Sunday dinner

Do you ever have one of those days where everything just comes together and your dinner is just amazing? This is what happened to us Sunday evening. We knew we were going to have grilled burgers but I needed to come up with a side dish. Ryan was looking for something and found a watermelon salad. We decided that sounded good but I would need a couple of things from the grocery store. We had also watched Food Network in the morning and saw an ice cream sandwich cake that we wanted to make and I needed everything to make that. Maddie and I headed to the grocery and while we were there she saw Okra. We all love fried okra when we go out to eat but I had never made it. She asked if she could make it for dinner as well and I decided that if she's offering, I'll buy! We got what we needed and headed home. It all turned out AMAZING! So for dinner we had: burgers, fried okra, watermelon salad, and ice cream sandwich cake for dessert. Here's how you can make it as well!

For the burgers: 

We use 1 3/4 lbs. of ground beef and make 5 patties (we have a hungry growing teen boy so he gets 2 burgers usually). Then season them with a burger seasoning that you like. We have a Big Green Egg that we grill them on. We like to add cheddar cheese. Ryan and the kids eat their burgers on buns but I like to just put some mayo, mustard, and avocado on mine without a bun. 

What you'll need for the okra:
1 carton okra
3 eggs
1 c. flour
3/4 c. corn meal
1 Tbs. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 Tbs. Lowry's seasoning salt
1/2 Tbs. garlic powder
1/2 Tbs. onion powder
sea salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

Cut off the ends of the okra then cut into bite size pieces. Put about 1 inch of veg. oil into a dutch oven (enough to cover the okra when you put in to fry), turn on the heat and get hot. 

In one shallow bowl: whisk 3 eggs with about 1/4 c. water. 
In another shallow bowl: mix flour, corn meal, Old Bay, Lowry's, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. 

In batches: dredge about 1/3 of the okra in the egg wash then transfer to the flour mixture. Carefully put into the hot oil and fry about 4-5 min. or until golden brown. Remove with slotted metal spoon and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with remaining okra. Maddie dipped hers into Ranch while the rest of us dipped into a Sriracha Ranch. 


For the Watermelon, Cucumber, Feta Salad: from Dinner at the Zoo
What you'll need: 
3 c. watermelon cubed or balled
1 1/2 c. sliced cucumber, seeds removed
2 Tbs. thinly sliced mint
1/3 c. crumbled feta
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

What you'll do:
Place the watermelon, cucumber, and mint into a large bowl. Squeeze lime juice over mixture, then drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper over. Toss to coat. When ready to serve, sprinkle with feta. 


For the Ice Cream Sandwich Cake: from The Pioneer Woman

What you'll need: 
12 ice cream sandwiches
1 pint strawberry ice cream, softened
1 pint Cookies over Texas ice cream, softened (or cookies and cream if you don't live in Texas and get HEB ice cream...to which I am so sorry!)
8 oz. Cool Whip, softened
1 c. sprinkles (if you want...we did not...I don't like them)

What you'll do: 
Line an 8 in. square pan with foil making sure to go both directions and have enough to overhang on each side. Place a layer of ice cream sandwiches in the bottom of the pan. Spread the strawberry ice cream over the sandwiches evenly using an off-set spatula. Layer another layer of ice cream sandwiches over the strawberry ice cream. Spread the Cookies over Texas ice cream evenly. Spread the Cool Whip evenly over the top like a frosting. Sprinkle with sprinkles if you'd like. Freeze for 1 hour or more. 

Remove the cake from the freezer and carefully remove the cake from the pan. Peel off the foil making sure to get all of it, it does stick to the sides and bottom. Slice and serve. 

Personal Fruit Pizzas

Since we've been home so much lately, thank you COVID-19, we've been having fun with food, especially desserts lately. I decided that we needed to try to be healthy so of course personal fruit pizzas came to mind. I also had butter milk on hand that I wanted to use. This is so easy, fun, yummy, and it fit the bill perfectly! The cookies are the perfect size and sweetness, plus you don't have to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it. I halved the recipe and we still had enough cookies for the week. 

What you'll need for the personal buttermilk cookies: 

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. salted butter, room temp. 
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
4 1/2 -5 1/2 c. flour
Powdered sugar


What you'll do: 

-Preheat oven to 400º
-Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
-Cream sugar and butter in a stand mixer for 3 min. or until fluffy. Mix in the eggs. Add salt and baking powder and mix well. Add 1/4c. buttermilk, vanilla, almond extract and blend. Add 2 1/2 c. flour 1/2 c. at a time. Add the remaining 1/4 c. buttermilk. Then blend in the reaming flour. The batter should be smooth and elastic like. If the batter is too sticky add more flour. 
-Sprinkle your rolling surface with powder sugar and roll the dough out until it is a 1/4 inch thick. 
- Using a large mouth mason jar, cut out the cookies and transfer onto baking sheet. 
-Bake for 10 min. Allow to cool then frost. 


Frosting for personal fruit pizzas:

8 oz. cream cheese
13 oz. marshmallow cream fluff

-Mix ingredients together and frost cookies when ready to eat. 


Making the fruit pizzas:
Top with cut up fruit like:
Apples
Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
Bananas
Peaches
Can also drizzle with a bit of honey

Caribbean rice

Adapted from A Spicy Perspective website

We LOVE Caribbean rice and we used to have it alot when we lived in Florida but since moving, we have had trouble finding it (the boxed kind). But we found a fish recipe that was screaming for a Caribbean rice side. I found a recipe that I thought would work and changed it up a bit to fit what I had at the house. It has a tropical flavor with a hint of spice. It was THE BEST rice I've had! We will definitely have this more often. 

What you'll need: 

2 c. rice (long grain or Minute rices works)
2 Tbs. Cream d'Coconut
2 c. water
2 cloves minced garlic, 
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. butter
1 1/2 c. diced bell pepper (red and yellow)
1/2 c. diced red onion
1 c. diced pineapple (reserve juice)
4 oz. can chopped green chilis
1/2 finely diced jalepeno
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

What you'll do: 

Add the rice, cream d'coconut, garlic, salt, allspice, cayenne, any pineapple juice you have, and 2 c. water. Stir well. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and remove from heat. 

Meanwhile, add the butter to a skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers and onions. Saute for 2-3 min. until just softened. Remove from heat and add the pineapple, green chilis and jalepeno. Add to the rice and toss to combine. Stir in the cilantro. Enjoy! 

Grilled fish and tropical salsa

Adapted from EatingWell website.

I didn't get a picture of dinner tonight but I wanted to post this because it was just so good! The recipe calls for Salmon but we have Halibut left over from Alaska last summer so that what we used. We also didn't grill the halibut because we didn't feel like firing it up, so I just broiled the fish. But, OH MY, was dinner good tonight! This salsa would be amazing with grilled shrimp, chicken, or pork. We served it with Caribbean rice as well. 

What you'll need: 

1 lb fish fillet (or shrimp, chicken, or pork)
2 c. coarsely chopped fresh pineapple
1 c. coarsely chopped fresh mango
1/2 c. chopped bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, or green...or a combo)
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lime peel (I didn't have a good lime, so I omitted this)
3 Tbs. lime juice, divided
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
2 Tbs. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. avocado oil
1/2 tsp. pink Himalayan salt
pinch of cayenne pepper


What you'll do:

Salsa: combine the pineapple, mango, bell pepper, red onion, 2 Tbs. lime juice, chili pepper, and 1 Tbs. cilantro in a bowl. Set aside and let the flavors marry. 

Fish: Rinse the fish and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub the fish with avocado oil and sprinkle with Himalayan salt. In a small bowl, combine the lime peel, 1 Tbs. lime juice, 1 Tbs. cilantro, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. At this point, you can grill or broil the fish for 8-12 min. or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Top with salsa and Caribbean rice. 

Quick n Easy Churro Cravings

Miss M decided that she wanted to try a dessert this week. She settled on Churros. We went to Pinterest and found this recipe from omgchocolatedesserts.com  This was the quickest recipe that was so easy and yummy! If you have a chance to make these, I promise you will fulfill your craving!

15 Minute Churro Sticks:

Ingredients

1 puff pastry sheet-thawed

1 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter-melted

3.5 ounces dark chocolate- chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 F and line cookie sheet with parchment paper (or spray with cooking spray)
• Unfold the puff pastry and cut it in half (lengthwise), then cut into strips (less than 1 inch wide)
• Gently transfer the strips onto baking sheets and bake 8 to 10 minutes(until golden brown)
• While the churros are baking melt the butter and set aside.
• Combine cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
• While they are still warm, roll baked churro sticks into melted butter ( don't soak them, just coat all the sides) then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll and dip one stick at the time.
• To make the sauce pour hot heavy cream over chopped chocolate, let it sit for one minute, then stir until smooth. (The sauce will thicken as it cools, make it right before you're ready to serve it )

Menu and Grocery List for Aug. 15 - 21

This week is pretty much what an average week is like in our lives. Pretty much something going on every night and then even more things to do over the weekend. With the exception of school...we start next week. So, I still have lunches to plan for. Here we go....

Menu

Monday: Breakfast- donuts
                Lunch- mini pizzas
                Snack- smoothies
                Dinner- chicken marsala

Tuesday: Breakfast- Eggos and sausage
                Lunch- Spaghetti (leftovers)
                Snack- fruit and yogurt and making homemade turtles
                Dinner- Chicken spaghetti (leftovers from Friday)

Wednesday: Breakfast- Breakfast tacos
                     Lunch- Pigs in a blanket
                     Snack- shaved ice
                     Dinner- Sausage and potato frittata

Thursday: Breakfast- Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit sandwiches
                  Lunch- PB & J sandwiches
                  Snack- from the snack basket
                  Dinner- out

Friday: Breakfast- cereal and yogurt
             Lunch- grilled ham & cheese sandwiches
             Snack- popcorn
             Dinner- Pork Tacos

Saturday: Breakfast- Biscuits and Gravy
                 Dinner- out

Sunday: Dinner- Grilled Jalapenos, Beer in the Rear Chicken, Corn on the Cob with Cayenne butter, and Onion Potatoes


Grocery List:
6 Jalapenos
green bell pepper
5 ears of corn on the cob
8 ounces crimini mushrooms
1 sweet onion
4 baked potatoes
bread
English muffins
bacon
2 (3.5 lb) chickens
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
pepperoni
hotdogs
sausage patties
bulk sausage
sage sausage
lunch meat ham
4 ounces Prosciutto, thinly sliced
frozen hash brown potatoes
frozen biscuits
frozen fruit
Eggos
half and half
milk
cheese slices
parmesan cheese
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded motzerella cheese
eggs
plain yogurt
butter
crescent rolls
fruit juice
36 - 40 pecan halves
48 caramels
semisweet chocolate chips
vanilla extract
shortening
gravy mix packet
flour
EVOO
pizza sauce
marsala cooking wine
chicken stock

I think that'll do it. Since I have a lot of leftovers this week, I'm just going to link to the recipies from last week. This means that not all of those ingredients are on the grocery list.

Friday Aug. 12

I know I didn't post Thursday night's dinner. But, y'all, it was a late night and I wasn't hungry. I made the kids their pork tacos and I ended up eating a bowl of cereal at about 10 pm. I'm actually going to make them again this week, so I'll post the recipe later.

But I did make the chicken spaghetti Friday night and it was really yummy, so here it is. Also, this weekend was a mess, so no recipies to share from the weekend.

Chicken Spaghetti
From The Pioneer Woman website.

2 cups cooked chicken (I boiled 3 breasts in some water until they were cooked through)
3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced Green pepper
1/4 cup finely diced Onion
1 jar (4 ounce) diced Pimentos, drained
2 cups reserved chicken broth from the pot (or canned if you'd prefer or don't have enough broth)
1 tsp. Lowry's seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup additional grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice the chicken breasts. Cook the spaghetti in the chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook since you will be cooking it more in the oven later. When the spaghetti is cooked, combine with the remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and until bubbly. EnJoY!

* I can't get my pics inserted right now. I'll have to post them later. But let me assure you, this was really good and looked great!