As we all know, life is easier when you “go with the flow”, and this principal certainly applies to menu planning.
You can establish your flow in a couple of different ways.
First, say boneless pork loin is on sale.  For me that would be the primary protein purchase for the week. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to eat the same boring leftovers all week long. I’ll make that main menu ingredient flow into variations on a theme, scattered among other entrees.  Sunday Pork Roast might be a good start, and the leftovers make good sandwiches, but branch out a little. Before you cook that roast cut off a few chops for Pork Cutlets Marsala and stash a batch of Grillades away for later.  You’ll be glad you did.
Next, try identifying common ingredients. Get out your chosen recipes for the next few days and check. Do chopped onions show up a couple of times? Chop them all now and divide into the appropriate quantities for storage. Done! Planning the same side item but with different entrees? Make a double batch of those Quick and Light Cheese Grits the first night. Done!  What about your House Salads and other green veggies?
Unless you have a large family who might finish off all you prep and cook in one session, think about how your meals and their ingredients can flow from one day to the next.  Plan ahead.
Now, lets get cooking!
I actually started the week off with a new concoction, Pork Cutlets Marsala. As many of you know, I have a low threshold of boredom, particularly in the kitchen. That’s why there are now close to 600 recipes on this blog. Anyway, using pork, rather than chicken in the usual Marsala recipe seemed like it might be worth a try. It’s most definitely a keeper! This dish was very simple to prepare and the cutlets were fork tender. The sauce was the perfect blend of mushrooms and that unmistakeable Marsala wine. So good!

I must have really been going with the flow this week. Meatless Monday brought new recipe number two. Three Cheese Tortellini with Roasted Red Pepper, Zucchini, and Spinach was a keeper as well. Even Michael, who only suffers through meatless meals to please me, complimented this dish. It too was a quick fix and most satisfying.
So lets keep going! Next up, Grits and Grillades. Grillades are one of my favorites when it comes to batch cooking. They freeze so well. Grillades are a slow simmered, slightly spicy pork of Cajun origin and, in my house, must be served over creamy cheese grits.  Those grits can be frozen, too.

Every year, Michael and I celebrate the anniversary of our first date. This year was number forty three! Gosh, time does fly! Our first dinner together was steak and biscuits, which I tried to recreate this week. The biscuits were easy. I make my Light and Flaky Biscuits all the time. The steak, however, was more of a challange. Michael is the steak griller in our house, but on Wednesday he stayed busy with a project of his own. I decided to try to pan sear the steaks, which I’ve never done before. Well, cooking is a learning curve and I’ve got some learning to do. Those steaks were definitely over-done.  Anyway, they were nicely crusted and had good flavor. They weren’t too tough, either. I think the steak was cut too thin to start with, but I just let them go too long. Maybe I’ll turn the steak grilling back over to Michael. Sounds like a plan to me.
Thursday we continued to go with the flow of celebration. It was Saint Patrick’s Day and a Slow Cooker Corned Beef Dinner was the only thing that would do. There are some things that are just a tradition.  I have an idea in mind for the leftovers.  I’m going to try some sort of corned beef hash wrapped in cabbage leaves like stuffed cabbage.  We’ll see how that flows.

Along with the corned beef, which by the way I heard is not an Irish tradition at all, you have to have something green for dessert. This year’s choice was ooey gooey Dark Chocolate Mint Brownies. Michael is a big fan of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, so I thought he would enjoy these. He didn’t. Perhaps I got a little heavy handed with the mint. Who knows?
Friday’s dinner was very, very late for reasons I’ll explain in a minute. I tried working up another new recipe inspired by Ree Drummond for Lobster Mac and Cheese. Fontina cheese can be expensive and hard to find and we don’t care for the powdery Parmesan in the jar with the green top or goat cheese, so I want to switch her cheeses up a bit.  My first cut has potential, but still needs some work. It had too much cheese and too little lobster flavor. I’ll have to try again and get back to you.

And now, a sad tale with a happy ending.  Friday’s dinner was late because we had to go into the cat rescue business. Our cat Lily has issues. Lily showed up under our window at about 3 1/2 weeks of age and we have no idea how she got there. We refer to her as our “imaginary cat” because the odds are you will never see her. Her domaine is our walk-in closet. Anyway, Thursday Michael was cleaning the carpet in there and had the cover to the heat duct off. While we were waiting for the carpet to dry one of the dogs scared the dumb cat. You guessed it…down the duct she went! To make a long story short, after more that 24 hours and many failed attempts to lure her out, Michael had to start taking the duct work apart. He finally got her out of a tube about the size of a drier vent. She’s fine now, but I can think of all sorts of things I’d rather do on a Friday night!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

As I predicted, this past week was one crazy blurr, but thanks to The Sticky Menu Plan, we managed to stay on track. No fast food runs for us!
Sunday was the calm before the storm. Well, I guess you could call it calm. Aaron was up from Calera to help Michael sort through his mother’s house and Emily, Kaij, and Kelton joined us for a combination celebration of two birthdays and a belated Valentines Day. Individual Enchilada Pies made it easy to taylor dinner to personal tastes.

A casserole of Mexican Sour Cream Chicken and Rice, minus the chicken, and a bowl of Simple Refried Beans rounded out the meal before the celibratory desserts were served.
Monday was a real work out. I had one day at home to accomplish a week’s worth of household chores and laundry. Freezer Food saved me. In honor of Meatless Monday I pulled out a pan of Super Spinach Lasagna made with my Fresh Ricotta Cheese. It was “Super” indeed. In fact, we enjoyed it so well that Tuesday’s planned Bean and Ham Soup slid down the calendar to Wednesday.

Wednesday was a good day for that simple soup. We got home much later than I had anticipated, and had I needed to cook the original choice of Country Style Pork Cutlets, we would have been eating dinner at about 10:00 PM. NOT!! (Note to self: Always have a Plan B!) Still waiting in the freezer, the pork cutlets slid to this Sunday, when they will become part of next week’s Flow Menu. Be sure to check that out.
Because Thursday’s planned leftover lasagna was devoured on Tuesday, we decided on Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks for Thursday’s dinner. That wasn’t a very good choice;  the rain moved in.  A charcoal grill, covered or not, and rain showers are not friends. Michael rushed the tuna, making it a little too rare for his taste. OK, a lot too rare! Cheesy Twice Baked Potatoes and a few Girl Scout cookies kept him from going to bed hungry that night.

The highlight of our culinary week was my recreation of La Marina, a dish we frequently enjoy while dining out. The home version is quick to prepare and packs a lot of flavor for a reasonable number of calories.  La Marina features a grilled chicken breast cutlet and shrimp in a light mushroom cheese sauce.  As at the restaurant, I served it with grilled veggies and Salsa Rice.
While stumbling around on my Word Press reader, I discovered a delightfully refreshing, new to me, blog. Food Loves Writing based in Nashville, TN.  Huntsville and Nashville aren’t that far away, geographically or gastrinomically, but this blog has a definately brighter outlook. Take a look. I plan to try their Roasted Baby Broccoli as soon as I can, maybe with some grilled chicken.
Most folks look forward to the first days of Spring. I look forward to the first days of figure friendly outdoor grilling!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

This coming week is going to be crazy. It will put The Sticky Menu Plan to the test.
I’ve checked and rechecked my calendar and tried to plan accordingly, but time isn’t going to be in my own hands. Our schedule keeps changing, almost by the hour.
We’ll see how it goes, but I have faith that The Sticky Menu Plan won’t let me down.

My mother in law has struggled with ovarian cancer for the past several years. She lost the battle on Thursday and her services are tomorrow. As we all know, life goes in a cycle for all of us. Although we will miss her and think of her often, Monday will be time to start a new.
Many of the recipes I use today were originally hers. In her memory, here is Granny’s Green Stuff. Enjoy!

Granny’s Green Stuff

It has become a tradition for Granny, (Nolene Vanhook), to make this for family holiday dinners. It’s Aaron’s favorite.

3 oz instant pistachio pudding
15 oz crushed pineapple, undrained
8 oz Cool Wihip, thawed
5 oz mini marshmallows

1. Mix pudding into pineapple. Add Cool Whip, then marshmallows. Optional: pecan pieces.

Servings: 12

The Sticky Menu Plan Workbook is done! Stuffed full of 125 sheet protected recipes and their own stickys, The Workbook is ready to share.  You can Enter for a chance to Win your very own copy. I’ll ship it straight to your door for free!  Of course, if you don’t feel lucky, it’s available for purchase too.   Plus Packs, with even more recipes, are soon to follow. Whew!
As busy as I’ve been, I’ve still had my kitchen to run. Sunday we tried a recipe that I saw on Good Morning America for Mississippi Roast. I actually prepared the recipe exactly as it was written, if you can believe that. The outcome was pretty good, but I would reduce the amount of butter. A full stick of butter is just too much.  Half is plenty.

The leftovers made excellent Drippy Beef Sandwiches. No recipe is needed here. You just shred the beef back into the juices in the pot, then pile the drippy mess onto toasted whole wheat hoagie rolls. Be sure to toast your rolls or they will quickly become very soggy from all those beef juices.
While we were in Tennessee checking on Michael’s mother we enjoyed a new Mexican entree, Pollo Bravo. It was a seasoned chicken breast grilled with onions and mushrooms, then topped with a sour cream sauce. I plan to make a point of going back to order it again this week so I can take notes and try to recreate it.
The rest of the week I was happy to rely on my freezer food. My “Freezer Food” is not at all the prepared dinners that come ready to eat TV dinner style. Our freezer food is usually a casserole, side dish, or portion of a meal that I have divided from a regular cooking session to stash in the freezer. When you cook for two, most recipes just make too much, so I separate it in the beginning rather than deal with leftovers. If you have a larger family, I urge you to double recipes when you can. Having your own stash of freezer food will save time, and often money as well. Just be sure to wrap it well against freezer burn.
Anyway, Thursday I dove into the freezer for a pan of Ham Tetrazzini.  Plain ham doesn’t seem to freeze well because the juices in the ham crystalize and change both the taste and texture, but as long as the ham is protected by a sauce or broth it does just fine. I did add a little extra milk to the casserole while it was warming in the oven. The Tetrazzini was just as good as when I originally made it.

Alabama Coast Gumbo came out of the freezer, as well. All I had to do was add rice. There are a couple of more containers of gumbo in the freezer, just waiting to rescue me on a busy day.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

I have just a few wrinkles to iron out while the cover is printing, but expect an offer in the next week or so.
What’s The Sticky Menu Plan Workbook? It’s a workbook set up in a three ring binder.  It organizes your recipe choices on stickies that you can place on your weekly calendar and switch around at will.   All those recipes are in sheet protectors so you can remove the page, cook that recipe, and wipe the page clean before returning it to The Workbook.  These recipes also come with nutritional information, and some recipes will debut in the Workbook before they are included on this blog.   Let me share the Workbook cover page with you.  It’s self explanatory.

The Sticky Menu Plan Workbook

I really should call The Sticky Menu Plan Workbook a Playbook. All the work is done for you and all you have to do is pick out your stickers and play. You’ll have your dinners planned in no time.

This notebook is set up just as mine is. There is a place for your weekly calendar, an options section that organizes the recipe stickers, and all those recipes are included.

Here are your chapters:
1. Breakfast
2. Starters and Snacks
3. Meatless Main Dishes
4. Beef
5. Chicken and Poultry
6. Pork
7. Fish and Seafood
8. Soups and Stews
9. Sides
10. Breads
11. Desserts
12. Sauces and Spices

Putting my Workbook together has been a lot of work, but it’s been a labor of love. Concentrating on my workbook project has caused this blog to suffer some neglect, and I do regret that, so here I go again!
I haven’t exactly stuck to my menu plans for the last couple of weeks, but that’s how The Sticky Menu Plan works. Nothing has gone to waste, I just haven’t cooked it on the day I originally intended. We all have the right to change our minds, don’t we?
To most folks, LOL means Laugh Out Loud. In our house LOL means Lots of Leftovers! That’s what you get when you cook for two. Last week I baked a ham. LOL! Hams just don’t come small enough for two people and we’ve been too busy to invite others over to share, so we’ve eaten plenty of ham this week. Ham sandwiches are always good for lunch, and I’ve always liked ham and cheese omelettes. but both of those get old after a while. I try my best to mix it up a bit. Healthy Breakfast Sandwiches aren’t all that different, but they sure are good.

Ham and Eggs in a Garlicy Grits Crust make a delicious brunch and reheat well in the microwave, LOL!  If you’re planning a day out, though, you might want to cut back on the garlic.  As Rachael Ray says, I always smell like a salami!
If you follow this blog you might remember that I saddled myself with a fifteen pound bag of potatoes. Really? Fifteen pounds of white carbs for two people? Well, they came in handy for one of Michael’s favorite dinners, My Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.

I also whipped up a batch of Eggs and Potatoes Frittata Style, but added ham.  This is an older picture of the basic recipe, but you get the idea.  It’s one of those recipes that tastes better than it looks.
You can only feature ham for so long, so Fishy Friday was a reason to move on. Artichoke, Shrimp, and Mushroom Bake was an easy change of pace. I love that stuff! Artichokes, shrimp, and mushrooms are some of my favorite ingredients. Pair them all together in this easy dish and they create a flavor explosion. A creamy sauce helps the flavors mingle.

I didn’t really intend to stay on the Pork page, but boneless pork loins were the next good sale item at the grocery, and I bit. Some of the pork loin was dehydrated for dog treats and some was frozen for later, but the fresh dinner recipe was Mushroom and Pork Skillet Dinner. I made the full recipe, so here we go again….Leftovers!
I don’t have firm plans for this week’s menu. Michael’s mother is gravely ill, so we’re going to be going back and forth to Tennessee. Today I’m trying a new slow cooker recipe for Mississippi Roast. It’s hard for me to obey the rule that one should follow a new recipe exactly as it is written before making any changes, but I’m trying. I’ll let you know how that turns out, and what we did with the leftovers, the next time I can get online.
Please pray that Michael’s mother has an easy passing, and as always,
Be thankful for what life gives you.

The Sticky Menu Plan Workbook is ready to launch, but I’m missing two things. I had to re-order some self adhesive tabs to mark the chapters, and I don’t have a cover. The cover is the big thing, but I have an idea for that. I want to arrange some family celebration photos around the edges. When I finish I’ll have a marketable book with over 120 of my most popular recipes in binder form. I plan to run a contest. Enter to win a free Workbook! The entry form will be coming soon.
And now to the week’s recipes…
Most of the week was the same old thing, and not at all exciting. Two recipes do stand out.
My remake of good old fashioned Beef Stroganoff was quite the hit! I used to use sliced round steak, which was cheap but tough. This time, New York strip steaks were on sale at close to the same price as the round steak. I cubed just one pound of the steak rather than slicing it. This stroganoff was unbelievable! The cubes of steak were tender, juicy, and although in reality they were rather small, the beef felt very substantial. Watch for strip steaks to go on sale.

The second outstanding recipe was Pasta Jambalaya. It’s a fusion of Cajun Jambalaya and a pasta sauce. None of the typical rice is used in this dish, and for Michael’s taste, the more sauce the better.
Do you think we’re eating too much pasta? I have a ham to bake as well as a chicken that needs to be roasted. We’ll see what comes of all that.
Oh, and I did it to myself again… The five pound bag of potatoes I was going to buy cost more than the fifteen pound bag that was on sale. You guessed it. Potato recipes every night! Two people can only use so many spuds.
Be thankful for what life gives you.