Tuesday, June 16th, 2010

Breakfast: Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins
Lunch: PB Pinwheels - Trips, Leftover BBQ Chicken Salad - mom
Dinner: Rotini Pepper Steak

    For Eva's lunch and snack, I packed:  A cheese sandwhich and goldfish, pb and crackers, pretzels with cheese, nila wafers, sugar snap peas and green peppers, strawberry go-gurt and bananas.

  
      I made the muffins the night before, which saves me time in the morning so I can get Eva to the playground on time. After I dropped off Eva, I took the triplets to the library for a talk on frogs (and they even got to touch them!!)  We came home and I made the BBQ Chix Salad for me and the PB Pinwheels for the trips. I also gave them some lightly steamed sugar snap peas, a strawberry, and some goldfish. 

Joey and Eddie have baseball tonight, so I made dinner ahead of time, stuck it in the oven on "Keep Warm" at 3pm, picked up Eva from the playground, played in the backyard until 5pm, when we sat down to eat dinner. It was VERY good and EVERYBODY ate it!! Whoo, hooo!!!  Dad was working late tonight, so I put tinfoil back on the bowl and stuck it back in the oven. Dad came home at 7:30pm and ate dinner right away and he said it was really good. There was just enough left over for Dad's lunch tomorrow. This recipe was a keeper!!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine dry ingredients; add alternately with applesauce to the creamed mixture.
Stir in oats and chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Yield: 12 muffins.
(I thought they were a little dry and could've used a tablespoon or two of oil. But the kids ate them ALL!!  I got a half a muffin!! Next time, I'll have to make a double batch!)
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Barbeque Chicken Salad

Ingredients
2 pieces leftover barbeque chicken, meat removed from bone
2 celery stalks, small dice
1/2 medium red onion, small dice
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons leftover barbeque sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 hot dogs rolls
4 leaves romaine lettuce

Directions
In a medium bowl mix together the chicken, celery , onion, mayonnaise and barbeque sauce. Season with salt and
pepper, to taste.
Divide the chicken salad evenly between the 4 hot dog rolls, top each with a lettuce leaf and serve.

(I just served it on a bed of lettuce)

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Rotini Pepper Steak              (*****)

8 oz (2 1/2 cups) rotini
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into bite-sized strips
2 tsp powdered garlic
1 med onion, cut into thin wedges
1 tsp grated ginger
1 bag frozen pepper blend
3/4 cup Kraft Asian Sesame salad dressing

1. Cook rotini to desired doneness as directed on pkg. Drain; cover to keep warm
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat until hot. Sprinkle powdered garlic on beef. Add beef and onion; sprinkle with grated ginger. Cook and stir 2 or 3 minutes or until beef is browned. Add peppers, cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until peppers are tender crisp.
3. Add rotini and salad dressing; stir to coat. 

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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

     First day of "summer camp" (aka: supervised playgrounds) for Eva. I packed her: a pb sandwhich, a strawberry go-gurt, 2 large strawberries, goldfish, green pepper strips - and she said she needed more!! sheesh!

     For lunch, I made the triplets "Squid dogs". This is where you cut hot dogs into chunks, then thread uncooked spaghetti into the hot dog, then plop them into boiling water for 6 to 9 minutes. I did 6 minutes, but I think 7 would've been better. I put a little spaghetti sauce in a bowl and put in the "squids". The triplets were laughing so much, they almost couldn't eat!

     Eva had Irish Dancing practice for Irish Fest and it was in Milwaukee - an hour ride - and she had to be there at 5pm. So I made an Italian Tortellini Veggie Salad and bread sticks for our dinner. I used sandwhich containers and put some salad in each of them - one for Eva and one for me.  While Eva was changing into her practice clothes, I packed a soft sided cooler with: a soda for me, a bottle of water for Eva, the sandwhich containers with the salad, 4 breadsticks wrapped in paper toweling, a small plastic box with four small home made brownies, and some animal crackers in case she needed a snack. I also included forks and napkins! (yeah! I remembered, lol)
I left the big bowl in the fridge so dad could feed the triplets before their baseball game.
     I thought the salad was VERY yummy. Eva wasn't so thrilled. She wanted just the tortellini without any sauce.

Italian Tortellini-Vegetable Salad

1 (9oz) pkg. cheese filled tortellini
1 (9 oz) pkg. spinanch-filled tortellini
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup frozen pepper medley, thawed
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 can artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped (reserve 1/4 cup juice)
1 (8oz) bottle Kraft's Zesty Italian Dressing
1 tsp basil
1 tsp powdered garlic

1.  Cook tortellini in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli during last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain; rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine tomatoes, parsley, peppers and artichokes.
3. Add tortellini, broccoli to salad; stir gently. Add salad dressing and reserved 1/4 cup artichoke liquid; toss to mix.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Servings: 8 (1 1/2 cup)

Idea from: Pillsbury Easy Pasta, April 2003

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Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Breakfast:  Blueberry Waffles
Lunch: Turkey and Cheese Sandwhiches
Dinner: Pizza

Just a lazy Saturday with only swimming lessons on the agenda for today. For lunch, I made turkey and cheese sandwhiches and since it was the first time they had lunch meat, I made them look cute.
For dinner, I made pizza using the same recipe for the dough.  This time, I split the dough in half and rolled it into 14" circles. On one, I put on half the pizza, hamburger and pepperoni, then cheese over the whole thing. For our pizza, I slowly cooked some red onions in olive oil and a little sugar. When they were carmalized, I spread them over the pizza. Then I thinly sliced two steaks that I had leftover and spread them over the pizza, then layed slices of cheddar cheese on top (I was out of mozzerella cheese!)  Cooked at 475 for 10 mins and VOILA!! we had pizza better than we could get out!
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After the kids were in bed, I made a coffee cake for Sunday breakfast.  I was looking through some old cookbooks and found this one again. I had forgotten all about this recipe and was happy to have found it again.
 Fruit Swirl Coffee Cake
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 1 hour 15 min
Makes: 18 servings


1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow (or white) cake mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 can (21 oz) apricot pie filling
1/2 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease and flour or spray bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan; lightly flour or spray. In large bowl, stir dry cake mix, sour cream, butter, vanilla and eggs, using large spoon, until dough forms.
2. Set aside 1 cup dough; spread remaining dough in pan. Spread pie filling over dough in pan. Drop remaining dough, 1 tablespoonful at a time, onto pie filling.
3. Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center of cake comes out clean. In microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High 20 to 30 seconds or until melted; stir. Drizzle over warm coffee cake. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store loosely covered.

(from: www.bettycrocker.com)
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Friday, June 4th, 2010

Eva had Sport's Day, so everything had to be throw away, ugh! So I packed for Eva: pb flower sandwhich, baby carrots, apples wedges, go gurt and some teddy grahms.

Breakfast:  Individual Breakfast  Skillets
Lunch: Glucerna shake
Dinner: Hamburgers, french fries, corn, and carrot salad

Nothing special for dinner tonight. The hamburgers came with our Angel Food order as well as the french fries.  I had really good luck cooking the fries this time. I put a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet, then sprayed it with Pam. Put the french fries on the cooling rack and cooked them at 475 for 12 mins.  They ACTUALLY came out crispy and brown (instead of limp and greasy!)
The carrot salad I found on Recipes From the Cookie Jar blog. And she got it from Jamie Oliver's site. OMG! This was soooo good, I'm going to make this again!!

4-5 large carrots, peeled and grated
3 Tbsp olive oil (original recipe called for 6 Tbsp)
salt and pepper to taste
sprigs of fresh mint and coriander, chopped  (I didn't use this)
2 tbsp lemon juice (I zested a lemon and then squeezed the juice from 1/2 the lemon into the salad)
handful of sunflower seeds, toasted
2 or 3 small clementines, peeled and cut into thick slices (didn't use them as I  had mandarian oranges)
crumbled feta
Just toss every thing together in a bowl.
Serves 4

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Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

For Eva's snack I packed: a strawberry, go gurt, string cheese, ww ritz, green peppers and carrot sticks.  Gerald got some of the leftover mac & cheese pie from last night's dinner. For breakfast, I packed him some pancakes with breakfast sausage and maple syrup.



Breakfast:  Blueberry waffles, breakfast sausage, oj
Lunch:  Leftovers
Dinner: Beef n Bean Nachos, Sweet-Potato Chicken Quesadillas and Rice
Dessert:  Triple Berry Sherbert

     Well, tonight is another night of T-ball and I was so proud of myself getting everything to the table early enough for us all to eat. Until Eva looks at me and says, "Mom, it's Thursday. We're suppose to have spaghetti on Thursday." Really? It's Thursday!?! I honestly thought it was Wednesday!! Memorial Day weekend has been playing tricks on me all week!  Oh well, the world still kept spinning and maybe I'll get it together next week!
     Dinner was a surprise. Other reviews said their kids liked the quesadillas, but mine didn't! ( I thought they were AWESOME! Will make them again just for Gerald and I!)  The triplets really liked the nachos. Eva only had a cheese quesadillas and rice (of course!)
     Went to T-ball and it was a beautiful day for it. Afterwards, we came home and had some Triple Berry sherbert. Eva was the only one who didn't like it! I couldn't believe it! Oh well, her loss!!                                                                                                                     
1-2-3 Blackberry Sherbet
8 Servings Prep: 10 min. + freezing

Ingredients
4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed (I used a triple berry blend I had in the freezer and some strawberries that were going soft in the fridge)
2 cups sugar
2 cups milk

Directions
In a food processor, combine blackberries and sugar; cover and process until smooth. Strain and discard seeds and pulp. Stir in milk. Transfer puree to a 13-in. x 9-in. dish. Freeze for 1 hour or until edges begin to firm. Stir and return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours longer or until firm.
Just before serving, transfer to a food processor; cover and process for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Yield: 1 quart.

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Beef & Black Bean Nachos

ingredients
3 oz cooked ground beef
1 serving baked tortilla chips
1 oz reduced-fat monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 cup black beans
2 oz olives
salsa to taste

Instructions

1. Spray pan with non stick spray.
2. Heat pan over medium heat and add ground beef.
3. Cook until no longer pink. Add 1tsp cumin and 1tsp chili powder.
4. Open canned black beans and drain.
5. Top tortillas with ground beef, black beans, olives, and cheese.
6. Place into 350 degree oven just until cheese is melted.
7. Top with salsa.

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Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

For Eva's snack I packed: baby carrots, apple wedges, chocolate heart, teddy grahms, goldfish, and a go gurt.

Breakfast:  Pancakes and oj (I should've served breakfast sausage or put pb on the pancakes. Joey really needed the protein for his therapy session!)

Lunch: Turkey sandwhiches, potatoe chips, apples

Dinner: Impossible Mac n Cheese Pie

 Today was ballet and T-Ball, but I forgot until almost 4:30!! I scrambled and put dinner in the oven, but Ella had to leave for ballet without eating dinner first and the boys were rushed before their game. sigh, I'll do better next week!

I saw this and thought my kids would eat it. What I did different, since I didn't have any elbow macaroni, I took two boxes of Kraft's Mac n Cheese, put the noodles in the pie plate, then mixed the cheese sauce mix with the milk and bisquick. I think the next time I try this, I'll use a little more milk and a little butter as I thought it was a little dry. I did add some chopped up ham from a ham steak. And I was right, 3 out of 4 kids ate it (guess which one didn't, lol)


Impossibly Easy Mac ’n Cheese Pie

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 55 min
Makes: 6 servings

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz)
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (3 1/2 oz)
1/2 cup Bisquick® Original baking mix
2 1/4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Place uncooked macaroni in pie plate. Sprinkle with 1 3/4 cups of the cheese.
2. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients with wire whisk or fork until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; place sprayed side down over pie plate. Bake 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 8 to 10 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serve With: Cook miniature cocktail hot dogs and serve on the side along with baby-cut carrots and apple wedges for a kid-pleasing meal.

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