Menu for the week!

Because I am on my 5th piece of quiche in 15 hours and I LOVE it I thought I would share our menu for the week. Also because I've been "pinning" recipes while eating this quiche. I really love cooking for my family and trying out new things, but I don't love planning the meals or purchasing the ingredients so maybe, if you're like me, this will help in some of your planning. I also randomly took pictures (they aren't the best because they are cell phone pics) of 2 out of 3 meals so far this week. Monday because Matt served me up the BIGGEST bowl of pasta I have ever seen...and I ate it all and a little more. I ran 7.5 miles that day so it was a good meal. I photographed the quiche because I loved it so much. Yum! I'm so weird about food. Is anyone else with me?!

Monday-Chicken, Broccoli (I added diced Red Pepper too) Alfredo 

Recipe:
[Ingredients]
8 oz Fettuccine Noodles
1 bag Broccoli Florets, 12-16 oz 
1 red pepper diced
1/4 cup Butter 
1 lb chicken breast, cooked and cubed 
1 bottle Alfredo sauce, 16 oz 
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese 
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 
1/2 tsp Garlic powder 
1/8 tsp Pepper

In a a saucepan combine broccoli, red pepper, chicken breast and sauce. When it's warm add the butter, cheeses, garlic powder and pepper. Let simmer on low for about 5 minutes. 
Howe easy is that! And it was so good. Since we didn't have fettuccine noodles, I put it over elbow macaroni and it was still delish. (that was a pinterest recipe)


Tuesday-Taco Spinach Salad-no recipe needed! (hopefully)


Wednesday-Ham and Cheese Quiche (I love breakfast for dinner)

Recipe:
{Ingredients}
one 9" deep dish crust pie shell, unbaked- I found it from the freezer section and it came with 2. Make sure you get DEEP DISH!
5 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbs butter, softened
salt & pepper 
Dash of nutmeg-I added nutmeg instead of parsley/oregano which it originally called for.
1/2 lb ham, cooked and chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar or other sharp cheese

Make Ahead Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spread softened butter on the bottom of the pie shell.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs slightly. Add the cream, salt & pepper and nutmeg and beat until combined.
Pile the ham into the pie shell. Top with the shredded cheese. Pour the egg and cream mixture over the top.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300 and cook for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Quiche can also be tightly wrapped in tinfoil and refrigerated for several days or frozen for up to four weeks.
Another super easy one!


Thursday-Beef Stroganoff 
Hopefully this one is as good as the others. Haven't made it yet since today is Thursday.
Recipe:
{Ingredients}
1 lb ground beef
1 diced onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery or chicken soup
¾ cup milk
1 pint sour cream

Brown ground beef, onions, and seasoning in skillet. Drain any fat. Add soups and milk, stir until well blended then simmer 10 minutes. Add sour cream simmer 2 minutes. Serve over cooked egg noodles.
Easy!


Friday-Stir Fry
No recipe needed


Saturday-Mexican Lasagna
No recipe needed


And then I'll start again on Sunday! And now, I must go get my gas mask and jump suit on and start deep cleaning this apartment. Ugh! I have been such a slacker with cleaning this place. 

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Recipes from A week in our McLife

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
4 chicken breasts (pounded to 1/4")
4 slices thin ham
crumbled feta cheese
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
10 T. garlic and herb (or veggie) cream cheese
1/2 c. light cream or half-n-half

Preheat oven to 350.  Place 1 ham slice on each piece of pounded chicken, top with feta cheese.  Roll chicken to enclose filling.  Fold ends under and secure with toothpicks.  Dip chicken rolls into milk, then breadcrumbs to coat.  Place rolls seam side down on greased baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Bring cream to simmer in saucepan over medium heat.  Add cream cheese; blend well.  Pour sauce over cooked chicken rolls.  



Blueberry Protein Pancakes (Warning:They are pretty bland, but Parker loves them. I give them to her plain because she's a baby, but you could use syrup or yogurt for toppings)
Ingredients
1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. blueberries (frish or frozen, thawed) 

Directions
In a blender or food processor, combine oats, cottage cheese, eggs, and vanilla.  Blend or pulse until smooth.  Gently stir in thawed blueberries.  Coat skillet or griddle with cooking spray, and spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake onto your cooking surface.  Cook about 5 minutes per side, or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.  Carefully turn pancakes over; cook for 3-5 minutes more, or until golden.  


French Dip Sandwiches
Ingredients
1 lb of roast beef (or however much you eat.) Makes about 4 sandwiches. Whenever roast beef if on sale I always buy it and make these.
4 rolls (I usually buy sub ones)
4 slices of cheese (provolone, swiss, whatever floats your boat)
1 beef bouillon cube
beef broth
butter
flour


Directions
Make the au jus. 
1-2 tablespoons of butter melted in a pan. Sometimes I slice onion if I have one. Add flour and cook. Pour in beef broth. (enough to cover the pan+) Bring to a boil and then add roast beef. Simmer until heated through


Make the rolls.
Slice rolls and add cheese to one side. Put in oven and broil on low. Don't forget about them! Heat until cheese is melted and roll is toasted.


Add roast beef to roll and enjoy!


D, Lace-Did I leave any out that you wanted? :-)

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How's that for colors of the rainbow...

Trying to eat the colors of the rainbow everyday can be hard, unless you make this for dinner:


Sunday night I made Pasta Primavera...another great dinner that incorporates tons of fresh veggies! (stir fry is also good for this too, in fact, these 2 meals show up at our house several times a month!)



We had the red, orange, yellow and green plus some whole wheat pasta enriched with OMEGA 3's. I could feel myself getting healthier ;-) And since we were missing the blue/indigo/violet, I tossed some grapes and blueberries in a bowl and we had that for dessert. Yu-mmmmmy!

It was definitely Lane-approved!

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OCD aside

I started writing this yesterday and couldn't find a minute in the day to sit down to finish it and post. And about the OCD, more on that later.

Last night I made dinner and breakfast at the same time. Well, sort of. Breakfast wasn't really ready until this morning, but I prepared it last night. Dinner was on the simpler side. We had broiled tilapia with a parmesean and herb crust and au gratin potatoes. Basically I made everything and then threw it in the oven. So while waiting for dinner to cook I started to prepare breakfast. It's a crockpot recipe and needs 8 hours to cook. It's really good and really good for you!
Here's the recipe in case you would like to try some of this warm goodness as well.

2 cups of steel cut oats

5 cups of water (I use 6)

1 1/2 cups of milk (I use 2) more liquid makes for a less stiff oatmeal

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of cinnamon (I add more) (did you know 1/2 tsp of cinnamon has the same antioxidant power of 1/4 cup of blueberries! Awesome, right!?)

Combine all ingredients into the crock pot and cook for 8 hours. We usually turn it on before bed and by morning the house smells of sweet cinnamon! I also put some sort of fruit in ours. Last night I cut and peeled one apple and sprinkled more cinnamon on them and threw them in with the rest of the ingredients. I also use blueberries and bananas sometimes. Usually whatever I have on hand. Matt loves it and Lane always has 2 bowls. And just for a little extra sweetness, I drizzle some honey on my oatmeal and Lane's oatmeal as well. ;-) Matt eats it how it is.

After we filled up with a hearty breakfast we got ready and went to the mall. My mom really wanted me to get Lane's picture taken in his tux so yesterday I decided to do it. If I waited much longer he would have grown out of the thing. As I took it out of the plastic and off the hanger to iron it, I was chuckling to myself. Lane must have had a kick-butt time at the reception because there were buttons missing, buttons falling off and overall the tux just looked a mess! Nothing a little Clorox pen and an iron couldn't fix.

I got him dressed and set him on the ottoman. I said "Stay there!" He always "stays there" when I tell him that, but this time for some reason he didn't want to "stay there" and his feet got caught up and flat on his head he fell. Tears and a red bump on his head before pics, Great!

A few kisses and hugs later and we were off. The pictures didn't turn out great. I just really can't stand "drive-thru" portrait studios. And I decided to try a different one, but they are all the same. They don't have any time to get to know your child, therefore, Lane was shy and overwhelmed at the lady who was way too loud and overpowering and trying way too hard for a smile. Honestly, he wouldn't leave my lap. He was terrified and he is never like that! Luckily, in the 5 shots she snapped, I was able to pick one.
Here's how they turned out. Really, while looking at them, all I could do was laugh. His expressions are hilarious!

I don't think you can tell from these, but in the actual pictures, his eyes are totally green.

I have no words! Except, that I'm glad I had a coupon and since my mom foot the bill (thanks to me being a cardholder on her Discover account :-)) I saved her some money. Thanks, Mom! Now you got your pictures and I'm sure you will love them! And the 8X10, that was part of the deal.

Here's a link to the rest of the pics...hope it works.

http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/PR3/ThumbPage.aspx?e=6306012

After we got finished with that, I decided to get a little crazy and by crazy I mean, giving Lane a cinnamon and sugar pretzel FOR LUNCH, and also letting him eat it with his hands....I know, I'm one wild and crazy mom. I put my OCD aside and let him go crazy. Everyone needs a cinnamon and sugar pretzel for lunch sometimes, right!?!

If I had my real camera, you would be able to see every morsel of cinnamon and sugar in his hair, on his face, on his hands, shirt, stroller, ears, etc. But you get the idea. Here are some pics with my phone.

                                               

                                                

After I hosed him down in the bathroom, we went and played a little bit.

When we got home, he headed straight to bed. He was pooped! I went on a mad spring cleaning dash, which seems to be happening about every 2 weeks since February. Am I anxious for Spring or what?! And since it was a little bit warmer yesterday and sunny, I opened up the downstairs a little bit. It was so nice to get some fresh air circulating. And Harley did this all afternoon.

I had to wake Lane up from his afternoon nap to run some errands. We ran around for about an hour and then we met Matt at Spin class in the evening. Lane is so used to our routine, that going in the evening makes him a tad upset. When I drop him off in the mornings, he gets down, takes off his coat, hugs me and runs off. And before I even sign him in, he's already engulfed with all the toys. In the evening, he puts up a little sad story. There are different woman there and they play on the other side of the room, which I think throws him off. Do we have another Uncle Luke on our hands? His teacher used to have to call him when he was in elementary school when there was a substitute or he would be all upset. So she would call him the night before and tell him "Now Luke, I won't be there tomorrow, but someone very nice will take my place. But I will be back!" Haha!

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