Dinner-The Meal of Champions!!

Back for another round....

Sunday dinner was mini meatloaves. I baked enough for Tuesday

Chicken and Rice, except the chicken will be poached and red bell pepper will be used w/ steamed veggies

mini-meatloaf sandwiches w/ mozzarella cheese

blackened tilapia w/ black bean salsa, using fresh tomatoes, olive oil and frozen corn

hamburgers w/ homemade buns

This should be an easy week. Hope yours is, too,.

Happy cooking....

Here we go again

So this week I am really going to challenge myself and try much harder to use my pantry and freezer. So for the upcoming week...

Fish Tacos w/ homemade salsa

Salmon Fishsticks over mixed green salad (as seen on "Everyday Italian")

Asparagus soup w/ mixed green salad and crusty bread

Roast chicken w/ broccoli-potato mashers

Chicken and Dumplings

Hope your week is great one and happy cooking!

For the Upcoming Week...

Well everything is back to normal in the house w/ the end of Spring Break. With that being said, dinner each night will need to be pretty simple. Here's the plan for the week...

Fish and Chips
Waffle Ham & Cheese Sandwiches
Everything but the Kitchen Sink Salad w/ Parmesan Crisps
Tuna Salad Hoagies w/ mini-carrots

The dessert for the week will be Chocolate-Nut Brownies from 12 Best Foods Cookbook.

Happy Cooking!!

What's For Dinner??

After doing my survey of the pantry, here's what I have been able to come up with but not in any particular order:

Roast Beef sandwiches w/ roasted potato wedges
Mini meatloaves w/ green beans and mac & cheese
Buffalo-style roasted drumsticks w/ bleu cheese mashed potatoes
Out of the shell taco salad w/ black bean soup
Salmon wraps w/ homemade tortilla

Will more than likely have the sandwiches on Monday so that I can get a start on the rest of the week.

Happy cooking!

Take the Cake...

Here's a picture of the finished Angel Food Cake, well, minus a few slices, that is. Hubby ate his slice w/ lemon curd, blackberry sauce and whipped cream. What do you think?

Pucker Up...

For some strange reason, I have this craving for lemon curd. Now eating this delicious concoction on its own, might not be the best way to enjoy it. But, pair it with let's say, Angel Food cake and whipped cream, then it's most enjoyable. The Angel Food cake recipe is from

http://www.southernliving.com/ and the lemon curd recipe that I go to to very often is listed below, after all, you have to do something with the yolks from the Angel Food Cake. This recipe is from "The Pie and Pastry Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum, http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/104-4969127-9466331?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+pie+and+pastry+bible .

For those of you that love to bake, this book will one of your go-tos again and again. She has recipes from fruit pies to cream puff pastry. This books shows you techniques and equipment, too.

Classic Lemon Curd

2 teaspoons/4 grams of finely grated lemon zest

4 large egg yolks/74 grams

3/4 cup sugar/150 grams

6 tablespoons/3 fluid ounces/94 grams lemon juice freshly squeezed and strained(about 2 1/2 large lemons)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter/57 grams ,cut into pieces or softened

salt, a pinch

Have ready near by a strainer suspended over a medium bowl that contains the lemon zest.

In a heavy nonreactive saucepan, beat the yolks and sugar until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, strring constantly (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thickened and resembles hollandaise sauce; it should thickly coat a wooden spoon but still be liquid enough to pour. The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back the spoon; it must not be allowed to boil, or it will curdle. Whenever steam appears, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to keep the mixture from boiling. When the mixture has thickened (196 degrees on a thermometer), pour it at once into the strainer. Press with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Gently stir in the zest and allow to cool.

Other juices that can be used are lime, blood orange, orange and passion fruit. For any of these variations, the amount of sugar and fruit juice will vary, but the yolks, butter and salt quantities remain constant.

As you can see, all of this is coming from my pantry, so I didn't have to make any special trips to the store :).

Hope you try it and happy cooking!