November Swap Schedule

UPDATED...

Here's what I have so far...

SWAP ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Laura= hamburgers and fries

Taylore= Terriyaki chicken and fumi salad

Wendy= Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Chicken Pieces

Betsy= Beef dip sandwiches with broccoli salad

SWAP ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Laura= chicken cacciatore

Taylore= Cheese enchiladas

Wendy= Chicken Noodle Soup

Betsy= Lasagna and Salad

SWAP ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Laura= potato-leek soup

Taylore= Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wendy= Chinese Chicken Salad

Betsy= Meatball Sliders and Antipasto Salad

November Swap

I would like to suggest that we just do meal swap for the first three weeks of November. I don't know about you, but the week of Thanksgiving I need all the fridge space I can have so I'd rather not do a swap. The week after Thanksgiving is also part of December so we can decide later what we are doing. This would be a good time for us to do a survey... For these next three weeks though, if you made a meal that seemed like it was a good one for the swap, then I would say go ahead and repeat it.

So, if you guys just tell me your meals for the next 3 weeks, then I can make a new schedule. Let's maybe try to avoid any meal that is similar to thanksgiving so we don't burn out on poultry and potatoes! Ha! I can try to post a schedule later tonight. I just need meals from Taylore and 2 more meal ideas from Laura.

Hope you guys are doing well!

love,

Betsy

November Calendar

Shall we all post here since Betsy's on vacation? That way we could at least get an idea of what the month will look like...then maybe convert to a formal schedule. Here are my November meal ideas, but I will revoke whatever necessary if we decide to start repeating this month:

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Chicken Pieces

Chinese Chicken Salad

Chicken Noodle Soup (or this could be done after Thanksgiving with turkey)

November Meals?

I just was wondering if we should submit our November meals this week. Also, are we still planning on doing the survey of our favorite meals from the past two months? We had talked about that at one point. Or should we wait one more month? I am fine to do it either way.

Emeril's Chili

1 1/2 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped bell pepper
2 T minced garlic
2 T chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 10oz lager beer
28 oz canned chopped tomatoes
2 C pinto or kidney beans
1/4 C fresh cilantro

Cook ground turkey. (I already did that part for you). Add onion, bell pepper, garlic/spices. Add beer and tomatoes. Stir well and bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 45 min. to 1 hr. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat. Add cilantro and beans. Cover and keep warm. Serve with cheese. (You can also serve with tortilla chips, baked potatoes or brown rice. I gave you brown rice. Keep the rice frozen. Cut slit in the corner of the bag. Microwave for three minutes.)

So sorry this is late. I totally forgot to send the recipe. Wendy, sorry I never got your message until it was too late. We were at a friend's house for dinner last night and I didn't hear my phone ring. :)

Pepperoncini Pork Burritos

Pork Prep:

• Put pork loin in crock pot.
  
• Pour the entire jar of pepperonicis (including the juice) over the pork.
  
• Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  
• Shred with fork before serving.

Burritos (assemble as you like!):

• heat tortillas (in microwave, on grill, or gas stovetop)
• cheese
• sliced avocado
• pico de gallo
• cilantro
• pepperoncini pork

Prepare Spanish rice according to directions on box.

Thai Chicken Yellow Curry

Thai Curry

Ingredients:

6 chicken tenders or 2 chicken breasts cut into chunks

2 potatoes cut into chunks

1 cup of chopped onion

Trader Joes Yellow Curry Sauce

1 lb of green beans

Prep:

Place chicken, potatoes, and onion in crock pot. Pour the entire bottle of Yellow Curry Sauce over the top. Cook on LOW for 4 hours. When the curry has about 30 minutes left, steam the green beans. (You can either microwave them or steam them on your stove top). When the green beans are tender, place them in the crock pot for the last 15 minutes so they take on the curry flavor. Serve over rice. This curry sauce is not very spicy, but if you don’t like spicy at all, then don’t pour the sauce over your rice when you serve it.

*RICE: Cut the corner of the rice packet and microwave for 3 minutes

*GYOZAS: Keep frozen until you are ready to use them. Follow the directions on the package. I prefer to fry them in a little oil until slightly browned, then add a little water and cover to steam for a few minutes. If you don’t want to have the clean-up, then just put them on a plate and cover with wet paper towels and microwave. They aren’t crispy that way, but it’s easier to clean up. Put the Gyoza sauce in little bowls for dipping. I usually cut them up for my kids as they can get pretty hot inside.

Roast Chicken

From Jamie Oliver via Amanda Kleist and my own changes.

Prep: Thaw chicken. Rinse under cold water and remove giblets from the cavity. Use paper towel to pat dry. Apply butter spread and bake as noted below. Prick the potatoes and bake at the same time as the chicken, for about 1 hour. Steam the broccoli in the microwave: put in a glass bowl with about 1 tsp of water and cook about 3 minutes. Serve on the side or as a baked potato topping.

1 Whole Chicken (4-5 lb)

1 stick butter, softened

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried rosemary

sea salt

black pepper

1 lemon halved (optional)

Heat oven to 350. Push fingers between skin and meat on breast. Mix garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary, sea salt, black pepper and butter. Put butter spread between skin and breast, between legs and body and in cavity. Put lemon in cavity. Salt and pepper skin. Place in a roasting pan (over a rack if you have one), breast side down. Bake 60-90 minutes until juices run clear. In the last 20 minutes or so, flip the chicken over (use tongs inserted in the cavity) to brown the breast.

Frozen food for the week?

Anyone planning to freeze this week's meal, or send frozen meat? I can leave the chickens frozen for you to use later in the week, unless everyone else is already planning on frozen food.

Meal Switcheroo

I decided to make pepperoncini pork tacos for this week instead of grilled sausages. It seemed just a little more exciting to me!

Crock Pot Beef or Pork Roast

This recipe is just the basics of how to cook plain beef or pork in the crock pot, then add whatever flavorings you might like. In this case, I mixed the vinegar, salt and pepper so you'll add these plus water before cooking. Then add the BBQ sauce in the last 30 minutes of cooking (per instructions below). You can eat it on the rolls like sandwiches. For the green beans, I will probably heat them in a sauce pan, then drain and add butter and Lawry's seasoned salt.

3-4 lb. roast (any kind works--chuck, shoulder, etc.--since the crock pot makes it plenty tender)

1 c. water

1 Tbsp vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

BBQ sauce, green chile salsa, mexican seasonings, or whatever flavorings you might want

Put all ingredients in crock pot, low for 8-10 hours. Remove meat and shred. Discard liquid, return meat to pot. Add BBQ sauce and increase heat to high for 30 minutes. Serve over rolls, or add mexican seasonings and serve with tacos.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

2 lbs. beef chuck or stew meat cut into 1" cubes
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
4 carrots sliced
3 potatoes diced
2 onions chopped
1 stalk celery sliced

Place meat in crock pot. Mix flour, salt and pepper and pour over meat, stir to coat meat with flour. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 4 to 6 hours. Stir thoroughly before serving.

-----------

Prep: Dice the potatoes. Put meat in crock pot and coat with flour mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and cook on high (10-12 hrs) or low (4-6 hrs.). Warm bread and enjoy!

Tortellini Soup

Hi ladies! This soup is really quick and easy to prepare so you can make it Monday night if you want. Thankfully it's raining this week and not 111 degrees out! Perfect soup weather! This is one of Lily Mei's favorite meals and I think we ate it every Wednesday night last winter. She is really excited all her friends are eating it this week. :) ENJOY!

Tortellini Soup

(adapted from Marissa Bryson’s recipe in the Grace cookbook)

INGREDIENTS

2 cartons of Trader Joe’s Creamy tomato soup

1 carton of chicken stock

1 pound of frozen (or fresh) tortellini

10 leaves of chopped fresh basil

*At Trader Joes they also sell cubes of frozen chopped basil. Use 2 cubes.

2-3 sliced Trader Joe’s sweet basil sausages

1.5 T of minced shallots

Salt and pepper to taste.

Place shallots in a stock pot with a little bit of butter. Cook for about 2 minutes over med-high heat. Add sausages and cook until slightly browned (about 3 minutes) stirring often. Shake the tomato soup cartons well and then pour in the stock pot. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the frozen tortellini and cook for the amount of time on the package. At the last 3 minutes, add the basil. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with parmesan cheese if you like.

Serve with warm garlic bread.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
Crust for 2 crust 9-inch pie
1 cup cubed carrots
1 cup cubed potatoes, skin on (1/4 inch cubes)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken (about 5 chicken tenders)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp salt

Cook carrots, potatoes, and celery in a steamer until just tender (can microwave or put in crockpot also). Pour hot water on peas to thaw. Set veggies aside. Melt butter and saute onions. Blend in 1/4 cup flour, and seasonings. Add broth, cooking and stirring until thickened. Stir vegetables and chicken into broth, then turn into pie shell. Top with crust and adjust for steam. Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes or until golden. If you add dill or other fresh herbs to the crust it really makes this dish elegane enough for entertaining. Serve with salad. (PS. I didn't add the fresh herbs this time). Enjoy!

Poppyseed Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts
2-3 cups rice, cooked
2 cans cream of chicken
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tbl poppyseeds
1 pack of ritz crackers
3/4 c butter

Season the chicken with pepper/garlic salt. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until cooked. Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces. Mix the chicken, 2 cans of cream of chicken, 1 cup sour cream, 1 tbl of poppyseeds. Use a 9X 13 and coat the bottom with Pam. Cover the bottom with cooked rice. Place the chicken mixture on top of the rice. Cover with ritz crackers (that have crunched up). Pour 3/4 cup butter over the top (makes the crackers more crunchy).

Bake at 350 30 minutes.

Green Beans:
Boil green beans for 5 or so minutes. While those are boiling mix a little butter, salt and pine nuts in a frying pan. Place the green beans in the mixture and mix it all up! Serve.

Kalua Pork

Kalua means “to cook in an underground oven” in Hawaiian…it’s not pork cooked in coffee flavored alcohol. J

Ingredients

4 lb pork butt or shoulder roast

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

2 Tablespoons of Sea Salt

2 cups of pineapple juice

1 T of liquid smoke

Prep

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on LOW for 10 hours. Flip the meat half way through cooking. When it is done, get 2 large bowls, one you will use for serving, and one for trash. Put an open grocery bag inside the trash bowl. Take the meat out of the crock pot and place in your serving bowl. Pick off the bones and any fat and place in trash bag and discard. Shred the meat with two forks. Ladle some of the broth onto the meat. Serve over rice

*RICE: Cut the corner of the rice packet and microwave for 3 minutes

*Serve Kalua pork with pineapple and green salad.

Fish Tacos

cilantro-lime sour cream

black beans and rice

• Thaw fish. (Taylore--Whenever it says fish, just substitute chicken.)
  

• Make rice. Bring 1 3/4 to 2 cups of water to boil. Add 1 tsp. butter and a bit of salt (optional). Stir in 1 cup of rice (that’s what I gave you). Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes or until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and serve.

• Heat up the black beans.

• Heat the grill on high while preparing the fillets. Put a small amount of olive oil on the fish, then squeeze a lime over them. Rub the oil and lime juice into the fish, then sprinkle liberally with the taco seasoning. Turn the grill down to medium and cook fish until done.

• While fish is grilling, combine all the ingredients for the cilantro-lime sour cream in a blender and mix until it looks like a green cream sauce.

- sour cream

- juice of 1 fresh lime

- small handful of cilantro

- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

• Take the fish off the grill when it is done and squeeze more fresh limejuice over them while they are hot.

• To assemble the tacos, put corn tortillas on the hot grill for a few seconds each side. Add a small sprinkling of cheese, place 1/2 fish fillet (cut lengthwise) on the tortilla, top with shredded cabbage, cilantro-lime sour cream, some pico de gallo, fresh cilantro sprigs and a fresh lime wedge.

• Serve with black beans and rice.

Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Preparation: Thaw chicken. Follow directions below. I have doubled the spices and flour here because I don't like to run out, and often make more than 10 drumsticks at a time. Ten minutes before chicken is ready to come out of the oven, cook the potatoes in a skillet according to package instructions. You might want to serve with additional salad/veggies if the ones in the potatoes aren't enough for you.

Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks (from Kelly Pinkham)

10 drumsticks, skin removed (or not...we like skin on; and use more drumsticks if your kids are big eaters or you want leftovers)

olive oil (or vegetable oil is fine)

4 tsp sea salt

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder or flakes

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp stevia powder (or sugar)

1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 425. Coat drumsticks with olive oil. Mix spices and flour in a large bowl. Roll drumsticks in mixture until coated. Place in 9x13 glass dish (you might need another pan if you make more). Bake 45 minutes.

Asian Pork Tenderloin from Emeril

Betsy--I had to post this so my sisters could access the recipe. I gave them the blog address.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice (or substitute orange juice)
  
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped shallots
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Chinese 5-spice
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 2 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds total)

Directions

Combine all the ingredients except the tenderloins in a food processor and pulse several times to puree. Put the tenderloins in a large plastic storage bag and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet over high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the tenderloins and sear, turning to ensure even browning, about 4 minutes. Transfer to the oven and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 145 degrees F. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Alternatively, heat a grill to medium-hot. Grill the tenderloins, turning several times, for 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 145 degrees F. Remove from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes.

Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• garlic salt
• black pepper
• Parmesan cheese
  

Directions:

• preheat oven to 400
• cover a baking sheet with tin foil
• cut up cauliflower into smaller florets and place in a large bowl
• pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper over the top
• mix together and spread on baking sheet
• bake at 400 for 30 minutes until slightly browned and fork-tender
• at the last 5 minutes sprinkle parmesan cheese on top
  

Yummy!

ALL of the Rosenkranzes LOVED Asian Porkloin and roasted cauliflower! Thanks Betsy!!

Mini Cheddar Meat Loaves

Meatloaf prep: Just preheat oven to 350, bake uncovered 45 minutes.

Mini Cheddar Meat Loaves Recipe

1 egg

3/4 c. milk

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c. quick cooking oats (regular work ok too)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 pinch dry mustard (optional)

1 lb. ground beef (I like to use 1 1/2 lbs.)

BBQ sauce for topping

Beat egg and milk. Stir in cheese, oats, onion, and salt (dry mustard too, if using). Add beef and mix well. Shape into 8 loaves. Place in greased 9x13 dish. Top with BBQ sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.

Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

When you receive it, the chicken will be close to thawed and should be kept in the refrigerator until used. The rice can be refrigerated if you plan to use it within a day or so, otherwise squeeze the air out of the bag, press the rice flat and freeze it.

Preparation (45 min.):

• Add teriyaki (Soy Vay) sauce to bag of chicken and marinate for 30 minutes or so. Soak skewers in water.
• Pre-heat grill. Thread chicken, pineapple and onions onto skewers.
• Grill skewers until chicken is cooked through (a few minutes each side).
• Slice cucumber and toss the salad (lettuce, tomatoes, snap peas, cucumber, cabbage). Serve with salad dressing of your choice.
• Re-heat the rice (a few minutes in the microwave should do it).
• Enjoy!