Menu Plan Monday

Is it time to post a menu plan again? Where do my weekends go? Oh well. This week might be a bit hectic as I'm only at my current job for today and tomorrow, I'll have Wednesday off and then I start my new job on Thursday. Without knowing exactly what my schedule will be just yet, it's hard to know if I'll be around for dinner or not. I figure I'll plan dinners with the expectation to be at home and if I'm not, Buppy can either make what I have planned or do something simple (grilled cheese, tuna, hot dogs) that both he and the kids can have relatively quickly. I tried to make the menu as simple and quick as possible this week anyway, so it still won't be hard for him to make what I've planned if I'm not around. Here it is:

Monday: *free night* Ham sandwich (with lettuce, tomato & cheese), cantaloupe

Tuesday: *free night* hot dog, apple, veggies & dip

Wednesday: Pierogi (I still haven't gotten the chance to make these darn things and I'm determined to make them this week!)

Thursday: Buffalo chicken salad (green salad with buffalo wing flavored chicken, lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives and whatever else we decide to throw in)

Friday: Pizza (what kind yet has not been determine; Buppy mentioned BBQ chicken pizza the other day, so perhaps we'll throw one of those together)

Saturday: Poker Run (Buppy & I will be out most of the day working a stop for the Poker Run his employer sponsors and will be eating out)

Sunday: *free night* Tuna fish sammy or some soup (homemade that's been frozen), fruits and/or veggies & dip (which ever I still have in the house)

*Free nights for me are nights when Buppy is at work, the kids are with their mom and I'm left on my own for dinner.

While BBQ chicken pizza is relatively easy to make, here's how we make ours.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 Pillsbury pizza crust (I like the thin crust but I think Buppy likes the regular one better. I'm sure that homemade, which I really want to try to make again, or the powdered mix would be great too.)
BBQ sauce (Use your favorite here. I'm pretty picky and don't like most sauces; my favorite is Sweet Baby Ray's.)
Chopped green onions (We've also used red and they're really good on there too.)
1-2 cooked, chopped chicken breasts (Canned chicken works great here too; use what you have and what's easiest for you.)
Chopped fresh mushrooms (Or canned, whatever you've got on hand!)
Cheese (This is so versatile here. I think we've used almost everything under the sun at one point or another. I'm so not a it has to be Mozzarella kind of girl. Nope. Sharp cheddar is really good on this pizza, and this time I'm thinking we might throw on some Monterey Jack.)
Bacon (We don't always put bacon on this particular pizza, but it's really good when it's on there.)

So there you have it. Throw as much BBQ sauce as you like onto the crust, pile on your toppings and bake as directed per the crust instructions, or until it looks done. It's not hard at all, but it sure tastes scrumptious!

I'll be linking this post up to Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie. Check out her MPMs for great menu ideas!

Free Chocolate Friday

Don't forget you can register for free chocolate on Friday mornings (starting at 9am, I believe) at https://secure.realchocolate.com/. I've been doing this since they first started, and Buppy and I got our first few coupons and thought it was awesome. In truth, Buppy used mine. I don't really eat sweets/chocolate a lot. Chips and salty snacks? Well that's a whole different story. But it's ok since I register myself and Buppy and he gets 2 coupons to use. We just noticed this morning though that we haven't gotten a coupon in the mail for some time now. Not sure what's going on; I keep registering and it keeps sending me the confirmation email saying the coupon is "on the way", but then it never shows. Is my mailman getting his chocolate fix at our expense? I'm not really sure, but go sign up if you'd like a free coupon for some chocolate. Let me know if you ever end up getting the coupon!

My Sister's Amazing Talent

To see more of her amazing artwork, visit here.

Sneaky Zucchini

Buppy has been pressuring me to post this recipe since he first tasted it. I told him I wanted to wait until I had uploaded the photos of it, and now that I've accomplished this, I can post --- yay!

I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website and decided it looked like something that might be good to make for Buppy and the kids to eat while I'd be on vacation. You know how lasagna is good leftover, right? Well I decided to make this on the Tues. night (while home alone) before leaving for Wisconsin so they could have it as a meal on Wed. or Thurs. night. While not a major hit with the kids (well, the youngest started to eat it up but stopped when his older brother decided he didn't like it), Buppy thought it was fantastic. He's asked me to make it several times since then, which I haven't (sorry babe!) It's been hot outside lately, crazy hot, so maybe once it cools off a little I'll throw another batch in the oven.

I changed the recipe slightly based on what we like. The recipe called for ground beef, but since we like Italian sausage better, I subbed the sausage for the beef. I'm pretty sure I used more than half of an onion, but I'm kind of an onion freak. The recipe called for a can of 'Italian tomato sauce', but I used jarred spaghetti sauce (I keep meaning to make my own but this was quicker that night!) I also jazzed that up with some Italian seasoning and garlic, if I'm not mistaken. After all, the recipe didn't call for any garlic! How could this be? Eh, I fixed that, no worries. Lastly, it called for chopped green pepper. Neither Buppy nor I care for peppers of any color, but since we love mushrooms, why not throw some in there instead, right? And that's what I did.

I'll admit I forgot to drain the meat before adding the sauce, so mine was a little more watery than I'd hoped. It still tasted good, it just didn't hold together quite like I thought it would (my fault). To see the orginal recipe, click on the link below. The actual recipe written below is with my adaptations.

Zucchini Pizza Casserole
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

4 c. shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 c. (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 c. (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 lb. Italian sausage (I used hot)
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
1 jar (15 oz.-ish) spaghetti (or homemade) sauce
1 c. sliced fresh mushroom

Place zucchini in strainer and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes, then squeeze out moisture. Combine zucchini with eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into greased 13x9 baking dish and bake, uncovered, at 400F for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook Italian sausage, onion and mushrooms over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add spaghetti sauce to meat mixture and spoon over zucchini mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.

This is a really great way to get some veggies into your diet, and I think most people will enjoy this(you can't taste the zucchini). The meat could easily be dropped from this too if you've got some vegetarians you're feeding. Play with it and change ingredients to suit your family's tastes; you won't be disappointed (just ask Buppy!)

Since Buppy never even tried this the night I made it, I'm confident I can link this to Life as Mom’s URS as a 'make ahead meal.' Like I said, I think it's kind of like lasagna because it's better the second day, after all the flavors have had time to mix and mingle. Make it at the beginning of the week and enjoy a day or two later!

Restaurant.com 80% Promo

Restaurant.com has been emailing me a lot of different promo codes all summer long, with the 80% off ones being the best deal. Well, it's back again until Aug. 31st (at midnight) --- 80% off any gift certificate(s) using code TASTE at checkout. As I've said before, Buppy and I use these certificates every now and then for a fun night out at discounted prices.

Want to know more about how Restaurant.com works? Check here to find out!

Bake Sale Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are one of the simplest yet oh-so-tasty desserts I've ever made. My brother, if not stopped, will eat pretty much the entire pan himself . . . in one sitting. When I introduced Buppy to them, I found the same to be true.

The recipe comes from an old issue of a Taste of Home magazine. I don't remember the first time I made it, but it's definitely a recipe that I marked as a keeper from Day 1. Citrus-y desserts are so nice in the summer, or any time of year that matter, as an alternative to chocolate things. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate, but it's nice to mix things up with recipes like this sometimes too.Bake Sale Lemon Bars
Recipe from Taste of Home

1 ½ c. all purpose flour
2/3 c. confectioner's sugar
¾ c. butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ c. sugar
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
¼ c. lemon juice
Additional confectioner's sugar

Combine flour, sugar and butter (first 3 ingredients listed); pat into a greased 13x9x2 baking pan and bake at 350F for 20 min. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice until frothy; pour over the hot crust. Bake at 350F for 20-25 min. or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar; cut into squares. Yield: 3-4 dozen.

Easy and delish --- love it!

Recipe Critique: Easy Italian Spiced Pork

Last week on Menu Plan Monday, I blogged about how I wanted to make a recipe I'd found once upon a time for easy Italian spiced pork. The post with the recipe, for those of you who didn't catch it the first time around, can be found here.

Buppy and I made it for a late dinner this past Friday night. To be honest, we split one chop just mainly to try it and then saved the rest for left overs. We had made a batch of guacamole earlier in the evening for a snack and then ended up not hungry for a real dinner! Oh well, sometimes ya just gotta do it!

Back to the pork. While the recipe only called for 1/4 c. of balsamic vinegar, that seemed to be all I could taste in the chops. I guess you could say I'm not overly big on balsamic vinegar, although I do like to taste just a hint of it in dishes. It was, in my opinion, overwhelming. I couldn't taste the Italian seasoning at all, which really says something because there's an entire packet of Italian salad dressing mix (powder) as well as some Italian seasoning in it! Buppy didn't really think so and thought it had good flavor. I'm guessing this might be a recipe that he keeps on file and makes if I'm out of town. If you love balsamic vinegar, this is the recipe for you! I think next time I might cut it down to an 1/8 c. and see if I like it better.

Happy eating!

Menu Plan Monday --- Aug. 24th, 2009

First of all, I'd like to wish my dearest mom a happy birthday! I love her dearly and wish we lived closer than we do (I'm in MD, she's in TX). But so goes life. I hope she's having a fabulous day!

Now, onto the planning. This week Buppy and I have tonight (Mon.) and tomorrow night all to ourselves. Not that I don't appreciate having the kids, but some alone time every couple of weeks is nice. Wed. and Thurs., Buppy'll be at work but I'll be serving at the restaurant too, so no real plans will be made. I figure I'll most likely grab a bowl of soup while there, if it's not too busy, and call it a night. Fri. through Sun., we'll all be home. Well, they've asked me to work at the restaurant Fri. and Sat. nights too, but I'm not sure if I'm up for that. We'll see. I'll plan for dinners for all of us, and if it's just Buppy at home with the kids, he can still make whatever I've planned.

Monday: Cheeseburgers with sauteed mushrooms (I eat cheeseburgers about 2-3 times/year. We hardly ever have them. I don't eat ground beef very often.), fried potatoes with onions.

Tuesday: Hot wings, green salad.

Wednesday: Both Buppy & I work.

Thursday: Both Buppy & I work.

Friday: BLTs, some sort of steamed veggie and/or apple slices.

Saturday: Roasted pork loin (I found a recipe Buppy should love as it has rosemary in it and he loves the stuff. I'm not a huge fan but am willing to eat it once in awhile. Besides, our plant has a ton on it that needs to be used!), mashed potatoes with gravy.

Sunday: Homemade pierogi (I still haven't tried the recipe I wanted to try back on MPM 7/27/09!), slow cooked sauerkraut.

Last week wasn't my best effort at sticking with my menu plan, so this week we'll see if I can do a little better. The featured recipe of the week today? Let's do the roasted pork loin recipe I just found that I want to try pretty much all for Buppy. Geez, I'm such a nice girlfriend.

Roasted Pork Loin

Recipe from allrecipes.com

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. dried rosemary (I'm going to have to adjust for fresh)
Salt & pepper, to taste
2 lb. boneless pork loin
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. white wine

Preheat oven to 350F. Crush garlic with rosemary, salt and pepper, making a paste. Pierce meat with a sharp knife in several places and press the garlic paste into the openings. Rub the meat with the remaining garlic mixture and olive oil. Place pork loin into oven for 2 hours, turning and basting with pan liquids. After 2 hours, remove roast to a platter. Heat the wine in the pan and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. Serve with pan juices.

I figure I'll make a few adjustments to the recipe, and might leave the wine out all together. If I do choose to add it, it'll be when I first put the roast in so it'll contribute to the pan juices. I plan to use a cornstarch/water mixture and make gravy out of the drippings instead of having a white wine pan juice. Just for my personal preferences, that's all. If you try it, let me know what you thought of it!

I'll be linking this post to I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Stop by here for more great menu planning ideas!

Mad-Crazy Love for French Onion Soup

I'm pretty excited for Fall, I'm not gonna lie. Fall means I can do more cooking of comfort foods, soups, stews, etc. I really enjoy making warm dishes, using the oven and snuggling up with something that's gonna warm my tummy.

The recipe I'm sharing today is for one of the first soups (actually, I think it's the first) soup I ever attempted. Whenever I went out to restaurants, I'd always have to try their French onion soup. A lot of times I would judge a restaurant by their soup: if it was good, I'd assume that most everything on their menu might be good as well. Bad soup? Good luck with any other menu picks. I realize that isn't always fair but hey, it worked pretty well most of the time.

When I went to Wisconsin for vacation 2 weeks ago, dinner one night was at a restaurant that I used to . . . well, I wouldn't say frequent, but I'd eaten there several times in the past. One of my ex-coworkers had suggested it and said their French onion soup was amazing. The funny thing about that, at the time, was that I knew she didn't like onion. I found out as we were ordering that she actually has them strain her soup. And yes, they actually do this for her. It's a family establishment and my coworker visits enough that they accommodate her. She is seriously, I think, the pickiest eater I've ever encountered.

I thought to myself when she ordered this, "Why would you order French onion soup, even if they strain it, if you don't like onions?" Granted a main flavor of the soup is always the beef base, but still. I was puzzled. And then our soups arrived.

Their soup was one of the best French onion soups I've ever had. There was plenty of melted cheese on top and the bread absorbed plenty of broth without completely dissolving. What made it so wonderful and helped me to figure out my friend's love for this soup was the base; it seemed that instead of a beef base, it was more of a mushroom base. There was still a light beefy flavor, but the broth was thicker than most soups I've had and was definitely mushroom-y. It was absolutely delicious and I plan to try to recreate this sometime very soon. Until I can perfect this one though, you can try this recipe.

As always, the measurements are approximate and please, season to taste for you and your family! I think I actually use more beef bullion than what this recipe calls for, but since I don't measure, it's hard to say for sure. Again, it's a recipe I've had for awhile and have no idea where it came from.

French Onion Soup

3 lg. onions
½ c. butter
2 Tbsp. beef bouillon
4 c. hot water
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. salt
French bread, toasted (for croutons)
Swiss, provolone or mozzarella cheese for topping

Saute the onions in butter until lightly browned. Pour into a crock pot and add remaining ingredients. Cook on low, 4-6 hours. Top with bread and cheese; place under broiler to melt cheese.

I'm assuming you'll be able to tell from the short list of ingredients and the quick preparation that this isn't a 5 star restaurant recipe for French onion soup. It's quick, it's easy, it requires little work and time and you can pretty much prepare it and leave it alone for a few hours to finish cooking. While this isn't the end-all FOS recipe, it does my body good!

Movin' On Up

It's hard to believe I've been with my current employer for roughly a year and a half. While it wasn't the job I expected or hoped for when moving from Wisconsin to Maryland, it has taught me valuable lessons and been a good experience. And I actually used my degree! (This was the first job where I could actually make that claim.)

The time has now come for me to move on to bigger and better things. I am finishing out my last 2 weeks here with my current employer and will then shift back into the hospitality and food service industry, where my true passion lies. The new position is in a management capacity, increases my earnings, will provide excellent experience in the areas where I need to grow and learn, and is about 20 min. closer to home. As it happens, I applied for one position and they were impressed enough to offer me the management slot on the spot!

Because I'm not sure what type of schedule I'll have yet (and I'm guessing it'll be a mish-mash of shifts as managers generally work), it's become hard to know what's best as far as my part time employment is concerned. I currently bartend on Fri. nights, Saturdays and Sundays. I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue such shifts with whatever my new schedule turns out to be. I also applied and was hired for a serving position much closer to home, but found out last night that the tips there are not what I thought they'd be. It's nice to have these options open, even if I'm not sure which way to go.

This change in employment/my schedule will also make it more likely that we'll be able to get a dog soon. We've wanted one for some time now and our friends are actually taking care of one that was supposed to come to us. Due to scheduling conflicts on Fridays, we were unable to take the dog until now because it'd be in the house alone for too long. Hopefully this will all change and Yogo will finally be able to come live with us. I'm not sure if Buppy realizes this or not, but having the dog won't get him out of getting me a cat too (he promised me I could have one).

I'm very excited about what this new adventure will bring for me as well as for Buppy and I together. Being back in food service, especially working with catering, will *cross my fingers* give me the experience I need to move into an even larger market eventually, like Baltimore or DC. I'm giddy just thinking about it. And not having to get up at 5am five days a week will mean I'll hopefully have more energy, spend more time with Buppy, spend less time being tired and enjoy life a little more. Things are good.

Ham Cream Cheese Dip (The love of my coworker's husband!)

I'm a huge fan of dips and appetizers of pretty much all shapes, sizes and varieties. I love them about as much as I love soup, and that's really sayin' somethin'. I'm not sure what it is about appetizers that just makes me melt, but they're just so . . . . yummy! Sometimes easy to make, sometimes a bit more complicated but darn near always super-uber-good. I'm not sure where this recipe originated, but I've had it for quite some time now.

Once upon a time in my life back in Wisconsin, I made this for an employee Christmas party at the hotel where I worked. I didn't actually get to stay for the party (I'd had a bad accident the week before and just couldn't do it) but I'd still made food to take in to my lovely friends and fellow staff. The next day I was cornered by our assistant head housekeeper; her husband was such a fan of this dip that she just had to have the recipe. And you know what? It's so easy, I jotted it down from memory right then and there for her. I'm pretty sure she's made it many times since then and her husband loves her all the more for it.

This is a very simple dip and could be jazzed up with anything else you care to add (other cheeses, spices ---I bet cayenne would be a great addition, etc.), but is also great as is. I've found it to be tasty with crackers (Wheat Thins have always been a favorite of mine), veggies like celery or . . . on bagels. Yes, it makes a wonderful bagel spread! Mix some up, chow down and enjoy!

Ham Cream Cheese Spread

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. sour cream
¼ tsp. garlic powder
2 pkgs. (2 ½ oz. each) deli ham, chopped
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced

Blend (I use a hand held mixer) cream cheese, sour cream and garlic until smooth. Stir in ham and green onions. This makes about 2 ½ c.

For more great recipes (this week's theme is cool food and drink), stop on over to Life as Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Menu Plan Monday

This week it's going to be a bit difficult to "menu plan." Actually, I guess being by myself for 4 out of the 7 nights might make it easier and more flexible. Guess we'll see. Buppy's schedule got shifted around between last week and this week due to child care issues (swapping nights that we'd have the kids to accommodate their mother's schedule) so it's hard for me to keep track of what nights he'll be home, which nights the kids'll be around and which nights I'll be home alone. Couple his schedule changes with the fact that I have an appointment after work tonight and have no idea what time I'll be home, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow at 4:30pm and have no idea how long that'll take, I'm training for a new job on Wednesday at 5pm and I have no idea what my part-time job schedule looks like for Friday night, Saturday or Sunday. Argh, I feel so flustered! I'm making an attempt at a menu plan, I'm just not sure how it'll actually work out in the end. Here we go:

Monday: Smoked sausage ring (grilled), mashed potatoes and carrot coins with honey and butter (and perhaps a green salad too, but I'm not sure).

Tuesday: *free night* Tuna salad sandwich with a green salad on the side.

Wednesday: *free night* Pizza soup (previously made and in the freezer currently) with garlic toast.

Thursday: Easy Italian spiced pork, fried potatoes with onions and steamed broccoli.

Friday: Homemade pizza and green salads. (Not sure if I'll be at work but I'm sure Buppy and the kids will have this even if I'm not home.)

Saturday: *free night* I'm guessing I'll be working at either my new part-time job or the one I currently have so I'm not planning a meal.

Sunday: *free night* Breakfast for dinner (eggs, fried potatoes, bacon or sausage; maybe breakfast burritos).

There we have it. Lots of salads to go along with the meals since I found such great produce at the market on Sunday when I stopped.

The featured recipe for today? Let's go with the easy Italian spiced pork as it's new and I'm looking forward to trying it. I have a lot of casserole recipes I like to use and some new ones I want to try, but these pork chops can be grilled outside, and in this heat wave we've been having (93F today), I'm all about outdoor cooking! If you give this one a try, let me know how you liked it. I promise to do the same later on this week!

Easy Italian Spiced Pork

1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
¼ c. balsamic vinegar
½ tsp. dried Italian seasoning
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 (4 oz.) boneless pork loin chips

Mix all but chops, then marinade chops for 15 min. in this mixture. Grill or broil until desired doneness.

*This, like many of my recipes, is one I've had for a long time and have no idea where it came from.

I'll be linking this week's menu to I’m an Organizing Junkie. She always has a fabulous collection of menus, so if you need some help or ideas, stop on over and check 'em out!

A Childhood Memory: Clam Dip

When I was young, my mom used to make clam dip to eat with veggies, crackers and/or potato chips. I look back now and think I must have been an adventurous eater to have even tried such a thing. Even if Buppy's 2 kids tried it now, I suspect they wouldn't like it. Not that I wouldn't let them try it, I just have doubts that they'd actually want to eat it. They tend to shy away from foods they don't know and often pretend not to like things we've seen them eat just recently and enjoy. But that's fine, because that means more clam dip for Buppy and I!

As easy and tasty as this recipe is, I find it baffling that I've never seen it on any restaurant menu or had it at any party/gathering. I've never had it anywhere but in my momma's kitchen. That is, until I busted out and made it myself. It's just as good, if not better, than I remembered! It's great with carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, crackers or potato chips. It's pretty much good with anything (in my humble opinion!) This is a cold clam dip, just to let everyone know, and is super easy to throw together.

Clam Dip

2 (6 oz.) cans minced clams
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, cubed
2 Tbsp. chopped instant onion (sometimes I finely chop real onion in place of the instant)
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Drain clams, reserving liquid. Beat all ingredients except clams with a handheld mixer (or in a blender or food processor). Make sure to use the reserved clam juice to make the dip whatever consistency you'd like it (some like it thicker, some thinner, so use the clam juice to get it how you want it.) Once everything is mixed well, stir in the clams; chill. Some might want the clams put into the blender/food processor/blended with the handheld mixer if actual chunks of clams are undesirable. To me, they're little chunks of goodness spread throughout this tasty dip. It's up to you though, so experiment and see what tickles your fancy. Also, this is really great with the addition of a little hot sauce or cayenne pepper for kick!

Update: I'm linking up to Life as Mom’s ultimate recipe swap for today (12/31/09) which is New Year's Meals & Munchies. I'm excited to see what recipes I find from the other contributors!

What a Sweetie!

I like to think I do a pretty good job of appreciating my Buppy and all that he does for us around the house. He mows and weed whacks outside, cooks, does laundry, cleans, etc. One day he made this for a snack for us while I was busy doing something else; we planned to watch a movie that afternoon and needed something to munch on. He only arranged it all this way because he knew it'd make me happy. I love him bunches.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef

I first tried this recipe for Italian Beef when planning Tiny Tot #2's birthday party for incoming family. Our plan was to do a sandwich extravaganza with cold cuts, different spreads, cheeses, veggies, breads --- we wanted everyone to build their ideal sandwich. There is a restaurant in Stevens Point, WI (where I went to school) called Bill's Pizza; they have the most amazing Italian Beef sandwich ever. I miss it a lot and haven't eaten there in a few years now (I moved away from Point in 2006). I was, however, determined to recreate their masterpiece so I could have a little piece of Wisco here in my new home in MD. This recipe didn't disappoint; I didn't think it would though as it has over 700 reviews and 4.5 stars on allrecipes.com! I only made one change to it as it appeared originally, and that was to add 2 packets of Italian dressing seasoning instead of just 1. Well, that and my roast was slightly smaller than 5 lbs.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef
From allrecipes.com

3 c. water
1 tsp. of each of the following: salt, ground black pepper, dried oregano, dried basil, onion salt, dried parsley and garlic powder
1 bay leaf
2 packets dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 (5 lb.) rump roast

Combine water with everything but the meat in a saucepan. Stir well and bring to a boil. Place roast in slow cooker and pour spice mixture over the meat. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-5 (mine actually took a little longer on high than this but eventually did get super tender and fork-shredable). Remove bay leaf and shred meat with forks. Place meat back into slow cooker and let it cook for another hour (or more) on low setting to allow meat to absorb flavors. Great served the next day also. I've found that I like this best on crusty bread, and if you top it with crinkle-cut dill pickles, it's just like Bill's! Enjoy!

The spread for the party --- see the slow cooker waaaay at the end? That's the beef!

*I'm sharing this on Life as Mom’s URS (Ultimate Recipe Swap). I'm late, as slow cooking was the theme last week but hey, this recipe is still worth the mention! Her URS's are awesome for great new ideas to try in the kitchen, so stop over and check 'em out if you've got some time.

Here's a quick pic of Buppy with the 2 kiddos getting ready to blow out the candles. I'll have to blog at a later date about that fabulous cake I created....

Here's a picture using the same recipes on a pork roast instead. While it doesn't absorb quite as much flavor as the beef, it's still really, really tasty.

Redbox Promo Code

I love Redbox. Easy. Cheap. Fast. Accessible.

Their free code for a movie today (because it's the 1st monday of the month) is 27Hz4KT. It expires at midnight tonight (Monday, 8/3/09). A free movie --- what could be better?

Never used Redbox but interested? Go here to find out more.

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, this is the 2nd week of my menu planning and the first where I plan to link to I’m an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Oh wait, she's not hosting this week, change of plans. Gotta link to The Happy Housewife instead for this edition of Menu Plan Monday as she is the guest host for the week. I think I got it straight now!

I'm kind of asking myself why I picked this week as the first to link to Menu Plan Monday, because I leave for vacation on Wednesday afternoon and so will only really be planning for today (Monday) and Tuesday. The reasoning behind it? I'm going to [try to] be a sweetheart and plan out some extras for Buppy and the kids for when I'm gone. He'll be home alone with them on Wed., Thurs. and Fri. night, so if I can get some things ahead for him/them, it'll make everyone's life a little easier. Plus, I'm just a sweetheart when it comes to taking care of my Buppy!

Monday: *free night* Ham sandwich, canned pineapple, Sunchips

Tuesday: *free night* Homemade lasagna, garlic bread

Wednesday: Buppy can feed himself and the kids leftover lasagna; I'm making it on Tuesday especially because he's been hungry for it and it freezes well and is good leftover.

Thursday: Campbell's 2-step creamy chicken & pasta; I'll just make sure we have all the stuff in the fridge so he can throw this together. Looks quick, haven't made it myself yet.

Friday: I'll get Buppy all the stuff to make pizza so all he'll have to do is throw it together after he gets home with the kids.

*Free nights for me are nights when Buppy is at work, the kids are with their mom and I'm left on my own for dinner.

Saturday and Sunday Buppy will be back at work, but I figure the 3 things I'm getting ready for him to make Wed.-Fri. will yield plenty of leftovers for him to take into work for the weekend. I will, of course, have to run this plan by him to see how he feels about the meals I've come up with but I'm guessing he'll be good with them all. And bonus: a lot of the ingredients we already have on hand so I won't have to do too much grocery shopping before I leave.

The lasagna recipe I use is a variation on the recipe on the box of Barilla No-Boil lasagna noodles. Let me just throw this out there now: no-boil lasagna noodles are awesome! I like to add lots of onion, mushrooms and more spices than the original recipe calls for. To be honest, I eyeball all my spices but tried to guesstimate quantity for this recipe.

Super Duper Fantastic Lasagna

Adapted from the Barilla No-Boil Lasagna Recipe

1 (9 oz) box of lasagna noodles (no boil)
2 (26 oz.) jars spaghetti/marinara sauce
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 (8 oz) package mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
4 cups (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup (3 oz) grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9x13x3 pan with non-stick cooking spray. To make the cheese mixture, beat eggs, stir in the ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella and ½ cup of parmesan. To make the sauce mixture, pour sauce into a large bowl and add onion, mushrooms, garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine well. Then begin layering: 1 c. sauce topped with 4 noodles, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/3 meat, 1 c. of mozzarella and 1 c. sauce. Layer 4 noodles, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/3 meat, 1 ½ c. sauce. Layer 4 noodles, remaining cheese mixture, remaining meat and 1 c. sauce. Layer 4 noodles, last of sauce and top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hr. Put a piece of aluminum foil underneath the pan as sauce likes to boil out occasionally. Uncover pan and bake another 10-15 minutes or so, until the cheese on top is nicely melted. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Makes 12 servings.

Another Restaurant.com Promo

As I said in a recent post, Buppy and I frequently use Restaurant.com to score some great gift certificates if we're in the mood to go out eat. They recently had an 80% promo going on, which made their $25 certificates only $2! They have a new promo that is running from now until Thursday, Aug. 6th for 50% off (making $25 gift certificates $5 for most restaurants). But wait....right now, they're also giving away a free $10 gift certificate with every order. Generally what happens, from my experience anyway, is you place the order for whatever you want and then they email you a code for a free $10 certificate, so you can use it on a completely different restaurant than what you ordered certificates for if you so choose. The code for this promo is SUPPER. Enjoy!