Menu: Week 1

Well, here goes nothing! My friend Brianne was talking about how she wishes that I could just plan her menu for her week by week, and I thought this would be an easy way to do it. Each week I will post the 5 or 6 meals that I made the previous week; we tend to eat out 1 or 2 times each week...I know, that is so bad! Sometimes I need a little break, though! I am really excited to do this, not only to help out Brianne, but also to keep me on the ball of our menu's. I am always trying new recipes, but probably only 1-2 times a week in order to keep my hubby sane; therefore, I am sure that you will see some repeats. We all have our favorites, right?! Here is our menu for Week 1, click on the links to be connected to the recipe! Enjoy!

Monday: Honey Mustard Chicken, Brown rice, steamed broccoli, and hedgehogs

Tuesday: Calzones, house salad and Chocolate Cake sauce to DIE for!

Wednesday: Orange Chicken with Brown Rice and corn

Thursday: Spinach, Bacon, and Swiss Quiche and hashbrowns

Friday: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas, with house salad and cantaloupe

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs, yes, that is our new name for these delicious little morsels! This is the worlds easiest and nummyiest (sp!?!?) dessert! Cody is NOT A FAN OF COCONUT...however, this literally tastes like burnt sugar smothered with ice cream and chocolate, and who doesn't like that?! Wendy made these for us when we ate there one night, and we have had them multiple times since.

From: Wendy

1 bag coconut flakes

1/2 gallon ice cream

hot fudge

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/2 to 3/4 bag of coconut on a cookie sheet, thin. Bake coconut until a dark golden brown, stirring every 3 minutes. Make sure to check often to avoid burning. In my oven this takes about 15-20 minutes.

Roll vanilla ice cream into balls and then into baked coconut, the more coconut the better! Eat immediately with Mrs. Richardson's Hot Fudge, or simply freeze the ice cream balls with coconut for later!

Chocolate Cake Sauce to DIE for!

This is my dad favorite dessert ever, besides fudgesicles! He likes to eat the sauce after it has been refrigerated, I, on the other hand, prefer it warm. To each his own I guess! It is delicious no matter which way you decide to eat it. You can also use german chocolate cake instead of milk chocolate, but Cody likes the latter.

From: Mom

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Cook and stir first 4 ingredients on medium heat until thickened. Allow to slightly cool, then stir in the vanilla. Serve over milk chocolate cake warm or cold.

Spinach, Bacon and Swiss Quiche

This is my first quiche ever! It was so yummy and fun to make too. I hesitated putting in the spinach, but the nutritional addition made it all the better!

From: Paula Deen

6 large eggs, beaten  1 1/2 cups heavy cream  Salt and pepper  2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed  4 strips turkey bacon, cooked and cut into small pieces canadian bacon, cut into small pieces 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss Cheese 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Layer the spinach, turkey and canadian bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Cut into 8 wedges.

Orange Chicken

What on earth did I do before Melanie Gunnell and her food blog?! She has brought so many delicious recipes into my life! This one is so good! Sweet, orange flavored, perfect chicken dinner awaits...!

From: Melanie

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2" cubes
1/2 cup flour (or organic wheat rice flour to be GF)
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce (or All Natural Bragg Liquid Aminos to be GF)
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons green onion
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Heat oven to 350. In a shallow dish combine the flour, garlic powder and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in flour mixture and coat evenly.

Melt butter and pour into a shallow baking dish, large enough to accommodate chicken in a single layer. Arrange chicken in pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan combine water, fresh orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, orange zest and whisk over medium heat for a few minutes. Then stir in brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and green onion(Cody doesn't eat green onion, so I omitted this) and let it come to a boil. Combine cornstarch with water and let it dissolve and add it to the sauce until thickened.

After chicken has baked the 30 minutes, turn each piece over and pour 1/2 sauce mixture evenly over chicken. Bake another 30 to 40 minutes basting frequently.

Serve chicken over rice with extra sauce on the side.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Moist, light, simple chicken anyone?! We loved this recipe, especially because most of the chicken dishes that I make are so HEAVY. That gets old, ya know?! This is a piece of cake recipe, too, which adds to it's wonderfulness!

From: Melanie Gunnell

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed (if they are overly thick, slice them in half)

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons mustard (I used the basic yellow mustard since my husband is not a fan of Dijon mustard, but I bet it would be tasty with either)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 350. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, mustard and salt and whisk well. Pour over chicken. Bake for 25-30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. Serve over rice or noodles.

Orange Italian Dressing

Talk about jazzing up a salad! This is the best dressing, it has just enough kick with a little sweet mixed in. We put it on top of any kind of salad, but the best one to put it on would be one with some candied almonds...yummy!

From: Marjie

1/2 tsp. grated orange peel

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

1/4 cup canola oil

2 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. dry italian dressing mix

Mix all of the above together and serve over greens.