Destrie: Good
Madi: 8.2 (Kiley had a friend for dinner.)

Katie Salsa

I got this recipe from Katie, who is our nephews wife. We went on an over night riding trip last summer and she brought this. We LOVED it. She called it "Delicious Salsa", but at our house we call it "Katie Salsa".

Ingredients:
2 peppers- I used 1 red and 1 green
4 roma tomatoes
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 can black beans- rinsed and drained
1 small bag of corn- thawed
1/2 small bottle of Italian dressing

Dice all vegetables. Mix together vegetables and dressing.

Rate It!
Jen: 9
Kile: 8.5
Kiley: doesn't like salsa
Madee: 7
Destrie: didn't have any

Menu Planning Monday

Monday: No cooking tonight-
Going to a fire @ the neighbors and we are roasting hot dogs.

Tuesday: Chicken and Cheese Chimichangas
We were supposed to have these last week, but we didn't

Wednesday:
Spaghetti and Garlic Bread/Tossed Green Salad

Thursday:
Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Bites
Rice, Cream Cheese Wontons

Chicken Broccoli Bake

Ingredients

12 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed and risen
1/2 box prepared chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni
2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small package frozen broccoli (I used fresh broccoli)
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese (I used cheddar cheese)

Instructions

Press 6 rolls together and roll out to fit bottom and sides of a 9-inch sprayed deep dish pie pan. Prick with a fork and bake at 350°F 10-15 minutes. Spread rice evenly in bottom of crust. Mix chicken, garlic salt and pepper together and spread over rice. Spread soup over chicken. Blanche frozen broccoli, drain and place on top of soup. Sprinkle with cheese. Press remaining 6 rolls together and roll out to form top crust. Place over ingredients and crimp edges as desired. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Rate It!
Jen: 7.5 - maybe a little less garlic salt next time
Kile: 9 - if you leave out the broccoli
Kiley: 8
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: I only liked the broccoli.

Butterscotch Bubbleloaf

Ingredients

24 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1/2 box butterscotch or vanilla pudding mix, non-instant
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
Instructions

Cut dinner rolls in half and dip in dry pudding mix. Arrange rolls in sprayed bundt pan, alternately with pecans. Sprinkle any remaining pudding mix over the top. Combine brown sugar and butter. Heat together until butter is melted and a syrup is formed (microwave about 1 1/2 minutes). Pour syrup over rolls. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size or even with top of bundt pan. Carefully remove wrap. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Cover with foil the last 15 minutes of baking. Immediately after baking, loosen from sides of the pan with a knife and invert onto a serving plate.

Rate It!
Jen: 7
Kile: 6-does not like pecans. Add more glaze and skip the nuts was his suggestion.
Kiley: 7
Madee: 5.5
Destrie: Good

Rhodes Bread Bowls

Ingredients

1 Loaf Rhodes ™ Bread Dough
or
12 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1 egg, beaten

Instructions

Cut loaf into thirds. Form each third into a ball. If using rolls combine 4 rolls to make a ball. Repeat with remaining rolls. Place on a large sprayed baking sheet. Brush with egg. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and slice off top. Hollow out bread and fill with favorite dip, chili or soup.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 8
Kiley: 5
Madee: 8
Destrie: good

Menu Planning Monday

This week is going to be all about Rhodes Frozen Dough. I went to their website and found a few fun recipes that I am going to try. I plan on doing a few desserts as well using the bread dough. If you have any recipes that use Rhodes Dough, please send it to me, I would love to try it!

Monday: Tossed Salad with Shredded Chicken,
Rhodes Rolls
Tuesday: Chicken and Cheese Chimichangas
Wednesday: Soup Bowls/Soup, Veggies and Dip
Thursday: Chicken and Broccoli Bake

Berry Cream Cups

This delightful little treat was being sampled at my local grocery store awhile ago back. All I can say about this is YUM. It is light and refreshing. Another plus is that everyone at our house likes it.

Ingredients:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries

Fat Free French Vanilla Coffee-Mate Creamer

Spoon fruit in to a small cup. Pour creamer over the top.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 8.5
Kiley: 7
Madee:
Destrie: Good

Chili's Salsa

I found this recipe at Copykat Recipes. It's pretty good and fairly close to what they serve at the restaurant.

1 Can Tomatoes and Green Chilies (14.5 oz can)
1 Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes (14.5 oz can, plus the juice)
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. Jalapenos (canned, diced, not pickled)
1/4 C. Yellow Onion (diced)
1/2 – 3/4 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1/4 tsp. Sugar
In food processor place jalapenos and onions. Process for just a few seconds. Add both cans of tomatoes, salt, sugar, and cumin. Process all ingredients until well blended but do not puree. Place in covered container and chill. A couple of hours of chilling will help blend and enrich the flavor.

Rate It!
Jen: 7
Kile: 7
Kiley: doesn't like salsa
Madee: 7
Destrie: didn't have any

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

This recipe and picture came from the Three on Food blog that is listed on the side.

2 (8oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. mexican vanilla extract
2 (8oz.) pkgs. refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup honey

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll one can of crescent roll dough, and press it into the bottom of your dish until there are no seams. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough, lightly pressing seems together. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon, and set aside. Melt your butter in the microwave. Pour the butter over the top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle your cinnamon and sugar mixture over the butter layer. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

Rate It!
Jen: 9
Kile: 7
Kiley: 7
Madee: 7
Destrie: Good

Bunco Menu

Tonight I will be hosting Bunco at my house. I decided to go with a Cinco de Mayo theme. Here is a look at the menu.

Baked Chicken Taquitos
with Ranch, Sour Cream, and Salsa for dipping

Cilantro Lime Rice/Chicken Fajita Rice
Refried Beans
Margaritas

Chips and Queso, Chili's Salsa, and Delicious Salsa @ all the tables

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

Ruby Tuesday's Potato Cheese Soup

Wow. Who knew it would be such a perfect day for making soup. It is super cold here and is currently SNOWING...yes snowing and it is May 6th. Ridiculous. Anyway, on with the recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 large russet potatoes
* 2 tablespoons finely minced celery
* 1 tablespoon finely minced onion
* 1 tablespoon grated carrot
* 2 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons white vinegar
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus
* 1 tablespoon shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 tablespoon shredded monterey jack cheese
* 2 slices bacon, cooked and drained
* 1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Directions

1. Peel potatoes and chop into bite-size pieces.
2. Grate carrot.
3. In a large saucepan, combine vegetables chicken stock, salt, and vinegar.
4. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and milk.
6. Add flour and milk mixture to the pot.
7. Simmer,for 5 to 8 minutes until soup thickens.
8. Add 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese to soup and simmer until melted.
9. Serve with Monterey Jack cheese, bacon, and onions sprinkled on top.


Ooooops!!!! I really screwed up tonight when making this recipe. The recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. of minced celery and for some crazy reason, I must have read the recipe wrong and I thought it called for 2 Tbsp. of celery salt. I thought that was going to be way too much, but I went ahead and did it anyway. When it was time to eat, the results were horrible...way too salty. That's when I figured out what I had done wrong. So, there are no ratings for this recipe. But, I do think it would have been good, had I made it the right way. Ugh... I hate it when that happens.

Tex Mex Chicken and Rice

I found this recipe a few years ago in a magazine. I had made some notes on the side of the recipe of ways to modify it. The following recipe is my modified version.

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
3 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cups of salsa
1 can black beans-rinsed and drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 can corn- drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 2 qt. baking dish with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients- reserving some cheese to sprinkle on top of ingredients. Transfer to baking dish and top with extra cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 7.5
Kiley: 8
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: good
Baylee: 8 (Madee had a friend for dinner-
she thought this would be good on a tortilla.)

Chinese Casserole

This is a recipe that we ate all the time when I was growing up. It is easy to make and when I first got married, this dish was something I was very comfortable making- just ask Kile. He got really sick of eating this and as a result, I have not made it in many years. We were telling our kids the "Chinese Casserole" story and they all said they had never eaten it before... Wow, it has been along time since I made it! So tonight, the Chinese Casserole is making a comeback. Hopefully Kile has had enough of a break from it that he won't mind eating it tonight =)

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 T. minced onion flakes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. uncooked rice
1/2 c. water
1 T. soy sauce
*Chinese Noodles for serving on top of casserole


Brown the ground beef along with the minced onion. Combine soup, rice, water, and soy sauce in a bowl and mix together. Add ground beef and stir to combine. Pour mixture in to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with Chinese Noodles on top.

Rate It!
Jen: 7
Kile: 6
Kiley: 7.5
Madee: 4
Destrie: not good

* I followed this recipe exactly as it was given to me. I think that if I made this again though, I would double everything except the meat. I'll let you know if I make it again with my modifications.

New Food Finds

These are sooo good- almost addictive I would have to say. We buy these at Dollar Tree. I don't know if the grocery stores carry them...I will have to look next time I am there.

Menu Planning Monday

To create this week's menu, I simply went to my recipe box and pulled out the first couple of recipes I came across.

Monday: Chinese Casserole, Corn, Rolls
Tuesday: Taquitos, Chips and Salsa, Spanish Rice
Wednesday: Tex Mex Chicken and Rice, Tossed Salad
Thursday: Potato Cheese Soup, Breadsticks

Easy Mexican Dip

This recipe is one I adapted from Our Best Bites Blog- (link is on the side)
The original recipe called for sausage, but I figured I may as well be resourceful and use ground beef, which I have plenty of in my freezer-thanks dad and mom!

1 lb.ground beef
1 packet McCormick cheesy taco seasoning
3/4 milk


1 8-oz. package cream cheese-cut in to chunks
1 c. salsa

green onions

Brown the ground beef and drain the fat if necessary. Add the taco seasoning and 3/4 cup milk as per package directions. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the cream cheese and salsa to the pan and heat through. To serve, garnish the dip with thinly sliced green onions. Serve with tortilla chips.

Rate It!
Jen: 8
Kile: 8
Kiley: 7.5
Madee: 7.5
Destrie: Good