recipe ideas | The Sticky Menu Plan

As I confessed last week, for the first time in my cooking career, last Sunday I managed to burn a pot roast. I didn’t just overcook it, I flat out burned it crispy black through and through! Do not ask me how I managed to do that. I do not know. It was not a new recipe. I did not set the oven too high. I did not leave out any of the ingredients. I DO NOT KNOW! Go figure. Anyway, it happened, and we had plenty of vegetables for dinner, but no leftovers. The Mississippi Roast makes more than enough for our Sunday dinner, so those leftovers were planned for Wednesday night’s Drippy French Dip Sandwiches. Well, that obviously wasn’t going to happen. The simple solution was to slide Thursdays sticky up to Wednesday, and that’s what I did. The Sticky Menu Plan solved the problem. I didn’t have to give it a single thought.
Monday’s dinner was an old standby, Eggplant Parmesan. Even though I try to follow the recipe as written, (I’m always looking for kinks and problems), I tend to get a little generous with the creamy rich Fresh Ricotta Cheese. I’m afraid between that and the Homemade Marinara Sauce the eggplant becomes an afterthought. Luckily, the recipe made just the right amount to provide a substitute dinner for Wednesday evening as well.

Tuesday’s Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu is another old stand by. The recipe calls for creating a pocket in boneless chicken breasts and stuffing that pocket with ham and cheese. I often get lazy and just slice the breast nearly in half and sandwich the filling in the middle. The cheese does tend to leak out a little more, so it’s a bit of a trade off. I do it both ways.
By Thursday the carnivores in both of us were getting pretty tired of veggies and eggplant. Crickhollow Pork Tenderloin solved that craving nicely. When pork tenderloins go on sale I generally pick up a few, then select a couple of recipes and prepare those ahead of time for the freezer. That was the case this time. I moved the meat from the freezer to the fridge a day ahead of time and we were good to go.

The highlight of the week was a quick trip we made to visit my brother, Bill, and his wife, Kim, in Smithville, TN. The occasion was a surprise sixtieth birthday party for Kim. The surprise, however, was on us. Kim wasn’t 60, but several years younger! Bill made the age up. Kim had to work Friday afternoon and I thought we would be decorating for the surprise party. Nope! Instead, we enjoyed ourselves at the Blue Water Grill on Center Hill Lake. One of my favorite dishes in the world is shrimp and grits, and I’ve tried them all over the South. I’m not kidding when I tell you that the shrimp and grits we had at Blue Water are some of the best. The Fried Green Tomatoes were excellent as well. I wish this restaurant were closer. Well, maybe not, I’d probably put on too much weight, but I sure would enjoy it! Thanks for the photo, Billy.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

When my potato ricer finally arrived, (see last week’s post), I wanted to experiment with the ricer, but making Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi just wasn’t what I wanted to do right at that moment. Besides, by that time I had used the milk needed for the ricotta in other things. Instead of making the gnocchi, I taught myself to make Spaetzle, Little German Dumplings. A nice plate of carbs bathed in butter always improves my mood. How about yours?
Okay, all that brings up the real point of this week’s post: Where do my recipes come from? That’s a question I get asked all the time and there’s no simple answer, but I’ll try
The Spaetzle recipe came out of desperation and frustration. No, really, as I frequently do, an idea might come to mind for a dish I’ve heard of, but never in my life made before, like Spaetzle. When I want to learn to make something new, I’ll sit down at the computer and start reading. I might read ten recipes or thirty, then print out three or so. Of those, I’ll use bits and pieces of their ingredients and procedures. I’ll add things and take some away, and tweak that recipe until I’m satisfied with the result. Then I’ll start cooking. Sometimes it’s a hit, and many times it’s a miss. I either throw that idea away or start working on it again.
Some of my recipes come to me from friends and family. All of us have family recipes that have been handed down, and many of us are fortunate enough to have good friends who share theirs as well. My good friend, Carol, has a collection of recipes from South Georgia that would put Paula You-Know-Who to shame! She has shared many with me, and I in turn, have shared some of those with you. The latest is Carol’s version of a wedge salad with her Aunt Willa Lamb’s Roquefort Dressing. (how’s that for a Southern lady’s name?)

Often, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with a recipe running through my head. Sometimes I have no earthly idea where it came from or if it’s even possible to do. Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Swirls? Hmmm… We’ll have to see about that one.
Back to The Sticky Menu Plan
Sunday was supposed to be some spectacular Pork Pot Pie. Nope, Not in the mood! The Sticky Menu Plan is just a plan, not set in stone, and I wasn’t in the cooking mood, so the only pork I cooked was some bacon for good old Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwiches. Now that’s the plan! Monday was more of the same, not cooking. Hot dog chili came out of the freezer to greet me and put a smile on my not cooking face!
Alright, by Tuesday I decided that was enough of that not cooking nonsense. It was time to start cooking again. Pressure Cooker Pork Stew and Dumplings was the worthwhile result. This recipe is another example of where some of my recipes come from. Earlier in the week, Michael and I noticed a similar recipe on the Food Network. Well, that got the wheels turning. While my recipe is not exactly the same, if you were to compare the two side by side you would certainly see where I got my inspiration. ( Here is the link to Porky Pot Pie with Cheesy Drop Biscuits. Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nancy-fuller/porky-pot-pie-with-cheesy-drop-biscuits.html?oc=linkback) Mine is topped in dumplings in the same fashion, but features more veggies and less pork in a richer gravy. Next time I make this dish, I’ll probably tweak it again, as I most often do.

While Wednesday was our usual Leftovers, Thursday was sheer indulgence. I have two version of the recipe for Patty Melts. This one is not the lower in fat nor calories, but we do enjoy it!
On to Friday, the star of the week and one of my favorite recipes, La Marina. This one is a copy cat recipe, another one of my recipe sources. How many times have you been to a restaurant and especially enjoyed a particular entree? For me La Marina is one of those. It’s Grilled chicken and shrimp in an adobo sauce with mushrooms and cheese. I think I got it pretty close. Try it. You just might like it.

Be thankful for what life gives you.