Planning: May 12-18, 2012

So.
Work is nuts.  It's now hiring season, which will quickly be followed by track and field season, and then academic testing, report cards, and the mad dash to the end.  So tiring.  So no time to cook.  It's sad.  J and I are talking about using a company where I can go and make frozen meals for us in June when there's no time and I'm abandoning him for year end dinners regularly.  He learned that "delivery pizza is really expensive" when the Domino's near us shut down and he looked for a new pizza source.  We'll see.
The other good thing is that it's finally grilling season!  Woohoo!  When in doubt, fire up the Broil King!!
Here's how this week appears to be shaking out:

Saturday:  Black Bean Salsa Chicken, rice, and a salad.  And the end of the Nutella ice cream.
Sunday:  Breakfast for Dinner - Bacon and Eggs.  I thought we were out of eggs, so I bought another dozen.  Um, we weren't.  Yeah.  Breakfast for dinner.
Monday:  Steak, Potatoes, and Vegetables on the grill.  I do the potatoes in foil, and toss the veggies on the grill too.
Tuesday:  Burgers, I think.  After Tuesday, it won't be grilled weather.  Boo.
Wednesday:  Dinner out.  I have a late night.
Thursday:  Shake n Bake Chicken, Potatoes and Broccoli.  By Thursday, I just want to be done.
Friday:  Long weekend!  We'll be eating on the road, so probably Wendy's.

Yay!  Sounds like a good week.

Weeknight Meal: Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs

So.
I hate cooking on weeknights.  Scratch that...I hate cooking when I've been working all day and I get home exhausted and don't feel like doing anything.  It doesn't matter if I've planned.  Heck, it doesn't matter if I like what we're having.  Work and cooking don't mix.  Especially this time of year when my work is wild and I don't really have time to think.
Last night, I was supposed to make this recipe.  But enter a fight with a dryer vent and a long day getting me home about 7, and I didn't get around to making this.  I would like to say, however, that making this tonight wasn't a huge deal; and the results were delicious.
I present to you now Everyday Food's Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Pinteractive: Nutella Ice Cream

This is my Pinteractive post for the week.  Click on the badge over there ------> to go to Nanette's blog and see all the Pinteractive posts!

So.
When I got married in 2007, I registered for one expensive, frivolous gift that I knew I probably wouldn't get but really, reeeeeally wanted.  That item was the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I was right.  I didn't get it.  But I didn't forget about that attachment.  And 2 years later I finally got around to buying the attachment.  I have never regretted it.
J and I love ice cream, and I grew up in a house where there was dessert every night after dinner.  Most nights still, we have something: a cookie (or 3), a bowl of ice cream or the like.  What I like about the ice cream maker is that I can control what is going into what we eat.
Ice cream is often super rich, using egg yolks and heavy cream or half and half.  I've never experimented with using evaporated skim milk, but I probably should.  I usually use a mixture of 1% milk and half and half or heavy cream.  Results can be mixed.  Vanilla is not always the best.  Great ice cream is high in fat for a reason.  Fruit puree sorbets are divine, but J's not big on fruit.
After making the Nutella cake, I had a partial bottle of the spread in my cupboard.  When I went back through my pins on Pinterest, I discovered this little gem, once again from From Away.  They seem to be as crazed about chocolate heaven in bottle as I am.  I present to you now Far and Away's Nutella Ice Cream:

Pinteractive: Nutella Bundt Cake

This is my Pinteractive post for the week.  Click on the badge over there ------> to go to Nanette's blog and see all the Pinteractive posts!

So.
I was flipping through pins on Pinterest and discovered one for making your own processed cheese, which I immediately pinned because J loves the stuff and I think it's an evil chemical soup.  When I clicked through to the blog and started poking around, I was struck by how many things I wanted to make immediately from From Away including chicken shack chicken, which I have always wanted to try yet never have at our own Southern BBQ joint.
But - the first thing I pinned after the process cheese pin was this cake.  It looked divine.  Make sure to read Jillian's notes about Nutella because they encapsulate so much of what I loved about my time as an exchange student in France.  And a good deal about what I will never tell my parents about that year.
I present to you now From Away's Nutella Bundt Cake:

Dinner with Friends: Parmesan-Crusted Stuffed Chicken

So.
One of my resolutions this year was to have more friends in for dinner.  J and I have decided that we want to have people in every 4-6 weeks for a meal.  This was our second meal with friends in as many months.  Once again, we had friends in with kids.  So really there were 2 meals:  This chicken for those of us over 10, and plain chicken for those of us not so much.
I present to you now an easy, elegant chicken that was enjoyed by all:  Parmesan-Crusted Stuffed Chicken:

Dinner with Friends: Shirley Temple Cupcakes

So.
This is from Easter.  And yet I'm posting now.  Sigh.
Work is taking over my life, and while I'm taking pictures of what I make, I don't get the blogging done.  It's very sad.  My mother and I were assigned dessert as our part of Easter dinner with friends.  Mom made a chocolate turtle cake, and I made 2 kinds of cupcakes so there would be enough for an army.  The one type was golden.  I don't usually make cupcakes any way except from a mix.  I replace the water in the recipe on the box with milk, and make as is.
The second flavour was the recipe I'm posting here:  Shirley Temple; my favourite restaurant drink when I was 6.  I loved the colour, the taste, and the little sword I could take home with me.  What interested me about this recipe was that it came from a mix, but had really only one ingredient.  Would this even work?
I present to you now Shirley Temple Cupcakes:

Pinteractive: Stuffed Mexican Shells

This is my Pinteractive post for the week.  Click on the badge over there ------> to go to Nanette's blog and see all the Pinteractive posts!
 
So.
I've said before that J and I are lovers of all food things Mexican.  When I saw this floating around on Pinterest, I knew that I wanted to try it.  Pasta, ground beef, cheese, and spices.  What's not to love?
This doesn't take a huge amount of time to make, but stuffing shells is a labour intensive thing.  Especially if you're like me, and you think you might be able to do it faster with a larger spoon.  That is not the correct answer.  Ever.  A tablespoon is much more successful.  Learn from my pain.
However.  I present to you now Mexican Stuffed Shells:

Planning: April 15-20, 2012

Erg.  So Busy!  So much eating out because I'm lazy!  Hopefully, that will all change this week.  I have a plan.  Nothing new this week, just things that are easy and that we like.
Sunday:  Sausage and Asparagus Sautee over Polenta.  Asparagus was on sale last week when we went shopping.
Monday:  Cream of Asparagus soup and whole wheat rolls and butter
Tuesday:  Shake n Bake Chicken, some kind of side, and frozen vegetables
Wednesday:  Crockpot Roast.  It's starting to get late in the season for this, but there's a roast in the freezer and we need to use it.  Ice crystals are forming.
Thursday:  Leftover roast
Friday:  Dunno.  We''re having people for dinner Saturday, so there may be something hiding in the back of the fridge to eat.  We might go out.  We could have wings and wedges from the downstairs freezer.  We have everything for Mexican Bake Thing. 

We'll see what happens.

Pinteractive: Chicken Gyros

This is my Pinteractive post for the week.  Click on the badge over there ------> to go to Nanette's blog and see all the Pinteractive posts!

J and I are both big fans of Greek food.  Frankly, we're both big fans of food PERIOD.  But if given the choice, we often eat Mexican, Greek and the lovely melty-cheese of Italian.  I also love Indian, but J's not as big a fan.

When I saw this pin from my cousin's wife, I knew I wanted to try these too.  I'm not a huge fan of gyros, but 9 times out of 10 if we're eating Greek food, this is what J will order.  When I saw that it was chicken...and that I would be making my own tzatziki, I was in.

For this week's Pinteractive post, I present to you Chicken Gyros with homemade tzatziki:

Dinner with Friends: Jewelled Layered Salad

So.
Keeping with the theme of what I served for dinner when friends came, I present to you this salad.
I originally made this salad to take to family Christmas 2011.  I took home an empty bowl.  I thought it was so pretty in the pictures in the magazine, and you could put it together before going, and combined a whole bunch of things I loved in one bowl.  Other people thought it was tasty too.
As opposed to Christmas with 25 other people, there were only 4 of us eating this Saturday night.  The 6 year olds each ate 1 leaf of spinach.  We had some apples and cranberries left in the bottom of the bowl with some dressing.  I plan to add new spinach and almonds tomorrow to mix and stir.  It will still be good.
I present to you now Kraft's Layered Jewelled Spinach Salad: