Cow Update #42

Look how nicely everyone is getting along.  I captured this shot just after they all had a nice filling snack of watermelon rind.  

But really they stopped snack time because J & I were almost running out of the house when we heard Mr. St pull up with a trailer.  Could it be??? Yes!

The hay was ready...

The trailer was ready...

but apparently the cows were not ready, because no one told them they were supposed to show up.  Or perhaps they were informed and they decided to decline the invitation.

Truck horns were sounded; nothing.
Another neighbor rode around on his 4-wheeler; nothing.
Then this happened and all was called off for the night.

 Mr. St and I had a nice conversation about one cow who was 'pen smart', meaning she just wouldn't go into a pen if she knew that was what you wanted her to do.  Then he brought up Missy and according to him, "Missy did too much thinking for a cow."  Well said Mr. St.

Before and After

I showed some interesting pictures from our camp out a few weeks back, but Karen recently sent me two pictures and some statistics that were worth sharing.

This picture was taken at the new lodge at Camp when we were there in October 2008.

Apparently walking around the edge of the building is awe inspiring and picture worthy because this year after walking around the edge of the building she snapped this picture.

Only after she arrived (ha I caught my 'got') home did she realize she had two almost identical shots.  She's such a nice person that she thought I'd like to share these with you; and I did.  

You may now pick your jaw up off the desk top, ipad or other reading device.  

She also looked up that there has been 67 inches of rain that has fallen between the two pictures over the course of three years.  Unfortunately, and we all know, that only 5.74 of those inches have fallen in the last 12 months.  Certainly well below our average of 34" of rain per year.  

Continue to pray for rain, we sure need it.

Weekly Menu 10/29+

Saturday		mummy dogs carrot sticks grapes
Sunday		turkey burgers home fries scream-cheese brownies
Monday		Happy Halloween devil chicken mashed boo-tatoes candy
Tuesday		All Saint's Day chicken thighs with angel hair pasta broccoli
Wednesday		carne guisada tortillas, cheese, avocados squash
Thursday		chicken tenders tater tots green beans
Friday		sausage wraps baked beans apple slices

Saturday

1.       These are great if you are headed to an early Halloween party. 

Mummy Dogs(Pillsbury)

-          Crescent rolls

-          Hot dogs

-          Mustard (for eyes and smiles)

Remove the two crescent roll segments from the can and cut into thin strips.  Unroll and wrap around dogs.  Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 375. 

Carrot Sticks

Grapes

Sunday

Turkey Burgers(Taste of Home)

§  3/4 cup chopped sweet onion

§  2 teaspoons butter

§  1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

§  1 medium carrot, grated

§  1/4 cup dry red wine

§  1/2 teaspoon salt

§  1/4 teaspoon pepper

§  1 pound lean ground turkey (or beef)

§  1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided

In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion in butter for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and carrot; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add the wine, salt and pepper; simmer for 2-3 minutes or until liquid is evaporated.

Transfer to a large bowl; cool slightly. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  (if you are in a rush, you can skip this step)  Grill patties, uncovered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 8-10 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear, brushing occasionally with 1/4 cup barbecue sauce.

Home Fries

Scream-Cheese Brownies (Betty Crocker)

-4 oz each cream cheese, softened

-1 egg

-3 T sugar

-4 drops red food color

-4 drops yellow food color

-¼ tsp vanilla

-1 box brownie mix (and listed wet ingredients)

Mix first six ingredients until well blended and colored orange.  Mix brownie batter, spread ¾ of it into a greased 9x13 pan.  Drop filling by tablespoonful onto batter.  Top with remaining batter.  Pull knife through batter and filling to make a marbled design.  Bake according to box directions. 

Monday

Devil Chicken (Cooking with the Neely’s)

§  3 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, washed and dried

§  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

§  1 cup all-purpose flour

§  1 teaspoon paprika

§  1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

§  2 tablespoons vegetable oil

§  1 cup white wine

§  1/2 cup chicken stock

§  1 tablespoon orange zest

§  1 orange, juiced (skip if you don’t like fruited meat)

§  2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

§  2 tablespoons hot sauce

§  2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the flour to a pie plate and season with salt and pepper, paprika, and cayenne, whisking to incorporate. Dredge the chicken through the flour, shaking off the excess.  Heat a large skillet with the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken skin side (meaty side) down and sear until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes, Flip and continue cooking the other side for 3 more minutes. Remove to a platter and set aside.

Add the white wine to the skillet and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock, orange juice and zest and the hot sauce. Add the red pepper flakes and whisk in the hot sauce and mustard. Bring to a simmer and add the chicken and the juices that are left in the platter. Reduce the heat to low and cover tightly with a lid. Let the chicken braise for 40 minutes.

Uncover the chicken and remove to a serving platter. Turn the heat to high and let the sauce reduce for 2 to 3 minutes. Once thickened, taste for seasoning, and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

Mashed BOO-Potatoes

Candy

Tuesday

1.       To celebrate All Saint’s Day, and counteract the chicken from last night, we’ll have angel hair pasta.  J

Chicken Thighs (Pioneer Woman)

-8 whole Chicken Thighs, Bone-in, Skin-on

-Salt And Pepper

-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

-1 whole Large Onion, Diced

-4 cloves Garlic, Minced

-2 jars (24 Ounces Each) Marinara Sauce

-Fresh Basil - To Taste

-Parmesan Cheese, For Sprinkling

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Brown chicken thighs quickly on both sides until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a separate plate.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon grease/oil. Add onions and garlic to pan and stir around to cook, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Pour in marinara sauce and stir to heat. Add chicken thighs back into the sauce.  Cover and place pan in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.  You may also simmer on the stovetop on the lowest heat possible.

Angel Hair Pasta

Broccoli

Wednesday

1.       This cooks very well in the crock pot

2.       Make some extra and save it for next week’s enchiladas. 

Carne Guisada

·         2T oil

·         1-2 lb stew meat or cut up roast

·         1 can rotel

·         ½ c chopped onions

·         10 oz beef broth or bullion

·         3 cloves minced garlic

·         1-2 tsp chili powder (or more)

·         ½ t cumin

·         ½ t pepper

·         Salt

·         2 tsp corn starch (or more)

Place all ingredients (except corn starch) in crock pot. Stir together and cook on low all day.  When you return, pull off about 1-2 c of broth and add to a sauce pan.  Combine with corn starch until thickened.  Return thickened gravy back to crock pot and stir to thicken the rest of your meat.

Tortillas

Cheese, avocado, sour cream

Squash

Thursday

1.       Soak chicken tenders in a combination of buttermilk (or 1T vinegar + remainder of 1c milk) and ½ tsp of meat tenderizer.  It really makes the chicken moist when you cook it. 

2.       If you don’t want to fry your tenders, you can certainly bake them in a ‘hot’ oven; which means greater than 400 degrees.  Switch Panko in for the flour, drizzle some butter over them for that oven fried effect. 

3.       If you want, you can batter up some extra tenders and place them in the freezer on a cookie sheet or plate.  Then when frozen, or the next time you look in your freezer, you can drop them into a Ziploc bag so you’ll have some ready to fry. 

Chicken Tenders (Pioneer Woman)

·         1 package Chicken Breasts, Cut Into Strips (sometimes Called "tenders" Or "strips")

·         Buttermilk

·         1-½ cup Flour

·         2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Lawry's Seasoning Salt (or Spices Of Your Choosing)

·         Vegetable Oil

Preparation Instructions

Start by rinsing and drying your chicken strips. Next, in a bowl submerge the chicken strips in buttermilk for 15 to 20 minutes (or longer if you’d like).

In another bowl combine about 1 ½ cups flour and 2 to 3 teaspoons of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or other seasonings if you prefer). Mix this together well. Next, add about ¼ to ½ cup of buttermilk into the flour mixture and stir lightly with a fork as you add it.

Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low to medium heat.

Remove a few of the buttermilk-soaked strips and place them in the flour mixture, turning them over to coat them thoroughly. Place them on a plate. Continue coating chicken strips until they are all ready to cook.

When the oil is sufficiently heated, begin cooking the strips a few at a time. Cook them for about a minute and a half or so on each side. When golden and crispy, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate.

Gravy

·         2T butter

·         2T flour

·         Salt/pepper

·         1c milk/cream

Melt butter in saucepan, add flour, allow it to brown slightly.  Add salt and pepper and milk.  Then stir until all of your gravy lumps are gone (this won't help with body lumps).  As gravy begins to boil, it will thicken.  Stop cooking when it looks like what your family likes.  Green Beans

Tater Tots

Green Beans

Friday

Sausage Wraps

Baked Beans

Apple Slices

Grocery Deals 10/26+

Sprouts     red grapes .77/lb (vs 1.67 HEB), pears .88/lb, gala apples .88/lb, honeycrisp apples 1.88/lb, potatoes 1.50/5# (vs 1.77HEB), red/white/yellow onions .49/lb, avocados .49 (vs $1 HEB), green or red bell peppers .49, yellow/orange bell peppers .8, zucchini .88/lb, yellow squash .88/lb, celery .88, cluster tomatoes .88/lb, broccoli .88/lb, cauliflower .88/lb, acorn/butternut squash .88/lb, oats .69/lb, sourdough loaf 2.99, boneless chicken 1.97/lb, pork roast 1.97/lb

HEB        roast 1.97/lb (or you could pay 2x as much and buy stew meat already cut up), boneless chicken 1.97/lb, whole chicken .77/lb, fresh bulk pork sausage 1.99/lb, lettuce .87

Randalls    grapefruit .33 (vs .50 HEB), legs/thighs $1/lb, chicken breasts 1.67/lb, London broil 1.99/lb, Reese’s Jumbo bag $4 (vs $4.50 HEB), Bluebell 4.29

I'm sure a few of you have been wondering how things are going with Missy.  Well, I'm feeling a bit victorious and have been dancing a jig for a few weeks because no matter the time of day or night.  Whenever I see the cows lately, I only see two.  

and to be sure we all understand... I use the term 'cow' in the very generic bovine sense...as in they are not horses or chickens, and this particular 'cow' really appreciates this disclaimer.

because he is most definitely a bull and not a true cow.  

May I share the full breadth of my cow knowledge with you?  It will no doubt impress you.  One of you has already been impressed with my solid knowledge, which is why I feel compelled to share it with others.  

1.  Cows that have not had a baby yet are called heifers.

2.  Boy cows are called bulls.

3.  Boy cows that have been 'fixed' are called steers.  

4.  Not all cows have horns, and just because a cow has horns does not make it a bull.

5.  Cows can jump over fences; her name was Juanita.  

According to the message Mrs. St left on our answering machine last week, these two are supposed to be on the next bus outta here. 

Perhaps she's waiting for the new gate to arrive before she comes to get them.  

Birds of a feather

The saga of missing chickens has continued and we were down to four.  They were consistently producing 3-4 eggs per day, but we were growing more concerned with each passing day that one would be missing (I hope that's correct K) when we went to lock up the coop for the night.  

So what's more natural?  Increase the odds someone will be taken by adding more chickens.  So that's exactly what we did.  

First, we have one broody hen.  She fluffs herself up like a turkey when we go in for the eggs.  

Thankfully she hasn't realized she could peck at us, and after seeing what our fowl do to other birds, mice and anything that lays still enough; it's foul (pun intended).  It makes me want to wear safety glasses so they don't get at my eyes because that is the first thing they go for.

J and I stopped in at the feed store on the way home one evening.  There were a lot of new birds to choose from, but none of these plain-jane birds would be going home with us.    

Instead he decided that he wanted to carefully select the ones who would go home with us.  That careful selection quickly turned into whatever he could catch.

Once the professional showed him how to use the little stick with the hook on the end that captures their little legs he was a lot more effective and 1, 2, 3 and 4 trips to the box to load them in and we had our next set of hens.  

See one is waving through the slit in the box.

When they got home, they were not exactly welcomed by Mabel, Hazel, Lou and Gilda.  However, they are slowly making friends, there's been no eye pecking and the four new girls are VERY easy to pick out because they are so much smaller and thinner than the original four.  We're encouraging them to get out and find bugs.

Welcome to the family, we hope you like it here and will stick around for quite a while.

New Stuff & Rearranged Stuff

A few months ago I posted about S flying the coop and the necessary purging that we had to do to really get the room to a place that could be well, presentable to anyone who might want to stay with us overnight. Because this version of the room from 2006 prior to a rearrangement was well, not quite so presentable.  Apparently I knew I'd need this picture in five years.

Here are a few before shots...

Then J's room was going to get some needed changes too.

That actually took some convincing on my part, because he was concerned that he would have to walk all the way across the room to get his clothes every morning from the new dresser placement.  When I pointed out that he would be going that way when he left the room anyway, he agreed to help with the changes.  

First was bed assembly.  Yes, it took me two tries to get it put together right.  It's apparently a family trait and the verse from Genesis was right...and the two will become one flesh...

Oh, are you wondering about the bookcase?  Yes, that's a 1966 Encyclopedia Britannica set.  I've tried to get rid of them, but C once used them to prove the narwhal existed to J and he decided that they must stay.  When I cleaned out the room with S this summer I again tried to get rid of them, but S brought up the narwhal incident and they stayed.  I'm pretty sure J will burn them when she cleans out the house; because of the narwhal incident.  

Then the sewing machine and ironing board moved in.  Yes, that's an Aunt Sister painting above the oddly placed wooden board.  

Finally the dresser switch.  This would prove to be a troublesome spot with J in a few hours.  

Finally the bench that L's cousin made from a large fallen tree, came in from outside.  It desperately needs a coat of something on it.  I did scrub off the dirt.  

Yes, I can see it's not quite centered.  I'll fix that; promise.  

While J & I were working in this room, J pointed out that he was sure glad this wasn't his room because it was so small and there were too many walls in it; the hall closet takes up one corner.  It's clear, he has no idea what a regular sized bedroom is.  :)  

Then the dresser swap into J's room; also not a standard sized room.  He's not so sure that he needs all that space in the dresser, but his clothes are getting too big for the other one.  

That night when I put him to bed he wanted it all switched back.  I said I couldn't promise to do that.  

He's a solid Lutheran boy; doesn't like to change.  It seems like a good idea at the start of the project, but in the end... please keep things just as they were even if they are no longer effective or practical.  Maybe that applies to other religions too.  

When I asked L what he thought of the new room, he described it as eclectic.  Then I got to thinking about it and he was right.  I'm calling it the decade room because there is at least one thing from every decade beginning in the 40's.  I guess if I look around the house enough I might be able to go back into the 1910s.  I'll work on that, but for now... 

1940s: The little white dresser was Aunt Bev and Nana's when they were babies, most recently used by J after extensive stripping and repainting by B after her girls added a few coats of paint

1950s: Ironing board from Jackie J's mother that I bought when she moved to UT (the state not the college)

1960s: Encyclopedias

1970s: Aunt Sister's painting

1980s: Brown sewing cabinet

1990s: Tx Ranger picture and ink drawing S and Nana bought outside Hickory Street during a Nana Camp

2000s: White sewing cabinet 

2010s: The new bed 

Anyway, I'm ready for company now so y'all come, despite having to stay in a room with 'so many walls'.  

Organizing with Free Stuff

At long last I'm finally back to post the 4th in the series of 'special' areas in my kitchen that were just a wee bit out of control. I did the work and have been pretty happy with the results over the last couple of weeks.  Getting to the post however has proved a little more of a challenge.  I've had a couple of things going on in October.  

Here's what we are starting with: 

Contained in this drawer are the grocery bags that I save.  Plenty of leftover cell phones, chargers, aircards (ie internet access), SD cards, SIM cards, digital cameras of unknown origins, old fashioned telephone directories (remember those that are printed on paper???), and plenty of other special things that made their way into this drawer.

These are all the phones, chargers and holsters I appropriately recycled.  Turns out I should have held on to one of the chargers.  I'll have to search for a spare, for now I've taken the one I keep packed in my suitcase.

Next up, yep you guessed it.  These were buried at the bottom of the drawer.  We moved here in 2001 and this 98-99 directory was already a little on the old side, but you can see we didn't mind writing a note on the cover to ourselves with an update.  The pink page was C & S's emergency contact list when they stayed at home alone.  There were phone numbers so old on there... well it was comical.  

In fact only L & I had cell phones at the time.

Don't miss the Easter card from 2001 from Tia Tia in the background that I saved, because it had a nice and thoughtful note written inside, but since most of the people had moved from the 98-99 directory, I recycled it.

Then there is the 1984 old school rainbow directory.  I've been writing in pencil all these years so as people move or change their phone number I could easily update it.  I bought this at Michael's on clearance.  I'd say at this point it was money well spent.  On the inside cover I have our neighbors phone numbers listed in the order their houses are on the street. That's proven helpful several times.

Finally the old sandwich bag boxes.

One is for grocery bags and the other for extra produce bags.  Those are the two I'm most likely to use, but I don't use a lot of them.  So when the boxes are full I get rid of all the extra bags I bring home.  I rarely remember to take my reusable bags into the store, so I do bring home extra plastic bags.  Of course I never let them pack the meat in the reusable ones because ewwww, that's icky.

So the clean drawer has the chargers that we need for everything we still own and use, scotch tape for taping recipes into my cookbook binder, two spare phones (one was just placed into service this evening because a phone was broken yesterday--thankfully not mine this time).

What areas in your house need a little decade + of purging?

Weekly Menu 10/22+

Saturday		ham and broccoli stuffed rolls salad
Sunday		roasted sticky chicken baked potatoes asparagus
Monday		skillet pork chops rice green beans
Tuesday		creamy chicken chili
Wednesday		chicken parmesan pasta
Thursday		bacon beef stroganoff noodles green beans
Friday		waffles eggs grapes

Saturday

Ham and Broccoli Cheese stuffed rolls (Tasty Kitchen)

• 1 whole Batch Of Roll Dough That Yields About 12 Average-sized Dinner Rolls (or Prepackaged Dough) (dough recipe follows)
• ¼ cups Butter, Softened
• 12 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 cups Chopped Deli Ham (or Other Leftover Ham)
• 1-½ cup Finely Chopped Broccoli
• 2 cups Shredded Cheese (swiss, Cheddar, The Options Are Limitless)
• 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Green Onions

Follow the recipe for your roll dough until the point where the dough has risen. Punch down the dough and roll the dough out into a large rectangle about 1/2-inch thick (I rolled my dough to about 13 inches by 17 inches).

In a small bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Spread the rolled out dough with the butter/cream cheese mixture. Top with the ham, broccoli, cheese, Parmesan cheese, and green onions. Roll the dough up, pinching the seam to seal. Slice the roll into about 1-inch segments. Place the rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise until nearly doubled and then bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.

Bread/Pizza Dough (Pioneer Woman)

1-½ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

1-½ cup Warm Water

4 cups All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

⅓ cups Olive Oil

1 cup Olives (any Variety Or Combination), Roughly Chopped

Olive Oil, For Drizzling

Kosher Salt, For Sprinkling

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Warm a non-metal mixing bowl in the microwave until warm. Coat it with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

To make focaccia, blot olives with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Place chopped olives on top of the dough, then very gently knead the olives into the dough. (Don’t overknead!) Divide dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin oval/rectangle. Place on separate sheet pans (or cookie sheets) drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle more olive oil on top of the ovals, then cover each one with plastic wrap. Put in a draft-free/warm place for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Salad

Sunday

1.       Saturday night get your chicken ready. If you are just getting to the store on today, get it marinating as soon in the day as possible.

2.       Use 3-4 lbs of pieces of chicken if you'd rather not mess with a whole bird.

Roasted Sticky Chicken  (Menus4Moms)

1 large chicken -- (roasting)

1 cup onion -- chopped

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

4 teaspoons salt

This should have been done last night: In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.

OR you can cook chicken in an oven roasting bag for five hours at 250 degrees. Of course all the food safety experts are probably freaking out about this low cooking temperature, but five hours of cooking has to weigh in somewhere.  Use your best judgment.

Baked Potatoes

I like to wash and prick the potatoes, sprinkle some salt on them and then cook them on HI in the microwave for about 5 minutes, just to get them warmed up and started cooking.  Finish them in the oven in about 30 minutes and you’ll avoid the gummy texture of a nuked potato. 

Asparagus

Monday

Pan-Fried Pork Chops

Salt and Pepper meat, dredge through flour, then fry in a small amount of oil in heavy skillet.  Flip when the edges start to look cooked.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15-20 minutes. 

Rice Pilaf

·         ½ c chopped onion

·         1 T butter

·         2 medium carrots, sliced

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 ¼ c chicken broth

·         1 c long grain rice

·         1T dried parsley

·         ¾ tsp salt

·         ¼ tsp pepper

In large saucepan melt butter and cook onion and garlic until fragrant and tender.  Add carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Then add rice until coated in butter.  Add broth all at once; bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for five minutes.  Add parsley, salt and pepper. 

Green Beans

Tuesday

Creamy Chicken Chili

·         2 c cooked chicken

·         1 medium onion, chopped

·         1 ½ tsp garlic powder

·         1 T canola oil or butter

·         2 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed

·         2 c chicken broth (frozen or canned)

·         8 oz chopped green chilies

·         1 c frozen corn

·         1 c frozen carrots

·         1 tsp salt

·         1 tsp ground cumin

·         1 tsp oregano

·         ½ tsp pepper

·         1 c sour cream

·         ½ c heavy cream

Combine all ingredients except sour and heavy cream.  Simmer uncovered 30 minutes or cook in crock pot in as few as 6-8 hours.  Add creams at the end and allow to heat through before serving. 

Wednesday

Chicken Parmesan

·         Boneless chicken breasts

·         Egg

·         Equal parts: Italian seasoned breadcrumbs/Parmesan

Place beaten egg in shallow dish and throw in a little milk if you think you need it.  Dip chicken in egg mixture and dredge through breadcrumbs/parm mixture that is in another shallow bowl.  Place on foil lined pan and bake 20-25 min.

Angel Hair Pasta with Spaghetti sauce

Thursday

Beef and Bacon Stroganoff  (Mom)

1 lb ground beef (I used a roast, cut up into smaller pieces)

5 thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 can (14 ½ oz) beef broth (I used French Onion soup + ½ can water)

1 can condensed cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup, undiluted

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon paprika

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the beef, bacon, mushrooms, onion and garlic until beef is no longer pink. Stir in flour until blended.  Mix broth, soup, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt and paprika.  Pour over meat mixture.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (Since I used a roast, I decided that I should simmer longer and I simmered covered for 45 minutes).  Stir horseradish into sour cream, then stir into the meat mixture.  Heat through but do not boil.

Egg Noodles

Green Beans

Friday

1.        If you are looking for a fun movie combo to go with tonight’s dinner you could try Freaky Friday (things are all mixed up in that movie), or Uncle Buck (where he makes a ginormous pancake) and switch out pancakes for waffles. 

Waffles

Eggs

Bacon

Grapes