Zenful Expressions

Every week I sit down and peruse several different websites, my cookbooks, and my handwritten tried and true recipes to make healthy meals for my family of five. I tend to use what I find as a base and add my own twist to each recipe, hoping to come up with my own tasty concoction to use over and over again.

Here is this weeks menu:

Monday – Beef Stroganoff

Tuesday – Chicken Parmesan

Wednesday – Baked Potato Soup

Thursday – Pinto Beans N Greens

Friday – Mexican Shepherd’s Pie

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Smothered Pork Chops

You can find all the recipes, and photos for my meals here on my blog, and you can see my full menu plan here on this calendar.

Cinnamon Rolls – I LOVE THE BREAD MACHINE! Used it today and made up some Cinnamon Rolls. YUM! I will update this post when I make the next batch to show the finished rolls – they got eaten too fast this time

2 heads of cauliflower
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbs. garlic powder, unlevel (a little more than TBS is better)
1 Tbs. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 Tbs. butter
2 onion, chopped
1/4 C. all-purpose flour, , unlevel (a little more than C is better)
2 cans chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 Tbs. red cooking wine

Preheat oven to 450. Cut the cauliflower into small florets and put in a large bowl. Add oil and seasonings, and toss to coat. Place coated cauliflower on a cookie sheet or roasting pan and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes so as not to burn. Cook until golden and tender. Remove from the oven and set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add onion. Cook until the onion is translucent in color. Add flour to onion and stir. Add the chicken broth and milk to the pan gradually stirring constantly until it thickens, then reduce heat. Add cauliflower and wine. Take half the soup, and blend in food processor, then recombine.

Breadman, yeah! – I REALLY wanted a bread maker for my birthday, but they were too costly for the budget. Instead, I perused Craigslist, and found this YEAH!

38 – It’s my birthday! Denny got me roses, and I made a homemade Banana Chocolate Cake!

2 pounds of starchy potatoes
1  egg, slightly beaten
1 C.  all-purpose flour
salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake potatoes until easily pierced with a fork. Let the potatoes cool slightly, then peel. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or grate them into a large bowl.  Add the egg to the potatoes. Mix well. Add the flour to potatoes a little at a time, mixing well. Add just enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a slightly floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 5 or 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rope using your fingertips, about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces. Press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork to create ridges. Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured dish.

To cook the gnocchi, place the dough into a pot of boiling water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove and top with your favorite sauce.

I triple this recipe and freeze a large portion. To freeze, line a cookie sheet with wax paper, and dust with flour and arrange the gnocchi in a single layer. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer to ‘flash freeze’ the gnocchi, about 30 minutes. Place in freezer bag to cook later. Cooking instructions are the same as above. No need to thaw.

     

Makin’ Gnocchi - Tyler helped me do up and abundance of potatoes – we made gnocchi!