A Little Help

So...I kind of abandoned this challenge.  Sorry.  I think it is a great idea, but things came up and we got a little busy the past few weeks.  I've really enjoyed your ideas and am asking for a little help.

3 weeks ago we moved to Eastern Turkey.  We are pretty much adjusted and I am getting used to cooking here.  There are lots of good foods, but I am getting bored of the meals I know how to make and there are foods I don't know what to do with.  So I am looking for ideas for more meals.  Here are the foods that are readily available:

eggplant
green beans
potatoes
carrots
red/green peppers - my husband and I don't really care for them and our kids really dislike them, but we are working on changing that
squash - I have no idea what kind it is, but it's some sort of squash/zucchini that I could substitute for zucchini
pumpkin - it's not our traditional pumpkin - it's green on the outside, but looks like pumpkin on the inside
broccoli
cauliflower

chickpeas
bulgar - i have no idea what to do with this
other beans - mostly white, but i don't recognize them and cannot find any translation

chicken - our main staple
hamburger - i think I found ground beef, but it's like $12/lb, so I'm trying to use it minimally
lamb - we have eaten it and it's good, but I have no idea how to cook it

We don't have a microwave, but did buy a toaster oven that can bake things pretty well, just small scale. So....if you have any ideas/suggestions for what meals I can make....I would LOVE to hear your ideas!!

Thanks!!

Help!

I have a question. Not food related. Not menu related. 'I need advice from other wise mothers' related. The pre-story first:
Sweet baby Kate has always been swaddled when she sleeps but 9 times out of 10 she breaks her arms free. It wasn't a problem a few month ago but now that our house reaches arctic temperatures at night her little hands are freezing when she wakes up for a feeding. It may be wishful thinking but I'm hoping that maybe if the icicles attached to her wrists weren't so cold, maybe she'd sleep through the night (please, Kate, sleep through the night).
So, the question: how do you keep your babies warm at night? I've tried gloves, a little heater... nothing seems to work. 
Thanks in advance for your advice on this.

Love,
Shelly

P.S. Any other sleep-related tips are gladly welcomed. I had no idea getting a baby to sleep could be so challenging! Whenever we try to let her cry it out she reaches the point of hysterics and then it's guaranteed that everyone will be awake for at least two hours...

I'm Back!

So, I am sure that it might tell you what the past few weeks have been like for me if I say that this week (Christmas week) is my down week.  I am thrilled to be done and over with those weeks.  THRILLED!!! Anyhow, I think that it is safe to say that I failed the challenge. :(  But, I am here to give you this week's menu.  Honestly, I have to say that if I had planned out monthly like I normally do, I am sure that my last weeks would have gone by a little smoother.  And every little bit would have helped.  With Mike being gone 2 out the last 3 weeks, I was a single mother. And all I can say is any mother who does that full time or any extended period of time has my complete empathy; and vote for Mother of the Year!  WOW!!!

Monday: Chicken Pillows (Samantha's favorite dinner and choice for a birthday dinner)
Tuesday: Steak, Cheesy Potatoes, Salad, Shrimp Cocktail (A Christmas Eve tradition)
Wednesday: Christmas dinner with the Weston's (I am taking rolls)
Thursday: Pizza night
Friday: Popcorn shrimp, baked fries, beans
Saturday: Sausage Penne Casserole, Peas
Sunday:  Roast, Mashed potatoes, Gravy, Corn, rolls

Chicken Pillows:
Crescent rolls
Chicken chunks
Cream cheese
Ranch dressing powder
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
Milk

I mix together a package of cream cheese, 1 large can of chicken chunks, drained, and 1 tablespoon of ranch powder.  Then I press out the rolls on the counter so that each triangle is flat. I evenly divide the mix onto each triangle before folding them.  Then I fold the triangle over the mix until it is completely covered and looks like a pillow. I spray a square baking pan with spray, place the pillows in the pan. I melt 1 tbs of butter and brush over top the pillows.  Then I sprinkle the pillows with bread crumbs (usually Italian or whatever I have). Bake them at 400 until the pillows are brown and look done. While the pillows are baking, I heat up a can of cream of chicken soup with some milk to make a gravy.  To serve, I cut the  pillows into squares for my kids as that helps it to cool down much quicker and then drizzle gravy over top.  They eat two of these now, each. They love them!

Cassie's Menu Week 6

I can't believe it's already week 6! Where did the time go?! I really have enjoyed this blog and am excited to keep it going with the favorite recipes or the menu's that might keep coming. Thanks for all the encouragment along the way and for all the great new recipes for me to try! This week I believe will be really low key with the holidays! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

Week 6

Monday- Winger's Sticky Fingers/Potatoes (carried over from last week) 
Tuesday- Christmas Eve (my contribution will be twice baked potatoes)
Wednesday- Christmas (We'll be at my inlaws all day and they are having french dip and BBQ Chicken, I think it's a traditon) 

Thursday- Date Night ??

Friday- Cafe Rio salad/burritos (Family is in town)

Saturday- Left Overs (family in town??) 

Sunday- Swiss Chicken and Rice (carried over from last week) 

Week 6 Question

Favorite holiday must-have recipes...

Shelly's Week 6 Menu

Wow, the last week of our six week challenge. Can you believe it? Thanks for joining in on this meal-planning adventure! My hopes for this blog after this week is for it to turn into a place to post favorite recipes you discover or long-loved recipes from your collection as well as a place to post food related questions you may have. If you want to continue to post your menu, go for it! But I hope, regardless, that you'll come back to post and look often.

I stuck to my menu pretty well last week (meaning I didn't stray from the recipes I had planned) but I did end up skipping out on a few of them when I got snowed in at my parents house. Yea for getting to see some of you: nay for Jens not being with us. I did learn that I LOVE this recipe that Cassie posted for Crockpot Swiss Chicken. It really is worth a try. In fact, I made it for my little family on Monday and then again in Cache Valley for my big family on Thursday.

Here's the plan for this week.

Monday: Christmas Adam (Get it? Before Eve came Adam...): A friend in Seattle celebrates Christmas Adam by eating ribs. I kinda love that tradition but if we don't have ribs in the freezer then I'll probably cop out and have Spaghetti

Tuesday: Christmas Eve: Pho (our traditional Christmas Eve soup)

CHRISTMAS!!!: Ham (Jens won a gift card to Honey-Baked Ham at a work thing and we used the entire thing on one ham!!! I'm having a hard time believing that a ham can be $50 good but we'll see...)

Thursday: White Chicken Chili

Friday: Ham Fried Rice

Saturday: I'm hoping for a date afternoon/night with the hubby...

Sunday: Shepherd's Pie

Love you guys and hope that you'll all have a very merry Christmas!

Sarah's week 5

Okay, I have thought about what I was going to cook for dinner this week and I have decided that I am going on a dinner strike.  My husband is going to be gone every night this week but Tuesday and I am going to be super busy finishing Christmas presents, wrapping and all that goes with Christmas.  So my menu is this
Monday  Wing it
Tuesday teriyaki chicken
Wednesday  Wing it
Thursday Wing it
Friday Wing it
Saturday  probably out of town 
Sunday  Family Christmas party. 
As you can see dinner is not going to be high on my list this week.  We will probably have spaghetti, pizza, leftovers,  whatever I can find in the freezer.  I hope to be on track next week

Shelly's Week 5 Menu

We survived our clean-out-the-freezer week (even our 4-month-in-a-non-freezer-bag-in-the-freezer meat) and I've become a convert to freezer meals. There's something magical about having a warm tasty dinner with minimal dishes. What are the favorite freezer meals around your house?

Here's the plan for this week:
Monday: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday: Chili Verde

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Swiss Chicken Recipe (Did you end up making this, Cassie? Did you like it?)

Thursday: Korean Beef

Friday: White Chicken Chili (I'm trying it with freezer turkey...)

Saturday: Crockpot Cheese Tortellini

Sunday: Braided Spaghetti Bread

I read about this soup on a blog and knew I had to give it a try. It was... delish! I present you with...

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini
from this website

1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini (the noodles got a little soggy so this time I'm going to try dry tortellini from WinCo.)
1 small bag of fresh spinach
2 (14.5 oz) cans of Italian style diced tomatoes
8 oz. of cream cheese or Neufchâtel
1 lb. of ground sausage or chicken/turkey sausage
4 cups of chicken broth

Brown the sausage and put all ingredients in crockpot,
chunking up the cream cheese. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs.

*Keep an eye on your tortellini, it may be done sooner.

*If still soupy, leave lid off for the last half hour or so of cooking.

*For a vegetarian version, omit sausage and use vegetable broth instead. 

As you can see, you've had a huge influence on my menu this week. It's exactly what I was hoping would happen with the creation of this blog. Thanks for sharing your ideas!

Cassie's Menu Week 5

Last week was a complete fail! Noah ended up being gone three nights, Kyle was sick one night plus a family birthday party/dinner another night. So needless to say we are carrying over A LOT from last week to this week's menu. I'm excited to get back on track this week and start some home cookin again! :)

Week 5

Monday- Shepherd’s Pie (carried over from last week)

Tuesday- Crockpot Cheese Tortellini (Thanks Shelly)

Wednesday- Chicken chipotle tacos or salad (freezer, carried over from last week) 

Thursday- Thai Lettuce Wraps 

Friday- Wingers Sticky fingers/twice baked potatoes (carried over from last week)

Saturday- Christmas Party and lights at temple square

Sunday- Swiss Chicken and Rice (carried over from last week) 

Week 5: Angela

Starting out with a question: What do you do when you're sick (flu and food sounds awful)? Leave kids to fend for themselves? Cook anyway? Invite everyone to have sprite and crackers too?

Managed to throw together a half-meal-plan tonight, but only because we have to go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Sunday: A fancy meal of taters and steamed carrots because my husband and I were too sick to make anything else. Wally (my 4 yr old) thought we were at a restaurant. This is why I wonder why I cook real meals on other days. Moving on...

Monday: Pizza
Tuesday: Grown-up tuna salad
Wednesday: Stuffed mexican sweet potatoes
Thursday: Work-party (taking a fruit side, suggestions???)
Friday: Spaghetti
Saturday: Baked potato soup
Sunday: A bunch of Christmas treats (and stuffed bell peppers)

Have a great week all!

Week 5 Question

Two favorite soup recipes. Ready? Go!

Weeks 2, 3,4
Ok, I am a little behind. I think week two was Thanksgiving, week three I made and dipped chocolates with my sisters so that was my main diet and here we are to week four.
I think that one of the weeks I was suppose to tell a little about me. I am lucky enough to be Shelly's mom. I love to cook and bake even if the last few weeks have been a little lean around here as far as meals. I think this blog is a great idea and even though I have not been a giver I have enjoyed taking from all of you.
I have six children, five boys and Shelly and they have produced the most beautiful and amazing grandchildren on the face of the earth. I may be a little bias but I do speak the truth.
We just got back from serving an 18 month mission in Hungary. It was fun to learn to cook there with what they had like a two feet by one foot oven. We enjoyed cooking for the Elders that we served with.
I love to fix all the Christmas traditional foods and I really love to eat them. I promise that I will do better in the future.
Here is my menu for Week Four
Monday - tacos ( furnished by the daughters-in- law)
Tuesday ? (we will be in Hagerman, Idaho celebrating our oldest grandson's b-day) I am guessing cake will be part of the menu.
Wednesday- graham cracker pork chops and garlic yams
Thurday - soup at Shelly's
Friday - ward party where we are having french dipped sandwiches with a 1/4 pound on beef on each bun. ( I am in charge of putting on the meat and the RS president asked if she needed to bring her scale, I told her I could eyeball it.)
Saturday - we are eating at a fast food joint on our way to the Utah State/UVU basketball game
Sunday - ham and funeral potatoes, tossed salad and rolls

My mother used to smash the porkchops into graham cracker crumbs that were finely crushed and bake them. I  love them with garlic yams or banana squash. For the yams I just cut them in fairly large pieces and then boil them in water until they are almost tender. Cool and peel and cute in one to two inch chucks. put in greased baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and minced garlic. My mouth is watering as I type.

Now you can see why I haven't posted as I would need to do a menu to post a menu.

sarah's week 4

It may be a day late and take me all day to post my menu but here it finally is.

Monday- Chicken and bacon rolls
Tuesday- pulled pork  (leftovers from freezer)
Wednesday- baked chicken thighs with mac and cheese
Thursday- Cheeseburger rolls and salad
Friday- Chicken noodle soup
Saturday  Christmas party.  I am not cooking
Sunday- Ham with some kind of potatoes

Week 4: Angela

The benefit of posting late is that you can steal other's ideas. So here we go:

Monday: White chili and salad
Tuesday: Pizza Puffs (from freezer) and Topical Smoothie
Wednesday: Mac'n'Tomato and broccoli
Thursday: Black bean and pumpkin chili
Friday: Thai Wraps (thanks Shelly!)
Saturday: Homemade tomato soup (from Freezer) and crusty bread


Good luck to us all!

Shelly's Week 4 Menu

** For those of you that have missed a week or two (or more!) of posting recipes and answering questions, please feel free to jump back in. I LOVE hearing from all of you. Just ask Jens- he keeps commenting about how happy this blog makes me. He's right. Anyway...
 
I actually followed my menu almost exactly last week: a Christmas miracle :)! Here's the plan for this week- I should title it 'Clean Out The Freezer Week':

Monday: Green Curry and Egg Rolls (both in the freezer)

Tuesday: Manicotti (freezer)

Wednesday: Stir Fry with BBQ Rib meat (you guessed it. Freezer)

Thursday: Tuscan Soup with crusty bread

Friday: Homemade Mac and Cheese- Anyone have a favorite recipe for this???

Saturday: BBQ Beef Sandwhiches (left over from Kate's Blessing and my parent's Homecomeing. I'm a little skeptical of what 4 months in the freezer has done to the meat...)

Sunday: Thai Lettuce Wraps- Kyle (my brother/Cassie's husband) made this for me back in his single days and it's been a delicious staple on our menu ever since.

Thai Lettuce Wraps 

(I even had to get up off the couch and go in our 'cold room' as we refer to it around here to get this recipe to type up. That should tell you something about how much I love you guys. And this recipe.)

2 Large chicken breasts (cut into chunks)
1/2 tsp. garlic salt (I always just use about one teaspoon of fresh garlic)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. cooking oil
1/2 red onion, sliced (I sometimes use yellow onion if I don't have red)
2 cups chopped veggies (any combination you want of broccoli, carrots, peppers)
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 tsp. fish sauce (I know this is a weird ingredient but I also use it for Pad Thai so it's worth having around)
4 tsp. sugar

PEANUT SAUCE
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. minced garlic

*You'll also need 1 head of lettuce and you'll need to cook up a little white rice

1. Stir soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar until dissolved in a small saucepan. Set aside.
2. Heat frying pan and coat with oil. Add onions and garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add sauce (from step one) and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes. Add chopped veggies and continue to cook until they are tender.
3. Mix peanut sauce ingredients separately (I just make in the now empty pan that I made the first sauce in). Heat until sugar dissolves.

Serve by placing some rice, chicken/veggie mixture and then a little peanut sauce on one or two pieces of lettuce. Wrap it up (basically just pick up the sides of the lettuce) and enjoy!

Cassie's Menu Week 4

Last week we ended up not going out of town due to the weather but somewhat stuck to our menu thanks to Sunday family dinner and a going away party. 

Week 3

Monday- Easy White Chicken Chili (not the recipe I posted, I ended up using one from Our Best Bites) 

Tuesday- Roast, mashed potatoes, rolls 

Wednesday- Going away party (Pizza, thanks Mom and Dad Flammer!) 

Thursday- Chile Colorado Burritos  (using the beef leftover from Tuesday)  

Friday- Took Kyle dinner to work (Ended up eating out) 

Saturday- Taco Soup 

Sunday- Flammer Family Dinner (Yummy Koren Beef Thanks Lauretta!)

Week 4

Monday- Tacos

Tuesday- Kings Hawaiian Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches (This will be a first, thanks to Pinterest)

Wednesday- Wingers Sitcky Fingers/Twice baked potatoes 

Thursday- Shepherds Pie

Friday- Ward Party (I'm taking brownies) 

Saturday- Chicken Club Quesadillas (This will be a first www.sixsistersstuff.com) 

Sunday- Swiss Chicken and rice 

Slow Cooker Swiss Chicken Recipe:

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 slices Swiss cheese

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

1 package herb stuffing mix

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Place chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Cover chicken with slices of Swiss cheese.  In a small bowl, combine cream of chicken soup and milk and pour over chicken and cheese.  Sprinkle stuffing mix on top and drizzle butter over the top.  Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.

Week 4 Question

I really loved reading the comments on last weeks question. I've already tried one of the recipes (and loved it!) and can't wait to try the others. For this week's question I'm going to turn it over to you guys! Is there a question you'd like to get some input on? If someone has a good lasagna recipe? What's your cheapest meal? What do you make when you're having company over?... Feel free to post your own if you have one and if not feel free to just answer this one. (As I was typing those sample questions I noticed that I really do need advice on one of them)

What do you like to make when you have company over? We're feeding my parents and in-laws this week and I'm trying to figure out what to make...

You guys are the best! I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Shelly

Week 3: Angela

Last night's dinner was so bad I didn't have the heart to post. Tried a new recipe and YUCK. We ate enough to break our fast and dumped the rest. So anyway...

Sunday: YUCK
Monday: Healthy Mexican Sweet Potatoes (so yummy, and gluten-free if you need a good meal for celiac friends/family)
Tuesday: Turkey Pot Pie
Wednesday: Spaghetti
Thursday: Pizza Puffs
Friday: Church party (making 100 baked potatoes :))
Saturday: Vegetarian Chili

Shelly's Week 3 Menu

Thanks for joining us again. I got to see a few of you this weekend and it was wonderful. It reminded me how grateful I am to have each of you (not just the ones I saw) as a positive influence in my life.

Last Weeks Actual
Monday: Mushroom Crepe Melt Thingy from Family Fun

Tuesday: ???

Wednesday: Turkey Noodle Soup

Thursday: I actually really did eat what was on the menu this day! I was reminded how much I love my mom's homemade rolls. With turkey. And mashed potatoes. And gravy. Mmmmmm.

Friday: Pizza with the fam. Yum!

Saturday: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Sunday: Ribs with baked sweet potato

So, maybe you've noticed that my planned menu rarely matched my actual menu. Sometimes I wonder waht the point of having a menu is if I rarely follow it. I've concluded a few things. Just having something written down and having my fridge stocked with everything I need for a weeks worth of dinners really does make my week go more smoothly. If I decide to cook Thursday's meal on Monday, who cares? I like to have a little wiggle room. The other thing that really helps me is to think about it in the morning before I get too caught up in the day. If I think to pull the meat out of the freezer in the morning so it can be defrosting, it makes dinner time run more smoothly. So, here's to another week of hardly followed yet very helpful dinner plans.

Monday: Stuffed French Bread

Tuesday: Oriental Salad (You know, the one with cabbage, toasted ramen noodles and sesame seeds, chicken (or in our case, turkey) and mandarin oranges)

Wednesday: Baked Potato Soup (this is my go-to soup. Cheap. Easy. Yummy.)

Thursday: Lasagna

Friday: Turkey Pot Pie

Saturday: Sweet Potato Bisque with grilled cheese (this is new territory for us. The bisque- not the grilled cheese :) )

Sunday: Meaty Nachos.

Cassie's Menu Week 3

Week 3

Monday- Easy White Chicken Chili (carried over from last week) 

Tuesday- Roast, mashed potatoes, rolls 

Wednesday- Chile Colorado Burritos  (using the beef leftover from Tuesday) 

Thursday-  Taco Soup

Friday- Out of town

Saturday- Out of town

Sunday- Out of town

Chile Colorado Burritos

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat or other beef cubed (top sirloin is great)
• 1 large can mild (red) enchilada sauce* (at least 19 oz.)
• 2 beef bouillon cubes (or just one--or none--if you want it less salty AND you do NOT add water, just the bouillon)
• 1/2 can refried beans (optional)
• 5-7 burrito size flour tortillas
• 1 cup or so of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Put beef, whole bouillon cubes (do NOT add water), and enchilada sauce*** into a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours**, or until meat is very tender. (Can also cook on high for maybe 3-4 hours.)  I've also cooked it in a dutch oven for about 4 hours at 325 degrees.  More meat, more time.  A third option is to cook it in a large heavy saucepan--bring it to a boil on high heat, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meat is tender.  If you go with a method other than the crock pot, make sure the pot is covered and pretty well sealed to minimize evaporation of the liquid.

When beef is done (very tender and flakes off when stirred), taste and add more salt, if desired. Heat up refried beans in the microwave (covered and in a microwave-proof dish, of course)and put your oven on broil. On an oven-proof plate, or cookie sheet even, lay out a tortilla.  Place on tortilla about 1/2 cup of the meat, drained by using a slotted spoon, and a spoonful or two of beans. Roll into a burrito (hopefully you know how to roll these). Pour some of the remaining enchilada sauce from the crock pot over the burrito to cover it. Sprinkle with some cheddar cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly, about 2-4 minutes.


Serve.
Makes 5-7 burritos, depending on how full you make them.

Sarah's week 3 menu

Last week went pretty good.  I stuck to my menu every night but one.  Life happens and we were not able to eat rice crispie chicken.  We are going to try it again this week.

Monday  Enchiladas from the freezer
Tuesday  Rice crispie chicken with coleslaw and baked beans
Wednesday  Sweet and sour meatballs with rice
Thursday  Chicken wraps
Friday  Spaghetti with breadsticks
Saturday  grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup
Sunday  Potato soup

Week 3 Question

What are two of your most used recipes that you feel like sharing with the world (or at least the 6 people that read this blog :) )?