group will be cooking again April 6th. Here's what we're planning to make.
Showing posts with label menus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label menus. Show all posts
Friday, March 4, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
IL March Menu
We will be cooking again Wednesday, March 2nd.
Simple Salisbury Steaks
Cheese Manicotti
Twice Baked Potatoes
Quick Quiche
And we have a date and tentative menu for April:
April 6th
Cheese Sticks (recipe coming soon)
Marinades:
~Polynesian Honey Pineapple
~Monica's BBQ
~Apricot
Taco Bake? We'll let Tristy's group make it first but it sounds delicious!
Simple Salisbury Steaks
Cheese Manicotti
Twice Baked Potatoes
Quick Quiche
And we have a date and tentative menu for April:
April 6th
Cheese Sticks (recipe coming soon)
Marinades:
~Polynesian Honey Pineapple
~Monica's BBQ
~Apricot
Taco Bake? We'll let Tristy's group make it first but it sounds delicious!
Friday, January 7, 2011
IL January 2011 Menu
We're cooking Wednesday, January 26th at 9 am!
We're doing something a little different with our menu this month. Perhaps we were jealous of the amazing deal the WI group recently got for their chicken?!
Busy Day Meatloaf
Meatballs
Pancakes
Parmesan Chicken*
Cheese Manicotti*
You will notice two of our items have asterisks. We're not making both of these meals. When Laryssa goes to the store for us (thanks Laryssa!), she will decide which we are making based on the price of the chicken. If chicken is too pricey, we will default to making cheese manicotti.
We're doing something a little different with our menu this month. Perhaps we were jealous of the amazing deal the WI group recently got for their chicken?!
Busy Day Meatloaf
Meatballs
Pancakes
Parmesan Chicken*
Cheese Manicotti*
You will notice two of our items have asterisks. We're not making both of these meals. When Laryssa goes to the store for us (thanks Laryssa!), she will decide which we are making based on the price of the chicken. If chicken is too pricey, we will default to making cheese manicotti.
Monday, November 22, 2010
IL December 2010 Menu
As promised, here is the Appetizer and Gift Mix menu for December. Only 3 of us are available to cook this day so the menu is scaled back slightly.
M&M Cookie Mix (click link to find NEW! printable gift tags!)
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Pizza Dip Mix (click link to find NEW! printable gift tags!)
Taco Tartlets
M&M Cookie Mix (click link to find NEW! printable gift tags!)
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Pizza Dip Mix (click link to find NEW! printable gift tags!)
Taco Tartlets
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
October 2010 Menu
We are back from our hiatus with a few changes. Most importantly we will be cooking together again! Cooking at home and then swapping worked alright for the summer, but it's much more convenient (and fun) to cook together.
We are sad to see Tristy go, but as she moved to a different state, it really makes it impractical to continue cooking with her. In Tristy's place we welcome Jennifer. You will get to know Jen better whenever I update our bio info (don't hold your breath!).
Another minor change is that we will be cooking on Wednesday mornings instead of Tuesday. Now that school is back in session, a couple of us now have preschool schedules to work around.
With that out of the way, I present our October menu:
Thank you to Jen for volunteering to do the grocery shopping this month.
We are sad to see Tristy go, but as she moved to a different state, it really makes it impractical to continue cooking with her. In Tristy's place we welcome Jennifer. You will get to know Jen better whenever I update our bio info (don't hold your breath!).
Another minor change is that we will be cooking on Wednesday mornings instead of Tuesday. Now that school is back in session, a couple of us now have preschool schedules to work around.
With that out of the way, I present our October menu:
Thank you to Jen for volunteering to do the grocery shopping this month.
Friday, May 21, 2010
June 2010 Menu
We will swap meals again on June 22nd. Debbie is taking the summer off so we will make 4 meals of each recipe. And we each chose a marinade to prepare in addition to our other recipe.
Please remember to send me your receipt totals ahead of time so I can calculate!
Lisa- Alton Brown pancakes and Monica's BBQ marinade.
Laryssa- Creamy Baked Pasta (no green onions on Tristy's!) and Lemonade Chicken marinade.
Tristy- Peanut Butter Bars and Carribean Jerk marinade (no red pepper in Lisa's!).
Jodi- Parmesan Chicken and Polynesian Honey Pineapple marinade.
Please remember to send me your receipt totals ahead of time so I can calculate!
Lisa- Alton Brown pancakes and Monica's BBQ marinade.
Laryssa- Creamy Baked Pasta (no green onions on Tristy's!) and Lemonade Chicken marinade.
Tristy- Peanut Butter Bars and Carribean Jerk marinade (no red pepper in Lisa's!).
Jodi- Parmesan Chicken and Polynesian Honey Pineapple marinade.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Planning Session
All five of us met this morning to do a little planning session since we're going to try something a little different.
The dynamics of our group have changed a little. We have two moms with babies under a year who are in that teething/needy/clingy stage (the babies, not the moms!). And with summer coming up, kids will be at home and that means even more children running around the house while we cook, or worrying about older kids who are left at home. All of this will make it harder for us to all get together at the same time to accomplish cooking meals for our freezers.
So today we agreed that we need to tweak our process a little and decided to each choose a recipe, of which we will make 5 batches and we set a date to swap our meals. This way we can shop for and cook our meals at a time that is convenient to us. Any time between now and our swap date!
Figuring out the money situation and who owes whom how much will be a little more difficult, but I'm sure that with my trusty Excel spreadsheet, I can do it!
And we need to talk about certain things ahead of time. Things like who does or doesn't want mushrooms our onions or mustard and how many meals they would like to get out of a certain recipe. But we've been working with each other for over a year now, some of us for two years so we're pretty good with our communication.
This isn't necessarily permanent. I'm sure there will come a time when things quiet down and we can go back to cooking together. But for now, this is what will work best for all of us.
Our menu for May is:
Tristy- Black Bean Lasagna
Debbie- Hamburger Quiche
Jodi- Dr. Pepper Spaghetti
Laryssa- Freezer Quesadillas
Lisa- Bacon Swiss Meatloaf (doubled)
We will meet to swap onThursday, May 13th Tuesday, May 18th at 10 AM.
The dynamics of our group have changed a little. We have two moms with babies under a year who are in that teething/needy/clingy stage (the babies, not the moms!). And with summer coming up, kids will be at home and that means even more children running around the house while we cook, or worrying about older kids who are left at home. All of this will make it harder for us to all get together at the same time to accomplish cooking meals for our freezers.
So today we agreed that we need to tweak our process a little and decided to each choose a recipe, of which we will make 5 batches and we set a date to swap our meals. This way we can shop for and cook our meals at a time that is convenient to us. Any time between now and our swap date!
Figuring out the money situation and who owes whom how much will be a little more difficult, but I'm sure that with my trusty Excel spreadsheet, I can do it!
And we need to talk about certain things ahead of time. Things like who does or doesn't want mushrooms our onions or mustard and how many meals they would like to get out of a certain recipe. But we've been working with each other for over a year now, some of us for two years so we're pretty good with our communication.
This isn't necessarily permanent. I'm sure there will come a time when things quiet down and we can go back to cooking together. But for now, this is what will work best for all of us.
Our menu for May is:
Tristy- Black Bean Lasagna
Debbie- Hamburger Quiche
Jodi- Dr. Pepper Spaghetti
Laryssa- Freezer Quesadillas
Lisa- Bacon Swiss Meatloaf (doubled)
We will meet to swap on
Monday, April 5, 2010
Another RMG cooking session
Once again, I'm hosting a cooking session for my mom's group, RMG. It will be Friday, April 9th in the evening.
It's been so long, but I think I remember that we got done in about 90 minutes last time, with 6 cooks. So this time, I chose recipes that are slightly more complex and wouldn't you know it, we've only got 5 people signed up to cook. I think it will work out all right, though.
We are making:
Meatloaf
Stuffed Shells
Chicken in Phyllo
Sausage Biscuits
Garlic Bread
It's been so long, but I think I remember that we got done in about 90 minutes last time, with 6 cooks. So this time, I chose recipes that are slightly more complex and wouldn't you know it, we've only got 5 people signed up to cook. I think it will work out all right, though.
We are making:
Meatloaf
Stuffed Shells
Chicken in Phyllo
Sausage Biscuits
Garlic Bread
Friday, February 26, 2010
March 2010 Menu
We're only doing four recipes in March because there will only be four cooks. Jodi has to sit this one out due to a full freezer and a frozen cookie dough fundraiser!
made with turkey bacon, one pack of tortillas and one dozen eggs, each
should get two meals out of this one
we are finally trying this one- we posted the recipe last May! We will make the sauce and veggies and add our own chicken at home to keep costs down.
we all really want to try this one
Tristy volunteered to shop again. Thanks Tristy!
made with turkey bacon, one pack of tortillas and one dozen eggs, each
should get two meals out of this one
we are finally trying this one- we posted the recipe last May! We will make the sauce and veggies and add our own chicken at home to keep costs down.
we all really want to try this one
Tristy volunteered to shop again. Thanks Tristy!
Monday, January 18, 2010
February 2010 Menu
We'll be cooking on February 23rd at 9 am at Lisa's house.
Menu:
Italian Cirtus Marinade
Simple Salisbury Steaks
Basic Meatballs
Pasta with Herb Sauce
French Toast
Tristy will do the grocery shopping.
Menu:
Italian Cirtus Marinade
Simple Salisbury Steaks
Basic Meatballs
Pasta with Herb Sauce
French Toast
Tristy will do the grocery shopping.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
January 2010 Menu
Wow. It's weird to write 2010. Guess I better get used to it, huh?
January will be heavy on poultry. And these first two recipes will be fussy to prepare, so we're only going to do 3 main dishes plus a dessert.
Chicken Breasts in Phyllo- we need to figure out how many to make; if we do 12 per person, we'll be here all day!
Lisa's Chicken Enchiladas- I recently made this on my own and was able to make 14 enchiladas with the amount of filling listed so we'll have to bring more tortillas then called for in the recipe. We'll put this in two pans per family and we figured out it works best to bake this from frozen.
Turkey and Artichoke Casserole- no mushrooms for Tristy and Debbie
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars- do these look delicious or what!
January will be heavy on poultry. And these first two recipes will be fussy to prepare, so we're only going to do 3 main dishes plus a dessert.
Chicken Breasts in Phyllo- we need to figure out how many to make; if we do 12 per person, we'll be here all day!
Lisa's Chicken Enchiladas- I recently made this on my own and was able to make 14 enchiladas with the amount of filling listed so we'll have to bring more tortillas then called for in the recipe. We'll put this in two pans per family and we figured out it works best to bake this from frozen.
Turkey and Artichoke Casserole- no mushrooms for Tristy and Debbie
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars- do these look delicious or what!
Friday, November 13, 2009
December 2009 Menu
Tuesday, December 8th, 9 am at Lisa's house
We're doing something a little different for our December menu. We're going to focus on appetizers that can be made ahead and dry mixes for gift giving (or for ourselves!).
Taco Tartlets- Jodi and I made these last year and both enjoyed them enough to bring them back for this year. Please bring a mini muffin pan (24 wells) or two if you have them. You can transport them home in the pan to flash freeze and then store in either a freezer bag (carefully, they're a bit delicate) or a rigid plastic container. Reheat on a cookie sheet in the oven before serving.
Pizza Dip mix- basically a mix of dry spices for adding to cream cheese and toppings for a delicious dip for crackers or sturdy chips. Suitable for gift giving or personal use.
Beer Bread and/or Irish Soda bread and/or Wheat Beer Bread- to be decided; we'll be making just the dry mix suitable for gift giving or personal use.
Toffee Chip Cookies and/or M&M cookie mix- to be decided.
Lemon glazed cookies- another "place and bake" cookie recipe.
I (Lisa) can provide nice plastic bags for gift giving that I have left from last year's presents. Debbie will do the grocery shopping this month.
We're doing something a little different for our December menu. We're going to focus on appetizers that can be made ahead and dry mixes for gift giving (or for ourselves!).
Taco Tartlets- Jodi and I made these last year and both enjoyed them enough to bring them back for this year. Please bring a mini muffin pan (24 wells) or two if you have them. You can transport them home in the pan to flash freeze and then store in either a freezer bag (carefully, they're a bit delicate) or a rigid plastic container. Reheat on a cookie sheet in the oven before serving.
Pizza Dip mix- basically a mix of dry spices for adding to cream cheese and toppings for a delicious dip for crackers or sturdy chips. Suitable for gift giving or personal use.
Beer Bread and/or Irish Soda bread and/or Wheat Beer Bread- to be decided; we'll be making just the dry mix suitable for gift giving or personal use.
Toffee Chip Cookies and/or M&M cookie mix- to be decided.
Lemon glazed cookies- another "place and bake" cookie recipe.
I (Lisa) can provide nice plastic bags for gift giving that I have left from last year's presents. Debbie will do the grocery shopping this month.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
November 2009 Menu
Tuesday, November 10th, 9 am at Lisa's house
Lemonade Chicken- marinade only
Monica's BBQ Chicken- marinade only
Jodi's Busy Day Meatloaf
Raspberry Pinwheel cookies
Breakfast Burritos- some with (turkey) bacon, some with sausage
Debbie will do the grocery shopping this month.
Lemonade Chicken- marinade only
Monica's BBQ Chicken- marinade only
Jodi's Busy Day Meatloaf
Raspberry Pinwheel cookies
Breakfast Burritos- some with (turkey) bacon, some with sausage
Debbie will do the grocery shopping this month.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
October 2009 Menu
Apricot Marinade
Caribbean Jerk Chicken
Pizza Pasta Casserole
Garlic Bread
Pancakes
October Shopping List
Total per person came to just $20.10!
Caribbean Jerk Chicken
Pizza Pasta Casserole
Garlic Bread
Pancakes
October Shopping List
Total per person came to just $20.10!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
August Cooking Day and Menu
Ladies- it's time to get back into the swing of things. School is starting soon and we'll need some good meals in our freezer for those crazy fall schedules!
We will be cooking on Tuesday, August 25th at 9 am at Lisa's house.
Swiss & Bacon Meatloaf, doubled per family
French Toast Casserole, substituting strawberries for the blueberries
Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breasts- if chicken is not on sale when we do the shopping, we will just make the marinade
Bangkok Chicken- can be split into two casseroles for smaller families
Turkey Stuffed Shells- unless we feel we're taking on too much, then we'll skip this one.
~~~
We have a couple new members to welcome to our group!
Debbie will be joining us for cooking this month. If she wants to stick with us, we'll add her bio to the sidebar with the rest.
And Tristy's third daughter arrived at the end of July. Welcome to the world little girl! Amazingly, Tristy thinks she will feel up to cooking with us in August. It will be fun having a tiny one around again.
~~~
We will be cooking on Tuesday, August 25th at 9 am at Lisa's house.
Swiss & Bacon Meatloaf, doubled per family
French Toast Casserole, substituting strawberries for the blueberries
Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breasts- if chicken is not on sale when we do the shopping, we will just make the marinade
Bangkok Chicken- can be split into two casseroles for smaller families
Turkey Stuffed Shells- unless we feel we're taking on too much, then we'll skip this one.
~~~
We have a couple new members to welcome to our group!
Debbie will be joining us for cooking this month. If she wants to stick with us, we'll add her bio to the sidebar with the rest.
And Tristy's third daughter arrived at the end of July. Welcome to the world little girl! Amazingly, Tristy thinks she will feel up to cooking with us in August. It will be fun having a tiny one around again.
~~~
Monday, June 8, 2009
RMG Cooking Session
I love my moms group!
I volunteered to host a cooking session for my moms group. If you're a member of RMG, check out the calendar for July 17th; we will meet at 6:00 PM. It looks like it will be a popular event, all the spots were filled the same day it was announced!
Our menu is:
Quiche *I switched to a different recipe on 7/6/09; click new link!
Monica's BBQ Chicken
Simple Salisbury Steaks
Pizza Pasta Casserole
Garlic Bread
Same concept as the usual Meals Made Ahead freezer cooking group. This will be a little different because I've never cooked with these women before but I'm sure it will be fun. I can't wait!
I volunteered to host a cooking session for my moms group. If you're a member of RMG, check out the calendar for July 17th; we will meet at 6:00 PM. It looks like it will be a popular event, all the spots were filled the same day it was announced!
Our menu is:
Quiche *I switched to a different recipe on 7/6/09; click new link!
Monica's BBQ Chicken
Simple Salisbury Steaks
Pizza Pasta Casserole
Garlic Bread
Same concept as the usual Meals Made Ahead freezer cooking group. This will be a little different because I've never cooked with these women before but I'm sure it will be fun. I can't wait!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
June Cooking Day
Our June cooking session went well today. I'm sorry to say I completely forgot about taking pictures until about 20 minutes after everyone went home and I saw the camera sitting there! Oh well. I will try to take photos of the meals as I cook them so at least you can see what the finished product looks like.
It took us about 2 1/2 hours to do our cooking today. We made Dr. Pepper Spaghetti, Caribbean Jerk Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Sausage and Spinach Quiche and Garlic Bread. We were able to split the spaghetti and the cashew chicken into two meals for each family. So 6 meals plus garlic bread for two meals. And the total bill came to just over $35 per person. This was quite an increase over last month when we spent less than $20, but we put meat in all our meals this time. Still, it's not bad, especially if you compare it to the cost of dining out for 6 meals!
Our freezers are full and our schedules are packed. We decided to skip July and we will get together again sometime in August. I will post our date and menu once it's been decided. In the meantime, feel free to search our archives for ideas. And I'm sure we will be updating the blog with more recipes to try even before August.
It took us about 2 1/2 hours to do our cooking today. We made Dr. Pepper Spaghetti, Caribbean Jerk Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Sausage and Spinach Quiche and Garlic Bread. We were able to split the spaghetti and the cashew chicken into two meals for each family. So 6 meals plus garlic bread for two meals. And the total bill came to just over $35 per person. This was quite an increase over last month when we spent less than $20, but we put meat in all our meals this time. Still, it's not bad, especially if you compare it to the cost of dining out for 6 meals!
Our freezers are full and our schedules are packed. We decided to skip July and we will get together again sometime in August. I will post our date and menu once it's been decided. In the meantime, feel free to search our archives for ideas. And I'm sure we will be updating the blog with more recipes to try even before August.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
June cooking day and menu set
June 2nd, 9 AM, Lisa's house; Jodi volunteered to do the shopping- please prepay $30 to Jodi when convenient.
Menu:
Quiche in a Bag- sausage; we need to decide on a veggie.
Cashew Chicken
Dr. Pepper Spaghetti
Freezer Garlic Bread
Caribbean Jerk Chicken
Menu:
Quiche in a Bag- sausage; we need to decide on a veggie.
Cashew Chicken
Dr. Pepper Spaghetti
Freezer Garlic Bread
Caribbean Jerk Chicken
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Prep for May cooking day
Ingredients needed:
for the Black Bean Burritos-
we are making one recipe which will yield 9 burritos per family
black beans, 3 1/2 pounds dried* or 13 pounds canned
(olive oil)
onions, medium, 7, finely chopped**
garlic, fresh, pressed, 2T + 1t
canned, diced tomatoes, 7 pounds
jalapeno peppers, 7
chili powder, 2T + 1t
cumin, ground, 2T + 1t
(oregano, dried, 2T + 1t)
lemons, 3 fresh*
(salt)
mild salsa, 48 ounces (I removed this so each family could buy their preferred type)
Montery Jack cheese, shredded, 6 cups
flour tortillas, 10-inch, 36
:::
for the French Toast-
we will make 2 loaves of bread per family
bread, 8 loaves
eggs, 5 dozen
milk, 2 cups?
vanilla
:::
for the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls-
we will make the meat filling, buying/making the cabbage and the sauce ingredients will be up to each family
kosher salt
ground beef, 7 pounds
rice, converted, cooked, 4 cups*
sour cream, 1 cup
(butter, unsalted, 8 T (1 stick))
onion, medium, 1, finely chopped**
garlic, 3 cloves minced
sweet paprika, 4 t
allspice, ground, 1 t
:::
for the Monica's BBQ Chicken
we will make the sauce only (two bags per family) for the family to add to their own chicken
soy sauce, 2 cups
brown sugar, 3 cups
(oil, 8 T)
(ginger, ground, 4 T)
(pepper, ground)
garlic, 8 cloves pressed
:::
for the Lemonade Chicken
we will make the sauce only (two bags per family) for the family to add to their own chicken
frozen lemonade concentrate, 24 ounces (2 cans)
(oil, 4 T)
(ketchup, 12 T)
(vinegar, 1T)
brown sugar, 12 T
(cornstarch)***
*prep the night before
**given our group's thoughts on onions, Jodi will purchase and prep ahead 3-4 medium onions to use in all of our recipes this month.
***this is added after cooking
(items in parentheses are in our inventory and do not need to be purchased)
The grocery list can be found here and as a link on the sidebar under "Tools."
for the Black Bean Burritos-
we are making one recipe which will yield 9 burritos per family
black beans, 3 1/2 pounds dried* or 13 pounds canned
(olive oil)
onions, medium, 7, finely chopped**
garlic, fresh, pressed, 2T + 1t
canned, diced tomatoes, 7 pounds
jalapeno peppers, 7
chili powder, 2T + 1t
cumin, ground, 2T + 1t
(oregano, dried, 2T + 1t)
lemons, 3 fresh*
(salt)
Montery Jack cheese, shredded, 6 cups
flour tortillas, 10-inch, 36
:::
for the French Toast-
we will make 2 loaves of bread per family
bread, 8 loaves
eggs, 5 dozen
milk, 2 cups?
vanilla
:::
for the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls-
we will make the meat filling, buying/making the cabbage and the sauce ingredients will be up to each family
kosher salt
ground beef, 7 pounds
rice, converted, cooked, 4 cups*
sour cream, 1 cup
(butter, unsalted, 8 T (1 stick))
onion, medium, 1, finely chopped**
garlic, 3 cloves minced
sweet paprika, 4 t
allspice, ground, 1 t
:::
for the Monica's BBQ Chicken
we will make the sauce only (two bags per family) for the family to add to their own chicken
soy sauce, 2 cups
brown sugar, 3 cups
(oil, 8 T)
(ginger, ground, 4 T)
(pepper, ground)
garlic, 8 cloves pressed
:::
for the Lemonade Chicken
we will make the sauce only (two bags per family) for the family to add to their own chicken
frozen lemonade concentrate, 24 ounces (2 cans)
(oil, 4 T)
(ketchup, 12 T)
(vinegar, 1T)
brown sugar, 12 T
(cornstarch)***
*prep the night before
**given our group's thoughts on onions, Jodi will purchase and prep ahead 3-4 medium onions to use in all of our recipes this month.
***this is added after cooking
(items in parentheses are in our inventory and do not need to be purchased)
The grocery list can be found here and as a link on the sidebar under "Tools."
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