Menu Plan 8/1/11 - 8/6/11

UGH!  I have been so sporadic about posting menu plans lately...quite honestly, I haven't been all that great about following them either.  My girls started school mid-July and we have been getting used to a new routine and schedule. 
But, here it is...the menu plan for the week.  Here's hoping we can stick with it!

Monday - Salmon, Creamy Cucumber-Dill Relish, Rice Pilaf, Garlic Almond Green Beans
Tuesday - Okinawan Takoraisu
Wednesday - Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Roasted Peppers & Onions, Homemade Breadsticks, Caesar Salad
Thursday - Shake and Bake Chicken Legs, Macaroni and Cheese, Corn
Friday - BBQ Pork Corn Bread Cakes, Ranch Wedge Salad
Saturday - Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, Peas, Rolls

What are you having this week?

Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders

This isn't a new recipe...it has been around forever.  So, why has it taken me so long to try it?  Who knows...maybe it was the thought of using root beer.  However, it is the root beer that takes this BBQ Pork to a new level-o-yum!  For these IN-sanely hot days, this is a perfect crock-pot meal.  As a total bonus, it is silly simple as well as scrumptious. 
OK, going to go sit under the AC vent....keep cool everyone!

Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders

• 3-4 lbs pork butt/shoulder. 
• 2 TBSP Montreal Steak Seasoning 
• 1 bottle (12 ounces) your favorite root beer.  Again, DO NOT USE DIET!!!  Seriously, seriously scary stuff happens when you heat all those crazy chemical sweeteners
• 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce.  My favorite is Bullseye Original.  I just saw a big taste test thing for BBQ sauces and Bullseye Original took first place ;)  Yup, I know how to pick a winner, lol!
• Hawaiian Sweet Rolls for serving

Sprinkle Montreal Steak Seasoning over you pork roast.  Place in cold crock pot.  Add bottled root beer to crock pot, pouring around the roast to not disturb the seasoning.  Cook on low for 8 hours, or until it shreds easily.  Remove meat from crock pot and shred into desired sized pieces.  Drain and reserve liquid.  Add meat back into crock pot and add just enough reserved liquid to re-moisten meat, about 1/4 cup.  Add enough BBQ sauce to give meat a nice coating.  Let sit in crock pot on low until warm.  Serve on Hawaiian Sweet Rolls.

This recipe has been linked up at:
This Chick Cooks
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home

Okinawan Takoraisu, aka Taco Rice

Today, you not only get an amazing recipe, but a little of the food-history behind it. 
In the 1960's, a Japanese chef took the love of American Tacos, popular with the US military stationed there, and gave it an Asian flair.  A hybrid if you will.  A wee splice.  A tweak.  Interestingly enough, it has now become one of the most well-known Okinawan dishes.  So, cliff-notes version:  taco flavors + Asian flair = major YUM enjoyed by all!
Everyone loved this dish, adults and kidlets.  There was something so subtle and special about the soy sauce in the taco meat...and then serving it over rice made it so cozy and scrumptious.  PLUS you get this amazing hot/cold thing that is amazing. 

お楽しみ !

Okinawan Takoraisu, aka Taco Rice
Recipe source:  La Fuji Mama

• 1 TBSP vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1 pound ground beef - use a leaner mix.
• 3 TBSP Soy Sauce - I used low sodium
• 1 TBSP Chili Powder
• 1 tsp ground Cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
• 4 cups steamed rice
• 2 cups lettuce, shredded
• 2 cups tomatoes, diced
• 12 ounces Queso Blanco, crumbled OR 2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 cup your favorite salsa
• 4 TBSP Sour Cream

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute until the onions are barely soft. Add the ground beef and break it into small chunks. Once the meat is cooked, add the soy sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Let this simmer until the liquid reduces.
Spread 1/2 to 1 cup of the steamed rice on each plate. Top with the seasoned beef.
Then top with the shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and salsa, and finish it off with a dollop of sour cream.

This recipe has been linked up at:
This Chick Cooks
Simply Sweet Home
Tidy Mom

Steak Pizzaola

You know that Sheryl Crow song "A Change"? 
You know....
"A change (change, change) would do you good
I said a change (change, change) would do you good  (a change would do you goooood)"
What does that song have to do with this recipe?  Well, not too much other than it is the song that kept going through my mind as I ate it, and now that I am sharing it with you....it's BACK!
This recipe is a fabulous change-up to the taste buds.  Not really a typical "spaghetti with meat sauce", it is my favorite pizza toppings with scantly sauced steak so tender and flavorful, your mouth will be doing the happy dance.
So, go make a change and try this recipe, it will do you good.
Yes, corny segway...what can I say...I am EXHAUSTED today and the coffee has not kicked in quite yet.

Steak Pizzaola
Recipe slightly adapted from:  My Tasty Treasures who adapted from Rachael Ray

• 2½ pounds steak.  I used Sirloin, but you can use Porterhouse or Ribeye, I would not use a Flank Steak.
• Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 3 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced, crushed or pressed.
• 1/2  tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 12 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 bell peppers, seeded and sliced.  I used 1 red and 1 green.
• 2-3 ounces sliced pepperoni, diced
• ½ cup dry red wine(I used Merlot)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste 
• Cooked pasta, I used Bowtie to stand up to a heavier sauce.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Season the steak with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Brown 3 minutes on each side and remove. Add another turn of the pan extra-virgin olive oil and reduce heat to medium high. Add garlic, pepper flakes, mushrooms, onions, peppers and pepperoni, if using. Cook mixture 5 minutes, then add wine and scrape up any good-bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper, to taste. Slide steak back in and reduce heat to medium. Cover pan and cook 6 or 8 minutes for medium rare, 10 to 12 minutes for medium well. Remove meat, let rest a few minutes, slice and place back in sauce. Serve over pasta.  Make sure to top with plenty of grated cheese.

This recipe has been linked to:
This Chick Cooks
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home
Eat at Home

Menu Plan 7/5-7/9

I hope you all had a fun 4th of July holiday facing Tuesday with all fingers and toes accounted for!
So, we have had a crazy couple of months that I let Menu Planning go by the way-side.  Aside from spending far too much money running to the grocery store a couple times a week, we have also been eating far too much boxed, frozen, and pre-packaged fare.  So, I am back on it, and SO happy to do so!
What is on your plan for the week?

• Tuesday - Salmon with Creamy Cucumber Dill Relish, Rice Pilaf, Garlic Almond Green Beans, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
• Wednesday - Spasanga, Garden Salad, Homemade Breadsticks
• Thursday - Okinawan Takoraisu (aka “Taco Rice”)
• Friday - 3-Envelope Crockpot Chicken, Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, Peas
• Saturday - Teriyaki Chicken, Stir-Fry Veggies, Potstickers, Rice

TREATS TO MAKE:
Mandarin Jello Poke Cake
Chocolate Strawberry Nachos
Crazy, Mixed-up Cere-ola

4th of July Cookout Top Ten

In case you are looking for some last minute side dish/dessert ideas for your 4th of July Cook-out tomorrow, look no further...here is the my picks for Top Ten!

                  Chicken Tortellini Caesar Salad

                     Macaroni Crackaroni Salad

                                         Cookie Dough Pie

                                         Pig Pickin' Poke Cake

                         Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad

                                        A-MAZING Salsa

                                          Best Corn EVER!

                                        Nirvana in a Bowl

                                         New-Dorf Salad

      Brown Butter Sea Salt Rice Krispy Treats

Happy July 4th!  Be safe!!!