What's For Dinner

I hope you all have a fabulous week in the kitchen! One of best things we can do for our family is plan ahead, make nutritious, yummy meals, and be at peace at dinner time. Take time to chat with the family. Engage in lively conversation. Relax!

Manicotti

We follow the recipe on the Manicotti Noodle box. It works for us! We buy in bulk so we make 2 batches at a time…one for now and one for later. This recipe takes some time. But you can make a day or so ahead.  My gals like to make it.

Here are some other Manicotti Recipes you might want to try.  http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Pasta/Pasta-by-Shape/Manicotti/Top.aspx

Enchiladas

These are always a favorite in our home. We make two to three types each time we make them. The basics are:

Lightly dip tortilla in oil…you want to just barely wash it on the bottom with oil

Place filling in the middle of tortilla. Do not overstuff. Usually about 3T is good Roll tight.

We top ours with enchilada sauce and cheese. Some other toppers might be peppers, olives, onions,

Our favorite fillings: Just cheese, cheese and chicken, cheese and hamburger, cheese and beans

We do both oven and crock pot version. Here is a site with lots of varieties! http://www.cookingcache.com/cat/mexican_recipes/enchilada_recipes/default.aspx

Corn Bread is fabulous with this!

Ingredients:

2 cups cornmeal, yellow or white

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar, optional

1 cup buttermilk

3 large eggs

1 can (approx. 15 ounces) cream-style corn

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Heat oven to 425°.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs; stir in the cream-style corn and melted butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until blended. Spoon into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and the cornbread springs back when lightly touched with a finger.

Pork Roast

We buy this in bulk and just happened to find it for 1.58 a pound this week. We season well with our favorite blend. Put on the spit and roast ( in our convection oven)

You can find other Pork Roast Recipes here:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Meat-and-Poultry/Pork/Roasts/Main.aspx

Stir Fry

Anytime we do a pork roast ( that is the good pork meat with very little fat) we save a portion for stir fry. There are many ways to make this . We do ours ala carte so each family member can put in theirs what they like. So our ingredients usually are: meat ( usually pork or chicken), rice, steamed mixed veggies ( broccoli, carrots, snap peas, zucchini, yellow squash, etc), water chestnuts, egg, green onion, sprouts. We tend to not use any sauces. This makes it lower in calorie. We also do not “fry” ours.

Here are recipes for Stir Fry.  ( there are so many varieties!) http://busycooks.about.com/od/fiveingredientrecipes/a/5ingredientstir.htm http://www.stirfryrecipes.net/StirFryRecipes.htm

Crab Salad

This is a make ahead recipe! Enjoy with a green salad and fresh fruit.

2 cups dry elbow macaroni

2 cups cooked cooled crab meat, flaked

1 cup diced celery

1/4 cup chopped green or red bell pepper

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 can of olives, chopped

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon mustard

¼ cup vinaigrette  ( or Italian salad dressing)

Cook macaroni according to directions. Drain and rinse in cold water.

Mix all ingredients well. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Here is a site with more crab salad varieties.

BBQ Steak

As I mentions in Weekly Wrap Up I do this menu after the fact. This is last weeks menu. For mothers day we did a fabulous BBQ Steak dinner with baked potatoes, raw veggies, salad, French bread,

We don’t do anything special on the BBQ. Just our favorite all purpose seasoning and time!