Friday, February 27, 2015

New Menu for Week of March 1

Let's all cook Menu 32

Slow Cooker Sunday Dinner Pot Roast
Mandarin Orange Pretzel Salad
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Rutter Kitchen- Menu #27






 
I started out putting the Slow cooker Macaroni and Cheese together about 3 hours before we were going to eat.  The recipe went together very easily.  I then got the chicken breasts all cut up.  Ashley then got everything ready so she could dip all the pieces to make them into chicken nuggets.  We weren't sure if the grated parmesan meant the dry grated or the fresh grated, so we went with the fresh.  It worked just fine, except we had a few family members worry that there was coconut on the nuggets ;)  I fixed the Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies and they were very easy.  I used my big mixer and that went very fast!  We made some with chocolate chips and some without.  I liked the fact that these cookies were a little healthier than other versions.  We thought the nuggets were okay. Maybe I'll try them again using chicken thighs, as they were a little dry using the chicken breasts.  The cookies were good too, but I prefer my cookies a little crisp and these were cakelike.  They did have a good flavor though.  The big hit was the Mac n cheese.  So easy and so tasty!  Even Lil Brett liked the recipes :)We will make that recipe again.

Rutter Kitchen- #19





I started off fixing the Gooey Lemon Bars, since we needed them to cool before we ate them.  Not a hard recipe, but I had a hard time getting the remaining frosting mixture to beat until fluffy.  Other than that it went as it was supposed to.  Next Ashley fixed the Creamed Corn.  We halved the recipe, since it was just 3 of us eating that night.  We were looking forward to tasting this recipe, since we don't usually like creamed corn.  Next came the Crunchy Black Bean Tacos.  We all like tacos so we were excited to try them out.  Ashley fixed the mixture like it said and then we just sprayed a pan with oil and cooked the tacos a bit like a quesadilla.  They were good, but next time I think we will fry them in a bit of oil :)  We liked the tacos, but our guys felt like they needed some meat in there.  The bars were pretty good also, as the lemon wasn't too strong.  The big surprise was how good the creamed corn was.  We are thinking on adding that recipe to our Thanksgiving or Christmas menu :) 

Rutter Kitchen- Menu # 18





 
Since I'm writing this so late after fixing it, I don't remember who did what.  I think Dana and Ashley fixed the Grilled-Chicken Alfredo Pizza and they followed the recipe.  We used a rotisserie chicken and that gave it good flavor.  We made some pizza following the recipe and then we made a few pepperoni pizzas.  We made regular sized pizzas as that was easier for us.  The BLT salad was super easy to fix.  We didn't make any changes to the recipe, but next time I fix it, I would probably just add the croutons and dressing
as it is eaten.  We had leftovers and I ended up tossing the salad as the croutons and dressing made everything soggy.  I think Ashley fixed the No-Bake Peanut Butter Corn Flake Bars.  We decided to use rice krispies instead of corn flakes as that is what I had.  It was very simple to make.  We liked the pizza and the BLT salad, but had mixed reviews about the bars.  The bars were hard to cut through, but I actually liked them.  I thought they had good flavor.  They were a little dense, so that was off putting for some of our group.  This was a fun menu to make :)

Rutter Kitchen- Menu #25

We were excited to cook this shrimp meal.  Dana started with the Garlic roasted Potatoes.  She followed the recipe and said it was so easy to fix.  We wanted to get the potatoes cooked first as we had read on Mother and Jacki's review that its best not to let the shrimp sit once they are coated, as they tend to get soggy.  Ashley fixed the Shrimp and she also followed the recipe and said that it was pretty simple.  We did fix two batches as we needed more for our crew.  One of the batches we used coconut and the other we left it out.  Dana also fixed the dressing for the Broccoli salad.  I put the rest of the salad together and followed the recipe, except we didn't have any sunflower seeds.  We doubled the salad, but not the dressing and it was just right.  I used precooked bacon from the store and that was nice.  All in all, we liked this menu pretty well.  The shrimp tasted good and had a little zing to it because of the cayenne pepper.  We really liked the potatoes and have already fixed them again :)  I really liked the Broccoli salad and will fix that again.   

 

 
 













Rutter Kitchen Menu #2




 Here's our meal.  It was a fun menu to make and we all liked it pretty well.  We followed the burger recipe and did find the teriyaki marinade a bit strong.  We would probably just sprinkle some on as it cooked next time.  Other than that it was a good recipe.  Ashley fixed the Onion Rings and she said they weren't hard.  They were a little messy to make but they tasted good.  My guys still prefer the recipe that I usually cook though.  I fixed the Bars and they were so easy to make.  Instead of using 22 individual size cups, I used 32 snack size and that worked just fine.  We liked the bars, but I found them a little too salty for me.  I think they would be a hit at a get together like a pot luck etc...  Everything was eaten up, so we must have liked it :) 


Thursday, February 26, 2015

Jacki's Menu 40 Review

We are just cooking up a storm over here this week! Today I made the Baked Crispy Chicken Parmesan, Mini Garlic Monkey Bread, and Snickerdoodle Blondies. It was all delicious and easy to make. For the Chicken Parmesan I used 2 thighs and 2 breasts. I just used regular breasts and trimmed them down so they were not so thick but I think next time I would just use either thin breasts or the thighs which were thin enough.  Very easy to make. I used the already shredded Parmesan cheese and it didn't melt very well. Better to use fresh grated. I served angel hair pasta as a side along with the extra marinara sauce.  The Mini Garlic Monkey Bread was fun to make and easy too. But, I overcooked it. It still tasted good though. I recommend a little less garlic and fresh grated Parmesan cheese so it will melt better. The Snickerdoodle Blondies were really easy to make and very tasty too. I halved the recipe but otherwise followed the recipe as written. This is an easy dessert to make with ingredients most people have in their kitchen all the time. I would make all of these recipes again.



Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Jacki's Menu 5 Review

I am definitely behind on my menu cooking but trying to catch up this week. Yesterday we had my parents over for the Asian Glazed Salmon meal and it was delicious! I loved the broiled salmon with the glaze. I cooked it the 4 minutes on each side and it was perfect for me but a little overdone for a couple of the tasters. I am not good with cooking fish for other people because I tend to like mine a little more cooked. No sushi for me!  I will definitely make this again. So tasty and easy. The Sesame Green Beans were a bit of a bust but that is my fault. The store didn't have any fresh green beans so I used some frozen ones and it just didn't turn out very well. I will try again with fresh. I think they could be really good. The Fluffy Fruit Dip was so easy to make and tasted good. But, I have had other fruit dips that I prefer. We had apples, strawberries, grapes, bananas, and kiwi with the dip. I cooked some jasmine rice with chicken broth and onion powder then when it was done I added a little toasted sesame oil and mixed it in. It made the perfect side dish for the salmon. I really liked this meal.



Saturday, February 21, 2015

New Recipe for week of February 22nd

I'm choosing Menu # 27 pg. 117
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese
Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies
I wanted a nice warm meal that can be cooked inside since we are having a cold week here in Oklahoma.  It's also one that my Grandson's will enjoy :)  Happy cooking!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

New Menu

Let's do Menu 40 for this week.

Reviews

I made a major change to the Brown Sugar glazed salmon, by using chicken. We just prefer that around here:) I did follow the recipe for the rest and we all liked it. It had a nice flavor and was easy enough to make. I didn't have any fresh green beans so I used canned instead. I cooked them the same way though. I thought the flavor was nice and it made green beans a little more exciting. The fruit dip was easy and delicious!

I also cooked the Black Bean Tacos a few weeks back but I can't find the picture. Those were delicious too! I was nervous about adding the red onion but it really gave it a nice flavor. They were a little messy to cook but they were very easy to serve to the kids. We all enjoyed them!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

This week....Menu 5

Happy Valentine's Day Ladies!!!!

Dana's Menu 19 Review

We don't really eat corn and also trying to stay away from sweets as much as possible,  so we just cooked the black bean tacos. Brandon made them. They were really good and easy to make. We followed the recipe. The corn tortillas we used were not cooked. I found the uncooked corn tortillas at walmart. They are really good. Made the meal taste somewhat authentic.
We will he making these again.

Jacki's Review of Menu 19

I am back home after my wonderful Iowa visit and cooked this menu yesterday. As usual my parents came over and helped critique the fixings. It was all a success! The Creamed Corn was really tasty. I used the petite sweet frozen corn so it was extra yummy. (More expensive but so worth it)  I followed the recipe as directed except my corn bags were 16 oz each instead of 20. NBD. Be sure to start this early on the stove because it takes awhile to bring it to a boil since the corn was frozen. 
The Crunchy Black Bean Tacos were equally as yummy. I substituted sweet onion for red since I already had plenty but followed recipe for the rest. I was able to cook 3 at a time in my fry pan and then place them in heated oven to keep warm while cooking more.  I made a note to add a little salt to the bean mixture the next time I make these.  Leslee made these while I was at her house so I had a heads up on how tasty they are. I served with toppings of shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, avocado, salsa, and sour cream.
The Gooey Lemon Bars were also very good. I didn't have any yellow food coloring so the frosting is white in the pic. But our extra rich home grown eggs provided plenty of yellow for the filling:) I halved the recipe and it took about 23 minutes to cook. 
I would definitely make any of these three recipes again.