Menu Plan Monday #10

First, my menu for this week:

Monday: Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice Casserole; salad

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Vegetable Beef Soup (a repeat from our first soup night of the season)

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Chicken Quesadillas

Saturday: Chicken Enchiladas (from the freezer)

Sunday: Gumbo? We'll be at Billy's parents' house that night, but I think we typically have gumbo on Christmas Eve eve.

For more menu inspiration, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Now, a recap of last week:

I did make it to the grocery store last Tuesday, so I picked up a small package of frozen hashbrowns and made an omelet pizza instead of just omelets Tuesday night. It was really good, and Caleb loved it. (I knew Jacob wouldn't eat it, so I fixed him up a plate of scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese - all separate.) I've only made it once before, and it was a huge hit, but that was over a year ago. I don't know why it took me so long to make it again...

And since I made it to the grocery store, I was able to make Red Beans & Rice on Wednesday. It was soooo good! I think I need to share the recipe! It's my friend Allison's recipe, and I think she got it from Southern Living magazine.

Red Beans & Rice with commentary and a few changes

1 lb. dried red beans
1 lb. ham, cubed
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced, quartered, and browned
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/2 c. yellow onion, chopped
3/4 c. green onion, thinly sliced (I omitted this.)
1 1/2 c. celery, chopped
2/3 c. bell pepper, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce (I used Louisiana Hot Sauce, and probably could have used a little more.)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water (I added about 2 cups.)
rice

Rinse and soak beans overnight; drain and put in Crock Pot. Add all ingredients and cook all day on low (6-8 hours; if less time, then cook on high.) Serve over rice.

Since we like our Red Beans & Rice to be a little creamy, Billy took out about 1 cup of the bean mixture and pureed it with our hand mixer, then added it back in. It had the whole house smelling great - and it was delicious. Jacob loved it; Caleb ate leftover hashbrowns mixed with a little ham and cheese, leftover from the night before.

Friday night ended up being a freebie! Billy came home and offered to go pick up something for supper. I suggested BBQ from Baker's Ribs, and we enjoyed it immensely! The boys ate up on some smoked chicken and mac & cheese. (Baker's Ribs makes the best mac & cheese I've ever eaten!) Billy and I ate a little of everything: smoked chicken and smoked brisket with their thick, zesty BBQ sauce (not the watery, vinegary Carolina-style they serve at Soulman's BBQ, which we can't stand); cole slaw; dill potato salad (wonderful!); mac & cheese; corn & bean salsa; and rolls. Yum! Since I didn't cook any chicken enchiladas, I'll do them later this week.

Saturday night's Greek Potatoes with Feta and Olives turned out great, too! They were really easy to make, so I'm adding them to my recipe box. I will make a few minor changes to the recipe, though.

Potatoes with Feta and Olives

2 lbs. potatoes
2/3 c. EVOO (Next time I'll reduce this to 1/2 c.)
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
10 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (I think I only used 8 oz. I definitely recommend 10.)
1 c. pitted black and green olives (The picture in the cookbook showed the olives halved, but I quartered mine. I think I'd like to use a little more olives next time, maybe an extra half cup.)
1 1/4 c. hot vegetable stock (from boiling the potatoes)
salt and ground black pepper

Scrub potatoes well; cook in large pot of boiling water for 15-20 minutes. Remove and cool slightly, then peel and cut into very thin slices.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of 9x13 baking dish with EVOO. Layer potato slices in dish with rosemary, cheese, and olives. (I made 3 layers.)

Drizzle with remaining EVOO and vegetable stock; season with salt and plenty of pepper.

Cook for 35 minutes. The recipe recommends covering the potatoes with foil to prevent overbrowning, but mine did just fine uncovered.

Caleb ate one serving; Jacob didn't like them. (Go figure!) Billy and I loved them, though. He said it's got an authentic Greek flavor, like something you'd order in a restaurant there. I'll have to find something else from that cookbook to try next month!

(I know my picture doesn't look that great. I need to brush up on photographing food. And I need to remember that my camera has a food function. I don't know what the difference is, but I need to try it out!)