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Menu Plan Monday

February 17, 2008 5 Comments

Hello everyone. Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday. Since going out of town last weekend I’ve been a bit under the weather and sort of fell behind on just about everything from checking email to cleaning house to filing & doing paperwork. My husband told me not to worry about it, but I just can’t help it. I hate falling behind, especially when I have a lot of projects I’m trying to get going on top of every day work. But hopefully this week I can start “regrouping” and get back on track. So let’s get started with my weekly menu.

I’m looking forward to this week. I’m making potato soup, which is a big favorite of mine. And I’m also making some chicken with white sauce, a favorite Southern recipe, made even more popular by Big Bob Gibson, originally out of Decatur, Alabama, just a few miles from where I grew up.

Here’s kind of a cute story. We ate grilled chicken with white sauce all the time when I was a kid, and I just always assumed that everyone ate it everywhere until my husband informed me that nobody that he knew of served it in the Southern part of our state (where he was from) largely because it’s on the gulf and they’re big into seafood down here (not barbecue), and he had never had barbeque w/ white sauce till he moved to the Tennessee Valley to go to college (where he met me). Well, the first time I ever took him to eat at Bob Gibson’s resturant, he got very excited when he saw the white sauce on the table, and said, “Oh, this stuff is great. I’d never had this till I moved up here. Have you tried this?” And I’m just kind of sitting there a little confused and thinking, “It’s just white sauce.” He was pleased when I told him that my mom had a recipe for white sauce and that I’d make it for him sometime.

Well, another blogger out of Long Island, New York (sorry I can’t remember what site it was) did a post on barbeque this week, and they just happened to mention Big Bob Gibson, so I got inspired and decided it would be a good week to break out my mom’s recipe and try to make it for my first time. (wish me luck)

Monday – Baked porkchops w/ rice & green beans
Tuesday – Potato soup w/ sandwiches
Wednesday – Chicken w/ white sauce, potato salad, baked beans
Thursday – Left overs
Friday – Chicken Alfredo w/ bread sticks
Saturday – Eating out
Sunday – Shrimp Stirfry

For other menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com.

Filed Under: menu plan Monday

Recipe of the Week: Lovin’ Sweetcakes

February 16, 2008 2 Comments

This week’s recipe comes from Kraft. This is another very cute and tasty, yet very easy dessert to make. The recipe calls for strawberry flavored jello and uses pink and red sprinkles for a Valentine’s Day kind of feel. If you made Valentine cookies or some other dessert with sprinkles, then this recipe could be the perfect opportunity to use up the leftover sprinkles & stuff. And of course you can always use other flavors of jello or other colors of sprinkles to make cupcakes for all occasions. In fact this is the perfect light and fluffy recipe for spring time and great for St. Patrick’s Day or Easter. Enjoy!

1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Brand Strawberry Flavor Gelatin, or any other flavor
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1/4 cup seasonal colored sprinkles

PREPARE cake batter as directed on package. Stir in dry powered gelatin until well blended.
LINE 24 medium muffin cups with paper liners. Pour batter evenly into cups, filling each cup 1/2 full. Place a small marble or 1/2-inch ball of foil between each liner and one side of the cup, pushing the paper in to form a heart shape. Bake as directed on package for cupcakes. Cool completely; remove marble or foil.
SPREAD 2 Tbsp. whipped topping onto top of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles as desired. Store cupcakes in refrigerator.

Filed Under: cupcakes, desserts, Recipe of the Week, Valentine's Day

Sweet Thursday: Beautiful Valentine Cookies

February 14, 2008 3 Comments

Here’s a last minute Valentine cookie recipe from Martha Stewart. I’ve seen that a lot of bloggers out there don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day or don’t spend a lot of money on gifts. Well, in lew of gifts you can also make your family or significant other an extra special treat. Arrange these in a gift basket or platter, add sticks to make a cookie bouquet like the ones I posted on yesterday, or simply have your family eat them straight off the baking sheet. Either way this recipe is a good choice for Valentine’s Day. This recipe can be used to make plain shortbread cookies or jam cookies, and after Valentines is over, just get out some other cookie cutters to make these cookies for any and all occasions.

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pale-pink or white sanding sugar (optional)
Petal dust in pink, orange, and violet tones (optional)
2/3 cup apricot or strawberry jam, slightly warmed (optional)

Directions
In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture to mixer bowl, alternating with buttermilk, until combined. Wrap dough in plastic; chill until firm, 1 hour or overnight.
To color white sanding sugar, if using: Place a few tablespoons in a small bowl. Mix in petal dust with a toothpick, a bit at a time, until desired shade is reached. Colored sanding sugar will last indefinitely.
Heat oven with two racks centered to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out hearts using any 1- to 3 1/2-inch heart cookie cutters. If desired, cut centers out of some hearts. Transfer with spatula to baking sheets. Chill for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if using. Bake until just golden but not too brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack. Continue with dough; reroll scraps.
To make sandwich hearts: Brush bottom heart lightly with jam; cover with a second heart with center cut out; jam will adhere hearts. Fill cut-out area with more jam. Cookies will keep, in an airtight container, at room temperature for 1 week.

Filed Under: cookies and candy, desserts, recipes, Sweet Thursday, Valentine's Day

Beautiful Cookie Bouquets

February 13, 2008 1 Comment

There are so many great gift ideas out there for Valentine’s Day. While some are partial to flowers, and others love candy and sweets, still others love a little bit of both, but how about this: a cookie bouquet! I found several tasty and beautiful examples. You can find these and other gifts at the links that I’ve provided below. And even if you don’t want to shell out the extra money to buy from these sites, they could still give you a good idea to create your own cookie bouquet or gift basket. All you need is a decorative container and a little tissue paper and ribbon to create a beautiful gift.

Cookiebouquets.com
gourmet-cookie-bouquets.com
cookiesbydesign.com/








Filed Under: cookies and candy, crafts, desserts, Valentine's Day

From the Desk of Jerri

February 9, 2008 Leave a Comment

I have just a few announcements to make. First of all, I will be out of town this weekend visiting my parents and will not return until late Monday afternoon, so most likely I won’t have a Menu Plan Monday Post this week or any posts for this weekend, but please be sure to stop by next week, because I’ll have some last minute ideas for Valentine’s Day, which I’m sure you’ll love. Also, this weekend I’m happy to report that I’ll be attending the annual Chocolate Festival held at the local mall near my hometown. My mother is a manager for O’Charley’s and always designs and hosts their booth, so my husband and I will be there hanging out with her and sampling the many treats. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Secondly, you should notice that in the top of the left side bar, I have added a place where you can subscribe to the Simply Sweet Home mailing list. This is sponsored by Feedblitz. I’ve been testing a couple of different mailing list providers over the last couple of months, and I have chosen to go with it. If you sign up you’ll recieve a weekly update of current articles featured on the blog.

And additionally as a thank you to you for signing up, every month or so I will send out a “member’s only” mailing which will include some special bonus feature articles, recipes, and special offers. And finally, I’m in the process of writing and creating some books/ebooks. I intend on creating a couple of big projects to sell, and then use other smaller projects as freebies. As a thank you for joining the list some of these freebies will be offered only to members or will be offered to the members first. This is my way of saying thank you for reading and taking an interest in my blog and it’s also a way for me to get to know the readers.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you will all join the mailing list.

Filed Under: announcements

Recipe of the Week: Sweet as Kisses Pie

February 8, 2008 5 Comments

Here we have another great Nabisco recipe. I searched and searched for a good recipe to feature this week. I found a couple several days ago, but I must have forgotten to bookmark them. Finally after searching several sites and finding nothing that I wanted to post, I ran across this delightful pie recipe. This pie is similar to other I’ve made, in that it’s base is cream cheese and cool whip (always a good combination). It’s tasty, a little on the light side (especially if you use reduced fat/sugar ingredients), and it’s with white, red, and pink color scheme, it is perfect for Valentine’s Day. And to top it off, it’s very easy!

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 cup cherry pie filling
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
Preparation:
MIX cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in 2 cups of the whipped topping.
ADD pie filling. Cut through batter with knife several times for marble effect.
POUR into crust; spread with remaining whipped topping. Freeze at least 3 hours or overnight. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into 8 slices.

My Tips:

-Fruit lovers can top this pie with extra pieces of fruit of fruit topping.
-Try this recipe using other kinds of pie feeling such as strawberry or blueberry.
-For kids, try topping with sprinkles and other decoration.
-For kids who aren’t fans of cherry, try substituting something they do like, such as a favorite candy bar.

Filed Under: desserts, Recipe of the Week, recipes, Valentine's Day

Sweet Thursday: Valentine Treats That Say, "I Love You!"

February 7, 2008 1 Comment
With Valentine’s Day coming up, I wanted to throw in an extra Sweet Thursday Post. I meant to post this hours ago, but I got busy with some paper work & housework, and the time just totally got away from me, but at least I got a lot of important things done. Well, for this post I’ve chosen 2 very sweet Valentine treats: cupcakes and cookies. I truly love both of these desserts. These would be great to take to a school party or give to friends and coworkers or to that special someone in your life. And you could use these ideas for other occasions as well. With desserts like these, who needs those little candy hearts?
Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon butter flavoring, optional
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 to 2 drops red food coloring, optional
1 to 2 drops yellow food coloring, optional
1 to 2 drops blue food coloring, optional
Directions: Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Place paper or foil liners in a heart-shaped or standard muffin tin. Fill cups half full of batter. Bake according to package directions for cupcakes. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For frosting, cream butter and shortening in a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla and butter flavoring if desired. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk until light and fluffy. Divide frosting into fourths; place in flour separate bowls. Leave one bowl untinted. Add food coloring to the other three bowls; stir until well blended. Frost cupcakes. Pipe untinted frosting around edges and decorate tops with Valentine phrases. Yield: 28 cupcakes.

Valentine Cookies

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 drops oil of cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup hard cinnamon candies, finely crushed

Directions
1. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl beat sugar and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and oil of cinnamon, if desired; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat well. Cover and chill in the refrigerator about 2 hours or until firm.
2. Cut a 10×8-inch heart pattern from paper. Halve dough. Line 2 cookie sheets with foil. Place half of the dough on each cookie sheet; roll into 10×8-inch rectangles. With pattern, cut dough into heart shapes. Reserve scraps. (If dough seems too soft, freeze 30 minutes or until firm.) Use alphabet- and heart-shaped cutters to cut out a message from each cookie. Remove dough from cutters.
3. Spoon candy into cutouts to fill holes to level of the dough. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until candy is melted and cookies are done. Cool on cookie sheets. Peel foil from cookies. Reroll dough scraps; cut with 3-inch cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the 375 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until done. Cool on pan. Makes 2 large and 6 small cookies (18 servings).


Filed Under: cookies and candy, cupcakes, desserts, recipes, Sweet Thursday, Valentine's Day

Easy, Cute, & Crafty Valentine Gifts

February 5, 2008 8 Comments

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it would be fun to highlight some Valentine treats, gifts, and crafts. Here are just a few that I’ve found. I think some of the best gifts are the one’s we make ourselves, and the one’s I’ve featured here are both affordable and simple, but nonetheless special.

Cardstock and candy make up this cute craft. Give these as a cute valentine treat or attach them to your own handmade giftbags.

These bookmarks are a great kid craft & a good gift for your favorite bookworm.

Valentine Candleholder
Take a candle holder, vase, or glass jar and add a few embellishments to make a beautiful gift for friends or for yourself.

Wool Heart Pillow

A little fabric and a little sewing goes a long way to make these cute & colorful heart pillow. Use as an accent piece for a couch or add a hanger to make it more versatile.

Valentine Basket

This is an easy and fun craft for kids and adults. Create colorful heart shaped baskets for Valentine cards and treats.

Filed Under: crafts, Valentine's Day

Menu Plan Monday

February 4, 2008 Leave a Comment

Last week I tried out the chicken noodle casserole, and it was absolutely delicious. In fact, as I went though the preparation process, I had a taste, and it was so good that I decided to leave out a couple of ingredients. In fact, it tasted just like a recipe for chicken & dumplings that a friend of my family used to make. I took a photo of the dish & will definitely do a separate post on this recipe very soon in the future. Now time to look at this week’s menu.

Monday – Buffalo Chicken Fingers & Fries
Tuesday – Lemon Chicken w/ Brocolli & herb rice
Wednesday – Beef Stroganoff w/ steamed vegetables
Thursday – Chicken & Stuffing Skillet w/ corn & green beans
Friday – leftovers
Saturday – Eat out
Sunday – Beef & Bean Burritos

View other menus here.

Filed Under: menu plan Monday

Recipe of the Week: Chocolate and Cherries Fudge Torte

February 3, 2008 2 Comments

I’m a little later than usual on posting my recipe of the week, but I think this week’s recipe should be well worth the wait. I plan on posting some Valentine recipes over the next couple of weeks, and this is the first one. It was a hard choice this week; there is so much stuff out there! This recipe comes from Hersheys. Normally I’d have some kind of comment, but I think this one speaks for itself.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling, chilled
1-3/4 cups (10-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY’S MINI KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 9-inch springform pan, or line 9-inch round cake pan with foil; grease bottom of foil.
2. Stir together melted butter, granulated sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs; using spoon, beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating with spoon until well blended. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until cake is set. (Cake is fudgey and will not test done.) Remove from oven; cool completely in pan on wire rack.
4. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Beat cream until stiff; gradually fold into cream cheese mixture, blending well. Spread over top of torte; refrigerate several hours or until set. With knife loosen cake from side of pan; remove side of pan. (Or, lift torte out of pan, using foil; remove foil.).
5. Just before serving, put chocolates in 6-inch-wide heart outline in center of cake. Fill heart shape with cherries from pie filling; put chocolates all around outside edge. Serve cold, cut into wedges, with remaining pie filling. Cover; refrigerate leftover dessert. 10 to 12 servings.

Filed Under: desserts, Recipe of the Week, recipes, Valentine's Day
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