RS Birthday Dinner Menu

Last March, I was put in charge of planning the Relief Society Birthday Dinner. Because of the program, it was to be a four-course meal for sixty people. I was given a budget of $100. Did I stay under my limit? The answer is no. I spent 52 cents more. I will admit, though, that it was meatless. But with these pretty babies, no one noticed.

Course one--Fruit Kabobs
You know, skewers and fresh fruit. Grapes and apples in two colors, pineapple and melons.

Course two--Dinner Salad
Lettuce, shredded carrot, grape tomatoes & cucumber slices. Oh, and my famous "Rancher Bob" dressing.

Course three--Lasagna Rollups
Super-impressive and very easy. Rhodes' roll on the side brushed with olive oil & garlic salt.

Course four--Strawberry Shortcake
Purchased angel food or pound cake, topped with strawberry sauce and whip cream.

Now here comes January. That means another RS dinner to plan (and again in March). Spaghetti is off limits because the boy scouts do that in February. If you have any super ideas, leave them in my comments box, otherwise, we may have a repeat potato bar...

The Frills

The "Icing on My Cakes"! Most of these will not actually be icing and also not preferable as accompaniment for cakes.

Fakin' Amazing Sauce:
1 c. hot pepper sauce (like Frank's)
2 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbs. corn syrup
2 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. corn starch

Mix hot pepper sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and corn syrup together in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Mix corn starch and water to make a slurry and slowly pour into sauce pan while stirring constantly to your desired thickness. Stores in the fridge for hmmm...let's say a month? We actually have used it older than that. Pretty much everything in it is a preservative.


I named this one when I was 15, so it's a bit corny, but so good and worth the effort. It's best for crowds as it probably isn't good after 2 weeks and it makes 2 quarts.
Rancher Bob Dressing (Buttermilk Ranch)
1 qt. mayonnaise
2 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. each black pepper, MSG, onion flakes
1 tsp. each salt, garlic powder, parsley flakes
Mix in a pitcher and chill overnight. It's best to mix a little buttermilk at a time into the whole quart of mayo. It makes it smoother. Also I put in a lot more parsley that I dried myself. Watch for my garden blog coming this spring!

Teriyaki Sauce:
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. sugar (or splenda)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
2 Tb. olive or sesame oil
1 Tb. minced garlic
1 tsp. ground ginger
Mix & keep in the fridge. Use to marinate, baste or cook chicken in. Add a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies, stir-fried, and you're done!

Save room for the best part!

And here I stash my favorite desserts!

Dole's Strawberry Sauce:
1/2 c. orange juice
1 T. cornstarch
2 c. frozen strawberries, quartered
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. marmalade (opt.)
Mix in a large sauce pan. Heat all to boiling & thickened. Cool and serve chilled. Fresh berries work also, don't leave out the OJ and I have never used marmalade (but I did use apricot jam once and that was fine).


Another RS dessert--super moist and a little bit lite, too!
Pineapple Orange Cake:
18 oz. box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
11 oz. can mandarin oranges
1/2 c. oil
Blend with a handheld mixer for 3-5 minutes. Bake in a greased 9x13 dish at 325* for 45 min. Cool completely.
Frosting:
20 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 oz. box sugar-free instant vanilla pudding
12 oz. lite whipped topping, thawed
First, scoop off 1/2 c. of the pineapple. I know that sounds odd. The original recipe called for a 16 oz. can of crushed, which I have never found or maybe it was that I didn't want to pay for two 8 oz. cans...Now blend all ingredients on low for 3 min. Frost cake and store overnight in the fridge. Fruit in cake is kind of a thing for me, huh?

Menu 2

Listed is Curry Chicken and I don't really use a recipe, just whatever is on hand and some curry paste. Use your favorite recipe or click the link to see about how I do it.


Apple Pork & Sweet Potatoes

Peanut Butter Satay Chicken

Stuffed Meatballs

Cabbage & Kielbasa

Curry Chicken


Grocery List:
DAIRY& FROZEN
Apple juice concentrate (1 qt.)
Bag frozen green beans
Bag brussel sprouts
Bag frozen cauliflower

CANNED GOODS
2 cans tomato sauce
Curry paste
Coconut milk

PRODUCE
3 lg. sweet potatoes
2 yellow onion
1 red onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 c. green onions
bag cabbage

MEATS
2 lb. pork roast
4 lb. chicken breasts
1 lb. gr. Beef raw
1 lb. kielbasa

DRY GOODS
Instant rice

EXTRAS
NSA creamy peanut butter
Italian seasoning

What the heck is Kielbasa?

I sent this recipe to several friends for a recipe exchange and every one of them came back with, "What on Earth...?" So here it is: Kielbasa. Found by bacon and packaged meats. $2.44 at Walmart. We pick turkey, but they're all good.

Cabbage & Kielbasa:
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 T. olive oil
1 lb. kielbasa, in 1/2" pieces
16 oz. bag coleslaw
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 t. each garlic powder, cumin
hot pepper sauce (I use EXACTLY 12 dashes...)
Saute peppers and onion in oil. Add all else and turn until cabbage is wilted & hot throughout. About 10 min? I also like to brown the kielbasa first. I have these ingredients on hand at all times (fresh or frozen), it is my favorite 15 minute meal and my children ask for it every night anyway.

Eat your veggies

We love veggies! Really! Those greens are good for you. Here are some of our favorite side dishes.

Roasted Broccoli: Broccoli Crowns cut into 1/2" florets, stem and all
Olive oil, salt, pepper
Preheat oven to 425*. Toss broccoli with Olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Place on a cookie sheet. Roast away. At least 25 minutes should do the trick. The point is for the little bobbled ends to burn a little (or a lot!) so they get crunchy. Seriously, this is a treat, and the kids love it.

Italian Green Beans: Saute 8 oz. frozen green beans (half a bag) in a tablespoon of butter until heated through. Sprinkle on a tablespoon of Italian dressing mix powder. Stir & Serve.

Spinach Salad: Saute one chopped yellow onion until caramelized (at some point they taste sweet) Add 3 Tb. balsamic vinegar and boil it a minute. Watch out, it fumes! Take off heat and stir in 2 Tb. dijon mustard and enough olive oil to make it fluid. It does separate, that is fine. This is your dressing and too good to overlook. Salad as follows: baby spinach leaves, toasted pecans, shredded parmesan cheese and onion dressing. A tomato slice for color and you'll be addicted.

Where Have I Been?

I think I've been living in the Dark Ages. The other day, I woke up with the most wonderful idea. I would make a menu planning program for computers. I was going to be a millionaire! Then I checked the internet. Apparently someone else already did and is. I take back the genius comment. So, there is one software (I don't know if that is grammatically correct) that looks super-cool. I think it literally does everything as far as food planning, shopping, estimating...I went directly to the website and it looks like my needs could all be met for only $99.99! I'll be darned if I am going to make someone else a millionaire on my own idea! Okay, so one click to ebay and I can get it shrink-wrapped and new for ten bucks. Hmmm...Santa? Are you paying attention?
Here is one for those of you who don't menu plan but still do the shopping: www.homeplansoftware.com/shoplist.htm
It is completely free, you won't even have to give them your address, just click and download. You can add all the things you like to buy and how much they cost. Click and drag and print out a list. You are wondering how this is better than handwriting? Well, if you care, it adds up an estimate and you can save your list. Also, it prints out your list in categories, so you pick up everything you need from the baking aisle while you are standing there and don't have to go back because flour was written tiny at the end of your list. Did everyone else already know about this?

Awfuls!

I know, bad first impression. When I started making these, my 18 month old couldn't quite say "waffles". We thought it was so cute that it stuck. For your family's sake, I suggest you present them as "French Toast Waffles", and if you are a fan of either, you will love these.

French Toast Waffles:

4 eggs

1/2 c. milk

8 slices bread

Beat eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Dip bread into mixture, coating both sides. Place on preheated waffle iron. Yeah! My iron takes about 4 minutes. If you use very square-shaped bread, you can fit four slices. There you go, ten minutes to breakfast.

P.S. A dash of cinnamon and a blip of vanilla into the egg mix are a nice addition, too.

In Honor of Thanksgiving

Eggless Eggnog: One package (the big one) instant french vanilla pudding mix. We use sugar-free and it is fine. Two quarts milk (1 % in our family). First blend or stir the pudding mix and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg into 2 cups milk and 2 tsp. vanilla til there are no more lumps. Before it thickens, pour into a large pitcher and add the rest of the milk, stirring well. Refrigerate for an hour or until nice and thick. Presto!

We like to water regular eggnog down with milk anyway, but if you like it on the sweet side, I suggest you add 1/2 c. sugar in with the pudding mix and as REAL eggnog is an alcoholic drink, a few drops rum extract would be fine.

If you and your apple pie recipe are in a committed relationship, break it off now. You will never use it again! Although there are three steps to this one, they are all quick and easy and there is no rolling of the crusts. Trust me, you won't be the same.

Brown Bag Apple Pie!
Crust: 1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil
2 Tbs. cold milk
Combine and press onto bottom and sides of a 9" or 10" pie plate.
Filling: 4 c. peeled, sliced apples (heaping)
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. each cinnamon and nutmeg
Combine and toss. Mound into pie crust.
Topping: 1/2 c. each flour and sugar
1/2 c. cold margarine
Combine flour and sugar, cut in margarine until crumbly. Sprinkle over pie. Preheat oven to 350*. Now for the fun part! Take a brown paper bag and set it open on the floor. Carefully lower the pie into it until it rests on the floor. Now place the bag on the counter and fold the top down once or twice until it will sit and fit on the lowest rack in your oven. Staple closed. Place bag into your preheated oven and bake for 1 hour and 45 min. Do not open the bag until it is baked and has cooled 5 min. I know what you are thinking, but I have done this in gas and electric ovens and it does not catch fire. I do recommend, however, that you don't leave the house while baking. You will suddenly say to yourself, "What is that smell?" and race into the kitchen. Rest assured, it is the smell of hot brown bag. Nothing is burning. The smell is quickly replaced by the heavenly aroma of apples and you will not be sorry. Don't forget vanilla ice cream.

I use 5 or 6 large granny smiths or a combo with braeburn or fuji, but it's so good, you could use red d's and get away with it.

How I Feed My Family

I like to eat. Don't we all? I must admit that my favorite foods are the ones I make myself. I like to know that my family is eating the foods that I think are healthy. I created this blog to share the recipes and ideas that make my family happy and help me function as a mother of 3. If they help your family, I'm glad. Happy cooking!