Another Month, Another Plan

I'm running behind this month and it's only the 3rd.  I did some catch up today, and hopefully I can be ahead of the game.  We had a BBQ this weekend and I spent most of the week planning for it.  We hosted about 16 people in our tiny yard all day Saturday.  I was up at 7:30 in the morning setting up and for those of you who know me well or even just a little know that I don't do mornings.  Lance was chosen by Crowdtap to host a McCormick Grill Mates party.  (see my other blog for details about Crowdtap and the party)  I tried two new recipes for the party.  I really liked both, but from the feedback I think the punch was a hit.  Click here for those recipes.

This morning I spent working in the coffee bar at church and finally was able to work on my meal plan for the month this afternoon.  I love the summer months because I grill a lot more and can eat lighter.  Yet I can still throw in a few hearty meals here and there.  So for this month our menu is as follows

June 4 - 8
Tacos (I needed something easy after a big weekend and being late in planning)
BBQ Chicken Salad - I just grill chicken, brush with bbq sauce, shred, and put in a salad.
BLT's
Skillet Lasagna 
Burgers

June 11-15
French Dip Sandwiches
Fresh Take Cheese & Breadcrumb Chicken - this is a Kraft product to bread chicken with.
Skillet Sausage & Rice
Chicken Pasta in Garlic Butter Sauce
Pizza

June 18 - 22
Chicken Fried Steak & Mashed Potatoes
Chicken BLT Taco Salad
Creamy Chicken Bacon Pockets
Tortellini & Alfredo Sauce - I'm just going to buy frozen or refrigerated
Burgers

June 25 - 29
Steak & Sweet Potatoes
Honey Lime Grilled Chicken
Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Lime Sauce
Grilled Chicken Pesto Farfalle
Pizza

It's A Plan

3 months ago I began planning out a month's dinners.  At first I wasn't sure how it was going to work for me.  But I LOVED it.  It gave me such freedom.  I didn't have to try to figure out every night what I was cooking for that night.  Now I just need to make sure I get the meat out to thaw for each day, and I go shopping Monday morning for any items I need for the week.  I have also felt more freedom to try new recipes.  As we find recipes we really like we put them into the rotation.  Last month we discovered we love baked ziti.

I was sharing with a close friend that I had started doing this, and she loved the idea.  But she doesn't really have the time to sit down and plan out a month.  So the next month, I sent her the menu and all the recipes to go with the meals.  She was excited that her month was planned out.  Because her girls don't like everything that Lance and I do, I'm sure she switched up some of the recipes, but she was for the most part planned out for the month.

After reading another friend's blog, I realized I could share my meal planning with all of you.  You may not want  to have all the meals we will be having, but it may give you some ideas to help with your planning.

Before I give you our plan for the last two weeks of May, I want to share with you how I plan the month.  It may also help you plan.  When I began planning, it seemed big and overwhelming, but I realized if I had a plan of attack it would help.  So I decided we would have a beef dish on Mondays, a chicken dish on Tuesdays, fish or pork on Wednesdays, whatever on Thursdays, and pizza or burgers on Fridays.  Saturdays & Sundays are wing it days. For sides, I buy what is on sale that week and split them among the days.  This helps us eat what is in season because the sales usually follow what is in season.

Now for our menu:
May 21 - 25
Monday: Cowboy Casserole (see below for recipe)
Tuesday: Easy Garlic Chicken
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner
Thursday: Steak & Potato
Friday: Burgers

May 28 - June 1
Monday:  Steak Quesadillas
Tuesday: Rotisserie Chicken
Wednesday: BLT's
Thursday: Spaghetti & Caesar Salad
Friday: Pizza


Cowboy Casserole
Brown:  1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef with 1/2 diced onion and optional 1/4 lb. bacon cut up.  While that is browning in a skillet, get a crock pot and add: one can each of Lima beans, butter beans, pork n beans and jalapeno pinto beans (drain all juices except pinto beans). Then add: 1/2 cup each of brown sugar, ketchup, BBQ sauce, 2 TBSP. vinegar, 1 tsp. garlic salt and some salt and pepper.  Drain the meat and add to crock pot.  Stir all together well.  You can serve immediately, or wait a few hours for flavors to meld together.  Serve with cornbread.  Add jalapenos if you like, too.  This can be ready in about 15-20 minutes.  Very hearty meal-sticks to ribs.   (I can't always find the beans that are listed so I find something similar.)

Never Again Will I Say I Don't Like BBQ Sauce

I  really wanted to get a recipe out today but inspiration just hasn't hit me this morning.  Hopefully a can of efusjon will help.  Quite a few of my recipes came from my time spent in Colorado at the ranch.  I learned a thing or two about cooking while I was there.  I learned a thing or two about life while I was there also.

I spent a little over a year at the ranch.  I loved living in the boonies out in the mountains.  The experiences gained were amazing.  I relearned to horseback ride, learned to snowmobile, learned more about people and learned so much more about cooking.  I also learned to like BBQ sauce again.  The recipe I'd like to share came from the ranch.  It is the most well liked recipe I make.  However, the story I'd like to share isn't about the ranch.  It begins several years before moving to Colorado, even several years before college.

When I was a young kid, my family moved to Idaho.  My parents moved us to a small town to start a church.  Along with the ministry of the church, my mom ran a daycare in our house.  This allowed her to take care of our young family while bringing in an income.  As our family aged, our needs changed and it was time for mom to work outside our house.  I was thrilled with this.  As a teenager, I was tired of all the little kids running around our house.  I just wanted privacy.  My younger sister wasn't as excited.  She was "losing" all her friends.   This change was a big one for us.  It meant dad had to begin cooking for us.  Dad was creative with his cooking.  I realize he was trying.  However, he liked to put his "secret ingredient" in nearly everything.  Although, he never told me his "secret ingredient," I believe it was bbq sauce.  This began my season of hating bbq sauce.  Contrary to popular belief (or just my dad's), bbq sauce does not belong in ramen noodles, rice,  or so many other things.  I also began to learn to cook around this time.  But I didn't use bbq sauce.  In fact, I didn't eat bbq sauce again until I moved to the ranch.

At the ranch, I was introduced to bbq ribs - amazing bbq ribs.  Ribs that you dream about.  I have seen people eat an entire rack of these ribs.  Never again will I say I don't like bbq sauce.

To make these amazing BBQ Ribs:

Baby Back Pork Ribs (or St. Louis style) 1 rack for every 2 people
Chopped garlic
Brown sugar
Pepper
Pineapple Juice

BBQ Sauce:
1 -18oz KC Masterpiece bbq sauce - original
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 drop tabasco sauce

Preheat oven to 350.  Place racks of ribs in a baking pan.  Rub each rack (both sides) with brown sugar, garlic & pepper.  Pour pineapple juice over the racks, cover & place in oven.  Bake for about 3 hours.  The meat will be tender and pull easily away from the bone.  (When I lived in TX, it only took 2.5 hours to cook)

For the BBQ sauce, combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until warm.

After ribs are done in the oven, preheat the grill.  Cut in pieces with 2 rib bones in each piece.  Dip rips into bbq sauce.  Turn grill to low and place ribs on grill.  You will just be caramelizing the bbq sauce.  Cook until grill lines appear.  Depending on the temp of the grill, it will take 5 to 10 minutes on each side.
Serve with lots of napkins.