Wednesday, June 23, 2010

My Menu for this Week




I have posted pictures of my house on facebook. There are far too many to put on here. I think I posted about 40 to 50 pictures! Feel free to go on my profile and have a look!
I am so excited that everything is finally done and I can now relax in my finished house!
I thought I would post my menu for this week in case some of you needed inspiration for some new dishes.
Tonight I am making my personal all time favorite, Ham and Cheese Rolls! I can't remember if I've posted this recipe before, but just in case I haven't it will be at the end of this post.
Monday Grilled Steak, Baked Potato, Steamed Broccoli, and Grilled Corn
Tuesday We went to the pool and Jonny bought us pizza. So I have moved last nights meal to Friday.
Wednesday Ham and Cheese Rolls, Strawberry Spinach Salad, Frothy Orange Soda, and Shortbread and Sherbet
Thursday Hamburgers, Seven Layer Dip, Fresh Veggies, and Fruit Pizza
Friday Roast Beef, Scalloped Potatoes, Fried Okra, and more Steamed Broccoli
I have really missed cooking for the past four months. Between eating healthy and my house being a wreck, it seems like forever since I have been in my kitchen! I am loving pulling out some old recipes and serving them to my family. Do not get me wrong, we are continuing our efforts to eat healthier. Not to mention getting LOTS more exercise. But I am really ready to do a little of my favorite kind of cooking again.
Now to address some of the dishes I will be serving this week. The sherbet and shortbread might sound a little odd to you unless you are a fan of Pollyanna. Remember the part where Aunt Polly is having a town meeting, and the grumpy cook is in the kitchen whipping up a quick, summertime feast for a hundred or so. Pollyanna is busy dipping soft shortbread cookies into a large bucket of lime sherbet. My girls thought it looked absolutely delicious, and now I enjoy serving it to them on these hot evenings.
The seven layer dip I actually make with eight layers, because I usually add ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning. That goes on the bottom, then refried beans, french onion dip, guacamole, cheese, tomato, lettuce and sliced olives. Serve it with Tostitos whole grain chips and it is most incredible!
The Frothy Orange Soda I got out of a new magazine. The recipe is 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1 cup Sprite. In a blender add orange juice and ice cream. Cover and process until smooth. Stir in soda. Serve in chilled glasses.
Last but not least the Ham and Cheese Rolls. These just happen to be my all time favorite food in the entire world!!!! You simply grate up a block of swiss cheese and add four little cans of ham chopped up. Then slice up a bunch of green onion and stir into ham and cheese mixture. Then add enough yellow mustard to make it slightly sticky. I have never measured it, but I would guess about two to three tablespoons. Then form into balls and wrap a crescent roll around each ball. Dip in beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Try to keep all your edges closed so your cheese doesn't melt all over the pan. I have also recently discovered that greasing your pan REALLY helps. Bake at 350 until golden brown.
Hope this gives you some new ideas! Don't be afraid of working in your kitchen when the weather is this hot. Just find new things to prepare that don't take your standing over the hot stove for hours. And certainly remember to use your grill as much as you can! Maybe my next post should be "Good Grilling Ideas";-)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Open House Time!!



I know you were beginning to think it would never come, but we are finally finished with everything and ready to show it off!! Open house is this Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00. The girls and I are making some refreshments so bring your friends and family and stop in and visit us! We would love to see you!
I promise to post more pictures of the rest of the house, but I am waiting until next week after the "Big Reveal".
After realizing that I still had way to much stuff around here, I had my second yard sale week before last, and surprisingly enough, made enough money to go ahead and fix up my family room! I had already prepared myself for not getting to do that for quite a while. But it is now one of very favorite rooms in the house!

On a different note, I made up a new recipe last night. I know, I know, you thought I had forgotten about cooking. But now that everything is done, remodel, trip to Dallas, yard sale, I now have time to cook again. Due to the fact that Jonny gave me a little more money for the Dallas trip than we had agreed on (I just had to have the gorgeous white coffee table from TJMaxx Home Store!), I have once again been trying to use up what I have in the freezer and pantry. This does not always mean the most healthy meals, but we are still trying to do much better about our sugar intake and chips are rarely eaten at the Jeppsen house. Monday night I made tater-tot casserole and as much as my little folks loved it, I feel very unhealthy even admitting to you that I cooked it!

Back to the point. In searching through some of favorite cookbooks last night, trying to figure out what to do with a bag of chicken breasts and very little else, I couldn't find one recipe where I had everything that it called for. So I combined a little of this and a little of that, and PRESTO!! I came up with what we will "Crumbly Chicken Casserole". My entire family loved it and it was as easy as pie. I just boiled the bag of chicken, then shredded it. Then in a separate bowl I combined two cans of Cream of Mushroom soup ( I was out of Cream of Chicken, which is what I really prefer), half a block of Velveeta cut into little pieces, a packet of Ranch DIP mix (not Ranch dressing mix), and threw in the chicken. Then I greased a casserole dish and poured in my mixture. Last I crumbled up a sleeve and a half of Ritz crackers (thank you stock piling!) and sprinkled them over the top and drizzled on a stick of melted butter. Then I baked it until bubbly at 350. Can you feel yourself getting fatter? It was absolutely delicious!! I was so impressed with myself that I just made it up that I had to brag on myself to you today!!!!

Tonight I am making chicken salad in pitas with mangoes and strawberries. I am so loving this summertime weather! Maybe we'll even take the kids for an evening swim!
Good Bye for now!

PS...I think I use to many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!