Everyday Mom's Meals
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Sunday, March 6, 2011

Meal Plan March 6- 11

 *New Recipe
(Where to find on blog)
**New Recipe For Blog, but not me

Sunday
Lasagna Hamburger Helper
Asparagus (January 31, 2010)
-Left over from last week, due to scheduling conflicts

Monday
Chicken w/ Egg Noodles**

Tuesday
Quesadillas*
Chips/Cheese Sauce
Refried Beans
Sliced Pears


Wednesday
Stuffed Peppers*
Rolls

Thursday
Chili (September 26, 2010)
Cheese/Crackers

Friday
Pork Chops
Green Bean Casserole (December 7, 2010)
Stuffing
Applesauce

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Here Comes The Bride

And no, it's not me...lol. Adam and I are good:) Today was my sister in law, Amanda's, bridal shower. I hosted it along w/ my mother in law, Jeryl and sister in law, Charla.  We had such a nice day, and everyone enjoyed themselves through and through. But most of all, Amanda had such a special day, which in the end was the most important part! This was the first bridal shower I have ever planned, and I have to say I had so much fun doing it. There were games, prizes, lots and lots of fun, and food galore!!! We had an appetizer party, and we made a meal out of them! So, for the next few days I'm dedicating each post to a recipe from the shower. We used recipes of mine that were for cucumber sandwiches, cocktail sauce, and fruit dip--so look for those in coming days. But today's is actually a real treat from the bride herself. Amanda makes the greatest bruschetta and we just had to serve it! In fact, it's so good that each person walked away w/ the recipe as one of her favors---we love it so much, we just had to share:) Amanda--I'm so happy you had a great day, and I'm honored to have been a part of it----I love you!

Amanda's Bruschetta

8 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tsp finely minced garlic
1/2 c. coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 TBS lemon juice
1/2 TBS olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 baguettes, sliced in 1/2 inch slices (we always get the already sliced from Kroger bakery)

Mix all together, except bread. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside at room temp, for 3 hours. Heat oven to 350ยบ. Toast bread on a baking sheet. Top w/ tomato mixture.


Tomato on FoodistaTomato

Freebie Saturday

As I was reading all of my regular blogs this morning, I came upon a very cool free download and of course wanted to share w/ all of you. I found it on Real Mom's Kitchen as one of her Saturday "Fab Five". (Five things she suggests we all would love.) Then I headed on over to Eat At Home Cooks where you can download and print her free menu planner. I have a magnetic tablet on my fridge I got at Micahels but this one is super cute too, and I will be saving it to print when I need a new one. So, click on the link, download and print, all for FREE!!! Happy Saturday!

http://eatathomecooks.com/printable-menu-planner

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I'm Not Waiting For a Party

The title of this was going to be "Great Party Food" and I thought to myself, "no". This looks too good and I refuse to wait :) If I were entertaining on a regular basis, maybe I could commit to that time frame, but since I don't, I refuse to deny myself this amazing concoction until I do:) I found this on the A Year Of Slow Cooking blog and couldn't believe it when I did b/c Thin Mints were my favorite Girl Scout Cookie growing up; and I know Alex will flip for this! How much fun can a huge pot of chocolate w/ "dippers" on the side! We can enjoy it and just call it a party- without all the planning and stressing!

Chocolate Mint Fondue

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. mint exract
marshmallows, cookies, or fruit for dipping

Put the chocolate chips into a 2 quart slow cooker. Add the cream and extract. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. 

Chocolate Chips on FoodistaChocolate Chips

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Are You Kidding Me??

I heard someone say recently, "my crock pot is evil". So naturally I assumed she meant it was old, broken, not working right and ruining her food. Nope. It was in perfect working order. She just didn't like any of the food that was coming out of it. Really??? I have a lot of friends in this world, but I have to admit that my trusty crock pot is top 5 at least. LOL It's funny b/c my crock pot is older than I am, and I purchased it at a garage sale for 25 cents almost 7 years ago, but it's perfect for me! So I'm on a mission---I have to convince her it's not the crock pot, it's the user. I'm sorry, I know that's harsh, but it's best to just rip the band aid off. User error isn't something to be ashamed of, we've all been there. That new gadget appliance that doesn't work the way it's supposed to and we think "well, that was false advertising", in reality maybe outside factors are contributing. Maybe the recipe isn't the best one, or maybe something wasn't executed in the best way. So I directed her to the website for Family Crock Pot Recipes - it has anything under the sun you can cook in a slow cooker, from the very easy to the more complicated. I thought it was a great place for her to start, get inspiration and give that crock pot another chance. While looking through recipes w/ her I came upon one that I had to try. I love soup. I love broccoli and cheese soup. This called out to me and I'm happy to welcome it into our home tonight!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
2 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup
2 10 oz packages frozen chopped broccoli
1 small onion chopped
1 qt. half and half
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed

Combine the soup, broccoli and onion in crock pot, mix well. Add the half and half and cheese; stir to mix. Cook for 4 hours on high.


Shared on Crock Pot Exchange July 29, 2011
Shared on Gooseberry Patch Sept. 14, 2011