The Weekend

Well we survived the first week of school!! It was a good week, both kids are happy with there teachers and classes, so that makes me happy!!Friday night Blake had football practice and it was Mike's turn (We take turns with 2 other friends driving them so that is REALLY nice) So I didn't cook we just had leftovers from the week. Saturday we had our big Sunday school party that Mike and I were in charge of (We are the social team leaders for our class) It went great and everyone had fun, it was from 4-7 so no cooking again for me!! Although I did make Macaroni Salad for the party but that was easy!! Sunday night I made breakfast for dinner. We had scrambled eggs, sausage, grits, and biscuits! I love breakfast for dinner!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday!

Tuesday I made:
Grilled Tomatillo Chicken

This recipe comes from Taste of Home. I did puree the sauce and was glad I did...I thought it made the texture more appetizing, more like a salsa. It was a very summer-y dinner and hit all around!!!

Ingredients:
* 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
* 4 slices provolone cheese
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 6 tomatillos, husks removed, chopped
* 1/4 cup lime juice
* 6 pickled jalapeno slices, chopped
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* Sour cream, optional

Directions:
* Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 4-7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Top with cheese; cook 1 minute longer or until cheese is melted.
* In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add the tomatillos, lime juice and jalapenos; cook 3 minutes longer. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper. (I pureed the sauce a little because I didn't think the chunks of tomatillos looked very appetizing) Serve tomatillo mixture and chicken and with rice; dollop with sour cream if desired. Yield: 4 servings.
Cilantro Lime Rice
Cook rice as usual.
For each cup of rice:
2/3 cup cilantro, loosely packed
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped scalions
1 jalapeno (or to taste)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp olive oil
Puree the above in a blender, add to the cooked rice, stir well.
Wednesday I made Shrimp and Grits I got off of a friends blog. It was really good!
Shrimp and Grits

GRITS:
1 box (4 cups) chicken broth
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup quick cooking stone ground grits - (if you can’t find stone ground, just get whatever you can find – but NOT instant packets)
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
SHRIMP:
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 pound smoked sausage (NOT KIELBASA) sliced
2 pounds raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I buy them frozen and take the tails off)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can rotel – normal
chopped green onions for garnish
*good bit of Cajun seasoning

DIRECTIONS:
Grits first! In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring the chicken stock and whipping cream up to a low simmer. While simmering, whisk in the grits and a pinch of salt. Stir constantly and return to a low simmer. Cook until thickened, stirring often about 10 minutes. Stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let them cool some so they can get SUPER THICK, the grits need to be very thick so they can stand up to the runny sauce from the shrimp. The sauce thins out the grits a bunch, so they need to start out with it being extra thick.
Shrimp/Sausage: this goes pretty fast – if you are doing this for guests, I would wait to do this part until they are actually there… so you don’t end up overcooking the shrimp.
Heat a large pot (I use my Le Creuset stockpot) over medium heat.
Measure the wine and open the can of rotel so that it is ready!
Melt butter and then sauté the onion, garlic and bell pepper.
Sauté until tender and translucent add sausage. (you don’t want the sausage to get overly browned)
When sausage has cooked, add the shrimp and sauté for about 2 minutes (not done yet) add white wine and diced tomatoes/rotel.
Bring to a boil, about 5 minutes – Season with salt, pepper and cajun seasoning (if you are using Tony’s – don’t add extra salt!)
SERVING:
Put a hearty amount of grits in bottom of bowl and top with sausage, shrimp and the runny sauce – top with green onions and serve with crusty bread/butter
Thursday night I am going to hear Jeannette Clift George speak at a woman's event at our church......I love her!!! Mike is going to WCJH for 6th grade orientation so we are having a simple dinner Spaghetti and meat sauce.

School!

Well I can't believe summer is over and more than that I can't believe Blake is in junior high! He came home yesterday LOVING it.......I am very relieved!! I thought the independence of junior high would be good for him! Hoping the love continues! Emily had a great day also she loved her teacher and has several friends in her class.

Sunday night we had burgers and fries and Monday night I made something that I don't even know what it is called. My sister wrote down the recipe for me over a year ago but didn't put the name on it and she can't remember what it's called either!! Oh well it's good and even my kids loved it!

1 Lb. Lean Stew Meat
4 cups shredded slaw mix
3 Tbs. quick-cooking tapioca
1 envelope onion soup mix
3 cups water
1 12 oz. can of beer

Place meat and slaw mix in crockpot, sprinkle with tapioca and onion soup mix. Pour beer and water over all.
Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
I serve it over rice. I also made sauteed okra and tomatoes with it. My kids ate it up!

Weekend Fun!

Friday night I went to Chuy's with some of my bestest girlfriends to celebrate Amber's 40th birthday! Chuy's is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good....I wish they would build one in Katy! Emily went to one of her friend's for a welcome back slumber party. McKenna has been in New York most of the summer visiting her mom and her dad set up a fun welcome home party. So Mike and Blake were on their own for dinner!

Saturday afternoon/evening we are going to a party to celebrate Amy's birthday. I'm taking shrimp ceviche and hot dog buns. It's a new recipe so if it's good I'll post the recipe.

Hope you all enjoy your last weekend before the craziness of school starts!

The Week!

Tuesday I made Crock Pot Chops and Gravy (This recipe is a repeat and can be found in an earlier post.) Wednesday we had Creamy Italian Chicken over egg noodles.

Creamy Italian Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breasts (cut in strips)
1/4 cup of butter (melted)
8 oz. container of cream cheese with chives
1 can cream of mushroom soup (can use 98% FF)
1 (0.7 oz.) pkg. Italian dressing (dry mix)
1/2 cup of water
Egg Noodles
Add-Ins: onions,mushrooms,carrots Directions:
Place Chicken breasts in crock pot.
Combine butter, cream cheese, mushroom soup, italian dressing mix, and water.
Stir any Add-Ins you want into the sauce.
Mix and pour over chicken.
Cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours.
Serve over egg noodles

Thursday I had Sub Training from 8-5 and then picked up our friends Theresa,Virginia Kate and Causby and went to meet the teacher. The boys were at football practice so us girls went to Chic Fil A and the boys ate leftovers from the week!!

Weekend

The weekend was easy cooking....no recipes involved!! Saturday was sausage, Velveeta shells and cheese corn on the cob and baked beans. Sunday steaks for the boys and chicken for me and Emily.
Monday night I made Creamy Lemon Chicken. I usually don't like lemon in food but this one is mild lemon flavor and I like it! This one also came from a friends blog, On My Menu

Creamy Lemon Chicken over Rice (or Noodles)
Ingredients:
2 c. cooked, diced chicken
2 cans cream chicken soup (I always use 98% FF in my recipes and it tastes just as good)
1/2 c. mayonnaise
4 T. lemon juice
2 t. onion salt
2 t. garlic powder
1/2 c. sour cream
hot cooked rice, egg noodles, etc.

Directions:
* Cook rice or noodles as directed (we prefer rice).
* Cook remainder of ingredients, EXCEPT sour cream, until just boiling.
* Remove from heat and add sour cream.
* Serve over rice or noodles.

Home from Camp! :)

Picked Blake up today and we went out for lunch! Glad to have him back!! He had a GREAT time and LOVED his room makeover! He was SO surprised. It's amazing what a little paint, some stuff to hang on the wall and rearraning the furniture can do. Thanks to my awesome friend Theresa for all the help and fun shopping! Since we went out for lunch no one was hungry so instead of cooking Jamie and I went to the Mommy Swagger Expo and then went and checked out the new Coach store! If you know me well you know I LOVE Coach but I resisted and didn't buy one.....guess I got my fix this week from Wendy.......LOVE my pink Coach Wendy ;)THANKS!!! This is our first Saturday the entire summer to have NOTHING on our agenda and it feels great! Already did 4 1/2 miles this morning with a friend and now just gonna relax, spend time with the family and maybe swim a little!