Weekly Meal Plan - November 28th thru December 4th

Oh my gosh, I cannot believe it will be December in just a few days. Where does the time go?!?

Lamb with Cous Cous, Caramelized Onions, Almonds and Raisins; Baba Ghanoush (AKA my mom's cooking for me!)

Chicken & Dumplings (in the slow cooker!)

Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce; Roasted Broccoli

Chicken, Bacon & Cream Cheese Taquitos with Avocado dipping sauce; Black beans

And just for fun - Golden Grahams S'mores Bars

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Southern Potluck - November 2011

So much for creating potluck posts every month! Sadly I haven't posted about another potluck since our Cajun potluck back in July (or was it June?). But this month I actually remembered to bring my camera to the dinner and managed to take pictures of most of the dishes. Also, I should mention that within my group of friends there is a healthy amount of competition, so we instituted an award that is given each month to the best dish. We even have a trophy that gets passed around! This month, Candace's peach cobbler won!

Here's the delicious fare that we served up:

{Chicken & Dumplings}

{Cheese Grits}

{Green Beans & Bacon}

{Peach Cobbler - recipe found below}

{Banana Pudding}

Candace's Award Winning Peach Cobbler

adapted from Southern Living

9 cups sliced peaches, fresh or frozen

1-2 cups sugar, depending on the sweetness of the peaches

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup butter

pastry for double-pie crust, fresh or store-bought

Combine first 4 ingredients in a pan and set aside until syrup forms. Bring peach mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook about 10 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter, stirring until butter melts.

Roll out one of the pie crusts to fit a 9-inch-x-13-inch pan. Spoon half of the peach mixture into the pan and top with the pie crust. Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Spoon remaining peaches over the baked crust. Roll out second pie crust and cut into strips 1-inch wide. Arrange the strips in a lattice pattern over top of the peaches. Bake 15-18 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve with ice cream, if desired.

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Cuban Beef with Bell Peppers

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest ages ago, and with crazy busy-ness of Thanksgiving week, I decided it was time to bust out another slow cooker recipe. I was surprised at how flavorful the meat was, especially considering there aren't a ton of ingredients. But once I tasted the beef with the avocado, I was blown away. The avocado is a must with this recipe! This is a great, simple and healthy slow cooker meal that is perfect for the busy holiday season.

Cuban Beef with Bell Peppers

adapted from Real Simple

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 white onion, chopped

2 teaspoons Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon roasted cumin

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup sherry

salt and pepper

1 1/5 lb flank steak, cut into two or three pieces

2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips

1 cup long grain, cooked

1-2 limes, cut into quarters

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

2 avocados, sliced

In the bowl of a slow cooker, combine tomatoes, onion, oregano, cumin, garlic, salt, pepper and sherry. Stir to combine. Nestle flank steak amongst the vegetables. Let cook on low for at least 8 hours. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat will be.

About 2 hours before you're ready to eat, add bell peppers. (You can add them at the beginning but they turn to mush. I don't like mush, so by adding them later, they were cooked through but still had a nice texture.)

To serve, place rice on serving plate. Top with meat and veggie mixture. Squeeze lime juice over top and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve sliced avocado on the side.

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My (Current) Favorite Salad

I based this salad on a salad I make for my father-in-law, and I've made it twice in the last week. I love the tangy sweet citrus with the crunchy fennel and creamy avocado. Yum! I love it so much that while Andrew was eating ice cream last night, I got the left over salad out of the fridge and ate the rest of it! If you're looking for a flavorful addition to your Thanksgiving meal, this salad would be perfect.

My (Current) Favorite Salad

for the salad

2 oranges, peeled and segmented

1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and segmented

1/2 can hearts of palm, sliced

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks

1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into chunks

1 bunch arugula, washed and torn into chunks

for the dressing

1 small shallot, minced

juice from left over grapefruit membranes (or juice of 1 lemon)

juice from 1 left over orange membrane

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1-2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

In a large bowl arrange butter lettuce leaves, arugula, orange segments, grapefruit segments, hearts of palm, fennel slices and avocado chunks.

For the salad dressing, in a blender combine all ingredients and puree. Pour desired amount over salad.

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Cheddar Rosemary Biscuits

For dinner the other night, I prepared Pulled Pork with Homemade Peach BBQ Sauce served atop Cheddar Rosemary Biscuits. The Pulled Pork was great (just a word of warning to the Texas BBQ fans - the sauce is a vinegar BBQ sauce rather than a ketchup/tomato-based one), but the biscuits really stole the show. They were buttery, slightly cheesy with just a bit of beautiful rosemary flavor. Delicious on their own, but they also paired wonderfully with the vinegary, tender pork!

After the three of us devoured all of the biscuits, I decided to whip up another batch this morning to freeze for part of our Thanksgiving menu. I love things that can be made ahead of time for big holiday meals! To freeze the biscuits: prepare the dough, cut into biscuits, place the biscuits on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze completely. Once frozen, place the biscuits in an airtight ziploc bag. Bake them frozen at 425 degrees for 22-30 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Cheddar Rosemary Biscuits

adapted from Daily Cravings, who adapted the original recipe from Ina Garten

2 cups self-rising flour, plus more

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

12 tablespoons very cold butter, diced

1/2 buttermilk, shaken

2 extra large eggs, divided

1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon milk or water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place 2 cups flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and continue to mix until the butter is the size of peas.

In a small bowl, beat buttermilk and 1 egg together. With the mixer still on low, add buttermilk mixture. Mix until just moistened. In a small bowl, mix cheddar with a small handful of flour. With mixer still on low, add cheese and mix until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly a few times. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough out to a 10-inch x 5-inch rectangle. With a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits and place on a greased baking sheet.

In a small bowl, mix remaining egg with 1 tablespoon milk or water. Brush egg wash over tops of biscuits. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden.

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Oven Baked Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce

While I love onion rings, I've never made them before. I try not to fry too many things for health reasons - and because I hate cleaning up the grease splatters all over my kitchen. When I stumbled upon this recipe, I knew I had to try it. I'm notorious for not completely, or carefully, reading through the recipe directions beforehand and I did it again. I had almost finished preparing the onion rings before I realized that the recipe was actually called Oven Fried Onion Rings and they were cooked in oil in the oven rather than stovetop. Hmmm...not quite as healthy as I wanted, so I fiddled with it and came up with something that actually is Oven Baked Onion Rings, no frying involved!

Every afternoon around 4 or 5, Finley has her "witching hour" complete with fussing, crying and needing lots of attention. Unfortunately this coincides perfectly with the time I am trying to get dinner going for the evening. I've learned that usually I can prepare Miss F a big snack/light supper and plop her in front of an episode of Special Agent Oso and that will keep her happy and occupied while I'm working in the kitchen. But this particular evening my go-to plan wasn't cutting it. While I was dredging the onions rings with eggs and cracker crumbs stuck to all my fingers, I had a very unhappy toddler clinging to my leg shrieking for me to read to her. Fin finally settled for holding the book herself and I read aloud while working on the onion rings. Multi-tasking at its best. In my head, I was cursing these stupid onion rings for taking so long to prepare and I swore that they had better be damn good since it was complete chaos in our house at the moment.

But when I sat down at dinner and took a bite, I knew they were worth it. All the crispy, crunchy goodness of an onion ring without any of the deep fried guilt! By this time, Finley's witching hour had passed and while she wasn't a big fan of eating the onion rings, she did enjoy using them for bracelets! A happy toddler + awesome onion rings = a happy, and very full, mama!

Oven Baked Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

for the onion rings

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 sleeve Saltine crackers

4 cups corn flakes

1-2 sweet onions

non-stick spray

for the sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon ketchup

1/2 - 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/4 teaspoon paprika

a pinch or two of salt

a pinch or two of dried oregano

a pinch or two of pepper

For the onion rings, preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a shallow bowl (I used pie plates), sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour. Set aside.

In another shallow bowl, beat eggs and buttermilk together. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt and pepper and mix well.

In a a food processor, pulse crackers and corn flakes together until they are fairly finely ground. Pour the crumbs into a third shallow bowl.

Peel and slice onions into 1/2-inch wide slices, separating the rings. Discard any rings that are not at least 2-inches in diameter.

Dredge each ring in the flour, then dip into the egg mixture completely coating the surface. Allow any excess to drip off and then place onion into the crumb mixture, gently pressing crumbs onto the onion. Place onion ring onto a greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining onion rings.

Spray each onion rings lightly with non-stick spray and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned and onion is tender.

Serve with dipping sauce.

*Onion rings can be prepared and refrigerated for an hour. Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking or else the cold onions will not get tender.

For the sauce, in a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Store sauce in refrigerator until ready to serve.

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Weekly Meal Plan - November 14th thru November 20th

Thanks to Pinterest, I've found some fun new cooking blogs from which I've pulled most of this week's menu. I love it when I stumble upon a new blog - especially when Finley just went down for a nap, so that I actually have time to look at it!

I expect that the upcoming holiday season will be a busy one and I know there will be more nights where I don't feel like cooking. But with the usual holiday expenses, I know we won't want to eat out either, so I'm planning on making more meals in bulk and freezing half of them to combat those lazy night!

Lasagna Soup, Salad, Garlic Bread (freeze half - without noodles)

Pimento Cheese BLT Sandwiches, Oven-Fried Onion Rings (I'll eat the left-over pimento cheese for lunch this week)

Hot Pepper and Peach Pulled Pork with Cheddar-Rosemary Biscuits (freeze half of the pork)

Chicken Stir-Fry, Brown Rice, Steamed Edamame

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos, Black Beans, Avocado & Tomato Salad (freeze half of the chicken)

Bourbon Glazed Pork Chops, Bacon & Cheddar Cheese Grits, Sauteed Spinach and Zucchini

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