Menu Plan Monday 8/8

I'm sure you've noticed that I fell off the menu planning band wagon this summer. Bad summer bad. The laziness. Let me tell you, not having one sucked. Every night I'd "wing" it, worrying throughout the day what to make. I also didn't get to try out as many new recipes as I would have liked. Bad blogger bad.

I'm back at it and you can expect me to stick with it, now that summer is slowly coming to an end. I know many of you are getting into the "back to school" mode as teachers, students, and parents. Those of us in Michigan still have about a month to ago. Sigh. Where has the summer gone? It goes by too fast.

If you are going back to school soon, good luck! Have a great first day and I hope you pack something besides a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. :)  

Almond Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Parmesan Zucchini & Couscous
White Wine Salmon with Mushroom Risotto
Skillet Chicken Parmesan
Smothered Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes
Summer Veggie Pasta

What 's on your menu this week?

The Week Wrap Up- 8/1-8/6

Okay, I know this is not original. A wrap up of a week's worth of posts. I've seen countless other blogs do it and you know what- I think it's a great idea. I've wanted to do something like this for a while now. Here's how it's gonna work:

1. Every Saturday there will be a weekly wrap up of all my posts for that week.
2. I will feature all the links I've bookmarked from that week.
3. I will also feature your posts- if you'd like me to share a recipe that you've recently blogged (or bookmarked), leave me a comment and I'll pick my favorites.

Alrighty! How does that sound? I'm so excited to hear from you! Let's get started.

Here's what I've shared with you this week on the blog: 

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies

Be sure to check those out if you haven't already! They're all winners in my book.

Here's what I've bookmarked:

 Marbled Nutella Banana Bread -Visions of Sugar Plums

Berrylicious Waffles - Lick the Bowl Good

 Glazed Doughnut Muffins - Extreme Personal Measures

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cake  -  Erin's Food Files

  Chocolate Cheesecake with Peanut Butter Cream -  Miss in the Kitchen

Cream Cheese Brownies - Brown Eyed Baker

Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshakes - Miss in the Kitchen

Now it's your turn. What did you make/bookmark this week? Share your links with me!

Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies

It's no secret around here that I love cookies. 

I even have a shirt to prove it. It's pink, has a giant chocolate chip cookie in the middle and says, "I'm one tough cookie." You can get yourself one here.

There is nothing about cookies that I don't love. Put chocolate in them and I'll eat it. Nuts, sure. Cranberries, raisins, oatmeal, lemon, cinnamon, peanut butter...I'll eat them all. If I could solely live off of baking cookies (as in, making some big bucks for it), I'd do it. 

That is my cookie dream.

These cookies are great. Crispy out of the oven, a good ratio of chocolate and nuts (although I'll add more next time, I didn't put 2 cups as the recipe says), they can easily become a household staple. This recipe makes a lot so I froze half my batch. I shaped them into balls and lined them on a cookie sheet to freeze. Once they were frozen I wrapped them in wax paper and sealed them in a ziploc bag. I love having cookie balls ready to go whenever a cookie mood strikes. 

Source: Bake of Break

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

Place butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave until melted, about 1 minute. Add both sugars to melted butter and stir until combined. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs, stirring until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder until just combined and a soft dough forms. Fold in chocolate and pecans.

Scoop dough in desired cookie size onto lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Leave room between cookies for some spreading.
Preheat oven to 350°. Bake cookies until golden around the edges but a little soft in the center. Baking time will vary depending on the size of the cookies. Smaller cookies (2-inch diameter) bake for 13-15 minutes. Larger cookies may require up to 18 minutes.

Cool on baking sheets on wire racks for a few minutes. Then, transfer from baking sheets to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 48 2-inch cookies.

What kind of cookie recipes would you like to see around here?

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I made you bread.

I thought you might like some.

When I got my Kitchenaid mixer, the first thing I wanted to do was bake bread. I've had bread recipes saved for months just waiting for the day I'd get the tools I needed to make fresh bread. It's kinda funny that this cinnamon swirl bread required absolutely no tools. Just a bowl and a wooden spoon. Go figure.

There is something very rewarding about making bread. It's soothing and very tranquil. I was totally relaxed as I made it.

Which is saying a lot. My patience didn't get the best of me.

Which means you can do this.

Dough does not rise in my kitchen. The first time I tried to get dough to rise I was in a panic. It never rose. So, after numerous attempts to get my pizza doughs to rise, I've found the perfect method. I boil 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan, remove it from the heat and place a wire rack on top. I set the bowl with the dough on the wire rack and cover it with a clean towel. Works every time.

This dough was huge. It took over the entire bowl and deflated after I punched it down.

My favorite part is kneading the dough. Once you've got it at the right consistency (you will have to add more flour as you knead and roll the dough around) it's a walk in park.

I opened the oven a few times to peek inside and the smell was heavenly.

It has to be served warmed. I like it best toasted with a slab of butter.

There are two things that I'll change next time I make it.
1. It needs more cinnamon.
2. It needs more butter.

I hope you try it. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Source: Recipe Girl

Bread:
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided + more for surface work

Filling:
2 Tablespoons butter, softened
2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

In a microwavable up, heat butter and warm milk in short bursts; stir together until butter is melted. In a large bowl, stir sugar, salt and cinnamon. Pour warm butter/milk mixture into the bowl; stir. In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, mix yeast and warm water until yeast is dissolved; pour into the bowl and stir.

Mix in 2 1/2 cups flour. Turn out dough onto a floured board (dough will be sticky). Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of flour (you might need more) onto the dough and knead until the dough is soft and smooth (4 to 5 minutes). Add additional sprinkles of flour, if needed.

Put dough into a greased bowl; turn the dough over so the top of the dough is greased too. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down the dough in the bowl with your fist. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 1 minute.

Roll dough out into a basic rectangular shape. Use a butter knife or your clean fingers to spread 2 tablespoons softened butter on the surface of the rolled out dough. In a small bowl, mix white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture on top of the butter.

Roll up dough and form into a loaf. Place into a buttered 5x9-inch bread pan, seam side down. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Score risen dough in the pan by cutting 3 slashes diagonally across the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Bake bread for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Fully baked bread should sound hollow when tapped. Turn out bread and let cool on a wire rack.

Have you made bread before? What was your experience like? Got any recommendations?

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

I don't know if you noticed, but for a while there I wasn't really posting. I haven't been inspired to cook as much as usual, which is crazy, because it's summer and I'm home and only working part time. I'll be perfectly honest with you- I've been pretty lazy. But summer time makes many of us lazy, right (please say yes to make me feel better)? We're looking for something easy to throw on top of the grill and hope it will be amazing. It's also hot, so we're not thinking about turning on that oven or slaving away at the stove top. But still. I miss cooking. And I miss blogging! So I've made it my mission to cook and bake my way through August, before the kiddos and I head back to school.

Starting with these stuffed peppers. 

Holy moly.

I've never made stuffed peppers before. Where I've been don't ask me. I can not believe I've waited this long.

It's not even the peppers themselves really. It's the stuffing inside them! I'm obsessed. Unbelievably obsessed. I want to make this quinoa tomato southwestern mixture all.the.time. And I've got Rachel to thank for it. You must check out her blog. She just had a hot fudge week folks! You'll seriously be missing out if you don't. 

I halved the recipe because there are only two of us. But this is the original recipe. I also did not add chicken in the stuffing, feel free to do whatever you like!

Source: Not Rachael Ray

8 bell peppers (any color, I made three, but there are only two of us)
2 cups of cooked quinoa
1/2 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 ears of corn, kernels cut away from cob (I had frozen corn and used 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, diced (omitted)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 heaping Tbsp taco seasoning
1.5 cups of cheese (I used cheddar)

Preheat oven to 350. Wash peppers and cut off tops. Discard seeds and ribs. In a very large bowl, mix together all other ingredients. Save a small bit of the cheese to sprinkle on top of the peppers.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Submerge peppers into water and boil for three minutes. Remove carefully and let cool until you are able to handle them.

Set peppers upright in a baking dish (probably a 9×13 for eight peppers, or an 8×8 for four peppers). Fill peppers with filling, pushing down gently and heaping up slightly on top. Sprinkle with extra cheese if desired. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until browned on top and heated through. Serve with more chopped fresh cilantro or fresh salsa.

Love. What's on your menu this week? Do you miss my weekly menus? That's another thing that's fallen off the back of the truck. Whoops.