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The Viking Family

The first post is my goals for 2011.

Menu Plan Monday

Taco Soup
Chili Verde
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Build your own salad
Pork chops, squash, salad
Dinner @ Jeremy’s company party
Paninis

My friend Meg shared this recipe with me.
Taco Soup
1 lb. ground beef
1 can Rotel
1.5 cups frozen corn
1.5 cups frozen green beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can chili beans
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 packet taco seasoning
Brown the meat and add taco seasoning to it. Combine all ingredients in a pot or crock pot. Basically cook till hot. You can heat on the stove for a quicker meal. Oh, with the canned ingredients, I used the whole can, juices and all. Add water until it reaches a consistency you are happy with.

Italian Beef Sandwiches
Ingredients:
1 boneless sirloin tip roast (about 4lbs), halved
2 envelopes Italian salad dressing mix (use 3 if you want spicy)
2 cups water
1 jar (16oz) mild pepper rings, with juice (You can use hot if you want, but it's already spicy this way.)
Hoagie Buns
Mozzarella cheese, optional

Directions:
Place roast in slow cooker. Combine the salad dressing mix & water; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until the meat is tender & falls apart.
Remove meat; shred with a fork and return to slow cooker. Add pepper rings; heat through.
Ready to serve!

A step we added was putting mozzarella cheese on the roll and sticking it in the toaster oven to toast the bun & melt the cheese. This also helps keep the bread from getting soggy from all the juices.

Second grade

As you can see…I am horrible at keeping up with the blog. Before Facebook came around, I was great about keeping a blog. Now, it’s just easier to write a short update or quickly upload a photo of the kids from my phone. If you aren’t on Facebook, you should be, and find me, so that you can see the pictures and read the updates on the kids that I randomly post.

Kaylin started 2nd grade in August. SECOND GRADE! She is basically half way through her elementary school years! How in the world did this happen?? My baby girl is growing up entirely too fast! Her teacher is a long time family friend, so this school year has been a favorite so far. Kaylin’s teacher is my mom’s friend, Kay’s daughter. Follow? Ms. H and I also went to middle school and high school together. Our backyards shared a corner before my parents moved. It’s awesome that she & her family are family friends, but beyond that, she is just an awesome teacher! She is great about communicating. She emails both Jeremy and I frequently. She asked us all at Meet the Teacher night if it was ok for her to email us, and warned us that the emails would be frequent. At the time, I thought we would get an email here and there, but we get 1-3 emails from her a week. While that might sound overwhelming, messages don’t always make it home in a timely manner, so having the teacher email updates is a blessing. I feel like I am much more up to date with what is going on at school than a lot of the other parents in other classes do, thanks to Ms. H and her emails.

Kaylin and Ms. H on the first day of school.

Kaylin with her group.

Menu Plan Monday

 

Mexican Chicken Bake and green salad
Shrimp Scampi over angel hair and zucchini fries
Red Beans & rice with cornbread & fruit
Maple Apple Pork Tenderloin, steamed broccoli, and brown rice
Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole and warm cinnamon apples

Shrimp Scampi & Pasta
1 T minced garlic
2 t olive oil
1 t oregano
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
1 ½ lbs fresh shrimp, peeled
1/3 c white cooking wine
1 T corn starch
6 c cooked pasta
Sauté garlic in olive oil for 1 min over med heat. Add shrimp, oregano, salt & pepper and sauté 4 min. Reduce heat to simmer. Combine wine, cornstarch and add to shrimp. Simmer until sauce thickens. Divide shrimp and sauce into 6 portions and serve each over 1 c pasta.

Maple Apple Pork Tenderloin
1.7 lb pork tenderloin
1 green apple, diced
¼ c chopped walnuts
1/3 c maple syrup
Bake tenderloin as directed. In a small sprayed skillet sauté diced apple for 5 - 6 min on medium temp. Add walnuts & syrup and heat 3 min more. Slice pork into 6 servings and pour
sauce evenly over pork.

Red Beans & Rice
2 c dried red beans, soak over night
¾ c uncooked brown rice
4 c water
2 t salt
1 T ground cumin
1 large onion, cut into chunks
Place all ingredients in crock pot. Cook 6 –8 hours on low or until onions are tender. *Note: red beans need to be brought to a boil before being cooked in a crock pot. Research red bean toxin if you want to know more about this.

Mexican Chicken Bake
1 ½ lbs boneless/skinless chicken breast
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 ½ c Lowfat sour cream
1 t cumin
¼ t pepper
4 oz can chopped green chilies
6 small corn tortillas – cut into 2 inch strips
1 c shredded 2 % Mexican blend cheese
Boil chicken for 10 min. Chop chicken and combine w/beans, sour cream, cumin, pepper, and chilies. Place ½ of tortilla strips into the bottom of dish and cover with ½ chicken mixture. Top with remaining tortillas and remaining chicken mixture; sprinkle 1 c cheese on top and bake 30 min @ 350.

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
6 servings @ 7 pts each
4 c Shredded Hash Browns
8 oz lean diced ham
½ c diced onions
1 c shredded 2 % cheddar cheese
1 c RF Bisquick
2 c FF milk
1 c FF egg sub
Spread hash browns into the bottom of a sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle ham, onions, and cheese on top. Combine Bisquick, milk, & egg sub; slowly pour over potato mixture. Bake uncovered for 45 min @ 375.

Menu Plan…Thursday?

My friend Jenn just wrote about menu planning, which made me realize I have severely fallen off the menu planning wagon. I hate cooking in the summer…especially when the temps reach the 100’s like they have this past week. Summer is time for salads, sandwiches and lots and lots of grilling at our house. Ok, and eating out.

Part of the reason I used to post my menus here was if I wrote it out, somehow, it helped to hold me accountable. I really need to get back into that, if only for myself. It might give other people some recipe ideas as well in the process, but this is almost entirely for me!

Tuesday night we had grilled pork chops, grilled corn on the cob & salads. For this, we simply put salt, pepper & Emeril’s essence on pork cutlets and grilled them. I wanted something sweet & savory, so I mixed spicy ground mustard and brown sugar as a glaze for mine.

Also planned this week:

Great Aunt Mary’s Casserole – corn tortillas, chili, tomato sauce & cheese. This is a very simple & tasty dish. While the chili is heating up on the stove, I stick the corn tortillas in the oven to get warm & hopefully a slight crisp to them. When the chili is warm throughout, I layer 6 corn tortillas, half of the chili, drizzle half of the tomato sauce (I use a small 8 oz. can) and sprinkle a handful of cheese, continue with one more layer ending with the cheese. Serve with a salad! In the fall and winter, I use leftover chili if we have it on hand. If we don’t have leftover chili, I use canned.

Foil packet chicken – This can be a mixture of many things! This week my plan is 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, taco seasoning, 3 small red potatoes, 1 onion sliced, 6 tablespoons of salsa, 3/4 cup shredded mexican style cheese, 3 tablespoons of sour cream for topping. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out 3 large sheets of foil. Slice each potato & onion thinly, and lay out one potato and some onion slices on each sheet of foil. Shake chicken in a bag with taco seasoning, and place on top of potato & onion slices. Top each piece of chicken with 2 tablespoons of salsa then 1/4 cup cheese. Bring up foil sides and double fold and roll down, do the same to the ends. Place in a baking dish large enough to fit them all. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Let stand 5 minutes, then vent foil packet before opening. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Hamburgers – I think we all have our preferred method for these! However, before the end of summer, I do want to try several of these recipes.

Jalapeno Popper Burger

Mozzarella-Stuffed Bruschetta Turkey Burgers with Balsamic Glaze

Apricot Glazed Turkey Burgers Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Seriously, you NEED to go check those links out. Kristin makes those burgers look and sound sooooo very yummy!

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Fun Day!

We’ve had a relaxing and packed full of fun summer, so far. Here are some pictures from our Sundays. We spend every Sunday (Fun Day!) over at the in-law’s house with family & friends…swimming, barbecuing and just enjoying everyone’s company. It’s a great way to spend the summer!

Jonathan playing washers at the in-law’s house. Okay, so we let him cheat a little by getting close. Isn’t this a great action shot?

Floating in the pool. I obviously need to go float some more! Wish I had Kaylin’s skin tone!

Uncle Justin tosses Kaylin around the pool. She loves all the attention from her uncle & his friends! And I’m pretty sure they love giving the kids all their attention, too. Aunt Kayla’s boyfriend, David, will come over there during his lunch break from work just to see & play with the kids! These boys/young men are great with the kids!

Uncle Justin, Kaylin, Jeremy, Randy (father-in-law) & Justin’s friend Laura. Yeah, can you tell who Kaylin gets her skin tone from?

Jeremy & Aunt Rae, who came down from Missouri to visit this weekend.