Monday, December 2, 2013

Menu Plan Monday


Menu Plan Monday with Laura at Org Junkie

Upcoming week: 
Deacon's meeting at 7pm, and I'll be home from work/Costco around 5:30/5:45, so something easy was imperative! Just need to cook up the macaroni when I get home. 

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs, served with roasted veg & mini Pommes Anna
We have some friends coming over for dinner and I have been wanting to make this Short Ribs recipe for a while now - I can't wait! It comes highly recommended by my boss. 

Wednesday: Mexican Bubble Up
A night in - I have some sewing projects to work on. So an easy comfort food dinner seemed in order. We have been loving the Bubble Up's lately and our household goes nuts for Mexican. Seems like a win!

Thursday: Chinese Roasted Pork with roasted vegetables & Parmesan Rice.
My nana can't eat garlic, things with seeds and is extra extra allergic to sesame seeds. This makes cooking for her tricky. Those allergies are basically a list of the things I cook with. So I went to Pinterest for this offering. We'll see how it goes! And note, no I'm not cooking Pork Belly - I'll follow the same recipe but use regular Pork Tenderloin.

This is also Paul's birthday - so it mattered to me that we also had food he would love and eat up....I think this fits the bill nicely. 

Friday: Crack Pasta
Paul and I will go out on a birthday date - finally going to watch Hunger Games: Catching Fire. So I'll make this meal during my day off for the house. 

Saturday: YOYO / Leftovers in fridge
This is the day we celebrate Paul - we are having a brunch with a few close friends so our house can dine on that food all day. I'll have a big menu for this and will reveal it after the fact...so I'm pretty sure it will be changing up until I actually make it all. In the evening is Paul's work christmas party, so our house is on their own.

Sunday: Morgan Family Dinner / YOYO
Paul and I will be joining his family for a birthday for Paul and his step brother Kevin. This is guaranteed to be great food, good drinks and wonderful company. I can't wait!

Standout Recipes Recently:
Pizza Bubble Up: Everyone in the house liked this recipe. I used different italian meats rather than pepperoni and added shredded chicken to help bulk it up. In the future I would use a meat sauce rather than plain marinara to make it stick a bit better. I would also add mushrooms but I was out. 
Crockpot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta: This was a success, though not a crowd pleaser. People thought it was fine. So it's good for a busy day but nothing to right home about. 
Cordon Blue Bubble Up: Everyone LOVED this recipe. Nice and easy. Will definitely make this again. Duncan said it was tied with this Cordon Blue recipe. I think I like the crockpot one better - but both are real hits. 

We did our Christmas decorating Sunday night. It was such a nice night. Everyone was home, plus Jessie's friend Joanna. We ate the Pizza Bubble up and then had Peppermint Chai Latte's while we decorated the tree, crafted and got the house set for Christmas. Carols were on - and we were all very happy. It felt so christmassy. 

Paul led the tree set up and light application with Jessie and Joanna.

Jessie, Joanna and Rachel helped me make a felt ball garland and a hanging Feliz Navidad banner

The mantle....oh it makes me happy

The tree! I am loving all the gold

These two holiday videos have been making my day. 

I definitely went out and bought this album ASAP. 

And this has been making me smile a lot. Love it!

Up next, my Black Friday shopping experience. Epic.

3 comments:

LeAnna said...

pork belly is good, unless the piece is all fat. Do you need to adjust the cooking time/temperature for pork loin?

Tara said...

I've never had pork belly - maybe I will try it a different time. For now I need to use up what we have.

But I'm assuming yes, the temperature or time will need to change. I'm going to be super vigilant and have a meat thermometer in the whole time!

LeAnna said...

pork belly is super fatty, so the cooking times & temps usually account for rendering out the fat, I think. But I've only cooked it pre-prepped (one of the stores here sells it as a mini roast). Loin will probably be nicer for everyone -- pork belly is yummy but I don't imagine it's a nice surprise for those who think they're getting a roast and instead sit down something a little more akin to unsmoked bacon!

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