Spring Break...Here I come!

Hello Again,

I know you are all waiting like I am for the baby. It’s Saturday night and still no baby. I thought I’d get this week’s menu together in hopes to bring on labor. I am also on spring break which means I am trying to relax. This week, I’ve included quick and easy meals that can double up in some cases as lunch or dinner for the next day.

I hope you enjoy these. I hope I’m eating hospital food and holding my new baby. I’ll keep you posted.

Day 1 – Two for One Baked Chickens
This is modified from a recipe in Southern Living magazine. You’ll use the leftovers for tomorrow’s quesadillas or BBQ chicken pizza.
4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 (4-5 lb.) whole chickens, rinsed and patted dry
1 T. olive oil
4 baking potatoes cut into large chunks
2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
2 large carrots, cut into large chunks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place all vegetables on baking sheet with sides or roasting pan. Stir together salt and pepper. Sprinkle ½ tsp. salt mixture inside cavity of each chicken. Rub each chicken with ½ T. olive oil. Sprinkle remaining seasoning on chickens. Rub it in. Place chickens, breast side up on vegetables. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until legs and wings begin to fall away from body or meat thermometer registers 180 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with roasted vegetables under birds. Let cool completely before refrigerating leftovers.

Day 2 – BBQ Chicken Pizza
This is a great quick and easy recipe that is nice enough to serve to guests.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/barbecued-chicken-pizza?backto=true

Day 3 – Quick Cheese and Chicken Quesadillas
This is a go to meal if you have only 15 minutes to cook.

Heat skillet to med-hi heat and cook whole-wheat tortillas filled with cheese, chicken, and salsa. Cut into triangles and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Day 4 – Black Bean Soup in the Slow Cooker
This is super easy recipe to throw in the crock pot and go about your day. It’s also very healthy.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1879976

Day 5 – Pasta Puttanesca
This is a favorite at my house. It’s almost all canned or pantry items.

http://rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=401

Day 6 – Grilled Sausages with Onions and Sweet Potatoes
This is the meal my husband most often cooks. We buy the Italian sausages in the deli section and wrap each onion and sweet potato in foil. We use the grill to do all the cooking. To make the onions even more special, sprinkle a little seafood seasoning on them with a pat of butter. Enjoy!

Day 7 – Leftover Night
Use whatever’s in the fridge to fill your plate.

Soon with lots of labor and a bundle of love,
Brooke

It was a Tornado Drill, not labor.

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately, I am writing this from my home computer. I was hoping to have to use a laptop from a hospital room to give you some great recipes this week. Alas, God had other plans. I have decided to use some of my favorite recipes that I’ve posted in the past via email. Those of you who are new to my blog/email menus, these will be new. For all my loyal followers, these are some of the best of the best.

There were a few criteria for this week, cheap, easy, and fast. I am not planning very far in advance the next couple of weeks so you’ll also see a bunch of pantry items used.

I hope you enjoy them all. I also hope that I will soon be enjoying hospital food with my new bundle of joy. I think it’s waiting for doctor to be back in town. That’s on Tuesday. Please keep me in your prayers. I’ll post when we have pictures.

Day 1 – Three Cheese Calzones
I love this recipe for the simplicity of it. I also love the prepared pizza dough in my supermarket’s deli section. It’s better than take-out, and I love take-out.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/three-cheese-calzones-00000000007848/index.html

Day 2 – Crispy Chicken Cutlets with Romaine Salad
This is a light and quick take on the normal chicken with salad. It’s so good you’ll use it again and again.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/crispy-chicken-cutlets-creamy-romaine-00000000006909/index.html

Day 3 – Asian Night with Chicken Satay
This is great date night meal or anytime dinner. My kids also love it. Tell them it’s worms and they’ll eat it.

http://rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=1554

Day 4 – Pasta with Goat Cheese and Asparagus
This is real delight with only 5 ingredients. It is spa quality meal for pennies on the dollar.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pasta-with-goat-cheese-and-roasted-asparagus?autonomy_kw=pasta%20with%20goat%20cheese%20and%20asparagus&rsc=header_1

Day 5 – Slow Cooker Roast Pork
This crock-pot staple is reinvented with a fruity flair. It’s so easy you can make it for company and they’ll never know it took you 15 minutes to prepare it.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=36763&Source=SearchResultPage&terms=slow%20cooker%20pork%20roast

Day 6 – Chicken Salad Croissants
This is a super easy meal that uses your deli and bakery. I get a container of your favorite chicken salad, mine is tarragon, and a pack of croissants. Slice in half then heat the rolls in the oven. Stuff with chicken salad and serve with you favorite veggies or chips.

Day 7 – Leftover Night
Take a look in your fridge or pull out all the leftovers for a buffet. Waste not, want not, right?

Have a great week.

With 2 cm and 50% effacement,
Brooke

Hoppy Easter!!!

Welcome back,

Those of you who went to prom know the teachers had as good a time as the students. I was happy to see Beth back with us again. I’ve missed my dancing buddy. And all of you will be glad to know that labor didn’t start because of the Cha-Cha slide.

I am trying to branch out a little this week. I’ve got different meat sources as well as fun new recipes to get you excited about cooking. One word of caution, I am using shrimp, bacon, and fish. These are all items that I have found on sale. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing these at full price unless you’re cutting costs elsewhere. I always use frozen shrimp here in Georgia to insure that it is the freshest I can find.

I am also including a great squash casserole for you to take to any Easter gatherings you may have planned. Squash is readily available now at a pretty good price.

Day 1 – Creamy Shrimp with Corn and Bacon (Real Simple)
I can’t find this on the website so I’m retyping it. This is a restaurant quality meal that you can make in 30 minutes.

1 cup rice cooked to package directions
4 slices bacon
1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ¼ lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (10 oz.) package frozen corn
Salt and pepper

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp and put on paper towel. Wipe out skillet and heat oil. Add onion and cook 4-6 minutes until soft. Add wine, cook until reduced by half, 2-3 minutes. Add cream and bring to a boil. Stir in shrimp, corn, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until shrimp is cooked, 4-6 minutes. Stir in crumbled bacon and serve over rice.

Day 2 – BLT
Since we opened the bacon last night, let’s finish it with an all-time favorite. I would use a really great whole wheat bread, the traditional lettuce, tomato and bacon, and if you can find a ripe avocado, slice it and put it on top. You can also add sliced boiled egg or sliced turkey to bump up the healthy protein.

Day 3 – Crock pot Chicken with Leeks and Tarragon

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chicken-tarragon-leeks-00000000011463/index.html

Day 4 – Fish Sticks with Beans and Apple Sauce
This is inspired my childhood daycare. They loved the frozen fish sticks and so did we. Make it a quick and easy dinner by opening a can of your favorite beans, BBQ, and apple sauce. Most men also love this, though I’m not exactly sure why.

Day 5 – Breakfast for Dinner – Revamped
You all know how much I love breakfast foods. This is a twist, Italian style, using a jarred marinara sauce. Serve with crusty bread, toasted with butter and parmesan.

Simmer 2 cups marinara sauce in skillet. Crack in 4 eggs and cover with lid. Cook until the whites are set and top with pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

Day 6 – Pizza Night!!!
I just received my new pizza stone and have been dying to test it out. This is one of my all time favorite pizza recipes that I borrowed from a long closed pizza place in Tampa.

White Pizza
Store bought pizza dough
Minced garlic, 3 cloves (more if you’re a garlic-holic like me)
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 tomato thinly sliced
½ cup parmesan
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Put pizza dough on heated pizza stone. Rub garlic on dough. Top with remaining ingredients. Cook pizza at 450 for about 20 minutes.

Day 7 – Squash Casserole
This is super easy recipe that you can whip up for any potluck. You may want to use reduced fat and sodium soup to lighten it a little. I hope you enjoy.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Squash-Casserole-II-2/Detail.aspx

Have a happy Easter and great cold snap. All these meals will keep you warm and full to survive this last clip of winter.

With Easter eggs in purgatory,
Brooke