August 2011 Menu Plan

Well it's August, known around here as the hottest month of the year. It's been pretty hot in July, so I hoping August will give us a break this year. I apologize for the lack of menu plans over the past couple of months. With the arrival of our baby girl in June, I knew I wouldn't be cooking as much in June and July so I just didn't do a menu.  But, we are back to cooking so here is my plan for this month. I've found some yummy things lately and I can't wait to cook them and try them out. I"ve got a couple of crock pot recipes this month to help with busy days and the heat. I'm also being very optimistic in my "extra things" part, because there are lots of things I want to try, plus more I"m sure I"ll want to make as the month progresses.

August 2011 Menu Plan
*recipies italicized are new and will be posted as I make them

Marinated Pork Tenderloin, green beans, mashed potatoes

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken, Corn on the Cob, baked brown rice

Asian Bowtie Pasta with Chicken, french bread, and salad

Slow Cooker Beef Stew, corn bread {Crock Pot}

Smothered Pork Chops, restaurant style smashed potatoes, green beans

Chicken Tacos Verde, Mexican rice {crock pot}

baked ziti, garlic cheese bread, broccoli or salad

Homemade Pizza

Calzones

Shrimp Po Boy Tacos

Gardner's Pie or Skillet Vegetable Lasagna, salad, and french bread (Meal for another family) {vegetarian}

PWs Ranch Style Chicken, restaurant style smashed potatoes, and broccoli

Fish Tacos with Mango Slaw

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole and green beans

Baked Spaghetti, salad, french bread

Ranch Chicken, green beans, and homemade shake and bake potatoes

Mediterranean Tilapia with Lemon Caper Sauce, pasta, zucchini and squash, bread
pinto beans and corn bread or black bean soup with ultimate grilled cheese sandwiches {crock pot}

baked dijon salmon cakes, green beans, baked mac and cheese


Extra Treats:
chocolate chip cookies
freezer biscuits
Homemade salsa
blue cheese biscuits
oatmeal muffins
homemade ricotta cheese

Dinner Revolution eCookbook GIVEAWAY!!

I hit 850 fans on facebook, so we're having a giveaway! *When we hit 1,000 fans on facebook, we'll have another giveaway. Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about This Mommy Cooks. Welcome to all the new readers! If you're not a fan on facebook, you should be! Go here to "like" me.

Chef Jeff contacted me a week or so ago and wanted to offer all of my readers a free copy of his new eCookbook. It hasn't been released for purchase yet and he wants to get some feedback from you guys. It will retail for $27 dollars so this is a great deal for you guys! I've looked over it and I can't wait to try some of the recipes. I have a feeling you guys will think so too. Thanks Chef Jeff for this great deal!

In this new cookbook you will learn:

• Over 200 of healthy and mouthwatering dinner recipes
• All recipes have less than 10 ingredients and take less than 30 minutes to prepare
• An amazing variety of recipes including vegetarian and simple side dishes

Here's a sample of just some of the recipes that are included:

• Caribbean Chicken Quesadilla
• Lasagna Roll-Ups
• Vegetarian Pad Thai
• Pork Medallions with Ginger Apple Chutney
• Pork and Broccoli Stir-Fry
• No-Fuss Cabbage Rolls
• Shrimp Coconut Curry
• Firecracker Shrimp Salad
• Southwest Turkey Burgers
• Moroccan Carrots
• Thai Cucumber Salad
• Hamburger Stroganoff
• Blackened Red Snapper
• Soft Tacos
• and sooo much more!

All you have to do is go to this link, enter your name and email and you will have instant access to the Dinner Revolution cookbook. Let me know what you think, and make sure to tell Chef Jeff what you think! Enjoy!

Disclosure: I received a free product from the sponsor in exchange for this post. I received no monetary compensation and my opinions are my own and were not influenced by the sponsor.

Brie Phyllo Cups

I've been meaning to post these little bites of yumminess for months. I made them for my sister's bridal shower in March, and they were a hit! I don't really think that anything involving Brie isn't a hit. I love that stuff. I tripled this recipe and used two of the round packages of Brie. I don't mind the rinds on Brie, so I left them on, but if you prefer, you can remove them. I also used raspberry preserves, but any other type of jam or preserve would work well too. If you can't find the cups, just buy a sheet of phyllo dough and cut it into small squares, and push them down into a mini muffin tin and top as directed. You can find the dough and cups in the frozen section of the grocery store.

Brie Phyllo Cups

Ingredients:
1 package frozen miniature phyllo tart shells (15 per package)
6 ounces Brie cheese, cubed (rind removed if you prefer.)
1/4 cup spreadable fruit of your choice (I used raspberry.)

Directions:

Place the tart shells on an ungreased baking sheet or in mini muffin tins. Place a cube of Brie in each tart shell. Bake at 325° for 4-5 minutes or until cheese is melted, then top with small amount of spreadable fruit and return to oven for 2-3 more minutes.

Sweet Treat Tuesday-Blueberry Scone Cake with Struesel Topping

I initially set out on a recipe for blueberry scones because my 4 year old was requesting them. I really have no idea where he got the idea to have them, but after his many requests, I decided to make them for him. This recipe was originally for scones, but I couldn't quite get them to turn out like scones the first time I made them. The dough is really sticky. So, the second time I made them, I decided to make them as a cake for breakfast. It was delicious. Basically, it tastes like blueberry muffins but a little different. The struesel topping makes them a little different from a typical scone as well. My kids love these. But really, they love anything with blueberries in them.

Blueberry Scone Cake with Struesel Topping
adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:
For the Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup fresh blueberries (frozen would probably work too)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk or cream

Brushing tops of scones:
Milk or Cream

Streusel Topping:
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Grease a deep pie plate or square baking dish.

For the Scones:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in the blueberries. In a small measuring cup combine the cream or milk, beaten egg, and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough or the scones will be tough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased baking dish or deep pie plate. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk.

For the Streusel Topping:

In a small bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until crumbly. Top each scone mixture with the streusel mixture. Cover and refrigerate any leftover streusel mixture.

Bake the scones until nicely browned, about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. It may take longer depending on how thick it is.Put dish on a wire rack to cool slightly. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored for a few days.

Sweet Treat Tuesday- Homemade Cherry Pie

Oh this was so good. I mean, So. Very. Good! I love it when something I've been thinking about and dreaming about becomes a reality! I've been thinking about cherry pie for awhile now, maybe six months, but I never got around to making one. Well, I had no excuses when my dear friend gave me a whole bag of delicious looking sweet cherries. I set out on a mission to find the perfect recipe. Instead of using one recipe, I adapted this one from two different ones and added my own flare to it too. This turned out perfect. So go get some cherries and make this pie!

Homemade Cherry Pie

courtesy of This Mommy Cooks, inspired by Smitten Kitchen and Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

4 cups pitted fresh cherries

4 tablespoons tapioca starch

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits

1 tablespoon milk

sugar for sprinkling

2 prepared pie crusts, Flaky Pie Crust found here

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Stir together the cherries, tapioca starch, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and vanilla extract gently together in a large bowl.

Roll out half of chilled dough on a floured work surface to 13-inch round. Gently place it in 9-inch pie plate. Trim edges to a half-inch overhang.

Spoon filling into pie crust, discarding most of the liquid that has pooled in the bottom of the bowl. Dot the filling with the bits of cold butter.

Now you can do a traditional top crust with slits or a lattace crust. I chose to do a lattace crust, which is a lot easier than it looks. For the lattace, roll out the dough to about a 12 inch round  on a floured surface and cut it into 1 inch strips. Lay the strips down, weaving them through and crimping the edges with the bottom crust. Our Best Bites has a great tutorial on how to do a lattace crust.

If you choose to do a regular top crust, roll out the remaining dough into about a 12-inch round on a floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, so that the steam can vent.

Brush the milk wash over over pie crust, then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for an additional 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden brown and the cherry juices are bubbling. This is very important. If the juices aren't bubbling, the starch won't bind to the juices and thicken them. I took mine out too early initially, and had a soupy pie. I put it back in and it thickened up. So if at the end of this time your juices arent bubbling, keep it in there. If the edges begin to brown faster than you'd like, put some foil around the edge. Let the pie cool on a rack for several hours. Store pie at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Flaky Pie Crust

This crust turned out perfect! I actually got it to come together and look pretty decent, something I'm not normally very good at doing. It also uses butter and not shortening, which is a prerequisite for me. I can't stand that stuff. I suck it up and use it in icing for birthday cakes, but other than that, I usually substitute butter. I used this for a cherry pie, and it was flaky and tasty. It is my new go to crust for pies. I will still stick with my whole wheat one for chicken pot pie, but for dessert pies, I'll pass on the whole wheat. Tomorrow I will post the cherry pie recipe.

Flaky Pie Crust
from Smitten Kitchen

*Makes two pie crusts

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold

1/2-1 cup very cold water

Directions:

Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside. This will allow the water to get really cold. In a large bowl whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Dice two sticks of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces and add them to the flour mixture.

Using a pastry blender or two knives if you don't have one, work in the butter. Do this until the butter resembles the size of peas. It's OK if all the butter isn't the same size.

Next, drizzle 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture, discarding the ice cubes if there are any left. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. You'll probably need 1/4-1/2 cup of additional water. Once the dough comes together in large clumps with the spatula, take it out and use your hands. Gather the clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.

Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out. If you're in a time crunch, I have found that putting the dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes works just as well.

The dough will keep in the fridge for about a week, and in the freezer longer. If not using it that day, wrap it in additional layers of plastic wrap to protect it from fridge/freezer smells. To defrost your dough, move it to the fridge for one day before using it.

How to pit a cherry

Ever had a whole bunch of cherries just waiting to to be pitted and baked in a delicious crumble, pie, or danish but you didn't have one of those fancy cherry pitters that does all the hard work for you? Well, welcome to my world. I was given a bag of juicy cherries a couple of weeks ago and I decided I wanted to make a cherry pie from scratch. Well, the cherries sat there for awhile, simply because I kept meaning to buy one of those fancy cherry pitters, but kept forgetting to buy it. So the day finall came and I was ready to make the pie, but I had still not bought the silly contraption that was supposed to make my life so much easier. So, my friend Lisa told me I could use a straw. What? A straw? That sounds so easy, and it was. Here is how you pit a cherry:

First, start with a bowl of freshly washed cherries. Don't they look beautiful?

Next, remove the stems from all of the cherries. If you have a bored 4 year old running around like I did, put him or her to work. It makes a great assembly line!

See where the stem was before? That's where you're going to shove the straw through.

Now grab your straw. I had some disposable straws, but they were too flimsy, so I had to use one of my kiddos twisty straws. If you want to keep the straw, I don't recommend using that one, because I wasn't able to get the cherry bits out of the inside, but my kids are none the wiser. Now you're going to push the straw through where the stem was until you feel the pit and then push it through some more and the pit will pop out of the bottom. Sometimes it will fly across the kitchen and leave a trail of red cherry juice in it's path, so be prepared for that. You may also have to push a little hard, but it will come out, don't worry. Also be prepared for a mess. Cherries make a mess!  

Now you have a perfectly pitted cherry, ready to be eaten right then or baked with. I chose the latter, my 4 year old chose to eat his right away. Mmmm...oh the possibilities with this delicious cherry!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Sweet Treat Tuesday, I will be sharing my cherry pie recipe!

Baked Dijon Salmon Cakes

This is a super easy and healthy meal that even your kiddos will enjoy. They don't have to know that they are getting all that good omega-3 just by eating little pancakes. I have a recipe on here for cheesy salmon patties, but I wanted to put a spin on those (which I love by the way) and make them have a little more of a kick. I think I've mentioned that I love Dijon mustard on here before. So, I'm always looking to where I can add it in my recipes. Well a few trips ago to Trader Joe's I found a whole grain Dijon mustard, and it is so good!! I love it so much. I hope I don't run out before I can get back and get some more. That is what I used in this recipe, but I am sure that regular Dijon mustard will work just fine. I also love that these are baked. By all means, you can fry these, but I wanted to keep it healthy. So if you like salmon and easy, you'll love these!

Baked Dijon Salmon Cakes
courtesy of This Mommy Cooks

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (I use whole grain Dijon from Trader Joe's.)
2 tablespoons oil (I use canola.)
1/4 cup bread crumbs, plus more for breading (I used whole wheat Italian flavored.)
1 egg
12 ounces canned salmon (feel free to use fillets, just chop them up.)
fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix Dijon mustard, oil, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, egg, salmon and pepper together until combined. Once mixed, form mixture into patties. Dredge patties into bread crumbs and place on baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 5 minutes on each side.

Cornbread Pancakes

I love corn bread! And I love pancakes! So I really love cornbread pancakes. I could eat the entire batch of these babies, but I did decide to share with my family. I love to serve these with barbecue. Once I had barbecue at a restaurant and they serve it with cornbread pancakes, I was sold! These are easy peasy and oh so good. If you have a cast iron skillet use it, but if not, a regular nonstick pan would be just fine.

Cornbread Pancakes

courtesy of This Mommy Cooks

Ingredients:

1 egg

3/4 cup Buttermilk

2 tbsp oil

1 cup Self-Rising Cornmeal Mix ( I have also used non-self-rising and had luck.)

oil for frying

Directions:

Heat oil in skillet, cast iron if you have one. In medium bowl combine egg (beaten), milk, and oil. Stir in cornmeal. Stir until smooth. If mixture seems too thick, add a tablespoon of milk. Pour into hot iron skillet. Cook until pancake bubbles and begins to brown on the edges, flip and cook on the other side for a minute or so and remove from heat. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Sweet Treat Tuesday-Blackberry Peach Crisp

A little over a week ago I took the kids to pick blackberries at a local farm. They had a blast of course, and we had tons of blackberries just waiting to be baked into something. I decided to try out a crisp recipe my friend had given me awhile ago. She used different fruit, but I thought this combination would be perfect, I think I was right. This is easy peasy. I did half the original recipe, and it did pretty well. I had a spot that had some dry mix that didn't brown, but I think adding a bit more butter or mixing it better would fix that.

Blackberry Peach Crisp
slightly adapted from Lisa S.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups peaches, peeled and chopped (I used frozen that had been thawed.)
2-3 cups blackberries
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup quick oats
3/4 cup sugar
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon, optional
1/2-1 stick of butter

Directions:

Place fruit in the bottom of a 8x8 or similar baking dish.

In a mixing bowl combine oatmeal, sugar,flour, and cinnamon if you're using it. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or two knives. (I only used 1/2 stick of butter in this one and I might add just a bit more next time to make sure all the crust gets browned.) Cutting the butter into small pieces as you add it to the flour mixture will help in mixing it with a pastry cutter. Cut in the butter until it is pebble-sized, like a rough biscuit dough. Do not allow the butter to form a paste with the flour.

Sprinkle the flour/butter mixture over the fruit, covering completely but not really pressing into a firm crust.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, until fruit juices are bubbly and topping is lightly browned. You may have to cook longer for frozen fruit.

Grilled Garlic Butter Chicken (and salad)

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to figure out what to fix for dinner and came up with this. I am really into eating salads so topping a salad with this grilled chicken was just perfect. This chicken isn't overly flavorful, but it has just enough hint of flavor that goes perfect with a salad. We all gobbled it up.

Grilled Garlic Butter Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken breasts

6 TBSP butter, melted

2 TBSP onion, finely minced

1 1/2 TBSP garlic, minced

1 TBSP lemon juice

kosher salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat grill. While preheating, mix melted butter, onion, garlic and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place chicken on grill, and baste with butter mixture. Cook slowly so that the chicken will not dry out or burn. After 5-6 minutes, flip to the other side and baste with butter sauce. Finally after chicken is cooked through, baste one more time, heat for another minute and remove from grill. This chicken flavor isn't strong, but it's just enough to give a hint of flavor. We added this to a salad with cheddar cheese, craisins, croutons, carrots, and cucumbers and made a grilled chicken salad and it was perfect.

Sweet Treat Tuesday-Zucchini Bread

So do you have gobs of zucchini growing in your gardens yet? Here is a basic recipe for zucchini bread that I can promise you won't disappoint. It is so yummy and moist! My sweet friend Chrissy brought some to me after our baby girl was born and it was so good! I for one don't have a garden, but I'm waiting for all of those friends who do have gobs of zucchini to get tired of it in the next month and give some to me! I've noted below that I'm going to try this with white whole wheat flour and less sugar next time. This recipe also freezes well, just double wrap it and freeze it and it should keep for a few months.

Zucchini Bread

from my friend Chrissy H.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 large eggs

2 1/4 cups zucchini, grated

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup oil (I use canola.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk 3 large eggs.Add in grated zucchini, vanilla, and oil.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans.

Cook for 1 hour at 350. When done, make sure toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let cool on rack for 15 min., then remove from pans.

Adaptions: I will be trying this recipe with white whole wheat flour next time, or maybe half and half. I'm also going to experiment with less sugar. You can also add in nuts and/or chocolate chips.