Here is my meal plan for the week..
Monday- Tacos
Wednesday- Sloppy Joes
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- friend's wedding rehearsal dinner
Saturday -friend's wedding
Sunday- Shrimp Alfredo
Is it obvious hamburger meat is on sale in our area?
And now for some keeper new recipes I've recently tried.
Mango Pico de Gallo
Ingredients:
3 cups small mango cubes
2 large jalapeno peppers, chopped (seeds removed)
1/2-3/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 med size red onion, chopped
juice of 2 limes
Just mix the ingredients and store in the fridge in a jar overnight before serving with tortilla chips. My hubby hates onions and somehow really likes this recipe a lot.
Corned Beef Cream Cheese Spread
Ingredients:
2 - 8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 1/2 package- Buddig Corned Beef, chopped
1 tsp onion powder (recipe called for 1/2 of a onion chopped, by the hubby hates onions)
1/2 cup chopped green olives (more or less depending on the taste you want)
2 Tbsp Miracle Whip or Mayo
Mix it all together and refrigerate before serving. This is a recipe from a lady at my work and I think it is just delicious! Great served with Ritz Crackers or bread.
Moink Balls
I found this recipe in my local newspaper, it's a keeper. It said it is from "BBQ Makes Everything Better". I tripled the recipe when I made it and cooked half in the oven and half on the grill (grill was better!)
Ingredients
12 precooked italian-style meatballs (I made mine from scratch, I'll share that recipe on another day)
6 strips bacon, cut in half
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup grape jelly
Wrap each meatball with a half strip of bacon and secure it with a toothpick. Combine the brown sugar and cayenne pepper and sprinkle over the bacon-wrapped meatballs. Smoke over indirect heat at 250 degrees for about 1 hour until the bacon is done to your liking (you can also use direct heat on a grill for 10-15 minutes but this method requires close attention (this is what I did with half, the other half I cooked in the oven at 350 until the bacon was crispy.) Bacon grease is highly flammable, so you will need to rotate the meatballs constantly to prevent scorching. While the Moink balls are cooking, combine the barbecue sauce and the grape jelly in a saucepan and heat until blended. (opps I missed that heat stage, I just whisked them together.) Five minutes before removing the balls from the smoker, baste them with the glaze. Serve immediately. (or eat them later straight from the fridge, that is how my mom liked them best!)
Watermelon Sugar cookies
I can't remember where I found this recipe originally (one of the blogs I follow but for the life of me I couldn't figure out which). So... I had to google for it and found a the recipe
here.
The sugar cookie ingredients from this link made a pretty good dough, I'm going to use it again for just plain iced sugar cookies. I've been hunting for a fluffy sugar cookie recipe for years. 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup butter or margarine, softened, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract. Refriderate dough for 2 hours before rolling.
My 5 nieces ages 9 and under really enjoyed these watermelon cookies and they were very fitting for the 4th of July. For some reason my mom didn't believe me when I told her I made them (really not sure why.. she knows I love baking!)
Chocolate Chip Icing (sorry no picture)
I always hate when I am out of a tub of chocolate icing and can't make a chocolate cake or cupcakes because of it. I finally found a good alternative since I do usually have chocolate chips on hand.
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (about a half of bag)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except chocolate in saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly until melted. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, still stirring. Remove from heat. Add in chips and stir until completely melted. Spread on cooled cake.
Happy cooking/baking!
