Happy Monday everyone! I was wide awake, bright eyed & bushy tailed at the butt crack of dawn this weekend again - not good. 4:30 am on Saturday, and 5:30 yesterday, so I was completely worn out by noon. I decided to just get the cooking done & then take a nap (which I did once everything was cooked and the kitchen cleaned). Here's our menu for the week.
Monday : Lasagna, garlic bread sticks, salad
Tuesday : Frikkadel, mashed potatoes, baked beans, veggies of choice
Wednesday : Same as Monday
Thursday : Same as Tuesday
Friday : Italian sausage with smoortjie from the freezer (South African 'relish' if you can call it that. It's just sautéed onions, peppers & tomatoes. I like to add parsley too), baked potatoes and salad. I bought 2 whole cooked pizzas (with meat & veggies) at Sams on Friday, so the rest have been frozen for easy meals.
There's always lots of fresh fruit & cooked veggies available
Breakfasts : Lemon blueberry muffins, bagels, omelets, breakfast burritos, cereal. Pick your breakfast.
Lunch : Dinner leftovers or freezer BBQ chicken breasts with salad
Dessert : Apple pie
I also sautéed mushrooms, garlic & parsley for our omelets.
I always assumed that Frikkadel was a South African dish, until I read about it on a blog that mentioned Frikkadellen was a German dish. Color me surprised. So I did a quick google search and learned that it was indeed of German origin and was adopted by the Dutch. Aah, that's when it made sense to me, because I have a Dutch heritage and there are many similarities between the Dutch & Germans, including the language.
I rarely make dessert, because I don't need the temptation and we'd be stuck eating dessert every night with it just being 2 of us. I had an 8 lb bag of apples to use, so pie it is. I like to bake my apple pie in a rectangular pan, because it's easy to just cut into squares and freeze some. I can also easily cut a square in half if I don't want to eat too much sweets.
My pie crumble isn't made with sugar and spice (we eat low sugars). I just make a double batch of pie dough. Then I freeze 1/3rd of it. Once frozen, I lightly pulse it in the blender to crumble and top my pie with it.
Somebody's mama overbaked the muffins a tad...lol (this is what happens when you're multitasking. I normally have about 3 different food items going at the same time), but don't let the exterior fool you. Those muffins are light & fluffy on the inside. I bought more blueberries at Kroger on Friday, cause it was $1.49. Much cheaper than Aldi & Meijer.
I don't know what it is lately, but my baking have been turning out really great since Christmas. I'm a flavour girl. I like to experiment with flavour and it works most of the time. If you want a party in your mouth, I can make it happen....lol (not trying to toot my own horn). My food might not always look the best, but my baking flavours have turned out great. I've been getting the perfect flavour balance since the holidays. I can't explain it. I've been using the same recipes for years. My sugar cookie was the star at Christmas. I've been using that simple Wilton sugar cookie recipe for ages, but this was the best one ever. Those of you who have a love and/or passion for baking will understand how it is when you're 'in the zone' and everything just turns out great. I think that's what's happening with my baking and I sure hope it continues.
On the other hand. I had the carrots cooking on the stove (I'm still old school in many ways and still cook the way I was taught as a child. Carrots in pot of water with salt & cinnamon stick. I use stick cinnamon for many things) while I helped DS get ready for school. Then I ran downstairs to get a can of peas to add to the carrots. I didn't bother to turn on the light in the pantry. I just grabbed a can with a green label and green veggies, cause it's peas right? Wrong! I opened the can, added it to the carrots and had a wth moment. Turns out I opened grean beans. Ugh! I'm not even crazy about green beans and since when do you mix carrots & green beans together? Oh well, too bad so sad. We'll just eat it and act like we enjoy it...lol
I'm off to go do some Wags and Meijer damage later. I'll respond to comments later.
Have a wonderful week peeps! Stay healthy, safe & warm.
I'm laughing at the carrots/green bean combo. Here's how I like green beans: cooked in a bit of chicken broth, then drained. Add shaved parmesan, toasted sliced almonds, salt & pepper to taste. They are lovely that way.
ReplyDeleteLol...I had some for lunch and it wasn't too bad. Thanks so much for the recipe! I have some fresh green beans I need to use and I already have all the ingredients for that recipe. I'm gonna give it a try.
DeleteYour menu looks awesome. Never tried to cook carrots with a cinnamon stick, just may have to give that a try.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you Jackie! I do the same with butternut squash. I just slice it (width wise, circles. I hope this makes sense). Then peel, clean out seeds, rinse (I always wash all food items. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to food & cleanliness...lol) and cook in water with salt & stick cinnamon. The cinnamon adds extra flavor. I hope you'll like it. I've never just baked a squash in the oven. It seems senseless/wasteful to me to turn on the oven to just bake a squash.
DeleteLaughed at "the butt crack of dawn" and "too bad so sad". As a kid in the early 80's, my friends and I used said "too bad so sad" all the time, lol.
ReplyDeleteI the idea of a cinnamon stick boiling with the carrots. Sounds yummy.
Gonna try that for sure. I am with you on the green beans though.
Lol... I still enjoy using old expressions Theresa. The green beans actually wasn't bad, but it's not something I'll just choose to add to the menu. I prefer it in a casserole or stir fry. Hope you enjoy the carrots.
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