Menu Plan - February 1

In our kitchen this week -- we enjoyed:

Whole Wheat English Muffins

Fruit-Filled Oatmeal Bars

Breakfast Sandwiches 

 

Crockpot Italian Sausage Soup 

 

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Shells

Chicken Tuscan

Lemon Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Italian Wedding Soup

Crockpot Philly Cheese Steak

Zuppa Tuscana Soup

(recipe is now posted!)

We have an exciting week coming up here .... Frog Prince has a job interview!!!!!!  We're super excited to see what God's going to do through this opportunity and would invite your prayers for God's will to be done in this situation.  

Another exciting thing happening this week happens on Groundhogs day.... The premier of the final season of LOST!  Frog Prince and I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but LOST is one of those shows that we enjoy.  Even though Frog Prince won't be able to watch the premier on Tuesday, I'll be gathering with our LOST-watching buddies for this exciting event.  

And, because Frog Prince will be traveling next week too, we're celebrating my birthday a few days early this weekend.  For birthdays, we have a special, favorite dish -- a dish we haven't had since Frog Prince's birthday last May.  I can't wait!  

In between those things, we'll be eating:

Sunday

Breakfast - Cinnamon Wheat Waffles, Fruit Syrup (cherries and blueberries!)

Dinner - Mixed Roasted Veggies and Pasta
Dessert - Crockpot Fudge Cake (new)

Monday

Breakfast - Lemon Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (leftover), smoothie (new)

Dinner - Chicken and Spinach Soup (new)

Tuesday

Breakfast - Waffles or Pancakes (from freezer), apple-y syrup

Dinner - English Muffin Pizzas (new), mixed veggies
Dessert - for LOST: Sweet Potato Cake w/ cream cheese frosting (new)

Wednesday

Breakfast - Granola with dried cherries

Dinner - Vegetable Beef Soup (make in crockpot)

Thursday

Breakfast - Waffles or Pancakes (from freezer), apple-y syrup

Dinner - Leftovers

Friday

Breakfast - Veggie Scramble

Dinner - Sweet Potato Risotto (new), asparagus

Saturday (birthday celebrations....)

Breakfast - Wheat Blueberry Pancakes 

Dinner - White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, broccoli

Dessert - Warm white cake (no frosting; new recipe)

Have a great week!

Italian Wedding Soup

My husband grew up eating Italian Wedding Soup. I did not. In fact, I had never heard of it until I met him. And, ever since we've started cooking from scratch, he's been asking me to make some for him, since I refuse to buy the canned stuff... since it's full of not-so-good stuff for you.



I'm glad I made it- it's delicous. While I can't say whether this tastes like it's supposed to taste, it's a wonderful soup.

Italian Wedding Soup - SnoWhite

Meatballs
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1/2 C bread crumbs (I used wheat bread)
1/4 C Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp. parsley
pepper, as desired

Soup
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
6 C chicken stock
2 C water
6-8oz spinach (either frozen or fresh will work)
1/4 C small pasta (I used Orzo)
1 egg
2 T Parmesan cheese, grated


Combine parsley, bread crumbs and cheese in a large bowl.



Stir to combine (or run through your blender, if you're using a slice of bread, as I did).

Meanwhile, bring to a boil your chicken broth, water, celery, carrots and onion.



While the chicken broth and veggies begin to simmer, combine the ground turkey with the bread crumbs.



Form into tiny meatballs, about the size of 2 teaspoons, give or take :)



Brown the meatballs on all sides in a frying pan (with olive oil if needed).



Then, add the meatballs to the broth mixture, and allow them to boil for 8-10 minutes. At this point, the veggies should be close to tender.



Add in the spinach.



Then, add the pasta.



Whisk together the egg and the 2 T Parmesan cheese.



Then, stir the soup in a clockwise fashion, and as you stir, drizzle the egg mixture into the soup. Be cautious not to allow too much of the egg mixture in at any one time. The goal is little thin pieces of egg. The thin steam of eggs is essential, because the eggs cook right away when they hit the hot soup.



Enjoy a nice warm bowl served with bread.



From what I understand, the traditional Italian Wedding Soup does not have celery and carrots... but, I always like getting extra veggies where I can :)

This recipe is linked to:

• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Collen's Kitchen Recipe Swap
• Our Krazy Kitchen
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

If you've been a long-time reader of this blog, the recipe I am about to post will look familiar to you.



I originally posted this recipe in May when I first purchased jumbo muffin tins!  Since then, I have dearly loved the jumbo muffins largely because they are so much easier to clean!

When we made these muffins this morning, I tried making them with 100% whole wheat, and used homemade granola for the topping, tried just one egg, and reduced the vanilla to enhance the lemon flavor.


Since things have been a little crazy around here with Frog Prince getting ready for a big interview, I haven't had time to type up my new recipes.... so I'll whet your appetite with this one.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Lemon Blueberry Muffins - Adapted from Quaker Oats

1/4 granola
1 C white whole wheat flour
1/4-1/2 C brown sugar
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 C Oats (Either quick or old fashioned)
1 C milk
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 T applesauce
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 C fresh or frozen (do not thaw) blueberries

Combine the wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder and oats in a large bowl.



In a separate bowl, mix the milk, lemon zest, vanilla, egg white and applesauce.


Then, mix together the wet and dry ingredients.  After, gently fold in the blueberries.



Fill the muffin tins almost full, and sprinkle with granola.

Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Crockpot Italian Sausage Soup

Need a quick-fix flavorful soup?




This one will do.  Trust me.


Crockpot Italian Sausage Soup - Inspired by Myra at My Blessed Life

1/2 lb. Italian sausage, browned
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (16oz) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 (10.5 oz) can beef broth
1 1/2 C water
2 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (15oz) can Great White Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. basil
salt and pepper to taste

In your crockpot, combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, beef broth, water, zucchini, mushrooms and basil.



Add in the browned and drained Italian sausage.



Stir, and season with pepper and salt, if desired.



Cover, and cook on low for ~4-6 hours, adding the beans 1-2 hours before serving.



Serve topped with Parmesan cheese, if desired.



This post is linked to:

• Grocery Cart Challenge
• Crockpot Wednesday

DIY: Breakfast Sandwiches

Now that you know how to make English Muffins, the logical next step is to make breakfast sandwiches!



These are super easy to put together, and a nice change from granola or muffins for breakfast.



Breakfast Sandwiches

1-2 English muffins per person (depending on the size of your muffins)
1 breakfast sausage round per sandwich
1 egg, seasoned with pepper
1 thin slice of cheese per sandwich (we love extra sharp cheddar!)

First, scramble up your egg and cook in a frying pan like you're making a fried egg sandwich.

Meanwhile, toast your English muffins.



Then, prepare the sausage (or, you could also use bacon).

Assemble the sausage, and cheese on your toasted muffin. Then, add the fried egg. Divide the fried egg evenly into sections equal to the number of sandwiches you make. We were able to get 4 sandwiches (our muffins were small) from one egg.



If desired, melt the cheese in the toaster oven or microwave.



Enjoy!

Two notes of interest:

1) If you make these the same day as you make the muffins, just use the griddle for the eggs (and to make the sausage).

2) If you wish to have an easy-to-make breakfast, pre-cook the sausage or bacon and keep in the freezer along with the sliced English muffins.  Then, for breakfast, simply toast, warm, fry an egg and you have breakfast.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

This week's Food Network Chef's Challenge recipe comes from Ina Garten.

As I've mentioned earlier, I don't typically watch the Food Network, so I was surprised to find out that she is the Barefoot Contessa.  I've seen recipes in blogworld from "Barefoot Contessa" and had no idea where those recipes came from... now I do.

I tried a Tuscan chicken recipe from her -- super easy to marinade, and nice, light and delicious flavor.  It was a hit at our place!

Tuscan Lemon Chicken - Recipe from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa
Serves 2-3


1-2 large chicken breasts
Salt, as desired
1 T olive oil
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 T lemon juice
3 T minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
Pepper, as desired

Combine all the ingredients together and pour over the chicken. Marinade overnight (highly recommended) or for 8+ hours, turning once.

Preheat your grill, and then grill the chicken until juices run clear and internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

Serve warm.

We enjoyed it very much with brown rice and veggies.  This will be making an appearance at our place again -- it's going to be a perfect spring meal.

This post is linked to:

• Lemon Round-Up

Wheat English Muffins

Where's my "easy" button?!



Seriously.

Who would have thought English Muffins would be so easy to make!



You have to try them ... yum.

Wheat English Muffins - Adapted from the Happy Housewife

1 C water (warm)
1/2 C milk (warm)
1 C wheat flour
2 C white wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. honey
2 T butter, melted
2 tsp. yeast

In a large bowl, mix together water, milk, honey and salt.



Then, add in 2 C of flour and yeast.



Mix well until a wet dough is formed.



Cover dough and place in a warm place to rise.  I "cheated" ... I microwaved a glass of water and then stuck my dough in the covered bowl in the microwave with the warmed water.  The steam from the water created a nice environment for my dough to rise... and was all ready to rock in about 20 minutes!



When dough has doubled, add in the butter and remaining flour.



Then, roll the dough out on a lightly cornmealed surface to 1/2 inch thickness.  You may need to lightly "knead" the dough with extra flour to decrease the stickiness of the dough before rolling -- but try not to knead too much!





Using a circular cookie cutter (or the rim of a large drinking glass), cut out muffins.  



Cover, and allow these to rise for about 20-30 minutes, until roughly doubled.  Mine didn't rise too much -- but that was fine.



Then, using butter (which I never do) grease your griddle.  Trust me on this one -- you'll want the butter.

Preheat the griddle to 350.

Add the muffins and cook on each side for about 10-15 minutes, checking for a nice browning to occur.



The English muffins will continue to rise while they are being cooked!



Check for doneness -- and, then lightly toast the muffin you happened to slice in half to check for doneness.



Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

• Collen's Kitchen Recipe Swap