Monday, Jan 3rd, 2011

Monday
Breakfast: Pancakes and sausage
Lunch: chili and fritos
Snack: Whole Wheat Banana Bread
Dinner: Home made Mac & Cheese, Homemade Whole Wheat Bread, Minestrone Soup for dad & I
Eva's Lunch: PB sandwhich, fritos, steamed crisp broccoli, apple slices, Christmas chocolates
Eva's Snack: Babybel Gouda, Babybel Cheddar, String Cheese, Grapes

First day back to school after the Christmas break!! House was kind of quiet after the triplets went to preschool, but was loud again after 3, lol!! While they were at school, I made 3 loaves of banana bread. Had to use up a bunch of bananas before the fruit flies took them away! I followed the recipe except for the flour - I used 1 cup of wheat flour instead of white and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour. My kids LOVE this and I feel better serving it for breakfast if it has whole wheat in it.
For dinner, I made Mac & Cheese for the kids and Minestrone soup for dad & I. Gerald does not like Mac & Cheese and the kids don't like Minestrone, so this worked for everyone. I used a new recipe for the soup, but it's basically a "dump every veggie you have" into the pot. Instead of cabbage, I use kale. I found at Woodman's a can of chopped kale, which is great because I can't always find fresh kale.

Monday, Dec 6th, 2010

Monday
Breakfast: doughnuts
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Quick Mac and Cheese, biscuits, Tempura Shrimp
Eva's Snack: Home made pretzels, strawberry go-gurt
Eva's Lunch: Beef Raviolis, SF Chocolate Pudding Mousse
.....(they were serving Cheseburgers at school)

Kind of a lazy day as far as cooking goes! I was busy cleaning the house and trying to decorate for Christmas. Miss Picky wanted Mac & Cheese for dinner, but the last two times, I used Kraft and she didn't like it, so I made it from scratch, since it was easy and I was craving it! She liked it!!!! Yeah!!! I knew that wasn't going to be enough for Dad & I, so I heated up the Tempura Shrimp I bought from a Schwans fundraiser and WOW! were they good, especially the dipping sauce. Will buy those again!

Double-Chocolate Mousse
prep time 15 min total time 35 min makes 6 servings

What You Need
1-1/2 cups fat-free milk, divided
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 pkg. (2.1 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP FREE Whipped Topping, divided 1/2 cup
fresh raspberries (opt)
Make It
MICROWAVE 1 cup milk and chocolate squares in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min.; whisk until chocolate is melted. Add remaining milk and dry pudding mix; beat 2 min. Refrigerate 20 min. WHISK in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spoon into 6 dessert dishes. TOP with remaining COOL WHIP and berries.

Quick Macaroni and Cheese
INGREDIENTS
2 quarts water
1 Tbsp salt
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (our family uses rotini)

1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups, packed)
1 teaspoon corn starch
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 teaspoons flour
1 ½ cups milk
4 slices American Cheese
1/4 cup ham, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes (opt)

METHOD
1 In a medium sized bowl, mix corn starch into the grated cheese, so that the cheese is coated,
set aside. This will help the cheese from getting too stringy.
2 Bring 2 quarts of water with the tablespoon of salt to a boil in thick-bottomed saucepan. Add the elbow macaroni and follow the cooking time instructions on the package, minus about 2 minutes. (If your macaroni doesn't come with instructions, start checking at 7 minutes). Cook until al dente - cooked through, but still slightly firm. Drain the water from the cooking pan.
3 While the macaroni is cooking, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Slowly dribble in the milk, while whisking (to avoid clumping) until the sauce is smooth. Slowly add the grated cheese, while whisking, until smooth. Stir in the American Cheese. Add the cooked, drained macaroni and ham, if using. Do not over-mix.
Serve immediately.
Serves 3-4 adults or 4-6 kids.

Idea from: Simply Recipes http://simplyrecipes.com