FAMILY MEALS: 19

May 25, 2012


Oh man. I am learning with any type of home fixing up, stress levels are high and homemade meals are really non-existent. Though, I did get one cooked night in and I decided to go with Patty Melts…
patty melts and carrot fries
Patty Melts are something I remember my mom making for us often when we were kids and I wanted something kind of nostalgic to make for my girls during this busy time. I am definitely a fan of these types of sandwiches and I loved it paired with some carrot fries. Yum. Yum.
Here’s how to make my type of Patty Melts…
Ingredients
– rye read
– 1 onion diced
– 1 lb. lean ground turkey
– Kraft Singles American Cheese
-unsalted butter
Directions
Dice the onions and with a fork mix it into the lean ground turkey. Form oval shape patties and season both sides of the patty with salt and pepper. Cook patties on a skillet until cooked all the way through. 
Meanwhile, butter the outside parts of the bread. On one slice of bread, top with 2 slices of cheese, a patty, and another slice of bread on top. I had a panini maker handy, so I just used that to finish the sandwich off. This made about 6 servings for us, but will differ a bit depending how much meat you put in your patties.
patty melts and carrot friespatty melts and carrot fries
The rye bread gives the nice little kick and mixed in with a slice (or 2 because I like things cheesy) of Kraft Singles… I love it! So do my girls, which is most important. I miss my mom making these for me, but I am glad I can make them for my girls now. Hopefully next week things will calm down a bit and our kitchen can begin operation again and I can be cooking more than once a week. I really miss my kitchen!
Week of 5/28 – 6/1
Monday: Burgers (it’s memorial day over here!)
Tuesday: Pizza
Wednesday: Dumplings
Thursday: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Friday: Sushi Night! 
I’m crossing my fingers that I will be back in my kitchen next week. 
|week 18|week 17|week 16|week 15|week 14|week 13|week 12|week 11|week 10|week 9|week 8|week 7|week 6|week 5|week 4|week 3|week 2week 1|

*As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for a free Kraft Singles and a stipend.

FAMILY MEALS: 18

May 17, 2012


The only dinner I semi-prepared were bean and cheese tostadas…

food

food

The girls had theirs topped with a blob of avocado and I had mine with chipotles mixed in. It was good, but oh man, I’m tired of eating out and tired of bean and cheese tostadas. I want to get back in my kitchen and cook. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to be changing out floors and doing some house renovating, but being behind schedule two weeks isn’t fun at all and is more challenging when kids are involved. It looks like it will be another week and half until things get back to normal around here. That’s being optimistic though and realistically it will be two weeks until things settle down. 
Week 5/21 – 5/25
Tuesday: Sliders (gotta find a recipe)
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pizza
I can’t believe it is pretty much nearing the end of May. Our kitchen hasn’t been feeling very much love this month. Let’s hope we can make up for it in June!

FAMILY MEALS: WEEK SEVENTEEN

May 11, 2012


Yup. Like I thought, not much cooking this week. We are still basically living upstairs and can’t really use our kitchen much, so cooking is pretty much nada. 
Ben did make some black bean burgers, but even that was using some frozen patties he bought from the market…
black bean burgersblack bean burgers
In a pinch, they worked. We were out of buns, so good ‘ole whole wheat bread had to do, and we added some avocados and chipotles and we called it a dinner. With a side of broccoli. Balance is good. It was yummy, we were fed, and that’s as fancy as we get this week.
Now throw in some panda express, frozen pizzas, and maybe sunflower butter sandwiches and those are what our other nights comprised of. We have about a week left of living like this (there have been some hold ups), but we are getting antsy over here and can’t wait to get this home back in working order. Plus, this mama is ready to decorate!  Next week, will be another quick and easy dinner week for us, but I will put a meal plan here from one of our favorite weeks just in case some of you need ideas. 
Week 5/14 – 5/18
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pizza
When you can’t cook in your kitchen, what’s a quick and easy thing you put together?

|week 16|week 15|week 14|week 13|week 12|week 11|week 10|week 9|week 8|week 7|week 6|week 5|week 4|week 3|week 2week 1|


CAKIES ON A BEAUTIFUL MESS

May 8, 2012


I am excited to be a new contributor on the A Beautiful Mess blog. Elsie & Emma always have tons of stuff going on from foodie things to DIY’s to vintage-y things and I am glad to be a part of it. My first posts are all about greenifying your home. I am all about plants. Love them inside (and out) and they are good for cleaning air, so I was glad to share my little bit of knowledge with the ABM readers.
adding green
diy: color block pots
diy: collage plant basket
I am sure you have heard of A Beautiful Mess, but if you haven’t, be sure to check it out. If you are a newbie crafter or an experienced one, there is something for everyone there. 

FAMILY MEALS: WEEK SIXTEEN

May 4, 2012


One home cooked meal this week and that’s because we are pretty much quarantined upstairs. All the carpet is gone downstairs and it is quite dusty, so the kitchen is only in use for quick things.
I did get to make some baked salmon…
salmon baked in foil
I merged this recipe with the olive tapenade in this post and this is what came up. It was good, but I don’t think it fit our taste palate. We like salmon with spice and though the flavors were good, they were just too mild for us. It did give me a chance to try baking salmon in foil, but for me this came out dryer than when we grill it. I prefer salmon grilled. 
For veggies we had roasted brussels sprouts…
roasted brussels sprouts
Ben made it with a little bit of lemon juice, zest, garlic, salt, and pepper. This combo always wins with us. Here’s a recipe you might want to try. Brussels sprouts are really good! Really!!!
I have a feeling there won’t be much cooking again next week, but I will still plan, just in case. 
Week 4/7 – 4/11
Monday: Seafood Medley Pasta
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Wednesday: Oven Baked Taquitos
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pizza

SUPER QUICK SUNFLOWER BUTTER COOKIES

April 25, 2012


sunflower butter cookiessunflower butter cookiessunflower butter cookiessunflower butter cookiessunflower butter cookiessunflower butter cookies

True’s allergic to peanuts, so instead of peanut butter cookies, we do sunflower butter cookies. This is my take on the sunflower butter cookie. Sunflower butter isn’t for everyone. If you would much rather have peanut butter, which I happen to like much better, just substitute the sunflower butter for 1 cup peanut butter and you can add more sugar to the recipe, but I try to lessen it a bit for moderation’s sake. Plus, I put in chocolate chips, so I think that is plenty sweet right there. Before I put them in the oven, I sprinkled some with sugar, and others I sprinkled with salt. Your choice, do you want savory or sweet? I think I am more a sweet person, but savory is a nice change once in awhile.

The girls ate them up, so I guess I had happy customers. Share me some of your favorite cookie recipes!

CAKIES
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