Angela

I have 15 cabbages I have to eat in the next 3 months. That is how long I can keep a cabbage in the fridge. Anybody have a good recipe that uses cabbage? I have corned beef and cabbage, a casserole with meat and rice topped with cabbage and cheese, plain old steamed cabbage with cheese sauce, saurkraut, soup with thinly sliced cabbage, and pot roast. Brady is the only one here who enjoys coleslaw, so that is out. Also I am about to get 20 pounds of beets if anyone has any good beet recipes. I could use a new pickled beet recipe too.

Angela

Brady brought home 12 pumpkins someone was giving away so we had PUMPKIN COOKIES for dinner tonight!

Coming up: Pumkin bread, pumpkin stew, pumpkin pie, pumpkin with butter and salt, soups with pureed pumpkin, and of course, pumpkin cheesecake!

Melissa

Lots of good dinners this week - I felt bad about the frozen food and cookie dinner from earlier. I'm thinking about starting to post our recipes on our Cheesecake website - change it so it has more categories for other food. What do you think Angela?

Chicken Alfredo

This is a recipe that does not use cream or butter (if you choose) and tastes better than any cream based Alfredo sauce I've ever tasted! It is SOOO good. (Btw Angela, I found that coconut oil Patrea was talking about at Walmart! LouAna brand, by the oils and lards - white cylinder container with a big picture of a coconut on it with a black lid. And it doesn't taste or smell like coconut.)

1-2 chicken breasts

2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or butter)

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

4 oz. cream cheese softened

1 C. milk

1/4 C. chicken broth (from cooking chicken)

1 C. grated Parmesan cheese (fresh if you can)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Slice chicken breasts the hot dog way, place in foil in a baking pan. Sprinkle with salt, wrap completely in foil. Bake @ 350 for 30-40 min. Remove from pan, chop chicken into bite sized pieces and reserve broth.

Melt oil in saucepan. Sautee garlic on med-low for 2 min. Add cream cheese in pieces, stirring until melted and smooth. Add milk & broth 1/4 C. at a time until incorporated and smooth. Stir in Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper. Let bubble 1-2 more min, add chopped chicken. Serve over hot cooked noodles! (I used angel hair, but these would also be good: corkscrew, penne, bowties, linguine, fettucini.)

Baked Potatoes

I tried doing baked potatoes with some oil rubbed on the skin and a little salt sprinkled on them before wrapping them in tinfoil. They turned out really good! I also do little ham cubes as a topping along with sour cream, butter, cheese, & salt.

Tacos

Hard or soft shells, cooked and seasoned ground beef or chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream. Yum.

Fish

1 Tilapia filet for each person eating

citrus grill seasonings/any fish seasoning you prefer

butter

couscous or flavored rice (Rice-a-Roni or Rice Sides), I like the butter & herb flavor

Thaw fish. Layer it in a baking dish, sprinkle seasonings liberally. (Fish needs flavor!) Top with pats of butter, cover with foil & bake @ 350 for 30-45 min (depending on how much fish - avoid double layers.) Serve with flavored rice & broccoli.

Chinese

I have lots of chinese food recipes including:

General Tso's chicken

Lemon chicken

Chinese lettuce wraps

egg rolls

Hot & Sour soup

steamed chinese buns

I haven't decided what to make yet.

Angela

Tonight's dinner: I planned to make fried eggs on toast. Here is what actually happened.

3:15: Brady struts into the house saying he just finished my chicken plucker he has been building and we should go pluck a chicken. I evaluate the time and decide a quick switch to chicken and potatoes for dinner would work out just fine. I peel some potatoes super fast, plop them in water, and put my canning pot on to boil to scald the chicken in for plucking. Brady goes to wash his hands and eat some toast.

3:30 We head outside with sharpened knives to find it has started to rain. No problem, we will be inside in a jiffy with an awesome new chicken plucker. We haul the scalding pot of water outside next to the chicken plucker and watch the raindrops plip in it. Brady goes to get a chicken and we debate over the many ways to kill it ending with Brady deciding to poke the knife through it's brain and then slit it's throat.

3:35 Brady pokes the knife into the chicken's brain so hard that it goes right through the chicken and stabs the palm of Brady's hand. Undaunted, he maintains enough composure to continue on and slit it's throat, then makes a mad dash inside to assess the damage leaving me to hold the chicken through it's death struggle during which I am liberally sprayed with chicken blood. (Or was it Brady's?) When it is all over I put the chicken on some clean cardboard in the rain and rush inside to help Brady.

3:45 We emerge outside after bandaging Brady's hand which has a very deep and painful puncture would right in the pad. We dunk the chicken in the scalding water and turn on the chicken plucker! Nothing could make us miss this momentous occasion where the plucking is the easiest part! How long we have dreamed of never plucking by hand again. Alas, the rain made the belt slippery and the chicken plucker is not working. The belt just slips. We exchange dismayed looks and go to plan two; skinning the little bugger.

4:00 We bring the chicken inside for gutting. Gutting goes without a hitch.

4:15 I rub herbs all over the nekked chicken and pop him in the oven to roast.

Currently starving and can't wait to eat! Will finish the mashed potatoes and cook some frozen peas.

Melissa

Levi's birthday dinner

We had some friends over for Levi's birthday dinner, and had some amazing bacon guacamole burgers! Here's what we did:

Burgers:

ground hamburger

worcestershire sauce

salt

pepper

Mix together, flatten into patties (they need to be a lot thinner and wider than you want them to actually be - they shrink when they cook).

Fry in frying pan, griddle, or grill. Top with cheese.

Guacamole:

4 ripe avacados

1/2 onion, minced

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 roma tomatoes, diced

Blend first 4 ingredients. Dump into serving bowl, stir in tomatoes.

Bacon Guac Burgers:

Assemble burgers as normal (patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, mustard, etc.). Layer several slices of bacon on, then spread a thick layer of guacamole. DELICIOUS!

Just a quick list this week.

1. Hamburgers with the last of the tomatoes my mom brought and boring old bread instead of buns.

2. Baked potatoes and frozen peas.

3. Stew. Simmer some meat chunks all morning. Add salt and some vegetables. Simmer the rest of the day. Bake bread or rolls.

4. Vegetable bean soup. Soak beans, cook them in a slow cooker. Toss them in a pot with some veggies and salt. I have some leftover mashed sweet potato in the fridge I will use in it too. Simmer them all afternoon. I have a handheld blender I stick right in the pot to blend it a little and make it thicker.

5. Cheese fries. Our old standby for when we have no food in the house. Slice and bake potatoes and put seasoning salt on top. Sprinkle with cheese, make some fry sauce.

6. Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

7. Bean and cheese quessadillas. I have no idea how to spell that. Soak some beans. Cook in a slow cooker. Add salt, garlic powder, maybe some onion. Mash a little, or blend. Make sure it isn't too runny. Make or buy tortillas. Put some beans and cheese in the middle of two and heat in a skillet (or your super awesome tortilla maker. Oh wait, it's MINE!) Flip it over. Serve with sour cream or guac or nothing.

Melissa

This week has been crazy because I had just gotten back from Missouri (yay), and was trying to plan a Halloween Party (which was tonight, and it was awesome!) so my meals were less than great. But at least read about the cheese fries one, because they did turn out really great.

Frozen Pizza

Take a frozen pizza out of a box. Cook it in the oven. Eat it.

Frozen Chicken Pot-Pie

Take a frozen chicken pot-pie out of a box. Microwave it for 5 minutes. Eat it.

Cheese Fries (feeds 3)

6 med.-lg. potatoes

1/2 package bacon

1-2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

jalepeno slices (from a jar - can find by the pickles & olives)

Peel and slice potatoes into fries. Toss in bowl with a little olive oil, and some salt. Bake @ 450 for 30-35 minutes. While baking, cook the bacon, drain and chop. Mince some jalepeno slices. When fries are done, stir them up and arrange them close together. Sprinkle the bacon & jalepenos over (jalepenos on half if you have picky people). Generously sprinkle with cheese, and return to the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with fry sauce and ranch dressing.

Chicken Parmesan

Go to a restaurant and order Chicken Parmesan. Eat it.

Cookies and Soda

Throw a Halloween party and ask everyone to bring something. You will probably have cookies and soda for dinner.

In all reality, I did make some homemade root beer with dry ice, which was fun! Here is the recipe:

3 1/2 gallons cool water

6 C. sugar

2 oz. root beer extract

5 lbs. dry ice

Mix water, sugar and extract until sugar is dissolved. Add dry ice WITH GLOVES, loosely cover and allow to 'brew' for 30-45 minutes to create fizz.