The Virtual Dinner Table

So this is my first time contributing to Menu Plan Monday hosted by I’m an Organizing Junkie.

I actually plan my menus for the entire month so this should be fairly easy to keep up with.

Monday- Chicken Alfredo, Garlic Toast

Tuesday- Cheeseburgers, French Fries

Wednesday-Baked Ziti w/Garlic Bread

Thursday-Chicken Sandwiches, French Fries

Friday- Leftovers or Pancakes w/Syrup

Saturday- Take Out (Pizza, Subs or Fast Food)

Sunday- Pork Roast, Potatoes, Peas, Crescents

I found some puff pastry in my freezer the other day that I had completely forgotten about. (still good)

I was in the mood for pizza but didn’t feel like spending the money on delivery.

Voila, we have puff pastry pizza. Some of my best recipes happen when I just throw stuff together.

Sorry for only having a pic of the ingredients. My 3 year old was not cooperating so I forgot to keep snapping away.

The ingredients include:

• Puff pastry (thawed)
• Sauce
• Cheese
• Butter
• Pepperoni ( or toppings of choice- stick with one)

Lay 1 thawed pastry out on your lightly floured counter and roll it out with a rolling pin. You may get it to spread another inch around.

Fold over the edges just a bit. This is so you have a bare crust edge.

Now place it on a  cookie sheet with a light dusting of cornmeal on it (the sheet, not the dough)

I brushed a little melted butter all over it at this point and pricked it all over with a fork.

Next put it into a 400° oven for about 5 min (very light golden) Make sure the center is also light golden or at the end the middle will be soggy

Then spread your sauce around, lay some pepperoni down, bunch of cheese, and more pepperoni.

I sprinkled a little pepper and garlic on top and put back in the oven. It took about another 10-20 min, basically you want the cheese melted, toppings cooked/heated through, and the crust a nice golden brown.

It will still puff up a bit makes a light and flaky crust. I made two to feed my husband, myself and the little one. I cut each into 9 pieces and we had 4 pieces left.

If you need to reheat, PLEASE do not microwave (ICK!) just pop it in the toaster oven (or under your broiler) for a little bit. It will puff back up a little and taste great.

Don’t forget to leave me comments if you’ve tried this or if you have your own recipe for it. I’d love to hear variations.

I’ve only had this blog up a short time and I really enjoy sharing my family favorites with all of you.

I have been “pleasantly plump” since my 2nd child was born in 1990. At one point I was down to a size 4 but that was due to too much bad stuff (food, life, drink, friends, etc.) and not any good. I also looked awful. I see pictures of that time now and I just cringe at the person I let myself become.

In 2003, I was able to pull myself out of the situation I had put myself in with the help of a wonderful man (my husband of almost 3 years)
We were blessed with a child in 2005 (my 4th, his 1st)and things, weight-wise, didn’t get any better.
After going through a hysterectomy a year ago this past August I spent a lot of time in my head and decided I wanted to be healthy for my children but I wanted to enjoy the foods I’ve always loved.
Impossible, right?!

I was on a mission to find a way to get fit while eating what I loved in moderation. I’ve been going to the gym 4 days a week since June with very little progress.

After deciding it had to be the HRT meds I had been taking that was stalling me, I stopped taking them Labor Day weekend.

Since that time there have been a few issues that prevented my regular gym visits (cold, back went out, 1st grandchild arrived)

So, officially, I have been back to regular gym visits for 2 weeks now. In that time I have lost 4.5lbs without changing what I eat.

Because I believe you receive what you need, when you need it most, I was recently approached by a company to test and review a product that aides in weight loss.

I’m a bit skeptical but it is worth a shot and completely safe.

I am going to chronicle my journey for the next six months while I test this product. Follow along with me at The Virtual Bathroom Scale

Once I receive the product I will provide details about it, a special link to order it yourself at a nice discount and I’ll be posting my “before” stats with a picture.

Please join me as I work at being a fitter, more fabulous wife, mother, business owner and Woman.

P.S I’m working on trying to get them to agree to a giveaway. I’ll keep you posted.

This photo is not the actual meatloaf- I keep forgetting to take a picture when I make it. If I ever remember I will replace this pic.
It is basically what the loaf will look like minus the cheese on top ( although that could be added)

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, diced small
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
1/2 green pepper, diced small
1 1/2 cups mashed or instant potatos (made)
3/4 cup shredded cheese, your preference (mozzarella doesn’t work well)
1 cup barbecue sauce

Mix ground beef, egg, and bread crumbs together. Roll the meat out in between two pieces of freezer wrap or wax paper. Spread the vegetables on top of the rolled out meat. Layer the mashed potatoes on top of the vegetables then place the shredded cheese on top of the mashed potatoes. Roll the meat into a loaf and pinch the ends together. Place in a casserole dish, seam down. Top with barbecue sauce and bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hour.

*Special Note 1*

The loaf may make alot of grease. You can prevent this by cooking the loaf on a rack in the pan.

*Special Note 2*

The top of the loaf will split while cooking

*Variation*
No major splitting if you do it this way- instead of rolling out the meat, take half and make a canoe shape out of it. Place vegetables, potatoes and cheese inside and top with other half of meat, sealing all around. Meat may separate at sides while cooking depending on how full you stuff it.

This recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network.

I’ve made some adjustments but the basic recipe is still the same.

Next time I may omit the nutmeg in the Bechamel sauce as it left a funny aftertaste.

This was fabulous tasting.

Lasagna Rolls
Makes 12 lasagna rolls

Bechamel Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture.

Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes.

Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

Serve with warm Garlic Bread & salad.

Bon Appetit

Since I haven’t decided what we are eating tonight I decided to give you a recipe that I have been wanting to try but haven’t had the chance.
Seems like a good thing to make on Saturday night for a wonderful breakfast treat Sunday morning. Instead of the Pepperidge Farm bread I would probably find some Texas Toast bread and use that.

Not a great pic but you get the idea.

French Toast Casserole

1 1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 loaf Pepperidge Farm bread white (1 lb.)
6 eggs
2 cups milk
Maple syrup

Use a 9×12 inch dish. Melt 1 1/2 stick of butter and add 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon; make a paste and spread over bottom of dish. Use only white Pepperidge Farm bread (this recipe will take a 1 lb. loaf). Remove crusts. Layer two slices of bread and fill in sides and ends with smaller pieces. Beat 6 eggs and add 2 cups milk. Pour over top. Cover and refrigerate. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Drizzle maple syrup on top and run under broiler until brown and bubbly.

Let me know what you think. Variations?

This was my first attempt at Alfredo sauce and I have to say, it came out pretty good.

I think it needed a little less flour or Parmesan and a little more salt.
Served alongside:
Tyson Chicken patties (in deep fryer) and a couple of Grands Flaky biscuits( I apparently got a can of weird shaped ones?)
I didn’t realize till after dinner that no vegetables had made it to the plate.

The recipe:
4 Tablespoons Butter
8 teaspoons Flour
2 1/2 cups Milk ( whole or 2%)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
approx. 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese ( I used powdered- probably much better with fresh)

Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt and pepper into the sauce. You could add a dash of Nutmeg here also. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan to taste.
I tend to cook by smell when I am trying something new. When it smelled like restaurant Alfredo sauce, I stopped adding.

Possible Mix-ins:
Fried chicken chopped up
Cooked Spinach
Roasted red pepper flakes (for spice)

If your try this, please let me know what you think. I’m curious to hear what others change/add to the recipe.

I don’t know what to call this dish but here’s how to make it.
I don’t have exact measurements because I just threw this together. At least i remembered to take pictures of the process

You’ll need:

Cooked chicken- pulled or cut up
Bread Crumbs
Garlic powder
Milk
Egg
salt
pepper
grated Parmesan cheese
Shortening or oil- to fry in
Angel hair pasta (or pasta of choice)
Spaghetti sauce
Crescent rolls
butter/margarine
grated Mozzarella Cheese

Start by heating up your skillet with oil/shortening added.

In one bowl I mixed together bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt & pepper.
In the other I mixed one egg with some milk- a little more milk than you would use for a scrambled egg.

I then put the chicken pieces in the milk/egg mix and stirred to coat

Next to the breadcrumb mix- coating well

Now off to the skillet- I cooked half at a time, turning once only.

while the chicken cooked I grabbed the crescents and rolled them out onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper wiped with a little butter/oil (to prevent dough from sticking). I used my fingers to pinch together any perforations and then flattened it more with my hands.

Then I used a rubber spatula to spread butter over entire dough and sprinkled garlic powder and Parmesan cheese over top. Lastly, I sprinkled a little Mozzarella cheese on the one long edge.

Next I used the wax paper to help me roll the dough, long way, into a loaf. Toped with some butter and Parmesan and put in a 350 oven for 16 minutes.

Chicken is done. Looks pretty doesn’t it?

Next I boiled some water to cook up the angel hair pasta while also heating the spaghetti sauce.
Placed a pile of the pasta in the center of the plate and covered with sauce. Added chicken on top and then covered all with mozzarella.

Pulled the garlic loaf out of the oven and cut at an angle.

Then I put the plate under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese.
Voila

Things I learned/need to change:

• Chicken could be uncooked to start but would take much longer- besides, I almost always have cooked chicken in freezer.
• Garlic loaf should have been cooked a bit longer. Ends were great but center was doughy. Maybe cover with foil for first 10 minutes and then uncovered for another 10 so crust doesn’t burn?
• try to keep track of ingredient measurements.

Enjoy!

Ok.
This is something I threw together with stuff I had around. I don’t really measure things when I do that, so bear with me.

Breakfast Pie

Bisquik baking mix
Milk
5 eggs
Breakfast sausage links
Shredded Cheese (I used cheddar)

First mix about 1 cup baking mix with a little milk. Keep adding a bit of both till you have enough to cover the bottom of your baking dish (I used a pie plate). You don’t want it too sticky but not dry enough to roll out like making regular biscuits. After making this I realized that a little something for flavor was needed in biscuit mixture. Next time I think I’ll add maple syrup or maybe just a little butter.

Next I cooked up the sausage links. I made the whole package but really only needed about 1/2. Chopped them up into small chunks after cooling down a bit.

(ignore the dirty stovetop please-we had a messy dinner the night before)

Next I whipped up 5 eggs with some milk (like scrambled eggs)

Then I added the sausage and cheese to the eggs. Poured the mix over the biscuit layer.
Oven was set on 350 and I let it cook for about 30 min. I didn’t watch the time closely but I let it cook till I could poke the center and feel it was firm.

Voila!

Looks good doesn’t it?

What I learned and will makes changes for:

• Biscuit crust needs flavor added
• Possibly need to cook biscuit before adding egg mixture. Egg mix ended up seeping under biscuit a bit so layers were more egg/biscuit/egg,sausage,cheese
• Other option: mix egg mixture with raw biscuit mix and then cook? Biscuit will be throughout egg mix.

Enjoy and if you make this or a variation, please let me know as I’d like some ideas.

Forgot to take a pic of the finished product but here’s the recipe I retrieved from the web. I completely forgot where exactly I got it but the the author’s name is Jane Hutfles from Omaha.
Jane, If you find this here, THANK YOU! The bread is awesome!

1 1/4 cups water (70-80 degrees)
3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
7 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs mashed potato flakes
3 cups Bread Flour (I used regular- came out a bit “hole-y”)
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

In Bread Machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color (I chose light) and loaf size if available. bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 Tbs of water or flour if needed) yield: 1 loaf (1 1/2 lbs)