Holy Shrimp Fritter Goodness!

I don't know about anyone else, but hubby and I just thoroughly enjoyed the Shrimp Fritters that was on the menu for tonight.  Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!  I thought a pound of shrimp would just be too much for us, so I only got 3/4 of a pound.  I wish I had gotten the other quarter...next time for sure.

Weekly Meal Plan #4

Hello Mayhem Friends!  How was your week?  Did you especially enjoy any one of the meals?  Hubby and I loved the Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.  I added parmesan and mozzarella to it.   We love cheese.  We've also become fond of the grilled chicken and tapenade sandwiches.  What about you?


This weeks plan includes a little bit of everything, from pizza and seafood (not together), to soup and beef. Almost all of it includes veggies in some form!  Adding more veggies to your meals is a great way to cut back on the cost of groceries.  They are healthy and filling!  


September 26-October 2 


Sunday – Veggie BBQ Pizza (see below)
Monday – Crispy Baked Cod
Tuesday - Pasta  (see below)
Wednesday – Shrimp Fritters with Romaine
Thursday – Cheesy Vegetable Soup
Friday – Beef Tostadas
Saturday – Garden Style Lasagna (see below)

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Veggie BBQ Pizza

After enjoying one of these at a restaurant several months ago, I attempted to recreate it.  So, here is my version...

1 Boboli Thin Crust Pizza

1 C Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or any kind you like)

1 C chopped red onion

1 C chopped sweet red pepper

1/4 tbs of crushed red pepper

1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to suggested temperature on the Boboli package.  Spread BBQ sauce over pizza crust.  Top with red onion and sweet red pepper.  Sprinkle with crushed red pepper.  Cover entire pizza with mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese over mozzarella.  Bake for 10 minutes.   

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Pasta

Another one of those, "you know what do!" meals.  Everyone enjoys their pasta differently, so whether it's penne, spaghetti or elbow macaroni, top it with your favorite sauce and enjoy a classic easy dinner.  

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Garden Style Lasagna

So, I made this meal back in May.  My husband was not around.  He was out for the night.  That was probably a good thing.  This was the most involved and time consuming meal to make...ever.  But that is because I was stubborn and chose to do everything fresh and in the moment.  Take the advice of the recipe and, buy already chopped vegetables or chop them ahead of time.  Also, you can buy lasagna noodles that you do not have to precook!  I think they are by Creamette.  This will greatly cut down on the time it takes to prepare this meal.  But I want you to try it!  This turned out so good that the headache I had from making it was completely worth it.  I know, I'm making this sound so inviting, huh?  Just do it.  :-)  

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Grocery List

3 large red onion

2 medium sweet red pepper

Fresh parsley

1 lemon (need to grate the lemon rind)

garlic

green onions

1 lime

Romaine lettuce

celery

1 large zucchini

1 yellow squash

1 package of whole carrots

1 large head of broccoli

1 16oz package of frozen mixed veggies

1 10oz package of frozen spinach

6 cod fillets

1 lb of peeled and deveined cooked shrimp

1 lb lean ground beef

1 package of lasagna noodles

ther pasta noodles

1 Boboli thin crust pizza

Panko or regular bread crumbs

Tostada shells

Pasta sauce

BBQ sauce

Flour

Honey

Nutmeg

Mayonnaise (or light)

1 can creamed corn

Chili sauce

Chipotle sauce

Taco seasoning

Guacamole

1 package mozzarella cheese

2 packages of sharp cheddar cheese

1 package of shredded Mexican cheese blend (or just use the cheddar)

Fresh grated parmesan cheese

16oz 1% low-fat cottage cheese

8 oz sour cream

Eggs

Milk

I LOVE GOUDA!

Wow.  I thought I was all set with just some sharp cheddar cheese.  Enter gouda, and I'm in melty, yummy love!

I dip, you dip, we dip!

Ok-bad connection to a bad song, but hey, I got your attention, right?

I have a great new dip I just had to share!  First, thank you to my mom who introduced me to this tasty treat.  The best thing about it?  So totally easy!


Fiesta dip

16 oz light sour cream

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Fiesta Dip Mix

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

4.25 oz can chopped black olives

4.5 oz can chopped green chiles

Green onion (optional) for garnish

All you do is mix it all up, in whatever order you want.  Chill for an hour.  

Because I have been shopping at Target, Valli and Aldi, I couldn't find the Hidden Valley Ranch Fiesta Dip Mix.  I find that odd, but thought just a basic taco seasoning mix substituted very well.  Add in a *little* hot sauce for a *little* extra spice.  Obviously, pair it with your favorite tortilla chips!   

I've already made it....2 times...this weekend.  Mmmmmmm.  

Weekly Meal Plan #3

I’m back!!  And, wow….do I feel much better!  I am much more with it, organized and not so stressed.  Amazing how things can change in a week, huh?  So, here’s meal plan #3!

September 19-September 25

Sunday – BBQ Chicken  (See below)

Monday – Stuffed Red Peppers (See below)

Tuesday – Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Wednesday – Grilled Chicken and Tapenade Sandwiches

Thursday – Turkey Mango Quesadillas

Friday – Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese (see below)

Saturday – Honey Mustard Salmon  (See below)

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BBQ Chicken

This is a crazy simple meal.  At our local fresh produce store, they have already cut and seasoned BBQ Chicken.  It’s an entire half of a chicken.

To cook it, we cut up red potatoes, onions and red peppers, layer them at the bottom of a dutch oven, drizzle them with olive oil, place the half chicken on top, and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes.   That’s all folks!

ETA:  Cook at 400 degrees for 60 minutes, or until internal thermometer reads 180 degrees. 

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Stuffed Red Peppers

You can use either green or red peppers for this, but I love the semi-sweet flavor of the red peppers.  Mmmmm.

6 red peppers, washed, with tops cut off and deseeded

2 tbs. of Olive Oil (for pans that are not non-stick)

1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef

1 cup of cooked rice

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. of black pepper

dash of basil

1/2 cup of ketchup

1 8oz. can of tomato sauce

Heat oil in skillet and brown ground beef.   Combine beef and next 6 ingredients.  Stuff peppers with beef mixture.  Arrange peppers in a large crock pot.  Pour tomato sauce over peppers.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

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Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Nothing fancy here!  You know what to do!

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Honey Mustard Salmon

Salmon is usually pretty good no matter how it’s prepared.  This one is very easy and tasty. 

1 lb Salmon

2 tbs. Dijon mustard

2 tbs. honey

Salt and pepper

Wash salmon and place it in a baking pan sprayed with a cooking spray.   Season Salmon with salt and pepper and set aside.

Mix mustard with honey.  Pour it over the salmon.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Serve with a vegetable of your choice! 

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Grocery List

Half of a pre-seasoned BBQ chicken

1 medium potato

2 medium red onion

7 sweet red peppers

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

White or brown rice

Ketchup

1 8oz. can of tomato sauce

1 small butternut squash

Elbow macaroni

Unsalted butter

All-purpose flour

Powdered mustard

Milk

Monterey Jack cheese

Sharp Cheddar cheese

Grape Tomatoes

Kalamata or black olives

Fresh basil

Fresh flat-leaf parsley

Balsamic vinger

Fresh oregano

Garlic

Olive Oil

Crumbled feta cheese

4 ciabatta sandwich rolls

Flour tortillas

Gouda or smoked gouda cheese

1/2 lb of cooked or smoked turkey or chicken.

Bottled roasted red pepper

Mango or mango-peach salsa

Fresh cilantro (optional)

Tomato soup

American cheese

Bread

1 lbs of salmon

Dijon mustard

honey

A week off...

Hello friends!  I will be taking the week off this week.  I have a meal plan in my head for my hubby and I, but I've been a little stressed this past week, so I'm going to slow it down a little this week.  And I still haven't caught up on my own meals from the last two weeks!  Crazy.

Again, if you have an comments regarding last week's meal plan, or recipes to share, please let me know!  I'm always looking for new things to try.  I do want to share that the mole sauce I on Friday was AMAZING!  Instead of using dried chilies, I got a small can of chipotle chilies in an adobo sauce, pureed those, and added that to the mix instead.  It was spicy heaven and perfect with the flank steak.  I highly recommend this little change. :-)

Have a great week!

Weekly Meal Plan #2

Welcome to week #2!  I hope you all had a successful week last week and enjoyed the meals.  If you have any comments and stories to share, please do so!  I wasn’t as successful.  I managed to make 3 of the meals I planned for.  Last Sunday we had a family party to go to, so I didn’t make it to the grocery store that day.  Then I was really tired after school on Monday and hubby said to just come home…that HE would go grocery shopping on Tuesday.  So, I took him up on it and we had Chinese.  But, I did manage to make the Red Bean and Orzo, Creamy Linguine and the Cajun Steak Sandwiches.  They were all great!  We had the Red Bean with Orzo and Creamy Linguine as left overs, too.  

While I will probably still make some of last weeks meals that I didn’t get too, I have a new list for you!  With it being Labor Day weekend, you might be going to a BBQ or party, so I’m going to throw in the classic burger meal.   To save time, unless I have adapted a recipe, I will only post the link to where it can be found. 

Enjoy week #2! 

September 4 – September 11

Sunday – Cheddar Bacon Hamburgers

Monday – Chili using McCormick's Chili Seasoning

Tuesday – Baked Chicken in a Red Pepper Sauce

Wednesday – Broccoli-Sausage Pasta

Thursday  - Pan Seared Shrimp over Rice

Friday - Flank Steak with Mole Sauce

Saturday – Grilled Pork Tenderloin with an Orange Marmalade Glaze

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A note about the mole sauce:

When I first made this recipe, it seemed to be lacking some directions.  Unless you want a chunky sauce, I would suggest actually using a small food processor to puree the onion.  Additionally, it did not mention anything about deseeding the chilies.  You do not need to deseed if you don't mind a spicy mole sauce.  If you don't want it to be too spicy, then I would deseed then.  Also, I would try to puree them in the food processor as well. 

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The Grocery List:

2lbs of ground beef

Real bacon bits

2 lbs of chicken breast

1 package smoked sausage

2 lbs of flank steak

1 lb pork tenderloin

1 1/2 lbs uncooked shrimp

Parsley

garlic

1 large head of broccoli

3 red onions

3 large dried chilies

1 sweet red or green pepper

green onions

1 packet of McCormick's chili seasoning

2 15 oz cans of tomato sauce

horseradish sauce

sour cream

chicken broth

cider vinegar

lemon juice

red wine vinegar

soy sauce

honey

unsweetened baking chocolate

orange marmalade

rice wine vinegar

penne pasta

shredded cheddar cheese

4 hamburger buns