1 Bag, 5 Meals

Recipes from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade oct/nov '09 Click Here For Recipes!

Day 1 ~ Chicken & Dumplings
Day 2 ~ Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy, Thyme Biscuits and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
Day 3 ~ Spicy Red Beans and Rice
Day 4 ~ Oven Fried Pork Chop with Roasted Red Potatoes and Buttery Green Beans
Day 5 ~ Italian Pot Roast

Grocery List:

Fruits and Vegetables:
1 small onion
4 medium carrots
red potatoes
green beans
russet potatoes

Meat and Poultry:
1 rotisserie chicken
4 boneless, center-cut pork chops
16 oz. smoked andouille sausage
4 cubed steaks
1 (2-2 1/2 lb.) chuck roast

Dairy:
shredded parmesan cheese
grated parmesan cheese
unsalted butter
1 (8 oz.) shredded monterey jack cheese
1 (8 oz.) sour cream

Packaged Goods and Others:
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen seasoning blend, McKenzie's
2 (8.8 oz.) pouches ready to serve long grain rice, Uncle Ben's
2 (15.5 oz.) cans red beans
1 (10 oz.) cream of chicken (I have been substituting cream of celery)
saltine crackers
all-purpose baking mix, Bisquick
Italian-style panko
beef broth
chicken broth
olive oil
dry red wine
cajun seasoning, Tony Chachere's

Thanksgiving

Give Thanks! I decorated our fireplace and table (they moved around a bit) this thanksgiving with these little signs that spelled out 'Give Thanks'. If you have a larger table or space you can make yours to say ' Happy Thanksgiving' or other variations. Items needed:

20 5x5 coordinating scrapbook papers (you need two pieces for each letter, I have 10 letters in 'Give Thanks so I needed 20)

10 4x4 solid colored cardstock
letter stamps or permanent marker, if you choose to free hand your letters

10 (again, depends on how many letters) twigs or kabob skewers

adhesive

ribbon

washable paint

10 votives or juice glasses

decorative peddles, sand, or I used acorns

1) I put my sons hand prints on each 4x4 piece of cardstock before you stamp our free hand your letters on the 4x4 cardstock.

2) Adhere the 4x4 piece of cardstock on a piece of 5x5 scrapbook paper. I choose paper with a fall leaf print.

3) Sandwich the twig or skewer between the 5x5 paper that you adheared the cardstock to and another piece of 5x5 paper. You will only have a letter on one side.

4) Place each sign into a votive/glass of rocks/sand/nuts.

* I hope the pictures explain it better than I.

* I got this idea from a magazine, I believe it was family fun, I did not come up with it on my own sadly.

Bread Pudding

A few weeks ago I went out to lunch with the ladies I work with. We had a wonderful lunch and for dessert we shared a bread pudding. I had never actually eaten bread pudding before and had always imagined it to mushy and not so yummy. But when it arrived at our table it was beautiful plus there were chocolate chips in it, YUMMY. I came home and searched for recipes and made a bread pudding of my own, if I don't say so myself it was very good! I got the bread pudding recipe from momswhothink.com:

2 c. whole milk (or 2 c. half & half)
1/4 c. butter
2/3 c. brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

3 c. bread, torn into pieces

1/2 c. rasins (optional)

1/2 c. chocolate chips (my own customized ingrediant, optional)

1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk just until film forms on top. Combine butter and milk, just until butter is melted. Cook to lukewarm.

2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium for 1 min. Slowly add milk mixture.

3. Place torn bread pieces in a greased 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish.

4. Sprinkle with raisins and/or chocolate chips. Pour milk mixture over top.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 mins, or until set. Serve warm.

Moist White Cake

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs
1/2 c. shortening

Mix shortening, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and milk. Then mix flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Add dry ingrediants to other mixture. Pour into greased 9x12 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

*I used this recipe for Noah's 2nd birthday dinosaur cake I had to make 2 batches for two 9 inch round pans plus I got about 6 cupcakes too. I found this recipe at cooks.com.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingrediants:
3 boneless skinless chicken breast
8 oz. sour cream
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can cream of (I have used chicken or celery)
large flour tortillas

Boil chicken, once cooked shred or cubed chicken breasts. While chicken is cooking mix in the four remaining ingredients. Once chicken is cut up add to the mixture and spoon into tortillas. Sometimes I don't fill all of the tortillas and put some of the filling on top while it cooks other times I want more enchiladas so I will use all the filling and top them with shredded cheese and salsa, they are also good without topping. These are perfect to put in a freezer safe container and freeze, for easy lunches (they just need warmed up since everything is cooked) or line them up in a 9x13 or 8x8 (depending on how many you are cooking at a time) and bake until warm through at 350 degrees, about 30-40 minutes.

Hope my directions make sense, ENJOY!

Little Chef: Banana Boats!

Ingrediants:

Whole Banana

Mini Marshmellows

Chocolate Chips

This is a camp favorite that I forgot about until the other day when I wanted to share a special dessert with my boys! (plus it is EASY)

Peel the peel off one side of a banana and set the banana in a little foil (it kind of looks like a boat too). Take a spoon and spoon out some banana and fill it in with marshmellows and choc. chips.. Set the banana boat in a heated oven for 5-10 minutes until the marshmellows and choc. chips are all melted and gooey and dig in!

Hope my instructions make sense, ENJOY!

Shaving Cream Wonders

Okay not really a war but a great texture experience for your little ones! Simply squirt some shaving cream onto a washable surface and let you little one draw with their fingers. It is basically finger painting! It is easy to clean up and smells good! Any age loves to doodle and then erase. I didn't get any pictures because my hands were covered! Perhaps next time! Enjoy life exploring with your little one!