I’m worn out. Forth of July weekend was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun as well.
I cooked for a full week in preparation, so our regular weekly dinners were mostly from the freezer, but in no planned order.  Freezer food comes in handy from time to time. I tend to rely on one-pot type of recipes that only require the addition of some pasta or rice.

My Mushroom and Pork Skillet Dinner is good with Italian gigli pasta. Meatball Stuffed Mushrooms pair well with Homemade Marinara Sauce over linguini or whole grain spaghetti.  Another Brown Rice Pilaf cooks up quickly and works well with my Artichoke, Shrimp, and Mushroom Casserole, and Grilled Vegetable Lasagna requires no addition at all.

Now, on to the big weekend!
The first to arrive on Friday the Forth of July were Aaron, Jen, and Xander. We were later joined for dinner by our friends Cindy and Jack who live near Jacksonville, MS. We don’t see Cindy and Jack very often and we all enjoyed their visit. Friday night’s dinner was fairly simple. I tried to have it all prepared in advance.
We started off with Aaron’s Pimento Cheese and my Spinach and Artichoke Spread. I guess I should have offered some healthy appetizer, like a vegetable tray, but I didn’t. It’s a Holiday!  For dinner itself, Michael grilled our Best Beef Burgers, which were served with Power Pasta Salad and the usual Slow-Cooked Baked Beans. I pulled a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pie out of the freezer to finish our dinner off.
I knew Saturday morning would be hectic, as our larger celebration would start that afternoon at 3 PM and every minute before that would be needed to be ready. Earlier in the week I baked a loaf of Blueberry Zucchini Bread so the early risers would have something to nibble on while the Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake was in the oven. The zucchini bread was a disappointment. In my haste, I pulled it out of the oven too soon and the center was gummy. Some folks thought it needed to be sweeter, as well. The hash brown casserole, however, was good. On a whim I used southwestern style has browns rather than just plain ones. It was very flavorful. Maybe the dish would have been a bit much for 6 AM, but our stomachs were already awake by the time it was ready and we enjoyed the extra seasoning.

As soon as breakfast was over, dinner preparation began in earnest. Most of what I served has been posted on The Sticky Menu Plan in the past, so here’s the menu:
Aaron’s Pimento Cheese and my Spinach and Artichoke Spread
Betsy’s potato chips and onion dip
Pulled Pork Barbecue with Rib Sauce and Big Bob Gibson’s White Sauce
Squash Casserole
Creamed Corn
Emily’s Potato Salad
Low Guilt Mac and Cheese
Coleslaw, Krazy Jane Style
Betty Crocker’s Red White and Blue Layered Flag Cake
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
The meal went well, but we comlpetely forgot to grill hotdogs for the kids and I found the unbaked squash casserole in the back of the refrigerator the next day. Oh well, everyone had plenty to eat and seemed to have a good time.
We didn’t do fireworks, but my sister, Betsy, provided plenty of color by bringing beautiful flowers from her garden and for entertainment the boys had a box. Yep, a box. What more do little boys need?
Be thankful for what life gives you.

I don’t like to take computers on vacation. To me, a vacation is time to get unplugged, and that meens NO electronics! OK, maybe a book on a reader, but that’s it. No blog at the beach.
Yep, we made a quick trip to one of my favorite places on earth, the Gulf Coast. We also boarded the girls, so no dogs to care for. That’s about like a vacation without children. You love your children and your dogs, but sometimes it’s refreshing to have time without them.

The food was as wonderful as always, and the moon was full, producing a special beach night view that we call a “moon trail”. That’s when the waves sparkle with the light of the moon all the way from the horizon to the sand. Moon trails don’t appear every night, but they are beautiful when they do.
Now let’s catch up on the menu around here.
One recipe that I think tastes as good as it is fun to prepare is Beer Can Chicken.  The poor bird looks really silly sitting on the can! It takes a while to cook, so this chicken is a good Sunday dinner.

As long as Michael had the grill going, we had Jalapeno Potato Poppers to munch on while we waited. Even though I was careful to remove all the seeds and heat producing membranes, this batch was very hot.
Meatless Monday was truly meatless last week. I took the time to make a batch of Potato Gnocchi to serve as a base for my Roasted Vegetable Medley.

Although Monday was meatless, Tuesday was not international. We had good old American Smoky Chicken Barbecue Sandwiches made with Sunday’s leftover chicken.
Wednesday was another work day. Chuck roasts were on sale, so I ground some up to replenish our lunch supply of Krystal Style Sliders. I also put together a couple of Italian Meatloaves . I came up with the meatloaf recipe after Michael ordered it at Big River Grill in Chattanooga. They serve thick slices of the meatloaf grilled and topped with a tangy sauce that is just delicious. The baked meatloaf itself is very good, and just a little different with the twist of Italian sausage instead of the usual ground pork.  I always bake a large meatloaf so we have extra to grill and freeze small containers of the sauce to go on top.

The rest of the week was pretty easy. Thursday I was Thankful for freezer food. We had Grillades served over Quick and Light Cheese Grits.

Fishy Friday was another catch from my freezer, Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks, simple and satisfying. Grilled tuna is not beach fare, but Michael says that if we lived at the beach the seafood wouldn’t be as special anymore. I guess he’s right.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

But that doesn’t mean I have nothing to do, and I don’t always do what I should. (Clean house?) Sometimes it’s nice just to take things as they come, and that’s what I did last week.
Sunday I took the time to make up batches of both Grill Basing Sauce and Grill Finishing Sauce. It takes a little time to cook up both of these sauces, but they store in the fridge for quite some time, so we can easily enjoy Two Part Chicken on several future occasions.  When I was at the store purchasing the chicken a frozen bag of Field Peas with Snaps jumped into the cart and made an easy side dish.

While I was enjoying a week of “doing as I pleased” my menu pattern went out the window. Meatless Monday we had not so healthy Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers. They were a little more well done than I like, but Michael did all the work, so why should I care? They tasted great!

The chicken I purchased for Sunday was quite a bargain, so of course I had to buy extra. Wednesday we enjoyed Baked Chicken Salad with a sinfully delicious potato chip and cheese topping.  The recipe makes 6 servings, so 2 extra casseroles, minus the topping, were stashed in the freezer for later.
Since there was still plenty of chicken to work with, I played with my chicken manicotti recipe, trying to make it just a bit lighter and healthier, thus Chicken and Spinach Manicotti with Two Sauces II. I’ve decided many of my recipes could use a make-over, so whenever you see a recipe “II” that’s what it will indicate. I won’t delete the original recipe. That will remain unchanged, but version “II” may be a work in progress. It’s hard to create a healthy dish without sacrificing flavor, and I work at that a little at a time. This week’s effort produced an Alfredo that was a little too thick, but I may have just cooked it too long.

By Friday we were full of chicken and I was ready for a break.  Spinch Salad Supreme popped up again. I guess in honor of Fishy Friday I could have added some grilled shrimp, but I didn’t think of it at the time.
Oh well, back to work!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

After a long winter of neglect, Michael decided it was time to clean out the garage. He has always held the dream of actually getting both the car and the truck into our two car garage. (Not going to happen!) He also got a nice new miter saw for his birthday, so that needed to be played with, right? Organization, plus a new tool equals a new project! We spent last week building phase one of the Great Garage Project.
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Phase one worked out wonderfully, and we are anxious to begin phase two, but the check book will have to catch up first. Why did that imaginary ATM on the back porch have to run out of cash?
Taking on a big project has added advantages. We moved more and ate less. By necessity, I spent little time in the kitchen as well. Most of our meals came from the freezer or were very simple to prepare.
Monday was spent planning the project, so I had time to play with my new food processor. The new machine cranked out a Whole Wheat Pizza Crust with no effort at all. After a 45 minute rise a Veggie Pizza was ready to go. Who needs take-out?  This one was fresher and better.
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Oh, I almost forgot Sunday’s Two Chicken Pot Pies. They were straight from the freezer and tasted as good as the first day the rest of the batch was prepared.
Tuesday was errand day in town, which included picking up the building supplies. Michael didn’t have to twist my arm to enjoy a late lunch at Rosies Cantina before coming home to prepare to start our project the next morning.
The rest of the week was a blur, no pictures taken. The freezer provided Stuffed Peppers and Steak Burgers for Wednesday and Thursday. Fishy Friday was just Tuna Salad served on a House Salad. Sometimes simple is best.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

I hope all of you had a good Mother’s Day. I did! My four-legged children gifted me with a much needed food processor (with Michael’s help). I think they had an ulterior motive. My old processor quit, and it’s hard to make their Dog Treats without one. Michael offered to take me out to dinner, but instead I requested that he fire up the grill for one of my guilty pleasures, bone in rib eye steak. I ate the whole thing!

Along with the steaks we enjoyed loaded Twice Baked Potatoes and Creamy Leeks Parmesan.

A slice of Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pie sent me over the top! Michael manned the grill, and all of the sides, including the pie, came our of the freezer so I didn’t have to lift a finger. Pure luxury!
On Tuesday we learned the hard way that there are still some honest folks left in this world. We were supposed to go to one of Kelton’s ball games. After fighting rush hour traffic for nearly an hour we were pleased to find a prime parking spot. We started gathering our things together and Michael suddenly went into panic mode. Both his wallet and phone were not in place and he realized exactly what had happened.  Before we could pull out of the garage at home Michael had to move a ladder that was in the way. In doing so, he laid the wallet and phone on the back of the car. He would remember to pick them back up, right? Wrong! Worried about the time and traffic, we just pulled out of the garage and went on our way. We knew both had to have fallen off of the trunk and onto the road somewhere along the way. The odds of finding them again were slim to none. Phones are a pain to replace, but his wallet would be worse with his driver’s licence, other ID cards, and credit cards that would all have to be cancelled and replaced. Between the two items, identity theft was just waiting to happen! To make a long story just a little shorter, I called Michael’s phone and it was answered. Some honest man and his children had found both the phone and wallet and were trying to return them to the house, but we weren’t home. He waited until we could get back to Huntsville and gave them both back without a thing missing. Michael was happy to reward him with more than just words. Thanks to his honesty a disaster was averted and we are truly thankful, not only for his action, but for the example he set for his children.
OK, on to strawberry season.
This year’s fresh strawberry crop purchased from Brown Farms (4 Gallons) yielded, among other things, a batch of strawberry ice cream,  Strawberry Cupcakes, and a couple loaves of Strawberry Bread .

Over the two weeks we enjoyed two versions of Fresh Strawberry Pie, along with Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pies to stash in the freezer.

Strawberry Muffins finished the cooking efforts. Most were frozen. I also packaged up some strawberry puree and sliced strawberries for the future. Nothing was wasted.
While I was up to my ears in strawberries, dinner was mostly freezer food but a couple of new recipes came up.

Spinach Salad Supreme is nothing new, but it was good to document it in the computer. Chicken Tortilla Casserole is still a work in progress. Sometimes it’s hard to lighten a recipe up without losing the flavor. Personally, I would rather eat a smaller portion with a lot of flavor that stuff myself full of cardboard. Lately, Michael has been drawn to Cajun combinations with chicken and shrimp. Friday I came up with a new recipe along that line, Cajum Shrimp and Pasta. I haven’t finished writing all the recipe’s details yet, but I’d like to get this post published, so I owe you one.

Mother’s Day only comes once a year, and each fruit has its’ own short season, but I hope there are still a lot more honest folks in this world. Be thankful for what life gives you!

At least ours is not, and with all of both the good and the bad, I wouldn’t want it any other way. We got good news on both of Michael’s health issues, (Whew!), but unfortunately one of his brothers passed away. Jen lost an Uncle, as well. While those things are not at all equal, I guess life balances itself out in some ways most of the time.
Anyway, here are a few of the highlights from the past few weeks. My stickies got moved around so much the sticky stuff is starting to wear off.
I’m always looking for new ways to remake leftovers of things like our Easter ham. My favorite for this years’ ham was my Power Pasta Salad. Although this versatile salad has some ham in it, I filed it with the Meatless Main Dishes because it is so substantial even without the ham.

As I mentioned a while back, my bathroom scale has been yelling at me and it’s not saying nice things. In an effort to quiet it I decided a pot of Spicy Cabbage Soup might help. I actually do like that stuff!
Perhaps that bathroom scale kicked the meatless entrees to the forefront of my menu choices. The recipe for Super Spinach Lasagna is supposed to produce 6 generous servings, but this time I split it between 2 baking dishes, froze half, and called it 8 servings total. Preceded by a House Salad, that portion was plenty.

I like the deal I get on crimini mushrooms at one of the warehouse stores, but I have to get pretty creative to use them all before they go bad. A full head of broccoli can sometimes be hard to use as well. Some of the mushrooms, some broccoli, and a cup of leftover brown rice morphed into another new meatless dish, Broccoli and Rice Stuffed Mushrooms.
Of course, not everything we ate was meatless! We had occasion to eat out several times and grilled a good bit when we were at home, mostly old standbys like Steak Burgers and Spinach and Mushroom Smothered Chicken.

I took the time last Saturday to put together a batch of Bacon Cheeseburger Rolls. As much as I enjoy eating those, my bathroom scale will be yelling at me again, especially since I served those burgers with some of my
Slow-Cooked Baked Beans. One just has to splurge sometimes!

Speaking of splurges, its strawberry time! One of thoses things I look forward to each year. This strawberry version of my Fresh Fruit Custard Ice Cream with Magical Ice Cream Topping was the first thing I made from the two gallons of strawberries we bought at Brown Farms. They are not too far from our house, so I plan to get some more strawberries this coming week. I will post the recipes from both trips next time. Let me see what kind of trouble I get myself into!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

I don’t think so! I very strongly dislike it when people start a conversation with that statement! Contrary to popular belief, not all retired people are sitting around in their rocking chairs waiting for others to tell them what to do with their time. (Usually it’s something that person doesn’t want to do themselves.) Shoot, most days I don’t have time to check my email, let alone work on this blog.
Since my last post we celebrated Michael’s birthday with a trip to the casinos in Tunica, MS. Considering the fact that the rooms and buffets are just about free, it’s really a cheap vacation as long us you set a gambling limit and stick to it. We weren’t as lucky this year as we have been in years past, but I still came home with some money in my pocket.
We came back to a very busy week, with an appointment every single day except Tuesday, and Kelton had a game that evening.
None the less, my cooking gene kicked in, partly because I hadn’t cooked at all the week before and partly in preparation for Easter. So, here we go!
We seem to eat a lot of pork, especially during grilling season. Sunday’s entree was Chipotle Crusted Pork Tenderloin. Although Michael did his usual perfect job at the grill, and the interior was moist and tasty, the outer crust was definitely over-spiced! Lesson Learned.

Meatless Monday I kind of cheated by utilizing some of my freezer food, Baked Ravioli. Actually, it wasn’t cheating because I had decided on it when I made out my Sticky Menu Plan for the week. Who ever gets out of a Doctor’s appointment in a timely manner? Always consult your calendar when choosing your menu items.
Tuesday we had another cold snap. Around here they call it “Dogwood Winter”. Every year when the dogwoods are in bloom and you think spring has finally come the weather turns nasty. It was cold, rainy, and just plain gloomy, but it was also one last chance to enjoy a pot of soup. This time I made Smoky Split Pea Soup. Trust me, it tastes much better than this photo makes it look.

On Friday Bay Scallops in Garlic Cream Sauce sounded much more appealing than the menu’s Tuna Salad Salads, so that’s what we had. I had gone to the store for Saturday night’s dinner ingredients and the scallops were on sale. The tuna salad was not yet prepared, so why not?
Saturday afternoon Aaron and his family came up for Easter weekend. Emily, Kaij, and Kelton joined us as well. We started the evening with a salad bar, followed by my Artichoke, Shrimp, and Mushroom Casserole served over Another Brown Rice Pilaf. I had promised to make the shrimp dish for Aaron the next time they came. It was OK, but some dishes don’t work as well if you try to double them. I tripled this one…not a good idea. The larger quantity didn’t heat quickly and evenly enough to prevent the shrimp from over-cooking. I pulled the casserole out in time, but the consistency of the sauce was off. Oh well…

After dinner everyone got to the serious business of dying the Easter eggs. That’s Emily coming to Xander’s aid.  Kaij made some really pretty designs and Kelton’s fingers were purple for days!
At the last minute I decided that a Fresh Fruit Cobbler sounded good for Saturday night’s dessert. I used peaches that I had frozen last season and Emily picked up some ice cream on her way here. There wasn’t a bite left.
I prepared for Easter weekend in bits of time worked into our busy week, so when Easter morning arrived we were in pretty good shape. There was a loaf of Banana Bread as well as a blueberry coffee cake for the early risers. I wasn’t impressed with the coffee cake, it was really dry and didn’t have much flavor.  The recipe came from a magazine, and I’m trashing it.

The Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake turned out well, though. One nice thing about this make-ahead breakfast casserole is that it is constructed in layers, making it easy for picky eaters to avoid certain ingredients.
Easter dinner was the usual overload of too many dishes, but a few had a new twist. We always have Baked Ham, although this years’ was a little dry, Lesson Learned. Michael likes his Mashed Potatoes, but this year I made Low-Carb Mixed Potato Mash. I think we like that version even better. I also changed out the green bean casserole by fixing Green Bean Casserole – Without the Cans. Kelton ate two helpings before everyone else was seated. Aaron and Jen rounded out the casseroles by making Broccoli Casserole, an old favorite, and Emily brought her famous Potato Salad, along with some really cute deviled eggs that looked like hatching chicks. I wish I had taken pictures of it all, but things were just too hectic, in a good way!
Everyone then tried to run off some of the meal by having an Easter egg hunt, or should I say scramble? There were about 50 eggs for the three kids to find. Some were filled with candy and some with cash. All three scrambled to find as many eggs as possible, although Xander got a little too much help. It was fun!
Of course, we couldn’t have a big family dinner without dessert. New York Cheesecake was topped with Blueberry Sauce to order. There was a new offering as well, Strawberry Pretzel Salad. Oh my gosh, was that ever good! We’ll have to make a choice though. Either I find a way to lighten the recipe or that dish is reserved for only once a year.

By the time I got the camera out, this is all that was left of the pretzel salad!
All in all, it’s been a great couple of weeks! I hope you all had a good holiday weekend as well.
Be Thankful for what life gives you.

But first, a quick apology for this week’s post being late. I had a very important mission to fulfill, that of assistant to the construction crew that replaced the screening on our back porch. The lead contruction guy was my very handsome husband, who will be turning 65 this week, and the project supervisor was my dog, Lizzie. You can see her working from the inside of the porch, very fitting for a supervisor, don’t you think? My job was to hold things, hand things up the ladder, locate lost tools, and clean up debris. No time for any foolishness like the computer, but I was thrilled to have the screen replaced!  They both did an excellent job.

Now for the real purpose of this blog, The Sticky Menu Plan. The first half of the week I followed my menu, and as I said, we ate very well.
I love center cut, bone in, pork chops and they were on sale, so Sunday we enjoyed them grilled. I brined them first,and they were really delicious. I think that whenever you start with a bone in cut of anything it will always have more flavor, no matter how it’s prepared.

If you follow this blog you may remember that a couple of weeks ago I mentioned I wanted to work on a knock-off of Abblebee’s Chicken and Shrimp Tequila Tango. Well, here it is; Tequila Lime Chicken and Shrimp with Avacado Cream. It was delicious, but there are two things I’d like to refine. The calorie count is too high and the avacado cream is too thick, but very tasty. Recipies always seem to be a work in progress. I can’t help but wonder how each one could be improved.
By Wednesday, I was again happy to have The Sticky Menu Plan in place. Emily called to tell us that Kelton’s first baseball game of the year was Thursday night, So Wednesday and Thursday’s stickies were reversed. No Problem! Both days I had planned on Freezer Food, but the Mushroom and Pork Skillet Dinner takes a little longer to get to the table, so we had that over pasta on Wednesday, along with with a House Salad.

Thursday night was quick and simple Chili Dogs, giving us time to get to the ball game.
Friday the porch screening project began, and before I knew it it was 7 PM! Too late to prepare anything much, so once again the stickies were switched. Simple Saturday’s Bean and Ham Soup came out of the freezer and into our mugs in a flash. (Mugs courtesy of Kaij and Kelton.)

By Saturday, the construction crew had gained enough experience to make the work flow much more smoothly, giving me time to toggle back and forth between the work site and the kitchen. Fishy Friday’s Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops came out just fine, especially since I paid attention to one of my Lessons Learned .
It will be so nice this spring to have the screen repaired. We can enjoy sitting on the porch and leave the back door open without the bugs coming in. Be thankful for what life gives you.

And nothing exciting has happened, but keep reading. A new item was added to the recipe box, Emily’s Chile Rellenos.  More on those later.
For a change, Meatless Monday really was meatless. Eggplant Parmesan seemed appealing, and eggplant was on sale, so that’s what we had. No matter how hard I try, I can never prepare any dish to serve only the two of us for one meal. The other half went into the freezer for another day. Will I ever get that freezer under control?

Emily’s Chile Rellenos were Tuesday’s entree. This recipe is a work in progress, and it’s off to a great start! The stuffed poblanos are very good and not too hard to make, but Emily and I both agreed that a sauce would enhance the presentation.
Another recipe I have been working on is Taco Seasoned Chicken Filling.
Chicken + Low Fat + Mexican can’t be a bad combination, can it?  I plan to use this filling in enchilladas, burritos, and to top taco salads as well as just a taco filling. We had a version of tacos on Wednesday. I tried some new “stand and stuff soft taco shells” but we were not impressed. Our standard soft tortillas would have worked better.

Thursday I made yet another effort to reduce my freezer inventory by pulling out a package of meat sauce.  As usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and added some extra veggies. What should have been a simple meal for two morphed into dinner for four. OK, guess what we’re having on Saturday?
Friday’s fish came in the form of shrimp, but I didn’t fix it. We ate out. I can’t be frugal all the time!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

But that’s the beauty of the sticky menu plan. Sometimes, like last week, we have a change of plans. Emily invited us over for dinner on Sunday and I had already thawed some Pulled Pork Barbecue for dinner. We almost never turn down an invitation for dinner, so the pork slid to Monday. Monday’s Vegan Red Beans and Rice stickie then slid down the calendar. Neither of my planned meals went to waste.
Last Saturday, the 15th, Michael and I celebrated the 41st anniversary of our first date. On that first date Michael took me to Ireland’s restaurant for steak and biscuits, so that’s the meal we celebrate with, even though the restaurant no longer exists. Their dinner came with fries, but I try to avoid fried foods. I gave Michael the choice of Zesty Oven Roasted Potatoes or Roasted Garlic Potato Salad instead. Potato salad it was.

All of you who know us know our dogs are not spoiled. Yea, not much! Anyway, we were out of their homemade dog food so I made a Roast Turkey Breast to sub for the chicken in Bella and Lizzie’s Chicken and Brown Rice with Veggies.  They kindly shared some of the turkey with us for Sunday’s dinner.

By virtue of the 17th being St. Patrick’s Day, Monday once again was not Meatless. We just had to observe the day with out traditional Slow Cooker Corned Beef Dinner.  I look forward to that meal every year and the Reuben Sandwiches that follow.
We couldn’t let all the leftovers from the turkey dinner and the corned beef go to waste, so Tuesday wasn’t meatless either.
OK, finally, Wednesday it was time for Meatless Monday’s dinner.  A Broccoli and Mushroom Quiche made it from the freezer to the table but it didn’t stay there long. We ate the whole thing!
Thursday we went to Applebee’s for a late lunch. I had their Chicken and Shrimp Tequila Tango for the second time and liked it just as well as the first. As the name suggests, it’s grilled chicken and shrimp in a tequila avacado sauce. I’m going to have to try to replicate it.
Friday night’s seafood was a bit of a surprise. I made Saucy Shrimp with Whole Corn Grits but I cheated a bit by using boxed frozen shrimp. The result was better than the original recipe. I don’t often recommend a particular product, and I certainly don’t ever get paid for doing so, but the shrimp I used was Publix Premium Cajun Marinated Shrimp. The flavor was spot-on and I saved a few steps. I think I’ll continue to use this short cut.

Be thankful for what life gives you.