Life gets busy doesn't it?

So I'm sure you have notice the lack of posts for the past couple of weeks. Somehow we have events going on lately and not sure how that happens because we're homebodies. We have been planning very simple menus. Like this week for example we don't want much for leftovers because we don't plan on being home a whole lot, the food will probably go to waste. I've also been studying for exam that I have to take here in a couple of weeks, maybe sooner then that. But don't worry we haven't made anything too exciting. I had Barry make some  Baked Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from the Big Red Kitchen, a blog that I follow. Good idea if you have to feed a crowd. Robin Sue has this Mason Jar thing going on you should check out, specially if you need to take lunch to work. I also had a fryer bird that I had thawed and was planning on making the roasted chicken but I forgot to prep it the day before, so we made the fried chicken. It was sooo good. Always remember to let your protein rest before you dive right in. I'm also playing around with adding a second page for whatever happens to come to mind. It might be about food it might not, but it will have its own page for that. Maybe if we get our act together next week we can come up with a menu. I notice its harder to want to make food when you don't have fresh produce available at your finger tips. I haven't been very inspired. Everyone take something different to your Thanksgiving fair. It's kinda fun to watch how it throws everyone off specially if they're not use to it. I think I brought  guacamole one year, imaging how a bunch of German meat and potato raised family reacted to that. Then again Grandma could make a pretty mean pot roast and potatoes and gravy. 

Menu for November 1st to November 6th

Some of my favorite fall back recipes are Campbell's condensed soups. My mom got me for Christmas awhile back a 3 cookbook collection: Homemade in Minutes, Classic Recipes, and Everyday Easy Meals. It uses all their brands but you can easily switch out to store brand. This time of the year condensed soups, single serving soups and stock/broth go on sale and if you clip coupons you'll notice that Campbell's and Progressive has coupons for their different types of soup. Stock up! I love going into the pantry and having easy meals on hand with condensed soups. Just think, chicken and rice, I have this in my pantry and freezer.
Here is our menu for the week using recipes from the Campbell's collection. campbell kitchen

Tuesday
Baked Supreme Ziti (recipe)

Wednesday
Creamy Chicken Risotto (recipe)
(this is a favorite of ours)

Thursday
Subs

Friday
Ham and Green Bean Casserole (recipe)
( I really wanted to make green bean casserole)

Saturday
Country Scalloped Potatoes (recipe)
(Ok, so this recipe was oringal scallop potatoes and onion and I was going to add leftover ham. When looking up that recipe I found the Country Scalloped Potatoes, niffty!)

Sunday
Slow Cooker Pot Roast (recipe)
(using leftovers for meals next week)

Three Cheese Macaroni

     I do not enjoy the simple dish of macaroni and cheese. It just sits there like a lump in my stomach and just makes me feel ill. My husband likes it and the closest thing he's had to it is the Bowel Appetite's.  He mixes it with water and microwaves. Yum....I also told him that I wasn't making it for him either. That was a few years ago. A few weeks ago, I get the  October edition of Everyday Food and they have in their featured Big Batch: Three Cheese Macaroni. I skim down the ingredient list and they don't have American Cheddar in it, not my favorite cheese. They use a white cheddar and Monterey Jack (think you can find just white cheddar hanging there with the rest of the cheeses? no)  so I go the triple cheddar which had the white cheddar in it. It was a nice sharpness. I then look at the other page where they have the options for the leftover and there's this baked tomato casserole. I can try this.
    We adapted the recipe to our tasting and plus we didn't want to buy Old Bay Spice as it had it in the original recipe. We didn't know if  we would like it and how often we would use it. We made up our own southwestern seasoning of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Barry thought the cumin was odd, but I didn't mind it. We did add bacon to it, of course. I thought that added a lot to it. If I had more time I would have baked this with panko or bread crumbs on top. We cut the recipe in half because that would have been way too much for 2 people. We still had leftovers and will make the leftover recipe mentioned above. I would probably make this again. I like it as it was creamy but didn't taste blah.This was a nice comfort dish that didn't take to much time to do.

Three Cheese Macaroni adapted from Everyday foods

• coarse salt
• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups skim milk
• garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper to your taste
• 1 1/2 cups white cheddar shredded
• 1 cup Monterey Jack shredded
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• bacon (optional)

Ok so, what you do is get your pot of salted water going  to a boil.
In a pot melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium and start whisking in the flour and cook stirring a lot until mixture is pale golden and has a nutty aroma, about a couple of minutes. It goes fast. Whisking constantly, slowly add milk. It will start thickening right away until you start adding more milk. Cook, whisking along bottom of pot, until boiling, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thicken, 10-12 minutes.  You should add your noodles now while it is thickening to your already pot of boiling water and cook maracroni according to package instructions. Drain.
Remove the sauce from heat and add  1 tablespoon butter, spices, and cheeses.  Add the cheese in handfuls at a time otherwise it will bunch up in a ball. This way the cheese will have the chance to melt into the sauce. It doesn't take long. Stir until it's smooth, season with salt.
Add macaroni to sauce and stir to combine. If you want bacon cook up a couple of slices and crumble on top.
Refrigerate and leftovers for up to 5 days

Menu 10-24 to 10-29

Monday
Baked Tomato Casserole (October 2011 Everyday Food)

Tuesday
Pulled Beef Sandwich
Hasselback Potatoes recipe here

Wednesday
Pork Loin

Thursday
Chicken Casserole (October 2011 Everyday Food, original Tuna)

Friday
 Lo Mein with Pork (November 2011 Everyday Food)

Saturday
Halloween Party Menu:
Lil' Smokies
Caramel Cheese and Apple Slices
Dirty Martini Dip
Sassy Crackers
Apple Pie with real Cidar

Menu for Oct 10-14

Well, I haven't had much of a menu for the past couple of weeks and it's the same case this week. Basically just your simple meals. Chelsey has homecoming this week and we are going away for the weekend so not much cooking.

Tuesday
Barry's on his own

Wednesday
Hormel Pulled Pork and baked potato

Thursday
Spaghetti

See not much of a menu, probably not worth publishing.  It might change.

Colossal Chicken

      I remember when growing up seeing this yellow cover cookbook. My mom had it, both my grandmas had it and I'm sure my aunts had it. I think one said the cover is missing. It is a massive cook book. I have mine in a magazine holder so it doesn't get damaged in the cupboard. The Recipe Roundup at Ramsey. My mom gets her banana bread recipe from it. My Grandma Ubben has submissions in it. I think hers is under Mrs. Harold Ubben. A lot of recipes are listed like that, if you look at the end of this entry you'll see this recipe is by Mrs Russell Sonnenberg.
      As weird as the ingredients are below, this actually turned out pretty good. I did change out some of the ingredients as I didn't have everything plus I wanted to use what I had.  I had leftover rotisserie chicken and green beans mom gave me. Try out, will probably make this again if I have left over chicken.

1 can chicken gumbo
3 tbsp butter
2 cups cooked green beans
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup cooked onion
1 cup panko
1 cup cheddar cheese
Melt the butter and brown the onions. In the original recipe it calls for flour, but since I used chicken gumbo, it has okra and okra is a natural thickener.  Take a 2 quart casserole dish and layer the chicken and green beans. I used garden green beans and cooked them longer then I would if I was just serving them. Pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle the cheese  and then panko across the top. The orignal recipe called for chips, but I didn't have it and it also didn't call for cheese, like that would stop me.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Inspired by Mrs. Russell Sonnenberg recipe
Recipe Roundup at Ramsey pg 217

Oven Pancake

     Barry and I attended Waldorf College in Forest City, IA. For the first two years we stayed at Tillie Rasmusson dorms. She was the cook for near fifty years serving homemade food. Everything by hand, everyday. When we ate at the cafeteria, the food was ok and Sunday nights were a little sketchy.  Now, Sunday mornings there was brunch and it was perfect for a hangover cause it was greasy! They made you omelets to order and you can bet there was bacon and cheese in mine. During our 4th year there, we decided to go to an auction a few blocks from our apartment. I don't remember what I wanted there, maybe furniture, but I got a box with a sewing supplies and other odd ends. The main thing that was in there was a Waldorf Cookbook. Being in apartment meant I had to cook for myself and couldn't eat at the cafeteria without paying, so I needed more food to make. Cheap food. Old time cooks books had that.
       When flipping through it, I came across the Oven Baked Pancake. It had 5 ingredients and made 2 pancakes. When it cooks, it kind of raises up the side of the pan leaving center like a bowl. A bowl waiting for goodness to fill it. I don't remember what we did the first time, but this time we used apples from my grandparents farm. We sliced them up and added some cinnamon and sugar to it and laid them out in a pinwheel fashion on top of the batter and let it bake. I debated whether or not to put syrup on it when it was done. So I tried a piece with it and without it and went with the syrup. I think Barry went without. Adding the apples was my idea so the recipe was inspired by the recipe of Carol Johnson. The recipe below is Carol  Johnson. Since it is a baking recipe you really can't go changing it. People are like "oh she's plagiarism", probably, but the recipe is so simple you can really make it your own and put whatever you like on it.

oh my

Makes 2 pancakes
9-inch round pan or pie pan, metal
18 minutes at 450 degrees, then 10 mintues at 350 degrees

3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp margarine

Place margarine in baking pans and place in the oven long enough to melt the margarine. Meanwhile, beat the other ingredients together until smooth. Pour the batter into the pan on top of the melted margarine. Bake. This pancake may be served with hot maple syrup; or melted margarine, powdered sugar and a lemon wedge; lingonberry sauce; or warm strawberry sauce. You can bake fruit into. You could spread any jam or jelly on it. Whatever you like, you could even make it savory since the pancake is on the plain side.
 recipe of Carol Johnson
Waldorf Auxiliary Cookbook, pg 57